bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A large CO2 sink enhanced by eutrophication in a tropical coastal embayment (Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Authors: Cotovicz L. C. , Knoppers B. A. , Brandini N. , Costa Santos S. J. , Abril G.
Published: March 2015

Abstract. In contrast to its small surface area, the coastal zone plays a disproportionate role in the global carbon cycle. Carbon production, transformation, emission and burial rates at the land–ocean interface are still poorly known, especially in tropical regions. Surface water pCO2 and ancillary parameters were monitored during nine field campaigns between April 2013 and April 2014 in Guanabara Bay, a tropical eutrophic to hypertrophic semi-enclosed estuarine embayment surrounded by the city of Rio de Janeiro, SE-Brazil. Water pCO2 varied between 22 and 3715 ppmv in the Bay showing spatial, diurnal and seasonal trends that mirrored those of dissolved oxygen (DO) and Chlorophyll a (Chl a). Marked pCO2 undersaturation was prevalent in the shallow, confined and thermally stratified waters of the upper bay, whereas pCO2 oversaturation was restricted to sites close to the small river mouths and small sewage channels, which covered only 10% of the bay's area. Substantial daily variations in pCO2 (up to 395 ppmv between dawn and dusk) were also registered and could be integrated temporally and spatially for the establishment of net diurnal, seasonal and annual CO2 fluxes. In contrast to other estuaries worldwide, Guanabara Bay behaved as a net sink of atmospheric CO2, a property enhanced by the concomitant effects of strong radiation intensity, thermal stratification, and high availability of nutrients, which promotes phytoplankton development and net autotrophy. In the inner part of the bay, the calculated annual CO2 sink (−19.6 mol C m2 yr-1) matched the organic carbon burial in the sediments reported in the literature. The carbon sink and autotrophy of Guanabara Bay was driven by planktonic primary production promoted by eutrophication, and by its typology of marine embayment lacking the classical extended estuarine mixing zone, in contrast to river-dominated estuarine systems, which are generally net heterotrophic and CO2 emitters. Our results show that global CO2 budgetary assertions still lack information on tropical estuarine embayments and lagoons, which are affected by thermal stratification and eutrophication and behave specifically with respect to atmospheric CO2.
A model analysis of climate and CO2 controls on tree growth in a semi-arid woodland
Authors: Li G. , Harrison S. P. , Prentice I. C.
Published: March 2015

Abstract. We used a light-use efficiency model of photosynthesis coupled with a dynamic carbon allocation and tree-growth model to simulate annual growth of the gymnosperm Callitris columellaris in the semi-arid Great Western Woodlands, Western Australia, over the past 100 years. Parameter values were derived from independent observations except for sapwood specific respiration rate, fine-root turnover time, fine-root specific respiration rate and the ratio of fine-root mass to foliage area, which were estimated by Bayesian optimization. The model reproduced the general pattern of interannual variability in radial growth (tree-ring width), including the response to the shift in precipitation regimes that occurred in the 1960s. Simulated and observed responses to climate were consistent. Both showed a significant positive response of tree-ring width to total photosynthetically active radiation received and to the ratio of modeled actual to equilibrium evapotranspiration, and a significant negative response to vapour pressure deficit. However, the simulations showed an enhancement of radial growth in response to increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration (ppm) ([CO2]) during recent decades that is not present in the observations. The discrepancy disappeared when the model was recalibrated on successive 30-year windows. Then the ratio of fine-root mass to foliage area increases by 14% (from 0.127 to 0.144 kg C m-2) as [CO2] increased while the other three estimated parameters remained constant. The absence of a signal of increasing [CO2] has been noted in many tree-ring records, despite the enhancement of photosynthetic rates and water-use efficiency resulting from increasing [CO2]. Our simulations suggest that this behaviour could be explained as a consequence of a shift towards below-ground carbon allocation.
A dynamic water accounting framework based on marginal resource opportunity cost
Authors: Tilmant A. , Marques G. , Mohamed Y.
Published: March 2015

