138 research outputs found
Changes in Farmland Ownership in Oregon, USA
The ownership of agricultural land has important implications for food systems, the environment, farmer livelihoods, and rural economies, communities, and landscapes. This article examines the changing ownership of agricultural lands in the United States, specifically focusing on Oregon, a state with a history of family farm ownership. I first review historical and recent trends in farmland ownership, including private enclosure, consolidation, investor purchase, development, and rising farmland prices. Next, I examine the county records for all Oregon farm properties that sold between 2010 and 2015. I provide summary statistics about the volume and pace of transactions, price per acre, and the type of owner. I also offer brief cases on top purchasers, attempting to understand their intentions with the farm properties. The findings demonstrate a rapid turnover in Oregon farmland and high prices, though that varies across the state. Agricultural corporations, investment companies, and real estate and development interests are buying large amounts of farmland. I conclude by offering reflections on the implications of the changing ownership and direction for further research
Getting Outside the Supermarket Box: Alternatives to Food Deserts
Supermarkets are often proposed as a solution to “food deserts” – places where access to healthy food appears limited. In places as diverse as New York City and Portland, Oregon, planners have incentivized supermarkets to locate in these under-served areas. However, there are some serious problems with both the notion of food deserts and the promotion of supermarkets as the answer. As an alternative, we propose that planners and their colleagues focus on community-based solutions, rather than strategies that mostly benefit corporations
Why Play Sports? How Organized Sports Participation Can Contribute to the Healthy Development of Adolescent Hispanic Girls
This study addressed the research question, “What is meaningful to Hispanic girls about their organized sports participation during the first year of high school?” Purposeful sampling (Maxwell, 1996) was used to select 15 9th-grade girls to participate in individual interviews about their organized sport participation. Transcripts were analyzed via inductive coding. Findings showed that organized sports offered Hispanic girls in this sample a venue for healthy youth development, including opportunities for the “5 C’s” – competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring (Lerner, Fisher, & Weinberg, 2000). This article highlights the salience of connection, caring, and competence in adolescent Hispanic girls’ organized sports experiences. Insights from girls’ narratives may help coaches and other educators structure athletic programs to best meet the needs of Hispanic girls during adolescence (AAUW, 1991; Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Erkut, Fields, Sing, & Marx, 1996; Gil & Vazquez, 1996; Sadker & Sadker, 1994)
Thinking with Images and Words: Multimodal Possibilities for Reader Response Journals
In this article, the authors discuss crafting multimodal responses to weekly readings in the university setting. The authors offer a brief description of reader response journals before using social semiotic perspectives on multimodality to justify expanding the reader response journal to include modes beyond written language. Three of the teacher candidates enrolled in the course share one of their multimodal responses and provide insight into their process of creating the response. They share the materials and tools used. The authors conclude this article by considering how educators might assess multimodal responses
Comparison of the Effects of Early Pregnancy with Human Interferon, Alpha 2 (IFNA2), on Gene Expression in Bovine Endometrium
Interferon tau (IFNT), a type I IFN similar to alpha IFNs (IFNA), is the pregnancy recognition signal produced by the ruminant conceptus. To elucidate specific effects of bovine IFNT and of other conceptus-derived factors, endometrial gene expression changes during early pregnancy were compared to gene expression changes after intrauterine application of human IFNA2. In experiment 1, endometrial tissue samples were obtained on Day (D) 12, D15, and D18 postmating from nonpregnant or pregnant heifers. In experiment 2, heifers were treated from D14 to D16 of the estrous cycle with an intrauterine device releasing IFNA2 or, as controls, placebo lipid extrudates or PBS only. Endometrial biopsies were performed after flushing the uterus. All samples from both experiments were analyzed with an Affymetrix Bovine Genome Array. Experiment 1 revealed differential gene expression between pregnant and nonpregnant endometria on D15 and D18. In experiment 2, IFNA2 treatment resulted in differential gene expression in the bovine endometrium. Comparison of the data sets from both studies identified genes that were differentially expressed in response to IFNA2 but not in response to pregnancy on D15 or D18. In addition, genes were found that were differentially expressed during pregnancy but not after IFNA2 treatment. In experiment 3, spatiotemporal alterations in expression of selected genes were determined in uteri from nonpregnant and early pregnant heifers using in situ hybridization. The overall findings of this study suggest differential effects of bovine IFNT compared to human IFNA2 and that some pregnancy-specific changes in the endometrium are elicited by conceptus-derived factors other than IFNT
Chemical order transitions within extended interfacial segregation zones in NbMoTaW
