bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Does Foreign Aid Promote the Expansion of Government?
Authors: Remmer Karen L.
Published: December 2003

Building on the literature on public finance, I seek to advance our understanding of variations in government size by exploring the impact of official development assistance on fiscal policy. I hypothesize that foreign aid operates in accordance with the “flypaper effect,” systematically generating incentives and opportunities for the expansion of government spending. Results from a time‐series cross‐sectional regression analysis of growth in government spending over the 1970–99 time period are consistent with the hypothesis. For middle‐ and lower‐income nations, aid represents an important determinant of government expansion. Looking at the tax and revenue side of the equation, however, reveals a more perverse pattern of response: aid promotes not only increased spending but also reduced revenue generation. The results have important implications from both a theoretical and policy perspective. Inter alia they point to the potentially self‐defeating nature of efforts to promote market‐oriented programs of state retrenchment via development assistance as well as to the importance of incorporating international transfers into future research on government spending.
International Trust and Public Opinion About World Affairs
Authors: Brewer Paul R. , Gross Kimberly , Aday Sean , Willnat Lars
Published: December 2003

This study argues that citizens base their opinions about world affairs in part on generalized beliefs about how much their nation can trust other nations. Using original data from a two‐wave panel survey and a cross‐sectional survey, we show that Americans hold stable, internally consistent, and largely pessimistic generalized beliefs about whether the United States can trust other nations. We find that social trust, political trust, partisanship, and age influence this form of trust, which we call international trust. We then demonstrate that international trust shapes whether Americans prefer internationalism to isolationism, perceive specific foreign nations as unfriendly and threatening, and favor military action against Iraq. The role of international trust in shaping opinion may be consistent with theories of low‐information rationality, but competing interpretations are also plausible.
Comparing Attitudinal and Strategic Accounts of Dissenting Behavior on the U.S. Courts of Appeals
Authors: Hettinger Virginia A. , Lindquist Stefanie A. , Martinek Wendy L.
Published: December 2003

Students of judicial behavior have increasingly turned to strategic accounts to understand judicial decision making. Scholarship on the Supreme Court and state high courts suggests that the decision to dissent is better understood in light of strategic considerations rather than simply reflecting ideological disagreement. We investigate whether these findings comport with behavior by judges on the U.S. Courts of Appeals. We develop a spatial model of the decision to dissent that incorporates both attitudinal and strategic elements and subject this model to empirical analysis. We find that ideological disagreement between a judge and the majority opinion writer is a more persuasive explanation of the decision to dissent than a strategic account in which a judge conditions a dissent on whether circuit intervention would obtain the judge's preferred outcome. Though we do not discount the existence of other types of strategic behavior on the Courts of Appeals, our research suggests that strategic accounts of dissenting behavior are not generalizable to all courts.
William Stafford’s Down in My Heart: The Poetics of Pacifism and the Limits of Lyric
Authors: Metres Philip
Published: December 2003

This essay argues that William Stafford's Down in My Heart, his memoir of his life in the Civilian Public Service Camps as a conscientious objector during the Second World War, anticipates the central questions of his pacifist poetry. In particular, the memoir stages the drama between Stafford's poetics—manifested in a vision of the beloved community, where consensus decision‐making is essential and accommodation to the State necessary—and the press of history, war, and absolute resistance. Stafford's memoir informs and exposes the limitations of Stafford's poetry. On the one hand, it anticipates Stafford's preoccupation with building an imagined community that respects solitude and difference. On the other hand, it also succeeds in creating a dialogic tension between nonviolent dissent and absolute resistance in ways that Stafford's poetry does not. The memoir, therefore, is a crucial text of Stafford poetic project and represents an important moment in the history of nonviolent literature.
The School: The Front Line of Mental Health Development?
Authors: Gott John
Published: December 2003

In this article the author outlines the recent increase in initiatives related to young people's emotional and mental health, for example emotional health and well‐being. He examines these concepts and ideas, arguing that there are negative as well as positive aspects to their widespread introduction in schools, and that in adopting mental health approaches and terminology care must be taken before programmes are implemented.
Establishing Peer Mediation in a Special School Context
Authors: Warne Ann
Published: December 2003

This article reports an evaluation of a peer mediation scheme in a special school for students with moderate learning difficulties. The evaluation of the project focused on two aspects: the effectiveness of the training of the mediators and the effect of the project on the school community. The author concluded that pupils with moderate learning difficulties have the ability to mediate successfully; that the process can develop their social skills and emotional literacy; and can play a notable part in increasing cooperation between pupils within the school environment.
Diversity and Adaptation of Shelters in Transitional Settlements for IDPs in Afghanistan
Authors: Ashmore Joseph , Babister Elizabeth , Corsellis Tom , Fowler Jon , Kelman Ilan , McRobie Allan , Manfield Peter , Spence Robin , Vitale Antonella , Battilana Rachel , Crawford Kate
Published: December 2003

