Habitat associations of Golden-winged Warblers and Blue-winged Warblers during the non-breeding season

The Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chyrsoptera) and Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera) are both Neotropical migratory species of elevated conservation concern that overlap in distribution on their Central American wintering grounds, yet the extent to which they overlap in terms of habitat use is unknown, potentially hindering conservation efforts. We surveyed these two species along habitat and elevational gradients within a coffee-growing landscape during 2016 and 2017 in Yoro, Honduras. We used playback with a mobbing track known to enhance detections of female warblers, since examining sexual habitat segregation was another objective of our study. Habitat occupied by these two species differed, with male Golden-winged Warblers occurring in landscapes dominated by humid forest/coffee (forest with some dense shade coffee, which were indistinguishable with remote sensing at our sites) at higher elevations than male Blue-winged Warblers, which were positively associated with the amount of agriculture in the landscape. Six of seven female Golden-winged Warblers were encountered in shade coffee, however, this association was not significant, likely due to small sample size and low detectability. The association between male Golden-winged Warblers and humid forest/coffee and elevation, and contrasts in habitat use between male and female Golden-winged Warblers, are consistent with prior research in the region. Furthermore, the landscape associations of these non-breeding Vermivora species mirror their breeding landscape associations, with Golden-winged Warblers occupying more forested landscapes and Blue-winged Warblers occupying more agricultural landscapes. The use of shade coffee by female Golden-winged Warblers and Blue-winged Warblers suggests agroforestry could be a promising tool for conserving wintering populations of these species, although this result should be viewed with caution given that use of shade coffee is reported to elevate predation risk in other migratory species, and may not provide habitat for forest-dependent resident birds

From Farm to Kitchen : How gender affects production diversity and the dietary intake of farm households in Ethiopia

Open Access via the Wiley Jisc Open Access Agreement. We would like to acknowledge the World Bank LSMS-ISA and Central Statistical Authority (CSA) of Ethiopia for making these data available for the public and Macaulay Development Trust (MDT) for the financial support. Euan Phimister also acknowledges support under the ESRC NEXUS programme in project IEAS/POO2501/1, Improving organic resource use in rural Ethiopia (IPORE). Deborah Roberts acknowledges the support of funding from the Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division(RESAS). Our thanks are also due to anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier versions of the paper.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Disability and the Immigrant Health Paradox: Gender and Timing of Migration

Although research has documented better health and longer life expectancy among the foreign-born relative to their U.S.-born counterparts, the U.S. Mexican-origin immigrant population is diverse and the healthy immigrant effect likely varies by key structural and demographic factors such as gender, migration history, and duration in the United States. Using a life course framework, we use data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (H-EPESE 1993–2013) which includes Mexican-American individuals aged 65 and older to assess the heterogeneity in the immigrant health advantage by age of migration and gender. We find that age of migration is an important delineating factor for disability among both men and women. The healthy immigrant hypothesis is only observable among mid- and late-life migrant men for ADL disability. While among immigrant women, late-life migrants are more likely to have an IADL disability putting them at a health disadvantage. These findings illustrate that Mexican immigrants are not a homogeneous group and migrant health selectivity depends on both gender and when migrants arrived in the United States

Migrant Youths‘ Educational Achievement: The Role of Institutions

We use 2009 Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) data to link institutional arrangements in OECD countries to the disparity in reading, math, and science test scores for migrant and native-born students. We find that achievement gaps are larger for those migrant youths who arrive later and for those who do not speak the test language at home. Institutional arrangements often serve to mitigate the achievement gaps of some migrant students while leaving unaffected or exacerbating those of others. For example, earlier school starting ages help migrant youths in some cases, but by no means in all. Limited tracking on ability appears beneficial for migrants' relative achievement, while complete tracking and a large private school sector appear detrimental. Migrant students' achievement relative to their native-born peers suffers as educational spending and teachers' salaries increase, but is improved when examination is a component of the process for evaluating teachers.Wir verwenden PISA-Daten aus dem Jahr 2009, um einen Zusammenhang zwischen institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen in OECD-Ländern und Unterschieden in den Testergebnissen in den Bereichen Lesen, Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften zwischen einheimischen und ausländischen Schülern herzustellen. Wir beobachten geringere Lernerfolge bei ausländischen Schülern, die relativ spät eingewandert sind und/oder die Sprache des Leistungstests nicht zu Hause sprechen. Institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen mildern die Leistungsunterschiede für einige ausländische Schüler, haben aber auf andere Schüler keine oder sogar negative Auswirkungen. Ein frühes Einschulungsalter hilft beispielsweise ausländischen Schülern in einigen Fällen, aber keineswegs in allen. Eine geringe Einteilung in Leistungsklassen erscheint förderlich für den relativen Erfolg ausländischer Schüler, während eine starke Einteilung in Leistungsklassen und ein hoher Anteil privater Schulen schädlich zu sein scheinen. Der relative Lernerfolg ausländischer Studenten leidet, wenn Bildungsausgaben und Lehrergehälter steigen, aber verbessert sich wenn Prüfungen eine Komponente des Evaluationsprozesses von Lehrern darstellen

Negative assimilation:how immigrants experience economic mobility in Japan

This paper examines the economic mobility of foreign migrants in Japan. In a country that is largely regarded as homogeneous and closed to outsiders, how and to what extent do immigrants achieve economic success? A survey conducted by the authors revealed that the conventional assimilationist perspective does not fully explain immigrants’ economic success in Japan. Migrants from the West experience what Chiswick and Miller (2011) refer to as “negative assimilation.” That is, their earnings decline over time in Japan. While negative assimilation was not clearly observed among immigrants from neighboring Asian countries, wages among them did not increase with the length of their stay in Japan. For both groups, the skills they brought from abroad were found to be largely accountable for their economic success, while locally specific human capital, such as education acquired in the host society, did not contribute to their earnings

