The influence of income and loss on hunters\u27 attitudes towards wild pigs and their management

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are one of the most pervasive invasive species in North America. Wild pigs pose a threat to crops, livestock, and the environment, but also provide recreational hunting opportunities. There are avenues for some stakeholder groups to generate income from wild pigs, however, stakeholders vary in attitudes towards wild pigs and their management. We investigated whether financial loss and income resulting from wild pigs influenced hunter stakeholder attitudes towards their management in Texas. We examined how land use influenced hunting landowner attitudes towards wild pigs. We analyzed 22,176 responses (8,707 landowners, 13,469 nonlandowners) fromTexas hunters to theTexas A&M Human Dimensions of Wild Pigs Survey. Attitudes towards wild pigs varied significantly based on landownership status and whether land was used for agricultural practices. In addition, landowners who received income from wild pigs on their land considered government or agency hunting to be a less acceptable method of control than those who did not generate such income. However, effect sizes for all our results were small (η2 ≤ 0.05, Adj. R2 ≤ 0.09, and McFadden\u27s R2 ≤ 0.07) and, across all groups, attitudes towards wild pigs were negative. Few respondents (3.91% of landowners, 0.56% of non‐landowners) reported generating income from wild pigs, and reported losses were approximately 4 times greater than income. Supplemental file attached

Hunter Motivations and Use of Wild Pigs in Texas, USA

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a widespread exotic, invasive species that pose ecological, agricultural, and human health risks in their invaded range. Wildlife managers must manage wild pig abundance and range expansion to mitigate these risks. The diversity of stakeholders involved in the issue of wild pig management complicates efforts to manage the species, and, to be successful, wildlife professionals must consider the human dimensions associated with wild pig management. The prevalence of privately owned lands in Texas, USA necessitates cooperation to enact effective management policies. In this study, we investigate the impact of hunter motivations on wild pig harvest quantity. Motivations driving wild pig hunting are diverse. While the majority of wild pig hunters in Texas are motivated by trophy value, meat-motivated hunters harvest more wild pigs per day afield. Wildlife managers should develop plans that include various management techniques to control wild pig population growth and damage. Education and outreach will continue to be important for involving private landowners in effective wild pig management

A Profile of Wild Pig Hunters in Texas, USA

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a widespread exotic, invasive species that poses ecological, agricultural, and human health risks in invaded areas. Wildlife managers often manage wild pig abundance and expansion to mitigate these risks. The diversity of stakeholders involved in the issue of wild pig management complicates efforts to manage the species, and, to be successful, wildlife professionals should consider the human dimensions associated with wild pig management. The prevalence of privately owned lands in Texas, USA necessitates cooperation to enact effective management policies. In this study, we investigate the factors that affect a hunter’s likelihood to participate in wild pig hunting. Multiple factors affect participation in wild pig hunting activities. We found that participation in other types of big game hunting increased the likelihood of participation in wild pig hunting and that wild pig hunting does not deter individuals from participating in other types of hunting activities. Additionally, hunters’ attitudes toward wild pigs are important in determining the likelihood of participation in wild pig hunting. Finally, our results suggest that hunters are largely uninformed about wild pigs and do not hold the same perceptions, values, or tolerance levels of the species. The diversity of preferences among wild pig hunters necessitates that wildlife managers consider the desires of the public as well as natural resource needs in creating socially acceptable management plans for the species

Texas Hunters’ Perceptions Regarding the Acceptability of Toxicants to Control Wild Pig Populations

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are an invasive species in the United States. They damage agriculture, degrade water quality and ecological communities, and host a number of viruses, parasites, and bacteria transmissible to humans and animals. In states such as Texas, USA, where wild pigs cause extensive damage to agriculture and property, officials have considered allowing for the use of toxicants to control wild pig populations. To provide decision-makers with information regarding stakeholders’ perceptions of the use of toxicants to control wild pigs, we surveyed Texas hunters in 2019 to assess the level of acceptance of a hypothetical wild pig toxicant, the sociodemographic and other factors most closely associated with acceptability of such a toxicant, and the specific concerns that underlie hunters’ positions on the use of such a toxicant. We received 37,317 completed responses to an online, self-administered survey. Respondents were divided over the use of a toxicant, with 43% finding a toxicant acceptable, 18% neutral, and 39% finding a toxicant unacceptable. The factor most closely associated with acceptance of a wild pig toxicant was respondents’ desired wild pig population size in Texas (χ2 = 3,657.7, P \u3c 0.001, V = 0.26), with 70% of respondents who preferred that wild pigs be completely removed from Texas finding the use of a toxicant to be acceptable, compared to 14% of respondents who preferred that wild pig populations increase or stay the same. The most commonly raised concerns in connection with toxicant usage were potential negative impacts to nontarget animals (33%) and negative impacts to human health (24%). Our research suggests that while achieving a consensus among Texas hunters on toxicant usage is unrealistic, building majority support may be possible if the identified concerns are sufficiently addressed in product development and outreach

