Individual differences trancend the rationality debate

Individual differences are indeed an important aid to our understanding of human cognition, but the importance of the rationality debate is open to question. An understanding of the process involved, and how and why differences occur, is fundamental to our understanding of human reasoning and decision making

The economic impacts of climate change: Evidence from agricultural output and random fluctuations in weather: Comment

In a series of studies employing a variety of approaches, we have found that the potential impact of climate change on US agriculture is likely negative. Deschênes and Greenstone (2007) report dramatically different results based on regressions of agricultural profits and yields on weather variables. The divergence is explained by (1) missing and incorrect weather and climate data in their study; (2) their use of older climate change projections rather than the more recent and less optimistic projections from the Fourth Assessment Report; and (3) difficulties in their profit measure due to the confounding effects of storage

Schematic maps in the laboratory

Empirical research into the usability of schematic maps is currently in its infancy. This paper justifies the necessity for research, reviews the most relevant recently-published studies, gives an overview of potential pitfalls of this topic, and suggests future directions

What?s your theory of effective schematic map design?

Amongst designers, researchers, and the general public, there exists a diverse array of opinion about good practice in schematic map design, and a lack of awareness that such opinions are not necessarily universally held nor supported by evidence. This paper gives an overview of the range of opinion that can be encountered, the consequences that this has for published designs, and a framework for organising the various views

The influence of the environment on Chokka squid loligo vulgaris reynaudii spawning aggregations: steps towards a quantified model

Published and anecdotal information was used to formulate a conceptual (logic) model which describes the biological components and dynamics of chokka squid spawning aggregations. Into this was integrated potentialenvironmental influences. To determine quantitatively the impact of environmental factors on the spawning process (and ultimately catches), a theoretical methodology was developed based on the use of underwater video images to estimate the rate at which egg pods were deposited. Results from a pilot study undertaken off the Tsitsikammacoast of South Africa demonstrated the viability of this quantitative technique, and while not intended to be a definitive experiment, showed that: (i) an upwelling event was coincident with the formation of a spawningaggregation, supporting the hypothesis that changes in temperature trigger spawning; (ii) biological activities such as egg deposition, predator-induced interruptions in egg deposition, and absence of squid from the egg bed, occupied 19, 22, and 59% of the event time respectively, and (iii) spawning was completed in about 33 h in the absence of female immigration. An overall decline in the deposition rate, combined with the absence of adverse environmental conditions, indicated that spawning was terminated by the ovaries of female squid becoming partially or fully spent, rather than by environmental stimuli. Based on this experience, hardware was then designed and manufactured to realize the methodology, and it is currently being used in a new series of squidspawning experiments

Factors affecting patients' trust and confidence in GPs: evidence from the English national GP patient survey.

OBJECTIVES: Patients' trust in general practitioners (GPs) is fundamental to effective clinical encounters. Associations between patients' trust and their perceptions of communication within the consultation have been identified, but the influence of patients' demographic characteristics on these associations is unknown. We aimed to investigate the relative contribution of the patient's age, gender and ethnicity in any association between patients' ratings of interpersonal aspects of the consultation and their confidence and trust in the doctor. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of English national GP patient survey data (2009). SETTING: Primary Care, England, UK. PARTICIPANTS: Data from year 3 of the GP patient survey: 5 660 217 questionnaires sent to patients aged 18 and over, registered with a GP in England for at least 6 months; overall response rate was 42% after adjustment for sampling design. OUTCOME MEASURES: We used binary logistic regression analysis to investigate patients' reported confidence and trust in the GP, analysing ratings of 7 interpersonal aspects of the consultation, controlling for patients' sociodemographic characteristics. Further modelling examined moderating effects of age, gender and ethnicity on the relative importance of these 7 predictors. RESULTS: Among 1.5 million respondents (adjusted response rate 42%), the sense of 'being taken seriously' had the strongest association with confidence and trust. The relative importance of the 7 interpersonal aspects of care was similar for men and women. Non-white patients accorded higher priority to being given enough time than did white patients. Involvement in decisions regarding their care was more strongly associated with reports of confidence and trust for older patients than for younger patients. CONCLUSIONS: Associations between patients' ratings of interpersonal aspects of care and their confidence and trust in their GP are influenced by patients' demographic characteristics. Taking account of these findings could inform patient-centred service design and delivery and potentially enhance patients' confidence and trust in their doctor

Lexico-semantic Impairment in a Case of HSVE to the Left Anterior Temporal Lobe

This study investigates the role of the left anterior temporal lobe (aTL) in semantics. Clinical and neuroscientific investigations propose the aTL bilaterally (BaTL), are implicated in semantics, based on findings that: (1) disruption to BaTL results in a multimodal semantic impairment, observed in semantic dementia (SD) and herpes-simplex-viral-encephalitis (HSVE); (2) impairment can be mimicked by inducing a “virtual lesion” (repetitive-transcranial-magnetic-stimulation) to BaTL in neurologically intact participants; (3) neuroimaging studies identify BaTL activation for semantic tasks (Fig 1, Lambon Ralph et al., 2012, for points 1-3). Anchored in this evidence is the assumption that semantic impairment will result from BaTL damage only. Recently, investigators have suggested a loss of semantic knowledge can result from LaTL damage. Using sensitive tests, this can be observed in chronic stroke (Schwartz et al., 2009) and temporal lobe resection for epilepsy patients (rTLE: Antonucci et al., 2008; Lambon Ralph et al., 2012). Of interest is the striking similarity of rTLE and very early stages of SD (when atrophy is left sided and overlaps with resection) – impairment is mild and the primary symptom is anomia and/or forgetfulness. This builds upon the possibility that a semantic weakness may result from a LaTL lesion. Whilst rTLE studies have provided insight into this notion, one must be cautious – pre-surgical seizures may initiate changes in brain organisation/normal development, and reorganisation of function could occur post-surgery. Chronic stroke studies are problematic since lesions are large and encompass other areas that may contribute to the impairment. Consequently, whether LaTL lesions results in semantic impairment is not entirely understood. The goal of the present case study was to initiate an investigation to determine whether semantic impairment is in fact present following LaTL lesion

