Cash and voucher assistance along humanitarian supply chains: a literature review and directions for future research

This study reviews research on cash and voucher assistance (CVA) by applying a humanitarian supply chain management perspective. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify, analyse, and synthesise past academic research. The content, context, and process framework was used to structure the content analysis. The findings reveal that the outcomes of CVA programmes are dependent on critical context-specific variables that influence feasibility and operability. Humanitarian actors must consider factors that are external (the nature of disaster, politics, economy, and infrastructure) and internal (local market availability and accessibility, supplier/donor interest, supplier/vendor selection and contracting, and beneficiary preference) to the supply chain. The delivery process is influenced by them, impacting on programme responsiveness and cost-efficiency. The results provide insights that humanitarian practitioners can utilise to reconsider their supply chain strategies when deciding on the selection and implementation of CVA programmes. Potential literature gaps are identified, and recommendations for further research are provided.     

More than a response to food insecurity: demographics and social networks of urban dumpster divers

Paradoxically, cities in the developed world are simultaneously increasing levels of food waste and food insecurity. Social assistance programmes intend to provide vulnerable populations with food, but many people instead choose to collect food from municipal waste streams, including “dumpster diving”. Most food-insecure people who dumpster dive do so from need, to supplement food from, or avoid stigma related to, social assistance programmes. However, it is increasingly common for food-secure people to choose to dumpster dive. We used participant observation and semi-structured interviews to characterise urban dumpster divers in Montréal, Quebec, identify what items they dive for, and describe their social connectivity. We found that while some divers identified as food insecure and extremely poor, most did not; primarily, divers were Caucasian, university students, holding an “alternative” identity, and without a full-time job or children. Divers required specialised knowledge and mostly recuperated food waste from grocery stores and bakeries (e.g. breads, fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy products) that significantly improved the composition and quality of their diets. Unused goods were largely gifted and rarely sold. Food-insecure divers tended to be isolated, while food-secure divers had strong social connections because they frequently exchanged knowledge and goods and held common values. Our findings indicate that the dumpster diving community in Montréal is a heterogeneous group recuperating a range of goods for a variety of reasons that reduces food waste and alleviates food insecurity. We suggest that municipal policy-makers encourage the redistribution of potentially useful goods between local businesses and willing recuperators.     

Validation of an automated data collection method for quantifying social networks in collective behaviours

The social network of preferences among group members can affect the distribution and consequences of collective behaviours. However, the behavioural contexts and taxa in which social network structure has been described are still limited because such studies require extensive data. Here, we highlight the use of an automated passive integrated transponder (PIT)-tag monitoring system for social network analyses and do so in a novel context—nestling provisioning in an avian cooperative breeder, for which direct observation of social behaviours is difficult. First, we used observers and cameras to arrive at a suitable metric of nest visit synchrony in the PIT-tag data. Second, we validated the use of this metric for social network analyses using internal nest video cameras. Third, we used hierarchical regression models with ‘sociality’ parameter to investigate structure of networks collected from multiple groups. Use of PIT tags led to nest visitation duration and frequency being obtained with a high degree of accuracy for all group members, except for the breeding female for whom accurate estimations required the use of a video camera due to her high variability in visitation time. The PIT-tag dataset uncovered significant variability in social network structure. Our results highlight the importance of combining complementary observation methods when conducting social network analyses of wild animals. Our methods can also be generalised to multiple contexts in social systems wherever repeated encounters with other individuals in closed space have ecological implications.     

A longitudinal examination of role overload and work–family conflict: The mediating role of interdomain transitions

Through the lens of boundary theory, we examine whether the relationship between role overload and work–family conflict is explained by the use of interdomain transitions. With a sample of 250 working adults, we examined whether individuals respond to role overload by engaging in interdomain transitions and how the frequency of these transitions influences work–family conflict both concurrently and over time. Results support our expectation that at a given time, interdomain transitions function as an episodic coping mechanism with short‐term costs (greater work–family conflict) and benefits (less role overload). Also, engaging in interdomain transitions was an explanatory variable linking role overload and work–family conflict. We expected that, over time, engaging in interdomain transitions would function as a preventive coping mechanism, serving to reduce role overload. Interestingly though, several of the longitudinal hypotheses were counter to prediction. Our findings provide further evidence for the use of boundary theory in examinations of the work–family interface. Insights on areas within the literature that require further theoretical development are discussed, along with a consideration of the application of emerging methodologies within our empirical designs. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Runoff transport of pyrethroids from a residential lawn in central California

An irrigation runoff study on a residential lawn was conducted in California, northeast of Sacramento, during the summer and fall of 2008 to investigate the contribution of turf uses of pyrethroids to residues in Californian urban creek sediments. This study examined how over irrigation (i.e., irrigation that produces runoff) in the summer season may transport recently applied pyrethroids. The study included liquid and granular applications of both bifenthrin [(2-methyl-3-phenyl-phenyl) methyl 3-(2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoro-prop-1-enyl)-2,2-dimethyl-cyclopropane-1-carboxylate] and beta-cyfluthrin [Cyano(4-fluoro-3-phenoxyphenyl)methyl 3-(2,2-dichloroethenyl)-2,2-dimethyl-cyclopropanecarboxylate]. Generally, runoff did not occur at irrigation rates of 2.03 cm/h (0.8 in/h) but did occur when the irrigation rates were increased to about 3.81 cm/h (1.5 in/h), generating chemical losses in the first runoff event of up to 0.58 and 0.08% of applied for beta-cyfluthrin and bifenthrin, respectively. Chemical runoff losses dropped significantly between over-irrigation events with the third over-irrigation event chemical runoff losses representing 0.026 and 0.015% of applied for beta-cyfluthrin and bifenthrin, respectively. Runoff losses were generally less for liquid formulations than granular formulations but within a factor of three. Additionally, the study included a simulated winter rainstorm 8 wk after application. The low runoff losses from turf seen in this study suggest that other sources could be contributing to observed residues in urban streams. Other sources could include pyrethroids ending up on impervious surfaces, such as concrete driveways from off-target applications to turf, spills, and other poor handling practices, or pyrechroids applied directly to impervious surfaces for insect control.     

Problems of the gonad index and what can be done: analysis of the purple sea urchin <Emphasis Type="Italic">Strongylocentrotus purpuratus</Emphasis>

The gonad index, GI, is widely used as a measure of changes in reproductive state. There are, however, problems with its use because it is based on the implicit assumption of an isometric relationship between gonad size and some measure of total size. If, for example, gonad weight and total weight are used, the exponent for an allometric relationship usually is ignored and hence assumed to be 1.0. It is further assumed that this exponent is fixed for all states of the reproductive cycle and that gonads begin to develop at size = 0. Data for the purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus at Gregory Point, Oregon, USA, gathered over a period of 31 months showed that these assumptions cannot be supported. The relationship is better modeled with a function that (1) takes into account size of initial gonad production and (2) allows allometric exponents that vary with site or season. Thus, a better approach is to use a wide range of sizes to estimate size when gonads begin to develop and then, with this correction, ANCOVA to test for differences of gonad size among samples. Gonad changes at Gregory Point were estimated using fixed sizes of 5 cm diameter and 60 g total weight. Publishing means for X and Y, the standard error of the estimate, R ², and slope for each regression are shown to be sufficient to compare our results with results across studies.