La misma realidad de cada lugar es diferente ( The same reality of each place is different ): A case study of an organic farmers market in Lima, Peru

Alternative food movements in North America and Western Europe have proliferated in recent years as producers and consumers attempt to reform what is perceived as a fatally flawed industrial food system. Meanwhile, agricultural producers in the global South are increasingly dispossessed of land and livelihoods as agro-industrial processes take on increasingly global dimensions. Given that many of the challenges facing small-scale producers in the North and South stem from similar patterns of agro-industrialization, might they also share similar responses to these challenges? In this article I make a case for broadening the geographic frame of reference for alternative food systems by comparing farmers\u27 market research from the US with an organic farmers\u27 market in Lima, Peru. Data is drawn from the experiences of agricultural exchange participants, and broadens the field of inquiry into alternative geographies of globalizations (Bebbington 2001). What lessons and insights gained from research into market-based agro-food initiatives in the US could be applied to the movement/market for organic produce in Peru? What makes the case in Peru distinct from alternative food movements in the US, and what lessons can be drawn from these distinctions?https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fss2014/1010/thumbnail.jp

SDSU Cow/Calf Teaching and Research Unit

The SDSU Cow/Calf Unit (CCU) is a multi‐purpose facility that provides resources for Animal Science courses and research projects. Cattle produced at the facility are also utilized by Little International, Block and Bridle, and livestock judging teams. The facility is managed by Kevin Vander Wal and generally employs 4 to 5 undergraduate students

Reducing Implicit Gender Bias Using a Virtual Workplace Environment

Implicit gender bias has costly and complex consequences for women in the workplace. We present an online desktop virtual environment that follows the story of a male or female self-avatar from the first-person perspective, who either experiences a positive or negative workplace scenario. Participants who experienced negative workplace experiences with a female self-avatar had significantly decreased levels of implicit gender bias compared to those who had a male self-avatar with evidence of perspective taking. Experiences of a positive workplace scenario showed no significant decreases in implicit gender bias regardless of self-avatar gender. We discuss the implications of these findings and make recommendations for virtual environment technologies and scenarios with respect to the reduction of implicit biases

Compliant Air Skates, An Experiment

There is currently a gap in the market of train levitation systems: wheeled trains and MagLev trains exist, but none utilize the low friction and high efficiency aspect of trains levitated by air skates. An air skate, is an air bearing that uses a pressure difference along its annular body to create a thin flow of air which is strong enough to levitate the weight of the skate. We have designed a compliant air skate that can glide over 0.04[in] defects in surfaces without touching down. After having made compliant skirts out of fiberglass and silicone, our setup of three air skates was easily capable of levitating 300[lb] while maintaining 3[psi] evenly split at the skates with an equivalent air flowrate of 3 [ft^3/min]

The Mass-Radius Relation Of Young Stars. I. Usco 5, An M4.5 Eclipsing Binary In Upper Scorpius Observed By K2

We present the discovery that UScoCTIO 5, a known spectroscopic binary in the Upper Scorpius star-forming region (P = 34 days, M-tot sin(i) = 0.64M(circle dot)), is an eclipsing system with both primary and secondary eclipses apparent in K2 light curves obtained during Campaign 2. We have simultaneously fit the eclipse profiles from the K2 light curves and the existing RV data to demonstrate that UScoCTIO 5 consists of a pair of nearly identical M4.5 stars with M-A = 0.329 +/- 0.002 M-circle dot, R-A = 0.834 +/- 0.006 R-circle dot, M-B = 0.317 +/- 0.002 M-circle dot, and R-B = 0.810 +/- 0.006 R-circle dot. The radii are broadly consistent with pre-main-sequence ages predicted by stellar evolutionary models, but none agree to within the uncertainties. All models predict systematically incorrect masses at the 25%-50% level for the HR diagram position of these mid-M dwarfs, suggesting significant modifications to mass-dependent outcomes of star and planet formation. The form of the discrepancy for most model sets is not that they predict luminosities that are too low, but rather that they predict temperatures that are too high, suggesting that the models do not fully encompass the physics of energy transport (via convection and/or missing opacities) and/or a miscalibration of the SpT-T-eff scale. The simplest modification to the models (changing T-eff to match observations) would yield an older age for this system, in line with the recently proposed older age of Upper Scorpius (tau similar to 11 Myr).NASA Science Mission directorateW. M. Keck FoundationAstronom

DEVELOPMENT OF GRASS-ROOTS DATA COLLECTION METHODS IN RURAL, ISOLATED, AND TRIBAL COMMUNITIES

While extensive procedures have been developed for the collection and dissemination of motor vehicle volumes and speeds, these same procedures cannot always be used to collect pedestrian data, given the comparably unpredictable behavior of pedestrians and their smaller physical size. There is significant value to developing lower cost, lower intrusion methods of collecting pedestrian travel data, and these collection efforts are needed at the local or “grass-roots” level. While previous studies have documented many different data collection methods, one newer option considers the use of drones. This study examined its feasibility to collect pedestrian data and used this technology as part of a school travel mode case study. Specific information with regard to the study methodology, permissions required, and final results are described in detail as part of this report. This study concluded that while purchasing and owning a drone requires relatively minimal investment, the initial steps required to operate a drone, along with processing time required to analyze the data collected, represent up-front barriers that may prevent widespread usage at this time. However, the use of drones and the opportunities that it presents in the long-term offer promising outcomes

Optimisation of the performance of holographic beam-shaping diffractive diffusers through refinement of the recording process

Optical diffusers have uses in laser applications and machine vision. Typical fabrication at a commercial level requires master production and the stamping/copying of individual elements at scale. This expensive, indirect process inhibits custom diffusers at reasonable cost. Previously the authors published a novel, direct, single beam method of recording customizable and controllable volume holographic diffusers by manipulating laser speckle and recording the pattern in photopolymer. This method allows for beam-shaping to produce diffusion patterns of various sizes and shapes. In this work, the direct method of recording controllable holographic diffusers is refined to improve diffuser performance (i.e., a decrease in zero order strength) for a simple diffuser. This is achieved through optimising the recording conditions (exposure energy, power and layer thickness) for a given photopolymer formulation. Significant improvement in the diffuser efficiency is observed through the optimisation process for a particular speckle size, resulting in a five-fold decrease in the remaining zero order. Kogelnik Coupled Wave Theory (KCWT) is explored as a first step towards developing an appropriate model for the behaviour of holographic elements recorded with interference patterns formed through stochastic processes, such as speckle patterns