THE TEXAS FREEDOM COLONIES PROJECT ATLAS & STUDY

Web Site Description: Andrea Roberts, Texas Freedom Colonies Founder and Director, and her research team at Texas A&M University are excited to announce the launch of The Texas Freedom Colonies Atlas along with the Mapping Communities and Cultures Survey. From 2014 to the present,The Texas Freedom Colonies Project founder, Dr. Andrea Roberts has documented Black settlement heritage and grassroots preservation practice among descendants of these historic communities. Freedom colonies (an umbrella term for Black settlements, Black towns, enclaves, or freedmen's towns) are everywhere--hidden behind the pine curtain of the rural countryside and underneath the concrete landscapes of Houston, Dallas, Austin, and Beaumont. Until recently, planners have overlooked unmapped freedom colonies located in rural or unincorporated areas. Inspired by her own familial roots in freedom colonies, social justice, and the book Freedom Colonies by Thad Sitton, planning scholar, Dr. Roberts makes these places visible through her participatory action and ethnographic research. The result: old voices given new purposes, old stories making new maps, old places made visible and relevant. During Dr. Roberts' research process, she recorded origin stories and grassroots preservation practices. After co-researching with descendants, she was able to create the map above, which contains 34 located freedom colonies! If there are 34 in two counties, how many are there throughout Texas? Having determined what it would take to document every freedom colony in the State, she directed her research team to develop a new crowdsourcing mapping tool. Our research team has 557+ freedom colony place names recorded, and 357 locations mapped.When asked to identify the most critical moments in Black history, Americans’ typical responses include Emancipation, the Civil Rights movement, and the election of the first African American president. However, respondents are less likely to mention freedom colonies. Freedom colonies (FC) are historic African American settlements which are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, absent from public planning records, and lack access to the funding and technical assistance afforded incorporated, mapped areas in Texas. From 1865–1920, African Americans founded 557 self-sustaining FC settlements throughout Texas, of which 347 have been mapped. Initially, Texas’ FC were ‘‘individually unified only by church and school and residents' collective belief that a community existed” (Sitton, Thad & Conrad, James H., 2005, p. 18). Many FC, unfortunately, disappeared from public records, maps, and memory. These settlements’ populations, historic buildings, and visibility declined after World War II; a lack of estate planning made their landowners vulnerable to land loss. Sprawl, climate change, and gentrification have also destroyed these once secure, self-reliant communities. Furthermore, most formerly enslaved Texans settled in the only areas available to them--bottomland in low-lying areas (Sitton, Thad & Conrad, James H., 2005, pp. 23, 29) often in the path of hurricanes. The Texas Freedom Colonies Project Atlas and Study is a digital humanities platform and survey which crowdsources, maps, and aggregates freedom colony place, heritage, and social geographic data. The platform serves simultaneously as an online archive of various forms of "place evidence" in order to make visible to policymakers, researchers, and descendants of settlement founders, these endangered, historic spaces and places. This is the BETA version of the mapping tool used for testing and improving the current tool before its expansion.PESCA Gran

Early post-cleavage stages and abnormalities identified in the embryonic development of chokka squid eggs Loligo vulgaris reynaudii

Six early, post-cleavage embryonic stages for chokka squid Loligo vulgaris reynaudii eggs that were developed in an aquarium are identified and described, expanding the embryonic stages for this species from 14 to 20. The influence of water temperature on embryonic development is described. At temperatures 15&#176C, high percentages of morphological abnormalities were observed in embryonic development. Gross forms are described and illustrated.Keywords: abnormalities, aquarium, embryonic development, chokka squidAfrican Journal of Marine Science 2002, 24: 379–38

Vertebrate fauna associates of the Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Puffinus pacificus, colonies of Rottnest Island: influence of an ecosystem engineer

Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Puffinus pacificus, engineer the ecosystem by digging burrows in which they nest. This has been previously shown to affect the soil and vegetation properties of their colonies. Here we report on field surveys employed to investigate how associated vertebrate fauna respond to physical habitat modification by shearwaters. The study area was species poor, with only one mammal, and three reptile species detected in 1440 Elliott trap and 720 pitfall trap nights across a 13-month period. Nineteen bird species were recorded from 98 survey days. Relative to an area of uncolonised heath, we observed an increase in the abundance of King's Skinks, Egernia kingii, and a decrease in the abundance of House Mice, Mus musculus, and West Coast Ctenotus, Ctenotus fallens, in the shearwater colony. The survival rates of King's Skinks and House Mice were not affected by Wedge-tailed Shearwater presence. Bird species richness was less in the colony (9.2 ±0.5 species month-I) than the heath (11.5 ±0.2 species month-I), and the composition of the two communities was different. We suggest that ecosystem engineering by Wedge-tailed Shearwaters is a major determinant of fauna associates of their colonies and offer direct and indirect mechanisms to explain the patterns of species occurrence observed