James G. Thompson

Local Social Disruption and Western Energy Development A Critical Review

The assumption that energy development causes social disruption in western communities is based on undocumented assertions, questionable interpretations of evidence, and superficial analyses. Theory used implicitly in research on western communities that are affected by energy development is inconsistent with the history of the region and with recent developments in community research. The literature provides suggestions for research, but improvements in theory and methodology will be needed if responsible contributions to energy development policy are to be made in this research.

Preclinical and Clinical Demonstration of Immunogenicity by mRNA Vaccines against H10N8 and H7N9 Influenza Viruses

Recently, the World Health Organization confirmed 120 new human cases of avian H7N9 influenza in China resulting in 37 deaths, highlighting the concern for a potential pandemic and the need for an effective, safe, and high-speed vaccine production platform. Production speed and scale of mRNA-based vaccines make them ideally suited to impede potential pandemic threats. Here we show that lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-formulated, modified mRNA vaccines, encoding hemagglutinin (HA) proteins of H10N8 (A/Jiangxi-Donghu/346/2013) or H7N9 (A/Anhui/1/2013), generated rapid and robust immune responses in mice, ferrets, and nonhuman primates, as measured by hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) and microneutralization (MN) assays. A single dose of H7N9 mRNA protected mice from a lethal challenge and reduced lung viral titers in ferrets. Interim results from a first-in-human, escalating-dose, phase 1 H10N8 study show very high seroconversion rates, demonstrating robust prophylactic immunity in humans. Adverse events (AEs) were mild or moderate with only a few severe and no serious events. These data show that LNP-formulated, modified mRNA vaccines can induce protective immunogenicity with acceptable tolerability profiles.

Violent Crime in the Western Energy-Development Region:

Case studies of “boom towns” in the western United States and the theory of social disorganization predict positive effects of recent growth and energy development on the violent crime rate in small towns and rural areas. Regression results, with controls for local characteristics prior to the energy boom of the 1970s, give little evidence of additive effects of recent growth and energy development on the violent crime rate in nonmetropolitan counties of the major energy-producing states. Long-standing structural problems are better predictors of the violent crime rate than are recent changes associated with energy development.

The place of attitudes and perceptions in social impact assessment

Abstract Sociopsychological variables, including attitudes, beliefs, values, and opinions, occupy a central place in emerging social impact assessment methodologies. Despite the attention that these perceptual concepts have received in the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) literature, there is little consensus on how they should be used. Four critical issues influence the utility of attitudes in the SIA process: (1) the location of attitudes in SIA research models, (2) the ubiquitous problem of attitude‐behavior predictability, (3) the “other variables”; problem, and (4) the measurement problem, i.e., the importance of measurement validity, reliability, and scalability. The authors first review the use of attitudes and perceptual measures in the SIA literature. This review reveals that while almost all authors of SIA models or methodologies recommend the inclusion of sociopsychological measures, the manner in which they propose these measures for use varies widely with most authors failing to specify whether...

Addressing the human dimensions of wolf reintroduction: An example using estimates of livestock depredation and costs of compensation

Abstract Efforts to reintroduce the wolf to the greater Yellowstone ecosystem were stalled again in 1991 when Congress rejected the recommendations of the Wolf Management Committee (WMC). I suggest that wolf reintroduction is a difficult policy problem, in part, because the human dimensions of the problem are difficult to assess and manage. Estimates of livestock depredation used by the WMC are analyzed to illustrate how they can be interpreted as incorrect and antagonistic by some stakeholders. Alternative estimates of livestock depredation and costs of compensation are presented. It is argued that what is important about such estimates is the process by which they are developed. Federal agencies working toward wolf recovery need to recognize that wolf reintroduction is a “stalking horse”; for the larger issue of land use change in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Therefore, wolf reintroduction needs to be treated as a major policy conflict. A state‐of‐the‐art environmental impact statement is now unde...

Divorce and Recent Net Migration into the Old West.

A positive association between change in the divorce rate and net inmigration [in the United States] has been suggested in discussions of recent rural population growth particularly in areas affected by rapid development of energy resources. Previous research findings suggest that the divorce rate is affected by stress and by effectiveness of constraints to divorce and that these might be influenced by net inmigration. Data on change in divorce rates of 292 counties of the Old West region from 1970 to 1975 were examined. Multiple regression results indicate that new inmigration had little effect on change in the divorce rate. (EXCERPT)

[Local Social Disruption and Western Energy Development: A Critical Review]: Response

Mark Twain could have told them what they were going to find, and they found it: murder, robbery, assault, child abuse, wife beating, divorce, alcoholism, depression, madness and suicide all out of proportion to the number of people in town. They began calling it Gillette syndrome, and then, in the best traditions of sociology, they began to argue whether itreally existed or was just a statistical berration built of shabby data [1982: 118].