Abstract. Many river basins throughout the world are increasingly under pressure as water demands keep rising due to population growth, industrialization, urbanization and rising living standards. In the past, the typical answer to meet those demands focused on the supply side and involved the construction of hydraulic infrastructures to capture more water from surface water bodies and from aquifers. As river basins have become more and more developed, downstream water users and ecosystems have become increasingly dependent on the management actions taken by upstream users. The increased interconnectedness between water users, aquatic ecosystems and the built environment is further compounded by climate change and its impact on the water cycle. Those pressures mean that it has become increasingly important to measure and account for changes in water fluxes and their corresponding economic value as they progress throughout the river system. Such basin water accounting should provide policy makers with important information regarding the relative contribution of each water user, infrastructure and management decision to the overall economic value of the river basin. This paper presents a dynamic water accounting approach whereby the entire river basin is considered as a value chain with multiple services including production and storage. Water users and reservoir operators are considered as economic agents who can exchange water with their hydraulic neighbors at a price corresponding to the marginal value of water. Effective water accounting is made possible by keeping track of all water fluxes and their corresponding hypothetical transactions using the results of a hydro-economic model. The proposed approach is illustrated with the Eastern Nile River basin in Africa.
Operational river discharge forecasting in poorly gauged basins: the Kavango River basin case study
Authors: Bauer-Gottwein P. , Jensen I. H. , Guzinski R. , Bredtoft G. K. T. , Hansen S. , Michailovsky C. I.
Published: March 2015

Abstract. Operational probabilistic forecasts of river discharge are essential for effective water resources management. Many studies have addressed this topic using different approaches ranging from purely statistical black-box approaches to physically based and distributed modeling schemes employing data assimilation techniques. However, few studies have attempted to develop operational probabilistic forecasting approaches for large and poorly gauged river basins. The objective of this study is to develop open-source software tools to support hydrologic forecasting and integrated water resources management in Africa. We present an operational probabilistic forecasting approach which uses public-domain climate forcing data and a hydrologic–hydrodynamic model which is entirely based on open-source software. Data assimilation techniques are used to inform the forecasts with the latest available observations. Forecasts are produced in real time for lead times of 0–7 days. The operational probabilistic forecasts are evaluated using a selection of performance statistics and indicators and the performance is compared to persistence and climatology benchmarks. The forecasting system delivers useful forecasts for the Kavango River, which are reliable and sharp. Results indicate that the value of the forecasts is greatest for intermediate lead times between 4 and 7 days.
Work–Life Balance in Home-Based Businesses
Authors: Kapasi Isla , Galloway Laura
Published: March 2015

Home-based businesses are increasing in number throughout Western economies. One of the benefits of a home-based business is asserted to be improved work–life balance, yet there is little empirical evidence to support this assertion. Using a qualitative methodology, this paper explores the work–life balance in eight home-based businesses in the UK. Motivations for working at home include the desire for improved work–life balance, but the achievement of this aim among the study participants was found to be nuanced. Critically, home-based business is another employment context in which the work–life balance must be managed. This management is especially needed because of the blurring of work and life time and space, which may demand more self-discipline in home-based workers compared with those in employment or self-employment remote from the home.
Apps and Appreneurs
Authors: Conway Clifford
Published: March 2015

‘Internet Review’ provides critical commentary on entrepreneurship, small business and innovation information on the Web.
Does Spray Mango Kernel (Mangifera indica Linn.) Prolong the Shelf Life of Beef Sausages?
Authors: Abdel-Moemin Aly R.
Published: March 2015

The study was aimed to look at the effect of different forms of mango kernels (MK) on the shelf life of refrigerated beef sausages over 12 days of cold storage. The (MK) was chemically and microbiologically analyzed. Beef sausages were treated with MK in 3 states, as dry ground (1.5%), an extract (1.5%) and spray MK extract (1.5%) over minced beef of sausages. Two controls were used; BHT 0.02% and no additives. A series of analyses were performed after treatments; thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), analysis of color, myoglobin and odor. The results indicated that different forms of MK added to the beef sausages had different effects on its shelf life. Furthermore, the sprayed MK extract has significantly (P ?0.05) lowered metmyoglobin (MMb) and TBARS and increased oxymyoglobin (MbO2), odor score and a* (redness) than other forms. The potential effects of the sprayed MK may be due to a cloud of droplets cover the large surfaces of minced beef sausages with efficient extracted antioxidants. MK is source of flavonoids 142mg/g F.W. GAE. The spraying of MK at 1.5% showed an improvement of E. coli from minced beef and beef sausages that were less than 10 cfu g-1. Also the concentrations of yeasts and moulds were not detected at day 12 of storage. Hierarchically, sprayed MK extract gave best results than ground MK or MK extract form which shows effective inhibitor of lipid oxidation and microbial growth of beef sausages.
Nieuw Belgisch kader inzake ADR en consumentengeschillen
Authors: Voet Stefaan
Published: March 2015

