“WE’RE BEING LEFT TO BLIGHT”: GREEN URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND RACIALIZED SPACE IN KANSAS CITY

In this dissertation, I explore ‘green’ urban development and urban agriculture projects from the perspective of residents of an African American majority neighborhood in Kansas City—who reside in an area referred to as a ‘blighted food desert’ by local policy makers. In Kansas City, extensive city government support exists for urban agricultural projects, which are touted not just as a solution to poverty associated issues such food insecurity and obesity, but also as a remedy for ‘blight,’ violence and crime, and vacant urban land. Specific narratives of Kansas City’s past are used to prop up and legitimate these future visions for, and development projects in, the city. This dissertation lays out an argument for how, in Kansas City, the dominant narrative surrounding urban sustainability, agriculture, and history came to be constructed and informed by white voices, and documents how these narratives, primarily constructed by upper-middle class white local ‘foodies’, are harnessed to support green development projects that marginalize and displace people of color and the poor. Specifically, I draw on 26 months of ethnographic fieldwork to explore how this narrative was constructed and elevated in local policy circles, document the lived consequences of this whitened narrative from the perspective of residents of “food deserts,” and describe historical and current minority-led agricultural projects—which aren’t included in dominant accountings of Kansas City’s development. I also explore agentive actions of racialized groups in opposition to this dominant whitened discourse, documenting how one neighborhood council in Kansas City strategically utilizes urban food project funding to acquire other, more urgently needed, community resources. I bring light to important acts of resistance by some black and brown urban farmers, who explicitly work to shape city space by reinscribing spatialized histories of displacement and racism in Kansas City. In this project I understand racialization and representation as active, not passive, processes, that have the power to determine whose voices are heard, and who has power to shape city space and its use. By untangling the racialized construction of history and space, and drawing on narratives shared by oft-silenced groups, this dissertation project contributes to scholarly work committed to disrupting hegemonic spatialized whiteness (McKittrick 2011)

Year 8 Students Perceptions of Science and Scientists

The perceptions students have of science and scientists influence their engagement with the subject. These perceptions are formed through exposure to scientific practices at school and outside of school, as well as by how science and scientists are portrayed. Internationally and nationally there is growing concern about the decline in students studying science beyond what is compulsory. Studies have reported that students’ ideas about scientists are dominated by stereotypical images and, while the idea of the ‘mad male scientist’ has changed over time, contemporary images that represent the ways how scientists work are still absent from many students’ experiences. In response to this concern resources have been developed to provide examples of working scientists, one of which is the New Zealand Science Learning Hub website. The use of ICT resources like this one requires technological pedagogical content knowledge, in order for it to provide meaningful learning experiences. Evidence is now needed to ascertain whether or not such resources have much influence on the ways students think about science. This study sought to explore 38 year eight students’ ideas about scientists and to observe any changes that occurred through the watching of online video narratives about scientists. The data collection methods used were drawings, classroom observations and semi-structured interviews. The results of this study reveal that the students tested were generally positive about learning science at school and had a good understanding of what scientists did. However, students’ knowledge was limited to their classroom experiences and students who participated in extra-curricular science activities displayed an advanced understanding. The video intervention showed that students who had limited science experiences showed a shift in their perceptions of science and scientists. This study suggests that to keep students engaged in science and to improve their attitudes towards science, meaningful intervention needs to occur. Teachers need to invite students’ to share their funds of knowledge and their experiences. Using meaningful resources such as those found on the Science Learning Hub website can enhance students’ understanding of science and scientists

