Scaling-up beginning farmers for wholesale production

With nearly 15 million people that live within 250 miles of Kansas City, the demand for local food is increasing. Local beginning farmers in the region want to reach an emerging wholesale market. However, selling directly to consumers demands different skills than the wholesale market requires. There are many educational programs offered in the region that are focused on direct to consumer sales. Unfortunately, there is a gap in educational programs that are offered to support beginning farmers that wish to expand into wholesale markets. In 2018, the Beginning Farmer Wholesale Project was started within the Growing Growers Kansas City program in congruence with the overall mission to improve the skills and livelihoods of the region’s growers. The project offers support and training to beginning farmers as they begin to navigate new market opportunities. It provides on-farm technical assistance, mentorship, opportunities to connect to wholesale buyers, a workshop series, a manual and an extensive foodshed GIS map. The ongoing project has seen several contributions to improving farmer access to wholesale markets. As of 2020, six workshops have been conducted that have covered a variety of farm production and marketing skills. Six farmer mentees have enrolled in the mentor program which enlists nine farmer mentors from across the region. Over twenty farmers have utilized the technical assistance service on their Kansas and Missouri farm operations and the farmer buyer matching program has resulted in thirteen beginning farmers gaining access to new markets. The project highlights the value of collaboration among organizations and the importance of offering multiple farmer services in order to improve wholesale access

Randomized Trial of a Broad Preventive Intervention for Mexican American Adolescents

Objective—This randomized trial of a family-focused preventive intervention for Mexican American (MA) adolescents evaluated intervention effects on adolescent substance use, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and school discipline and grade records in 8th grade, one year after completion of the intervention. The study also examined hypothesized mediators and moderators of intervention effects. Method—Stratified by language of program delivery (English vs. Spanish), the trial included a sample of 516 MA adolescents (50.8% female; M =12.3 years, SD=.54) and at least one caregiver that were randomized to receive a low dosage control group workshop or the 9-week group intervention that included parenting, adolescent coping, and conjoint family sessions. Results—Positive program effects were found on all five outcomes at one-year posttest, but varied depending on whether adolescents, parents, or teachers reported on the outcome. Intervention effects were mediated by posttest changes in effective parenting, adolescent coping efficacy, adolescent school engagement, and family cohesion. The majority of direct and mediated effects were moderated by language, with a larger number of significant effects for families that participated in Spanish. Intervention effects also were moderated by baseline levels of mediators and outcomes, with the majority showing stronger effects for families with poorer functioning at baseline. Conclusion—Findings support the efficacy of the intervention to decrease multiple problem outcomes for MA adolescents, but also demonstrate differential effects for parents and adolescents receiving the intervention in Spanish vs. English, and depending on their baseline levels of functioning

Transformational Leadership and Incivility: A Multilevel and Longitudinal Test

This research examines group-level perceptions of transformational leadership (TFL) as negative longitudinal predictors of witnessing person-related (e.g., insults/affronts) and work-related (e.g., negation/intentional work overload) acts of incivility at work. Witnessing workplace incivility was also postulated to negatively predict employee need satisfaction. Data were collected among production employees in different Canadian plants of a major manufacturing company (N = 344) who worked for 42 different managers (Mgroup size= 9.76). Two waves of data collection occurred 1 year apart. Results from multilevel analyses showed that workgroups where managers were perceived to engage in more frequent TFL behaviors reported reduced levels of person- and work-related incivility 1 year later. However, group-level incivility did not predict change in group-level need satisfaction 1 year later. At the individual level, results showed that witnessing higher levels of person-related incivility than one’s colleagues predicted reduced satisfaction of the need for relatedness 1 year later. These longitudinal findings build upon previous literature by identifying TFL as a potential managerial strategy to reduce incivility in workgroups over time. They also show that mere exposure to workplace misbehavior still affects employees’ adjustment, suggesting that every effort to reduce deviance in workplaces is worthwhile

