A Natural High

At age 46, I finally realized that money and prestige meant nothing if I didn\u27t have mental health and any joy in my work. I now make a third of my previous salary, but I sleep all night and laugh all day. I followed my \u27gut feeling\u27 and now work at a nature reserve. It\u27s wonderful! Follow your sense of what is right for you

Relationships between characteristics of wheat producers, their farming operations and their use of recommended production practices and the number of contacts they had with extension in 1982

The major purpose of this survey was to determine the relationships between the characteristics of wheat producers, their farm operation, their use of recommended wheat practices and the number of contacts they had with the Agricultural Extension Service in the major wheat producing counties. Data were obtained from 722 randomly selected wheat producers in 37 counties which produced at least 5000 or more acres of wheat in 1981. Twenty producers per county who planted 25 or more acres of wheat for grain were randomly selected. The nth number method of sampling was used to select the producers to be surveyed. Information was obtained about the general production characteristics of wheat producers, their use of recommended wheat production practices and the number of contacts they had with Extension Agents over a 12-month period. The data were coded and computations were made by the University of Tennessee Computing Center. The analysis of variance F test was used to determine the strength of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. F values which achieved the .05 level of probability were accepted as being statistically significant. Major findings include the following: 1. Sixty-seven percent of the wheat producers seeded during recommended seeding dates of October 1 to November 1. 2. About 75 percent of the producers surveyed received 1 to 8 farm visits from Extension Agents in 1982. 3. Soil testing was significantly related to yield. Those producers who tested reported higher mean yields of wheat per acre than those who did not. 4. Number of Extension meetings attended by wheat producers was not significantly related to mean yield. However, number of visits made to the Extension office and number of farm visits received were significantly related. 5. There was a significant difference in seeding rate in bushels per acre as it related to size of farm operation. Seeding rate tended to increase with increase in size of operation. 6. Winterkill was significantly related to mean yield. Those producers who reported no problem reported a mean yield of 6 or more bushels per acre more than those who had a winterkill problem. 7. The largest producers who harvested an average of 250 acres of wheat for grain used the McNair 1003 variety and reported the highest yield of 41.5 bushels per acre. 8. The larger producers used the no-till method of seedbed preparation and there was a significant difference as it related to size of wheat operation for grain. 9. The larger producers used crop rotation with all or part of their wheat crop and there was a significant relationship as it related to size of operation. 10. Disease control and weed control were used more often by larger producers and the difference in size of operation for grain was significantly related to these practices. 11. There was a significant difference in number of each type of Extension contact as it related to size of farm operation. Again, the larger producers on the average attended more meetings, made more office visits and received more farm visits. 12. Three hundred seventy-six producers who used the recommended method of seeding, which was drilling, received more farm visits from agents than any other group. 13. Soil test was significantly related to each type of Extension contact. Those producers who tested all their wheat acreage reported the largest number of Extension contacts. 14. Acres of wheat harvested for grain was significantly related to all the methods of Extension contacts. Larger producers who harvested 500 acres or more reported the largest number of contacts

Biological Mechanisms Impacting Pre-Implantation Embryo Development

It is estimated that one out of four couples in developed countries are affected by infertility. Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have made crucial advancements in helping couples achieve the goal of parenthood. However, one of the many challenges facing this patient population is the failure of embryo implantation into the uterus during in vitro fertilization (IVF). The transfer of seemingly good-quality embryos can often result in a negative pregnancy outcome. There are many factors that can contribute to implantation potential, including embryo aneuploidy, advanced maternal age, and sperm and oocyte quality among many others. However, little is understood regarding the molecular mechanisms responsible for embryo development during the window of implantation.Therefore, the overall aim of this thesis was to understand the biological and epigenetic mechanisms during embryo implantation development by specifically investigating:(1) How both maternal age and/or chromosome constitution affect microRNA profiles and downstream target RNAs of pre-implantation blastocysts, (2) the hypothesis that advanced maternal age is impacting the overall transcriptome of the developing embryo, (3) if methylation alterations are present in aneuploid blastocysts and if this contributes to implantation potential, (4) how different types of infertility diagnoses are impacting the transcriptome of the pre-implantation blastocyst, and (5) if it is possible to detect polymorphisms in patients with premature diminished ovarian reserve and if methylation alterations are found in the germline of embryos from this infertile population which affect implantation potential.The conclusions of these aims are as follows:Both chromosome constitution, as well as advanced maternal age, affect miRNA profiles of the developing blastocyst. MiR-93 was found to be exclusively expressed in women of advanced maternal age and further up-regulated in aneuploid embryos. The increased expression of this miRNA was additionally found to result in a down-regulation of SIRT1, its target gene, which likely affects the oxidative stress defense mechanisms of the embryo, thereby reducing implantation potential. Additionally, an overall decreased global transcriptome was observed in maternally aged blastocysts, impacting biological pathways involved in cell growth and invasion which are vital to pre-implantation embryo development.Epigenetic alterations were also observed in aneuploid blastocysts. A hypomethylated state was revealed but only in monosomic embryos and only in the chromosome involved in the error. Decreased expression of developmental genes located on the chromosome of error were also observed. In contrast, the trisomic blastocyst displayed transcriptional dosage compensatory mechanisms for the presence of the additional chromosome. This might partially explain the difference in implantation potential between trisomic and monosomic embryos.Underlying infertility diagnosis was also found to have a significant impact on the blastocyst transcriptome. Alterations were observed for all infertility etiologies examined. Biological and molecular processes of the altered transcriptomes revealed both similarities, as well as differences, across the groups. Similarities included alterations to reproductive genes, cell adhesion, and response to stimulus genes among others. These processes are characterized by cells that are able to proliferate, migrate, and attach and are all crucial to embryo development and implantation. Lastly, young women with premature diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) were found to have critical variants in DNA sequence. Utilizing exome sequencing, a panel of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was able to distinguish DOR wome

