The Competition Account of Achievement‐Value

A great achievement makes one’s life go better independently of its results, but what makes an achievement great? A simple answer is—its difficulty. I defend this view against recent, pressing objections by interpreting difficulty in terms of competitiveness. Difficulty is determined not by how hard the agent worked for the end but by how hard others would need to do in order to compete. Successfully reaching a goal is a valuable achievement because it is difficult, and it is difficult because it is competitive. Hence, both virtuosic performances and lucky successes can be valuable achievements

Body size of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) decreases with urbanization

Urbanization influences biodiversity and shapes the functional traits of local biota. While many cities expand, some have experienced significant population decreases resulting in an abundance of vacant greenspace following the demolition of residential structures. These vacant lots may provide suitable habitats for arthropods. Given habitat fragmentation in urban areas, The Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography (ETIB) can be applied to cities wherein rural areas act as mainlands and greenspaces within the city are islands surrounded by concrete that pose barriers to species movement. Within isolated greenspaces, ETIB predicts lower species richness due to colonization limitations. For arthropods such as ground beetles, dispersal ability is often related to body size, suggesting smaller species will be more likely to colonize urban islands because they are more commonly macropterous. This is important, as body size impacts fitness via female fecundity and male mating success, both of which typically increase with increased beetle size. We measured the body size of four species of ground beetles, Scarites vicinus, Poecilus lucublandus, P. chalcites, and Chlaenius tricolor across 40 greenspaces in Cleveland, OH, USA, and surrounding Cuyahoga County, to test whether urbanization poses barriers to carabid assemblages. We applied a functional trait-based approach to ETIB, predicting body size would decrease with increased isolation from rural surroundings. Specimens were collected using unbaited pitfall traps in five treatments including vacant lots mown monthly, urban pocket prairies seeded with wildflowers, urban and rural agroecosystems, and metro park forests. Preliminary results from June 2018 revealed clear habitat associations for these abundant carabid species, suggesting their populations are not ubiquitous among urban and rural greenspaces, although all were capable of flight. Body size of beetles was greater in rural environments, as the larger species S. vicinus and P. lucublandus were abundant in these treatments and not in others. Ground beetles are bioindicators and contribute to ecosystem services such as biological control. Therefore, it is important to understand how urbanization influences their populations and reproductive success in order to guide conservation efforts and to aid the restoration of ecosystem services.Funding provided by USDA NIFA Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences Education and Literacy Initiative Postdoctoral Fellowship (2018-67012-28011) to K.I.P., and a Division of Environmental Biology CAREER Grant (CAREER-1253197) and USDA Agricultural Research Program Initiative Foundational Programs Grant (2017-67013-26595) to M.M.G.Academic Major: Entomolog

Age-Friendly Environments and Self-Rated Health: An Exploration of Detroit Elders

While a number of organizations and government entities have encouraged the development of more “age-friendly” environments, to date there has been limited research linking these environment features to elder outcomes. Using a representative sample of older adults living in Detroit, this study examined the association between age-friendly environment factors and self-rated health. Results indicated that access to health care, social support, and community engagement were each associated with better self-rated health, while neighborhood problems were associated with poorer self-rated health. Moreover, individual-level income and education no longer predicted self-rated health once age-friendly environment factors were taken into account. These findings highlight the need for more research documenting the effects of age-friendly environments, particularly across diverse contexts and populations

Determinants of e-business use in U.S. firms

The factors leading to variations in e-business use among U.S. firms are identified. Building on diffusion of innovation theory, an integrated model is developed that explains the relative influence of eight known determinants. Diversity and volume of e-business use are empirically investigated using a sample of 294 firms. The analysis demonstrates that (1) considering the diversity of e-business use, pressure from trading partners is the most important driver, (2) when e-business volume is investigated, government pressure emerges as the strongest factor, (3) government promotion may not have much effect on the diversity of e-business use by private companies, but does significantly influence the volume of e-business use by firms doing business with the government, and (4) the United States has a positive regulatory environment for supporting e-business. Taken together, these findings on the multidimensionality of e-business use show that diversity and volume are not only different measures of e-business use, but also have different determinants. The integrated model provides a more comprehensive explanation of e-business use and could serve as a foundation for future research on interorganizational systems. Copyright © 2006 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved

Do Age-Friendly Characteristics Influence the Expectation to Age in Place? A Comparison of Low-Income and Higher Income Detroit Elders

Currently there is limited evidence linking age-friendly characteristics to outcomes in elders. Using a representative sample of 1,376 adults aged 60 and older living in Detroit, this study examined the association between age-friendly social and physical environmental characteristics and the expectation to age in place, and the potential differences between low- and higher-income elders. Based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) age-friendly guide, we identified six factors reflecting age-friendly characteristics. Logistic regression models indicated that regardless of income level only neighborhood problems were significantly associated with expecting to age in place. Low-income elders were more likely to expect to age in place than their higher-income counterparts, and it is unclear whether this resulted from a desire to remain in the home or that there is no place else to go. Future research should address the ways in which financial resources affect the choices, expectations, and outcomes of aging in place

Conceptualizing age-friendly community characteristics in a sample of urban elders: An exploratory factor analysis

Accurate conceptualization and measurement of age-friendly community characteristics would help to reduce barriers to documenting the effects on elders of interventions to create such communities. This article contributes to the measurement of age-friendly communities through an exploratory factor analysis of items reflecting an existing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency policy framework. From a sample of urban elders (n =1,376), we identified six factors associated with demographic and health characteristics: Access to Business and Leisure, Social Interaction, Access to Health Care, Neighborhood Problems, Social Support, and Community Engagement. Future research should explore the effects of these factors across contexts and populations

Alcohol Production as an Adaptive Livelihood Strategy for Women Farmers in Tanzania and Its Potential for Unintended Consequences on Women's Reproductive Health.

Although women occupy a central position in agriculture in many developing countries, they face numerous constraints to achieving their full potential including unequal access to assets and limited decision-making authority. We explore the intersection of agricultural livelihoods, food and economic security, and women's sexual and reproductive health in Iringa Region, Tanzania. Our goal was to understand whether the benefits of supporting women in the agricultural sector might also extend to more distal outcomes, including sexual and reproductive health. Using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework to guide data collection, we conducted 13 focus group discussions (FGD) with female (n = 11) and male farmers (n = 2) and 20 in-depth interviews with agricultural extension officers (n = 10) and village agro-dealers (n = 10). Despite providing the majority of agricultural labor, women have limited control over land and earned income and have little bargaining power. In response to these constraints, women adopt adaptive livelihood strategies, such as alcohol production, that allow them to retain control over income and support their households. However, women's central role in alcohol production, in concert with the ubiquitous nature of alcohol consumption, places them at risk by enhancing their vulnerability to unsafe or transactional sex. This represents a dangerous confluence of risk for female farmers, in which alcohol plays an important role in income generation and also facilitates high-risk sexual behavior. Alcohol production and consumption has the potential to both directly and indirectly place women at risk for undesirable sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Group formation, better access to finance, and engaging with agricultural extension officers were identified as potential interventions for supporting women farmers and challenging harmful gender norms. In addition, joint, multi-sectoral approaches from health and agriculture and alternative income-generating strategies for women might better address the complexities of achieving safe and sustainable livelihoods for women in this context

Improving Solder Joints Formed in Microgravity by Use of Magnetic Soldering Paste Additives

With the expansion of the space industry, the need for the capability to repair electronics in space grows. Previous researchers have found that soldering in microgravity has yielded joints of poorer quality than those made on Earth, with increased interior porosity. WVU’s microgravity research team (MRT) constructed an experiment to solder onboard a microgravity aircraft to explore this problem and to test a possible solution. MRT’s experiment collected solder samples both in microgravity and a ground test, which were then cross-sectioned to allow the interior porosity of the joints to be studied. This determined that there was an increase in porosity for the joints formed in microgravity. Exploration into the source of the gases in the solder contributing to porosity was attempted by energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis of the interior of the voids. Although carbon, an indication of flux vapor, was found in the voids, this examination proved inconclusive due to the possibility of contamination. In an attempt to reduce porosity in microgravity joints, some of the solder samples utilized solders including iron microparticles, soldered in a magnetic field. This provided a magnetic body force on the solder to replace the gravitational force. The magnetic manipulation of the solder did not provide consistent, statistically significant change to the porosity of the joints. Magnetic manipulation of solder could be further explored; however, the current work has not shown a benefit to the quality of the joints