New Belgian Framework on ADR and consumer disputes

Belgium was one of the first European Member States to implement the new 2013 ADR directive. The act of 4 April 2014 introduces new rules on internal complaints procedures and a series of minimum quality requirements for ADR entities. However, the most important realization of the Act is the creation of a Consumer Ombudsman Service. This service, that is composed of six existing (public and private) Ombudsman services, will be competent for residual consumer disputes: disputes for which no ADR entity currently exists. This article explores the act of 4 April 2014 and offers a detailed overview of the structure, missions and procedure of the Consumer Ombudsman Service.
Dynamic Development of Thinking, Feeling, and Acting
Authors: Mascolo Michael F. , Fischer Kurt W.
Published: March 2015

Models of psychological development have taken a relational turn. From this view, human psychological development is an integrative, dynamic, emergent, and coactive process. It is integrative in the sense that psychological processes never operate in isolation of each other. There is no such thing as a purely cognitive, emotional, or behavioral act. Any given instance of psychological activity necessarily involves the structured integration of multiple component psychological systems. Despite their organization, psychological structures are dynamic processes rather than fixed states. Their structure varies as a function of person, task, time, context, emotional state, culture, and many other variables. Psychological development is coactive in the sense that novel psychological structures emerge over time as a product of the dynamic interplay between and among elements of a hierarchically nested person ←→ environment system. In this chapter, we show how integrated structures of thinking, feeling, and action arise in both real and developmental time through complex coactions that occur between biological, psychological, and sociocultural processes. Drawing on a theory of the dynamic development of skills, the discussion first addresses the coactive nature of sensorimotor‐affective development in infancy. It then illustrates alternative trajectories in the coactive development of integrative structures of moral thinking, feeling, and acting as they occur within particular moral domains and social contexts. We complete the chapter with an analysis of how integrative psychological structures undergo microdevelopment in real time as a result of processes that occur between individuals in joint interaction.
Development and Self‐Regulation
Authors: McClelland Megan M. , John Geldhof G. , Cameron Claire E. , Wanless Shannon B.
Published: March 2015

The concept of self‐regulation has received heightened attention as a key mechanism that predicts a variety of developmental outcomes throughout the life span. Although researchers have focused on self‐regulation from a diverse set of perspectives, it is clear that self‐regulation has important implications for individual health and well‐being starting early in life. In the fields of child psychology and developmental science, an emphasis on Relational‐Developmental‐Systems (RDS) illuminates how self‐regulation contributes to individual development.

This chapter reflects theRDStheoretical orientation and focuses on major issues in the study of self‐regulation in childhood and adolescence. We start by situating the study of self‐regulation within theRDScontext and discussing key conceptual issues that guide researchers’ understanding of the development of self‐regulation. We then define self‐regulation and reviews research on important correlates of self‐regulation including academic achievement, motor processes, intelligence, and risk factors. Next, we discuss cross‐cultural variation in these skills and person‐context relations. We conclude by discussing self‐regulation from the perspective ofRDSand next steps for studying self‐regulation in context, improving intervention efforts, and advancing analytical and measurement methods.
Motor Development
Authors: Adolph Karen E. , Robinson Scott R.
Published: March 2015

This chapter provides a synthesis of recent research in motor development. Motor behavior encompasses everything that we do, and therefore is relevant to every branch of psychological science. Our aim is to address central concepts and methodological issues that continue to challenge developmental scientists, and to show how the study of motor behavior can yield fresh insights into the process of development. The chapter is organized into three broad themes that are emblematic of the state of current work on motor development: (1) movements are embodied, and are thus the product of a physical body acting in the real world; (2) behavior is embedded within a physical environment rich with sensory information, and requiring perception for effective action; (3) motor development is enculturated, shaped by cultural practices from caregiving to social norms. We illustrate 10 general developmental concepts within these broad themes using examples drawn from research on humans and animals, with an emphasis on early development, from prenatal through childhood.
Attentional Development
Authors: Ristic Jelena , Enns James T.
Published: March 2015

This chapter documents a seismic shift that has occurred in the field of attentional development over the past decade, both in the content of the empirical data being collected and in the theoretical ideas being used to understand them. We trace the origins of this paradigm shift by first examining the past. Research during the latter half of the 20th century was dominated by the information‐processing framework, which views attention as a localizable, domain‐general, and situationally invariant cognitivefaculty,with its primary role in filtering sensory information in the service of task goals. However, during the first decade of the 2000s, researchers began to study how individual, emotional, and social aspects of life influence everyday attention behavior. Mounting evidence from these studies revealed that the classic information‐processing framework could not provide a complete account of attentional development. Thus, at present, attention is becoming viewed as a concept that cannot be isolated from social and emotional aspects of development. With regard to future directions, we outline a dynamic view of attention, in which attention is viewed as a cognitive facility, integrating the demands of “cool” cognition (i.e., the information‐processing capacities) with the “hot” functions spanning temperament, emotion, social communication, individual histories, and cultural context. If this trend continues, attentional development in the next decade will be studied as the outcome of complex interactions between an individual's biology, their life history, and their social environment.
Memory Development
Authors: Howe Mark L.
Published: March 2015

