Local institutions and Natural Resource Management

As researchers and policy-makers confront the challenges of and opportunities for improving natural resource management, increasing attention is being given to the dynamics of coupled natural-human systems. Interdisciplinary study of these coupled systems has generated considerable research and management innovations. Among these are more intensive research of the emergence and behavior of local institutions and consideration of the potential for voluntary and/or collaborative approaches to supplement conventional natural resource policy and management approaches. Front and center in this line of research are studies of local institutional responses to common pool resource management issues. Over time, this productive line of research is encouraging greater integration of insights across social science fields and identification of systematic patterns in research findings. Responding to such encouragement, this research blends insights from collective action theory, institutional rational choice and the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework to investigate the distribution and success of resource-based organizations. Moreover, our research makes a unique contribution to this literature by considering the spatial aspects of these institutions' formation, behavior and success. Lake associations are an interesting class of resource-based organizations. These local, lake-centered institutions strive to address management issues using informal and voluntary strategies. Lake associations are most common in lake-rich states, including Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, New Hampshire and Maine. The objectives of these groups vary from narrow (private road maintenance) to broad (watershed health). These organizations allow for lake-centered boundaries including multiple jurisdictions, provide a voice to seasonal property owners, and resolve some issues related to coordination, property rights, and transaction costs. The numerous and diverse lake associations of Maine are the focus of our empirical work. The primary research objective of this analysis is to develop an integrated empirical modeling framework of lake association presence and lake management success. To fulfill this objective, we examined the relative performance of empirical econometric models that ignore and address potential sample selection bias. Because we only observe measures of lake association management success on lakes that have a lake association, the sample is non-random. In our empirical work, entry into the lake association management success sample is further complicated by our reliance on survey data to describe management behavior and performance. A broad secondary research objective is to continue exploring the extent to which the Institutional Development Analysis (IAD) framework can be used to explain the distribution and behavior of Maine lake associations. We assembled an extensive spatial database describing natural and human features of 2,602 Maine lakes (Maine's great ponds; > 10 acres in size) to support this analysis. We integrated this extensive database with a smaller survey-based database describing lake association behavior and natural resource management success. Data describing the distribution and success of lake associations were drawn from non-government organization, federal and state agency databases and primary survey data collected to describe social and economic characteristics of Maine lakes. We captured additional lake and association attributes by manipulating various state and federal GIS databases and creating primary spatial databases. Results to date reveal support for the IAD theoretical framework in describing factors influencing the presence of lake associations. These results offer guidance on how to better integrate the informal approaches of local institutions with more formal, regional government-based management approaches. By understanding where local institutions are likely to form and what issues they are best suited to address, state and federal government agencies can better work with local organizations to address the complexities of natural resource management. Results explaining variation in natural resource management success and the potential gains from an integrated model of presence and success are less robust and are constrained by limited available data describing management behavior and success.local institutions, natural resource management, institutional economics, lake associations, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The Use of Natural Products as Potential Anti-Pseudomonas Agents

Pseudomonas is a genus of gram-negative gammaproteobacteria with a large range of diversity. Because of its ability to grow at low temperature, Pseudomonas is a cause of food spoilage. This bacterium is also a very common nosocomial infection of hospital patients. In this study, we investigated the effects of different natural products on Pseudomonas. The products included a polysaccharide, two flavonoids tangeretin and nobiletin and their derivatives, 5’OH-tangeretin and 5’OH-nobiletin, black tea polyphenol – theaflavins (TFs), as well as an herb named Fallopia multiflora (Chinese Knotweed). P. fluorescens and P. aeruginosa were used as model organisms. Antimicrobial effects were evaluated at various concentrations by using a microtiter plate assay or culture tube assay. The inhibition of biofilm formation was also determined using crystal violet assay. The results indicated that the selected natural products have antibacterial effect and anti-biofilm formation on Pseudomonas. Of the seven compounds studied 2.5% theaflavin, 2.5% Chinese Knotweed, and 500 μM of tangeretin showed the greatest antimicrobial effect

Effects of an Urban Alternative High School Dropout Prevention and Rehabilitation Program on the Attendance, Attitude and Academic Achievement of At-Risk Students