Social identity and acceptability of wild pig (Sus scrofa) control actions: A case study of Texas hunters

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) pose significant challenges to wildlife managers. This research explored Texas hunters’ acceptability of wild pig control actions, and whether acceptability varied according to hunters’ affiliation with four different categories of natural resource organizations as an indicator of social identity. Results of a survey (n = 37,317) revealed that most hunters were accepting of all control actions except toxicants and non-lethal deterrents. Mean acceptability scores for each action differed significantly across the four affiliation categories, but effect sizes were minimal. Hunters affiliated with agricultural organizations were the most accepting of control actions, while hunters with no organizational affiliations were least accepting. Findings suggested that while the type of organization with which a hunter affiliates provides some basis for predicting acceptability of control actions, the association is likely not significant enough to warrant differentiating wild pig outreach messaging on the basis of affiliation

Planum temporale asymmetry in people who stutter

Previous studies have reported that the planum temporale - a language-related structure that normally shows a leftward asymmetry - had reduced asymmetry in people who stutter (PWS) and reversed asymmetry in those with severe stuttering. These findings are consistent with the theory that altered language lateralization may be a cause or consequence of stuttering. Here, we re-examined these findings in a larger sample of PWS. We evaluated planum temporale asymmetry in structural MRI scans obtained from 67 PWS and 63 age-matched controls using: 1) manual measurements of the surface area; 2) voxel-based morphometry to automatically calculate grey matter density. We examined the influences of gender, age, and stuttering severity on planum temporale asymmetry. The size of the planum temporale and its asymmetry were not different in PWS compared with Controls using either the manual or the automated method. Both groups showed a significant leftwards asymmetry on average (about one-third of PWS and Controls showed rightward asymmetry). Importantly, and contrary to previous reports, the degree of asymmetry was not related to stuttering severity. In the manual measurements, women who stutter had a tendency towards rightwards asymmetry but men who stutter showed the same degree of leftwards asymmetry as male Controls. In the automated measurements, Controls showed a significant increase in leftwards asymmetry with age but this relationship was not observed in PWS. We conclude that reduced planum temporale asymmetry is not a prominent feature of the brain in PWS and that the asymmetry is unrelated to stuttering severity. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gliomas and Farm Pesticide Exposure in Women: The Upper Midwest Health Study

An excess incidence of brain cancer in male farmers has been noted in several studies, but few studies have focused on women. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Upper Midwest Health Study evaluated effects of rural exposures for 341 female glioma cases and 528 controls, all adult (18–80 years of age) nonmetropolitan residents of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. On average, controls lived longer on farms than did cases. After adjusting for age, age group, education, and farm residence, no association with glioma was observed for exposure to arsenicals, benzoic acids, carbamates, chloroacetanilides, dinitroanilines, inorganics, organochlorines, organophosphates, phenoxys, triazines, or urea-based or estrogenic pesticides. An increased risk of glioma was observed for carbamate herbicides but was not statistically significant (odds ratio = 3.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.9–9.5). No association was observed between glioma and exposure to 12 widely used specific pesticides, after adjustment for age, age group, education, and any other pesticide exposure. These results were not affected after exclusion of proxy respondents (43% of cases, 2% of controls). Women were less likely than men to have applied pesticides, but more likely to have laundered pesticide-contaminated clothes. Storing pesticides in the house was associated with a statistically non-significant increased risk. Results show that exposure to pesticides was not associated with an increased risk of intracranial gliomas in women. Other farm-related factors could be etiologic factors and will be discussed in future reports

Lanthanide-based time-resolved luminescence immunoassays

The sensitive and specific detection of analytes such as proteins in biological samples is critical for a variety of applications, for example disease diagnosis. In immunoassays a signal in response to the concentration of analyte present is generated by use of antibodies labeled with radioisotopes, luminophores, or enzymes. All immunoassays suffer to some extent from the problem of the background signal observed in the absence of analyte, which limits the sensitivity and dynamic range that can be achieved. This is especially the case for homogeneous immunoassays and surface measurements on tissue sections and membranes, which typically have a high background because of sample autofluorescence. One way of minimizing background in immunoassays involves the use of lanthanide chelate labels. Luminescent lanthanide complexes have exceedingly long-lived luminescence in comparison with conventional fluorophores, enabling the short-lived background interferences to be removed via time-gated acquisition and delivering greater assay sensitivity and a broader dynamic range. This review highlights the potential of using lanthanide luminescence to design sensitive and specific immunoassays. Techniques for labeling biomolecules with lanthanide chelate tags are discussed, with aspects of chelate design. Microtitre plate-based heterogeneous and homogeneous assays are reviewed and compared in terms of sensitivity, dynamic range, and convenience. The great potential of surface-based time-resolved imaging techniques for biomolecules on gels, membranes, and tissue sections using lanthanide tracers in proteomics applications is also emphasized