Unlike the traditional view of memory development that dominated researchers' agendas throughout the 20th century, the current chapter is focused on research that has defined theoretical advances in the early 21st century. The chapter begins with a brief review of the earlier 20th‐century views about memory development and then turns to three additional issues that have enjoyed a renewed interest early in the 21st century. The first issue changes the theoretical focus from questions about the structure of memory and its development to one about the (adaptive) function of memory. What the research shows is that at least some of the functional attributes of memory include the extraction of meaning, binding information into regular patterns, and using these patterns to predict future outcomes. The second issue addressed in this chapter concerns how these adaptive memory systems develop. To answer this question, I review recent research that has examined correlated changes in neurobiological and cognitive functioning. The final issue concerns whether we share these adaptive memory developments with other animals. The answer to this is found by reviewing the comparative memory development literature. Overall, this adaptive view of memory suggests that it develops not simply to remember one's past, but to understand the present, and anticipate the future.
Language Development
Authors: MacWhinney Brian
Published: March 2015

The modern study of children's language is influenced by two contrasting perspectives. The theory of Universal Grammar emphasizes the role of innate abilities in a core language module. In contrast, Emergentism views language learning as a result of processes of variation, competition, and generalization, operating across a diverse set of space‐time scales ranging from online processing to long‐term patterns of social and genetic consolidation. This chapter reviews language development in terms of seven levels of emergent structure: articulatory phonology, auditory phonology, lexicon, morphology, syntax, mental models, and conversation. For each level, the analysis considers the role of input language structure, neural processes, and social mechanisms. On each level, we observe ways in which the initial learning of specific items gives rise to subsequent pattern extraction and generalization. We then examine the neuronal basis of language control in terms of structures and methods for allowing highly interactive online processing between the seven components. Processing models provide ways of understanding both developmental language disorders and the learning of multiple languages at different stages in development.
Gesture and Cognitive Development
Authors: Goldin‐Meadow Susan
Published: March 2015

When people talk, they gesture. The goal of this chapter is to explore the role that gesture plays in talking and thinking. The chapter begins by situating gesture within behaviors traditionally identified as nonverbal. It then charts the developmental course that gesture follows in children whose language learning is on track, and in children whose spoken language learning has gone awry. Even early in development, gesture is fully integrated with the speech it accompanies––it is part of language. But when spoken language learning is not possible, gesture can assume the role typically played by speech––it can become language. At all ages, gesture has the potential to provide insight into a child's thoughts, at times offering a unique picture of those thoughts. The final sections of the chapter explore gesture's mechanisms––what makes us gesture––and its functions––what purpose does gesture serve. The underlying theme of the chapter is that, by playing a role in communication and thinking, gesture can have an impact on cognitive change. Gesture thus goes beyond reflecting a child's thoughts to having a hand in shaping those thoughts.
The Development of Reasoning
Authors: Ricco Robert B.
Published: March 2015

This chapter discusses the course of development for deductive and inductive forms of reasoning across childhood and adolescence. Key theories of how best to account for that course are critiqued. The development of deduction is considered primarily with respect to syllogistic and conditional reasoning. Mental logic, metacognitive, and mental models accounts of deduction are contrasted and compared and the potential for rapprochement is identified. The development of inductive reasoning is discussed with respect to three primary types of induction—category‐based induction, causal induction, and inductive processes in scientific thinking. The discussion of the development of reasoning provided in this chapter is situated within a dual systems or dual process account of cognition. According to this account, human cognition consists of two distinct systems (1 and 2) or types of processing, with the primary basis for the distinction being the question of whether processing engages working memory resources. By adopting this framework, it becomes possible to shed light on the processes that underlie deductive and inductive reasoning and to trace how the development of each type of reasoning is related to changes in these underlying processes. Among the key conclusions of the chapter is that while the development of certain aspects of System 1 processing contributes to age‐related changes in performance on reasoning tasks, the most significant changes in both deductive and inductive reasoning result from key developments in System 2 processing.
The Development of Scientific Thinking
Authors: Lehrer Richard , Schauble Leona
Published: March 2015

We introduce three views of science that ground different perspectives on the long‐term development of scientific thinking: science‐as‐reasoning, science‐as‐conceptual change, and science‐as‐practice. An emphasis on science as an integrated set of epistemic practices is receiving increasing attention. For example, new science education standards in the United States highlight the importance of students' participation in scientific practices, which are communally recognized and supported ways of generating, revising, and critiquing scientific knowledge. Based on reviews of the history, philosophy, and psychology of science, we argue that the defining practice of science is modeling, and that it is useful to conceive of other scientific practices in relation to this foundational one. Accordingly, we trace the ontogeny of representational and material practices of modeling and situate seven related scientific practices, such as constructing and interpreting data, or developing explanations and arguments, as motivated by modeling. This perspective identifies fruitful areas for additional research that can inform the field's understanding of how to describe and support the development of scientific thinking.
Media and Cognitive Development
Authors: Anderson Daniel R. , Kirkorian Heather L.
Published: March 2015

By the time children reach adulthood, they will have spent more time using electronic screen media than learning in formal school settings. Thus screen media have enormous potential to influence cognitive development—for good or ill. This chapter describes popular concerns about media impact, usingSesame Streetas a case study. Current estimates of children's use of media and engagement in multitasking behavior are presented. Empirical research is summarized with respect to children's cognition during use of media and implications for media effects on children are noted. Possible direct and indirect pathways of media influence on cognitive development are outlined, followed by a summary of research on media effects on cognitive skills and academic achievement. The chapter concludes with a critical analysis of research to date, including areas in need of future study.
Resilience and Adversity
Authors: Luthar Suniya S. , Crossman Elizabeth J. , Small Phillip J.
Published: March 2015

Resilience research involves the study of processes predicting better‐than‐expected adjustment following exposure to adversity, with the central goal of informing effective interventions. This chapter presents a review of accumulated research findings on salient risk‐modifiers across the realms of family, community, and individual characteristics. Cumulatively, findings highlight the power of proximal relationships, particularly with primary caregivers in the family, and with teachers, mentors, and peers in the community. Forces inimical to psychological and physical survival (such as maltreatment and violence) are much more powerful than positive influences (such as affection or support). Children's own “protective attributes” such as self‐efficacy are themselves continually shaped by salient socializing influences. Future research aimed at fostering childhood resilience—and future interventions—must prioritize attention to risk‐modifiers that are broadly deterministic (with large effect sizes, and generative of other assets); to gender‐specific patterns; and to developmental contexts (mores, needs, and existing resources). Understanding the processes underlying salutary salient relationships, and systematically harnessing these in large‐scale, community‐based interventions, is the best hope in maximizing the yield of science on resilience in childhood, adolescence, and subsequently in development.
Socioemotional Development in Changing Families
Authors: Golombok Susan , Tasker Fiona
Published: March 2015

Since the latter part of the 20th century, dramatic changes have taken place to the structure of the family such that the traditional nuclear family headed by a heterosexual married couple is now in the minority. This chapter begins with a description of these changes and some of the key factors involved. The consequences of different family contexts for parent–child relationships and children's socioemotional development are then examined. These include single‐parent families, stepparent families, cohabiting parent families, families created through assisted reproductive technologies, and families headed by same‐sex parents. The specific issues and concerns raised by each family type are outlined, followed by a discussion of key empirical findings regarding parenting and child adjustment. The chapter ends by drawing on research relating to children in these different family forms to examine the relative importance of family structure and family processes for children's socioemotional development. The implications for policy and practice, and directions for future research, are also discussed.
Prosocial Development
Authors: Eisenberg Nancy , Spinrad Tracy L. , Knafo‐Noam Ariel
Published: March 2015

In this chapter, we review research and some current theory on the development of prosocial responding (including prosocial behavior and empathy‐related responding) and possible antecedents/causes, outcomes, and correlates. In the initial section of this chapter, we briefly present a general framework for integrating factors that contribute to prosocial responding. Then the empirical literature related to the development of prosocial behavior, with an emphasis on the emerging literature on early development and development during adolescence, is reviewed. Next we review literature on the potential origins of prosocial responding, including potential biological, cultural, familial, and peer/school factors. Then we address sociocognitive correlates of prosocial responding and the relations of temperamental/personality and social‐behavioral individual differences (e.g., aggression) to prosocial behavior and/or empathy‐related responding. Due to space constraints, we focus more on current rather than older publications and disproportionately on topics of central importance to prosocial development and issues that have been foci of interest in the past decade. In the final sections of the chapter, gaps in the field and future directions are discussed.
Early Childcare and Education
Authors: Burchinal Margaret , Magnuson Katherine , Powell Douglas , Hong Sandra Soliday
Published: March 2015

