Transnational spaces and communal land tenure in a Caribbean place: Barbuda is for Barbudans

In the last decade, transnational migration research has gained considerable ground in geography. There is still more to be done, however, in order to understand the complex relationship between migrants and the lands they leave behind. The island of Barbuda in the Lesser Antilles is the ideal place to study the larger issues of transnational migration on a smaller scale, particularly research that focuses on both migration and land tenure. Barbudan land tenure is common property, something that was in practice for more than a century and formalized into law in January of 2008. Because of this particular system of land tenure on the island, this dissertation contributes not only to the transnational-migration literature but also that of common property, especially the broader themes of migration’s impacts on common property regimes as well as communal-land tenures in transition. Through a variety of methodologies, which include interviews, participant observation, archival research, and mental mapping, I suggest that Barbudan communal lands have undergone tremendous changes over the last three decades as the island’s economy has shifted away from livestock and subsistence agriculture. Yet even despite these changes, Barbudans are still creatively negotiating their land rights just as they have always done. During this transition, Barbudans have accommodated the migratory nature of the islanders, insisting that any study of the Barbudan commons also include the historical and present-day role of migrants as it relates to the land. Through archival research, I highlight how Barbudan migrants have sought to protect the land tenure and how they are making use of those land rights today. Through mental mapping and follow-up interviews, I show generational difference among land-use practices but more importantly, I promote the use of mental mapping as an essential methodology for migration research. In the latter two chapters, I explore the complexity of Barbuda’s transnational spaces in part pushing the bounds of migrant experiences through the theoretical offerings of emotional geographies. Finally, I argue that transnational migration researchers have generally underestimated the agency of migrants utilizing “slower” forms of communication in facilitating complex connections through what I contend is a transnational communicative space

Renegotiating Barbuda\u27s commons: recent changes in Barbudan open-range cattle herding

Barbuda remains little developed and sparsely populated relative to its neighbors in the Leeward Lesser Antilles, a rather extraordinary and relatively unknown Caribbean place. Much of its distinctiveness derives from the communal land-tenure system, itself rooted in three centuries of open-range cattle herding. Yet, as revealed through interviews, newspaper archives, and landscape observations, openrange cattle herding has declined over the past three decades, with related changes in land tenure. As the new Barbuda Land Act came into effect in 2008, codifying the communal tenure system, the very landscape elements that manifest open-range herding have become obscure. In particular, the rock-walled stockwells have become largely defunct, many of the walls lie in ruins or have been entirely consumed by the crusher that converted them into gravel to surface roads. With the principal land use that had supported communal control largely out of practice, usufruct access to land now largely obsolete, the new act might have little actual impact in preserving Barbuda’s uniqueness

3D Line textures and the visualization of confidence in Architecture

technical reportThis work introduces a technique for interactive walkthroughs of non-photorealistically rendered (NPR) scenes using 3D line primitives to define architectural features of the model, as well as indicate textural qualities. Line primitives are not typically used in this manner in favor of texture mapping techniques which can encapsulate a great deal of information in a single texture map, and take advantage of GPU optimizations for accelerated rendering. However, texture mapped images may not maintain the visual quality or aesthetic appeal that is possible when using 3D lines to simulate NPR scenes such as hand-drawn illustrations or architectural renderings. In addition, line textures can be modi ed interactively, for instance changing the sketchy quality of the lines, and can be exported as vectors to allow the automatic generation of illustrations and further modi cation in vector-based graphics programs. The technique introduced here extracts feature edges from a model, and using these edges, generates a reduced set of line textures which indicate material properties while maintaining interactive frame rates. A clipping algorithm is presented to enable 3D lines to reside only in the interior of the 3D model without exposing the underlying triangulated mesh. The resulting system produces interactive illustrations with high visual quality that are free from animation artifacts

Stress, Status, and Sociability: Exploring Residential Satisfaction in the Rural Midwest following Rapid Immigration

This investigation examined predictors of residential satisfaction among newly arrived residents (NAR) and long-term residents (LTR) of a rural community following a rapid influx of immigrants into the community. The physical environment, social/cultural aspects of life, and resources and public services were hypothesized to affect perceptions of residential satisfaction. Both LTR and NAR were pleased with environmental attributes, sociocultural attributes, and public services. An inverse relationship was revealed between stress and residential satisfaction. The primary sources of stress for LTR related to economics and social status issues, whereas the primary sources of stress among NAR involved issues concerning family and friends

Stress, Status, and Sociability: Exploring Residential Satisfaction in the Rural Midwest following Rapid Immigration

This investigation examined predictors of residential satisfaction among newly arrived residents (NAR) and long-term residents (LTR) of a rural community following a rapid influx of immigrants into the community. The physical environment, social/cultural aspects of life, and resources and public services were hypothesized to affect perceptions of residential satisfaction. Both LTR and NAR were pleased with environmental attributes, sociocultural attributes, and public services. An inverse relationship was revealed between stress and residential satisfaction. The primary sources of stress for LTR related to economics and social status issues, whereas the primary sources of stress among NAR involved issues concerning family and friends