Scenario-Based Development and Verification of Domain-Specific Languages

The use of domain-specific languages (DSLs) has increased manifold for problem solving in specific domain areas as they allow for a wider variety of expressions within their domain. Modeling using DSLs has shown high increases in productivity after accounting for the time and cost expended in developing them, making them a suitable target for improvement in order to reap higher rewards. The currently used approach for domain modeling involves the creation of an ontology which is then used to describe the domain model. This ontology encapsulates all domain knowledge and can be cumbersome to create, requiring external sources of information and assistance from a domain expert. This dissertation first discusses the use and importance of DSLs for scenario generation for a domain and presents an extension to the Aviation Scenario Definition Language (ASDL). The main contribution of this dissertation is a novel framework for scenario based development of DSLs, called the Domain-Specific Scenario (DoSS) framework. This framework proposes the use of scenarios in natural language, which are currently used in requirements engineering and testing, as the basis for developing the domain model iteratively. An example of the use of this approach is provided by developing a domain model for ASDL and comparing the published model with one obtained using DoSS. This approach is supplemented with a case study to validate the claim that DoSS is easier to use by non-experts in the domain by having a user create a model and comparing it to one obtained by the author. These models were found to be almost identical, showing a promising return for this approach. The time taken and effort required to create this model by the user were recorded and found to be quite low, although no similar results have been published so no comparison could be made. State charts are then used for verification of scenarios to ensure the conformity between scenarios and models. The dissertation also discusses applications of the ideas presented here, specifically, the use of ASDL for Air Traffic Control training scenarios and the use of DoSS for ontology generation

Study of the Impact of Organic Manures and Biofertilizers on growth of Phaseolus aureus Roxb.

Weed sare wild plants growing where they are not wanted, and they compete with the cultivated crop for nutrition. Though they are seen as agricultural waste throughout the year, they are rich sources of nutrients. They grow in abundance during the rainy season, but as the season ends these biomasses get wasted. In the present investigation, Tephrosia hamiltonii Drumm belonging to family Fabaceae, and Achyranthes aspera L. belonging to the family Amaranthaceae were used as a nutrient source to develop crop Phaseolus aureus Roxb. Weed manures, Vermicompost and Compost, were prepared by using weeds T.hamiltonii Drumm and A.aspera L. in 1:1 proportion. Chemical analysis of weed and weed manures were done before administering it into the soil. Neem cake was also used as one of the organic manures. In the experiment, a single dose of biofertilizers Azotobacter and Phosphate solubilizing bacteria were mixed with Weed Vermicompost, Weed Compost and Neem cake; and in one of the treatments, only biofertilizers were used indouble dose. Treatments were given to the crop as ATVB, ATCB, NCB, BioD, NPK, and Control in a randomized block design of experimental plot size 1.5X 1.5 m. The use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers was completely avoided except for NPK treatment plots. Single plant analysis of pulse crop P. aureus Roxb. was done. Observations were recorded in the forms of fresh weight and dry weight of root, stem, leaves, leaf (4th number), and legumes. Total fresh yield (kg ha-1), DM (kg ha-1) increase over control, and Nitrogen efficiency ratio were recorded. Results showed that %DM (an increase over control) and DM kg ha-1 recorded highest in ATVB treatment and the highest N efficiency ratio was in BioD. The present investigation emphasized reducing the input cost of the farm products along with protection of the environment and natural resources

Research in Phyto‐Constituents for Treatment of Wounds

Disruption of normal architecture of skin is referred to as wound. There are different types of wounds like contusion, excision, incision, burn, diabetic, etc. The body has its own mechanism to heal wounds in three major overlapping phases, namely inflammatory, proliferative and remodelling. Any agent that promotes the healing process can be utilized as a wound healing agent. Plants have been a great source of medicines to treat wounds. Elucidation of the mechanism of wound healing helped researchers to investigate plants in detail and find out their active constituents. Various biochemical changes take place during the wound healing process, and these changes served as targets for in vitro and in vivo models. In vitro and in vivo models are extensively utilized to evaluate wound healing activity. The present chapter gives an overview of some classes of phyto‐constituents having wound healing activity

Analysis of package inserts of orally administered drugs available in the Indian market

Background: The package insert of a medication forms an important source of information to the patient while taking a drug. The package insert is expected to contain complete information regarding the drug aiding the patient to obtain additional knowledge regarding the drug.Methods: 100 package inserts of orally administered drugs were obtained from local chemists and were analysed according to the Sections 6.2 and 6.3 of Schedule D (II), Drugs and Cosmetics Act (1940) and Rules (1945).Results: The posology and contraindications were mentioned in 98% and 96% of the inserts, respectively, whereas the list of excipients, incompatibilities and shelf life was mentioned in 12%, 19%, 16% of the inserts, respectively.Conclusions: There is a wide variation in the information available on the package inserts of drugs available in the Indian market. The package inserts should be carefully scrutinized for completeness before the respective drug is marketed