Rats! What triggers us to control for rodents? Rodenticide user survey in British Columbia,Canada

Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are used worldwide to suppress rodent populations. Owing to the highly toxic and persistent properties of ARs, farmland predators are increasingly being documented with residues in their systems. Our objective was to evaluate the usage of ARs in Delta, the main region where raptor carcasses have been collected for AR residue testing in British Columbia. We found that farmers most frequently engaged in rodent control (95%). Hobby farmers and residential owners only engaged in rodent control if rodents had been seen or had damaged their property. Products containing brodifacoum were most frequently applied (32%), which was also the most commonly found AR in raptors sampled in the region. Unintended misuse (17%) stemmed from a lack of understanding about the differences in toxicity of products. Our survey demonstrates the need for more information for land-owners regarding correct AR application and safe disposal of poisoned rodents.     

Deriving guidelines for designing interactive questionnaires for low-literate persons: development of a health assessment questionnaire

Large groups in society, in particular people with low literacy, lack the necessary proactivity and problem-solving skills to be self-reliant. One omnipresent problem area where these skills are relevant regards filling in forms and questionnaires. These problems could be potentially alleviated by taking advantage of the possibilities of information and communication technology (ICT), for example by offering alternatives to text, interactive self-explaining scales and easily accessible background information on the questionnaires’ rationale. The goal of this paper was to present explorative design guidelines for developing interactive questionnaires for low-literate persons. The guidelines have been derived during a user-centered design process of the Dutch Talking Touch Screen Questionnaire (DTTSQ), an interactive health assessment questionnaire used in physical therapy. The DTTSQ was developed to support patients with low health literacy, meaning they have problems with seeking, understanding and using health information. A decent number of guidelines have been derived and presented according to an existing, comprehensive model. Also, lessons learned were derived from including low-literate persons in the user-centered design process. The guidelines should be made available to ICT developers and, when applied properly, will contribute to the advancement of (health) literacy and empower citizens to fully participate in society.     

Antifungal-demelanizing properties and RAW264.7 macrophages stimulation of glucan sulfate from the mycelium of the mushroom Ganoderma lucidum

Food Science and Biotechnology - Underutilized mycelium of Ganoderma lucidum BCCM 31549 has been a significant source of a glucan sulfate (GS) possessing therapeutic activities. GS have been...     

Repackaging the poor? Conceptualising neoliberal reforms of social rental housing

This paper considers the need for conceptual renewal in comparative housing research. Since the mid-1990s, Kemeny’s model of ‘unitary’ and ‘dualist’ rental markets and Harloe’s classification of ‘mass’ and ‘residual’ social housing provision have been repeatedly recycled in comparative studies of ‘social’ and ‘public’ housing provision. Amidst international neoliberal policy mobilities, their models based on liberal welfare regimes wield particular power. Conceived during neoliberal cutbacks of public services, Kemeny’s ‘dualist’ rental market and Harloe’s ‘residual’ model of social housing similarly depict state-subsidised rental housing provision as bureaucratic, and targeted to the poor. Despite empirical change, these models are still used to describe liberal welfare regimes, and to theorise international policy convergence. Based on a review of recent market-oriented reforms of state-subsidised rental housing provision in the US, Australia and England; original neoliberal ‘sites of production’, this contribution asks whether these conceptual models still reflect the empirics. Findings diverge from the models, undermining their assumptions about how neoliberal reforms progress.     

Persistence of fecal indicator bacteria in Santa Monica Bay beach sediments

Monitoring the water quality of recreational beaches is only one step toward understanding microbial contamination -- the primary cause of beach closings. The surf zone sediment reservoir is typically overlooked and may also be important. This study involved monitoring the fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) levels in water and sediment at three ocean beaches (two exposed and one enclosed) during a storm event, conducting laboratory microcosm experiments with sediment from these beaches, and surveying sediment FIB levels at 13 beaches (some exposed and some enclosed). Peaks in Escherichia coli and enterococci concentrations in water and sediment coincided with storm activity at the two exposed beaches, while levels of both FIB were consistently high and irregular at the enclosed beach. Results from microcosm experiments showing similar, dramatic growth of FIB in both overlying water and sediment from all beaches, as well as results from the beach survey, support the hypothesis that the quiescent environment rather than sediment characteristics can explain the elevated sediment FIB levels observed at enclosed beaches. This work has implications for the predictive value of FIB measurements, and points to the importance of the sediment reservoir.     

Past and projected rural land conversion in the US at state,regional, and national levels

The developed land area of the US increased by 14.2 million hectares between 1982 and 2003. Along with a projected US population increase to more than 360 million individuals by 2030 is an expected continuation of expanding rural land development. Related to population growth, rural land development and the associated loss of rural open space are expected to have a number of social, economic, and ecological implications. To gain greater insight into land development patterns, we used US Census Bureau and National Resources Inventory data to quantify per-housing-unit rates of land development during recent decades and to model future land development to 2030 for states and regions in the US. Based on these data, 0.50 ha of additional land were developed for each additional housing unit in the US. The numbers of hectares of newly developed land per additional housing unit were greatest in the South Central and Great Plains regions and least in the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain regions of the country. Combining population projections and trends in people per housing unit with development indices, we projected that developed area in the US will increase by 22 million hectares between 2003 and 2030, with the greatest absolute increases projected to occur in the Southeast and South Central regions of the US. We used sensitivity analysis to examine the impacts of changes in population migration patterns and per housing unit development patterns on increases in projected developed area.     

A power‐based leadership approach to project management

The concept of leadership relates to power structuring whereby the project leader may lead and motivate through power disposition. Power, in its diverse guises, combines interpersonal and structural elements and can be enhanced through political manoeuvring. Power may also be distributed unevenly between individuals in the project team. In this article a power‐based model of project leadership is developed, underpinned by a behaviour‐performance‐outcome approach and an appropriate methodology is developed for testing the construction enterprises in China using structural equations modelling. The fitness indices show that the resulting model which postulates that the motivational function of good leadership operates through managing power gaps by means of power‐sharing and power‐amassing is acceptable. The effects (both predominant magnitudes and statistical significance) from the project managers' referent power to power‐sharing and power‐amassing show that the project manager's inherent personal traits and credentials are critical to his/her power exercising so as to motivate members to secure management effectiveness.     

Effects of suppression of personal intrusive thoughts.

Whether the rebound effect of thought suppression would occur with self-generated intrusive thoughts and whether the rebound would be followed by negative metacognitions concerning one's ability to control one's thoughts were explored. In Exp 1, Ss (N?=?104) were asked to (1) suppress and then express or (2) express and then suppress their own intrusive thoughts during written stream-of-consciousness tasks. Results revealed the reverse of the rebound effect: Initial suppression was followed by diminished expression of the intrusive thoughts. Exp 2 (N?=?116) replicated the original rebound effect (D. M. Wegner, 1989) and showed that the rebound was followed by increased reports of feeling out of control of one's thoughts. But, once again, the rebound did not occur with Ss' own intrusive thoughts. Suppressing new thoughts may trigger the synthesis of obsession, but suppressing familiar thoughts in a new context may be less problematic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)