Integrating data types to estimate spatial patterns of avian migration across the Western Hemisphere

For many avian species, spatial migration patterns remain largely undescribed, especially across hemispheric extents. Recent advancements in tracking technologies and high-resolution species distribution models (i.e., eBird Status and Trends products) provide new insights into migratory bird movements and offer a promising opportunity for integrating independent data sources to describe avian migration. Here, we present a three-stage modeling framework for estimating spatial patterns of avian migration. First, we integrate tracking and band re-encounter data to quantify migratory connectivity, defined as the relative proportions of individuals migrating between breeding and nonbreeding regions. Next, we use estimated connectivity proportions along with eBird occurrence probabilities to produce probabilistic least-cost path (LCP) indices. In a final step, we use generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) both to evaluate the ability of LCP indices to accurately predict (i.e., as a covariate) observed locations derived from tracking and band re-encounter data sets versus pseudo-absence locations during migratory periods and to create a fully integrated (i.e., eBird occurrence, LCP, and tracking/band re-encounter data) spatial prediction index for mapping species-specific seasonal migrations. To illustrate this approach, we apply this framework to describe seasonal migrations of 12 bird species across the Western Hemisphere during pre- and postbreeding migratory periods (i.e., spring and fall, respectively). We found that including LCP indices with eBird occurrence in GAMMs generally improved the ability to accurately predict observed migratory locations compared to models with eBird occurrence alone. Using three performance metrics, the eBird + LCP model demonstrated equivalent or superior fit relative to the eBird-only model for 22 of 24 species–season GAMMs. In particular, the integrated index filled in spatial gaps for species with over-water movements and those that migrated over land where there were few eBird sightings and, thus, low predictive ability of eBird occurrence probabilities (e.g., Amazonian rainforest in South America). This methodology of combining individual-based seasonal movement data with temporally dynamic species distribution models provides a comprehensive approach to integrating multiple data types to describe broad-scale spatial patterns of animal movement. Further development and customization of this approach will continue to advance knowledge about the full annual cycle and conservation of migratory birds

Does socioeconomic disparity in cancer incidence vary across racial/ethnic groups?

Objective Very few studies have simultaneously examined incidence of the leading cancers in relation to socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity in populations including Hispanics and Asians. This study aims to describe SES disparity in cancer incidence within each of four major racial/ethnic groups (non-Hispanic white, black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander) for five major cancer sites, including female breast cancer, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer. Methods Invasive cancers of the five major sites diagnosed from 1998 to 2002 (n = 376,158) in California were included in the study. Composite area-based SES measures were used to quantify SES level and to calculate cancer incidence rates stratified by SES. Relative index of inequality (RII) was generated to measure SES gradient of cancer incidence within each racial/ethnic group. Results Significant variations were detected in SES disparities across the racial/ethnic groups for all five major cancer sites. Female breast cancer and prostate cancer incidence increased with increased SES in all groups, with the trend strongest among Hispanics. Incidence of cervical cancer increased with decreased SES, with the largest gradient among non-Hispanic white women. Lung cancer incidence increased with decreased SES with the exception of Hispanic men and women, for whom SES gradient was in the opposite direction. For colorectal cancer, higher incidence was associated with lower SES in non-Hispanic whites but with higher SES in Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islander women. Conclusions Examining SES disparity stratified by race/ethnicity enhances our understanding of the complex relationships between cancer incidence, SES, and race/ethnicity

Can Conditional Cash Transfers Impact Institutional Deliveries? Evidence from Janani Suraksha Yojana in India

Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) are an increasingly popular tool for incentivizing behavior. This paper evaluates impact of one of the largest CCTs in the world, Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) in India, on institutional deliveries. Maternal mortality is high in India and JSY aims to reduce it by encouraging institutional deliveries through provision of monetary incentives to women if they deliver in medical facilities, and to local community health workers if they facilitate such deliveries. Exploiting key differences in program design between the 'low performing' and the 'high performing' States, and utilizing successive rounds of a large national sample survey, this paper shows that institutional deliveries increased rapidly in the low performing States after the launch of the program, albeit with a lag. Pre-existing trends in institutional deliveries or improvement in availability or access to medical facilities do not explain these results

Does “soft conditionality” increase the impact of cash transfers on desired outcomes? Evidence from a randomized control trial in Lesotho

Cash transfers programs have been shown to have positive effects on a variety of outcomes. While much of the literature focuses on the role of conditionality in achieving desired impact, this paper focuses on the role of ‘soft conditionality’ implemented through both ‘labeling’ and ‘messaging’ in evaluating the impact of the Child Grants Program in Lesotho, an unconditional cash transfer targeting poor households with orphans and vulnerable children. Beneficiary households received a clear message that the transfer should be spent on the interest and needs of children. Our findings are based on a randomized experiment and suggest that ‘soft conditionality’ does play a strong role in increasing expenditure for children, especially on education, clothing and footwear. Results indicate in fact that transfer income is spent differently from general income as it exerts both an income and a substitution effect. This behavioral change is confirmed by comparing the ex-ante expected behaviors with the ex-post actual response to the program. We find that for expenditure categories linked to the wellbeing of children the ex-post response was much higher than the ex-ante expected behavior