Explore the vast range of titles available.

This book is really three-books-in-one, dealing with the topic of artifacts in behavioral research. It is about the problems of experimenter effects which have not been solved. Experimenters still differ in the ways in which they see, interpret, and manipulate their data. Experimenters still obtain different responses from research participants (human or infrahuman) as a function of experimenters' states and traits of biosocial, psychosocial, and situational origins. Experimenters' expectations still serve too often as self-fulfilling prophecies, a problem that biomedical researchers have acknowledged and guarded against better than have behavioral researchers; e.g., many biomedical studies would be considered of unpublishable quality had their experimenters not been blind to experimental condition. Problems of participant or subject effects have also not been solved. Researchers usually still draw research samples from a population of volunteers that differ along many dimensions from those not finding their way into our research. Research participants are still often suspicious of experimenters' intent, try to figure out what experimenters are after, and are concerned about what the experimenter thinks of them. That portion of the complexity of human behavior that can be attributed to the social nature of behavioral research can be conceptualized as a set of artifacts to be isolated, measured, considered, and, sometimes, eliminated. This book examines the methodological and substantive implications of sources of artifacts in behavioral research and strategies for improving this situation.

Researchers commonly ask subjects to self-identify their race from a menu of preestablished options. Yet if race is a multidimensional, multilevel social construction, this has profound methodological implications for the sciences and social sciences. Race must inform how we design large-scale data collection and how scientists utilize race in the context of specific research questions. This landmark collection argues for the recognition of those implications for research and suggests ways in which they may be integrated into future scientific endeavors. It concludes on a prescriptive note, providing an arsenal of multidisciplinary, conceptual, and methodological tools for studying race specifically within the context of health inequalities.Contributors:John A. Garcia, Arline T. Geronimus, Laura E. Gómez, Joseph L. Graves Jr., Janet E. Helms, Derek Kenji Iwamoto, Jonathan Kahn, Jay S. Kaufman, Mai M. Kindaichi, Simon J. Craddock Lee, Nancy López, Ethan H. Mereish, Matthew Miller, Gabriel R. Sanchez, Aliya Saperstein, R. Burciaga Valdez, Vicki D. Ybarra

This chapter contains sections titled: Initial Islamic Forays into Philosophical Theology – “the Philosophers ” Averroës' Return to Aristotle and al‐Ghazali's Critique of these Initiatives The Lasting Contribution of Islamic Thought to Philosophical Theology Works cited

Mesophyll diffusion conductance to CO₂ (gm) is an important leaf characteristic determining the drawdown of CO₂ from substomatal cavities (Ci) to chloroplasts (CC). Finite gm results in modifications in the shape of the net assimilation (A) versus Ci response curves, with the final outcome of reduced maximal carboxylase activity of Rubisco (Vcmax), and a greater ratio of the capacity for photosynthetic electron transport to Vcmax (Jmax/Vcmax) and alterations in mitochondrial respiration rate (Rd) when estimated from A/Ci responses without considering gm. The influence of different Farquhar et al. model parameterizations on daily photosynthesis under non-stressed (Ci kept constant throughout the day) and stressed conditions (mid-day reduction in Ci) was compared. The model was parameterized on the basis of A/CC curves and A/Ci curves using both the conventional fitting procedure (Vcmax and Rd fitted separately to the linear part of the response curve and Jmax to the saturating part) and a procedure that fitted all parameters simultaneously. The analyses demonstrated that A/Ci parameterizations overestimated daily assimilation by 6-8% for high gm values, while they underestimated if by up to 70% for low gm values. Qualitative differences between the A/Ci and A/CC parameterizations were observed under stressed conditions, when underestimated Vcmax and overestimated Rd of A/Ci parameterizations resulted in excessive mid-day depression of photosynthesis. Comparison with measured diurnal assimilation rates in the Mediterranean sclerophyll species Quercus ilex under drought further supported this bias of A/Ci parameterizations. While A/Ci parameterization predicted negative carbon balance at mid-day, actual measurements and simulations with the A/CC approach yielded positive carbon gain under these conditions. In addition, overall variation captured by the best A/Ci parameterization was poor compared with the A/CC approach. This analysis strongly suggests that for correct parameterization of daily time-courses of photosynthesis under realistic field conditions, gm must be included in photosynthesis models.

Blue light has many direct and indirect effects on photosynthesis. The impact of blue light on mesophyll conductance (gm), one of the main diffusive limitation to photosynthesis, was investigated in leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and Platanus orientalis, characterized by high and low gm, respectively. Leaves were exposed to blue light fractions between 0% and 80% of incident light intensity (300 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹), the other fraction being supplied as red light. Leaves exposed to blue light showed reduced photosynthesis and unaltered stomatal conductance. The gm, measured using the chlorophyll fluorescence-based method, was strongly reduced in both plant species. Such a reduction of gm may not be real, as several assumptions used for the calculation of gm by fluorescence may not hold under blue light. To assess possible artefacts, the electron transport rate measured by fluorescence (Jf) and by gas-exchange (Jc) were compared in leaves exposed to different fractions of blue light under non-photorespiratory conditions. The two values were only equal, a prerequisite for correct gm measurements, when the illumination was totally provided as red light. Under increasing blue light levels an increasing discrepancy was observed, which suggests that Jf was not correctly calculated, and that such an error could also upset gm measurements. Blue light was not found to change the absorbance of light by leaves, whereas it slightly decreased the distribution of light to PSII. To equate Jf and Jc under blue light, a further factor must be added to the Jf equation, which possibly accounted for the reduced efficiency of energy transfer between the pigments predominantly absorbing blue light (the carotenoids) and the chlorophylls. This correction reduced by about 50% the effect of blue light on gm. However, the residual reduction of gm under blue light was real and significant, although it did not appear to limit the chloroplast CO₂ concentration and, consequently, photosynthesis. Reduction of gm might be caused by chloroplast movement to avoid photodamage, in turn affecting the chloroplast surface exposed to intercellular spaces. However, gm reduction occurred immediately after exposure to blue light and was complete after less than 3 min, whereas chloroplast relocation was expected to occur more slowly. In addition, fast gm reduction was also observed after inhibiting chloroplast movement by cytochalasin. It is therefore concluded that gm reduction under blue light is unlikely to be caused by chloroplast movement only, and must be elicited by other, as yet unknown, factors.

For over a century, the countries of South America's Southern Cone have struggled to control or eradicate foot and mouth disease (FMD). These efforts have been undermined by a pronounced spatial spillover of the FMD virus. Because the virus spreads readily, the effectiveness of control efforts in one country, or on one ranch, is influenced by control efforts in nearby countries or ranches. These spatial effects are compounded by variations in incentives to control the disease and diverse sensitivities to neighbors. This paper demonstrates how control behavior is affected by spatial spillovers of varied intensity and by heterogeneous incentives to control disease.

As in other countries in southern Africa, foot and mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in certain parts of Zimbabwe inhabited by African buffalo, which harbor the virus. Despite this, Zimbabwe has invested for many years in maintaining freedom from FMD over much of its territory, permitting it to take advantage of favorable tariff arrangements for export of boneless beef and other livestock products to high-value markets in Europe. Traditionally, assessing such investment in animal disease control involves a straightforward application of benefit-cost analysis (BCA) to see if the investment if justified on efficiency grounds as contributing to economic growth. Policy objectives in developing countries, however, increasingly feature poverty alleviation in addition to economic growth, as evidenced in the national Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. In this paper, we report extensions to the traditional BCA framework to address these equity impacts as part of an evaluation if improved FMD control in Zimbabwe recently undertaken by Perry et al.