Love is Just a Word for the Last Body I\u27d Like to Keep Vigil Over

Love is Just a Word for the Last Body I\u27d Like to Keep Vigil Over is a collection of poetry that was composed during my time spent at UNLV. Comprised mostly of prose poems, it was heavily influenced by the works of Richard Hugo, Robert Coover, Joshua Marie Wilkinson and several French poets who are often categorized as being members of either the Symbolist or Decadent movement. At its best, the collection attempts to invoke a sense of Joseph Cornell\u27s boxes--odd juxtapositions of everyday items and language that create new and uncertain circumstances. Unlike Cornell\u27s boxes, however, the poems aren\u27t confined by structure, but instead seem to always be pressing up against their boundaries and searching for a way out

Forest incomes after Uganda's forest sector reform: Are the rural poor gaining?

"Forest sector governance reform is frequently promoted as a policy tool for achieving favorable livelihood outcomes in the low income tropics. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence to support this claim, particularly at the household level. Drawing on the case of a major forest sector governance reform implemented in Uganda in 2003, this study seeks to fill that gap. The research employs a quasi-experimental research design utilizing pre and post reform income portfolio data for a large sample of households surrounding three major forests in western Uganda; a control group is included in the design. On private forest land overseen by the decentralized District Forestry Service there has been no significant change in average annual household income from forests, and the share of total income from forests has only slightly increased. For households living adjacent to Budongo Central Forest Reserve, overseen by the parastatal National Forestry Authority, there have been significant gains in average annual household income from forests, as well as the share of total income from forests. However, increases are limited to households in the highest income quartile and are primarily attributed to the sale of illegally harvested timber. The findings from this study challenge the view that governance reforms result in favorable livelihood outcomes for the poorest. Policy makers should carefully consider the incentives facing both forestry officials and local resource users with particular attention to increasing awareness of the value of trees and forests, and facilitating legal opportunities for rural smallholders across all income categories to sustainably engage in forest product harvesting and value addition." authors' abstractforest sector reform, Decentralization, Livelihoods,

Compartmentalized and signal-selective gap junctional coupling in the hearing cochlea

Gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) plays a major role in cochlear function. Recent evidence suggests that connexin 26 (Cx26) and Cx30 are the major constituent proteins of cochlear gap junction channels, possibly in a unique heteromeric configuration. We investigated the functional and structural properties of native cochlear gap junctions in rats, from birth to the onset of hearing [ postnatal day 12 (P12)]. Confocal immunofluorescence revealed increasing Cx26 and Cx30 expression from P0 to P12. Functional GJIC was assessed by coinjection of Lucifer yellow (LY) and Neurobiotin (NBN) during whole-cell recordings in cochlear slices. At P0, there was restricted dye transfer between supporting cells around outer hair cells. Transfer was more extensive between supporting cells around inner hair cells. At P8, there was extensive transfer of both dyes between all supporting cell types. By P12, LY no longer transferred between the supporting cells immediately adjacent to hair cells but still transferred between more peripheral cells. NBN transferred freely, but it did not transfer between inner and outer pillar cells. Freeze fracture further demonstrated decreasing GJIC between inner and outer pillar cells around the onset of hearing. These data are supportive of the appearance of signal-selective gap junctions around the onset of hearing, with specific properties required to support auditory function. Furthermore, they suggest that separate medial and lateral buffering compartments exist in the hearing cochlea, which are individually dedicated to the homeostasis of inner hair cells and outer hair cells

Impacts of programs and organizations on the adoption of sustainable land management technologies in Uganda:

