Development of an evaluation methodology for forestry, wildlife, and fisheries field days: results and implications

Nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) land is a significant resource in the Southeastern United States. Private, nonindustrial sources own approximately 77% of the forested land in the Southern Appalachian Region. A high percentage of these ownerships are 400 acres or less in size (Barrett 1995). Because of the increase in small land ownerships and issues like high-grading, regulation of land-use, and pressure from special interest groups, there is a pressing need for good stewardship of private lands. Extension education and outreach programs are one way to facilitate a working relationship between forestry and wildlife professionals and the private sector. However, without an understanding of the impact of educational programming directed toward NIPF landowners, and direct knowledge about whether or not NIPF landowners are even being reached by intended programming, our best efforts to reach NIPF landowners may miss the mark, resulting in the inefficient use of money, time, and resources. The Extension Service has used forestry, wildlife, and fisheries (FWF) field days as one vehicle for information transfer. A methodology for the evaluation of FWF field days was developed, tested and used at three field days in Tennessee in the spring, summer, and fall of 1998. This research model evaluated the human dimensions of FWF Extension field days by analyzing participant characteristics, behaviors, perceptions, and attitudes. The evaluation model formulated for this project is divided into two integral parts, process and content The process deals with the implementation of the survey instrument. A successful implementation process requires (1) Full integration of the evaluation into the field day plan, (2) Good communication with personnel, (3) Evaluator involvement in the registration process, (4) A field tour with van transportation for participants, (5) Van driver involvement with the implementation procedure, and (6) Central location for registration. The content deals with the survey instrument used, data collection, and the resulting analysis. Specific educational programs at each of the three field days were evaluated using a pre/post survey format to measure knowledge. The pre-test was distributed in the field before participants viewed the programs. The post-test was distributed as part of a mail survey sent out six weeks after the field day event. Mail surveys were conducted using the Dillman four-wave method (1978). Questionnaires were sent to all participants who filled out a pre-test. Of the 320 participants originally involved in the field day evaluation, 222 retumed completed mail questionnaires for a final response rate of 69.4%. Descriptive statistics were used to organize the data. Most respondents were Tennessee residents (98.2%), and male (79.7%). The majority of respondents had a college degree, (65%) and most annual incomes averaged over $30,000 per year (79%). The highest percentage of respondents (19.2%) was retired, 18.6% were foresters, 10.2% were teachers, and 7.8% were students. Just over half (52.1%) of all respondents were forest landov\/ners, 35.2% were resource professionals, and 1.4% were timber contractors. Over half (58.3%) of the field day participants reported that they were involved in forest management on their land, 25% on other private land, 16% on public land, and 5% on industry land. Less than half (37%) of respondents indicated that they or someone in their household worked in a forestry or wildlife related field. Most respondents leamed about the FWF field days through University of Tennessee personnel (36.1%), or from Other sources (28.7%). A small percentage (13.0%) said they would change their management practices, some respondents (31.5%) indicated that they might change their management, and 26.9% said they would not change their management practices as a result of attending the FWF field day. When asked whether or not they expected to attend future field day events, 85.8% of respondents said they would. Some respondents (34%) had not attended a field day program before. Field days were the type of forestry education program of most interest to participants (84.3%), followed by demonstrations (64.4%), on-site visits with forestry professionals (60.2%), and seminars (29.2%). Pre-post tests indicated that most participant knowledge levels were not affected as a result of exposure to the educational programs. A large percentage of participants who were landowners were also resource professionals. This indicates that the reason why most people did not learn new information as a result of the field day may be because they already had a good deal of background knowledge about the educational topics and were not leaning anything new. In order to test this, landowners that were not resource professionals were separated from the general data set, but results for this group did not differ greatly from the entire population who filled out both surveys. The reason there was no change in knowledge level is still unclear. It is possible that the Extension Service is missing the true target population of NIPF landowners who have not been previously exposed to educational programs. This may explain why there was little knowledge change in landowners that were not also resource professionals. However, results also indicate that most participants are enjoying themselves at FWF field days and want to continue attending the events. The model for evaluation developed for this study was successful in rendering valid results, and can be used to gain further understanding into FWF field day participants and relative program success

A habitat assessment to locate tree of heaven [Ailanthus altissima, (Mill.) Swingle] in Mammoth Cave National Park

