438 research outputs found

    The Performance of Alternative Livelihood Initiatives on Local Livelihoods and Forest Conservation Management - A Case Study in Talai Commune, Dong Nai Province, Vietnam

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    Protected forest areas worldwide are located close to forest dependent communities that continue to use forest resources for their livelihoods to varying extents. With these areas designated as protected areas it prevents local people from practising their traditional income-generating or subsistence activities that rely on access to forest areas. Although governments view protected areas as a measure for forest conservation, they pose a number of key challenges to local people's livelihoods. In a number of developing countries, including Vietnam, the use of forest resources in protected areas have presented a threat to forest conservation outcomes. A satisfactory resolution to the tension between livelihoods and biodiversity conservation objectives in protected areas is an ongoing challenge for governments and local people living near protected areas. Cat Tien National Park, a protected area in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam is well-known for its diversity of flora and fauna and offers a noteworthy case study. One of the issues in Cat Tien National Park is the practice of collecting non-timber forest products that is considered widespread, despite it being illegal under the protected status of the Park. Achieving forest conservation goals under these circumstances, even if extraction levels were low, appears to be a challenging task. In order to address livelihood challenges, governmental agencies, and non-governmental organisations have attempted to engage local people in alternative livelihood initiatives. These initiatives commonly seek to provide new income sources as a substitute for earnings from traditional livelihood practices, thereby reducing extraction pressures on the Park. These livelihood initiatives have been active in the last thirteen years. The aim of this thesis is therefore to examine the performance of two alternative livelihood initiatives (the Talai Ecotourism Venture and the Forest Protection Team (FPT)) on local livelihoods for those ethnic groups living in close proximity to the Park and associated effects on forest conservation management goals. The research provided insights into the participation of local people in decisions about the management and conservation of forest resources in their role as FPT members. It also attempts to draw lessons that can be applied to alternative livelihood initiatives elsewhere in Vietnam and other developing countries. A case study approach with a mixed method has been employed in this study. Household surveys (n=150) of three ethnic groups (Chau Ma, Stieng and Kinh) and key informant interviews (n=36) were conducted to collect data on a range of aspects, including: household demographics, forest usage, and local views on the impact of the two alternative livelihood initiatives on their livelihood and perception of forest conservation. The key informants were interviewed at length about their roles, responsibilities, the quality of the local participation, and evaluation of the effectiveness of the two alternative livelihood initiatives on local livelihood and forest conservation. Field research findings were supplemented and triangulated with participant observation activities to gain insight into the physical, social, cultural, and economic aspects of the case context. About one third of Chau Ma and Stieng households had a high reliance on NTFPs, while Kinh households had no reliance on NTFPs for their livelihood. The dependence on NTFPs for Chau Ma and Stieng people was a result of limited opportunities for other livelihood options due to relinquishing agricultural land and low education levels. For Chau Ma and Stieng people struggling to adjust from a subsistence forest-based livelihood to living outside the forest, around 41% continued to visit the forest for cultural reasons, but at low to moderate levels (63%). A significant finding of the study is that the benefits of the alternative livelihood initiatives did not extend to the whole community and were focused largely on those ethnic minorities of Chau Ma and Stieng directly involved in the initiatives. Further, for the two alternative livelihood initiatives, the direct participants gained the greatest benefits either through employment, access to Village Development Fund, or greater access to NTFPs. The study has also found that current livelihood initiatives have not been effective due to limited local participation in decision-making processes, and minimal interaction with local people outside the initiatives. Specifically, the governance of these initiatives was not aligned with communitybased principles. The one-way information sharing, and top-down decision-making led to the ethnic minorities assuming only a passive role in the process for the two alternative livelihood initiatives. In addition, local members of both livelihood initiatives did not receive the training or support they required to effectively carry out their responsibilities. The results of the case studies also showed that there was a lack of responsiveness from key governing authorities such as the Private Company, Talai Forest Station, Park Board to variations in ethnic groups' socio-economic status, and levels of literacy. As a whole, such deficient governance arrangements and processes prevented the initiatives from achieving their goals and engaging with the broader community. In addition, evidence suggests that the Talai Ecotourism Venture and the Forest Protection Team initiatives have not led to a substantial change in local people's awareness of the importance of forest conservation and lessening the pressure on forest resource extraction as expected. These findings demonstrate the need for better governance, which provide stakeholders with the ability to demonstrate their understanding and fulfil their responsibilities independently. A greater level of accountability and transparency in benefit sharing mechanisms such as Village Development Fund (Talai Ecotourism Venture), and Forest Protection Team reporting is also required for ensuring greater community participation and empowerment. Another important implication of improved accountability is for a more effective relationship between government, private enterprise and local people in decision making and empowering them in their roles. Finally, the findings also highlight the significance of capacity building for various stakeholders so that they can develop skills and knowledge required to carry out decision-making responsibilities in ecotourism and forest management. Most importantly, alternative livelihood initiatives need to be designed and implemented with sensitivity to the local cultures otherwise; they can limit potential equality and increase obstacles to local people's participation and decision-making. Thus, it is recommended that Indigenous knowledge should be recognized and incorporated into initiatives for protecting and managing forest resources

