GOVERNING HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICT: A CRITICAL INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH TO DECOLONIZING CONSERVATION IN THE CHOBE ENCLAVE OF BOTSWANA

Within the largest population of African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) on the continent, Botswana’s Chobe Enclave is a group of agricultural communities bounded by protected areas and an international border. Human-elephant conflict (HEC) is a major concern for both Enclave residents and conservation practitioners. This research asked how institutional arrangements shape the governance of HEC in the Chobe Enclave. Previous research has shown that technical solutions to HEC must be complemented by integrating governance across local, national, and international levels to make elephant conservation and management more inclusive of people who live alongside elephants. This research employed a Critical Institutional approach and in-depth interviews with Enclave residents and conservation practitioners to explore how institutional arrangements shaped HEC governance. People in the Chobe Enclave experience HEC, not only because of increasing human and elephant populations, but also as the result of historic policies dating to the colonial era. As a result, Enclave residents experience both the impacts of elephants and conflict with conservation practitioners over the implementation of HEC reduction strategies. These results suggest that conservation practitioners should move from conservation interventions based in communities to those that are led by communities. This research recommends a series of strategies to restore HEC governance to people in the Chobe Enclave

Enzymology of L-proline synthesis

The accumulation of free L-proline in leaves as a response to water deficit is well documented. Accumulation is caused by stress enhanced-de novo proline synthesis from glutamic acid. Three enzymes, gamma-glutamyl kinase (GK, EC 2.7.2.11), gamma-glutamyl phosphate reductase (GPR, EC 1.2.1.41), and pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (PCR, EC 1.5.1.2) catalyze the pathway in other organisms;A continuous assay for GK was developed. A crude preparation from etiolated shoots of Vigna radiata L. was capable of synthesizing pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) from glutamic acid. Attempts to purify GPR activity yielded P5C dehydrogenase activity that was not phosphate-dependent. PCR was the only enzyme whose activity could be measured;Protoplasts were made from leaves of Pisum sativum L., lysed, and fractionated on a Percoll gradient. PCR activity was found in chloroplasts. PCR activity from pea chloroplasts and etiolated pea shoots was compared. PCR activity from both extracts is stimulated at least twofold by 100 mM KCl and 10 mM MgCl[subscript]2. The pH profiles of PCR activity from both extracts reveal two separate pH optima at 6.5 and 7.5. PCR activity from etiolated pea shoots was 100-fold greater than that from pea chloroplasts. Three nonionic detergents (NP-40, CHAPS, and CHAPSO) doubled the yield of PCR activity from pea chloroplasts;PCR was partially purified from pea leaf chloroplasts and from etiolated pea shoots. PCR activity from chloroplasts exhibited a preference for NADPH. PCR activity from etiolated shoots had a higher K[subscript] m for NADH than for NADPH. The V[subscript] max was also greater with NADH than with NADPH. PCR activity from etiolated shoots was inhibited by 50 mM proline, 2 mM azetidine-2-carboxylate, and 2 mM thiazolidine-4-carboxylate. The molecular mass of native PCR was greater than 100 kd. The pI of native PCR was 7.8. Participation of PCR in the regulation of metabolism during stress is indicated

Resistive switching in ferroelectric polycrystalline Yttrium Manganese Oxide thin films

