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Highs and Lows of Cannabis Decriminalization: Twitter Analysis and Ethical and Regulatory Implications for Retailing and Marketing
No full textWe examined public reactions to the U.S. House vote to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. Using Twitter data, we analyzed public sentiment, top hashtags used, and underlying themes in the discourse. Users with a wide range of profiles were engaged in this chatter, predominantly expressing positive sentiment with various thematic hashtags. The conversations were centered around five major topics: commentary on the House vote, legalization impediment in the Senate, expungement of marijuana-related criminal records, medical use of marijuana, and social and economic impact of the bill. We discussed ethical and regulatory implications for retailing and marketing
We Charge Genocide: An Examination of Racism as Black Genocide in America
Get PDFThe US Civil Rights Movement and race relations in the US have been met with recent academic popularity, with different historiographies being hotly contested (Hall, 2007) – the result is a complex understanding of African American history (Dwyer, 2000; Lawson, 1991). African Americans were enslaved, segregated, massacred, beaten, raped, and lynched for hundreds of years, leading some academics to believe that African Americans faced a genocide, specifically a ‘Black Genocide’ (Wright, 1969). For the purpose of this essay, the term genocide will follow Lemkin’s orginal conception of the word as well as the United Nation’s definition, where genocide is not necessarily to kill but to destroy a group, in part or in whole, through other means i.e. social, political and economic means (Lemkin and Power, 1944; United States. Department of State. Office of Public et al., 1949). The historical context of slavery, the creation of a race and the treatment of African Americans in America suggests genocidal intentions against black people. The violence that African Americans faced and the continuation of Jim Crow Laws shows dolus specialis, an intent to destroy. Furthermore, the legacy of racism and continuation of violence against African Americans further suggests genocidal intentions
Virtual 4-Week Mindfulness Program for College Students during COVID-19
Get PDFCollege students report high levels of stress and anxiety, and these levels have increased due to the recent COVID-19 global pandemic. Mindfulness-based programs may help college students cope with stress and anxiety, but virtual platforms are still being explored. Therefore, we implemented a virtual 4-week mindfulness program for college students during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to assess feasibility and acceptability of the virtual platform. Participants (n=13) met virtually in a group with their mindfulness instructors for one hour, once a week, for four weeks. They were also encouraged to practice mindfulness independently each day for 15 minutes using audio recordings of guided meditations. Feasibility and acceptability of the virtual mindfulness program were assessed at baseline, immediately after program completion, and during a 3-month follow-up. We also explored the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic on student\u27s perception of their stress and remote learning experiences. Participants’ mindfulness levels significantly increased after the 4-week program (n=8) and remained elevated after 3 months (n=4). Participants generally reported high levels of acceptability of the program and a majority responded positively to the virtual format. This pilot program lays the foundation for future virtual mindfulness platforms that may be implemented for college students
Count on Me?: Explore the Effect of COVID-19 City Out-Migration on the 2020 Census: A Case Study on New York City
Get PDFThe United States’ decennial census is the gold standard for enumerating the country’s population. Its data are used by private developers as well as federal and state governments to efficiently allocate federal resources, determine Congressional representation, and provide access to public safety and emergency preparedness (Why We Conduct the Decennial Census). Historically, the census has seen the lowest response rates from low-income populations, communities of color, foreign-born populations, and children (O’hare, 2019). However, early reports on the 2020 Census uncovered that in major metropolitan cities, notably in New York City, these may not be the only undercounted groups. Historically high-income, predominantly white communities also faced a low voluntary self-response rate (Rubinstein, 2020; Kim, 2020). This phenomenon aligns with recent internal migration trends during the COVID-19 pandemic; one in five U.S. adults relocated or knew someone who had during the pandemic, with most of these adults ranging from ages 18-29 years old (Cohn, 2020)
Temperature Affects Nest Box Occupancy, Nest Success, and Nestling Size in a Southeastern Population of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis)
Get PDFGiven the critical role that temperature plays in avian reproductive biology, rising temperatures as a result of global climate change will likely impact reproductive success of many bird populations. Secondary cavity nesting birds, many of which rely on artificial nest boxes to maintain population levels, may be particularly at risk because increased temperatures inside nest boxes can determine whether nest boxes are selected, reduce nest success, and/or negatively affect the growth and survival of offspring. We examined the effect of nest box color on nest box temperature and the influence of nest box temperature, nest box color, entrance orientation, and nest site features (distance to forest cover, distance to water) on nest box occupancy, nest success, and nestling size at fledge in Eastern Bluebirds at a restored grassland in central Georgia. From March-August 2020-2022, we monitored temperature inside 50 nest boxes, recorded nest outcome, and measured nestling size (tarsus). We compared the effect of nest box color on nest box temperatures using an ANOVA and used Akaike’s Information Criterion (AICc) to determine which variables were most strongly associated with nest box occupancy, nest success, and nestling size at fledge. White painted nest boxes had significantly cooler average daily high, average daily lows, and average daily temperatures than control nest boxes. However, Eastern Bluebird females selected boxes with warmer daily lows, daily highs, and daily averages. We posit that this allowed the female to reduce energy expenditure during incubation and shorten the nesting period. Nest success was strongly associated with year, likely because of increased nest predation driven by the warmer ambient temperatures experienced during the 2022 breeding season. Unlike occupancy, cooler nest boxes were associated with increased nest success, possibly due to cooler boxes decreasing trips off the nest by incubating female and thus reducing predation risks. Nestlings that fledged from painted nest boxes, nest boxes with cooler average daily high temperatures, and nests initiated during 2021 were larger. This is likely due to a tradeoff whereby nestlings that don’t have to devote energy to cooling down their bodies can instead devote that energy to growth. These results suggest there may be an optimal temperature range where nest box temperature maximizes reproductive fitness. Determining the optimal temperature range for occupancy, success, and nestling growth may yield conflicting results, but can help target management to ensure specific goals are met