Most children now experience early care and education (ECE) during early childhood in the United States, Western Europe, and many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin and South America. This chapter reviews the current landscape of ECE programs in the United States as well as current directions in research and the accumulated findings from more than 50 years of research. We begin this chapter with a discussion of developmental theories and their focus on how nonparental care for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers affects early development. Then we discuss the key dimensions of ECE‐;type, quality, quantity‐;describing the experiences of children in childcare along those dimensions. Next, empirical research describing associations between ECE and early development are presented along with the contextual challenges of addressing confounds between family characteristics and the selection of childcare arrangements. The section after that examines whether ECE serves as a risk or protective factor with particular attention to some subgroups of children, especially low‐income or ethnically diverse children. The final section describes public policies and programmatic strategies to improve quality and ensure access to ECE, and it includes findings from recent experimental studies of professional development and curriculum studies.
Children's Organized Activities
Authors: Vandell Deborah Lowe , Larson Reed W. , Mahoney Joseph L. , Watts Tyler W.
Published: March 2015

Organized activities (including afterschool programs, extracurricular activities, sports, community service, summer camps, and other activities outside of the regular school day) account for a significant segment of children and adolescents' lives. These activities often provide hands‐on, child‐driven experiential learning that often involve youth working collaboratively with peers. Although research on organized activities is comparatively recent, it suggests that these types of activities support the development of self‐direction, initiative, teamwork, and emotional skills, as well as cognitive and academic skills. In this chapter, bioecological and sociocultural theories are used to guide our understanding of organized activities. Methodological strategies and common assessments used to study organized activities are reviewed. Key parameters and processes, including dosage, type of activities, and program quality, are described. We consider individual, family, peer, and school/community factors that predict participation in organized activities. We also evaluate evidence of links between organized activities and child developmental outcomes. Finally, youth experiences and outcomes associated with unsupervised settings are juxtaposed to experiences and outcomes found in organized activities.
Children and the Law
Authors: Cauffman Elizabeth , Shulman Elizabeth , Bechtold Jordan , Steinberg Laurence
Published: March 2015

Legal policy in the United States regarding children and adolescents has changed a great deal over time, reflecting oscillations in societal perceptions of young people. The prevailing laws regulating the treatment of children and adolescents are the product of conventional wisdom, philosophical reasoning, and practical considerations. Recent advances in the developmental science of mature judgment have allowed testing of many of the presumptions on which such laws are based, and developmental science is being called upon, with increasing frequency, to inform legal decisions. This chapter provides a broad overview of the legal regulation of children, as well as the extant or potential use of developmental science to guide legal decision making. The scope of this discussion is limited to legal policy regarding children and adolescents within the United States, and we focus our attention specifically on legal issues important and controversial enough to have been addressed in decisions by the Supreme Court. We review the ways that legal regulation of minors has evolved across a broad array of domains, including the family, school, the justice system, medical settings, and society more broadly. Legal policy in these domains often must reconcile the competing interests of children, their parents, and broader society. We discuss the implications of developmental science for informing debates over the appropriate balance between these differing interests.
Children and Government
Authors: Dodge Kenneth A. , Haskins Ron
Published: March 2015

This chapter addresses the influence that government has on children's development. Government exerts its influence as part of the social ecological macrosystem through direct funding of programs, laws that constrain or encourage behavior, support for research, and the creation of institutions to uphold laws or implement policies. Because government's roles are to affect both the mean and the distribution of outcomes for children, we focus on the problem of poverty, its impact on children, and ways government tries to buffer children from those outcomes. After providing a history of government policies that affect families and children, we synthesize the state of knowledge about how specific public policies in domains such as health, education, and social services affect children's development. We ground this synthesis in relational developmental systems theory, which asserts a bidirectional relation between a child and his or her context. We describe methods that developmental scientists use to study public policies. We highlight the contemporary challenge of optimizing children's development in a context of economic uncertainty, federal deficit, and an aging population. Finally, we argue that children's development can be optimized through more systematic, evidence‐based policy making that is grounded in developmental science.
Assessing Bioecological Influences
Authors: Wachs Theodore D.
Published: March 2015