Invasive, nonnative plants pose a significant threat to national parks. Effective and efficient tools are needed to help managers detect, prioritize and target nonnative plants for control. I used spatial modeling techniques to predict the occurrence of tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima, (Mill.) Swingle) in Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA), Kentucky. Tree of heaven is known to be a problematic invasive, nonnative plant species and was identified as a priority for control at MACA. I developed a multivariate habitat model to determine optimal habitat for tree of heaven within MACA. Habitat characteristics of 135 known tree of heaven locations were used in combination with seven environmental variables to calculate the predicted probability of occurrence of tree of heaven in MACA using logistic regression analysis. Variables for predicting habitat were created from public records, MACA databases, and a geographic information system (GIS).Twenty-seven a priori models were developed based on the biological requirements of the species and observations of invasion pattern in MACA and the most parsimonious model was selected using Akaike̕s Information Criteria. The seven variables included in the optimal model were derived from soil, site classification, geology, topography, and canopy coverage. I tested the predictive power of the model with independently collected presence and absence data. Ninety seven percent of test locations for tree of heaven were associated with predicted probabilities in the 0-0.30 range. The model improved the probability of finding tree of heaven compared with random searches by approximately 10%. It had poor discrimination (false positive = 0.31, false negative = 0.38, overall reliability = 0.41) and was not well calibrated. Based on its low predictive power, this habitat model could not be recommended for use in managing tree of heaven populations at MACA.Model failure could be attributed to a number of factors and/or combinations of factors including insufficient data, inappropriate scale and the generalist nature of the species. However, results from this study elucidate areas for future research into the applicability of habitat modeling to invasive, nonnative species at local scales

Perceptual learning style preferences of Malay ESL learners at tertiary level : A case study at UiTM Pahang / Badli Esham Ahmad

This study sets out to identify the perceptual learning style preferences of Malay ESL learners in Jengka Campus, UiTM Pahang. Data analysis from the study revealed that in general, Malay ESL learners in UiTM Pahang have major preferences for kinesthetic auditory individual and tactile learning styles. The present study also reveals that there are no statistical differences between the learning styles of both genders, and levels of achievement. This study has also revealed specific differences in learning styles according to fields of study and geographical backgrounds. A notable difference between rural and urban respondents is that the urban respondents have a major preference to visual learning while the rural respondents only displayed a minor preference for it. The other significant difference is that the rural respondents strongly preferred individual learning style, while the urban respondents only recorded a minor preference. East and West coast learners share similar preferences save for their different preference for visual learning style, which is considered as major for the West Coast and minor for the East Coast. The input according to fields of study, however, recorded some statistically significant differences between the faculties. However, they share almost identical learning style preferences, as they prefer kinesthetic and tactile as well as auditory

The Doctrine of Informed Consent and Duty of Disclosure: A Comparative Essay between the US, UK, Australia and Malaysia with Indonesia

The study aims to compare and contrast the position of four countries (The US, UK, Australia, and Malaysia) regarding informed consent, particularly on the subject of disclosure of information with Indonesia. Other than that, the legal issues to be studied were the implications brought upon the healthcare and judicial system in the respective countries as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each test propounded. It was found that previously the welfare of the patient in regards to their right to receive information (especially risks) regarding their medical treatment was only up to the discretion of the medical practitioner and other members of the medical profession, which eliminates liability against a negligent doctor if it was found that other members of the medical community would have done the same as him. It was not until the case of Rogers v Whitaker that the spectrum widened and allowed the courts to determine that whatever that should be disclosed to the patient must be something that the patient attaches significant risk to, this is then named the “Prudent Patient Test”, used by most countries in this study. The study finds that as an implication, most countries have departed from the previous paternalistic approach by doctors and as an advantage, encouraged individualism and the reduction of the patients as passive recipients in their own health care. Since most of the comparative countries are similar in application, it was found that the medical law envisioned and enforced in the respective countries was quite different compared to the civil legal system in Indonesia. Other than that, as a country that is highly ingrained with Islamic values of life, the perspective of human rights and individualism in Indonesia is distinct with most of the other countries studied

Bauxite-based hollow fiber membrane for oilfield produced water treatment

An advanced treatment technology of oilfield produced water (PW) is required because of the incapability of physical separation technologies to produce high quality treated water. Recently, hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) have been widely utilized since it is recognized as one of the most effective PW treatment technologies. However, membrane fouling is the main drawback of commercial polymeric membranes while commercial ceramic membranes are extremely expensive. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop HFM from natural low cost ceramic material which is raw bauxite to counter these problems. The bauxite hollow fiber membranes (BHFMs) were developed using Malaysian raw bauxite with different bauxite loadings (45-60 wt.%) and sintering temperature (1250-1450 °C) via phase inversion and sintering technique. From the results obtained, BHFM with 50 wt.% of bauxite loading and sintered at 1350 °C showed the best morphological structure with sufficient mechanical strength of 135 MPa, suitable porosity value of 15.54 % and the medium average pore size of 0.78 |im. The BHFM also showed excellent water permeation of 195 L/m2.h.bar and 99% of oil rejection. The results of the contact angle revealed that the membranes are super-hydrophilic and super-oleophobic membrane. The fouled BHFM was further evaluated for its self-cleaning ability via ultraviolet (UV) driven photocatalytic test. The results showed the water permeation of the UV radiated BHFM increased by 30% compared to non-radiated BHFM. Then, the fouled BHFM was tested again for another two runs with the long term photocatalytic test to observe the efficiency of the self-cleaning properties. The result showed that the longterm study does affect the water permeability of the BHFM, which decreased to 169 L/m2.h.bar in the 3rd run of the self-cleaning test. The results of the oil rejection do not affect by the long-term photocatalytic test which stay in the range of 99%. The BHFM need some modification in the pore size of the membrane to maintain the self-cleaning properties. In conclusion, this study would provide a new insight on the application of BHFM as the cost-effective, self-cleaning membrane for the PW treatment

