Alternative approaches to the construction of a composite indicator of agricultural sustainability: An application to irrigated agriculture in the Duero basin in Spain

This paper describes a comparative analysis of alternative methods of constructing composite indicators to measure the sustainability of the agricultural sector. The three methods employed were Principal Component Analysis, the Analytic Hierarchy Process and a Multi-Criteria technique. The comparison focused on the irrigated agriculture of the Duero basin in Spain as a case study, using a dataset of indicators previously calculated for various farm types and policy scenarios. The results enabled us to establish a hierarchy of preferred policy scenarios on the basis of the level of sustainability achieved, and show that the most recent CAP reform is the most sustainable agricultural policy scenario. By analyzing the heterogeneity of different farms types in each scenario, we can also determine the main features of the most sustainable farms in each case. The analysis demonstrates that full-time farmers with small to medium-sized farms and sowing profitable crops are the most sustainable farm types in all the policy scenarios. All of this information is useful for the support of agricultural policy design and its implementation, as we attempt to improve the sustainability of this sector.     

Connectivity of wood thrush breeding,wintering, and migration sites based on range‐wide tracking

Many migratory animals are experiencing rapid population declines, but migration data with the geographic scope and resolution to quantify the complex network of movements between breeding and nonbreeding regions are often lacking. Determining the most frequently used migration routes and nonbreeding regions for a species is critical for understanding population dynamics and making effective conservation decisions. We tracked the migration of individual Wood Thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina) (n = 102) from across their range with light‐level geolocators and, for the first time, quantified migration routes and wintering regions for distinct breeding populations. We identified regional and species‐level migratory connectivity networks for this declining songbird by combining our tracking results with range‐wide breeding abundance estimates and forest cover data. More than 50% of the species occupied the eastern wintering range (Honduras to Costa Rica), a region that includes only one‐third of all wintering habitat and that is undergoing intensive deforestation. We estimated that half of all Wood Thrushes in North America migrate south through Florida in fall, whereas in spring approximately 73% funnel northward through a narrow span along the central U.S. Gulf Coast (88–93°W). Identifying migratory networks is a critical step for conservation of songbirds and we demonstrated with Wood Thrushes how it can highlight conservation hotspots for regional populations and species as a whole. Conectividad de Sitios de Reproducción, Invierno y Migración del Zorzal con Base en Rastreo de Cobertura Amplia     

Antibacterial activity of different natural honeys from Transylvania,Romania

Honey is used in food industry and medicine due to its nutritive, therapeutic and dietetic qualities. The microbiological characteristics of 10 unpasteurized honey samples of known origin, collected from Transylvania beekeepers (Romania) were determined. The antibacterial activity of these types of honey against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella anatum, Salmonella choleraesuis, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis subsp. spizizenii and Listeria monocytogenes strains was studied. The most sensitive to the antibacterial activity were the two staphylococus strains (the largest diameter of inhibition zone was 18 mm) and B. subtilis strains (13.5 mm). The strains of B. cereus, E. coli, L. monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. were found to present resistance to some of the honey samples. Manna, sunflower and polyfloral honeys presented high antibacterial activity while acacia and linden honeys had a lower activity in terms of the number of sensible strains. Statistical analysis shows that the type of strains and the type of honey have influence on the diameter of inhibition.     

A survey of light-vehicle driver education curriculum on sharing the road with heavy vehicles

IntroductionLight-vehicle driver education programs that contain content about sharing the road with heavy vehicles may be helpful in reducing future light-vehicle/heavy-vehicle interactions. However, the extent of curricula in the United States including such content is unclear.MethodResearchers developed an online survey targeted at instructors/administrators of state driver education programs to identify curricula addressing heavy vehicles and to determine perceived effectiveness.ResultsNinety-one percent of respondents indicated that the light-vehicle driver education curriculum they teach/administer included a component covering how to safely share the road with heavy vehicles (82% perceived this component to be effective).DiscussionAlthough a large proportion of these programs included a component on how to safely share the road with heavy vehicles, participants indicated there may be room for improvement.Impact on IndustryParticipants recommended that future improvements to driver education programs include updated materials and student hands-on experience with heavy vehicles.     

COMPARING THE IMPAIRMENT PROFILES OF OLDER DRIVERS AND NON-DRIVERS: TOWARD THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FITNESS-TO-DRIVE MODEL

The purpose of this research effort was to compare older driver and non-driver functional impairment profiles across some 60 assessment metrics in an initial effort to contribute to the development of fitness-to-drive assessment models. Of the metrics evaluated, 21 showed statistically significant differences, almost all favoring the drivers. Also, it was shown that a logistic regression model comprised of five of the assessment scores could completely and accurately separate the two groups. The results of this study imply that older drivers are far less functionally impaired than non-drivers of similar ages, and that a parsimonious model can accurately assign individuals to either group. With such models, any driver classified or diagnosed as a non-driver would be a strong candidate for further investigation and intervention.     