Liberation and liberal freedom: A critique of Rawls's "Law of Peoples" in light of positive freedom.

1T.H. Green, Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 2000.How can Rawls's The Law of Peoples serve as a theory of justice that clarifies the responsibility of consumers in affluent societies to workers in impoverished societies whose labor produced the goods being consumed? If it is true that some of the most serious cases of injustice involve labor arrangements in the global economy involving something similar to economic slavery as described by Marx, then an adequate theory of justice should address such problems. I will argue that Rawls's theory in the international application should be revised in order to avoid criticisms of being either irrelevant to crucial cases of injustice or merely a modus vivendi argument that fails to accomplish Rawls's intent. To demonstrate the need for these revisions. I ask: how would his theory be different if Rawls had maintained both the positive and negative dimensions of freedom? I explore the reasons that Rawls dismissed positive freedom as a valuable concept, including the influence of Isaiah Berlin and others. I examine various definitions of positive freedom with special interest in the words of T.H. Green who advocated the "the liberation of the powers of all."1 This liberation assumes both material conditions and moral justification. If Rawls had maintained this notion of positive freedom as social self-expression with enabling conditions then Rawls would have prevented various criticisms. This definition of positive freedom shapes three parts of my argument: first, positive freedom entails resources as enabling conditions; second, positive freedom is social freedom in relationship with others; and third, positive freedom is activity of the will and therefore a labor of self-construction. I link criticisms of Martha Nussbaum, Thomas Pogge, and G. A. Cohen as examples of criticism related to the potential for freedom to be merely formal in Rawls's theory. I conclude that positive freedom is a concept worth retaining because it helps account for Rawls's drift toward socialism. Finally, I conclude that further extension of the Law of Peoples as informed by this robust notion of freedom would lead to connections with liberation and feminist theory and greater relevance for issues of labor justice in the global economy

An Indigenous Strategy for Intensifying Shifting Cultivation in Southeast Asia: A Shrub-based (Tecoma stans) Managed Fallow in West Timor

This study contributed to a set of case studies designed to investigate farmer-generated strategies for intensifying the fallow phase of shifting cultivation systems in upland Southeast Asia. In this study, I documented an indigenously developed, managed fallow system in West Timor, Indonesia, based on Tecoma stans L. (Bignoniaceae), an invasive, fast-growing shrub. Farmers indicated that T. stans fallows rejuvenated soils for maize cropping within five years. The fallows also produced fuel wood, light construction material, vegetable stakes, and some fodder for cattle. My findings indicated that the T. stans fallow served as both a more effective and a more productive fallow, based on Cairns? typology. In addition, I examined the political, economic, and social contexts of farmers using T. stans fallows. I thereby identified ways in which farmers attempted to enter the market system as well as constraints to their efforts. Finally, I reflected on a framework and characterization template created specifically for documenting indigenous strategies for intensifying managed fallows. The framework and template were useful in guiding the study such that it addressed a diversity of biophysical, political, economic, and social factors. It facilitated the development of an integrated representation of the resources and constraints of small farmers so that informed intervention strategies could be developed. Use of the framework also presented the possibility for more thorough comparisons of fallow systems and the broader contexts in which they occurred across sites in Southeast Asia

Citizens changing ideas into action: a phenomenological study of community learning