    Life in the Fells: names in a nineteenth-century Cumberland landscape

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    This thesis examines the field-names of Crosthwaite parish, Cumberland. A survey of the fieldnames and a corresponding glossary of elements and their localised usage(s) within the study area, some previously unattested, form a significant part of the thesis. The field-name data is compiled chiefly from nineteenth-century Tithe Awards which records the names and descriptions of Crosthwaite’s 8,626 land units, 3,351 of which are field-names (3.4.1). These 3,351 field-names, recorded in the survey (Chapter Four), contain 6,052 elements which fall into 586 element types, presented in the glossary (Chapter Five). The work of this thesis is underpinned by the data from two key resources which were created as part of this research: a) a field-name dataset composed of all linguistic data held within the Tithe Awards for the parish (3.1); and b) an interactive digital map of all 8,626 land units, into which the field-name data is embedded (3.3). The first resource – the onomastic data – allows for the fieldnames to be analysed linguistically. The second – the cartographical data – allows for the fieldnames to be analysed spatially, enabling the evidence of the landscape to inform the interpretation and analysis of the names. A quantitative analysis of all Crosthwaite’s field-name elements (Chapter Six) highlights the close relationship between the language of the field-names and the landscape they describe. The extent to which the field-names reflect their landscape is marked and is observable both in the use of individual elements, and in the language use of townships within the parish more broadly. The survey (Chapter Four) and glossary (Chapter Five) constitute a substantial contribution to the available field-name data for Cumberland, and for England more generally, supplementing the English Place-Name Society survey for Cumberland. Other key findings from this research (Chapter Seven) include the discovery of metaphorical elements unattested elsewhere, as well as other elements or element usages particular to the study area. Field-names which provide evidence for lost place-names, and instances of toponomastic overlap between England and Scotland, are observable within the data of this thesis; a lack of genitival -s in personal names within field-names is likewise notable. This thesis advocates for the development and implementation of a new field-name terminology model

    An “other” experience of videogames: analyzing the connections between videogames and the lived experience of chronic pain