FITNESS OF INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDS IN THE GENUS CYPRINELLA: AN EVALUATION OF SWIMMING PERFORMANCE IN NORTH AMERICAN STREAM FISHES
Get PDFDue to anthropogenic pressures, freshwater ecosystems are being rapidly destroyed worldwide. Accordingly, human impacts have also resulted in the loss of native aquatic biodiversity. In particular, the introduction of non-native species to aquatic habitats is of great concern. Historically, the introductions of many non-native freshwater fishes are the result of commercial baitfish aquaculture, food industries, and private aquarium release. The red shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis) is a small stream fish that is endemic to the Central U.S., and its natural range is restricted to East of the Mississippi River. Since the 1950’s, red shiner have been commercially raised and transported across the globe as fishing bait and ornamental fish. During the early 1990’s populations of invasive red shiner were first observed in the Coosa River Basin, located in Northwest Georgia, USA. Originating from bait bucket releases, the invasive red shiner quickly established within the Upper Coosa River Basin (USA) and now hybridizes with at least one native species of Cyprinella, the blacktail shiner (C. venusta). Over the past thirty years, red x blacktail shiner hybrids have become increasingly abundant and demonstrate an unknown level of hybrid viability. To date, little is known about the relative fitness of red x blacktail shiner hybrids compared to their parental species. If hybrids exhibit equal or greater fitness compared to parental species, then this could result in regional extinctions of native Cyprinella species. To assess the relative fitness of hybrid shiner, we evaluated morphology and maximum swimming velocity for red, blacktail, and hybrid shiner. Our results suggest that hybrid shiner are intermediate to parental species in both swimming performance and body morphology. In conclusion, we propose that red shiner x blacktail shiner hybrids may have a competitive level of fitness when compared to parental species, and hybrid shiner are potentially more harmful to native Cyprinella than pure red shiner
The effects of financial liberalization on productivity: Evidence from India\u27s manufacturing sector
No full textUsing a panel of India\u27s registered manufacturing firms and both economy-wide and firm-level financial data, we investigate the effects of India\u27s financial liberalization on the productivity of its manufacturing sector in the 1990s and 2000s. Our dynamic panel analysis shows that the series of financial liberalization policies/measures, at both the macro and micro levels, significantly enhanced the productivity of the manufacturing sector. Total factor productivity increased for all firms, including those owned by the state government, with greater gains for the firms in the private and foreign sectors. Our results suggest that policies favoring financial liberalization should be pursued further in order for India to foster higher economic growth
Analysis of the onset of a regime shift and detecting early warning signs of major population changes in a two-trophic three-species predator-prey model with long-term transients
No full textIdentifying early warning signs of sudden population changes and mechanisms leading to regime shifts are highly desirable in population biology. In this paper, a two-trophic ecosystem comprising of two species of predators, competing for their common prey, with explicit interference competition is considered. With proper rescaling, the model is portrayed as a singularly perturbed system with fast prey dynamics and slow dynamics of the predators. In a parameter regime near singular Hopf bifurcation, chaotic mixed-mode oscillations (MMOs), featuring concatenation of small and large amplitude oscillations are observed as long-lasting transients before the system approaches its asymptotic state. To analyze the dynamical cause that initiates a large amplitude oscillation in an MMO orbit, the model is reduced to a suitable normal form near the singular-Hopf point. The normal form possesses a separatrix surface that separates two different types of oscillations. A large amplitude oscillation is initiated if a trajectory moves from the “inner” to the “outer side” of this surface. A set of conditions on the normal form variables are obtained to determine whether a trajectory would exhibit another cycle of MMO dynamics before experiencing a regime shift (i.e. approaching its asymptotic state). These conditions serve as early warning signs for a sudden population shift as well as detect the onset of a regime shift in this ecological model
Revised temporal and morphostratigraphic context for Clark Quarry: A late-Pleistocene, fluvially-reworked, Atlantic coast backbarrier deposit
No full textSediments along the Atlantic Coastal Plain (ACP) of North America have been the focus of numerous paleontological investigations and yielded a diverse array of vertebrate remains; yet the depositional environments associated with their preservation are poorly understood. In this study, we present a multidisciplinary analysis of the depositional environment at Clark Quarry, a late-Pleistocene, fossil-rich locality located within the ACP in Georgia, USA. Clark Quarry is currently positioned 15 km west of the Atlantic Ocean coast and lies within the Princess Anne Terrace, a 100–80 ka paleobarrier-island complex. Fossil-bearing sediments at Clark Quarry are interpreted to have been deposited as a low-energy, fluvial environment that subsequently reworked low-lying terrain of the Princess Anne Terrace backbarrier. Interpretations of digital elevation models (DEM) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) ages on K-rich feldspar sand grains indicate that this region was an estuarine zone backing (i.e., westward) the Princess Anne paleobarrier island that was subsequently reworked by fluvial activity 68–52 ka. These new interpretations, paired with additional radiocarbon ages from fossil carbonates and overlying soil horizons, indicate that radiocarbon samples may have been influenced by isotopic exchange and should be interpreted as minimum age estimates. Additionally, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys in conjunction with DEM analysis may have captured the subsurface signature of a meandering fluvial system transitioning to a braided style, emphasizing the dynamic nature of this depositional environment. Non-preferential orientation of excavated long bones suggests multidirectional paleoflow, further suggesting a braided stream influence. When considered in conjunction, these data: 1) indicate that Clark Quarry represents a spatially and temporally resolved window into the late-Pleistocene ecosystem in southeastern North America, and 2) suggest that existing radiocarbon data from late-Pleistocene ACP localities should be considered with caution