This phenomenological study defines and explores the concept of community learning as a driver of economic and social change. Community learning refers to the creation of new knowledge and skills as a result of people interacting with each other to affect change within a locality. Jointly-created knowledge and skills build the efficacy of individuals as well as the capacity of a group to further its purpose. The question that shaped this study was: How do communities educate themselves for change? A theoretical framework is developed based on social constructivist learning theory, organizational and collaborative learning, and community development. This study applies Morse’s (2006a) six postulates of community learning to the creation of Chattanooga Venture, a non-profit organization in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1984. Three primary sources — personal interviews, organizational documents, and newspaper accounts — ground the study in the lived experience. By applying Morse’s postulates to the origin of Chattanooga Venture, the study examines both the process and structure of community learning and has implications for both theory and practice. The significance of this study is to determine if a theoretical understanding of community learning can be applied to creating stronger and better communities, increasing the knowledge-base both individually and collectively, and generating social and economic productivity

The value of 'dialogue events' as sites of learning: an exploration of research & evaluation frameworks

In this article, we draw from our experiences as UK and US-based 'dialogue event' practitioners and researchers/ evaluators to suggest that these existing evaluative criteria are insufficient to explore the role and value of ISI-based 'dialogue events'. Instead, we suggest that it may be productive to research and evaluate these ISI-based 'dialogue events' as sites of learning. Secondly, however, we show through a discussion of our own research frameworks that understanding these 'dialogue events' as sites of learning does not intuitively provide a framework for understanding what counts as success for these efforts. Instead, research on the role of 'dialogue' within the educational literature – and the connections between 'dialogue' and competing understandings of the nature of science and society – offers a multiplicity of approaches to defining the terms and goals of these events. Finally, we identify two broader implications of researching and evaluating these 'dialogue events' as sites of learning for ISIs and all efforts to increase public engagement with science and technology

Peering over the shoulders of giants?

‘Open’ is a highly-visible cultural trend of the early twenty-first century. A brief scan of anewspaper or quick Internet search reveals it as a prefix to learning, source, standard, data,knowledge, democracy, access, repository, innovation, government, science and probablymore. The expectations of the broadband generation – young people born around the turn ofthe century – for openness and instant, on‑demand access to information affect research asmuch as any other social activity. As the world’s population of digital residents – those whosee the Web as the place where they express opinions, form relationships, develop an identityand belong to a community – grows, the expectation that the Web will be the place whereinformation is created and communicated will grow alongside them

Public Participation in Scientific Research: a Framework for Deliberate Design

Members of the public participate in scientific research in many different contexts, stemming from traditions as varied as participatory action research and citizen science. Particularly in conservation and natural resource management contexts, where research often addresses complex social–ecological questions, the emphasis on and nature of this participation can significantly affect both the way that projects are designed and the outcomes that projects achieve. We review and integrate recent work in these and other fields, which has converged such that we propose the term public participation in scientific research (PPSR) to discuss initiatives from diverse fields and traditions. We describe three predominant models of PPSR and call upon case studies suggesting that—regardless of the research context—project outcomes are influenced by (1) the degree of public participation in the research process and (2) the quality of public participation as negotiated during project design. To illustrate relationships between the quality of participation and outcomes, we offer a framework that considers how scientific and public interests are negotiated for project design toward multiple, integrated goals. We suggest that this framework and models, used in tandem, can support deliberate design of PPSR efforts that will enhance their outcomes for scientific research, individual participants, and social–ecological systems

Possible new Arkansas endemic plant revealed by DNA sequence analysis, A

Cardamine angustata var. ouachitana, a wildflower in the mustard family (Brassicaceae), was described by Smith in 1982 to include a form of Cardamine found only in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. This variety is morphologically very similar to typical Cardamine angustata. The major difference noted by Smith for the two varieties was the complete lack of leaf hairs (trichomes) in the new variety, whereas typical Cardamine angustata normally possesses trichomes. However, Al-Shehbaz rejected the variety ouachitana and reduced it to synonymy with the typical C. angustata. The recommendation of Al-Shehbaz has been followed and the taxon Cardamine angustata var. ouachitana is currently not accepted by most plant taxonomists. We performed a preliminary evaluation of the status of Cardamine angustata var. ouachitana by comparing ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region DNA sequences from specimens of Cardamine angustata var. ouachitana with sequences of Cardamine angustata from the main range of the species and other related species of Cardamine. Phylogenetic analyses of these data produced an unexpected result; specimens of C. angustata var. ouachitana were actually closely related to C. concatenata, rather than the expected close relationship with C. angustata. However, C. angustata var. ouachitana is morphologically distinct from C. concatenata. These results suggest that Cardamine angustata var. ouachitana is actually a new species found only in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas