Individual and Contextual Factors Associated with Community Building in Apartment Complexes

Although a large portion of American society is housed in rental units, much of the literature on sense of community has focused on homeowners and their role in community development activities within neighborhoods.  Much less attention has been paid to the circumstances under which renters become engaged in local communities. In particular, the potential for rental apartment complexes to serve as locations for engagement and the promotion of sense of community has not been examined.  As an initial step, this study explored the factors associated with apartment complex managers facilitating community building activities within their complexes.  This exploratory study found that managers do have a role to play in building a sense of community among residents, are currently facilitating engagement, and place importance on such activities. Results also indicated that the support provided by the management company may be a key variable in whether such interest is turned into action. Thus, property managers represent a stakeholder that could be involved in efforts to promote sense of community within rental apartment complexes. This study provides a glimpse into community engagement of renters and examines the possibilities for practitioners to work with apartment complexes, managers, and management companies in promoting sense of community among renters

Individual and Contextual Factors Associated with Community Building in Apartment Complexes

Although a large portion of American society is housed in rental units, much of the literature on sense of community has focused on homeowners and their role in community development activities within neighborhoods.  Much less attention has been paid to the circumstances under which renters become engaged in local communities. In particular, the potential for rental apartment complexes to serve as locations for engagement and the promotion of sense of community has not been examined.  As an initial step, this study explored the factors associated with apartment complex managers facilitating community building activities within their complexes.  This exploratory study found that managers do have a role to play in building a sense of community among residents, are currently facilitating engagement, and place importance on such activities. Results also indicated that the support provided by the management company may be a key variable in whether such interest is turned into action. Thus, property managers represent a stakeholder that could be involved in efforts to promote sense of community within rental apartment complexes. This study provides a glimpse into community engagement of renters and examines the possibilities for practitioners to work with apartment complexes, managers, and management companies in promoting sense of community among renters

ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE IN U.S. AGRICULTURAL POLICY: PAST PERFORMANCE AND FUTURE POTENTIAL

Since 1985, U.S. agricultural producers have been required to practice soil conservation on highly erodible cropland and conserve wetlands as a condition of farm program eligibility. This report discusses the general characteristics of compliance incentives, evaluates their effectiveness in reducing erosion in the program's current form, and explores the potential for expanding the compliance approach to address nutrient runoff from crop production. While soil erosion has, in fact, been reduced on land subject to Conservation Compliance, erosion is also down on land not subject to Conservation Compliance, indicating the influence of other factors. Analysis to isolate the influence of Conservation Compliance incentives from other factors suggests that about 25 percent of the decline in soil erosion between 1982 and 1997 can be attributed to Conservation Compliance. This report also finds that compliance incentives have likely deterred conversion of noncropped highly erodible land and wetland to cropland, and that a compliance approach could be used effectively to address nutrient runoff from crop production.conservation compliance, Sodbuster, Swampbuster, conservation policy, agri-environmental policy, nutrient management, buffer practices, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Neutral Hydrogen Associated with NGC 7129

Observations of the environment of the star-forming region NGC 7129 obtained with an angular resolution of 1' in the 21 cm line of H I are described. Two features of the image are extensively discussed: (1) a ring of H I emission about 30' in extent and (2) a relatively dense concentration of H I with unusually wide line profiles positionally coincident with the B star BD +65°1638. The H I ring is consistent with photodissociation of H2 by the interstellar UV radiation field at the surface of an extended molecular cloud in which both BD +65°1638 and NGC 7129 are situated. We further show that BD +65°1638 appears to be an unusual example of a "dissociating star" surrounded by an extensive region of photodissociated H2 and accompanied by a small H II region. The derived spectral type (B2.5) and the absolute magnitude for BD +65°1638 further suggest that the latter is very close to the birthline. The very young stellar age implied by the parameters of the H I region, considerably less than 104 yr, is discussed, and the properties of the H I region are compared with those of the prototype for this rare class of objects. We discuss both aspects within the context of star formation in NGC 7129

The effects of methallibure on conspecific visual reinforcement, social display frequency, and spawning in the Paradise Fish, Macropodus opercularis (L.) Belontiidae

Pretrial intramuscular administration of the antigonadotropin, methallibure suppressed operant responding for conspecific visual stimulation. Four administrations of the drug during an 11 day period did not noticeably impair gametogenesis. Oral administration of methallibure for 5 weeks resulted in a decrease in frequency of lateral display, but not frontal display, in a 10 min trial with a live stimulus male, and a decrease in the gonadosomatic index and fertility but not spawning readiness. The possibility that methallibure disrupts catecholamine synthesis is discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/21732/1/0000125.pd