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    In this dissertation I argue for the connections between the lived experience of chronic pain and videogames, exploring what interacts with and influences them. To answer this, I draw on cripistemology as I engage in autoethnography, close-reading and close-gameplay, restorying, mixed methods design, formal interviews, surveys, and inductive coding. I further argue for pushing back against the unhelpful binaries that define the “human” and a false idea of “universal” experience or ability, instead pointing to the intersectionality that better reflects the biopolitics of disability, including both debility and capacity. I engage with these methods in three specific projects that consider additional sub-questions to further tease out why videogames disability, chronic pain, game design, lived experience, human centered design, embodiment in video games have impacted me so deeply and how this ties to my identity as a disabled woman. I further offer this dissertation to highlight the growing research of lived experience and disability in the field of game studies, providing empirical data that offers a foundational look of how I as a member of the chronic pain community think and feel about videogames, as well as how a small portion of the chronic pain community discusses videogames and the range of experiences this encompasses. In doing so, I unpack and argue on the relationship that exists between chronic pain and videogames, and further articulate why this matters. In Chapter 1 I provide necessary history and information regarding my research to better articulate the findings as presented in the following chapters. In Chapter 2, I analyze my connection to Animal Crossing: New Leaf (AC:NL) (Nintendo EAD, 2012) and explore opportunities about genre and mechanics as reflections of my own daily lived experience with chronic pain, especially including my experience in a 2014 pain rehabilitation program. Through this process, I define the “slice of life” genre and argue that AC:NL is exemplary of its markers. In Chapter 3 I provide a deep reading and analysis of Nintendo’s GameCube release Chibi-Robo! (Skip Ltd. et al., 2005) to “restory” the titular main character to have chronic pain like my own. Through the lens of debility and capacitation machines, I map these ideas onto the biopsychosocial model to organize a thorough analysis of his restoried identity. In modding the game’s narrative to reflect a lived experience of chronic pain like my own, I interweave fanfiction with deep reading and deep gameplay to unpack what representation I am looking for in videogames both narratively and mechanically. In this I further argue how this practice can be used to inform future game design. Finally, in Chapter 4, I interview members of the chronic pain community to understand their perspective on the connections between their lived experience with chronic pain and videogames, as well as how additional factors of their identity impact those experiences. For this I engage in a mixed methods design to conduct a survey and formal interviews to offer foundational work on how the chronic pain community interacts with videogames. I offer this project to intersect current research in chronic pain and videogames (and its related technology) that focuses on games as tools for “curing” pain, and argue the importance of considering what embodiment people with chronic pain already have in videogames instead. Ultimately, I argue for the necessity to complicate current design practices in human centered design (HCD) and game design. To do so, I highlight the lived experience of Othered identities to combat misguided notions of “universal” intent. In this, I analyze the inherent connections between videogames and disability, in this case chronic pain, through embodiment and lived experience. I center in on how my experience of chronic pain has impacted the way in which I engage and think about with videogames, and further, how my experiences align with that of the chronic pain community

    LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volume

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    LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volum

    Curve Stabbing Depth: Data Depth for Plane Curves

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    Measures of data depth have been studied extensively for point data. Motivated by recent work on analysis, clustering, and identifying representative elements in sets of trajectories, we introduce {\em curve stabbing depth} to quantify how deeply a given curve QQ is located relative to a given set C\cal C of curves in R2\mathbb{R}^2. Curve stabbing depth evaluates the average number of elements of C\cal C stabbed by rays rooted along the length of QQ. We describe an O(n3+n2mlog2m+nm2log2m)O(n^3 + n^2 m\log^2m+nm^2\log^2 m)-time algorithm for computing curve stabbing depth when QQ is an mm-vertex polyline and C\cal C is a set of nn polylines, each with O(m)O(m) vertices.Comment: Preprin

    Using naturally-occurring variation in beak morphology to reduce feather pecking damage in laying hens

