Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Sciene Plays Defense: Natural Resource Management In The Bush Administration, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

The George W. Bush Administration has been criticized by scientists for its use of science in the policy arena generally, and for politicizing science. However, the problem is more one of the scientizing of politics, as the administration has shown that the rhetoric of science can be used defensively, as a barrier to regulation. Key methods used by the administration to pursue its strategy of defensive science in natural resource management are detailed. A more normatively defensible, and a more politically effective, strategy for conservationists would emphasize the need to bring transparency and a commitment to updating into the regulatory …

Palestine Refuses To Disappear”, Le Monde Diplomatique, December 2012, Leila Farsakh

Leila Farsakh

No abstract provided.

Wine Tourism In The Temecula Valley: Neoliberal Development Policies And Their Contradictions, Kevin Yelvington, Jason Simms, Elizabeth Murray

Jason L Simms

Wine tourism is a growing phenomenon, with tourists enjoying not only wine but a rural lifestyle that is associated with winegrowing areas and the elusive essence of terroir. The Temecula Valley in southern California, a small wine-producing region and wine tourism destination, is experiencing state-led plans for a vast expansion of production and tourism capacity. This article traces the challenges inherent in this development process, and questions the sustainability of such plans regarding the very environment the wine tourists seek out, especially regarding the availability of natural resources, mainly water, needed to fulfill these plans. The article concludes with a …

From “Top-Down” To “Middle-Out”: China And Japan Can Reconcile Their Relationship, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

欧盟环境政策的新发展及启示, 邓翔, 瞿小松, 路征

Zheng Lu (Chinese: 路征)

近年来，欧盟环境政策的改革和发展备受关注，在第六个环境行动计划即将结束之际，欧盟又提出了一系列环境行动指南和规划，包括生态创新行动计划、生态管理和审核计划、环境合规性援助计划、资源效率路线图、海洋战略框架、绿色公共采购等。本文对上述欧盟环境政策的最新发展进行了系统分析，并对其整体政策效果做出了评价，最后指出了欧盟环境政策对我国环境政策制定的启示和借鉴。

Community Improvement Districts In Georgia: Administrators' Views On Their Effectiveness, Performance, And Accountability, Andrew Ewoh, Kristin Rome

Andrew I.E. Ewoh

Since the early 1990s, Georgia has been a leading participant in public-private partnerships, as exemplified by its many community improvement districts (CIDs). The goals and uses of CIDs vary, but commonly include fundraising, maintaining aesthetically pleasing business environments, controlling traffic flow, and infrastructural improvements. A survey research method was used to examine the effectiveness, performance, and accountability of CIDs in Georgia as perceived by their leaders. Lack of citizen participation was found to be a major problem of CID governance; this has serious public policy implications that can only be remedied by demands for inclusion by residents.

A Second Look At The 2007-08 Food Price Crisis: Considering The Impact Of Endogenous Dynamics On Food Prices, Luigi Russi

Luigi Russi

This paper offers an alternative to the conventional explanation of the 2007-08 food price crisis in terms of escalating demand or dwindling supply. Instead, its focus is on the legal institutional structure of commodity futures markets, which has witnessed a drastic alteration in the role of speculators. These have transformed from “market makers” (that keep commodity futures markets liquid by arbitraging on price fluctuations) to “market breakers”. Index speculation, in particular, has had the effect of muddling information about market “fundamentals” because of the need – brought about by commodity index swaps – for swap dealers to hedge the fluctuations …

Incorporating Digital Health Literacy Into Adult Esl Education On The Us-Mexico Border, Erika Mein, Francisco Soto Mas

Francisco Soto Mas

The increasing digitization of information and communication has undoubtedly impacted the ways in which people in the United States access and interpret health information. Although the traditional emphasis of health literacy research has been the comprehension of health-related texts such as patient information forms, prescriptions, and medicine labels, the increased use of electronic means to locate health information requires more critical engagement with texts beyond basic comprehension. In accessing electronic health information, patients need to be able to navigate the vast amount of online health information and to interpret and synthesize health information across multiple sources (i.e. websites) while also …

Estimating The Accuracy Of Neurocognitive Effort Measures In The Absence Of A “Gold Standard”, Douglas Mossman, Dustin Wygant, Roger Gervais

Dustin B. Wygant

Psychologists frequently use symptom validity tests (SVTs) to help determine whether evaluees' test performance or reported symptoms accurately represent their true functioning and capability. Most studies evaluating the accuracy of SVTs have used either known-group comparisons or simulation designs, but these approaches have well-known limitations (potential misclassifications or lack of ecological validity). This study uses latent class modeling (LCM) implemented in a Bayesian framework to estimate SVT classification accuracy based on data obtained from real-life forensic evaluations. We obtained archival data from 1,301 outpatient evaluees who underwent testing with the Computerized Assessment of Response Bias (CARB), the Test of Memory …