Assessing the adequacy of self-reported alcohol abuse measurement across time and ethnicity: cross-cultural equivalence across Hispanics and Caucasians in 1992, non-equivalence in 2001–2002

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Do estimates of alcohol abuse reflect true levels across United States Hispanics and non-Hispanic Caucasians, or does culturally-based, systematic measurement error (i.e., measurement bias) affect estimates? Likewise, given that recent estimates suggest alcohol abuse has increased among US Hispanics, the field should also ask, "Does cross-ethnic change in alcohol abuse across time reflect true change or does measurement bias influence change estimates?"</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To address these questions, I used confirmatory factor analyses for ordered-categorical measures to probe for measurement bias on two large, standardized, nationally representative, US surveys of alcohol abuse conducted in 1992 and 2001–2002. In 2001–2002, analyses investigated whether 10 items operationalizing DSM-IV alcohol abuse provided equivalent measurement across Hispanic (<it>n </it>= 4,893) and non-Hispanic Caucasians (<it>n </it>= 16,480). In 1992, analyses examined whether a reduced 6 item item-set provided equivalent measurement among 834 Hispanic and 14,8335 non-Hispanic Caucasians.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In 1992, findings demonstrated statistically significant measurement bias for two items. However, sensitivity analyses showed that item-level bias did not appreciably bias item-set based alcohol abuse estimates among this cohort. For 2001–2002, results demonstrated statistically significant bias for seven items, suggesting caution regarding the cross-ethnic equivalence of alcohol abuse estimates among the current US Hispanic population. Sensitivity analyses indicated that item-level differences <it>did </it>erroneously impact alcohol abuse rates in 2001–2002, underestimating rates among Hispanics relative to Caucasians.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>1992's item-level findings suggest that estimates of drinking related social or legal problems may underestimate these specific problems among Hispanics. However, impact analyses indicated no appreciable effect on alcohol abuse estimates resulting from the item-set. Efforts to monitor change in alcohol abuse diagnoses among the Hispanic community can use 1992 estimates as a valid baseline. In 2001–2002, item-level measurement bias on seven items did affect item-set based estimates. Bias underestimated Hispanics' self-reported alcohol abuse levels relative to non-Hispanic Caucasians. Given the cross-ethnic equivalence of 1992 estimates, bias in 2001–2002 speciously minimizes current increases in drinking behavior evidenced among Hispanics. Findings call for increased public health efforts among the Hispanic community and underscore the necessity for cultural sensitivity when generalizing measures developed in the majority to minorities.</p

Widespread supplementary feeding in domestic gardens explains the return of reintroduced Red Kites Milvus milvus to an urban area

Reintroductions are used worldwide to mitigate biodiversity loss. One prominent case is a charismatic raptor of conservation concern, the Red Kite Milvus milvus. This species has been reintroduced across the UK over the last 25 years following its near extinction after centuries of persecution. The species was not expected to recolonize urban areas; its historical association with human settlements is attributed to scavenging on human waste and refuse, a resource now greatly reduced on the streets of modern Western cities. However, the species has become a common day-time visitor to a large conurbation centred on the town of Reading, southern England, approximately 20 km from the first English reintroduction site. Given a near-absence of breeding and roost sites, we investigated foraging opportunities and habitat associations that might explain use by Red Kites of this urban area. Surveys of discarded human foods and road-kill suggested that these could support at most 13−29 kites/day. Face-to-face surveys of a cross-section of residents revealed that 4.5% (equivalent to 4349 households) provided supplementary food for kites. Using estimates of per-household resource provision from another study, we calculated that this level is potentially sufficient to provision 142−320 kites, a substantial proportion of the total estimated to visit the conurbation each day (between 140 and 440). Road transects found positive associations between Red Kites and residential areas. We therefore suggest that the decision made by thousands of individuals to provide supplementary food for Red Kites is the primary factor explaining their day-time abundance in this urban area

