Identifying Knowledge Management Capacity Needs of Rural Advisory Service Networks

Knowledge management is the creation, coordination, transfer, and integration of knowledge so it is accessible and usable by specific stakeholders. Knowledge management has been shown to facilitate the development of networks, as well as to sustain established networks, based on the appropriate collection and subsequent application of embedded social capital. For rural advisory service (RAS) networks, knowledge management can be an important tool to ensure that both explicit and tacit knowledge is shared amongst network members with the anticipated benefit of increased capacity of the network. Although the importance of knowledge management is well documented within the literature, there are limited guidelines for what specific knowledge management capacities a RAS network should develop. Using the Delphi process, a panel of 31 experts from 24 countries arrived at consensus on 34 specific knowledge management capacities associated with effective RAS networks. The results of the research provide a practical framework for RAS providers and networks to focus knowledge management capacity assessment and capacity-building activities

Existence of immersed spheres minimizing curvature functionals in compact 3-manifolds

We study curvature functionals for immersed 2-spheres in a compact, three-dimensional Riemannian manifold M. Under the assumption that the sectional curvature of M is strictly positive, we prove the existence of a smoothly immersed sphere minimizing the L^{2} integral of the second fundamental form. Assuming instead that the sectional curvature is less than or equal to 2, and that there exists a point in M with scalar curvature bigger than 6, we obtain a smooth 2-sphere minimizing the integral of 1/4|H|^{2} +1, where H is the mean curvature vector

Identifyin gCapacities an Extension Network May Need to Effectively Support the Professionalization of Extension Providers

Professionalization is a critical component of organizational capacity and productivity. Yet, rural advisory service (RAS) providers who are charged with disseminating research-driven techniques and ideas that enhance agricultural production and addressing local stakeholder needs are often overlooked in this area.One of the critical disconnects is the lack of consistent capacities for RAS networks to effectively support the professionalization of RAS providers. Based on a framework analyzing the typical milestones associated with professionalization efforts, capacity building, and social capital the study provides insights into the support mechanism needed for professionalization. Specifically, a Delphi a panel of 31 experts from 24 countries arrived at consensus on 33 specific capacitiesa RAS network may need to effectively support the professionalization of RAS providers. The results of the research provide a practical framework for RAS networks to consider from a professionalization and capacity building perspective

Identifying Information and Communication Technology Use Capacity Needs of Extension Networks

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has the potential to address critical considerations within rural advisory service (RAS) networks, specifically, getting the right information to audiences in a timely and appropriate manner. ICTs are technologies that facilitate knowledge and information sharing. For RAS networks, ICTs can be an important tool to ensure that both explicit and tacit information is shared with network members with the anticipated benefit of increased capacity of the network. Although the importance of ICTs are well documented within the literature, there are limited guidelines for what specific network capacities in ICT use are needed to better provide support for RAS providers to fulfill their responsibilities. Using the Delphi process, a panel of 31 experts from 24 countries arrived at consensus on 51 specific ICT use capacities associated with effective RAS networks. The results of the research provide a practical framework for RAS providers and networks to develop ICT use related capacity building and tactical planning activities

Targeting determinants of dosage compensation in Drosophila

The dosage compensation complex (DCC) in Drosophila melanogaster is responsible for up-regulating transcription from the single male X chromosome to equal the transcription from the two X chromosomes in females. Visualization of the DCC, a large ribonucleoprotein complex, on male larval polytene chromosomes reveals that the complex binds selectively to many interbands on the X chromosome. The targeting of the DCC is thought to be in part determined by DNA sequences that are enriched on the X. So far, lack of knowledge about DCC binding sites has prevented the identification of sequence determinants. Only three binding sites have been identified to date, but analysis of their DNA sequence did not allow the prediction of further binding sites. We have used chromatin immunoprecipitation to identify a number of new DCC binding fragments and characterized them in vivo by visualizing DCC binding to autosomal insertions of these fragments, and we have demonstrated that they possess a wide range of potential to recruit the DCC. By varying the in vivo concentration of the DCC, we provide evidence that this range of recruitment potential is due to differences in affinity of the complex to these sites. We were also able to establish that DCC binding to ectopic high-affinity sites can allow nearby low-affinity sites to recruit the complex. Using the sequences of the newly identified and previously characterized binding fragments, we have uncovered a number of short sequence motifs, which in combination may contribute to DCC recruitment. Our findings suggest that the DCC is recruited to the X via a number of binding sites of decreasing affinities, and that the presence of high-and moderate-affinity sites on the X may ensure that lower-affinity sites are occupied in a context-dependent manner. Our bioinformatics analysis suggests that DCC binding sites may be composed of variable combinations of degenerate motifs