Journal Make-Over: Practical Steps To Better Journals, Irene Perciali

Irene Kamotsky

This webinar presents the strategies that commercial publishers use to improve the profile and impact of a journal. A few simple steps can make a significant difference for many journals. Irene emphasizes four essential steps toward better journals: recruiting more submissions, conveying credibility through the journal's homepage and design, speeding editorial workflows, and building your readership. Drawing on the nearly 500 journals on the bepress Digital Commons platform, the webinar also suggests specific benchmarks for success. The presentation is designed for library staff as well as faculty and student editors.

A Human Centered Geovisualization Framework To Facilitate Visual Exploration Of Telehealth Data: A Case Study, Ashish Joshi, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Background: Public health data is typically organized by geospatial units. Routine geographic monitoring of health data enables an understanding of the spatial patterns of events in terms of causes and controls. GeoVisualization (GeoVis) allows users to see information hidden both visually and explicitly on a map. Despite the applicability of GeoVis in public health, it is still underused for visualizing public health data. Objective: The objective of this study is to conduct user analysis by examining the various kinds of users that are involved with the telehealth program, their expertise and skills and their perception towards the utilization of GeoVis …

Staying Systemic: The Example Of Separation, Divorce And Remarriage, Tiffani Kisler

Tiffani S. Kisler

No abstract provided.

Price Elasticity Of Expenditure Across Health Care Services, Fabian Duarte

Fabian Duarte

Policymakers in countries around the world are faced with rising health care costs and are debating ways to reform health care to reduce expenditures. Estimates of price elasticity of expenditure are a key component for predicting expenditures under alternative policies. Using unique individual-level data compiled from administrative records from the Chilean private health insurance market, I estimate the price elasticity of expenditures across a variety of health care services. I find elasticities that range between zero for the most acute service (appendectomy) and −2.08 for the most elective (psychologist visit). Moreover, the results show that at least one third of …

Academics’ Attitudes Towards Phd Students’ Teaching: Preparing Research Higher Degree Students For An Academic Career, Denise Jepsen, Melinda Varhegyi, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

An exploratory study of 473 academics in a metropolitan university investigated the attitudes of academic spervisors towards training for university teaching for doctoral students. The study investigated academic supervisors’ levels of awareness and knowledge of teacher training opportunities, the relative importance of teaching – both lecturing and tutoring – compared with research in the academic selection process, and the academics’ own entry into and attitudes about PhD students teaching during their candidature. Results indicate that academic supervisors are more aware of short courses and workshops than in-depth teaching certificates and diplomas. In terms of the relative value of aspects of …

Assessing Higher Education Learning Outcomes In Civil Engineering: The Oecd Ahelo Feasibility Study, Roger Hadgraft, Jacob Pearce, Daniel Edwards, Julian Fraillon, Hamish Coates

Dr Daniel Edwards

BACKGROUND

Higher education is increasingly a global business. At present, university ranking schemes are heavily reliant on research indicators, while students are likely looking for an excellent teaching and learning environment. Aware of this discrepancy, the OECD has funded the AHELO project.

PURPOSE

AHELO was designed to test the feasibility of an international assessment of higher education learning outcomes. The two test disciplines are civil engineering and economics, together with an assessment of generic skills. The civil engineering test will be reported in this paper.

More than a ranking, AHELO is a direct evaluation of student performance. It is intended …

Equilibria Existence And Characterization In Auctions: Achievements And Open Questions, Luciano De Castro, Daniel Karney

Daniel H Karney

Establishing existence and characterizing equilibria are both important achievements in the study of auctions. However, we recognize that equilibria existence results form the basis for well accepted characterizations. In this survey, we review the landmark results and highlight open questions regarding equilibria existence and characterizations in auctions. In addition, we review the standard assumptions underlying these results, and discuss the suitability of the Nash equilibrium solution concept. We focus our review on single-object auctions, but also review results in multi-unit, divisible, combinatorial and double auctions.