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    Outbreaks of severe feather pecking continue to be a serious welfare and economic concern for the poultry industry, particularly within the egg sector. Increasing consumer awareness of how poultry is raised and managed has led to a shift from cage systems to loose-housed ‘alternative’ systems, increasing the risk of outbreaks. Severe feather pecking, a form of injurious pecking, is commonly observed in laying hen flocks and can lead to cannibalism and high mortality. As a result, research has increasingly focused on how best to prevent and control severe feather pecking without needing beak treatment (an effective method of reducing physical damage caused by severe feather pecking and is commonly performed at day-old using infrared energy). Alternative practices to beak treatment include genetic selection against the behaviour itself, using enrichment materials to encourage appropriate foraging behaviour, and genetic selection of traits related to the behaviour (i.e., feather cover, liveability, and beak shape). This project examined the possibility of using genetic selection of beak shape to reduce damage inflicted by severe feather pecking. Significant beak shape variation exists within and between breeding laying hen lines, and research has shown that aspects of beak shape are heritable. This suggests incorporating beak shape data into selection indices is possible; however, characterisation of beak phenotypes and the amount of physical damage different beak shapes can cause is first needed. The shapes of the premaxillary and dentary bones within the beak have also never been characterised before in laying hens. Examining the bone shape is important as it has been suggested that it may influence the external beak shape to a certain extent. A pilot study was performed to determine if the analysis of the beak and its underlying bone shape defined and quantified by geometric morphometrics (GMM) of radiographic images was repeatable. Twenty-four hens were radiographed four times. Repeatability ranged from 0.52 to 0.81, demonstrating that imaging live hens over time and landmarking those images was repeatable. Using radiography and GMM, a study was conducted to characterise the variation in premaxillary and dentary bone shape within two pure lines of White Leghorn laying hens. Premaxillary bone shapes ranged from long and narrow with pointed bone tips to short and wide with more curved bone tips. Dentary bone shapes ranged from long and wide to short and narrow. For both bones, the shape differed between the two lines, and the size of the bone significantly affected its shape. The results showed that a range of shape phenotypes exist for both the premaxillary and dentary bone, which may influence beak shape. Photographs of the two pure lines were also taken to analyse the beak shape using GMM and examine the relationship between beak shape, the underlying bone shape, feather cover, and mortality. Maxillary beak shapes ranged from long and narrow with pointed beak tips to short and wide with more curved beak tips. The maxillary beak was moderately correlated to the premaxillary bone in shape and size. The shape data suggest distinct beak and bone phenotypes within each line for the beak and its underlying bones. In addition, feather cover and mortality differed between the two lines, with one line having better feather cover and lower mortality over the 100-week production cycle. Therefore, beak shape may be one factor contributing to the differences seen in feather cover and mortality. These distinct phenotypes could be selected to help reduce damage inflicted by severe feather pecking and improve laying hen welfare. Two studies were conducted to understand and quantify the physical damage different beak shapes can cause. The first study used live hens with either a sharp or blunt beak that pecked at “chicken” models (foam blocks covered with feathered chicken skin). The change in block and skin weight, the number of feathers removed from the skin, and the number of successful (resulting in feather or tissue removal) versus non-successful (no removal) pecks at the model were recorded. The change in block weight did not differ between the two groups; however, the sharp beak group had a larger change in skin weight and removed significantly more feathers than the blunt group. The mean number of pecks made at the model also did not differ between the beak shape groups; however, sharp beak hens had a greater percentage of successful pecks, while blunt beak hens had a greater percentage of non-successful pecks. The results of this study show that sharp beak hens were more capable of removing feathers and, by extension, tissue, thus resulting in damage. The second study used a robotic device to mimic a hen’s natural pecking motion ex vivo. Using this device, chicken heads pecked into agarose gel, which mimics muscle, at three pecking forces. The depth and volume of the indentations into the gel were assessed to quantify damage. No differences in indentation depth or volume were found between the different beak shape groups. Pecking force did affect depth and volume; however, the results were inconsistent. The results of this study suggest that the beak shapes tested were perhaps too similar to discern differences. These two studies also suggest other factors beyond beak sharpness (i.e., the curvature of the maxillary beak over the mandibular beak), such as other beak shape characteristics or the motivation to perform the behaviour, contribute to feather removal and tissue damage. This project’s results show that specific beak phenotypes within laying hen breeding lines could be incorporated into selection indices. This project provides a foundation for future genetic and behavioural research investigating the effect of beak shape on other beak-related behaviours like feeding and preening and identifying quantitative trait loci that underlie beak shape. More research is needed to examine the relationship between beak shape and its capacity to cause damage

    The application of engineering measurement and three-dimensional (3D) computer aided engineering techniques to the study of medieval period European swords

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    This thesis details the programme of research undertaken by the author to investigate the use of engineering measurement and computer-aided engineering techniques for the modelling and analysis of medieval period ‘knightly’ swords. The sword has an iconic cultural status that transcends its primary purpose as a tool of war, featuring frequently and extensively in art and literature from early human mythology through to contemporary film and digital media. In Europe, the sword was arguably at its most influential, both practically and culturally, during the mid-late medieval period, and yet there has been limited understanding and a misinformed mythology around the iconic knightly sword that proliferated during this period. A resurgent interest, and associated research, in historical European martial arts has started to address this gap in understanding, and the use of engineering measurement and analysis techniques to inform historical research has been growing more generally in recent years. There is a clear benefit that such techniques can bring to create a more complete picture of historical artefacts in terms of their design, construction, and performance, and that was the focus of this research programme. Of course, surviving medieval swords are, relatively speaking, rare, valuable, and often fragile, and these factors presented some specific challenges when trying to access and study them. The original contribution of this work has been to overcome these challenges to develop and demonstrate a robust methodology for creating and analysing 3-dimensional models that accurately recreate the geometry and mass properties of historical artefacts. During the programme, consideration has been given to accuracy, repeatability, ease of acquisition and the constraints associated with this type of artefact, such that the methodology might be used beyond this specific programme of work. Having created these digital models, specific features have been analysed and simulated, and this approach has been applied to eight original medieval swords, providing new and interesting insights into their features, design, and original performance characteristics

