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To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17848.x Byline: Veronika Bokony, Anna Kulcsar, Andras Liker Abstract: How urbanization affects animal populations is in the focus of current ecological research. Existing theory of this topic suggests that the cities' more constant food supplies and lower predation pressure lead to a high proportion of weak competitors in urban populations. To evaluate this hypothesis, we tested whether competitive performance differs between differently urbanized populations of house sparrows Passer domesticus. We previously showed that wild urban sparrows are smaller and leaner than rural conspecifics, and this difference persists for months under identical captive conditions. Here we compared several aspects of their competitiveness (fighting, scrambling and searching for food) in captive mixed flocks of urban and rural birds. We found that sparrows exhibited consistent individual differences in competitiveness, but these differences were not related either to the degree of urbanization of their original habitats or to their body mass. Moreover, the variance in competitive abilities also did not differ between birds from more and less urbanized habitats. Thus our results did not support the hypothesis that urbanization shifts population structure towards an over-abundance of weak competitors in house sparrows. We discuss possible explanations why sparrow populations may not differ in competitiveness despite the smaller body mass of urban birds. Author Affiliation: (1) Dept of Limnology, Univ. of Pannonia, Pf. 158, HU-8201 Veszprem, Hungary (2) Dept of Ethology, Eotvos Univ., Pf. 120, HU-1518 Budapest, Hungary Article History: Paper manuscript accepted 28 July 2009 Article note: V. Bokony, Dept of Limnology, Univ. of Pannonia, Pf. 158, HU-8201 Veszprem, Hungary. E-mail: vbokony@enternet.hu

In the French debate over genetically modified organisms (GMOs), actors present divergent definitions of food quality located between poles of technoscience and techne. Although scientists often define food quality in terms of technoscience, assessing food safety, small farmers often appeal to technes of production, positing GMOs as a rupture with artisanal culture. Whereas small farmers (from the union the Confederation Paysanne [CP]) deploy notions of 'techne' to promote their anti-GMO campaign, they often define quality in an ambiguous way, vacillating between ideas of agricultural method (technique) or production scale. Despite this ambiguity, the CP successfully designates GMOs as la malbouffe, or 'bad' food, establishing themselves as protectors of artisanal technes such as Roquefort. Finally, unlike many cultures that cast GMOs as 'unnatural,' the CP tends to frame GMOs as 'uncultural.' In the French debate, the CP posits culture against a 'culturelessness' associated with technoscience and industry-driven foods such as GMOs and McDonald's. [Keywords: French agriculture, biotechnology, food, quality, technoscience]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.01.015 Byline: M.B. Fontenot, S.L. Watson, K.A. Roberts, R.W. Miller Abstract: We examined the extent to which female capuchin monkeys show an 'aversion to inequitable work effort' by providing the monkeys with the opportunity to engage in token exchange tasks to earn either a preferred (grape) or nonpreferred (oat cereal) food item. In experiment 1, monkeys were paired with partners such that both were required to exchange a token (work effort) for either a preferred or nonpreferred food reward. The subject's exchange behaviour was then compared to conditions in which the partner received the food reward for no work effort. We found no evidence that differential work effort influenced the percentage of incomplete exchanges. Furthermore, capuchins completed exchanges more rapidly for the preferred food item, regardless of the work effort of the partner. In experiment 2, we evaluated, in the absence of differential work effort, behavioural responses of monkeys to receipt of a preferred or nonpreferred food in conditions where their partner received either the same or different food. These conditions were compared to control conditions where either the same or different food was placed in an adjacent empty cage. Capuchins were less likely to accept nonpreferred food and consumed it more slowly than preferred food. We found no evidence that the presence of a partner influenced acceptance or consumption of the nonpreferred food under inequitable conditions. Overall, we found no indication that capuchins are able to evaluate either the relative work effort of a partner or the inequity of a food reward and are thus unlikely to possess an 'aversion to inequity'. Author Affiliation: (a) University of Louisiana at Lafayette-New Iberia Research Center, U.S.A. (a ) University of Southern Mississippi, U.S.A. Article History: Received 10 March 2006; Revised 29 April 2006; Accepted 15 January 2007 Article Note: (miscellaneous) MS. number: A10387

When intense public controversy erupted around agricultural biotechnology in the late 1990s, critics found opportunities to challenge risk assessment criteria and test methods for genetically modified (GM) products. In relation to GM food, they criticized the concept of substantial equivalence, which European Union and United States regulators had adopted as the basis for a harmonized, science-based approach to risk assessment. Competing policy agendas framed scientific uncertainty in different ways. Substantial equivalence was contested and eventually recast to accommodate some criticisms. To explain how the concept changed, this article links two analytical perspectives. Regulatory-science perspectives illuminate how the scientification of politics and politicization of science led to shifts in the boundary between science and policy. Governance perspectives illuminate how the collective problem for policy was redefined to provide a new common ground for some stakeholders. Overall, substantial equivalence was recast to govern the social conflict and address legitimacy problems of regulatory procedures. Keywords: substantial equivalence; regulatory science; scientization; scientification; politicization; science/policy boundary; governance; Codex Alimentarius Commission; Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD)

The complex issues surrounding the application of genetic engineering to food and agriculture have generated a contentious debate among diverse interest groups. One pervasive dimension in the resultant discourse is the varying perceptions of the risks and benefits of genetically engineered foods and crops. In the risk communication model, technical information is evaluated within the context of an individual's values and perceptions. The purpose of this study was to explore how dietetics professionals respond to a complex set of interrelated issues associated with genetically engineered foods and crops and to identify what varying viewpoints may exist. Participants were asked to sort a total of 48 statements distributed across eight issue areas according to level of agreement and disagreement. Using Q methodology, a total of 256 sortings were analyzed using the centroid method and varimax rotation in factor analysis. Three distinct viewpoints emerged: Precautionary ([R.sup.2]=43%), Discerning Supporter ([R.sup.2]= 11%), and Promoting ([R.sup.2]=5%). Across all viewpoints, respondents agreed that dietetics professionals should employ critical thinking skills to communicate the social, economic, environmental, ethical, and technical aspects of genetically engineered foods and crops. The findings have implications for how dietetics professionals can foster an open interchange of information among diverse groups.