Remittances as aid following major sudden‐onset natural disasters

There is a general assumption, based on macroeconomic studies, that remittances will rise following major sudden‐onset natural disasters. This is confirmed by a few assessments involving country‐specific research, and usually short‐term data. This study, questioning conventional wisdom, reviewed and graphed annual and quarterly remittance flows using International Monetary Fund and World Bank data from 2000–14 for 12 countries that confronted 18 major natural disasters. It found that, regardless of event type, annual remittances rose steadily from 2000–14 except for after the 2008–09 financial crisis. Post disaster, there was a quarterly increase in the majority of cases (confirming previous research) but there was seldom an annual increase in the year of the disaster greater than the average annual increase in 2000–14. It appears that remittance senders rush to provide assistance after a natural disaster, but since their own financial situation has not changed, the immediate increase is compensated by a later decrease.     

Chemical Warfare Materiel: Unique Regulatory Issues

In those states that have not included CWM as hazardous materials in their RCRA programs, the RCRA requirements for management of hazardous waste would not strictly apply to any of the CWM. The Army has historically implemented procedures requiring that chemical warfare agents be managed as RCRA hazardous waste regardless of the concentration, physical form, or configuration of the agent. Such application of strict hazardous waste requirements to management of potentially nonhazardous CWM can result in remedial costs well out of proportion to potential human health and environmental benefits. Recent development of chronic toxicity values for the CWM has opened the door for development of cleanup and waste management standards for waste streams or media containing small residual amounts of CWM. Implementation of this health-based approach to management of CWM remediation wastes may, in part, help to reduce potentially unnecessary hazardous waste management costs for the nonhazardous CWM.     

Superfund cleanup: Designing containment remedies for recreational reuse

In July, 1999, EPA announced its Superfund Redevelopment Initiative, the Agency's effort to help communities bring Superfund sites back into productive use in a manner that is protective of human health and the environment. As part of the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative, the Agency is developing reuse design guides that provide technical information related to the design of remedies that safely support reuse. The design guides focus on the reuse of containment sites, and address such topics as settlement, gas control, irrigation, drainage, and operation and maintenance. Case studies of redeveloped sites are also presented in the guides. EPA is currently developing design guides that address the reuse of Superfund sites for commercial purposes, wildlife areas, parking lots, recreational sports fields, and golf courses. This article provides information on the first guide in the series‐the reuse of Superfund sites for recreational purposes.     

Controls on Temperature in Salmonid‐Bearing Headwater Streams in Two Common Hydrogeologic Settings,Kenai Peninsula,Alaska

Headwater streams are the most numerous in terms of both number and length in the conterminous United States and play important roles as spawning and rearing grounds for numerous species of anadromous fish. Stream temperature is a controlling variable for many physical, chemical, and biological processes and plays a critical role in the overall health and integrity of a stream. We investigated the controls on stream temperature in salmon‐bearing headwater streams in two common hydrogeologic settings on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska: (1) drainage‐ways, which are low‐gradient streams that flow through broad valleys; and (2) discharge‐slopes, which are high gradient streams that flow through narrow valleys. We hypothesize local geomorphology strongly influences surface‐water and groundwater interactions, which control streamflow at the network scale and stream temperatures at the reach scale. The results of this study showed significant differences in stream temperatures between the two hydrogeologic settings. Observed stream temperatures were higher in drainage‐way sites than in discharge‐slope sites, and showed strong correlations as a continuous function with the calculated topographic metric flow‐weighted slope. Additionally, modeling results indicated the potential for groundwater discharge to moderate stream temperature is not equal between the two hydrogeologic settings, with groundwater having a greater moderating effect on stream temperature at the drainage‐way sites.     

Required hours of practice for learner drivers: A comparison between two Australian jurisdictions

Problem

This study considers whether requiring learner drivers to complete a set number of hours while on a learner license affects the amount of hours of supervised practice that they undertake. It compares the amount of practice that learners in Queensland and New South Wales report undertaking. At the time the study was conducted, learner drivers in New South Wales were required to complete 50 hours of supervised practice while those from Queensland were not.

Method

Participants were approached outside driver licensing centers after they had just completed their practical driving test to obtain their provisional (intermediate) license. Those agreeing to participate were interviewed over the phone later and asked a range of questions to obtain information including socio-demographic details and amount of supervised practice completed.

Results

There was a significant difference in the amount of practice that learners reported undertaking. Participants from New South Wales reported completing a significantly greater amount of practice (M = 73.3 hours, sd = 29.12 hours) on their learner license than those from Queensland (M = 64.1 hours, sd = 51.05 hours). However, the distribution of hours of practice among the Queensland participants was bimodal in nature. Participants from Queensland reported either completing much less or much more practice than the New South Wales average.