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a dropout prevention program on at-risk high school students who returned to their home schools. The study was conducted in Newport News, Virginia at four high schools and an alternative school site, housing the dropout program. The subjects were divided into two independent treatment groups: Group One (N = 30) who participated in the program in the fall semester of 1988 and returned to their home schools in the spring semester of 1989, and Group Two (N = 21) who participated in the program in the spring semester of 1989 and returned to their home schools in the fall semester of 1989. Subjects who entered the program in the fall semester 1989 were posttested after the treatment using the School Attitude Measure. Subjects who entered the program in the spring semester were pre and posttested. Follow-up measures were taken of the first group after the spring semester in the home schools and again at the end of the first marking period the following fall semester. The second group was also re-tested at the end of the first marking period the following fall semester. Data on student attendance and achievement were obtained through school records. Findings revealed that both groups improved in attendance, attitude and achievement following the program treatment. The pre-program absentee rate decreased by 2.4 percent at the home schools at the end of the study. Results from the attitude measure indicated that students began to feel in greater control of their learning outcomes and to assess their actual school skills more objectively. They also began to feel that teachers and administrators cared about their academic success. Grade point averages increased each subsequent marking period. Finally, a greater proportion of program participants remained in school after returning to their home schools than of those who did not participate in the program treatment

The interpretation of the spectrum of energetic cosmic rays

One of the most prominent and well established features in the primary energy spectrum of cosmic rays observed at the Earth is the change of slope occurring at several 10(^15) eV. A comprehensive survey of experimental EAS data is used to establish the integral size spectrum for electrons and muons at sea level and for electrons at mountain altitudes. A model for the diffusion of protons in the Galaxy is developed based on experimental observations of the structure of hydrogen in the interstellar medium and of the magnetic field strengths and their orientations in galactic space. A numerical treatment of the diffusion problem is adopted. A pre-diction is made of the primary cosmic ray proton energy spectrum at the top of the atmosphere. A survey of the data on cosmic ray primaries with energies below ~10(^11) eV obtained by balloon and satellite experiments, was used to establish the relative abundances of all cosmic rays. By assuming that the cosmic ray composition remains the same at EAS energies the primary spectrum representing diffusion of cosmic rays with mixed composition is derived. Comparison of the theory with experiment was made by converting the integral primary energy spectrum representing diffusion to the integral size spectrum by using results of EAS simulations through the atmosphere. Excellent agreement of theory with experiment is obtained provided that the primary cosmic radiation is protonic. The problems encountered with ensuring isotropy of cosmic rays at the Earth are dealt with in great detail and are shown to create little problem over the part of the spectrum considered provided the solar system lies in the centre of the spiral arm. Finally, a model is proposed as an alternative to that of diffusion which provides a qualitative but adequate explanation for the origin of the 'knee'

Place names in the southwest border counties of Missouri

Page numbering skips page 18. There is a page "176" and a "176" in the paginationCounties: Webster, Wright, Christian, Douglas, Ozark, Taney, Stone, Barry, and McDonald"If, by chance, all the written evidence of the history of a region, the character of its people, its economic structure, and its physical qualities were swept away, the story of that region could be reconstructed with an astounding degree of accuracy, from the place-names of the section alone. The place-names of these counties of the Ozarks remarkably mirror its early history, its people, and their interests and tastes. To enable the reader to grasp the subject more easily and trace its course more methodically, a table of classification has been presented and discussed in the first chapter. All the names have been grouped under five heads: 1) Borrowed Names, 2) Historical Names, 3) Personal Names, 4) Environmental Names, and 5) Subjective Names. These five heads will cover practically all the place-names found in any locality, except for the unsolved and doubtful ones. These unsolved names have been listed at the end of Chapter One for the benefit of future investigators and students. Besides these five groups of classification there remain five additional ways in which almost all the names will repay study. They are: 1) The Composition of Names, 2) The Linguistic Features, such as spelling, pronunciation, and dialect words, 3) Non-English Names, 4) and 6) Folkways and Folklore. Chapter Two comprises a brief survey and discussion of the names with regard to these five special features. Chapter Three, embracing by far the greater part of the thesis in bulk, consists of a dictionary of all the place-names studied. In an Appendix I have discussed separately the school names of the section. Last of all I have placed my Bibliography."--Pages 18-19."This thesis is the record of careful research into the origin of the place-names of the lower southwest counties of Missouri. Nine counties, Webster, Wright, Christian, Douglas, Ozark, Taney, Stone, Barry, and McDonald have been studied, and the origin of place-names of counties, towns, post offices, streams, "hollows", hills, springs, "knobs", rivers, prairies, townships, mountains, valleys, ridges, gaps, and "balds" have been recorded, in so far as it was possible. These nine counties constitute a large part of what is known as the Ozark Region. It is only in the last few decades that the possibilities and the resources of this region have been fully realized. However, it is in the early history of this section that the romance of pioneer settlement and the character and qualities of these people are most clearly seen."--Page 1

5th Grade Readers Reading Aloud To Make An Intercultural Connection

The purpose of this paper is to show that through reading aloud, elementary ESL students can build relationships with younger students and make an intercultural connection within their school community. The interaction between the readers and their audience can change dramatically if the readers are aware of the reading strategies that they bring into their reading to make it engaging. By reflecting on their own process of making connections and by using reflective portfolios, ESL students can begin to discover what kind of connections they are making and develop an awareness of how it is happening. As teachers how can we make this possible when teaching elementary students? What can teachers do to help their students learn how to communicate more effectively within their own school culture? What processes do students need to go through when reading aloud in order to successfully communicate across cultures? These are some of the questions that will be explored in this paper

Fifth survey of parents of three and four year old children and their use of early years services (Summer 2000 to Spring 2001)

The main aim of the survey was to establish rates of participation for three and four year olds in all forms of pre-school provision in England... The survey also investigated the characteristics of providers used and parents’ opinions of the quantity and quality of provision in the local area in general as well as of the providers they used, and the influences on their choice of providers

Detecting Coastal Marsh Change from Aerial Imagery using Spectral and Textural Methods: Pascagoula River Estuary, Mississippi, 1955-2014

As sea level rise accelerates, coastal marsh ecosystems are increasingly vulnerable. Vertical accretion rates must exceed or keep pace with rates of sea level rise to prevent transition to open water or inland migration of marsh vegetation. While some marsh systems along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast have remained stable, others, e.g., the marshes of the Louisiana Gulf Coast, have experienced high rates of conversion to open water. This study examined the historical extent of intertidal marsh at the mouth of the Pascagoula River in Jackson County, Mississippi to determine whether marsh extent changed during the period 1955-2014 and to ascertain rates of change. Marsh extent was mapped at 3 meters GSD using spectral and textural aerial image data for image dates of February 13, 1955 (black and white), February 12, 1996 (color-infrared), and October 5-16, 2014 (color-infrared). Waterways represented in the imagery were classified using a near-infrared band threshold for 1996 and 2014 and a CV-band threshold for 1955. Land cover was classified into three groups–marsh, woodland/shrubs, and unvegetated–using a Maximum Likelihood Classifier. Change detection analysis revealed a net marsh loss of 1314.4 ha (19.9%) between 1955 and 2014. Classified marsh extent decreased by 1068.3 ha (16.1%) between 1955 and 1996, and 246.1 ha (4.4%) between 1996 and 2014. Linear regression of marsh extent with year yielded a slope of -22.9 ha/year with a coefficient of determination of r2 = 0.98. The results indicate that marsh extent will continue to decrease in the Pascagoula River Estuary

The effect of direct drilling and soil type on soil atmosphere composition

A study of the soil atmosphere in soils ploughed and cultivated normally and under long-term direct drilling was made in two soil types throughout a two year period, 1973 to 1975. Probes were sited at two depths, 15 cm and 30 cm, in the two cultivation treatments, mou\board ploughing to a depth of 20 cm and no-tillage, and in plots with different soil types, a sandy loam (Macmerry series) and a sandy clay loam (W'inton series). Spring barley (cv Zephyr) was grown every year.Soil atmosphere samples were withdrawn at weekly intervals and analysed by gas chromatography for carbon dioxide, oxygen, methane and ethylene.The sites were sampled for moisture content, bulk density and temperature to aid the interpretation of the results.In the first growing season the soil atmosphere had a higher carbon dioxide and lower oxygen percentage than in the second, this being related to a higher rainfall and temperature in the first season. Soil atmosphere composition was similar in the two winters. The methane component of the soil atmosphere declined throughout each growing season as soil moisture declined but levels were found to be higher in 1974- than 1973.Ethylene was not detected regularly and not in any appreciable quantity. There was a greater incidence of detection from probes sited in no-tillage plots at a depth of 30 cm. Oxygen levels, as sampled, have little influence on ethylene in the soil atmosphere.In a comparison between the treatments, no-tillage and ploughing, the carbon dioxide percentage of the soil atmosphere was always higher and the oxygen percentage lower, in the first growing season only, under no-tillage. This was related to a markedly lower air filled porosity in this treatment. Similarly in the first growing season differences in the soil atmosphere between soil types were seen with a higher carbon dioxide and lower oxygen percentage in the Winton soil. This soil was consistently lower in air filled porosity but only at the low levels found in the first, wetter, growing season was this difference reflected in the composition of the soil atmosphere. The soil atmosphere at 30 cm was higher in carbon dioxide and lover in oxygen than the soil atmosphere at 15 cm.The soil was also sampled at monthly intervals for one year and incubated anaerobically in the laboratory. This showed that throughout the year the soil did have the capacity to produce ethylene.PTFE tubing as a soil atmosphere sampling tool was investigated and shown to be successful

Reviews

Seels, Barbara B. and Richey, Rita C, Instructional Technology: The Definition and Domains of the Field, Washington DC, Association for Educational Communications and Technology, 1994. ISBN 0–89240–072–2