Economic Impacts of Restricted Animal Movements in Mexico Due to Increased Mexican Regional Bovine Health Criteria

Tuberculosis restrictions on animal movement have important implications for Mexican producers and consumers as well as the U.S. beef cattle industry. The restrictions cause decreased Mexican cattle exports, increased domestic fed beef production, and decreased fed beef imports. The Mexican beef industry incurs greater costs due to increased interregional cattle and meat shipments and changes in regional beef cattle production in Mexico.Livestock Production/Industries,

Integrity Tests

What are integrity tests? Employee integrity tests are attitude self-report hiring tools that measure candidates’ disposition to productively perform their work, while refraining from counterproductive actions. Counterproductive actions include behaviors such as theft; safety and procedure violations; revealing confidential information or falsifying records; arguing with customers, clients and staff; and tardiness, absenteeism and job abandonment (Gruys, as cited in Sackett, 2002). There are many commercially available integrity tests, and they are often classified as either overt or personality based (Sackett, Burris, & Callahan, 1989). Overt integrity tests (also known as clear-purpose tests) are designed to directly assess attitudes regarding dishonest and counterproductive behaviors, as well as candidates’ own involvement in wrongdoings (Sackett et al., 1989). The response format is typically yes/no or strongly agree to strongly disagree, with some multiple choice items. Example items include, “Everybody cheats and steals a little to get ahead, and I’m no different” and “The value of the supplies I take home from work each month beyond what I need to do my job is $____.” Personality-based measures (also referred to as disguised-purpose tests) use composite measures of personality dimensions, such as reliability, conscientiousness, adjustment, trustworthiness, and sociability (Murphy, 2000). Example items include, “You are more sensible than adventurous and You work hard and steady at whatever you undertake” (Sackett et al., 1989). Why are integrity tests valuable? Integrity tests are valuable because they are predictive of a variety of important work outcomes across employment settings. They are relatively strong predictors of training performance (Schmidt, Oh, & Shaffer, 2016), job performance (Ones, Viswesvaran, & Schmidt, 1993), and counterproductive work behaviors, such as rule-breaking incidents, disciplinary actions, supervisory ratings of disruptiveness (Ones et al., 1993), and voluntary absenteeism (Ones, Viswesvaran, & Schmidt, 2003). Combining an integrity test with a cognitive ability test provides the most powerful means of predicting future training and job performance (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998; Schmidt et al., 2016). Though overt and personality-based tests are comparable in their ability to predict job performance, they vary in their ability to predict counterproductive work behaviors, depending on the type of counterproductive behavior (Ones et al., 1993, Ones et al., 2003). The value of integrity tests in predicting performance and counterproductivity extends across job levels, from low to high complexity, which includes professionals and upper management (Ones et al., 1993). Integrity tests are also moderately predictive of involuntary April 1, 2020 turnover and modestly predictive of voluntary turnover (Van Iddekinge, Roth, Raymark, & OdleDusseau, 2012). Because of the sensitive nature of the questions, job applicants tend to perceive integrity tests with moderate favorability, about the same way that they perceive personality tests (Anderson, Salgado, & Hülsheger, 2010; Hausknecht, Day, & Thomas, 2004). QIC-WD Takeaways ► Integrity tests are strong predictors of training performance, job performance, and counterproductive behaviors. Their use can lead to higher worker outcomes and reduced counterproductivity among new hires. ► Combining an integrity test with a cognitive ability test is more effective than either test alone and provides the most powerful means of predicting future training and job performance. ► Integrity tests are moderately predictive of involuntary turnover and modestly predictive of voluntary turnover. ► Job applicants tend to perceive integrity tests with moderate favorability, about the same way that they perceive personality tests. ► Employers who wish to validate and implement an integrity test should explore the many commercially available tests that have undergone years of rigorous development and testing. Employers are strongly discouraged from developing their own integrity test. ► Due to the technical and legal requirements involved in validating an integrity test, it is recommended that agencies consult with an expert for assistance. ► Some states have regulations regarding use of integrity tests (e.g., Massachusetts and Rhode Island), so employers should be aware of potential limitations

Estimated Impacts of Mexican Regional Trade Restrictions Associated with Bovine Health Campaigns

Tuberculosis restrictions on animal movement have important implications for Mexican producers and consumers as well as the U.S. beef cattle industry. A spatial linear programming model was used to analyze scenarios of regional restrictions on domestic animal movements and exports due to Tuberculosis status. Changing the regional Tuberculosis status in Mexico impacts the level and composition of regional beef cattle production. Additional unrestricted regions permits more efficient long run location of cow-calf, stocker and grass-finishing activities and reduces interregional animal shipments in Mexico. In general, releasing trade and movement restrictions results in increased cattle exports and increased beef imports in Mexico. The result is increased value of beef cattle exports for Mexican producers; less feedlot finishing of cattle in Mexico, and increased beef cost for Mexican consumers. Models results confirm that Mexico has a comparative advantage in cow-calf production compared to cattle feeding.Department of Agricultural Economic

The Great Escape: A Novel Approach to Collaborative Learning (Pilot)

Healthcare continues toward team-based approaches in which multiple disciplines collaborate to ensure holistic patient care. National standards for intraprofessional collaboration guide curriculum design for entry-level occupational therapy (OT) and occupational therapy assistant (OTA) programs to ensure students acquire specific skills and knowledge needed for current OT practices. Effective intraprofessional collaboration includes effective communication, respect, trust, and understanding of role delineation, which students prefer to learn in experiential, face-to-face formats. The purpose of this study was to examine OT and OTA students’ perspectives of participating in an educational escape room (EER) as a novel experience for intraprofessional education. Investigators created an EER with a healthcare plot and conducted it at two sites with 76 students, who had 60 minutes to solve puzzles based on OT/OTA knowledge to “escape” the room. Seventy-five students provided feedback on the EER in an online survey. Participants enjoyed working together in the EER, and felt it was a fun way to apply learned skills. They reported that collaboration was a key benefit and that this learning approach made them feel like equal contributors and created a sense of accomplishment. OT educators should consider including novel game-based learning activities such as EERs in their programs and in collaboration with other programs

