Rat Control in New Caledonian “Mainland Island” Rainforests: Will the Game be Worth the Candle?

Due to its unique biodiversity and extreme endemism rates, New Caledonia archipelago is listed as one of Earth’s 35 biodiversity hotspots. New Caledonian biota is now threatened by invasive species, with introduced rats considered to be particularly damaging. At the initiative of local institutions and NGOs, an innovative scientific experiment has been launched to quantify the Response of Forest Ecosystems to Rodent and Cat Control (REFCOR) and to test the relevance of such control at a large spatial scale (200 ha) on a dense evergreen rainforest (Mont Panié Wilderness Nature Reserve). Rat control will begin mid-2014 with a short toxin knockdown, and will thereafter involve intensive trapping sessions over the next 6 years, together with biodiversity monitoring and experiments. Rat impact studies initiated in early 2013 also aim to identify possible biodiversity indicators that could be used for a rapid assessment of rat control efficiency and effects. One of the major impacts of invasive rats is the disruption caused to plant and bird reproduction processes, placing them at high risk. Pre-and post-control experiments include the assessment of palm fruit consumption rates and of predation risk to artificial bird nests. Initial surveys of both rat populations and palm fruits (2 species), as well as artificial bird nest predation experiments, were conducted in 2013. Rat abundance was high, fluctuating among study areas and seasons, with more individual reproducers in December than in May. Fruit predation was high for one of the two species, in line with the rat abundance pattern. Surprisingly, artificial bird nest predation by rats was far lower than expected. These first results corroborate the influence of rats on some taxa. Monitoring and experiments will be repeated after and throughout rat control. This “before-after-control-impact” project, conducted in close collaboration with local stakeholders (Dayu Biik NGO), offers a unique opportunity to evaluate 1) the feasibility of controlling rat populations in the New Caledonian rainforest by trapping as an alternative to long-term poisoning, and 2) the benefits of rat control for native biodiversity and rainforest ecosystem functioning

How Do Employees Perceive Corporate Responsibility? Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Corporate Stakeholder Responsibility Scale

Recent research on the microfoundations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has highlighted the need for improved measures to evaluate how stakeholders perceive and subsequently react to CSR initiatives. Drawing on stakeholder theory and data from five samples of employees (N = 3,772), the authors develop and validate a new measure of corporate stakeholder responsibility (CStR), which refers to an organization’s context-specific actions and policies designed to enhance the welfare of various stakeholder groups by accounting for the triple bottom line of economic, social, and environmental performance; it is conceptualized as a superordinate, multidimensional construct. Results from exploratory factor analyses, first- and second-order confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modeling provide strong evidence of the convergent, discriminant, incremental, and criterion-related validities of the proposed CStR scale. Two-wave longitudinal studies further extend prior theory by demonstrating that the higher-order CStR construct relates positively and directly to organizational pride and perceived organizational support, as well as positively and indirectly to organizational identification, job satisfaction, and affective commitment, beyond the contribution of overall organizational justice, ethical climate, and prior measures of perceived CSR

THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT AND AMBULANCE RESPONSE TIMES

This study contributes to the literature on supply-side adjustments to insurance expansions by examining the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on ambulance response times. Exploiting temporal and geographic variation in the implementation of the ACA as well as pre-treatment differences in uninsured rates, we estimate that the expansions of private and Medicaid coverage under the ACA combined to slow ambulance response times by an average of 19%. We conclude that, through extending coverage to individuals who, in its absence, would not have availed themselves of emergency medical services, the ACA added strain to emergency response systems

Istradefylline protects from cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and peripheral neuropathy while preserving cisplatin antitumor effects

Cisplatin is a potent chemotherapeutic drug that is widely used in the treatment of various solid cancers. However, its clinical effectiveness is strongly limited by frequent severe adverse effects, in particular nephrotoxicity and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Thus, there is an urgent medical need to identify novel strategies that limit cisplatin-induced toxicity. In the present study, we show that the FDA-approved adenosine A2A receptor antagonist istradefylline (KW6002) protected from cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and neuropathic pain in mice with or without tumors. Moreover, we also demonstrate that the antitumoral properties of cisplatin were not altered by istradefylline in tumor-bearing mice and could even be potentiated. Altogether, our results support the use of istradefylline as a valuable preventive approach for the clinical management of patients undergoing cisplatin treatment

Up for Review

We study whether organizations that reward individual performance should give autonomy or should control how managers evaluate their subordinates. The normal way to establish control is to formalize the evaluations, so that managers cannot choose when and how to evaluate. We argue that organizations face a trade-off because formalization helps reduce biases but also introduces rigidities. Using linked employer-employee data, we study the link between formal performance appraisals and firm financial performance.Jaime Ortega acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economics, Industry and Competitiveness (grants ECO2012-33308 and ECO2015- 2 69615-R). Rocio Bonet acknowledges financial support from the European Commission grant WSCA-Grant Agreement No. 239217-7FP-People-IRG

Considering planned change anew: stretching large group interventions strategically, emotionally and meaningfully

Large Group Interventions, methods for involving “the whole system” in a change process, are important contemporary planned organizational change approaches. They are well known to practitioners but unfamiliar to many organizational researchers, despite the fact that these interventions address crucial issues about which many organizational researchers are concerned. On the other hand, these interventions do not appear to be informed by contemporary developments in organizational theorizing. This disconnect on both sides is problematic. We describe such interventions and their importance; illustrate them with extended descriptions of particular Future Search and Whole‐Scale™ change interventions; summarize research on strategy, emotion, and sensemaking that may inform them; and suggest questions about the interventions that may stimulate research and reflection on practice. We also discuss conditions that may foster effective engagement between Large Group Interventions practitioners and organizational researchers. Our approach represents a way to conduct a review that combines scholarly literature and skilled practice and to initiate a dialog between them

Accelerated ion beams for in-beam e-γ spectroscopy

A few accelerated ion beam requirements for in-beam e-γ spectroscopy are briefly reviewed as well as several features of the MP Tandem accelerator of IPN-Orsay and the accelerated ion-beam transport devices leading to the experimental area of in-beam e-γ spectroscopy. In particular, the main capabilities of the ion-sources, the ion pulsing system, the ion stripping and stabilizing devices as well as the versatility of the ion beam transport system are discussed from the point of view of the different kinds of in-beam e-γ experiments performed in that area. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe