Toward an interdisciplinary science of consumption

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/88117/1/j.1749-6632.2011.06163.x.pd

Adult helpers increase the recruitment of closely related offspring in the cooperatively breeding rifleman

Indirect fitness benefits gained through kin-selected helping are widely invoked to explain the evolution of cooperative breeding behavior in birds. However, the impact of helpers on productivity of helped broods can be difficult to determine if the effects are confounded by territory quality or if the benefit of helpers is apparent only in the long term. In riflemen Acanthisitta chloris, helping and group membership are effectively decoupled as adult helpers are individuals that have dispersed from their natal territory and live independently from breeders in “kin neighborhoods.” Nevertheless, helpers direct their care toward close relatives, suggesting that helping provides indirect fitness benefits. The aim of this study was to examine the benefits of helpers to recipient offspring in the rifleman, investigating both short- and long-term effects. The total amount of food delivered to nestlings in helped broods was greater than that received by broods without helpers. This did not result in any short-term increase in nestling mass or nestling body condition nor was there any reduction in length of the nestling period at helped nests. However, helpers were associated with a significant increase in juvenile recruitment, with twice the proportion of fledglings surviving to the next breeding season from helped broods relative to unhelped broods. Thus, helpers gain indirect fitness by improving the survival of kin, and in contrast to a previous study of riflemen, we conclude that kin selection has played a key role in the evolution of cooperative breeding in this species

An investigation into cabin crew stress/burnout in the UK aviation industry

As the world of work becomes more stressful so does the threat to employee well-being and productivity. Airline cabin crew are front line, safety conscious employees who are faced with a diverse range of job exposures and who operate in extreme situations whilst also managing varied levels of fatigue, sleep deprivation, jet lag, loneliness and around the clock shift patterns. The psychological well-being of aviation employees has been gaining more prominence in recent years due to an increase in fatal crashes and aircraft mishaps where pilots in particularly have suffered with mental health issues. Cabin crew however are often employees who are overlooked as they have differing exposures, demands and pressures associated with their role yet just like pilots they experience psychological challenges which can be detrimental to their well-being. Several theoretical models have been suggested which help to gain better understanding of employee stress and burnout with the JD-CS Model having most relevance to this study and its participants. A questionnaire was used to collect views from a sample of 1431 UK based cabin crew employed across seven different airlines representing full cost, low cost, and charter airline carriers. A small number of key informant interviews were also carried out with crew representatives. Some of the results from the study have detailed what the key stressors are for cabin crew in their day-to-day employment and have also linked to supporting the ISO strain of the JD-CS Model. Suggestions have been made as to how some of the stressors identified in this research can be better addressed within the aviation industry to promote a better level of well-being for all concerned

A decision theory perspective on why women do or do not decide to have cancer screening: systematic review.

( 2 0 0 9 ) A decision theory perspective on why women do or do not decide to have cancer screening: systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing 65(6), 1130-1140. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.04981.x Abstract Title. A decision theory perspective on why women do or do not decide to have cancer screening: systematic review. Aim. This paper is a report of a review in which decision theory from economics and psychology was applied to understand why some women with access to care do not seek cancer screening. Background. Mammography and cervical smear testing are effective modes of cancer screening, yet many women choose not to be screened. Nurses need to understand the reasons behind women's choices to improve adherence. Data sources. Research papers published between January 1994 and November 2008 were identified using the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, MEDLINE and PsycINFO data bases. The search was performed using the following terms: cervical cancer screening, breast cancer screening, decision, choice, adherence and framing. Forty-seven papers were identified and reviewed for relevance to the search criteria. Methods. Nineteen papers met the search criteria. For each paper, reasons for obtaining or not obtaining cancer screening were recorded, and organized into four relevant decision theory principles: emotions, Prospect Theory, optimism bias and framing. Findings. All women have fears and uncertainty, but the sources of their fears differ, producing two main decision scenarios. Non-adherence results when women fear medical examinations, providers, tests and procedures, do not have/seek knowledge about risk and frame their current health as the status quo. Adherence is achieved when women fear cancer, but trust care providers, seek knowledge, understand risk and frame routine care as the status quo. Conclusion. Nurses need to address proactively women's perceptions and knowledge about screening by openly and uniformly discussing the importance and benefits

IMPROVING ACCESS TO FRESH PRODUCE FOR PREDOMINANTLY NON-HISPANIC BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS IN DURHAM COUNTY, NC THROUGH THE MOBILE FARMER’S MARKET COLLABORATIVE PROGRAM

The infrastructure of a community’s physical surroundings and environment dictate their access to fresh, healthy foods. Compared to the North Carolina average of 24%, more than 30% of Durham County residents are burdened by poor grocery store access (Food Security and Nutrition, n.d.). This disparity is reflected in the higher rates of food insecurity and diet-modifiable chronic disease among racial and ethnic minority groups (Durham County, 2021; Osei & Gaillard, 2017). This proposal aims to increase access to fresh produce for residents of primarily non-Hispanic Black neighborhoods through the creation and maintenance of a Mobile Farmer’s Market Collaborative, rotating weekly between predominantly non-Hispanic Black neighborhoods, churches, hospitals, and other community locations. The cost of produce available through the Collaborative will be subsidized to address the financial barriers of healthy eating, and cooking demonstrations in conjunction with nutrition education will be provided to foster long-term health maintenance for beneficiaries. Keywords: Social determinant of health, neighborhood, food access, nutrition education, Durham County, North CarolinaMaster of Public Healt

Opening the Black Box of Family-Based Treatments: an artificial intelligence Framework to Examine therapeutic alliance and therapist Empathy