The diversity of shelters used in transitional settlements for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Herat, Afghanistan is described. The information is based on a field survey undertaken in March 2002 and highlights the adaptation techniques, which IDPs undertake to improve any provided shelter. Potential areas for improvement are indicated; for example, the possibility for using insulated, demountable liners to prevent cold‐related deaths without sacrificing shelter flexibility along with the likely need for better agency coordination of the shelter responses they provide. The wider context in which the technical recommendations would be implemented must also be considered. Such issues include agency resources, political impediments to providing the desired option, and the preference of many IDPs that the best shelter would be their home.
Integration of Different Data Bodies for Humanitarian Decision Support: An Example from Mine Action
Authors: Benini Aldo A. , Conley Charles E. , Shdeed Richard , Spurway Kim , Yarmoshuk Mark
Published: December 2003

Geographic information systems (GIS) are increasingly used for integrating data from different sources and substantive areas, including in humanitarian action. The challenges of integration are particularly well illustrated by humanitarian mine action. The informational requirements of mine action are expensive, with socio–economic impact surveys costing over US$1.5 million per country, and are feeding a continuous debate on the merits of considering more factors or ‘keeping it simple’. National census offices could, in theory, contribute relevant data, but in practice surveys have rarely overcome institutional obstacles to external data acquisition.

A positive exception occurred in Lebanon, where the landmine impact survey had access to agricultural census data. The challenges, costs and benefits of this data integration exercise are analysed in a detailed case study. The benefits are considerable, but so are the costs, particularly the hidden ones. The Lebanon experience prompts some wider reflections. In the humanitarian community, data integration has been fostered not only by the diffusion of GIS technology, but also by institutional changes such as the creation of UN‐led Humanitarian Information Centres. There is a question whether the analytic capacity is in step with aggressive data acquisition. Humanitarian action may yet have to build the kind of strong analytic tradition that public health and poverty alleviation have accomplished.
Preparedness for Emergency Response: Guidelines for the Emergency Planning Process
Authors: Perry Ronald W. , Lindell Michael K.
Published: December 2003

Especially since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, governments worldwide have invested considerable resources in the writing of terrorism emergency response plans. Particularly in the United States, the federal government has created new homeland security organisations and urged state and local governments to draw up plans. This emphasis on the written plan tends to draw attention away from the process of planning itself and the original objective of achieving community emergency preparedness. This paper reviews the concepts of community preparedness and emergency planning, and their relationships with training, exercises and the written plan. A series of 10 planning process guidelines are presented that draw upon the preparedness literature for natural and technological disasters, and can be applied to any environmental threat.
Feeling the Heat? Anticorruption Mechanisms in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Maor Moshe
Published: December 2003

This article addresses the implications of political executives losing control over corruption investigations of senior officeholders following the creation of anticorruption mechanisms (e.g., commissions, special prosecutors, independent counsels, investigating judges). When investigations hit close to home, the ensuing political fallout makes political executives eager to look for ways to derail such investigations, especially when investigators proceed with an uncharted mandate. Against this background, two hypotheses are investigated: (i) the striking outcome of this process is a concerted move by targeted political executives to undermine the credibility of anticorruption mechanisms and, when deemed necessary, to terminate their operation, and (ii) the extent to which the prosecutors are successful depends on both institutions and media accessibility: the more centralized and fused political power is, and the less media accessible the government is, the harder it will be to carry out an investigation. These hypotheses are strongly supported by a comparative analysis of five anticorruption mechanisms in the United States, the Soviet Union, Italy, and Australia (Queensland and New South Wales.)
Innovative Governance and Development in the New Ireland: Social Partnership and the Integrated Approach
Authors: House J. D. , McGrath Kyla
Published: December 2003

Since the mid‐1980s, the economy of the Republic of Ireland has displayed a remarkable turnaround. Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown at a faster rate than any developed country in the world. The government's deficit has been cut severely and the debt‐to‐GDP ration sharply reduced. Average incomes have risen significantly, and the unemployment rate reduced dramatically. This article documents these changes.

Its main purpose, however, is to provide a plausible explanation for the “Irish miracle.” While many factors have been important—support for the Economic Union's regional development programs, a favorable tax structure, locational and language advantages for attracting multinational corporations, strong education and training programs—these factors in themselves do not explain the emergence of the “Celtic tiger.” They were in place before the mid‐1980s when Ireland was suffering from a fiscal, economic, and political crisis.

Instead, the article argues, it was the creative and innovative response of Irish leaders in government, industry, and labor movement and community organizations to the crisis, and the subsequent institutionalization of this response in a new form of governance, that has been the catalyst for the Irish success story. Based on the thorough background research of the Economic and Social Research Council, a farsighted group of leaders developed a strategic plan in 1987 that provided a blueprint for constructive economic and social change. This was then formally instituted for wage restraint on the part of labor in return for income tax and social supposed provisions by government.