    2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog

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    2023-2024 undergraduate catalog for Morehead State University

    Understanding space and habitat use of the Near Threatened Eurasian Curlew to inform the value of habitat restoration schemes for the species' conservation

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    Intertidal habitats and terrestrial habitats connected to estuaries are subject to multiple anthropogenic pressures including the indirect effect of climate change (i.e., sea-level rise). To build sustainable coastal defences and create intertidal habitats in estuaries, managed realignment (MR) sites are created. These habitats are of potential value for wintering waders yet we know little about their long-term development and utilisation by waders (Charadriiformes; also referred to as shorebirds), for example, Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata). The species is categorised as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and uses both estuarine and non-estuarine habitats in winter. Understanding small-scale spatial patterns in the use of estuaries and of created intertidal habitats is essential in predicting the impact of habitat loss and designing effective compensatory sites for waders. In ecological models, e.g., individual-based models (IBMs), assumptions about animal movements are often made using a priori information on space use and habitat use. The first chapter of the thesis (Chapter 1) aims to provide background to the project and to review the use of modern telemetry and predictive modelling in assessing the success of estuarine habitat creation for waders. This thesis then examines the long-term suitability of managed realignment sites for waders in response to physical changes (i.e., in the elevation of created intertidal areas) (Chapter 2), and uses high-resolution tracking data to examine individual, sexual and temporal variation in the winter home range (Chapter 3) and habitat selection (Chapter 4) of Eurasian curlew. Furthermore, movement data – derived from GPS-tracked curlew – were incorporated to define parameters of an individual-based model, developed to predict the impact of managed realignment and other environmental changes. Using data on behaviour and fine-scale habitat use from the GPS-tracked Eurasian curlew, I also validated the model's predictions (Chapter 5). I found the foraging numbers of the four key waterbird species that colonised the MR site to decline above a certain elevation, and thus over time with accretion of the site, with this effect being most pronounced for the Eurasian curlew (Chapter 2). Using a sample of 21 GPS-tagged birds, I found Eurasian curlew to be faithful to foraging and roosting areas on their coastal wintering grounds, including a habitat creation site. Home range of Eurasian curlew was small (555.5 ha +/-SD 557.9 ha) and varied slightly in size through the non-breeding season (September to March). Home range sizes were greater at night than in the day, and showed high inter-individual variability which was not related to sex and thus potential differences in resource use (Chapter 3). I also found that Eurasian curlew’s core ranges were restricted to one to two distinct patches on intertidal flats with some overlap. Eurasian curlew preferentially selected saltmarsh and the MR site at night, presumably for roosting (Chapter 4). Finally, I successfully parameterised an individual-based model (Chapter 5). The model was able to successfully predict the impact of habitat creation on the abundance of waders supported by a discrete area of the Humber Estuary. Our overall results provide a collective understanding of the responses of waders to the creation of the managed realignment site and of the space and habitat use of Eurasian curlew. The results have been crucial in informing and validating simulations from the individual-based model

    Landscapes of Continued Deposition: A reinterpretation of the burial of Romano- British and Anglo-Saxon/Early Medieval lead tanks in Britain

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    Lead tanks from the Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon periods have become some of the most distinctive classes of artefact in Britain from those times. This thesis will be focussing on these artefacts at the time of the late fourth century to the late tenth century for evidence of continuity and change in depositional patterns between these periods. Their findspots range from Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Kent, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, London, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Su olk, Sussex and Yorkshire as well as examples in Scotland at Stidriggs and Whithorn in Dumfries and Galloway. As of 2022, there is a total of 63 discovered from both periods at these locations across Britain. There are currently 38 from the Roman period and a further 25 of their later Anglo-Saxon counterparts. The main feature of this thesis will be the concept of landscapes of continued deposition. In this case, I searched for evidence of continued artefact deposition practices across both sets of discoveries regarding their state upon burial and the environment this occurred within. I assessed these alongside similar acts of deposition with Bronze and Iron Age cauldrons regarding choice in landscape, artefact buried and its state upon discovery to demonstrate evidence of landscapes of continued deposition. I also examined the abandonment of the tanks in their respective environments, comparing them with other patterns of artefact burial within these areas. I analysed them on a site to site basis as well as comparing evidence between sites. That created the opportunity to contextualise the burying of the tanks within broader depositional practices occurring in Roman and Anglo-Saxon Britain
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