The evidence-based treatment (EBT) movement has primarily focused on core intervention content or treatment fidelity and has largely ignored practitioner skills to manage interpersonal process issues that emerge during treatment, especially with difficult-to-treat adolescents (delinquent, substance-using, medical non-adherence) and those of color. A chief complaint of real world practitioners about manualized treatments is the lack of correspondence between following a manual and managing microsocial interpersonal processes (e.g. negative affect) that arise in treating real world clients. Although family-based EBTs share core similarities (e.g. focus on family interactions, emphasis on practitioner engagement, family involvement), most of these treatments do not have an evidence base regarding common implementation and treatment process problems that practitioners experience in delivering particular models, especially in mid-treatment when demands on families to change their behavior is greatest in treatment - a lack that characterizes the field as a whole. Failure to effectively address common interpersonal processes with difficult-to-treat families likely undermines treatment fidelity and sustained use of EBTs, treatment outcome, and contributes to treatment dropout and treatment nonadherence. Recent advancements in wearables, sensing technologies, multivariate time-series analyses, and machine learning allow scientists to make significant advancements in the study of psychotherapy processes by looking under the skin of the provider-client interpersonal interactions that define therapeutic alliance, empathy, and empathic accuracy, along with the predictive validity of these therapy processes (therapeutic alliance, therapist empathy) to treatment outcome. Moreover, assessment of these processes can be extended to develop procedures for training providers to manage difficult interpersonal processes while maintaining a physiological profile that is consistent with astute skills in psychotherapeutic processes. This paper argues for opening the black box of therapy to advance the science of evidence-based psychotherapy by examining the clinical interior of evidence-based treatments to develop the next generation of audit- and feedback- (i.e., systemic review of professional performance) supervision systems

Detecting fake news on Facebook : the role of emotional intelligence

The proliferation of fake news on social media is now a matter of considerable public and governmental concern. In 2016, the UK EU referendum and the US Presidential election were both marked by social media misinformation campaigns, which have subsequently reduced trust in democratic processes. More recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the acceptance of fake news has been shown to pose a threat to public health. Research on how to combat the false acceptance of fake news is still in its infancy. However, recent studies have started to focus on the psychological factors which might make some individuals less likely to fall for fake news. Here, we adopt that approach to assess whether individuals who show high levels of ‘emotional intelligence’ (EQ) are less likely to fall for fake news items. That is, are individuals who are better able to disregard the emotionally charged content of such items, better equipped to assess the veracity of the information. Using a sample of UK participants, an established measure of EQ and a novel fake news detection task, we report a significant positive relationship between individual differences in emotional intelligence and fake news detection ability. We also report a similar effect for higher levels of educational attainment, and we report some exploratory qualitative fake news judgement data. Our findings are discussed in terms of their applicability to practical short term (i.e. current Facebook user data) and medium term (i.e. emotional intelligence training) interventions which could enhance fake news detection

Diversity among Equals: Educational Opportunity and the State of Affirmative Admissions in New England

This report reviews the practice of Affirmative Admissions as a strategy for achieving diversity within New England colleges and universities. It shows how educational leaders perceive Affirmative Admissions, the nature of regional Affirmative Admissions policies, and the numbers of student affected by current enrollment strategies. This report is part of a larger series on educational access and opportunity in New England. Research was organized into five components: (1) analysis of pertinent legal issues related to postsecondary access and equity; (2) interviews with postsecondary campus and state leaders (n=104); (3) interviews with K-12 leaders and educators at state, district, and school levels (n=45); (4) a survey of 221 postsecondary education institutions in New England; and (5) econometric analyses of student data. The focus was on groups of institutions, 18 groups clustered by admissions policies and restrictions. The most compelling conclusion is that there is no significant evidence that colleges have reduced standards to admit greater numbers of minority students. By increasing educational access to a broader segment of the population, the regions higher education institutions have taken crucial steps toward assuring the vitality and vibrancy of New Englands future economy and civic life. The study also indicates that the pool of qualified minority students is much too small, highlighting the need to improve the preparation of minority students. Three appendixes contain details about survey methodology, participating institutions, and regression coefficients. Prepared by the Center for Education Policy (CEP) and Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research (MISER), University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Sponsored by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation

Experience of localized flooding predicts urban flood risk perception and perceived safety of nature-based solutions

Understanding community members' flood risk perceptions is critical for developing new approaches to managing flood risks for climate resilience. “Risk as feelings” has informed research on how people perceive flood risks based on intuition and personal experiences, complementing experts' technical assessment. However, attention has been primarily on riverine and coastal flooding. We expand the “risk as feelings” concept to investigate community members' risk perceptions of urban pluvial flooding as well as perceived safety of novel vs. familiar nature-based solutions (NBS). For the novel practice, we focus on floodable sites that temporarily inundate urban open spaces under storm conditions. For the familiar practice, we focus on retention ponds that store excessive runoff under storm conditions. Data were collected through visualization-assisted surveys of residents from high and low flood hazard areas in three US cities (N = 884). We found that over half of respondents indicated some degree of worry about stormwater-related damage, and overall, respondents perceived floodable as less safe than retention ponds under storm conditions. Further, respondents who had more frequently experienced localized flooding near their homes were more worried about potential property damage caused by flooding. They also perceived floodable sites as less safe under storm conditions. However, more frequent experience of localized flooding was not associated with perceived safety of retention ponds under storm conditions. Some other contextual and socio-demographic factors (e.g., prior stormwater-related property damage, knowledge of and involvement in stormwater management issues, gender, age, race, and having children) also had notable effects on flood risk perception and perceived safety of NBS. We discuss the implications of these findings for urban flood risk management and NBS development