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While Quality of Life (QOL) has long been an explicit or implicit policy goal, adequate definition and measurement have been elusive. Diverse "objective" and "subjective" indicators across a range of disciplines and scales, and recent work on subjective well-being (SWB) surveys and the psychology of happiness have spurred renewed interest. Drawing from multiple disciplines, we present an integrative definition of QOL that combines measures of human needs with subjective well-being or happiness. QOL is proposed as a multiscale, multi-dimensional concept that contains interacting objective and subjective elements. We relate QOL to the opportunities that are provided to meet human needs in the forms of built, human, social and natural capital (in addition to time) and the policy options that are available to enhance these opportunities. Issues related to defining, measuring, and scaling these concepts are discussed, and a research agenda is elaborated. Policy implications include strategies for investing in opportunities to maximize QOL enhancement at the individual, community, and national scales.

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Planting date can affect pest incidence and severity in peanut. Research was conducted from 2013 to 2016 in North Carolina to determine tobacco thrips [Frankliniella fusca (Hinds)] injury and pod yield when peanut was planted in early, mid-, and late-May when phorate was applied in the seed furrow at planting, acephate was applied to emerged peanut 3 wk after planting, or when both insecticides were applied. Differences in visible injury to peanut caused by tobacco thrips feeding were observed across yr, planting dates, and insecticide treatments. Applying either phorate or acephate was often as effective as the combination of both insecticides in preventing injury caused by tobacco thrips although in some instances applying both insecticides was more effective than a single insecticide. Visible injury caused by tobacco thrips was often greater when peanut was planted in early May compared with later plantings. Peanut yield was protected equally from tobacco thrips injury by phorate, acephate, and the combination of both insecticides. Planting date and insecticides affected peanut yield independently suggesting that strategies for managing tobacco thrips will not differ across planting dates in North Carolina. Peanut yield was greater in 2 of 4 yr when planted in mid-May compared with planting in early or late-May.

No abstract