A memristor is a two-terminal device which exhibits a hysteresis loop in the current-voltage characteristics. Resistive switching refers to reversible non-volatile change in state of the resistance. There exists a wide range of materials which show resistive switching i.e, phase change materials are used in today’s technology which are a main component of the resistive random access memory. In actual research, mostly metal oxides are investigated regarding their resistive switching which is based on migration of anions and cations. Additionally, in hexagonal manganites, h-RMnO3 (R = Y, In, Sc, Ho,...,Lu), the multiferroic properties and nano-sized conducting domain walls introduce further interesting aspects in this material class which may contribute to additional features in resistive switching. This dissertation investigates the resistive switching in yttrium manganite thin film (Y1Mn1O3, Y0.95Mn1.05O3, Y1Mn0.99Ti0.01O3 and Y0.94Mn1.05Ti0.01O3) based metal-insulator-metal structures with different top electrodes (Au or Al) and bottom electrodes (Pt or Pt/Ti or Pt/Cr) in 2-point DC probe measurements. Yttrium manganite thin films have been deposited by pulsed laser deposition on metal coated SiO2/Si substrates. Electrical characterization of yttrium manganite thin films in a metal-insulator-metal structure exhibit electroforming-free unipolar resistive switching. High voltages and currents are required for SET (V_ ) and RESET (I_ ), respectively. The observed resistive switching is assigned to the formation (low resistance state) and rupture (high resistance state) of conductive, metallic-like filaments induced by a thermo-chemical phenomena. Observed unipolar RS is classified as the thermo-chemical memory (TCM) resistive switching phenomena related to the locally increased temperature. The stability of conductive filaments leads to good retention of the programmed states with large memory window (OFF to ON resistance in the order of 10^4 - 10^6, depends on electrodes, electrode size and composition of yttrium manganite thin films). The endurance or number of loading cycles of the resistive switching devices are improved and is in the order of 10^3 for Y1Mn1O3 and Y0.95Mn1.05O3 composition with Al-top electrodes and Pt-bottom electrode. The maximum number of loading cycles is observed for an applied negative bias, a preferential negative polarity for switching the yttrium manganite thin film devices with Au or Al top electrodes and Pt or Pt/Ti bottom electrodes. Whereas, yttrium manganite thin film devices with Pt/Cr-bottom electrode and Al-top electrodes a preferential positive bias is required for switching the devices. Temperature-dependent measurements of yttrium manganite thin films deposited on Pt/SiO2/Si show semiconducting and metallic-like conduction in high resistance state and low resistance state, respectively. The activation energy () extracted in the ohmic region for hopping of holes localized at Mn4+ is in the range of 0.36 eV - 0.43 eV. Scanning electron microscopy in secondary electron emission mode with an in-lens detector and a small acceleration voltage of 1.0 kV is used to characterize the ferroelectric charged domain network formation in polycrystalline hexagonal yttrium manganite thin film. The observed bright regions correspond to local polarization vector with upward polarization components (+P ) and dark regions to local polarization vector with downward polarization components (-P ). A dense domain network is observed for Mn-rich samples (Y0.95Mn1.05O3 and Y0.94Mn1.05Ti0.01O3) in comparison to Y1Mn1O3 and Y1Mn0.99Ti0.01O3 with smaller grains show isolated charged domains. The observed dependency of different compositions to the charged domain density network in yttrium manganite thin films may influenced by different factors: stoichiometry gradient, oxygen, dopant concentration and the resulting grain structure.Ein Memristor ist ein Bauelement, welches eine Hysterese beim Vermessen seiner IU-Kennlinie aufweist. Dieses als „Widerstandsschalten“ bezeichnete Phänomen beruht auf der nichtflüchtigen Veränderung des Widerstandes. Es existiert eine breite Auswahl an Materialien, welche Widerstandsschalten zeigen, z.B. sind Phasenwechselmaterialien die Hauptkomponenten in aktuellen RRAMs. Aktuelle werden hauptsächlich Metalloxide untersucht, welche durch Migration von Anionen und Kationen Widerstandsschalten hervorrufen. Weitere Materialien wie hexagonale Manganoxidverbindungen RMnO3 (R = Y, In, Sc, Ho,...,Lu), besitzen zusätzliche multiferroische Eigenschaften, bei denen geladene Domänengrenzen weitere interessante Aspekte in dieser Materialklasse einführen und das Widerstandsschalten beeinflussen können. Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht das Widerstandsschalten in Yttriummanganoxid-Dünnfilmen mit unterschiedlichen Kompositionen und unterschiedlichen Elektrodenmaterialien. Y1Mn1O3, Y0.95Mn1.05O3, Y1Mn0.99Ti0.01O3 und Y0.94Mn1.05Ti0.01O3, wurden mittels gepulster Laserdeposition auf metallisierte Si/SiO2 Substrate abgeschieden. Die elektrische Charakterisierung von Yttriummanganoxid-Dünnfilmen in einer Metall-Isolator-Metall Sandwichstruktur weist auf elektroformierungsfreies, unipolares Widerstandsschalten hin. Das beobachtete Widerstandsschalten wird auf die Formierung (niederohmiger Zustand) und Zerstörung (hochohmiger Zustand) des leitfähigen, metallischen Filaments (geladenen Domänengrenzen oder auch Vortices), verursacht durch thermisch-chemische Vorgänge, zurückgeführt. Die geladenen Domänengrenzen und/oder Vortices in Yttriummanganoxid-Dünnfilmen beeinflussen unter Umständen als nanoskalige Objekte die Formierung der leitfähigen Filamente. Die Stabilität der leitfähigen Filamente führt zu einer guten Langzeitspeicherung der programmierten Zustände, welche auch ein sehr großes Speicherfenster (Widerstandsverhältnis zwischen Aus/An-Zustand von 10^5) aufweisen. Die großen Widerstandsverhältnisse sind z.B. für die Herstellung von Auswahlschaltern (selektoren) in Crossbar-Strukturen notwendig, um die möglicherweise auftretenden Kriechströme in Crossbar-Strukturen zu unterdrücken, welche sonst Lesefehler der adressierten Zellen hervorrufen würden. Die Wiederbeschreibbarkeit ist in der Größenordnung von ca. 10^3, abhängig von der chemischen Zusammensetzung des Yttriummanganoxide-Dünnfilmes und vom verwendeten Elektrodenmaterial. Resultate der Charakterisierung mittels Rasterelektronenmikroskopie im Sekundärelektronenmodus mit einer kleinen Beschleunigungsspannung von 1.0 kV weisen auf geladene ferroelektrische Domänen in polykristallinem hexagonalen YMnO3 Dünnfilmen hin. Deswegen muß der Einfluss von geladenen Domänengrenzen und multiferroischen Vortices auf das beobachtete Widerstandsschalten in hexagonalem YMnO3 berücksichtigt werden