Irish social Partnership is modeled to some extent on Northern European corporatism. The article reviews corporatism as an early form of innovative governance, using classical corporatism in Sweden and competitive corporatism in the Netherlands to illustrate how this approach has evolved over the years. Dutch economic success in recent years is due in part to its new form of corporatism that has helped it become globally competitive. It is argued, however, that Irish social partnership goes beyond continental corporatism in several important ways. It is more inclusive, covering a large array of social interests; it is more strategic, with a well‐articulated integrated approach to social and economic development that is self‐corrective and articulated in a new national agreement every three years; and it is more firmly institutionalized in both government and nongovernment agencies in the country. Social partnership and the integrated approach have become part of the culture of the new Ireland. This innovative form of governance underlies the Irish turnaround and augurs well for the future. It can also serve as a model, with appropriate modification tailor‐made to each case, for other jurisdictions hoping to emulate Ireland's success.
Similar Ends, Differing Means: Contractualism and Civil Service Reform in Denmark and New Zealand
Authors: Gregory Robert , Christensen Jørgen Grønnegaard
Published: December 2003

State sector reform was an integral component of the radical economic and social policy changes enacted by New Zealand governments between 1984 and 1991. This reform replaced the traditional tenured public service with a contractual regime. Through a comparison with Denmark, it is shown that New Zealand's reforms were not unique. Similar reforms were enacted in Denmark. But contrary to what occurred in New Zealand, the Danish reforms had already begun in the 1960s, and have since been gradually expanded. The parallel contractual regimes introduced in the two countries are accounted for by an increasing demand among politicians to secure a civil service that is responsive to political executive demands. However, because of institutional differences and diverging regulatory regimes, the strategic approaches in the two countries have been different. Whereas the New Zealand approach was dominated by an appeal to a coherent and sophisticated body of theoretical knowledge, combined with strict formalization, the Danish strategy has been based on political bargaining with the civil service unions. In both cases the reforms rest on critical assumptions regarding their positive and negative implications.
How Democratic Is “Governance”? Lessons from Swiss Drug Policy
Authors: Wälti Sonja , Küjbler Daniel , Papadopoulos Yannis
Published: December 2003

Public action increasingly takes place in self‐organizing networks that are remote from direct governmental control. While these transformations have been subject to scrutiny in regard to their efficiency, less attention has been paid to their democratic quality. This article discusses governance‐induced problems of democracy by isolating two major criticisms. Deliberative criticism argues that governance, rather than allowing for true deliberation in the public space, may lead to a loss of accountability. Participatory criticism stresses that governance impinges on participatory venues. The article discusses these criticisms theoretically and empirically, drawing from research on drug policy in Switzerland. The findings show that the criticisms are relevant, albeit not entirely justified.
An Exploratory Model for Evaluating Crisis Events and Managers' Concerns in Non‐Profit Organisations
Authors: Spillan John E.
Published: December 2003

Few organisations avoid the experience of crisis management. Some time during their life they are confronted with some type of crisis that may strain their resources and distract them from their central mission of serving its clients. Crisis management seeks to minimise the impact of these events. Although the crisis management literature is plentiful regarding larger organisations, little has been written on this subject as it relates to non‐profit organisations. This study examines the perceptions and experiences of crisis events among non‐profit organisation managers located in the north‐eastern part of the U.S. The results reveal that only a little more than a quarter of the respondents indicated that a formal crisis management team or any plans to implement it were operating in their non‐profit organisation.
Noah and Disaster Planning: The Cultural Significance of the Flood Story
Authors: Dynes Russell R.
Published: December 2003

Disasters are both interesting and infrequent. Thus, understanding them usually depends on stories others tell us. Such stories frame our understandings and imaginations. With those stories at hand, we comprehend reality and history on the basis of what everyone knows. At times, however, it is useful to examine what everyone knows.

To create a lasting narrative, disaster provides rich raw material to elaborate. ‘Natural’ disasters involve universal, primordial elements – water, fire, the shaking of the earth. Beyond those physical elements, disasters elicit basic human concerns – death, injury, disruption, broken social relationships, and fractured hope. Ultimate values and meanings can be challenged. Continuity and permanence are challenged. Such crises can lead to new explanations and the reworking of old metaphors. The task here is to take a disaster story, the Biblical flood – often referred to as the Deluge – and to examine its origins, its evolution, and its continuing impact within the Western World. More specifically, it will be argued that the flood story has had a continuing determinative influence on how disasters have been imagined in American society, especially in the ways that imagery has influenced emergency planning.
Effects of experimental small‐scale grassland fragmentation on spatial distribution, density, and persistence of ant nests
Authors: Braschler Brigitte , Baur Bruno
Published: December 2003

Abstract.  1. Grassland fragmentation is expected to influence the abundance of different invertebrate species to a different extent. Fragmentation‐related effects are of particular importance in species that interact with many other species.

