Environmental Determinants of the Distribution and Abundance of the Ants, Lasiophanes picinus and L. valdiviensis, in Argentina

The distribution and abundance variation of the terrestrial ants, Lasiophanes picinus and Lasiophanes valdiviensis Emery (Formicinae: Lasiini), which are endemic in Patagonia (Argentina and Chile), are described and a set of environmental factors are examined to explain the observed patterns. Ants were collected using 450 pitfall traps arranged in 50, 100 m2 grid plots each with nine traps within a roughly 150 × 150 km area representative of the subantartic-patagonian transition of Argentina. Five sampling periods each 8-days long were carried out between November 2004 and March 2006. To understand the distributional patterns and their link to environmental variables discriminant analysis was used. Path analysis was performed to test for direct and indirect effects of a set of environmental variables on species abundance variation. L. picinus was more frequently captured and attained higher abundance in the forests, while L. valdiviensis was more frequently captured and more abundant in the scrubs. The maximum daily temperature and mean annual precipitation explained L. picinus distribution (i.e. presence or absence) with an accuracy of 90%. L. valdiviensis distribution was predicted with almost 70% accuracy, taking into account herbal richness. The maximum daily temperature was the only climatic variable that affected ant abundance directly; an increase in temperature led to an increase of L. picinus abundance and a decrease of L. valdiviensis abundance. The amount of resources, as indicated by the percent plant cover, explained the variation of the abundance of both species better than the variety of resources as indicated by plant richness (i.e. models including plant richness had low fit or no fit at all). A direct effect of habitat use by cattle was found, as indicated by the amount of feces in the plots, only when variables related to the amount of resources were replaced by variables with less explanatory power related to the variety of resources. This study provides new data on the ecology of Lasiophanes species in relation to existing hypotheses proposed to explain patterns of abundance variation. Evidence is provided that changes in temperature (i.e. global climate change) may have important consequences on populations of these species

The Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences on the Future of Our Youth

22.3 percent.1 This is the percentage of the population of the United States under the age of 18. These three words should come to mind: growth, family, and safety. Unfortunately, just because these words come to mind, does not mean these are a reality for our youth. The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) study explores our youth’s mental, emotional, and social well-being across a wide sample with some disturbing results. As we de-code what exactly ACEs entails, we can learn to predict, diagnose, and ultimately prevent negative environments our youth are involved in. Prioritizing these prevention efforts can eventually lead to the avoidance altogether of these adverse experiences resulting in a residual rise in positive change for this 22.3 percent. This effort does not stand alone but does begin somewhere, and somewhere is you, YOU being the parents

It is Time for Family Courts to be More Aware of Parental Mental Illness and Substance Abuse

Since the COVID-19 pandemic and previous years, the mental health and substance abuse crises in Florida are growing at an unprecedented rate.1 With substantive due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment as a substantial roadblock, the Florida courts are reluctant to adequately address the mental health and substance abuse needs of individuals.2 This issue is especially difficult in cases involving the termination of parental rights, leaving children in damaging environments with unfit parents suffering from severe mental illness and substance abuse.3 To prevent children from growing up under negative conditions and developing mental health problems as well, the Florida courts ought to place heavier weight on mental illness and substance abuse factors when assessing parental capacity. The Commission on Mental Health and Substance Abuse seeks to push Florida’s mental health law reform, so individuals can have better access to mental health services.4 However, reform alone is not enough to ensure adequate mental health treatment since necessary extension of such treatment is determined by mental health courts.5 This Note advocates for a bright-line standard for Florida courts to evaluate mental illness and substance abuse factors in determining whether to terminate parental rights, while considering the severity of the mental condition. Accordingly, prioritizing a child’s best interests and relevant judicial knowledge over the subject matter become an important role in termination proceedings

On the military utility of spectral design in signature management : a systems approach

