Influences on effective local wildfire mitigation programs

The purpose of this research is to identify key components of community wildfire risk reduction programs and potential influences on the adoption of these program elements. Community wildfire programs have been developed to educate and encourage property owners to adopt “vegetation management” practices such as creating defensible space around structures, landscaping with fire-resistant plants, and removing potential wildfire fuels such as trees and shrubs. The analyses are based on a survey conducted by investigators from Louisiana State University in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service. This survey was distributed to wildfire mitigation program managers listed on the National Wildfire Programs Database website. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted on the data returned from this sixty-nine-item survey. A range of socioeconomic variables was gathered from the 2000 Census Bureau and was used along with a fire history variable created from data extracted from the survey to examine the extent to which the variables are associated with program development. Five factors were identified from the PCA as being indicators of key components of risk-reduction programs. Local programs with these elements are assumed to have a greater capacity for effectively reducing or mitigating wildfire risks to communities within the wildland-urban interface (WUI). The factors are more local regulations and codes, larger numbers of public education, vegetation disposal, risk assessment activities and fewer reported problems with program funding. These factors were regressed with demographic variables selected for each survey respondent’s geographic area. Several different demographic variables were found to be significantly associated with the selected factors. These are population density, property value, wealth, percent of homeownership, percent of population with a college degree, and population change. Formulation and implementation of these desirable program components were found to be associated with slower growing, less densely populated communities, and those with wealthier and better educated residents

Demographics and the Marketing of Asian Ethnic Produce in the Mid-Atlantic States

Marketing,

Quesungual slash and mulch agroforestry system (QSMAS): Improving crop water productivity, food security and resource quality in the sub-humid tropics

The knowledge and principles generated by CPWF-PN15 confirm that QSMAS can be a model production system for implementing conservation agriculture to achieve food security and sustainable development in drought-prone areas of hillsides in the sub-humid tropics, while providing ecosystem services in the face of land degradation and climate change. As an adoptable option to replace the slash and burn traditional system, QSMAS can improve smallholder livelihoods through eco-efficient use and conservation of natural resources. Participatory validation activities suggest that the conservation agriculture principles embedded in QSMAS can be readily accepted by resource- poor farmers and local authorities in similar agroecosystems

When is a DAO Decentralized?

While previously a nascent theoretical construct, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) have grown rapidly in recent years. DAOs typically emerge around the management of decentralized financial applications (DeFi) and thus benefit from the rapid growth of innovation in this sector. In response, global regulators increasingly voice the intent to regulate these activities. This may impose an excessive compliance burden on DAOs, unless they are deemed sufficiently decentralized to be regulated. Yet, decentralization is an abstract concept with scarce legal precedence. We investigate dimensions of decentralization through thematic analysis, combining extant literature with a series of expert interviews. We propose a definition of “sufficient decentralization” and present a general framework for the assessment of decentralization. We derive five dimensions for the assessment of decentralization in DAOs: Token-weighted voting, Infrastructure, Governance, Escalation and Reputation (TIGER). We present a discretionary sample application of the framework and five propositions on the future regulation and supervision of DAOs. We contribute new practical insights on the topic of compliance and decentralized organizations to the growing discourse on the application of blockchain technology in information systems (IS) and management disciplines

A New HOPE? A Critical Assessment of Gentrification and HOPE in Memphis, Tennessee

Gentrification is the manifestation of the Social change within urban residential neighborhoods as a result of uneven development in cities. These gentrification processes are a contextually dependent phenomenon, which vary both spatially and temporally when compared betwixt cities. Since the 1990s, local and state governments have developed more creative discourses for the promotion of gentrification which have overshadowed the positive outcomes of gentrification. The adoption of neoliberal policies has attacked many forms of the Keynesian welfare-state, most notably federal public housing. The United States’ Department of Urban Housing and Development’s (HUD) initiative Homeownership Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE VI) emerged as the new federal housing policy after this shift, and the program competitively awarded rehabilitative and demolition grants to public housing authorities. The neoliberalization of public housing has placed the Social wellbeing of many residents into the hands of the market as more mixed-use housing ventures are financed and developed. This study analyzed Census and HUD data to critically assess the relationship between gentrification and HOPE VI sites in the city of Memphis, Tennessee. The statistical models employed in this study indicate a weak relationship between gentrification and the redeveloped HOPE VI sites. Results have also shown that while the number of the original residents that return to the redeveloped sites have been low, and poverty concentration, housing prices, and college education attainment levels have seen little or no improvement at the census tract level. Furthermore, the results show that the Memphis Housing Authority’s adoption of the HOPE VI redevelopment model has only decreased affordable housing options in the city and may be contributing to increased income segregation across the city. This study serves to inform lawmakers of the true effects of their policy decisions and highlights those who are most affected. Key Words: gentrification, HOPE VI, Memphi