Mußestudien Und Radiochemie: Eine Fruchtpfolle Synthese, Winfried S. Peters

Winfried S. Peters

Obama In Words And Deeds, Donna R. Hoffman, Alison D. Howard

Alison Dana Howard

The Viability Of Malaysian Developmental State For Africa In An Era Of Economic Globalization, Asayehgn Desta

Asayehgn Desta

The Return Of Dr. Strangelove: How Austerity Makes Us Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb…And Cyber War, Jan Kallberg, Adam Lowther

Jan Kallberg

With sequestration looming—generating significant cuts to defense spending—the United States may find itself increasingly relying on nuclear and cyber deterrence as an affordable way to guarantee national sovereignty and prevent major conflict. While earlier defense planning and acquisitions were based on economic conditions that no longer exist, Congress’ options to balance the budget by cutting defense spending are politically palatable because far fewer American are “defense voters” than “social welfare voters,” according to a number of recent public opinion surveys.

The Unique And Combined Effects Of Homelessness And School Mobility On The Educational Outcomes Of Young Children, John W. Fantuzzo, Whitney A. Leboeuf, Chin-Chih Chen, Heather Rouse, Dennis P. Culhane

Heather Rouse

This study examined the unique and combined associations of homelessness and school mobility with educational well-being indicators, as well as the mediating effect of absenteeism, for an entire cohort of third-grade students in Philadelphia. Using integrated archival administrative data from the public school district and the municipal Office of Supportive Housing, multilevel linear models were estimated to test these associations while adjusting for nesting of students within schools. Findings demonstrated that homelessness had a unique association with problems in classroom engagement, school mobility was uniquely related to both academic achievement and problems in classroom engagement, and experiencing both homelessness and …

Book Review: H-Net, By Zachary Fredman (December, 2012), Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

Experimental Economics, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.

The Performance Of Multiple Imputation And Full Information Maximum Likelihood For Missing Ordinal Data In Structural Equation Models, Eric D. Teman J.D., Ph.D.

Eric D Teman, J.D., Ph.D.

Monte Carlo simulation techniques were used to compare the performance of full information maximum likelihood (FIML), multiple imputation, and listwise deletion to handle missing ordinal data in confirmatory factor analyses and full structural equation models. Robust ML (Satorra-Bentler) and weighted least squares mean- and variance adjusted (WLSMV) were used as estimators with listwise deletion employed. The listwise deletion methods were compared with FIML and multiple imputation (with the multivariate probit model used during the imputation phase and WLSMV used at the analysis phase). The method for treatment of missing data, rate of missing data, missing data mechanism, model parameterization, level …

Perspectives On Help-Negation, Coralie J. Wilson

Coralie J Wilson

Help-negation refers to the process of help avoidance or refusal that commonly occurs in clinical and non-clinical samples with varying forms and levels of psychological symptoms. In the last decade the effect has been established as an inverse relationship between the severity of symptoms and help-seeking for suicidal ideation, depression, and general psychological distress, for a variety of professional and non-professional help sources [see Wilson CJ, Bushnell JA, Caputi P. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 2011; 5: 34-39, for a review]. Findings from now over 20 help-negation studies suggest that at least some types of psychological symptoms or processes associated with …

Ieee T&S Magazine: Undergoing Transformation, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Our Magazine is in a transformative period, not only because we are ‘Going Green’ in 2013 but because we are experiencing tremendous growth in quality international submissions. This means that we are increasingly appealing to an international audience with transdisciplinary interests. This has not gone unnoticed by the media, nor by our SSIT readership or wider engineering community.

Table Annexed To Article: Hamilton And Madison Deploy ‘Constitution’ Surveyed By Percent Of Words In Source, Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

In the last of three articles, OCL surveys the deployment of ‘constitution’ through The Federalist Papers, the bank bill debates and the remainder of Madison’s life (post-presidency). Numeric values for hits are computed for the range of semantic values, with the focus being constitution = text (locatable in only one place) competing with constitution = government. A net score is proposed which measures the effort an author has expended to ‘cleanse’ his semantic palette by employing one semantic value over a competing value.

African-American Children’S Active Reasoning About Media Texts As A Precursor To Media Literacy., Renee Hobbs

Renee Hobbs

No abstract provided.

Manager-In-Chief: Applying Public Management Theory To Examine White House Chief Of Staff Performance, David B. Cohen, Justin S. Vaughn, José D. Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

In an effort to examine the causal determinants of performance dynamics for the administrative presidency, we apply empirical public management theory to White House administration to explain managerial performance. Utilizing original survey data that measures the perceptions of former officials from the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton administrations, we conduct quantitative analyses to determine the extent to which a chief of staff’s background, relationship with the president, and internal as well as external management approaches shape overall perceptions of White House administrative efforts. We find that managerial dimensions matter considerably when explaining the dynamics of White House organizational performance.

Climate Change, Forest Privatization, And Apocalyptic Prophesies In Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jose E. Martinez-Reyes

Jose E. Martinez-Reyes

No abstract provided.