2. The density and spatial distribution of nests of 15 ant species in experimentally fragmented calcareous grasslands at three sites in the Northern Swiss Jura mountains were examined. Fragments of different size (0.25 m2, 2.25 m2, and 20.25 m2) were isolated by a 5‐m wide strip of frequently mown vegetation. Control plots of corresponding size were situated in adjacent undisturbed grassland.

3. Three years after initiation of the experiment, ant nest density did not differ between fragments and control plots. Six years after initiation of the experiment, however, ant nest density and forager abundance were higher in large fragments than in large control plots. Ant nests tended to occur more frequently along the edge of fragments than in the core area. Persistence time of nests of the most abundant species, Lasius paralienus, tended to be shorter in fragments than in control plots. Furthermore, persistence time was longer in nests situated close to the fragment edge than in nests in the core area.

4. Effects on nest density, edge effects on the spatial distribution of nests, and the relationships between nest density and environmental factors were more pronounced when only nests of L. paralienus were considered. The implications of these findings for plant and other invertebrate species are discussed.
Seasonality of a tropical leaf‐mining moth: leaf availability versus enemy‐free space
Authors: Hopkins Graham W. , Memmott Jane
Published: December 2003

Abstract.  1. Natural enemies may determine the seasonal occurrence of insect herbivores by restricting the presence of their vulnerable life‐stages to periods of low natural enemy activity.

2. A tropical leaf‐mining moth, Bucculatrix sp., feeding on the understorey plant Forsteronia spicata, normally occurs only in the early‐wet season in the tropical dry forests of Costa Rica, this period coinciding with a time when natural enemy activity is thought to be lowest and when young leaves are most abundant.

3. A manipulative experiment was run to establish whether the Bucculatrix sp. can undergo another generation in the late‐wet season if suitable leaves are present. If the restricted phenology of this species is due to predator avoidance, then its larvae should experience elevated levels of mortality during this late‐wet season generation.

4. An artificial second flush of young leaves was induced on F. spicata by stripping them of leaves after the natural first flush of leaves. Bucculatrix sp. larvae were found on the plants induced to flush but none were found on natural plants. No significant difference in pre‐adult mortality was found between the larvae on the natural early‐wet season and the artificial late‐wet season leaves.

5. The primary factor restricting the seasonal occurrence of Bucculatrix sp. is concluded to be the availability of suitable leaves and there is no evidence to suggest that natural enemies play a role in determining its phenology.
Density‐dependent melanism in sub‐arctic populations of winter moth larvae (Operophtera brumata)
Authors: Hagen Snorre B. , Ims Rolf A. , Yoccoz Nigel G.
Published: December 2003

Abstract.  1. The aim of this 4‐year observational study was to test for the presence of direct and delayed density‐dependent larval melanism in the geometrid moth species Operophtera brumata (winter moth) in northern Norway.

2. Data from many populations with a wide range of population densities in time and space facilitated statistical analyses that could separate the effects of current and past density. The data also included different phases of the 10‐year population cycle of this species so that eventual non‐linear density effects due to population phase could be detected.

3. The results showed that the prevalence of melanism had a strong positive, linear relation to population density within years, whereas there was no evidence for a delayed effect from the year before or dependency on the phase of the population cycle.

4. In combination, these results limit the range of possible explanations of larval melanism in this outbreaking species. The possible reasons why winter moth larvae might benefit from crowding‐induced melanism are discussed.
Assimilation of carbon and nitrogen from pollen and nectar by a predaceous larva and its effects on growth and development
Authors: Patt Joseph M. , Wainright Sam C. , Hamilton George C. , Whittinghill Dexter , Bosley Keith , Dietrick Jan , Lashomb James H.
Published: December 2003

Abstract.  1. Predaceous insects may benefit from feeding on non‐prey foods, such as pollen, nectar, and honeydew, because they can provide nutrients that help maintain metabolism and enhance overall nutrient intake. Yet, the extent to which predaceous insects can assimilate non‐prey food and the importance of diet mixing during particular life history stages is poorly understood. In this study the relative contribution of an omnivorous diet to the growth and survivorship of a predaceous larva was tested in a hypothetical situation in which nutritionally optimal prey was not available. The study system comprised a predaceous larva (second‐ and third‐instar larvae of the green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea), nutritionally poor prey (larvae of Drosophila melanogaster), and non‐prey food (pollen suspension, a mixture of bee pollen and artificial nectar (1 M sucrose solution)). Chrysoperla carnea larvae in the mixed diet treatment were provided with both Drosophila larvae and pollen suspension, while those reared on the prey and non‐prey diet treatments received only Drosophila larvae or pollen suspension respectively.

