Psychosocial factors differentiating organic and conventional farmers

Despite the environmental and health benefits associated with organic farming in developing countries, the adoption rate of organic farming is  lower and the exit rate is also increasing. This study compares the characteristics of organic, former organic, and conventional farmers, focusing on  psychosocial factors. Cross-sectional data about the characteristics, attitudes and perceptions of farmers were collected from the three types of  farmers in the cotton-growing areas of Benin. Descriptive statistics were used to identify differences in characteristics and psychosocial factors  between the three farmers groups. The results show that organic farmers and former organic farmers are similar in most characteristics. In terms  of psychosocial factors, organic farmers are more environmentally conscious, profit oriented and risk averse than other types of farmers.  Conventional farmers express lower environmental concerns and share similarities with organic farmers in terms of information seeking attitudes.  Organic farmers also perceive lower risk constraints associated with organic cotton production than conventional farmers. This study could help  improve policies to promote adoption of organic farming in developing countries.&nbsp

Response style behavior:Question format dependent or personal style?

In survey research, acquiescence response style/set (ARS) and extreme response style/set (ERS) may distort the measurement of attitudes. How response bias is evoked is still subject of research. A key question is whether it may be evoked by external factors (e.g. test conditions or fatigue) or whether it could be the result of internal factors (e.g. personality or social characteristics). In the first part of this study we explore whether scale length—the manipulated test condition—influences the occurrence of ERS and/or ARS, by varying scale length from 5 till 11 categories. In pursuit of this we apply a latent class factor model that allows for diagnosing and correcting for ERS and ARS simultaneously. Results show that ERS occurs regardless of scale length. Furthermore, we find only weak evidence of ARS. In a second step we check whether ERS might reflect an internal personal style by (a) linking it to external measures of ERS, and by (b) correlating it with a personality profile and socio-demographic characteristics. Results show that ERS is reasonably stable over questionnaires and that it is associated with the selected personality profile and age

Comparative genomics of the major parasitic worms

Parasitic nematodes (roundworms) and platyhelminths (flatworms) cause debilitating chronic infections of humans and animals, decimate crop production and are a major impediment to socioeconomic development. Here we report a broad comparative study of 81 genomes of parasitic and non-parasitic worms. We have identified gene family births and hundreds of expanded gene families at key nodes in the phylogeny that are relevant to parasitism. Examples include gene families that modulate host immune responses, enable parasite migration though host tissues or allow the parasite to feed. We reveal extensive lineage-specific differences in core metabolism and protein families historically targeted for drug development. From an in silico screen, we have identified and prioritized new potential drug targets and compounds for testing. This comparative genomics resource provides a much-needed boost for the research community to understand and combat parasitic worms

Diagnosing Response Style Behavior by Means of a Latent-Class Factor Approach. Socio-Demographic Correlates of Gender Role Attitudes and Perceptions of Ethnic Discrimination Reexamined

It is generally accepted that response style behavior in survey research may seriously distort the measurement of attitudes and subsequent causal models that include attitudinal dimensions. However, there in no single accepted methodological approach in dealing with this issue. This article aims at illustrating the flexibility of a latent class factor approach in diagnosing response style behavior and in adjusting findings from causal models with latent variables. We present a substantive example from the Belgian MHSM research project on integration-related attitudes among ethnic minorities. We argue that an extreme response style can be detected in analyzing two independent sets of Likert-type questions referring to `gender roles' and `feelings of ethnic discrimination'. If the response style is taken into account the effect of covariates on attitudinal dimensions is more adequately estimated.