Association of the tumour necrosis factor alpha -308 but not the interleukin 10 -627 promoter polymorphism with genetic susceptibility to primary sclerosing cholangitis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease of unknown aetiology. Abnormalities in immune regulation and genetic associations suggest that PSC is an immune mediated disease. Several polymorphisms within the tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin 10 (IL-10) promoter genes have been described which influence expression of these cytokines. This study examines the possible association between polymorphisms at the −308 and −627 positions in the TNF-α and IL-10 promoter genes, respectively, and susceptibility to PSC. METHODS TNF-α −308 genotypes were studied by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 160 PSC patients from Norway and the UK compared with 145 ethnically matched controls. IL-10 −627 genotypes were studied by PCR in 90 PSC patients compared with 84 ethnically matched controls. RESULTS A total of 16% of Norwegian PSC patients and 12% of British PSC patients were homozygous for the TNF2 allele compared with 3% and 6% of respective controls. The TNF2 allele was present in 60% of PSC patients versus 30% of controls (ORcombined data=3.2 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.8–4.5); pcorr=10−5). The association between the TNF2 allele and susceptibility to PSC was independent of the presence of concurrent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the PSC patients; 61% of PSC patients without IBD had TNF2 compared with 30% of controls (ORcombined data=3.2 (95% CI 1.2–9.0); pcorr=0.006 ). There was no difference in the −627 IL-10 polymorphism distributions between patients and controls in either population. The increase in TNF2 allele in PSC patients only occurs in the presence of DRB1*0301 (DR3) and B8. In the combined population data, DRB1*0301 showed a stronger association with susceptibility to PSC than both the TNF2 and B8 alleles (ORcombined data=3.8, pcorr=10−6 v ORcombined data=3.2, pcorr=10−5 vORcombined data =3.41, pcorr=10−4, respectively). CONCLUSIONS This study identified a significant association between possession of the TNF2 allele, a G→A substitution at position −308 in the TNF-α promoter, and susceptibility to PSC. This association was secondary to the association of PSC with the A1-B8-DRB1*0301-DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 haplotype. No association was found between the IL-10 −627 promoter polymorphism and PSC

Applying the SPoRT Paradigm to Transitioning the Near Real-Time MAG4 Solar Event Forecast Model into Space Weather Operations

No abstract availabl

Problem-solving, resource utilization, and community involvement in a black and a white community

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44084/1/10464_2004_Article_BF00896061.pd

Ultraviolet Fe II Emission in Fainter Quasars: Luminosity Dependences, and the Influence of Environments

We investigate the strength of ultraviolet Fe II emission in fainter quasars com- pared with brighter quasars for 1.0 :( z :( 1.8, using the SDSS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey) DR7QSO catalogue and spectra of Schneider et al., and the SFQS (SDSS Faint Quasar Survey) catalogue and spectra of Jiang et al. We quantify the strength of the UV Fe II emission using the W 2400 equivalent width of Weymann et al., which is defined between two rest-frame continuum windows at 2240–2255 and 2665–2695 ˚A. The main results are the following. (1) We find that for W 2400 2: 25 ˚A there is a universal (i.e. for quasars in general) strengthening of W 2400 with decreasing intrinsic luminosity, L3000. (2) In conjunction with previous work by Clowes et al., we find that there is a further, differential, strengthening of W 2400 with decreasing L3000 for those quasars that are members of Large Quasar Groups (LQGs). (3) We find that increasingly strong W 2400 tends to be associated with decreasing FWHM of the neighbouring Mg II λ2798 broad emission line. (4) We suggest that the dependence of W 2400 on L3000 arises from Lyα fluorescence. (5) We find that stronger W 2400 tends to be associated with smaller virial estimates from Shen et al. of the mass of the central black hole, by a factor ∼ 2 between the ultrastrong emitters and the weak. Stronger W 2400 emission would correspond to smaller black holes that are still growing. The differential effect for LQG members might then arise from preferentially younger quasars in the LQG environments

Agri-Environmental Policy at the Crossroads: Guideposts on a Changing Landscape

Agri-environmental policy is at a crossroads. Over the past 20 years, a wide range of policies addressing the environmental implications of agricultural production have been implemented at the Federal level. Those policies have played an important role in reducing soil erosion, protecting and restoring wetlands, and creating wildlife habitat. However, emerging agri-environmental issues, evolution of farm income support policies, and limits imposed by trade agreements may point toward a rethinking of agri-environmental policy. This report identifies the types of policy tools available and the design features that have improved the effectiveness of current programs. It provides an indepth analysis of one policy tool that may be an important component of a future policy package-agri-environmental payments. The analysis focuses on issues and tradeoffs that policymakers would face in designing a program of agri-environmental payments.conservation programs, environmental policy, agricultural policy, policy instruments, agricultural program design, soil erosion, nitrogen runoff, Environmental Economics and Policy,