2. The inclusion of pollen and sucrose in their diet enhanced the growth of C. carnea larvae. Second instars reared on the mixed diet developed significantly faster than their cohorts reared on the prey diet, however third instars reared on the mixed diet did not develop faster than their cohorts reared on the prey diet. Larvae reared on the mixed diet became larger adults than did those reared on either the prey or non‐prey diets. Third instars reared on the non‐prey diet completed their development while second instars in the non‐prey diet treatment failed to pupate.

3. Stable isotope analysis indicated that the larvae obtained most of their carbon (55–73%) and nitrogen (71–73%) from Drosophila but acquired only a minor amount of carbon (2–5%) and nitrogen (3–11%) from pollen. Larvae reared on the mixed and non‐prey diets acquired a relatively significant amount of carbon (23–51%) from sucrose.

4. A model, which included a novel fractionation factor to account for the isotopic effect of metamorphosis, was developed to explain the proportion of larval growth attributable to each diet item. It explained the adult δ13C values to within 0.2‰ and adult δ15N values to within 0.7‰ in all treatments.

5. Adults fed 15N‐labelled pollen as larvae retained the 15N signal of the pollen as adults.

6. The collective results of this study support the view that, despite their dependence on prey arthropods to obtain most of their dietary nitrogen, omnivorous lacewing larvae can enhance their growth and development by supplementing their diets with alternative non‐prey food resources. This finding is consistent with the notion that omnivory has evolved as a feeding strategy to acquire both additional nitrogen as well as trace nutrients.
Greater cuticular melanism is not associated with greater immunogenic response in adults of the polymorphic mountain stone weta, Hemideina maori
Authors: Robb T. , Forbes M. R. , Jamieson I. G.
Published: December 2003

Abstract.  1. Greater immune function is associated with the high‐density melanic phase of polyphenic insects, appearing to compensate for density‐dependent increases in susceptibility to parasites and/or pathogens. Other types of discrete variation in cuticular colour occur in insects (which may or may not be associated with melanin pigmentation), but whether this variation is predictive of immune ability has not been investigated.

2. In the mountain stone weta Hemideina maori, a black morph and yellow banded morph occur. These morphs are not seasonally polyphenic and have discrete haplotype genetic markers. Black individuals are typically found at lower local densities than yellow individuals, contrary to relations between cuticular melanism and density seen in polyphenic insects.

3. Yellow males and females had greater melanotic encapsulation responses upon immune challenge than did black males and females, but these differences were not associated with differences in temperature selection between morphs. Morph differences in melanotic encapsulation responses were somewhat related to differences between morphs in haemocyte concentrations.

4. These results indicate that a common form of immune expression is not heightened with dark coloration in the mountain stone weta. Thus, earlier findings of greater immunity associated with darker cuticles in phase polyphenic insects cannot be extended to insects with other forms of discrete colour variation. These findings will help in elucidating causes and consequences of such colour polymorphism, which is widespread in several insect orders.
Effects of host plant drought stress on the performance of the bird cherry‐oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.): a mechanistic analysis
Authors: Hale B. K. , Bale J. S. , Pritchard J. , Masters G. J. , Brown V. K.
Published: December 2003

Abstract.  1. The growth (increase in height and leaf number) of four grass species was reduced by a −0.5 MPa drought stress, but the performance of an associated herbivore, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.), was not affected consistently. The intrinsic rate of increase of R. padi was reduced by drought stress on three grass species, including Dactylis glomerata (L.), but was unaffected on Arrhenatherum elatius (L.). Therefore, there is no general relationship in the effect of plant drought on an insect herbivore, even among closely related host plant species.

2. Drought stress increased the quality of plant phloem sap, as indicated by increased sieve element osmotic pressure and essential amino acid concentrations. Thus, diet quality could not account for the reduced performance of R. padi under drought stress. The concentration of essential amino acids in the phloem of well‐watered A. elatius was, however, lower than that of well‐watered D. glomerata, correlating with the decreased performance of aphids on well‐watered A. elatius.

3. There were no differences in aphid feeding duration between watering treatments or plant species but sap ingestion rates were reduced significantly under drought stress.

4. Using the measure of dietary amino acid concentrations and the estimate of sap ingestion, the essential amino acid flux through aphids was calculated. Compared with the flux through aphids feeding on well‐watered D. glomerata, there was a reduction in aphids feeding on drought‐stressed D. glomerata and drought‐stressed A. elatius due to lower sap ingestion rates. The flux through aphids on well‐watered A. elatius was also reduced due to low phloem essential amino acid concentrations. Thus, the performance of an aphid is correlated with the availability and accessibility of essential amino acids.
Colony productivity and foundress behaviour of a native wasp versus an invasive social wasp
Authors: Armstrong Tracy R. , Stamp Nancy E.
Published: December 2003

Abstract.  1. Colony productivity, prey utilisation, and foundress behaviour of a North American native wasp (Polistes fuscatus) versus an European invasive wasp (Polistes dominulus) were investigated in a controlled field experiment with optimal versus natural foraging conditions. Colonies with the optimal prey foraging conditions were provided with prey ad libitum within an enclosed area. The other colonies foraged in the adjacent field–woodland but had the same nest conditions as the other treatment.