Controlled trial of lovastatin combined with an open-label treatment of a parent-implemented language intervention in youth with fragile X syndrome.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to conduct a 20-week controlled trial of lovastatin (10 to 40 mg/day) in youth with fragile X syndrome (FXS) ages 10 to 17 years, combined with an open-label treatment of a parent-implemented language intervention (PILI), delivered via distance video teleconferencing to both treatment groups, lovastatin and placebo.MethodA randomized, double-blind trial was conducted at one site in the Sacramento, California, metropolitan area. Fourteen participants were assigned to the lovastatin group; two participants terminated early from the study. Sixteen participants were assigned to the placebo group. Lovastatin or placebo was administered orally in a capsule form, starting at 10 mg and increasing weekly or as tolerated by 10 mg increments, up to a maximum dose of 40 mg daily. A PILI was delivered to both groups for 12 weeks, with 4 activities per week, through video teleconferencing by an American Speech-Language Association-certified Speech-Language Pathologist, in collaboration with a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst. Parents were taught to use a set of language facilitation strategies while interacting with their children during a shared storytelling activity. The main outcome measures included absolute change from baseline to final visit in the means for youth total number of story-related utterances, youth number of different word roots, and parent total number of story-related utterances.ResultsSignificant increases in all primary outcome measures were observed in both treatment groups. Significant improvements were also observed in parent reports of the severity of spoken language and social impairments in both treatment groups. In all cases, the amount of change observed did not differ across the two treatment groups. Although gains in parental use of the PILI-targeted intervention strategies were observed in both treatment groups, parental use of the PILI strategies was correlated with youth gains in the placebo group and not in the lovastatin group.ConclusionParticipants in both groups demonstrated significant changes in the primary outcome measures. The magnitude of change observed across the two groups was comparable, providing additional support for the efficacy of the use of PILI in youth with FXS.Trial registrationUS National Institutes of Health (ClinicalTrials.gov), NCT02642653. Registered 12/30/2015

The Intersections of Race, Gender, Age, and Socioeconomic Status: Implications for Reporting Discrimination and Attributions to Discrimination.

This study employed an intersectional approach (operationalized as the combination of more than one social identity) to examine the relationship between aspects of social identity (i.e., race, gender, age, SES), self-reported level of mistreatment, and attributions for discrimination. Self-reported discrimination has been researched extensively and there is substantial evidence of its association with adverse physical and psychological health outcomes. Few studies, however, have examined the relationship of multiple demographic variables (including social identities) to overall levels self-reported mistreatment as well the selection of attributions for discrimination. A diverse community sample (N = 292; 42.12% Black; 47.26% male) reported on experiences of discrimination using the Everyday Discrimination Scale. General linear models were used to test the effect of sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., race, gender, age, SES) on total discrimination score and on attributions for discrimination. To test for intersectional relationships, we tested the effect of two-way interactions of sociodemographic characteristics on total discrimination score and attributions for discrimination. We found preliminary support for intersectional effects, as indicated by a significant race by age interaction on the selection of the race attribution for discrimination; gender by SES on the age attribution; age by gender on the education attribution; and race by SES on the economic situation attribution. Our study extends prior work by highlighting the importance of testing more than one factor as contributing to discrimination, particularly when examining to what sources individuals attribute discrimination

Trophic Structure of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands and Resident Monk Seals (Monachus schaundslandi) During the Twentieth Century

The Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) is an endangered species only found within the Hawaiian Archipelago. The majority of the breeding population for this seal is located around six islands in the Northwest Hawaiian Island chain (NWHI). Overall, both juvenile and adult seals have a wide range in δ13C and δ15N from 1912-2006 (δ13C: -12.5‰; δ15N: 12.6‰). Seals in the northern NWHI were enriched in δ13C by nearly 2‰ and depleted in δ15N by nearly 6‰ during the 96 years. Meanwhile, seals within the middle and southern extent of the NWHI showed little to very slight decreases in δ13C and δ15N. Preliminary comparison of modern monk seals with selected potential prey in the southern NWHI indicate possible trophic reliance on a mix of reef fish, eels, and lobster. Commercial fishery data post-WWII indicate an overlap between fisheries and monk seal diets in lobster, squirrelfish, and goatfish

The Tools and Technologies of Transdisciplinary Climate Change Research and Community Empowerment in Barbuda

Focusing on the smaller sister-island of Barbuda, part of the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, a group of collaborating anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, education specialists, geographers, and environmental scientists are studying long-term human ecodynamics, the relationship amongst people, place, and the environment from the beginning of the peopling of a place through modern day. Our transdisciplinary approach brings together various field methods, tools and technologies from each field and crosses the boundaries of conventional science. This approach furthers our knowledge of climate change and facilitates practical and sustainable solutions for vulnerable populations