Identifying Stakeholders’ Needs for Agricultural Communications in Higher Education Curriculum in Australia

Agriculture is a vital part of the Australian economy. With an industry poised for growth, and a growing disconnect between consumers and agriculture, additional communication efforts are needed. The purpose of this study was to complete a curriculum visioning process to inform agricultural communications curriculum development in Australia. This study used a qualitative research design consisting of face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with individuals from 14 agricultural organizations and two universities. The results indicated the industry is addressing many challenges, but also has opportunities that would benefit from strategic communication efforts. Participants provided suggestions regarding the specific communication skills and agriculture knowledge future employees should possess. Recognizing these competencies informed the curriculum visioning process for agricultural communications as an academic discipline within Australian higher education. Recommendations for both practice and future research are provided

A Framework for the Specificity of Addictions

Research over the last two decades suggests that a wide range of substance and behavioral addictions may serve similar functions. Yet, co-occurrence of addictions has only been reported among a minority of addicts. “Addiction specificity” pertains to a phenomenon in which one pattern of addictive behaviors may be acquired whereas another is not. This paper presents the PACE model as a framework which might help explain addiction specificity. Pragmatics, attraction, communication, and expectation (PACE) variables are described, which may help give some direction to future research needs in this arena

New Foundations: Pseudo-pacification and special liberty as potential cornerstones of a multi-level theory of homicide and serial murder

Over the past 30 years the industrialized West has witnessed a move towards space, heterogeneity and subjectivity in the criminological study of violence and homicide. Although large-scale quantitative studies of the temporal and spatial distribution of homicide continue to provide a broad empirical context, aetiological explanations tend to be based on analyses of the heterogeneous psychological interactions and experiences of individual subjects at the micro-level. However, mid-range studies of the temporal and spatial distribution of perpetrators and victims of homicide between unrelated adults have provided a useful link between the micro- and macro-levels. Focusing primarily on British homicide and serial murder, this article attempts to strengthen this link by combining contemporary micro-analyses of the subjective motives of perpetrators with mid-range analyses of space, which can therefore be seen as part of the structural tradition of theorizing about homicide and serial murder. Placing these analyses in a broad underlying context constituted by major historical shifts in political economy and the cultural forms of ‘pseudo-pacification’ and ‘special liberty’ will lay the initial cornerstones for an integrated multi-level theory. © The Author(s) 2014

Spatial variability in tree-ring carbon isotope discrimination in response to local drought across the entire loblolly pine natural range

International audienceConsidering the temporal responses of carbon isotope discrimination (13 C) to local water availability in the spatial analysis of 13 C is essential for evaluating the contribution of environmental and genetic facets of plant 13 C. Using tree-ring 13 C from years with contrasting water availability at 76 locations across the natural range of loblolly pine, we decomposed site-level 13 C signals to maximum 13 C in well-watered conditions (13 C max) and isotopic drought sensitivity (m) as a change in 13 C per unit change of Palmer's Drought Severity Index (PDSI). Site water status, especially the tree lifetime average PDSI, was the primary factor affecting 13 C max. The strong spatial correlation exhibited by m was related to both genetic and environmental factors. The long-term average water availability during the period relevant to trees as indicated by lifetime average PDSI correlated with 13 C max , suggesting acclimation in tree gas-exchange traits, independent of incident water availability. The positive correlation between lifetime average PDSI and m indicated that loblolly pines were more sensitive to drought at mesic than xeric sites. The m was found to relate to a plant's stomatal control and may be employed as a genetic indicator of efficient water use strategies. Partitioning 13 C to 13 C max and m provided a new angle for understanding sources of variation in plant 13 C, with several fundamental and applied implications