Method Development and Validation for the Estimation of Tenofovir by Reverse Phase Liquid Chromatography.

HPLC was introduced commercially in 1969 and since then it has undergone xtensive modifications and innovation, which lead to its emergence as the foremost analytical tool for quantitative analysis. HPLC is a type of liquid chromatography that employs a liquid mobile phase and a very finely divided stationary phase. In order to obtain a satisfactory flow rate liquid must be pressurized to a few thousands of pounds per square inch. The RP-HPLC method was developed for estimation of Efavirenz in tablet dosage form and validation was performed in accordance with ICH guidelines for the following parameters such as system suitability,linearity and range, precision, accuracy, ruggedness, specificity and robustness. From the experimental data results and parameters it was concluded that the developed RPHPLC method has the following advantages. The standard and sample preparation requires less time. No tedious extraction procedure was involved in the analytical process. Suitable for the analysis of raw materials. Run time required for recording chromatograms were less than 10 minutes. Hence, the chromatographic method developed for Tenofovir was found to be simple, precise, accurate and cost effective and it could be effectively applied for routine analysis in research institutions, quality control department in industries, approved testing laboratories, bio-pharmaceutics and bio-equivalence studies and in clinical pharmacokinetic studies in near future

TOCOTRIENOL OPPOSES THE EFFECT OF LIGHT TO MODERATE ETHANOL EXPOSURES IN ELEVATED PLUS MAZE PERFORMANCE OF RATS

ABSTRACTObjective: Tocotrienol is a naturally rare isoform of vitamin E. Consumption of ethanol is a common problem. Ethanol acts as an anxiolytic, buthastens cognitive problems. The current study is aimed to evaluate the effect of tocotrienol against ethanol-induced cognitive and anxiolytic behavior.Methods: Male albino Wistar rats were divided into two sets; one set of rats were exposed with low-to-moderate doses of ethanol for 4 weeks, whileanother set was exposed to tocotrienol orally (10 mg/day) plus low-to-moderate doses of ethanol for 4 weeks. Performances of rats on elevatedplus maze were carried out at the end of the treatment protocol for 3 days. Video recordings were analyzed for acquisition time, retention time, andnumber of entries to open arms and closed arms. Numbers of protected stretch attend posture, unprotected stretch attend posture, protected headdipping, unprotected head dipping, grooming, rearing, paw licking, immobile sniffing, and fecal boli were also counted from the video recording.Results: Statistically significant influences of tocotrienol and ethanol exposures have been observed in aquisition time and retention time after24 hrs and 48 hrs, respectively. Number of exits from the closed arms and grooming and rearing behaviors also found to be significantly influencedby tocotrienol treatment.Conclusion: From the current study, it can be concluded that tocotrienol facilitates the explorative behaviors of control rats. In addition, the currentprotocol of tocotrienol treatment opposes the ethanol-induced cognitive impairment as well as ethanol-induced anxiolytic activity in rats.Keywords: Tocotrienol, Ethanol, Elevated plus maze, Acquisition time, Retention time, Protected stretch attend posture, Unprotected stretch attendposture, Protected head dipping, Unprotected head dipping, Grooming, Rearing, Paw licking, Immobile sniffing

Food survey using exploratory data analysis.

