Alien Registration- Mcdonough, Peter (Gardiner, Kennebec County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/29181/thumbnail.jp

The Next Billion: Lessons in off-grid electricity development from the global south

Today about a third of the world’s population has no access to electricity, and another third has only limited access. Driven by the push for development on one hand and the reality of climate change on the other, a combination of for-profit companies, NGOs, missions, and aid organizations is looking for the silver bullet to sustainable electricity development. In order to understand the challenges facing off-grid electricity projects I used recent literature in the form of peer-reviewed journals, agency reports, news articles, and technical documents; stakeholder interviews; and on-site observations in selected case studies in Nepal, India, and Tanzania. In each case I explored and classified methods of electrification; challenges facing each method; and the larger political, cultural, and economic contexts of the projects in question. The full range of considerations precludes drawing broad generalizations regarding effective and sustainable approaches to rural electrification. I address questions raised by these case studies regarding the role of off-grid electricity globally. The sought-after silver bullet does not exist; instead, sustainable electrification requires unique, bottom-up approaches specific to each local community and environment. Ultimately, the diversity of methods is an advantage in a rapidly changing energy climate

The Application of Participatory Extension through Agricultural Innovation Systems in the Middle East

This thesis examines whether participatory extension approaches can be achieved in Middle Eastern countries within a supporting framework of Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS), to enhance agricultural development and improve the living standards of rural communities. Middle Eastern agriculture is dominated by poor, small scale peasant farmers and government controlled agricultural advisory services, based on delivering top-down, predetermined messages through technology transfer demonstration models. Participatory extension approaches, however, involve farmers being consulted about their needs and engaging in the development of new technologies in ways that could best serve their rural communities. They empower people for change and give them ownership of sustained, practical outcomes. AIS recognise that modern extension needs to broaden its focus to support interactions between all stakeholders, creating an enabling context for innovation. Governments take pluralistic approach in facilitating sound opportunities within the marketing chain to achieve innovation and prosperity. AIS helps small farmers in poorer nations to collectively produce and market their goods. This qualitative research identified the key barriers for two Middle Eastern countries to engage in participatory extension and AIS using content analysis with a combination of data collection methods. This involved 96 researchers, extension workers, farmers and government officials directly involved in AusAID funded training and development projects in which the author was involved. Data from interviews, surveys and participant observation was analysed against existing literature. While many of the agricultural workers spoke about and supported the principles of participatory extension, it was inherently difficult for them to implement within these countries. This was mainly due to the hierarchal control with government systems, diminishing resources, and a lack of trusting and engaging relationships with farmers. There are many cultural leadership and management attributes identified that presented significant challenges to achieving participatory extension and AIS which is based on more Western thinking. However, there are also core beliefs and traditions within Middle Eastern culture that are supportive of participatory approaches for developing agriculture and enhancing rural societies. Examples of successful participatory approaches were evident in both countries and opportunities identified where taking an AIS approach could greatly assist agricultural development. This research concludes that participatory extension through AIS will not naturally occur with Middle Eastern government agricultural advisory services, but can be achieved where key leaders and outside influences are involved. It provides important recommendations for organisations undertaking agricultural development projects across this region. Modifications are needed to the way these models are approached within a “top-down” authoritarian structure, which can still achieve an inclusive engagement that builds the capacity of all stakeholders from below. By identifying the many challenges and barriers for organisations to successfully apply participatory extension within AIS frameworks into Middle Eastern Islamic cultures, it is hoped that new, more effective approaches can be developed in the future that will provide a better return on the investment of international Aid, and most importantly, increase the living standards of the rural poor across this region.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, 201

Factorial validity of an abbreviated Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale for seniors in the Nurses’ Health Study

Background: Using validated measures of individuals’ perceptions of their neighborhood built environment is important for accurately estimating effects on physical activity. However, no studies to date have examined the factorial validity of a measure of perceived neighborhood environment among older adults in the United States. The purpose of this measurement study was to test the factorial validity of a version of the Abbreviated Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS-A) modified for seniors in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS). Findings: A random sample of 2,920 female nurses (mean age = 73 ± 7 years) in the NHS cohort from California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania completed a 36-item modified NEWS-A for seniors. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test measurement models for both the modified NEWS-A for seniors and the original NEWS-A. Internal consistency within factors was examined using Cronbach’s alpha. The hypothesized 7-factor measurement model was a poor fit for the modified NEWS-A for seniors. Overall, the best-fitting measurement model was the original 6-factor solution to the NEWS-A. Factors were correlated and internally consistent. Conclusions: This study provided support for the construct validity of the original NEWS-A for assessing perceptions of neighborhood environments in older women in the United States

Automated quantum error mitigation based on probabilistic error reduction

Current quantum computers suffer from a level of noise that prohibits extracting useful results directly from longer computations. The figure of merit in many near-term quantum algorithms is an expectation value measured at the end of the computation, which experiences a bias in the presence of hardware noise. A systematic way to remove such bias is probabilistic error cancellation (PEC). PEC requires a full characterization of the noise and introduces a sampling overhead that increases exponentially with circuit depth, prohibiting high-depth circuits at realistic noise levels. Probabilistic error reduction (PER) is a related quantum error mitigation method that systematically reduces the sampling overhead at the cost of reintroducing bias. In combination with zero-noise extrapolation, PER can yield expectation values with an accuracy comparable to PEC.Noise reduction through PER is broadly applicable to near-term algorithms, and the automated implementation of PER is thus desirable for facilitating its widespread use. To this end, we present an automated quantum error mitigation software framework that includes noise tomography and application of PER to user-specified circuits. We provide a multi-platform Python package that implements a recently developed Pauli noise tomography (PNT) technique for learning a sparse Pauli noise model and exploits a Pauli noise scaling method to carry out PER.We also provide software tools that leverage a previously developed toolchain, employing PyGSTi for gate set tomography and providing a functionality to use the software Mitiq for PER and zero-noise extrapolation to obtain error-mitigated expectation values on a user-defined circuit.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Junior secondary students\u27 perceptions of influences on their engagement with schooling

Various explanations and solutions have been proposed over the last decade in relation to the implications of students’ apparent lack of engagement with middle years schooling in Australia. In this article we report on responses to a questionnaire by 333 Year 8 students (aged about 13, the second year of high school) on perceptions of factors relating to their engagement with the academic curriculum. We found that while the majority of students reported a strong sense of the importance of, and opportunities in, schooling, and saw English, mathematics and science connected to those opportunities, this orientation was not matched by corresponding positive engagement with these same subjects. We also found that there was diversity in the responses of students, and recommend that schools take steps to identify individual students’ perceptions of factors influencing their engagement, and where appropriate, address those perceptions