2. When given prey ad libitum, both wasp species captured similar amounts of prey and the conversion to total offspring biomass was similar. But P. dominulus colonies produced 2.5 times the number of workers as P. fuscatus colonies, reflecting the smaller size of P. dominulus wasps.

3. Foundresses of P. dominulus were observed more often building or repairing the nest, thereby contributing to the production of colonies with twice as many cells as colonies of P. fuscatus. Foundresses of P. dominulus showed more acts of aggression toward workers than did P. fuscatus foundresses, which was not a function of adult density on the nest.

4. At the end of the experiment, P. dominulus colonies with optimal prey foraging conditions still had a high level of egg‐laying and peaked in the number of pupae then, whereas egg‐laying and the number of pupae per colony of the other treatments began to decline 2–3 weeks earlier. These results indicate that P. dominulus is more opportunistic than P. fuscatus, which may account in part for P. dominulus's success as an introduced species in North America.
Contrasting effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and water regime on first‐ and second‐year growth of 16 wetland plant species
Authors: Güsewell S. , Bollens U. , Ryser P. , Klötzli F.
Published: December 2003

The effects of nutrient enrichment on wetland vegetation may depend on the responses of different plant species to nutrient supply over several years, in waterlogged or flooded soils, and under either nitrogen‐ or phosphorus‐limited conditions. However, most growth experiments comparing species from differently productive sites have focused on their short‐term responses to variation in N supply. In this study we investigated whether increased N or P supply affects plant growth differently, whether these effects differ between the first and second year of growth, and whether they are modified by the water regime.

Plants of 16 wetland species were grown during two seasons in tubes with sand under full light. Treatments combined three nutrient levels (low N and P, high N, high P) with three water regimes (constantly wet, periodically aerated, periodically flooded).

In the first year, shoot biomass was enhanced by high N supply, particularly in species from nutrient‐rich sites; this was associated with reduced shoot P concentration. In the second year, shoot biomass was generally enhanced by high P supply and reduced by high N supply; responses to high P were strongest in species with low shoot biomass and high N concentration but unrelated to the productivity of the species’ sites.

The total biomass produced during both years was smaller at high N supply than at high P supply. A smaller fraction of the N and P supply was recovered in high‐N plants, and these plants allocated less biomass to roots than those grown at high P supply or low N and P supply.

Periodic flooding reduced biomass production and nutrient recovery, but hardly influenced the effects of nutrient supply on plant growth. Species from wet meadows were affected more by flooding than species from fens in the first season, but not in the second season.

We propose that high N supply reduced second‐year growth because strong P limitation increased below‐ground nutrient losses from plants, whereas high P supply enhanced second‐year growth by improving N retention in plants. Our results therefore suggest that N and P enrichment may have quite different effects on wetland vegetation.
Copulatory plugs in the Iberian Rock Lizard do not prevent insemination by rival males
Authors: Moreira P. L. , Birkhead T. R.
Published: December 2003

Iberian Rock Lizard (Lacerta monticola, Boulenger 1905) males produce copulatory plugs that harden and adhere firmly inside the female cloaca immediately after copulation and occlude both oviductal openings.

To determine whether plugs reduce the chance of females being inseminated by rival males, two hypotheses were tested: (i) that plugs reduce female attractiveness and/or receptivity to rival males; and (ii) that plugs function as ‘chastity belts’.

There was no evidence to support either hypothesis. Neither male initiation of copulations and female termination of male copulation attempts, nor male insemination success differed significantly between trials in which males were presented with females without a plug and with females with a plug deposited by a different male 1, 3 and 6 or more hours earlier, nor between females without and with a plug.

Several hypotheses for the function of Iberian Rock Lizard plugs are discussed. Since rival males were frequently able to displace a plug in the female cloaca, our results are consistent with a ‘sperm protection’ function of male postcopulatory mate guarding in squamate reptiles, but this remains to be tested.
Effects of fire on surface carbon, energy and water vapour fluxes over campo sujo savanna in central Brazil
Authors: Santos A. J. B. , Silva G. T. D. A. , Miranda H. S. , Miranda A. C. , Lloyd J.
Published: December 2003

Tower‐based eddy covariance measurements were used to quantify the effect of fire on subsequent carbon dioxide fluxes and water and surface energy balance characteristics for campo sujo savanna located near Brasília in Central Brazil (15°56′ S, 47°51′ W). Campo sujo is a xeromorphic, open shrub savanna with very scattered but definitely visible shrubs and tree‐like shrub elements. We studied two areas, one exposed to a prescribed fire late in the dry season, and a second that had not been burned for the previous 4 years.

