San Francisco State University

About: San Francisco State University is a education organization based out in San Francisco, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Planet. The organization has 5669 authors who have published 11433 publications receiving 408075 citations. The organization is also known as: San Francisco State & San Francisco State Normal School.

Simple rules yield complex food webs

Abstract: Several of the most ambitious theories in ecology1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 describe food webs that document the structure of strong and weak trophic links9 that is responsible for ecological dynamics among diverse assemblages of species4,11,12,13. Early mechanism-based theory asserted that food webs have little omnivory and several properties that are independent of species richness1,2,3,4,6. This theory was overturned by empirical studies that found food webs to be much more complex5,7,8,9,14,15,16,17,18, but these studies did not provide mechanistic explanations for the complexity9. Here we show that a remarkably simple model fills this scientific void by successfully predicting key structural properties of the most complex and comprehensive food webs in the primary literature. These properties include the fractions of species at top, intermediate and basal trophic levels, the means and variabilities of generality, vulnerability and food-chain length, and the degrees of cannibalism, omnivory, looping and trophic similarity. Using only two empirical parameters, species number and connectance, our ‘niche model’ extends the existing ‘cascade model’3,19 and improves its fit ten-fold by constraining species to consume a contiguous sequence of prey in a one-dimensional trophic niche20.

The Psychological Basis of Opportunity Identification: Entrepreneurial Alertness

Abstract: Opportunity identification represents a unique entrepreneurial behavior yet its processes and dynamics remain mysterious. Entrepreneurial alertness, a distinctive set of perceptual and information-processing skills, has been advanced as the cognitive engine driving the opportunity identification process. To date, empirical support has been equivocal; however, these early studies suffer from fundamental mistakes in theory and method. These mistakes are examined and addressed. A research agenda for the systematic and conceptually sound study of entrepreneurial alertness and opportunity identification is outlined.

Internalized stigma of mental illness: psychometric properties of a new measure.

Abstract: The study evaluated the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale, designed to measure the subjective experience of stigma, with subscales measuring Alienation, Stereotype Endorsement, Perceived Discrimination, Social Withdrawal and Stigma Resistance. The ISMI was developed in collaboration with people with mental illnesses and contains 29 Likert items. The validation sample included 127 mental health outpatients. Results showed that the ISMI had high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Construct validity was supported by comparisons against scales measuring related constructs with the same methodology. As expected, the ISMI had positive correlations with measures of stigma beliefs and depressive symptoms, and it had negative correlations with measures of self-esteem, empowerment and recovery orientation. Factor analyses of the joint set of items from the ISMI and each scale supported the distinction between constructs. Having a validated measure of internalized stigma may encourage clinicians to include stigma reduction as a verifiable treatment goal in addition to symptom reduction.

Improving Schooling for Language‐Minority Children: A Research Agenda.*

Abstract: How do we effectively teach children from homes in which a language other than English is spoken? In Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children, a committee of experts focuses on this central question, striving toward the construction of a strong and credible knowledge base to inform the activities of those who educate children as well as those who fund and conduct research. The book reviews a broad range of studies--from basic ones on language, literacy, and learning to others in educational settings. The committee proposes a research agenda that responds to issues of policy and practice yet maintains scientific integrity. This comprehensive volume provides perspective on the history of bilingual education in the United States; summarizes relevant research on development of a second language, literacy, and content knowledge; reviews past evaluation studies; explores what we know about effective schools and classrooms for these children; examines research on the education of teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students; critically reviews the system for the collection of education statistics as it relates to this student population; and recommends changes in the infrastructure that supports research on these students.