Transcriptomes of parents identify parenting strategies and sexual conflict in a subsocial beetle

This work was funded by UK NERC grants to M.G.R. and A.J.M. an NERC studentship to D.J.P. the University of Georgia and a US NSF grant to A.J.M. and M.G.R.Parenting in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides is complex and, unusually, the sex and number of parents that can be present is flexible. Such flexibility is expected to involve specialized behaviour by the two sexes under biparental conditions. Here, we show that offspring fare equally well regardless of the sex or number of parents present. Comparing transcriptomes, we find a largely overlapping set of differentially expressed genes in both uniparental and biparental females and in uniparental males including vitellogenin, associated with reproduction, and takeout, influencing sex-specific mating and feeding behaviour. Gene expression in biparental males is similar to that in non-caring states. Thus, being ‘biparental’ in N. vespilloides describes the family social organization rather than the number of directly parenting individuals. There was no specialization; instead, in biparental families, direct male parental care appears to be limited with female behaviour unchanged. This should lead to strong sexual conflict.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

LMC-driven anisotropic boosts in stream--subhalo interactions

Dark Matter (DM) subhalos are predicted to perturb stellar streams; stream morphologies and dynamics can constrain the mass distribution of subhalos. Using FIRE-2 simulations of Milky Way-mass galaxies, we show that presence of a Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)--analog significantly changes stream-subhalo encounter rates. Three key factors drive these changes. First, the LMC--analog brings in many subhalos, increasing encounter rates for streams near the massive satellite by up to 20--40%. Second, the LMC--analog displaces the host from its center-of-mass (inducing reflex motion), causing a north-south asymmetry in the density and radial velocity distribution of subhalos. This asymmetry results in encounter rates varying by 50--70% across the sky at the same distance. Finally, the LMC--mass satellite induces a density wake in the host's DM halo, further boosting the encounter rates near the LMC--analog. We also explore the influence of stream orbital properties, finding a 50% increase in encounters for streams moving retrograde to the LMC--analog's orbit in the opposite hemisphere. The dependence of encounter rates on stream location and orbit has important implications for where to search for new streams with spurs and gaps in the Milky Way.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figures, submitted to AP

Troubled Worlds: A Course Syllabus about Information Work and the Anthropocene

The goal of this syllabus is to interrogate the material, and socioeconomic processes which underpin our everyday information work. In particular, we examine the relationships developing between contemporary information practices and what problematically gets configured as “nature”—that messy world of non-human entanglements that often exists beyond the purview of innovation work, whether digital software development or industrial engineering. Much recent work on the environmental conditions of computing has sought to break down technology-nature dualisms in order to expose the implication of information technology in broader social and material ecologies. Library and information professionals and researchers are well poised to deepen this inquiry by presenting alternative nature-technology epistemologies grounded in longstanding analyses of information resources and their consumption. The “Troubled Worlds” syllabus starts with a discussion of concerns most obviously germane to the work of most library and information science professionals: practices at the intersection of structuring information and computing. Building on this attention, we turn to humanistic approaches to thinking through the era of dominant human activities widely known as the “Anthropocene” by introducing poetic, artistic, and activist lenses. We explore how artistic objects representing an increasingly troubled natural world raise awareness of the challenges facing it, as well as how they may incorporate and reshape information for aesthetic ends. We then look to questions of disability justice and how it works in blended built and natural spaces as well as the many different ways in which bodies respond to the toxic environments produced by information technologies. We next consider the newer design approaches to library and information research, specifically asking how design perspectives on digital information objects get inscribed in the Anthropocene. Lastly, we consider paradigms of repair and making and analyze the different valences through which information researchers and professionals categorize and contextualize what is possible with them. This compilation does not provide a comprehensive review of the literature on the environment within the information fields. Instead, it extends this literature to promote experimental research and practice. The modules construct an interdisciplinary and provisional path through the related literature in a form that we hope may be continually adjusted, rearranged, and augmented. Pre-print first published online 03/15/202

A Qualitative Exploration of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Contexts of HIV-Positive Adolescents in Tanzania

Although 85% of HIV-positive adolescents reside in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the psychosocial and mental health factors affecting their daily well-being. Identifying these contextual variables is key to development of culturally appropriate and effective interventions for this understudied and high-risk population. The purpose of this study was to identify salient psychosocial and mental health challenges confronted by HIV-positive youth in a resource-poor Tanzanian setting. A total of 24 qualitative interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of adolescents aged 12–24 receiving outpatient HIV care at a medical center in Moshi, Tanzania. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded using thematic analysis. Psychosocial challenges identified included loss of one or more parents, chronic domestic abuse, financial stressors restricting access to medical care and education, and high levels of internalized and community stigma among peers and other social contacts. Over half of youth (56%) reported difficulties coming to terms with their HIV diagnosis and espoused related feelings of self-blame. These findings highlight the urgent need to develop culturally proficient programs aimed at helping adolescents cope with these manifold challenges. Results from this study guided the development of Sauti ya Vijana (The Voice of Youth), a 10-session group mental health intervention designed to address the psychosocial and mental health needs of HIV-positive Tanzanian youth