The fire on 22 September 1998 consumed an estimated 26 mol C m−2. Immediately after the fire, evapotranspiration rates decreased and the savanna became a stronger net source of CO2 to the atmosphere. This was attributed to the removal of the still slightly physiologically active grass layer and higher soil CO2 efflux rates as a consequence of elevated surface soil temperatures post‐burning.

On the commencement of the first rains in early October 1998, this situation was reversed, with the burned area rapidly becoming a stronger sink for CO2 and with higher evapotranspiration rates than a nearby unburned (control) area. This difference persisted throughout the wet season (until at least June 1999) and was attributable to greater physiological activity of the regrowing vegetation in the burned area. Early in the growing season, higher soil evaporation rates may also have contributed to faster water use by the previously burned area.

Overall, we estimate an annual gross primary productivity for the burned area of 135 mol C m−2 year−1, with that for the unburned area being 106 mol C m−2 year−1. Estimated ecosystem respiration rates were more similar on an annual basis (96 and 82 mol C m−2 year−1 for the burned and unburned areas, respectively), giving rise to a substantially higher net ecosystem productivity for the previously burned area (38 vs 24 mol C m−2 year−1).

Stimulation of photosynthetic activity in the rapid post‐fire growth phase means that the negative effects of fire on the ecosystem carbon balance were more or less neutralized after only 12 months.
Leaf area compounds height‐related hydraulic costs of water transport in Oregon White Oak trees
Authors: Phillips N. , Bond B. J. , McDowell N. G. , Ryan M. G. , Schauer A.
Published: December 2003

The ratio of leaf to sapwood area generally decreases with tree size, presumably to moderate hydraulic costs of tree height. This study assessed consequences of tree size and leaf area on water flux in Quercus garryana Dougl. ex. Hook (Oregon White Oak), a species in which leaf to sapwood area ratio increases with tree size. We tested hypotheses that Q. garryana individuals of greater size and leaf area show reduced leaf‐specific hydraulic conductance (KL), crown water flux per leaf area (EL), and carbon isotope discrimination (Δ).

K
L, EL and Δ differed between trees of two size classes examined, with 25 m trees showing evidence of lower water flux and carbon isotopic discrimination compared to 10 m trees. Whole‐tree water fluxes were smaller in 25 m than in 10 m trees both per unit sapwood and per leaf area, but more so per unit leaf area: 25 m trees had a leaf to sapwood area ratio 1·6 times greater than that of 10 m trees.

The findings from this study are unique in that increased leaf to sapwood area ratio of larger trees compounded hydraulic constraints on water transport due to tree height. These results provide further support and generality to the hypothesis of hydraulic limitations to tree‐water flux, and show that limitations to water flux are not necessarily accompanied by the structural compensation of reduced crown leaf area in larger trees.
Fitness consequences of temperature‐mediated egg size plasticity in a butterfly
Authors: Fischer K. , Bot A. N. M. , Brakefield P. M. , Zwaan B. J.
Published: December 2003

By randomly dividing adult females of the butterfly Bicyclus anynana, reared in a common environment, among high and low temperatures, it is demonstrated that oviposition temperature induces a plastic response in egg size. Females kept at a lower temperature laid significantly larger eggs than those ovipositing at a higher temperature.

Cross‐transferring the experimentally manipulated eggs between temperatures and investigating hatching success showed that a lower rearing temperature is more detrimental for the smaller eggs produced at a higher temperature than for the larger eggs produced at a lower temperature, supporting an adaptive explanation.

However, when examining two potential mechanisms for an increased fitness of larger offspring (higher desiccation resistance of larger eggs and higher starvation resistance of larger hatchlings), no direct link between egg size and offspring fitness was found. Throughout, i.e. even under benign conditions, larger offspring had a higher fitness.

Therefore, egg size should be viewed as a conveniently measurable proxy for the plastic responses induced by temperature, but caution is needed before implying that egg size per se is causal in influencing offspring traits.
Psychiatric diagnosis in persons with intellectual disability in India
Authors: Kishore M. T. , Nizamie A. , Nizamie S. H. , Jahan M.
Published: December 2003

Background  This study examines the rate of psychiatric diagnosis as per ICD‐10 and Reiss Screen for Maladaptive Behaviours (RSMB), and distribution of psychiatric diagnosis with regard to the severity of intellectual disability (ID). It also explores the degree of agreement between Reiss screen and clinical diagnosis (ICD‐10) in relation to dual diagnosis.

Methods  In this study Intelligence (IQ) and Social Quotient (SQ) were estimated on Indian adaptation of Binet's scale and Vineland Social Maturity Scales, respectively, in 60 consecutive persons with ID. Both ICD‐10 and RSMB were used independently to determine the presence of psychiatric diagnosis.

Results  Clinically, according to ICD‐10, about 60% of the sample was found to have dual diagnosis as compared to 48% on RSMB. Agreement between ICD‐10 and RSMB about psychiatric comorbidity was 82%. Commonest psychiatric diagnosis was unspecified psychosis followed by bipolar affective disorders.