Summary

While it appears that the requirement that learner drivers complete a set number of hours may increase the average amount of hours of practice obtained, it may also serve to discourage drivers from obtaining additional practice, over and above the required hours.

Impact on Industry

The results of this study suggest that the implications of requiring learner drivers to complete a set number of hours of supervised practice are complex. In some cases, policy makers may inadvertently limit the amount of hours learners obtain to the mandated amount rather than encouraging them to obtain as much practice as possible.     

“They’re lunatics on the road”: Exploring the normative influences of parents,friends, and police on young novices’ risky driving decisions

PurposeYoung novice drivers experience significantly greater risk of being injured or killed in car crashes than older more experienced drivers. This research utilised a qualitative approach guided by the framework of Akers’ social learning theory. It explored young novice drivers’ perspectives on risky driving including rewards and punishments expected from and administered by parents, friends, and police, imitation of parents’ and friends’ driving, and advantages and disadvantages of risky driving.MethodsTwenty-one young drivers (12 females, 9 males) aged 16–25 years (M = 17.71 years, SD = 2.15) with a Learner (n = 11) or Provisional (n = 10) driver licence participated in individual or small group interviews.Findings and conclusionsContent analysis supported four themes: (1) rewards and (2) punishments for risky driving, and the influence of (3) parents and (4) friends. The young novice drivers differed in their vulnerability to the negative influences of friends and parents, with some novices advising they were able to resist risky normative influences whilst others felt they could not. The authority of the police as enforcers of road rules was either accepted and respected or seen as being used to persecute young novices. These findings suggest that road safety interventions should consider the normative influence of parents and friends on the risky and safe behaviour of young novices. Police were also seen as influential upon behaviour. Future research should explore the complicated relationship between parents, friends, the police, young novices, and their risky driving behaviour.     

Reproductive cycle of Centrostephanus rodgersii (Echinoidea), with recommendations for the establishment of a sea urchin fishery in New South Wales

The reproductive cycle of the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii (Agassiz) was investigated in two populations, at Clovelly and Little Bay, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. C. rodgersii were collected at monthly intervals from February 1992 through January 1993. The reproductive cycle was determined by histological examination of oogenesis and spermatogenesis, monthly measurements of gonad index (GI), and induction of spawning by KCl injection. C. rodgersii has an annual reproductive cycle that was highly synchronous in both populations. From February to June, gametogenesis was accompanied by a decline in the amount of nutritive tissue in the gonads. The urchins were mature from June to September, with peak spawning between July and August, as indicated by a significant drop in GI. The breeding season of C. rodgersii therefore coincides with the lowest sea temperatures and the shortest days of the year. The gonads returned to the recovering condition within a month of spawning, with a substantial thickening of the nutritive layer along the gonad wall, and the GI returned to near pre-spawning levels. As a result, the spent phase was rarely found in C. rodgersii. With the exception of a significant decrease in the GI following spawning of urchins from the Clovelly population, the GI measurements did not show any distinct pattern through time. Specimens spawned in response to KCl injection from mid-May to early October, with the maximum response in July. Although all individuals sampled were at a similar stage of maturity at any one time, inter-site differences were seen with all of the methods used. Gonad indices from Little Bay were consistently higher and less variable than those from Clovelly for most of the year. The Little Bay population could also be induced to spawn for a longer period of time than could the Clovelly population. The breeding season of the Little Bay population appears to be longer than that of the Clovelly population. The relationship between size and sexual maturity was also examined. All C. rodgersii with a test diameter of >60 mm could be induced to spawn and produced viable gametes. C. rodgersii has been nominated for commercial exploitation in New South Wales, and the results of this investigation are used to make recommendations on the timing and size limits for a fishery utilising this species.     

Sex ratio response to conspecifics in a parasitoid wasp: test of a prediction of local mate competition theory and alternative hypotheses

Maternal manipulation of offspring sex ratio in response to conspecifics is considered in relation to sex ratio theory using the parasitoid wasp Spalangia endius. Females produced a greater proportion of sons in response to mated but not virgin females. This is the first demonstration of a differential sex ratio response to virgin versus mated females and provides support for local mate competition theory. More recent sex ratio models that predict sex ratio responses to conspecifics, specifically constrained, perturbation, and crowding models, were not supported. An increased proportion of sons in response to another mated female occurred on the second day of oviposition but not on the first, and the day effect resulted from experience not age. When females oviposited alone after 2 days' exposure to another female, they still produced a greater proportion of sons than if they had always been alone, but only if the other female was mated, not if she was virgin. Females do not seem to assess the presence of virgin versus mated females indirectly by using a low density of males or a long latency to mate as an indicator for virgin females: neither affected offspring sex ratio. That mated females adjusted their sex ratios in response to other mated females, but not virgin females or males, may be due proximally to mated females not often encountering the latter. Virgin females and males are not located as deep in the oviposition substrate as mated females.