Unusual raptor nests around the world

From surveys in many countries, we report using unusual nesting materials (e.g., paper money, rags, metal, antlers, and large bones) and unusual nesting situations. For example, we documented nests of Steppe Eagles [Aquila nipalensis] and Upland Buzzards [Buteo hemilasius] on the ground beside well-traveled roads, Saker Falcon [Falco cherrug] eyries in attics and a cistern, and Osprey [Pandian haliaetus] nests on the masts of boats and on a suspended automobile. Other records include a Golden Eagle [A. chrysaelos] nest 7.0 m in height, believed to be the tallest nest ever described, and, for the same species, we report nesting in rudimentary, nests. Some nest sites are within a Few meters of known predators or competitors. These unusual observations may be important in revealing the plasticity of a species' behavioral repertoire

Measurement invariance of the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale–Short-Form (IGDS9-SF) between Australia, the USA, and the UK

The Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short-Form (IGDS9-SF) is widely used to assess Internet Gaming Disorder behaviors. Investigating cultural limitations and implications in its applicability is imperative. One way to evaluate the cross-cultural feasibility of the measure is through measurement invariance analysis. The present study used Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis (MGCFA) to examine the IGDS9-SF measurement invariance across gamers from Australia, the United States of America (USA), and the United Kingdom (UK). To accomplish this, 171 Australian, 463 USA, and 281 UK gamers completed the IGDS9-SF. Although results supported the one-factor structure of the IGD construct, they indicated cross-country variations in the strength of the relationships between the indicators and their respective factor (i.e., non-invariant loadings of items 1, 2, 5), and that the same scores may not always indicate the same level of IGD severity across the three groups (i.e., non-invariant intercepts for items 1, 5, 7, 9)

Afrikaans adaptation of the children’s hope scale: Validation and measurement invariance

The overarching aim of this study was to validate the Afrikaans version of Snyder’s (1997) Children’s Hope Scale in a sample of children from Cape Town, South Africa. Within this process, the study aimed to test the measurement invariance across the English and Afrikaans language versions. The study used a cross-sectional survey design, with a two-stage stratified random sample of 1022 children between the ages of 11- to 12-years-old. We selected the participants from 15 schools located in low and middle socio-economic status communities in the Cape Town Metropole. We used confirmatory factor analysis to analyse the data. The results indicated a good fit for the overall model using the pooled sample (X2 = 35.692; df = 7; p =.00; CFI =.984; RMSEA =.063; SRMR =.023). Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis further demonstrated the tenability of metric and scalar invariance

Individual differences in metabolomics: individualised responses and between-metabolite relationships

Many metabolomics studies aim to find ‘biomarkers’: sets of molecules that are consistently elevated or decreased upon experimental manipulation. Biological effects, however, often manifest themselves along a continuum of individual differences between the biological replicates in the experiment. Such differences are overlooked or even diminished by methods in standard use for metabolomics, although they may contain a wealth of information on the experiment. Properly understanding individual differences is crucial for generating knowledge in fields like personalised medicine, evolution and ecology. We propose to use simultaneous component analysis with individual differences constraints (SCA-IND), a data analysis method from psychology that focuses on these differences. This method constructs axes along the natural biochemical differences between biological replicates, comparable to principal components. The model may shed light on changes in the individual differences between experimental groups, but also on whether these differences correspond to, e.g., responders and non-responders or to distinct chemotypes. Moreover, SCA-IND reveals the individuals that respond most to a manipulation and are best suited for further experimentation. The method is illustrated by the analysis of individual differences in the metabolic response of cabbage plants to herbivory. The model reveals individual differences in the response to shoot herbivory, where two ‘response chemotypes’ may be identified. In the response to root herbivory the model shows that individual plants differ strongly in response dynamics. Thereby SCA-IND provides a hitherto unavailable view on the chemical diversity of the induced plant response, that greatly increases understanding of the system