Effects of carbon dioxide on the searching behaviour of the root-feeding clover weevil <i>Sitona lepidus</i> (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The respiratory emission of CO2 from roots is frequently proposed as an attractant that allows soil-dwelling insects to locate host plant roots, but this role has recently become less certain. CO2 is emitted from many sources other than roots, so does not necessarily indicate the presence of host plants, and because of the high density of roots in the upper soil layers, spatial gradients may not always be perceptible by soil-dwelling insects. The role of CO2 in host location was investigated using the clover root weevil Sitona lepidus Gyllenhall and its host plant white clover (Trifolium repens L.) as a model system. Rhizochamber experiments showed that CO2 concentrations were approximately 1000 ppm around the roots of white clover, but significantly decreased with increasing distance from roots. In behavioural experiments, no evidence was found for any attraction by S. lepidus larvae to point emissions of CO2, regardless of emission rates. Fewer than 15% of larvae were attracted to point emissions of CO2, compared with a control response of 17%. However, fractal analysis of movement paths in constant CO2 concentrations demonstrated that searching by S. lepidus larvae significantly intensified when they experienced CO2 concentrations similar to those found around the roots of white clover (i.e. 1000 ppm). It is suggested that respiratory emissions of CO2 may act as a ‘search trigger’ for S. lepidus, whereby it induces larvae to search a smaller area more intensively, in order to detect location cues that are more specific to their host plant.<br/

Unseen is Unsold: Assessing Visual Equity with Commercial Eye-Tracking Data

In today’s cluttered retail environments, creating consumer pull through memory-based brand equity is not enough; marketers must also create “visual equity” for their brands (i.e., incremental sales triggered by in-store visual attention). In this paper, we show that commercial eye-tracking data, analyzed using a simple decision-path model of visual attention and brand consideration, can separately measure memory-based and visual equity of brands displayed on a supermarket shelf. In the two product categories studied, juices and detergents, we find that instore visual attention doubles on average the memory-based probability of consideration. Additionally, our empirical applications and normative analyses show how separating memorybased and visual equity can help improve managerial decisions about which brands to select for enhanced point-of-purchase marketing activities

Building a Better HAL 9000: Algorithms, the Market, and the Need to Prevent the Engraining of Bias

As sci-fi fans will recall, the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey is focused on the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence. In the movie, HAL (Heuristically programmed Algorithmic Computer) 9000 computer is an artificial intelligence and the onboard computer on the spaceship Discovery 1. HAL 9000, more commonly called “Hal,” is capable of many functions, such as speech, facial recognition, lip reading, interpreting emotions, and expressing emotions. HAL is built into the Discovery 1 spacecraft, and is in charge of maintaining all mechanical and life support systems on board. As the movie progresses, the astronauts become concerned about HAL’s behavior and agree to disconnect him, in essence killing HAL. HAL becomes aware of the plan and seeks to stop his death as the movie plot climaxes in a conflict between intelligent machine and his human controllers. Interestingly, 2001: A Space Odyssey author Arthur C. Clark could not have been more accurate about one of the emerging conflicts to face humanity: what role does society want machines to play in coordinating and governing human activity? The debate resonates from the shared economy to the ethics of artificial intelligence. This article seeks to advance the debate about the need for data regulation that focuses on the impact of the use of the data. First, it provides a brief explanation of data analytics, algorithms, and machine learning. Second, the article explores some of the common mistakes associated with data modeling within algorithmic processes. Third, the paper explores the impact of the use of data, specifically data that is used to create a digital personhood, to inform algorithms that perform basic services. Fourth and finally, the article seeks to define an ethical decision-making model and regulatory structure for data focusing on the impact of the use of the data upon the individual and society

Gender Specific Disruptions in Emotion Processing in Younger Adults with Depression

Background: One of the principal theories regarding the biological basis of major depressive disorder (MDD) implicates a dysregulation of emotion-processing circuitry. Gender differences in how emotions are processed and relative experience with emotion processing might help to explain some of the disparities in the prevalence of MDD between women and men. This study sought to explore how gender and depression status relate to emotion processing. Methods: This study employed a 2 (MDD status) × 2 (gender) factorial design to explore differences in classifications of posed facial emotional expressions (N=151). Results: For errors, there was an interaction between gender and depression status. Women with MDD made more errors than did nondepressed women and men with MDD, particularly for fearful and sad stimuli (Ps Ps P=.01). Men with MDD, conversely, performed similarly to control men (P=.61). Conclusions: These results provide novel and intriguing evidence that depression in younger adults (years) differentially disrupts emotion processing in women as compared to men. This interaction could be driven by neurobiological and social learning mechanisms, or interactions between them, and may underlie differences in the prevalence of depression in women and men. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. Published 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc

The relationship of moral reasoning style to counselor expression of empathy

Results in the literature indicate that high levels of moral development are positively correlated with high levels of empathy. However, the issue of moral reasoning style and its relationship to empathy remains unclear. The role that moral reasoning style (care vs. justice orientation) plays in counselors' ability to relate empathically to clients was investigated among a sample of 44 counselors-in-training. Results indicate that counselors were able to respond equally to clients with the same moral reasoning style as themselves and to those with a different style. Counselors with a care orientation were no more able than justice-oriented counselors to respond empathically. Findings contribute information about measures of moral reasoning style and suggest that matching of counselors with college-aged and young adult clients based on moral reasoning style is not an issue of concern for college counselors

Preparing Counselors-in-Training for Private Practice: A Course in Clinical Entrepreneurship

To date, few scholars in counselor education have attended to the processes and impacts of introducing business-related concepts within counseling curricula. The authors describe the development, implementation and evaluation of a graduate-level course titled Entrepreneurship in Clinical Settings wherein students were tasked with producing a business plan for their ideal clinical practice. Implications and recommendations are explored

The work activities of professional school counselors: Are the national standards being addressed?

This national study was designed to identify school counselors’ perceptions of the importance of performing work activities that promote students’ academic, career, and personal/social development. Furthermore, this study investigated how frequently school counselors performed work activities that promote these areas of students’ development. Results suggest that school counselors rate their work activities as important and the counselors are frequently performing these work activities