Does trust play a role when it comes to donations? A comparison of Italian and US higher education institutions

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced severe cutbacks in funding over the past few years, with universities examining options for alternative funding streams, such as alumni funding. Identifying the factors influencing their alumni's intentions to invest in their alma mater can be of significant importance when establishing a sustainable revenue stream. Within this context, empirical research on the potential role of trust is scarce. This paper aims to deepen the analysis of the relationship between alumni trust and engagement as well as three outcomes, namely support, commitment, and attitude toward donation. A structural equation model was tested on two samples of US (  = 318) and Italian (  = 314) alumni. Although both countries are affluent and developed countries, the USA has an established tradition of alumni donations, which is not such a developed practice in Italy. For both countries, results confirm that engagement is an antecedent of trust, which in turn leads to the three investigated outcomes (support, commitment, and attitude toward donations). In contrast, the effect of commitment on attitude toward donations is significant only for the USA universities. The paper has interesting theoretical and managerial implications. From a theoretical point of view, the study aims to address a gap concerning the role of trust in the HE context. Managerially, the study has significant implications for universities that want to change alumni attitude toward donations. [Abstract copyright: © Springer Nature B.V. 2020.

Climate‐related geographical variation in performance traits across the invasion front of a widespread non‐native insect

Aim Invasive species are ideal systems for testing geographical differences in performance traits and measuring evolutionary responses as a species spreads across divergent climates and habitats. The European gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar dispar L. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), is a generalist forest defoliator introduced to Medford, Massachusetts, USA in 1869. The invasion front extends from Minnesota to North Carolina and the ability of this species to adapt to local climate may contribute to its continuing spread. We evaluated the performance of populations along the climatic gradient of the invasion front to test for a relationship between climate and ecologically important performance traits. Location Eastern United States of America Taxon Lymantria dispar dispar L. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) Methods Insects from 14 populations across the US invasion front and interior of the invasive range were reared from hatch to adult emergence in six constant temperature treatments. The responses of survival, pupal mass and larval development time were analysed as a function of source climate (annual mean normal temperature), rearing temperature and their interaction using multiple polynomial regression. Results With the exception of female development time, there were no significant interactions between source climate and rearing temperature, indicating little divergence in the shape of thermal reaction norms among populations. Source population and rearing temperature were significant predictors of survival and pupal mass. Independent of rearing temperature, populations from warmer climates had lower survival than those from colder climates, but attained larger body size despite similar development times. Larval development time was dependent on rearing temperature, but there were not consistent relationships with source climate. Main Conclusions Thermal adaptation can be an important factor shaping the spread of invasive species, particularly in the context of climate change. Our results suggest that L. d. dispar is highly plastic, but has undergone climate-related adaptation in thermal performance and life-history traits as it spread across North America

The use of spatial analysis in mapping the distribution of bancroftian filariasis in four West African countries.

The geographical distribution of human infection with Wuchereria bancrofti was investigated in four West African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Togo), using a commercial immunochromatographic test for filarial antigen. Efforts were made to cover each health-system implementation unit and to ensure no sampling point was >50 km from another, but otherwise the 401 study communities were selected at random. The aim was to enable spatial analysis of the data, to provide a prediction of the overall spatial relationships of the infection. The results, which were subjected to an independent random validation in Burkina Faso and Ghana, revealed that prevalence in the adult population of some communities exceeded 70% and that, over large areas of Burkina Faso, community prevalences were between 30% and 50%. Most of Togo, southern Benin and much of southern Ghana appeared completely free of the infection. Although there were foci on the Ghanaian coast with prevalences of 10%-30%, such high prevalences did not extend into coastal Togo or costal Benin. The prevalence map produced should be useful in prioritizing areas for filariasis control, identifying potential overlap with ivermectin-distribution activities undertaken by onchocerciasis-control programmes, and enabling inter-country and sub-regional planning to be initiated. The results indicate that bancroftian filariasis is more widely distributed in arid areas of Burkina Faso than hitherto recognized and that the prevalences of infection have remained fairly stable for at least 30 years. The campaign to eliminate lymphatic filariasis as a public-health problem in Africa will require significantly more resources (human, financial, and logistic) than previously anticipated