Sustainable Weed Management in Organic Herb and Vegetable Production

Weed management is a major constraint in organic production. It can be expensive and time-consuming and severe crop yield losses may be incurred when weeds are not adequately controlled. Research on organic weed management (OWM) in herb and vegetable production is increasing internationally, although very little work has been done in Australia to assess current OWM knowledge among growers, and to test the efficacy and cost effectiveness of the weed management practices used by organic growers. The project described here sought to fill these knowledge gaps by reviewing the existing industry and scientific literature, conducting a national mail survey of organic growers regarding OWM attitudes and practices, and by carrying out field and glasshouse experiments investigating a range of pre- and in-crop weed control methods. A mail survey of 219 organic herb and vegetable producers in Australia (43% return rate) indicated that respondents were very concerned about weed control, had smaller farms and less experience than other organic growers, and were mostly troubled by perennial weeds with persistent underground parts and some heavy seeding annuals. Growers used hand weeding mostly, and mulches, tillage, rotations, cover crops and slashing were also common. With more experience, growers were less concerned about weeds and there was a shift from physical to cultural weed control methods. Respondents were not primarily motivated by the cost of a weed control method, but were more concerned with effectiveness. The survey produced new data that will be useful for planning research in Australian organic agriculture. The field and glasshouse trials evaluated the effect of various weed control techniques on weed growth (density, relative ground cover and biomass), crop growth (size, relative cover, biomass and flowering) and cost effectiveness of the treatments. The pre-crop treatments were a bare fallow (rotary hoed), a green fallow (unweeded) and three different cover crops; Indian mustard (Brassica juncea [L.] Czern. cv. Fumus F-L71), fodder radish (Raphanus sativus L. cv. Weedcheck) and Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam. cv. Conquest). Hand weeding, tillage, hay mulch, pelletised paper mulch and an unweeded control treatment were used for the in-crop treatments and the test crops were lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and echinacea (Echinacea purpurea Moench. [L.]), selected for their contrasting growth habit, growing season length and wholesale value. In the field, the cover crops and bare fallow controlled weeds effectively during the pre-crop phase compared with the unweeded green fallow, but did not affect weed and lettuce growth in the following in-crop phase and there was no interaction between pre- and in-crop treatments. Reducing the delay between the pre- and in-crop phases from four weeks to one day did not affect weed and lettuce growth. The brassica cover crops performed poorly when they failed to establish adequately or when sowing rates were too low. Cover crops reduced pre-crop weed levels by suppressing weed growth rather than weed emergence, while the bare fallow also lowered weed emergence. Weed control was positively correlated with reduced light transmission by the cover crops, but competition for nutrients and water was not correlated with weed suppression. In glasshouse trials, brassica cover crops grown and incorporated in pots had a positive effect on subsequent lettuce seedling growth when extra fertiliser was added during the cover crop phase, but not when no fertiliser was added. These results indicate that nutrients, rather than inhibitory phytotoxins, were determining plant growth in the species tested. In-crop weed management in lettuce (smaller plant size, shorter season, lower value than echinacea) was cost effectively achieved using cheaper weeding methods such as tillage. The unweeded control was also cost effective, indicating that good weed control prior to planting could be sufficient to achieve reasonable yields in lettuce. More expensive methods such as hand weeding and hay mulching produced low weed levels and good yields, but were less cost effective. Paper mulch provided excellent weed control, but was very expensive and severely reduced crop yields. More bolting occurred in bare, tilled plots (hand weeding and tillage) than covered, undisturbed plots (mulches and weedy control). The increased bolting was related to higher soil temperature maxima and diurnal fluctuations in the disturbed plots. For echinacea (larger plant size, longer season, higher value), cheaper in-crop weeding methods (e.g. tillage, unweeded control) had poor weed suppression and low crop yields, while the more expensive weeding methods, hand weeding and hay mulch, controlled weeds well and were cost effective. Paper mulch controlled weeds very well but, again, had lower yields and was therefore not cost effective. The poor crop yields under paper mulch were investigated further and found to be caused by nutrient immobilisation, particularly nitrogen. Leaf nutrient analyses indicated that nitrogen was limiting in lettuce (though not echinacea) in the field, and mulch nutrient analyses showed that the carbon:nitrogen ratios were 39:1 and 171:1 for hay and paper mulch respectively. A pot trial showed that lettuce growth was inhibited by paper mulch but not unmulched (bare soil) or hay mulch treatments, i.e. similar results to the field trials. In the pots, the inhibition by the paper mulch was not overcome by additional nitrogen fertiliser, indicating that the extra nitrogen was also immobilised, whereas the unmulched and hay mulch treatments had positive lettuce growth responses to additional nitrogen fertiliser. Bioassays using aqueous mulch extracts showed that paper mulch extract was only weakly inhibitory to lettuce and echinacea seedlings, while hay mulch extract was extremely inhibitory, the reverse of what would have been expected had allelopathy been responsible for the results in the field. This result suggests then that paper mulch phytotoxins were not responsible for lower crop yields. More generally, these findings highlight the limits to extrapolating bioassays results to the field. This research has provided a glimpse of the attitudes of organic herb and vegetable growers to weeds and the practices and principles used in managing weeds in Australia, and has highlighted several important advantages and disadvantages of currently used OWM methods in the field

