Stone weirs on Chipei Island, Taiwan--Landesque capital and ecologically unequal exchange

This thesis focuses on the development of stone weirs on Chipei Island. Chipei is one of the offshore islands of the Penghu archipelago in Taiwan. Stone weirs on Chipei Island have been in use for more than three centuries. The islanders developed a social structure based on building and utilizing stone weirs for fishing. Stone weirs are central to the legacies of every family on Chipei. Nowadays, most people still hold shares in stone weirs. The development of stone weirs on Chipei Island is examined from the perspective of historical-political ecology, more specifically drawing on the concepts of landesque capital and ecologically unequal exchange. Three phases were carried out in the use of stone weirs, 1) pre-1940s, stone weir as landesque capital, when the KMT took over 2) from the end of the 1940s to the 1970s ecologically unequal exchange occurred in the stone weirs and Chipei Island 3) from post-1970s, tourist industry became the most important sector that stone weirs become a destination of tourists

Redefining independence: voices of single mothers on welfare about motherhood, marriage, and welfare policy

The dependency discourse has become a prominent concern in discussions of welfare policies in the United States. To address the cultural fear of dependence on welfare, the 1996 welfare reform greatly emphasized work and marriage promotion. Poor single mothers on welfare were mandated to move into the workforce under a cultural belief held by the Administration that work leads to independence. Feminists suggest that independence upheld by welfare reform is discussed from a middle-class, patriarchal perspective with an emphasis on financial self-sufficiency, which largely overlooks issues of gender and social class intertwined with poverty. Additionally, marriage promotion is deemed by feminists to discourage poor single mothers on welfare from pursuing independence. Moreover, voices of single mothers have been marginalized from discussions of in/dependence in the context of welfare. This qualitative study, informed by feminist standpoint theory, aimed to give voice to single mothers on welfare with a focus on redefining independence generating from their experiences and struggles with motherhood, marriage/relationship, and welfare policy through multiple in-depth interviews. The research participants indicated that commitment to and responsibility for the children\u27s best interests enabled them to stay strong in tough circumstances, and make choices within an environment where resources were limited. Welfare was seen by the participants as one resource to help them on the path toward independence. They articulated two dimensions of independence---financial and psychological---and viewed financial independence as a path to achieve psychological independence. Marriage was not considered by the mothers until they achieved both financial and psychological independence. Marriage promotion was strongly criticized by the participants because it left poor single mothers in a dependency state from welfare to men. Access to education was suggested to taken the place of marriage promotion by the research participants. Findings challenge the dominant discourse of dependency and have implications for professionals who work with mothers who receive welfare

Missouri farmland values opinion survey

In Missouri, land sale prices are not required to be reported to any government or public agency. In turn, it is challenging to understand current prices and forward-looking projections for the state’s farmland values. This report summarizes results from a web-based survey conducted by the Agribusiness and Policy Extension Program at the University of Missouri, which aims to provide insight into perceived changes in land values across Missouri’s farmland market. This information supplements state-level estimates published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The most recent survey was conducted in October 2023 and collected 322 responses. Of the 322 responses, 33% were from farmers or landowners, 24% were from lenders, 19% were from government employees, and 24% from other occupations. Each respondent was invited to report land values for cropland, pastureland, timberland, and hunting/recreation land for up to three counties based on their knowledge of a sales transaction that occurred in the last 12 months. The survey captured 1,776 land value observations. USDA Agricultural Statistics Districts (ASD) boundaries were used to aggregate the data, capturing variation in geography, climate, and cropping practices. This categorization divides Missouri into nine regions: Northwest, North Central, Northeast, West, Central, East, Southwest, South Central, and Southeast. A tenth region was created for the state’s urban areas, including Platte County, Clay County, Jackson County, St. Charles County, and St. Louis County. Figure 1 denotes these regions with dark borders and shading. Counties in gray indicate areas where no survey responses were collected, preventing the survey authors from reporting on farmland value opinions. No survey responses were collected from the St. Louis urban area.Written by Juo-Han Tsay, Assistant Extension Professor, Agricultural Business and PolicyNew 10/2019; Revised 11/202

Enunciative identity in elementary English as a foreign language

How to improve the skill of speaking English is a major challenge for English learners in Taiwan nowadays. This project focuses on issues of pronunciation as the starting point to examine the problems of learning English, and issues of identity transformation in the language-learning process. Then it addresses the concept of enunciation as a way to facilitate English learners to establish their confidence in, and ownership of, the target language. This project is designed not only for discussing issues of improving the teaching and learning of English pronunciation, but also for explicating how students can gain their own voices and define their subjectivity during their English-learning process

Grain sorghum planning budget

Using this planning budget, sorghum farmers may estimate their costs and returns for 2024. Table 1 presents estimates for grain sorghum production in northern, central and southwest Missouri. Assumptions were based on price forecasts as of October 2023. Detailed prices and practices are summarized in Tables 2 and 3. The production practices used to develop these cost estimates are common for Missouri farms. Use the “Your estimate” column to plan your operation’s costs and returns for 2024.Written by Ben Brown (Senior Research Associate, Agricultural Business and Policy), Juo-Han Tsay (Assistant Extension Professor, Agricultural Business and Policy)New 10/2018; Revised 10/202

Missouri farmland values

Revised 03/2024stats202408uploadIndividuals and businesses often need an estimate of the value of a piece of land. A properly done appraisal provides the most accurate estimate of a piece of land’s value. Appraisals attempt to estimate value from comparable sales. Comparable sales should be nearby, have sold recently and have similar characteristics. It is not always feasible to get an appraisal on a piece of land, particularly when a historical value is sought. A historical land value is often needed to calculate taxes and settle estates. When appraisals are not feasible, estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data might be an acceptable option.Revised by Ryan Milhollin (Assistant Extension Professor, Agricultural Business and Policy), Juo-Han Tsay (Assistant Extension Professor, Agricultural Business and Policy

The Anaphase-Promoting Complex Regulates the Abundance of GLR-1 Glutamate Receptors in the Ventral Nerve Cord of C. elegans

AbstractThe anaphase-promoting complex (APC) is a multisubunit E3 ubiquitin ligase that targets key cell cycle regulatory proteins for degradation. Blockade of APC activity causes mitotic arrest [1, 2]. Recent evidence suggests that the APC may have roles outside the cell cycle [3–6]. Several studies indicate that ubiquitin plays an important role in regulating synaptic strength [7–13]. We previously showed that ubiquitin is directly conjugated to GLR-1, a C. elegans non-NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) class glutamate receptor (GluR), resulting in its removal from synapses [13]. By contrast, endocytosis of rodent AMPA GluRs is apparently regulated by ubiquitination of associated scaffolding proteins [12, 14]. Relatively little is known about the E3 ligases that mediate these effects. We examined the effects of perturbing APC function on postmitotic neurons in the nematode C. elegans. Temperature-sensitive mutations in APC subunits increased the abundance of GLR-1 in the ventral nerve cord. Mutations that block clathrin-mediated endocytosis blocked the effects of the APC mutations, suggesting that the APC regulates some aspect of GLR-1 recycling. Overexpression of ubiquitin decreased the density of GLR-1-containing synapses, and APC mutations blunted this effect. APC mutants had locomotion defects consistent with increased synaptic strength. This study defines a novel function for the APC in postmitotic neurons