The human cervical spine in tension: effects of frame and fixation compliance on structural responses

There is little data available on the responses of the human cervical spine to tensile loading. Such tests are mechanistically and technically challenging due to the variety of end conditions that need to be imposed and the difficulty of strong specimen fixation. As a result, spine specimens need to be tested using fairly complex, and potentially compliant, apparati in order to fully characterize the mechanical responses of each specimen. This, combined with the relatively high stiffness of human spine specimens, can result in errors in stiffness calculations. In this study, 18 specimen preparations were tested in tension. Tests were performed on whole cervical spines and on spine segments. On average, the linear stiffness of the segment preparations was 257 N/mm, and the stiffness of the whole cervical spine was 48 N/mm. The test frame was found to have a stiffness of 933 N/mm. Assembling a whole spine from a series combination of eight segments with a stiffness of 257 N/mm results in an estimated whole spine stiffness of 32.1 N/mm (32% error). The segment stiffnesses were corrected by assuming that the segment preparation stiffness is a series combination of the stiffnesses of the segment and the frame. This resulted in an average corrected segment stiffness of 356 N/mm. Taking the frame compliance into account, the whole spine stiffness is 51 N/mm. A series combination of eight segments using the corrected stiffnesses results in an estimated whole spine stiffness of 45.0 N/mm (12% error). We report both linear and nonlinear stiffness models for male spines and conclude that the compliance of the frame and the fixation must be quantified in all tension studies of spinal segments. Further, reported stiffness should be adjusted to account for frame and fixation compliance.     

Promoting felt responsibility for constructive change and proactive behavior: exploring aspects of an elaborated model of work design

Although new theoretical models that are suggestive of how work design might be used to foster proactive motivation and proactive performance have been proposed, these models need further elaboration and testing if they are to be useful tools for contemporary organizations. Accordingly, we examine the extent to which feelings of responsibility for constructive change is a proactive psychological mechanism that explains how work design characteristics influence constructive change‐oriented behavior and proactive performance. Specifically, we examine job autonomy, position in the organizational hierarchy, access to resources, access to strategy‐related information, and role ambiguity as antecedents to felt responsibility for constructive change (FRCC). We also examine the extent to which feelings of responsibility for constructive change are positively related to voice behavior (i.e., constructive, change‐oriented communication) and continuous improvement (i.e., proactive role performance). Results indicate hierarchical position and access to resources are positively related to FRCC. Results also indicate proactive personality moderates the relationship between access to resources and FRCC and the relationship between access to strategy‐related information and FRCC. Plots of the interactions reveal that these relationships are enhanced for individuals with proactive personalities. The results also indicate that FRCC is positively related to voice behavior and continuous improvement. Perhaps more importantly, the results suggest that FRCC explains the psychological process by which structural and socio‐structural forces influence proactive behavior. The results are discussed as they pertain to updated work design theory and theories of high involvement work systems, job characteristics, and leadership prototypes. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Of Bodies, Place, and Culture: Re-Situating Local Food

In the US, an increasingly popular local food movement is propelled along by structural arguments that highlight the inequity and unsustainablity of the current agri-food system and by individually based arguments that highlight personal health and well-being. Despite clear differences in their foci, the deeper values contained in each argument tend to be neglected or lost, while local innovations assume instrumental and largely market-based forms. By narrowing their focus to the rational and the economic, movement activists tend to overlook (or marginalize) the role of the sensual, the emotional, the expressive for maintaining layered sets of embodied relationships to food and to place. This paper seeks to show that cultural and nonrational elements are fundamental to local food discussions. It proceeds from the assumption that, without them as full partners, the movement cannot be sustained in any felt, practiced, or committed way. To this end, it discusses the concept of place and bodies in place, as well as the connections between the ecological and the cultural, the sensual and the scientific. It offers a new set of questions and conceptual tools with which advocates and activists may “ground,” and thereby revalue and restore, the promise and practice of local food.     

Spatial relationships and matrilineal kinship in African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) clans

African savanna elephants, Loxodonta africana, live in stable family groups consisting of adult females and their dependent offspring. During the dry season, clans consisting of several family groups typically share a common home range. We compared spatial relationships and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes among 14 adult female elephants within 3 clans during the dry season in northern Zimbabwe. Spatial relationships were studied by radio-tracking. Home-range similarity was quantified by correlating the estimated utilization distributions of all pairs of elephants. Clans were identified by cluster analysis of the home-range similarity values. All three clans contained at least two of the five mtDNA haplotypes that were found, indicating that clan members are not necessarily matrilineally related. Within clans, home ranges of elephants with the same haplotype were not significantly more similar to each other than those of elephants with different haplotypes. Most elephants within each clan used their shared home ranges independently of each other: the distribution of distances between their positions at any given time did not differ from the distribution expected by chance. However, 8 out of the 26 within-clan pairs exhibited long-term coordination of space use by remaining within known hearing distance of each others low-frequency calls significantly more often than expected by chance. At least four of these coordinated pairs consisted of animals in different family groups. Elephants in three of the four different-family pairs whose movements were coordinated had different haplotypes. Further research is needed to determine the relationship between these coordinated movements and conventionally defined bond-group behavior.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at .Communicated by C. Nunn