Within ecologically based approaches to human development the environment is viewed as a multidimensional and structurally organized system, with person and environment contributions functionally linked and probabilistic in nature. Bronfenbrenner's PPCT (process × person × context × time) theory is used as a conceptual framework to illustrate the implications of an ecological perspective, both for understanding and studying development. Within this framework five major issues are reviewed in this chapter: (1) the structure of the human ecosystem, which encompasses the micro‐, meso‐, exo‐ and macrosystems as well as the bioecological and subjective environments; (2) major methodological implications of an ecological perspective for studying development, such as the need to study children in real world situations and to consider both environment and experience; (3) how linkages between the bioecological dimensions of process, person, context and time both structure and moderate ecosystem influences upon development; (4) statistical and measurement issues when integrating across process, person, context and temporal influences, such the need to utilize cost‐efficient ecological assessments; (5) applications of the linked PPCT dimensions to the design and implementation of intervention strategies to promote development.
Bankruptcy
Authors: Thorne Deborah
Published: March 2015

The vast majority of
US
bankruptcies are filed by individuals and couples rather than by corporations. Most filers are middle class and middle aged; however, there has recently been a notable increase in the percentage of filers aged 65 or over. Since bankruptcy eliminates most or all of a petitioner's eligible debt, the majority of filers, although certainly not all, make a financial rebound after bankruptcy. Bankruptcy also remains stigmatized. Leading reasons for filing include job loss, medical problems, and divorce or separation. Although wives are significantly more likely to manage the household debts before a couple files, husbands and wives alike experience considerable emotional and marital distress; after bankruptcy, however, emotional and marital distress decrease sharply among these same couples.
Capitalism
Authors: Beamish Rob
Published: March 2015

Capitalism may refer to an economic, political and/or social system (e.g., feudalism, capitalism, communism), a broad historical period, or specific forms within that period (e.g., mercantile, industrial, finance, monopoly, or late capitalism). It is often politically encumbered through association with Marx's and other socialist or communist critiques of capitalism (although Marx never used “capitalism” in the
Manifesto
or
Capital
 – first employing it in his late‐1870s correspondence). Werner Sombart tried to depoliticize the term, maintaining it was an analytical concept applicable to a specific socioeconomic system.
Consumer Protection Agency
Authors: King Martha W.
Published: March 2015

Consumer protection agencies exist around the world and regionally to protect the interests of consumers. They are commonly established as the result of advocacy by consumer organizations and movements and are most generally designed to ensure that the rights of consumers are acknowledged and protected. The United States failed to create a Consumer Protection Agency in the 1970s. The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (
CFPB
) in 2011. The
CFPB
consolidates most federal consumer financial protection authority in one place and is intended to protect people from unfair, deceptive, and abusive financial practices. There are also a series of regional networks devoted to consumer protection, and international agencies have taken up consumer protection more seriously since 2008.
Cosmetic Surgery
Authors: Applequist Janelle
Published: March 2015

Cosmetic surgery, a popular surgical practice performed to achieve aesthetic appeal, has been marketed heavily since the 1940s. Researchers have long debated the industry through a theoretical lens of feminism, questioning whether the elective procedures perpetuate Western ideas of beauty or open up a space for self‐expression and reflexivity. Research has often found that cosmetic surgery clinics advertise their services as forms of beauty or fashion improvement rather than emphasizing the surgical and medical dimensions. Consumers continue to take out medical loans in an effort to conform to the physical demands that they feel society imposes on them.
Credit Cards
Authors: Guseva Alya
Published: March 2015

Credit cards were invented and mass issued for the first time after World War
II
in the United States. The credit card is a protagonist of globalization and, until recently, Visa and
MasterCard
have been unchallenged leaders of the global card market. Their dominance has recently been challenged by Chinese
UnionPay
cards. Building new credit card markets is a challenging task. At the dawn of the American market, card‐issuing banks mailed unsolicited cards to unscreened individuals, the practice that was successful in jumpstarting the
US
market, but costly to the banks owing to defaults and fraud. Banks in postcommunist countries frequently resort to coercion in their attempt to disseminate cards and develop card acceptance among merchants. Credit cards are subject to moral critique: they encourage overspending and through their reliance on screening technologies and variable risk‐based pricing of credit, they can amplify inequality.
Culture Jamming
Authors: Kuehn Kathleen
Published: March 2015

Culture jamming is a form of rhetorical protest through pranking, hoaxes, hacking, and other types of sabotage. The “guerrilla communications” tactics of culture jamming are rooted in the tenets of social activism, which aim to reclaim independent thought and public spaces from the control and influence of ubiquitous media culture. As identified by cultural critic Mark Dery, four common jamming techniques include subvertising, billboard banditry, media hoaxes, and audio agit‐prop.
Downshifting
Authors: Larsson Jörgen
Published: March 2015

Downshifting can be defined as a long‐term strategy to improve one's quality of life, involving significantly less income or consumption in relation to one's potential level. The concept of downshifting spread in the United States during the 1990s, starting with Amy Saltzman's book
Down‐Shifting: Reinventing Success on a Slower Track
. The main idea is to focus less on paid work and to cut out unnecessary expenditures, in order to have time to do more of the things one wants to do. Ideas about an ascetic or simple life are well known in most major religions, as well as in literature. One example is Henry David Thoreau's
Walden
, which describes a simple life in the forest far removed from urban stress, and which is still popular today. Downshifting is a form of voluntary simplicity – a term which was introduced in the 1930s by one of Mahatma Gandhi's followers and which became widespread after Duane Elgin used it in the title of his 1981 book.
Girl Culture
Authors: Reid‐Walsh Jacqueline
Published: March 2015

Defining the term “girl culture” is difficult because of the complexity and fluidity of its components, but feminist cultural theorists have provided a framework for examining the concept that honors its intricacies. This entry addresses the etymology of each term and places their union into the context of contemporary scholarship.
Marketing/Marketing Science
Authors: Ribeiro Raquel Barbosa , Soares Isabel
Published: March 2015

Marketing is the scientific knowledge and procedures used to persuade consumers to behave according to the objectives set by organizations and individuals. To attain these goals, organizations and individuals offer value to consumers, that is, ways of satisfying their needs and desires, in a relational process of intended reciprocal benefit. Such objectives can encompass selling products, changing attitudes and behaviors, ensuring satisfaction, and motivating adherence to causes. After World War
II
, marketing became a consistent managerial practice and a recognized academic subject. As well as businesses, marketing is now used by nonprofit organizations. Important marketing concepts are: marketing plan, marketing network, product, service, product life cycle, marketing environment, competition, targeting, segmentation, niche, relationship marketing,
CRM
, customization, personalization, co‐creation, collaborative marketing, social marketing, green marketing, and online marketing.
Peer‐to‐Peer File Sharing
Authors: Esposti Piergiorgio Degli
Published: March 2015

Technically, the term “peer to peer” (
P2P
) refers to the architecture of a network in which each node is not hierarchically connoted as simply a client or a server, but categorized according to its capabilities of hosting or receiving data. The fact that any node can be a peer means that it is both a client and a server at the same time. The only distinction is in the terminal nodes defined as host, which is essentially an exception or a new paradigm in the logic architecture of a network.

These systems have become quite popular, beginning in 1999 with Napster, a software that allowed the exchange and downloading of music (especially of .mp3) without paying royalties. Napster struggled with music's major labels and copyright laws, which led to the evolution of a
P2P
‐based system for illegally sharing and downloading digital content such as audio/video and software.
Social Media
Authors: Kaplan Andreas M.
Published: March 2015

Social media are a group of mobile and web applications which enable the creation and exchange of user‐generated content. In the following entry, the term
social media
is defined and differentiated from similar terms often incorrectly used as synonyms. A classification scheme for social media is presented by classifying them into six different groups: collaborative projects, blogs and microblogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual games (
MMORPGs
), and social worlds. Furthermore, in the overview of the history of social media provided, it explains that their recent rise is nothing else than the internet going back to its roots. Finally, a particular focus is put on mobile social media, that is, social media running on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets), offering the possibility of location and time‐sensitive services.
Tourism
Authors: Gotham Kevin Fox
Published: March 2015

Tourism is a unique commodity that is spatially fixed and consumed at the point of production. Unlike other commodities that people buy and sell in markets, tourism is immobile and nontransportable. To participate as a consumer in the consumption of tourism, one has to travel to the actual place. At the same time, tourism is not just a singular commodity that people buy and sell in markets. Rather, tourism refers to a variety of social practices and institutional forms that involve the production, representation, and consumption of culture, history, and environment. In conventional accounts, tourism is a set of discrete economic activities, a mode of consumption, or a spatially bounded locality or destination that is subject to external forces producing impacts. Other research, in contrast, conceptualizes tourism as a highly complex set of institutions and social relations that involve capitalist markets, state policy, and flows of commodities, technology, cultural forms, and people.
Consumer Culture
Authors: Slater Don
Published: March 2015

Consumer culture sits alongside several influential descriptions of modern Western society (such as media society, market society, mass culture) that attempt to sum up and evaluate the specificity of the modern West. The phrase therefore can be used in three different ways: first, as a description of how consumption is organized in modern societies, and the importance of consumption to those societies. Second, as discourses or debates through which people have articulated key concepts and issues in modern experience, such as choice, freedom, individualism, needs and wants, value and so on. Third, as a performative term, in that
consumer culture
is neither the real social organization of consumption nor merely ideas about it; rather, the term has been central to the actual production of what it means to be modern, and to critical thought and practice.