Global gains, local costs? evaluating the nexus of industrial agriculture, conservation science, and rural livelihoods in the African tropics

Industrial agriculture and protected areas for biodiversity conservation are two major drivers of land use policy in the African tropics, with consequences for both biodiversity and rural human populations. In Tanzania, conservation and development have led to the marginalization of pastoralists, including and especially rural Maasai. I examine how local perceptions of land use and livelihoods are influenced by recent and historical expansion of protected areas and large-scale industrial crop plantations in Longido, northern Tanzania. Using the framework of political ecology, I situate the emergence of industrial agriculture, especially that of palm oil, and protected areas in the African tropics within the historical context of international power struggles over access to and control over natural resources. Through ethnographic interviews, ERAMAT© game play, and focus group discussions, I find that shifting gender dynamics, increased sedentarization, and the lack of opportunities to participate in and receive benefits from conservation activities have resulted in local participants favoring industrial agriculture over conservation, though land and water scarcity remain among their top concerns. This paper encourages the integration of local knowledges into land use planning to improve environmental, social, and economic outcomes in the region

Factors Influencing a Divorced Father’s Involvement with His Children

One of the outcomes of divorce that has appeared consistently over the years has been a lessening of contact between divorced noncustodial fathers and their children. This review synthesizes empirical evidence to portray the formidable obstacles that men face in maintaining contact with their children after dissolution of their co-residential relationship with the child’s mother. Its goal is to bring new understanding to observed behavior patterns of divorced fathers. We will briefly examine what the research tells us takes place in many fathers who have been divorced from their wives and have lost physical custody of their children

Regulating a revolution : small satellites and the law of outer space

Chapter 1 of the study includes introduction to small satellites activities, it explains and explores what are small satellites, what applications such satellites support, and introduces important terminology. Chapter 2 summarises and analyses the applicability of the existing treaty law to small satellites operations, as well as recent discussions and developments in international bodies such as UN COPUOS and the ITU with respect to international regulation of small satellites activities. Chapter 3 includes a deep legal analysis of State responsibility for non-governmental small satellites activities. It refers to Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty as well to basic concepts as “nationality” in general international law. It analyses case studies which illustrates the legal challenges relating to the application of Article VI in the context of small satellites. Chapter 4 focuses on analysing the applicability of the Liability Convention in relation to small satellites, especially with respect to “fault liability” in outer space. Chapter 5 addresses the legal concept of registration of space objects in the space treaties, and “jurisdiction and control”. It analyses the problematic legal relations between State responsibility, the liability of the launching State and the ability of the latter to exercise jurisdiction and control as the State of registry, in the case of non-governmental small satellites. Chapter 6 summarises the findings of the study and includes analogies to cases where justification to treat certain small scale activities in a special manner was found, referring to the de minimis doctrine. It further includes recommendations and a concrete solution to deal with the legal difficulties which were identified, namely, a draft Optional Protocol to the Outer Space Treaty, aimed to supplement the treaty and internationally regulate non-governmental small satellites activities in more detail.Exploring the Frontiers of International La

Parenting and Adult Development

It is likely that the more engaged a parent is, the more his or her adult development will be affected. Because there is a direct relationship between the degree of investment a person places in any developmental context and the outcome that the context exerts, it has been hypothesized that the developmental impact of parenting is directly related to its cumulative salience in relation to other contexts of development (Palkovitz, 1996). This chapter represents an attempt to summarize pertinent empirical findings, to further refine conceptual constructs, to elaborate upon their interactions and to facilitate understanding of the effects of parenting on adult development

Beyond “Lots of Hugs and Kisses”: Expressions of Parental Love From Parents and Their Young Children in Two‐Parent, Financially Stable Families

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145543/1/famp12327.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145543/2/famp12327_am.pd

Discrepancies between dimensions of interoception in autism: implications for emotion and anxiety

Emotions and affective feelings are influenced by one's internal state of bodily arousal via interoception. Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) are associated with difficulties in recognising others' emotions, and in regulating own emotions. We tested the hypothesis that, in people with ASC, such affective differences may arise from abnormalities in interoceptive processing. We demonstrated that individuals with ASC have reduced interoceptive accuracy (quantified using heartbeat detection tests) and exaggerated interoceptive sensibility (subjective sensitivity to internal sensations on self-report questionnaires), reflecting an impaired ability to objectively detect bodily signals alongside an over-inflated subjective perception of bodily sensations. The divergence of these two interoceptive axes can be computed as a trait prediction error. This error correlated with deficits in emotion sensitivity and occurrence of anxiety symptoms. Our results indicate an origin of emotion deficits and affective symptoms in ASC at the interface between body and mind, specifically in expectancy-driven interpretation of interoceptive information

Associations between language development and skin conductance responses to faces and eye gaze in children with autism spectrum disorder

Attention to social stimuli is associated with language development, and arousal is associated with the increased viewing of stimuli. We investigated whether skin conductance responses (SCRs) are associated with language development in ASD: a population that shows abnormalities in both attention to others and language development. A sample of 32 children with ASD (7 y – 15 y; M =9 y) was divided into two groups, based on language onset histories. A typically developing comparison group consisted of 18 age and IQ matched children. SCRs were taken as the participants viewed faces. SCRs differentiated the ASD group based on language onset and were associated with abnormal attention to gaze in infancy and subsequent language development