Tulane University

About: Tulane University is a education organization based out in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Blood pressure. The organization has 24478 authors who have published 47205 publications receiving 1944993 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Louisiana.

Integrating bottom-up and top-down theories of subjective well-being : the case of health

Abstract: As a means of integrating bottom-up and top-down theories of subjective well-being (SWB), a framework was proposed that, in part, posits that both objective life circumstances and global personality dimensions indirectly affect SWB through their effects on the interpretation of life circumstances. This proposition was tested both cross-sectionally and longitudinally among a sample of approximately 375 men and women. Personality was operationalized in terms of the dispositional trait negative affectivity (NA), and the life circumstance investigated was health. Strong support was obtained for the hypothesized indirect effects of NA and objective health on SWB. Implications of the integrative framework for the study of SWB are discussed.

Carbon sequestration potential of second-growth forest regeneration in the Latin American tropics

Abstract: Regrowth of tropical secondary forests following complete or nearly complete removal of forest vegetation actively stores carbon in aboveground biomass, partially counterbalancing carbon emissions from deforestation, forest degradation, burning of fossil fuels, and other anthropogenic sources. We estimate the age and spatial extent of lowland second-growth forests in the Latin American tropics and model their potential aboveground carbon accumulation over four decades. Our model shows that, in 2008, second-growth forests (1 to 60 years old) covered 2.4 million km2 of land (28.1% of the total study area). Over 40 years, these lands can potentially accumulate a total aboveground carbon stock of 8.48 Pg C (petagrams of carbon) in aboveground biomass via low-cost natural regeneration or assisted regeneration, corresponding to a total CO2 sequestration of 31.09 Pg CO2. This total is equivalent to carbon emissions from fossil fuel use and industrial processes in all of Latin America and the Caribbean from 1993 to 2014. Ten countries account for 95% of this carbon storage potential, led by Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. We model future land-use scenarios to guide national carbon mitigation policies. Permitting natural regeneration on 40% of lowland pastures potentially stores an additional 2.0 Pg C over 40 years. Our study provides information and maps to guide national-level forest-based carbon mitigation plans on the basis of estimated rates of natural regeneration and pasture abandonment. Coupled with avoided deforestation and sustainable forest management, natural regeneration of second-growth forests provides a low-cost mechanism that yields a high carbon sequestration potential with multiple benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Estimating Interrater Agreement with the Average Deviation Index: A User’s Guide:

Abstract: The authors present guidelines for establishing a useful range for interrater agreement and a cutoff for acceptable interrater agreement when using Burke, Finkelstein, and Dusig’s average deviation (AD) index as well as critical values for tests of statistical significance with the AD index. Under the assumption that judges respond randomly to an item or set of items in a measure, the authors show that a criterion for acceptable interrater agreement or practical significance when using the AD index can be approximated as c/6, where c is the number of response options for a Likert-type item. The resulting values of 0.8, 1.2, 1.5, and 1.8 are discussed as standards for acceptable interrater agreement when using the AD index with 5-, 7-, 9-, and 11-point items, respectively. Using similar logic, the AD agreement index and interpretive standard are generalized to the case of a response scale that involves percentages or proportions, rather than discrete categories, or at the other extreme, the assessment of i...