Stability Analysis of FitzHugh-Nagumo with Smooth Periodic Forcing

Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley received the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology for their work describing the propagation of action potentials in the squid giant axon. Major analysis of their system of differential equations was performed by Richard FitzHugh, and later by Jin-Ichi Nagumo who created a tunnel diode circuit based upon FitzHugh’s work. The resulting differential model, known as the FitzHugh-Nagumo (FH-N) oscillator, represents a simplification of the Hodgkin-Huxley (H-H) model, but still replicates the original neuronal dynamics (Izhikevich, 2010). We begin by providing a thorough grounding in the physiology behind the equations, then continue by introducing some of the results established by Kostova et al. for FH-N without forcing (Kostova et al., 2004). Finally, this sets up our own exploration into stimulating the system with smooth periodic forcing. Subsequent quantification of the chaotic phase portraits using a Lyapunov exponent are discussed, as well as the relevance of these results to electrocardiography

Technical Efficiency and Determinants of Maize Production by Smallholder Farmers in the Moneragala District of Sri Lanka

Maze (Zea mays L.) is the second most important cereal crop after rice produced in Sri Lanka. The government of Sri Lanka has taken steps to expand maize production in the country. In the context of these initiatives; this paper analyzes empirically the technical efficiency of smallholder maize farmers in Sri Lanka using a stochastic frontier production methodology. A sample of 130 maize farmers belonging to four local administrative divisions of the Moneragala district was randomly selected. A well-structured, comprehensive interview schedule was used for data collection. The findings of the study revealed that the seeds, hired labor and land extent were found to positively influence maize production. The mean technical efficiency was 72%, implying that there was considerable room for improvement in maize productivity within the present state of technology. Access to hybrid maize seeds, age of farm household head and ownership of irrigated lowland were found to be significant factors determining production efficiency at the farm level. Policy implications drawn from the results include setting up of a mechanism to revamp farmer collective action through the formation of farmer groups so that smallholder land consolidation would be possible and interventions towards improving local production of high quality hybrid maize seeds in order to make them available to farmers at an affordable price. Moreover, the government should support the private sector to expand the existing contract farming schemes to remote rural areas. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p41

Sustainability of rice production: a Malaysian perspective

As Asian rice demand is projected to increase by 30% in 2010, a sustainable approach of rice production has become important. In order to fulfill the rice demand for the growing population and with the target rice self-sufficiency of 65%, Malaysia has to increase its rice productivity. As the attainment of sustainability in rice farming is country and area specific, Malaysia has devised its own ways to achieve this goal within a prescribed time frame. The major problems faced by the rice sector have been identified and step-by-step solutions are sought through policy changes. Rice estates in Malaysia have already proven that commercial rice production is viable, economical and sustainable. FELCRA Seberang Perak, the first and largest rice estate in Malaysia, has proven the sustainability and viability of commercial rice farming by achieving a continuous cropping intensity of 200%. The keywords to sustainable rice production are doubling yields, estatization and private corporate sector investments. The strategies to be devised must include getting investments to make the present non-lucrative business a profitable venture, whilst balancing the country’s social obligation

Cultural values and self-directed learning among female Malay adult learners / Badli Esham Ahmad

Research into Malay adult learners and self-directed learning in Malaysia is far from its saturation point and still offers many avenues for research. There appeared to be a gap in research information on the Malay cultural values and self-directed learning. Limited research has been conducted to close the gap between Malay cultural values and self-directed learning. Hence, the study undertook the task of closing the gap between Malay cultural values and self-directed learning by looking at how the Malay cultural values help to shape the self-directedness of the Malay adult learners. The research employed the qualitative approach and used journal entries, observations and interviews as its data collection method. Six Malay cultural values derived from literature were chosen- harmonious, collective, sensitive, approval seeking, religious and maintaining face as the cultural values upheld by the Malays. Four Malay adult learners who were pursuing postgraduate degrees in a local university participated in the study. The study found that three participants were very self-directed while the other participant was less self-directed. The findings also indicated four pertinent Malay cultural values in the participants-harmonious, collective, sensitive and maintaining face and these Malay cultural values helped to shape the Malay adult learners. It was found that these Malay cultural values help shaped the respondents to become a careful adult learner, a survivor, an active learner and an optimistic learner. Hence, the study would conclude that cultural values have a role to play in shaping the self-directedness of the Malay adult learners. As such, the study recommends a cultural process framework and an inventory to better understand how cultural values help to shape the self-directed learning of the Malay adult learners