A person's eating habits are the most important aspect of maintaining one's physical wellbeing, which in turn is key to enduring the stresses and emotional hurdles that are so commonplace in our modern lifestyles. Our research shows that, over the past 33 years, the global obesity rate has increased by 27.5%. Moreover, although many people are overweight or obese, most still believe that their eating habits are healthy. This research aimed to further identify which eating habits people consider to be healthy

Phone alert system

Master of ScienceDepartment of Computing and Information SciencesMitchell NeilsenThere has been vast growth in development of mobile applications over the past few years. Many competitors in this area are involved in research and development on new platforms and user experience. One such technology is Android, whose credit goes to the Internet giant Google. Android supports a variety of mobile phones and tablets many manufactured by distinguished companies. These phones are described as next generation mobiles [as described by Google]. Android, being open source and free to use platform, offers the developers a broad way to build different kind of applications. Currently, if a user leaves his/her mobile at home or some other place, there is no option for him/her to see the messages or missed calls until they get back home. To avoid such things, I have built an Android application where we can integrate the mobile phone with SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) email system so that the user will get the notification of email or SMS to their email client which is installed on his/her workstation. It will also allow the user to set the profile of the phone as Silent, Ring or Vibrate just by sending messages to the phone. The developed Android software allows users to start the app and give the desired email to which the notifications are to be sent. It will also allow saving the timings during which we need the notifications. The days on which the same notification alert is required can also be mentioned through the app. This will help users to track their mobile by changing its mode to ring just by sending a message

Analysis of Outage Probability of WLAN & Evaluating Geometry and Coverage of Energy Efficient Light Sources

In this thesis,the performance of energy efficient light sources in free space is analyzed. Metrics for irradiance based coverage of a light source are proposed and evaluated analytically.These light sources are generated by arranging point sources in various geometries.The coverage metrics of these sources are calculated over a circular region.Numerical results are then obtained to determine the efficiency of these sources, highlighting the usefulness of this work

Resource planner

Master of ScienceComputing & Information SciencesDaniel AndresenWhen a software development company wants to achieve its goals on time and efficiently use its staff on the projects, it is necessary for the company to have hands on information related to number of employees working on various projects along with their skill set and the number of employees still needed to complete the projects on time. Resource Planner is a convenient tool to handle various projects in a software company efficiently. It is an online tool to manage projects currently running with the company as well as future projects. This tool tracks the employees working for the existing projects and details of new projects like no. of employees required, location, etc., and also estimates revenue which helps higher management to know the status of the various projects and work force. With this tool, HR can estimate the requirement of employees for the new projects and hence can recruit exact number of employees. The project manager can view the details of the employees in the company and the employees in his projects. He can also get the information of how many employees are there in a particular project and their skill set. When he wants employees for a particular project, he can add that information mentioning how many are working on the project and how many employees are totally needed for the project. This information can be had both for online and offline projects. This information is used in generating a special report called GAP summary. This application is developed using Java Spring MVC Framework and MySql database. The main goal of the project is to get familiar with Spring MVC Framework

Incremental Cluster Validity Index-Guided Online Learning for Performance and Robustness to Presentation Order

In streaming data applications, the incoming samples are processed and discarded, and therefore, intelligent decision-making is crucial for the performance of lifelong learning systems. In addition, the order in which the samples arrive may heavily affect the performance of incremental learners. The recently introduced incremental cluster validity indices (iCVIs) provide valuable aid in addressing such class of problems. Their primary use case has been cluster quality monitoring; nonetheless, they have been recently integrated in a streaming clustering method. In this context, the work presented, here, introduces the first adaptive resonance theory (ART)-based model that uses iCVIs for unsupervised and semi-supervised online learning. Moreover, it shows how to use iCVIs to regulate ART vigilance via an iCVI-based match tracking mechanism. The model achieves improved accuracy and robustness to ordering effects by integrating an online iCVI module as module B of a topological ART predictive mapping (TopoARTMAP)—thereby being named iCVI-TopoARTMAP—and using iCVI-driven postprocessing heuristics at the end of each learning step. The online iCVI module provides assignments of input samples to clusters at each iteration in accordance to any of the several iCVIs. The iCVI-TopoARTMAP maintains useful properties shared by the ART predictive mapping (ARTMAP) models, such as stability, immunity to catastrophic forgetting, and the many-to-one mapping capability via the map field module. The performance and robustness to the presentation order of iCVI-TopoARTMAP were evaluated via experiments with synthetic and real-world datasets