Laboratory technology research: Abstracts of FY 1998 projects

The Laboratory Technology Research (LTR) program supports high-risk, multidisciplinary research partnerships to investigate challenging scientific problems whose solutions have promising commercial potential. These partnerships capitalize on two great strengths of the country: the world-class basic research capability of the DOE Office of Science (SC) national laboratories and the unparalleled entrepreneurial spirit of American industry. Projects supported by the LTR program in FY 1998 explore the applications of basic research advances relevant to DOE`s mission over a full range of scientific disciplines. The program presently emphasizes three critical areas of mission-related research: advanced materials, intelligent processing and manufacturing research, and environmental and biomedical research. Abstracts for 85 projects are contained in this report

Etnoarqueología de la producción y consumo de café: tres casos de estudio del sudoeste de Etiopía (Kafecho, Majangir y Oromo)

Tesis de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Departamento de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueología, leída el 11/03/2019Coffea arabica, which still grows wild in the forests of the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia, is the oldest known species of coffee to be cultivated for its berries. The present thesis presents different traditions of coffee cultivation and consumption among people living in southwestern part of the country, the Kafecho, the Majangir and the Jimma Oromo. Historical accounts that provide first-hand information on the early cultivation and consumption of the plant in the southern half of Ethiopia are rare and the subject has received no archaeological examination. In addition, modernization, urbanization and access to industrial products, with the accompanying changes in the agricultural system have, in part, transformed ways of life of people in different parts of the country. This thesis, thus, intends to document methods in traditional coffee cultivation, the consumption of the beverage, and the chaîne opératoires involved in the production of coffee-related crafts before they disappear or are radically transformed. It does so from the point of view of ethnoarchaeology, that is, with an eye toward the analogical potential of such cultural practices to understand similar practices in the past. The study employed problem-oriented ethnoarchaeological research methods and archaeological techniques of recording sites, artifacts, structures and features. This involved, among other things, the mapping of compounds and activity areas and the documentation of material culture. Ethnographic methods were also used, such as household interviews and participant observation of the the technology and the socio-cultural contexts of production and consumption of the beverage. The four principal types of coffee production systems known in Ethiopia, forest-coffee, semi-forest coffee, garden-coffee and plantation-coffee, are found in the region. In relative terms, the degree of human involvement in the natural growth and reproduction of coffee is high in garden-coffee cultivation system and minimal in forest and semi-forest coffee cultivation systems. This investigation has thoroughly examined the different cultivation methods and has documented the tools employed in each stage of the cultivation process. Some of the traditional instruments, which are made entirely in wood, can be probably traced back to a time before agriculture or to the beginnings of agriculture. The thesis demonstrates that the social impact of coffee consumption is profound whether in reproducing gender roles, buttressing relations of solidarity between neighbors, or in creating a sense of otherness. We can say that coffee consumption serves to delimit the group, who belongs and who does not. The beverage is used in reconciliation rituals, communal works organized during the ploughing and harvesting seasons and during post-funeral gatherings. Coffee is also widely employed in religious rituals. Kafecho and Oromo, in particular, have continued to use coffee in different kinds of ceremonies. The thesis has also explored in detail the production of pottery associated to the preparation and consumption of coffee and its transferring to the archaeological