There is an ongoing duel between military sensor development and developments in signature management. The last decade, with warfare characterized by joint expeditionary operations and asymmetry, has favored sensors. However, on account of the worsening security situation in Europe, there is now also an increasing interest in efforts to increase survivability of own military platforms. Spectral design is one of several promising technologies with extensive research potentially suitable for Low Observable platforms. It involves creating desired spectral optical responses from surfaces, in this case reducing contrast to background, by choosing suitable materials and structures. The challenge to a military decision-maker, faced with inherent uncertainties concerning the future and with limited resources, is how to choose among alternative capabilities, technologies or equipment. Correspondingly, on account of the system character of the signature attribute, researchers in technologies for signature management has difficulties communicating relevant basis for these decisions. The scope of this thesis is therefore to find and analyze patterns in decision situations involving technology or technical systems for military use, and the purpose is to propose conceptual and methodological contributions to support future decisionmaking. The technology focus is on spectral design and the application in focus is signature management of Low Observable military platforms. The research objective is addressed from a military system and capability centric perspective using methods from several disciplines in the military sciences domain. The result is synthesized from four separate studies: 1) on spectral design using systematic review of literature, 2) on military utility using a concept formation method, 3) on modeling for how to operationalize a link between spectral design and measures of military utility using methods of military operations research, and, 4) on cases of systems engineering of military Low Observable platform designs. In summary, the result of the work presented in this thesis is a compilation of related work in military sciences, systems engineering and material optics into a framework to support effective decision-making in relevant contexts. The major contribution to theory is a proposed concept called Military Utility, capturing how to communicate the utility of technical systems, or technology, in a military context. It is a compound measure of Military Effectiveness, Military Suitability and Affordability. Other contributions can be expected to support decision-making in practice; - the so-called Ladder-model is a template for how to quantitatively operationalize the military effectiveness dimension of Military Utility regarding the use of spectral design; - an applied Ladder-model is demonstrated, useful for analyzing the military utility of spectral designs in Low Observable attack aircraft; - a probabilistic framework for survivability assessments is adopted into a methodology for doing the analysis, and lastly; - a generic workflow is identified, from relevant development programs, including decision-situations that can benefit from the adopted methodology.Det finns en ständigt pågående kamp mellan militär sensorutveckling och signaturanpassning. Det senaste decenniet, som karaktäriserats av asymmetrisk krigföring och gemensamma expeditionära operationer, har gynnat sensorerna. Nu har emellertid intresset för effektivare skydd av egna militära plattformar ökat till följd av den försämrade säkerhetssituationen i Europa. Spektral design är då en av flera lovande teknologier med potential att användas vid signaturanpassning och det bedrivs en omfattande forskning. Teknologin kan sägas omfatta tekniker för att skapa en yta med de optiska egenskaper som önskas. I den tillämpning som studeras i den här avhandlingen är syftet att minska ett objekts kontrast till bakgrunden, d.v.s. dess signatur, och det sker genom lämpligt val av ytors material och struktur. Militära beslutsfattare står ofta inför en stor utmaning då de ska välja mellan framtida förmågor, teknologier eller utrustning. Sådana beslutssituationer präglas ofta av stor osäkerhet och en begränsad ekonomi. Sett från det andra hållet är det ofta svårt för forskare inom teknologier för signaturanpassning att kommunicera relevant beslutsunderlag, på grund av signaturers speciella systemkaraktär. Avhandlingen omfattar en undersökning med syftet att finna och analysera eventuella mönster i beslutssituationer rörande teknologier eller tekniska system för militär användning. Målet är att lämna konceptuella och metodmässiga bidrag till stöd för framtida beslutsfattning. Teknologin i fokus är spektral design och tillämpningen är signaturanpassning av militära plattformar. Forskningsfrågan adresseras från ett militärt förmågecentrerat systemperspektiv med metoder från flera discipliner inom militärvetenskapen. Resultatet har sammanställts från fyra separata studier: 1) av spektral design med hjälp av systematisk granskning av tidigare forskning, 2) av militär nytta med hjälp av en metod för konceptformering, 3) av modelleringen av en länk mellan spektral design och mått på militär nytta med hjälp av militär operationsanalys, och, 4) av design av smyganpassade plattformar med hjälp av fallstudier. Resultatet från studierna bildar sammantaget med relaterad tidigare forskning från militärvetenskap, systemteknik och materialoptik ett ramverk till stöd för effektivare beslutsfattning. Det främsta bidraget till teoribildningen utgörs av ett förslag till koncept kallat militär nytta. Konceptet fångar hur nyttan med tekniska system, eller teknologier, bör kommuniceras i militära sammanhang. Militär nytta är här ett sammanvägt mått bestående av militär effektivitet, av militär lämplighet och av överkomlighet. Andra bidrag förväntas stödja beslutsfattning direkt i praktiken; - den s.k. stegmodellen kan användas som mall vid kvantifiering av den militära effektivitetsdimensionen vid värdering av den militära nyttan med spektral design; - användningen av stegmodellen har demonstrerats i fallet med smyganpassade attackflygplan; - ett sannolikhetsbaserat ramverk för överlevnadsuppskattningar har anpassats att användas som analysmetod, och till sist; - ett generiskt arbetsflöde med relevanta beslutssituationer där analysmetoden kan komma till nytta har identifierats genom studier av tidigare utvecklingsprojekt

News Shocks and Asset Price Volatility in General Equilibrium

This paper studies equity price volatility in general equilibrium with news shocks about future productivity and monetary policy. As West (1998) shows, in a partial equilibrium present discounted value model, news about the future cash flow reduces asset price volatility. This paper shows that introducing news shocks in canonical dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model may not reduce asset price volatility under plausible parameter assumptions. This is because, in general equilibrium, the asset cash flow itself may be affected by the introduction of new shocks. In addition, it is shown that neglecting to account for policy news shocks (e. g. , policy announcements) can potentially bias empirical estimates of the impact of monetary policy shocks on asset prices