Conclusion  Persons with ID do suffer from various psychiatric disorders. RSMB is a useful tool for differentiating between psychiatric problems and maladaptive behaviours. Hence RSMB can be used in the Indian context.
General psychiatric services for adults with intellectual disability and mental illness
Authors: Chaplin R.
Published: December 2003

Background  Adults with intellectual disability (ID) and mental illness may use general or specialist psychiatric services. This review aims to assess if there is evidence for a difference in outcome between them.

Methods  A literature review was conducted using a variety of electronic databases and hand‐search strategies to identify all studies evaluating the outcome of people with ID and mental illness using general psychiatric services.

Results  There is no conclusive evidence to favour the use of general or specialist psychiatric services. People with ID stay less time on general psychiatric than specialist inpatient units. People with severe ID appear not to be well served in general services. Older studies of inpatient samples suggest a worse outcome for people with ID. Novel specialist services generally improve upon pre‐existing general services. Assertive outreach in general services may preferentially benefit those with ID. Recent studies suggest similar lengths of stay in general psychiatric beds for people with and without ID.

Conclusions  Although 27 studies were located, only two were randomized controlled trials. The evidence is poor quality therefore further evaluation of services employing a variety of designs need to be employed to give more robust evidence as to which services are preferred.
Offenders with intellectual disability: a prospective comparative study
Authors: Barron P. , Hassiotis A. , Banes J.
Published: December 2003

Background  Intellectually disabled offenders (IDO) are a poorly served and under‐recognized group, who are likely to require long‐term specialist treatments and interventions.

Method  This prospective study investigated the characteristics and factors that influence outcome in this group, with particular reference to therapeutic interventions. Sixty‐one individuals were identified from contact with either (1) specialist health and social services for people with intellectual disability (ID) or (2) nonspecialist services in the criminal justice or (forensic) mental health/social service systems. The participants were assessed at baseline and after a mean of 10 months in order to compare recidivism rates and the impact of therapeutic interventions.  

Results  The findings suggest that IDO start offending at an early age, that they frequently have a history of multiple offences, and that sex offending and arson are over‐represented offence types. Those participants recruited from nonspecialist ID services had significantly higher IQs and were less likely to have had contact with community social and health support agencies. Despite the high rates of psychopathology, there was little evidence for efficacy of therapeutic interventions, which, where offered, appeared to be of a nonspecific nature. At second interview, approximately half of the sample had re‐offended.
Using the Diagnostic Assessment of the Severely Handicapped‐II (DASH‐II) to measure the therapeutic effects of risperidone
Authors: Valdovinos M. G. , Zarcone J. R. , Hellings J. A. , Kim G. , Schroeder S. R.
Published: December 2003

Background  Within the scope of a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, crossover medication study, the Diagnostic Assessment of the Severely Handicapped‐II (DASH‐II) was evaluated as a measurement for determining the effectiveness of the medication risperidone in treating the problem behaviour of 21 people with intellectual disabilities (ID).

Method  Participants’ caregivers completed the DASH‐II during the placebo/baseline phase of the study and the maintenance phase of the study, and completed the Aberrant Behavior Checklist – Community (ABC‐C) weekly throughout the entire study. The results obtained using the DASH‐II were compared to those obtained using the ABC‐C, an instrument shown to be well correlated with the DASH‐II.

Results  Results suggest that while the DASH‐II and the ABC‐C were well correlated during the placebo/baseline phase of the current study, they were not well correlated at completion of the 6‐month maintenance phase of the medication trial.

Conclusion  The DASH‐II, while appropriate for assisting in the diagnosis of psychopathology in people with ID, does not appear to monitor changes in problem behaviour as a result of risperidone use as well as the ABC‐C. Differences in the frequency of problem behaviour that each measure evaluated and the applicability of using the DASH‐II to measure medication effects on problem behaviour are discussed.
Psychiatric inpatient care for adults with intellectual disabilities: generic or specialist units?
Authors: Xenitidis K. , Gratsa A. , Bouras N. , Hammond R. , Ditchfield H. , Holt G. , Martin J. , Brooks D.
Published: December 2003

Background  When adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) require a psychiatric admission, general adult mental health units are often used. Specialist units have emerged recently as a care option but there is only limited evidence of their effectiveness. Thus this study aims to describe and evaluate the effectiveness of a specialist inpatient unit and report on the utilization of generic and specialist inpatient services.

Method  All patients admitted to a specialist ID psychiatric unit were evaluated on admission and immediately after discharge on a number of outcome measures. In addition, they were compared with those admitted to general adult mental health units covering the same catchment area.

Results  Significant improvements were demonstrated within the specialist unit cohort on measures including psychopathology, global level of functioning, behavioural impairment and severity of mental illness. The specialist unit patients had a longer length of inpatient stay but were less likely to be discharged to out‐of‐area residential placement.

Conclusions  Specialist units are an effective care option for this group of people.