context. Finally, the transformation of coffee into cultural heritage is studied. In sum, the study has generated theoretical and methodological insights into the onset of domestication and cultivation of the plant, and the cultural and environmental context in which artefactual evidence could be recovered archaeologically. The thesis has argued that the prime motive behind initial domestication of the plant, unlike other food crops, could be related to religious needs. This would be suggested by its important role in different rituals.Coffea arabica, que todavía crece salvaje en los bosques de las tierras altas del sudoeste de Etiopía, es la especie de café más antigua cultivada. La presente tesis presenta diferentes tradiciones de cultivo y consumo del café entre una serie de comunidades que viven en el sudoeste del país: los Kafecho, Majangir y Oromo de Jimma. Las narraciones históricas que proporcionan información de primera mano sobre los orígenes del cutivo y el consumo de la planta en el sur de Etiopía son escasos y el tema no ha recibido atención por parte de la arqueología. Además, la modernización, urbanización y acceso a productos industriales, con los consiguientes cambios en el sistema agrícola, han producido cambios en las formas de vida de la gente en diversas partes del país. Esta tesis, por lo tanto, pretende documentar los métodos de cultivo tradicional del café, el consumo de la bebida y las cadenas técnicas operativas involucradas en la producción de artesanías relacionadas con el café antes de que desaparezcan por completo o se vean transformadas radicalmente. El estudio se enfoca desde una perspectiva etnoarqueológica, esto es, con atención a la potencialidad analógica de tales prácticas culturales de cara a comprender prácticas semejantes en el pasado. El estudio ha empleado métodos y técnicas de investigación etnoarqueológicos y arqueológicos para registrar sitios, artefactos, estructuras y otros elementos. Esto ha implicado, entre otras cosas, el levantamiento planimétrico de conjuntos de habitación y áreas de actividad y la documentación de la cultura material. También se usaron métodos etnográficos, como entrevistas en espacios domésticos y la observación participante de la tecnología y los contextos socioculturales de producción y consumo de la bebida. En el sudoeste de Etiopía se documentan cuatro formas de cultivo: café de bosque, semibosque, huerto y plantación. Las tres primeras son tradicionales. En términos relativos, la participación humana en el crecimiento y reproducción del cafeto es elevada en el cultivo de huerto y mínimo en el de bosque y semibosque. La investigación ha examinado en detalle los diferentes métodos de cultivo y ha documentado las herramientas empleadas en cada fase del proceso de cultivo. Algunas de las herramientas, fabricadas íntegramente en madera, pueden retrotraerse probablemente a una época anterior a la agricultura o a los inicios de esta. La tesis demuestra que el impacto social del consumo del café es muy alto, sea en la reproducción de roles de género, reforzando las relaciones de solidaridad entre vecinos o creando un sentido de otredad. Se puede afirmar que el consumo del café sirve para delimitar el grupo, señalar quién pertenece y quién no. La bebida se utiliza en rituales de reconciliación, trabajos comunales organizados durante la temporada del arado y la cosecha, y en las celebraciones post-funerarias. El café también se emplea ampliamente entre los Kafecho y los Oromo en distintos tipos de rituales religiosos. La tesis también ha explorado pormenorizadamente la producción de cerámica asociada a la preparación y consumo de café y su transferencia al registro arqueológico. Finalmente, se analiza la transformación del café en patrimonio cultural. En conclusión, el estudio ha generado nuevas perspectivas teóricas y metodológicas sobre el origen de la domesticación y el cultivo de la planta y sobre el contexto cultural y ambiental en el cual se pueden encontrar pruebas materiales del cultivo y consumo mediante la arqueología. Se propone que la motivación principal detrás de la domesticación inicial de la planta fue su utilización en contextos religiosos, lo cual vendría sugerido por el importante papel que tiene en diversos rituales.Depto. de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y ArqueologíaFac. de Geografía e HistoriaTRUEunpu