FLOATING FORTRESS, FLOATING CITY, FLOATING MONUMENT : A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THREE AMERICAN WARSHIP MUSEUMS

This thesis presents three warship museums within the United States as case studies to examine the needs and practices of a unique subset of museum organizations. A museum warship is simultaneously an exhibit, artifact, and facility, requiring significant maintenance and preservation efforts.  In order to understand these organizations, it is necessary to analyze the scope of these museums. This analysis attempts to create a comprehensive list of warship museums worldwide, and to highlight the dominant presence of American Second World War ships in the field. The case studies have been selected based on the number and types of ships preserved by these museums, and the major preservation, exhibition, curatorial, and collection challenges before these museums. This analysis combines naval history, historic preservation, and museum theory to better understand these organizations and the ships they preserve.  Battleship North Carolina oversees its namesake, a ship active only during the Second World War. The North Carolina was saved from potential scrapping in the early 1960s due to public support from the ship's namesake state. It has been a museum ship since 1962, located in Wilmington, North Carolina.  Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum currently maintains the aircraft carrier Yorktown, destroyer Laffey, and submarine Clamagore, and has previously maintained other ships since opening in 1976. All of the museum's current ships were constructed during the Second World War, but had lengthy post-war careers. The museum is the focal point of a larger commercial development project across the Cooper River from Charleston, South Carolina.  USS Lexington Museum On the Bay operates the second aircraft carrier so named. Named in honor of the first carrier, sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942, it served a variety of roles until its decommissioning in 1991. The ship has been exhibited by the museum since 1992 in the City of Corpus Christi, TX, Harbor.  The study finds common practices at all three museum sites, a product of information being informally disseminated through individual communications between organizations. Each museum has demonstrated distinctive strengths and weaknesses. Battleship North Carolina's curatorial practices are the strongest of the three case studies. Patriots Point has struggled to overcome years of poor selection of directors and severe preservation issues, and USS Lexington Museum By the Bay has developed the most comprehensive volunteer program.  M.A

Global estimates and energy identities for elliptic systems with antisymmetric potentials

We derive global estimates in critical scale invariant norms for solutions of elliptic systems with antisymmetric potentials and almost holomorphic Hopf differential in two dimensions. Moreover, we obtain new energy identities in such norms for sequences of solutions of these systems. The results apply to harmonic maps into general target manifolds and surfaces with prescribed mean curvature. In particular, the results confirm a conjecture of Rivière in the two-dimensional setting

Issues Around Researching OHS of Samoan Migrant Workers

Workers from Pacific nations constitute a substantial proportion of the labour force in NZ, particularly in Auckland, which has one of the largest concentrations of Pacific Island workers in the world. Samoans constitute the largest Pacific ethnic group in NZ, comprising 131,103 or 49% of the resident Pacific population (265,974) (Statistics NZ, 2010). However, Pacific Island workers in NZ are typically employed in low paid, precarious, hazardous work that often has little chance of advancement. There is also some evidence that Pacific Island workers are over­represented in NZ’s work­related injury and illness statistics (Allen & Clarke, 2006). While occupational health and safety (OHS) of Pacific Island migrant workers highlights a number of issues, studies often provide inadequate explanations of what exactly is occurring or fully capture the working experiences of Pacific Island migrant workers. This paper reports on the initial work undertaken as part of an international collaborative study located in Samoa and NZ, aimed at investigating the OHS experiences of Samoan migrant workers. In particular, the paper presents a multi­layered framework and a set of research principles that can be used to illuminate often inaccessible populations located in changing working and living environments. Finally, this study exemplifies the complex issues surrounding the migrant workers’ health and safety, workers’ compensation and rehabilitation