Interfacial segregation and chemical short-range ordering influence the
behavior of grain boundaries in complex concentrated alloys. In this study, we
use atomistic modeling of a NbMoTaW refractory complex concentrated alloy to
provide insight into the interplay between these two phenomena. Hybrid Monte
Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations are performed on columnar grain models
to identify equilibrium grain boundary structures. Our results reveal extended
near-boundary segregation zones that are much larger than traditional
segregation regions, which also exhibit chemical patterning that bridges the
interfacial and grain interior regions. Furthermore, structural transitions
pertaining to an A2-to-B2 transformation are observed within these extended
segregation zones. Both grain size and temperature are found to significantly
alter the widths of these regions. Analysis of chemical short-range order
indicates that not all pairwise elemental interactions are affected by the
presence of a grain boundary equally, as only a subset of elemental clustering
types are more likely to reside near certain boundaries. The results emphasize
the increased chemical complexity that is associated with near-boundary
segregation zones and demonstrate the unique nature of interfacial segregation
in complex concentrated alloys
Wandering Black Hole Candidates in Dwarf Galaxies at VLBI Resolution
Thirteen dwarf galaxies have recently been found to host radio-selected
accreting massive black hole (MBH) candidates, some of which are ``wandering"
in the outskirts of their hosts. We present 9 GHz Very Long Baseline Array
(VLBA) observations of these sources at milliarcsecond resolution. Our
observations have beam solid angles times smaller than the
previous Very Large Array (VLA) observations at 9 GHz, with comparable point
source sensitivities. We detect milliarcsecond-scale radio sources at the
positions of the four VLA sources most distant from the photo-centers of their
associated dwarf galaxies. These sources have brightness temperatures of
, consistent with active galactic nuclei (AGNs), but the
significance of their preferential location at large distances
(-value~) favors a background AGN interpretation. The VLBA
non-detections toward the other 9 galaxies indicate that the VLA sources are
resolved out on scales of tens of milliarcseconds, requiring extended radio
emission and lower brightness temperatures consistent with either star
formation or radio lobes associated with AGN activity. We explore the star
formation explanation by calculating the expected radio emission for these nine
VLBA non-detections, finding that about 5 have VLA luminosities that are
inconsistent with this scenario. Of the remaining four, two are associated with
spectroscopically confirmed AGNs that are consistent with being located at
their galaxy photo-centers. There are therefore between 5 and 7 wandering MBH
candidates out of the 13 galaxies we observed, although we cannot rule out
background AGNs for five of them with the data in hand.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, Accepted in Ap
VLA FRAMEx. I. Wideband Radio Properties of the AGN in NGC 4388
We present the first results from Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA)
observations as a part of the Fundamental Reference Active Galactic Nucleus
(AGN) Monitoring Experiment (FRAMEx), a program to understand the relationship
between AGN accretion physics and wavelength-dependent position as a function
of time. With this VLA survey, we investigate the radio properties from a
volume-complete sample of 25 hard X-ray-selected AGNs using the VLA in its
wideband mode. We observed the targets in the A-array configuration at
GHz with all polarization products. In this work, we introduce our calibration
and imaging methods for this survey, and we present our results and analysis
for the radio quiet AGN NGC 4388. We calibrated and imaged these data using the
multi-term, multi-frequency synthesis imaging algorithm to determine its
spatial, spectral and polarization structure across a continuous GHz
band. In the AGN, we measure a broken power law spectrum with
below a break frequency of 7.3 GHz and above. We detect
polarization at sub-arcsecond resolution across both the AGN and a secondary
radio knot. We compare our results to ancillary data and find that the VLA
radio continuum is likely due to AGN winds interacting with the local
interstellar medium that gets resolved away at sub-parsec spatial scales as
probed by the Very Long Baseline Array. A well-known ionization cone to the
southwest of the AGN appears likely to be projected material onto the underside
of the disk of the host galaxy.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, Accepted in Ap
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The Future of Oregon's Agricultural Land
Sixty-four percent of Oregon's farmland is expected to change hands in the next 20 years, yet many Oregon farmers are unprepared for succession. Simultaneously, beginning farmers are finding it harder to start farmers because of dramatically increasing land prices.
These distinct but interwined challenges are addressed in a new research report from the Oregon State University Center for Small Farms, Portland State University's Planning Oregon/Institute for Metropolitan Studies, and Rogue Farm Corps. The study examines trends in land tenure and the effects they might have on Oregon's economy, rural communities, and environment.
The report was in many ways inspired and informed by the land access working group of the Oregon Community Food Systems Network
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