LAND RIGHTS AND INTRA-HOUSEHOLD EMPLOYMENT AND RESOURCE USE IN THE PERI-URBAN AREA OF BANJUL, THE GAMBIA

As part of cooperative research program examining factor markets in peri-urban areas of The Gambia (Banjul and Serekunda) to see if they are constraining agricultural growth and employment, particularly in the horticultural subsector, the household production survey reported in this study assesses inter- and intrahousehold issues of market access and constraints to land-improving investment and productivity. Implemented in 1993, survey is highly disaggregated by plot, gender, enterprise, and type of employment.Land tenure--Gambia--Banjul Region, Vendors and purchasers--Gambia--Banjul Region, Household production--Gambia, Research methods, Rural conditions--Gambia, Rural off-farm employment--Gambia, Income and wealth--Gambia, Land markets--Gambia, Tenure types, Traditional--Gambia, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use,

The unconditional probability distributions of future emissions and temperatures

How high should we build a dyke today, knowing that it will serve for more than 50 years? This depends on the unconditional probability distribution of future temperatures. We review the literature on estimates of future emissions for current policy scenarios and current pledge scenarios. Reviewing expert elicitations, abatement costs of scenarios, learning rates of technologies, fossil fuel supply side dynamics and geoengineering, we argue that scenarios with emissions largely beyond current policy scenarios and largely below current pledge scenarios are relatively unlikely. Based on this, we develop a transparent method to estimate unconditional probability distributions of future temperatures and temperature exceedance probabilities for use in Value at Risk stress tests in 2030, 2050 and 2100

Literature-informed likelihoods of future emissions and temperatures

How high should we build a dyke today, knowing that it will serve for more than 50 years? This depends on the probability distribution of future temperatures. We review the literature on estimates of future emissions for current/stated policy scenarios and current pledge scenarios. Reviewing expert elicitations, abatement costs of scenarios, learning rates of technologies, fossil fuel supply side dynamics and geoengineering, we argue that scenarios with emissions largely beyond current/stated policy scenarios and largely below current pledge scenarios are relatively unlikely. Based on this, we develop a literature-informed evaluation of the likelihoods of future temperature for use in Value at Risk stress tests in 2030, 2050 and 2100

The unconditional probability distributions of future emissions and temperatures

How high should we build a dyke today, knowing that it will serve for more than 50 years? This depends on the unconditional probability distribution of future temperatures. We review the literature on estimates of future emissions for current policy scenarios and current pledge scenarios. Reviewing expert elicitations, abatement costs of scenarios, learning rates of technologies, fossil fuel supply side dynamics and geoengineering, we argue that scenarios with emissions largely beyond current policy scenarios and largely below current pledge scenarios are relatively unlikely. Based on this, we develop a transparent method to estimate unconditional probability distributions of future temperatures and temperature exceedance probabilities for use in Value at Risk stress tests in 2030, 2050 and 2100

Psychometric properties of the TACT framework—Determining rigor in qualitative research

Introduction: The credibility of qualitative research has long been debated, with critics emphasizing the lack of rigor and the challenges of demonstrating it. In qualitative research, rigor encompasses explicit, detailed descriptions of various research stages, including problem framing, study design, data collection, analysis, and reporting. The diversity inherent in qualitative research, originating from various beliefs and paradigms, challenges establishing universal guidelines for determining its rigor. Additionally, researchers' often unrecorded thought processes in qualitative studies further complicate the assessment of research quality.Methods:To address these concerns, this article builds on the TACT framework, which was developed to teach postgraduate students and those new to qualitative research to identify and apply rigorous principles and indicators in qualitative research. The research reported in this article focuses on creating a scale designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the TACT framework. This involves analyzing the stability of its dimensions and understanding its effectiveness as a tool for teaching and research.Results: The study's findings indicate that the TACT framework, when assessed through the newly developed scale, exhibits stable dimensions consistent with rigorous qualitative research principles. The framework effectively guides postgraduate students and new researchers in assessing the rigor of qualitative research processes and outcomes.Discussion:The application of the TACT framework and its evaluation scale reveals several insights. Firstly, it demonstrates the framework's utility in bridging the gap in pedagogical tools for teaching rigor in qualitative research methods. Secondly, it highlights the framework's potential in providing a structured approach to undertaking qualitative research, which is essential given this field's diverse methodologies and paradigms. However, the TACT framework remains a guide to enhancing rigor in qualitative research throughout all the various phases but by no means a measure of rigor.Conclusion:In conclusion, the TACT framework and its accompanying evaluative scale represent significant steps toward standardizing and enhancing the rigor of qualitative research, particularly for postgraduate students and early career researchers. While it does not solve all challenges associated with obtaining and demonstrating rigor in qualitative research, it provides a valuable tool for assessing and ensuring research quality, thereby addressing some of the longstanding criticisms of the quality of research obtained through qualitative methods

Development of an Electronic Means of Weighing Vehicles in Motion

An in-stream weighing platform was designed and installed in the eastbound lane of I 64 and 75 near Lexington, Kentucky. The broken-bridge scale platform was designed with the outer edges of the two sections supported on hinges and contiguous edges supported by two 20,000-pound capacity load cells. The assembled scale measures 4\u27-6 x 10\u27-1/2 with a total weight of about 2,000 pounds. The electronics developed for the system included digitizing circuitry which processed the load cell signals and recorded the data on digital magnetic tape. Computer processing of the field data produced tabular information on vehicle speed, axle spacing, number of axles, vehicle classification, time of day, and weight for each vehicle, as well as voluminous statistical data such as average daily traffic and equivalent axleloads. Conceptually, the system was good, but numerous electronic and mechanical problems compounded to render the present system inoperative. Future dynamic weighing system designs should consider portable, lightweight scales and electronic instrumentation suitable for mounting in a vehicle, thus providing a flexible data-gathering system that will be more readily maintainable. Immediate data output in the field would be highly desirable

Cis/trans energetics in epoxide, thiirane, aziridine and phosphirane containing cyclopentanols: Effects of intramolecular OH···O,S,N and P contacts

c 2019 by the authors A recent computational analysis of the stabilizing intramolecular OH···O contact in 1,2-dialkyl-2,3-epoxycyclopentanol diastereomers has been extended to thiiriane, aziridine and phosphirane analogues. Density functional theory (DFT), second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) and CCSD(T) coupled-cluster computations with simple methyl and ethyl substituents indicate that electronic energies of the cis isomers are lowered by roughly 3 to 4 kcal mol−1 when the OH group of these cyclopentanol systems forms an intramolecular contact with the O, S, N or P atom on the adjacent carbon. The results also suggest that S and P can participate in these stabilizing intramolecular interactions as effectively as O and N in constrained molecular environments. The stabilizing intramolecular OH···O, OH···S, OH···N and OH···P contacts also increase the covalent OH bond length and significantly decrease the OH stretching vibrational frequency in every system with shifts typically on the order of −41 cm−

Model subgroups of finite soluble groups

In this thesis we begin the study of finite groups possessing a model subgroup, where a model subgroup H of a finite group G is defined to be a subgroup satisfying 〖1H〗^(↑G)=∑_(x∊∕π(G))▒X We show that a finite nilpotent group possesses a model subgroup if and only if it is abelian and that a Frobenius group with Frobenius complement C and Frobenius kernel N possesses a model subgroup if and only if (a) N is elementary abelian of order r". (b) C is cyclic of order (r" — 1 )/(rd — 1), for some d dividing n. (c) The finite field F=Frn has an additive abelian subgroup HF of order rd satisfying NormF/K(HF) =K, where K=Frd. We then go on to conjecture that a finite soluble group G possessing a model subgroup is either metabelian or has a normal subgroup N such that G/N is a Frobenius group with cyclic Frobenius complement of order 2" +1 and elementary abelian Frobenius kernel of order 22". We consider a series of cases that need to be excluded in order to prove the conjecture and present some examples that shed light on the problems still to be overcome