The government of Uganda is currently decentralizing many of its services including those directly related to agriculture and the environment. Non-government organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) are being asked to take the lead in the provision of government services such as agricultural extension during the transition to demand driven fee-for-service. This paper explores the role of government programs, NGOs and CBOs in the adoption of land management technologies. We find that government programs were better distributed throughout Uganda and were more likely to operate in poorer areas than NGOs and CBOs. This raises the question of whether or not incentives should be provided for NGOs and CBOs to locate or evolve in less-favored areas. Our analysis of household level involvement in organizations between 1990 and 2000 indicates that female-headed households, households with higher proportions of women, and households with higher levels of natural resource dependence were more likely than other households to be involved in organizations whose main focus was not agriculture or the environment. We also found that social capital is an important determinant of organizational participation. The results of our analysis indicate that the presence of an agriculture or environment focused program or organization at the community level had a negative effect on the adoption of animal manuring and a positive affect on the adoption of pesticides. This suggests that spillover effects of programs and organizations may be greater for technologies that have short-term benefits, and which require some degree of coordination to be most effective. Household level involvement in an agriculture or environment focused organization had a positive effect on the adoption of inorganic fertilizer and mulching. Adoption of land management technologies such as manuring that yield longer-term benefits apparently do not spill over to non-participants in local programs and organizations. Thus, direct involvement of households in programs and organizations that promote such technologies may be necessary to ensure technology diffusion throughout communities. This information may be taken as an indicator of the effectiveness or impact of agriculture and environment focused organizations in Uganda, and should be considered in the broader context of the government devolution of services to NGOs and CBOs. Our findings indicate that careful consideration needs to be given to the potential for NGOs and CBOs to fulfill the roles traditionally filled by government programs in the context of land management. The limited impact of agriculture and environment focused organizations on technology adoption is discouraging though may be linked to the limited profitability of technology adoption in the short-run.Human capital, technology, Gender, Natural resource management, Agricultural technology, Agricultural growth,

The role of trees for sustainable management of less-favored lands: the case of eucalyptus in Ethiopia

In recent years the planting of eucalyptus trees in Ethiopia has expanded from State owned plantations to community woodlots and household compounds. In an environment suffering from severe woody biomass shortages water scarcity, erosion and land degradation, fast growing and resilient eucalyptus species perform better than most indigenous woodland and forest tree species (as well as most crops). In addition to increasing biomass and providing ground cover, the sale of eucalyptus poles and products has substantial potential to raise farm incomes, reduce poverty, increase food security and diversify smallholder-farming systems in less-favored areas of northern Ethiopia. Despite the potential for eucalyptus to improve rural livelihoods in northern Ethiopia in 1997, the regional government of Tigray imposed a ban on eucalyptus tree planting on farmlands. The regional government promotes planting of eucalyptus and other species in community woodlots, and has recently begun to allow private planting of eucalyptus on community wasteland and steep hillsides. In this paper, we review the debate about the ecological impacts of eucalyptus trees, as well as the economic factors that influence whether smallholders invest in these trees. Ex ante benefit-cost analysis based on community level survey data from Tigray illustrates that under most conditions planting eucalyptus trees yields high rates of return, well above 20% under most circumstances. The effect of variable harvest rates, the costs of decreased crop production when eucalyptus trees are planted on farmlands, and differences between administrative zones are considered relative to our base case in our rate of return estimates. The importance of fast growing tree species that can accommodate the high discount rates associated with smallholders in this region is emphasized.Tree planting., Ecology., Ethiopia., Land degradation.,

Investigations in space and laboratory plasma physics arising from polar ionosphere topside sounder observations and related satellite measurements of precipitated particle

Imperial Users onl

El Niño, Ice Storms, and the Market for Residential Fuelwood in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern U.S.

Extreme weather events such as the ice storm that affected eastern Canada and the Northeastern US in January of 1998 have significant impacts on both human populations and forests. One of the questions currently facing climate scientists is whether or not better forecasting of such events would lessen the economic impacts borne by households, industry, agricultural producers and the public sector when such weather events occur. This case study examines the economic impacts of the ice storm on the residential market for fuelwood. It is hypothesized that demand for fuelwood will increase due to the failure of non-wood heating sources during the ice storm. In addition, damage to trees in the region should increase the supply of fuelwood; the net effect of these outward shifts of supply and demand on price is not known. A household level survey administered to over one thousand households indicates that less than half of the households in the affected region currently rely on wood burning technologies as a source of heat for their homes. However, those households with wood burning technologies were better able to manage during the ice storm. The main policy implication of better forecasting of extreme weather events is the ability of households to alter or substitute home heating strategies and technologies in addition to other mitigative strategies such as storing food etc. In addition, forest managers or forest product producers who have information regarding extreme weather events have the option to undertake various management strategies to lessen the economic and biophysical impacts of ice storms on forests. Forest managers and woodlot owners may also enter or expand into the market for residential fuelwood when the production of other forest produce such as maple syrup and veneer are hindered by ice storm damage.

A Model Teacher Training Schedule for the Intensive Language Programs of the Foreign Language Office at the School for International Training

This is a suggested teacher training program for the Foreign Language Office of the School for International Training. It includes a consideration of the steps leading to communicative competence; assumptions about trainees; a model schedule; suggestions for implementing it; and a detailed elaboration of the schedule