Three Essays on Clean Water State Revolving Funds: Determinants of State Leveraging and Measurement of Debt Affordability

Leveraging is a popular option among Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRFs). Most states choose to issue bonds to meet the requirement of the state match contribution, and to provide additional funding into the pool of funds available for community loan assistance. Leveraging offers short-term remedies to fill a financial resources gap; however, this raises concern about any costs associated with leveraging that might negatively influence the sustainability of CWSRFs in the long run. This dissertation comprises three essays that examine the different factors that motivate CWSRFs to leverage, and it offers a look at how they measure their affordability leveraging. Chapter Two borrows the assumptions of pecking order theory to build CWSRF’s leverage model. It focuses on the internal set of factors, and it analyses how the entity’s size, profitability, growth, reserve, and risk affect its leveraging. Chapter Three examines the relationship between leveraging and an external set of indicators, including socioeconomic, demographic, political, and institutional factors. The findings suggest that, in leveraging, internal factors appear to be more influential than external ones. The entity’s size and growth (entity-based factors) are found to be significant with both total and annual leveraging, while state wealth, state politics, and environmental needs also indicate some connection to debt share or debt per capita. Chapter Four particularly scrutinizes how leveraged states measure their debt affordability; it replicates the regression method and predicts the future debt service for New York state. The findings suggest that the regression method can be a good tool for predicting the debt affordability level for CWSRFs. The predicted values from that method can also serve as a supplemental reference source for states before they consider additional leveraging

Global Information Systems Analysis of Changes in Temporal Flowers Distribution, by Species, Across the Biology Trail System of Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee

The White Oak Mountain Biology Trails, located in Collegedale, Tennessee, is a recreational site for hiking and mountain biking. The impact of trail usage on native wildflower species is not known. The goal of this research is to begin a longitudinal study of the impact of trail usage on the diversity and abundance of wildflower. The wildflowers diversity were determined by students walking the Biology Trails System and reporting the different species of flowers that they see. Ten permanent quadrants were established to document the wildflowers abundance. Flowers in each of ten permanent quadrants were identified and counted. Additional data collected includes ambient temperature, light intensity and soil moisture. Fifty-eight species of wildflowers were reported. One was not able to be identified. The information gather from this longitudinal study will allow us to make prediction of population shifts and analyze the effects of trail usage and other environmental factors on the wildflowers population

Ethnobotany on a Roll!: Access to Vietnam

This article describes the research and experiences of an ethnobotanist with a physical disability working in Vietnam. Due to a spinal cord injury, the ethnobotanist uses a wheelchair and walking canes to explore the bustling food markets of Vietnam. Information and recommendations are provided for equipment and traveling to and in Vietnam, particularly for those interested in conducting scientific research and for travelers with physical disabilities. Success is largely due to the mutual respect and kindness shared by people along the way, and by accepting and accommodating to given situations. Appendices of resources for travel in Vietnam and educational granting sources for people with disabilities provided

The Current Adoption of Dry-Direct Seeding Rice (DDSR) in Thailand and Lessons Learned for Mekong River Delta of Vietnam

The paper documents the joint study trip, organized by CCAFS Southeast Asia for Vietnamese rice researchers, extension workers, as well as local decision makers, to visit Thailand in April 2018. The goal of the study trip was to observe and learn the experience of Thai farmers on the large-scale adoption process of dry-direct seeding rice (DDSR), a viable alternative to address regional scarcity of fresh water in irrigation caused by the drought and salinity intrusion in the Mekong River Delta

Mere Exposure Effects: Presence of parasitic mites induce a change in the metabolic rate of flies independent of infection

Parasites affect host physiology and populations in numerous ways including: increased mortality, decreased fecundity, and changes to host behavior. Many documented effects depend on infection to explain changes, for example: parasite blood feeding, tissue damage, and costs of immune responses. However, the effects that the mere presence of parasites have on their hosts is relatively unexplored. We study a fruit fly - mite model system. Macrocheles Domesticae is an ectoparasite that reversibly attaches to Drosophila Hydei as a means of transportation as well as feeding on host hemolymph. Since flies must move between resource patches, the effects of parasite infection on flight are significant. This system is can be used to illustrate host-parasite dynamics. We take an ecological physiology perspective and link physical changes in organisms to the larger scale processes of ecology; we deploy respirometry to compare energy consumption of flies under various conditions. Carbon Dioxide produced is measured as a flow, and linked to energy consumption by the cellular respiration equation. We hypothesize that host flight will be impaired by infection. Bioenergetic costs of infection imply this effect will be present even if mites are removed prior to flight. Results show that both flies carrying mites, and flies infected prior to flight, both hover for reduced lengths of time. Additionally, both actively resisting mites, as well as mere exposure to them, increases the Carbon Dioxide output of the host. These results have implications for host fitness and energy budgets in both the evolution and ecology of host-parasite interactions. *Indicates faculty mento