Exploring the role of voluntary disease schemes on UK farmer bio-security behaviours: Findings from the Norfolk-Suffolk Bovine Viral Diarrhoea control scheme

The article describes the influence of a disease control scheme (the Norfolk-Suffolk Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Disease (BVD) Eradication scheme) on farmers' bio-security attitudes and behaviours. In 2010, a survey of 100 cattle farmers (53 scheme members vs. 47 out of scheme farmers) was undertaken among cattle farmers residing in Norfolk and Suffolk counties in the UK. A cross-sectional independent measures design was employed. The main analytical tool was content analysis. The following variables at the farmer-level were explored: the specific BVD control measures adopted, livestock disease priorities, motivation for scheme membership, wider knowledge acquisition, biosecurity behaviours employed and training course attendance. The findings suggest that participation in the BVD scheme improved farmers' perception of the scheme benefits and participation in training courses. However, no association was found between the taking part in the BVD scheme and livestock disease priorities or motivation for scheme participation, or knowledge about BVD bio-security measures employed. Equally importantly, scheme membership did appear to influence the importance accorded specific bio-security measures. Yet such ranking did not appear to reflect the actual behaviours undertaken. As such, disease control efforts alone while necessary, are insufficient. Rather, to enhance farmer bio-security behaviours significant effort must be made to address underlying attitudes to the specific disease threat involved

Regionalizing Labor Policy Through NAFTA: Beyond President Bush’s Temporary Worker Proposal

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) sought to create an expanded and secure market for the goods and services produced in its member territories. It represented huge improvements in the freedom of goods, services, and investments to move between member nations, but remained silent on the issue of freedom of movement of labor. The major objection to unrestricted movement of labor within NAFTA was the concern of permanent immigration from Mexico into, mainly, the United States. In early 2004, President George W. Bush introduced a proposal to allow, unilaterally, freer movement of temporary laborers into the United States. This Note argues that the President’s proposal is flawed because it fails to seek a multilateral agreement for the freedom of movement beyond that which flows into the United States, and especially ignores U.S. citizens seeking employment abroad. Rather than the United States acting unilaterally, this Note argues for a re-consideration of movement of labor within NAFTA

Magnetoswitching of current oscillations in diluted magnetic semiconductor nanostructures

Strongly nonlinear transport through Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor multiquantum wells occurs due to the interplay between confinement, Coulomb and exchange interaction. Nonlinear effects include the appearance of spin polarized stationary states and self-sustained current oscillations as possible stable states of the nanostructure, depending on its configuration and control parameters such as voltage bias and level splitting due to an external magnetic field. Oscillatory regions grow in size with well number and level splitting. A systematic analysis of the charge and spin response to voltage and magnetic field switching of II-VI Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor multiquantum wells is carried out. The description of stationary and time-periodic spin polarized states, the transitions between them and the responses to voltage or magnetic field switching have great importance due to the potential implementation of spintronic devices based on these nanostructures.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, Revtex, to appear in PR

Annoyance resulting from intrusion of aircraft sounds upon various activities

An experiment was conducted in which subjects were engaged in TV viewing, telephone listening, or reverie (no activity) for a 1/2-hour session. During the session, they were exposed to a series of recorded aircraft sounds at the rate of one flight every 2 minutes. Within each session, four levels of flyover noise, separated by dB increments, were presented several times in a Latin Square balanced sequence. The peak level of the noisiest flyover in any session was fixed at 95, 90, 85, 75, or 70 dBA. At the end of the test session, subjects recorded their responses to the aircraft sounds, using a bipolar scale which covered the range from very pleasant to extremely annoying. Responses to aircraft noises were found to be significantly affected by the particular activity in which the subjects were engaged. Not all subjects found the aircraft sounds to be annoying

Effects of three activities on annoyance responses to recorded flyovers

Human subjects participated in an experiment in which they were engaged in TV viewing, telephone listening, or reverie (no activity) for a 1/2-hour session. During the session, they were exposed to a series of recorded aircraft sounds at the rate of one flight every 2 minutes. At each session, four levels of flyover noise, separated by 5 db increments were presented several times in a Latin Square balanced sequence. The peak levels of the noisiest flyover in any session was fixed at 95, 90, 85, 75, or 70 db. At the end of the test session, subjects recorded their responses to the aircraft sounds, using a bipolar scale which covered the range from very pleasant to extremely annoying. Responses to aircraft noises are found to be significantly affected by the particular activity in which the subjects are engaged

Defining Metis People as a People: Moving Beyond the Indian/Metis Dichotomy

This article argues that the legal definition that defines Metis people in opposition to Indian detracts from the goal of recognizing the Metis as a distinct people. The article argues that we ought to de-couple the definitions of Metis and Indian to more strongly recognize Metis as a distinct people. This article considers three intertwined concerns that arise from this dichotomous approach to Metis identity The first concern is about the hard line created in the definition between Indian and Metis, forcing one to be either Indian or Metis. The second concern is that changes to the definition of Indian may impact the definition of Metis, making the two identities contingent and inherently connected. The final related concern is that defining Metis as not Indian leads to the question of how distinct Metis culture needs to be from Indian culture for recognition. The article argues that we need to re-centre the definition of Metis on being Metis people based on internal characteristics (who Metis are) and move away from the legal definition of Metis being contingent on the legal definition of Indian (who Metis are not)