The letters of Edmund Garrett to his cousin 1896-1898

Edmund Garrett, the writer of these letters, was editor of the Cape Times from mid-1895 until his health collapsed in 1899. He appeared to his contemporaries to have exerted a significant influence on affairs in the last few years before the South African War. Whether they felt this to be for good or ill depended, usually, on the political allegiance of the observers and their views of the cause of the conflict of 1899-1902

Understanding mindfulness: Current epistemological, methodological, and ethical issues

This paper reflects on current discussions about the meeting of Buddhism and Western psychology in the field of mindfulness from the perspective of Buddhist psychology (BP). The epistemology and methodology of BP and Western clinical psychology differ significantly. The first-person Buddhist and the third-person scientific approaches to understanding and evidencing mindfulness appear to be irreconcilable. However, BP and Buddhist ethics provide frameworks with which contemporary scientific research can be scrutinised. Such scrutiny can provide new perspectives on psychological and ethical shortcomings of modern Western scientific epistemology and methodology. BP is the foundation for the Western science of mindfulness. It is argued that BP could play a more important role in the training of scientists in mindfulness. By bridging Buddhist and Western psychology in the science of mindfulness, it appears to be possible to initiate critical psychological and ethical reflection of how modern Western science approaches, constructs, and conditions the world and its inhabitants. Such reflection, and consequent mindful scientific changes, could be of invaluable use in reducing the suffering of sentient beings in this world.This paper reflects on current discussions about the meeting of Buddhism and Western psychology in the field of mindfulness from the perspective of Buddhist psychology (BP). The epistemology and methodology of BP and Western clinical psychology differ significantly. The first-person Buddhist and the third-person scientific approaches to understanding and evidencing mindfulness appear to be irreconcilable. However, BP and Buddhist ethics provide frameworks with which contemporary scientific research can be scrutinised. Such scrutiny can provide new perspectives on psychological and ethical shortcomings of modern Western scientific epistemology and methodology. BP is the foundation for the Western science of mindfulness. It is argued that BP could play a more important role in the training of scientists in mindfulness. By bridging Buddhist and Western psychology in the science of mindfulness, it appears to be possible to initiate critical psychological and ethical reflection of how modern Western science approaches, constructs, and conditions the world and its inhabitants. Such reflection, and consequent mindful scientific changes, could be of invaluable use in reducing the suffering of sentient beings in this world

Soil Moisture Situation 1957

Your bank account of soil moisture can\u27t be overdrawn - nature won\u27t advance the funds. Your account for 1957 crops depends on the current balance plus any amount of moisture added, absorbed and held

The climate of Iowa: the occurrence of freezing temperatures in spring and fall

No type of agriculture can be establish ed profitably in a region unless the risk of loss to that type o f agriculture from unfavorable weather conditions is more than balanced by the profits of other times. The farmer should know the risk involved in raising a given crop at a given time. One of these weather risks is minimum temperatures. Minimum temperatures are important at all times of the year, but at certain times, the occurrence of especially critical temperatures is of extreme importance. A killing freeze is often a factor limiting production. Killing freezes may occur in the spring to damage perennial crops that start growth early in the season, o r annual plants that get an early start and are then injured by a late spring freeze . Killing freezes may also occur in the fall and terminate the growing season. In either case , severe damage can be caused and heavy losses incurred . Injury may also occur to perennial crop s from sub zero winter temperatures, but that type of freezing weather will not be covered in this report.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/specialreports/1005/thumbnail.jp

Progress Report on Study of Water in the Santa Cruz Valley Arizona

This item is part of the Agricultural Experiment Station archive. It was digitized from a physical copy provided by the University Libraries at the University of Arizona. For more information, please email CALS Publications at [email protected]

Tanzania: Logistic System Capacity and Site Readiness to expand PMTCT and Initiate ART

In September 2003, JSI/DELIVER conducted an assessment of the logistics system capacity and individual site readiness to provide PMTCT services and to initiate ART at selected public sector health facilities in Tanzania. The purpose of the assessment was to support government expansion of PMTCT from five pilot sites to 28 health facilities in five regions by addressing the logistics system constraints to ensuring a reliable and uninterrupted supply of the broad range of commodities required for PMTCT and ART, and by conducting an evaluation of the overall readiness of each site to provide these services. Several private providers, nongovernmental and faith-based organizations, and employer-based programs were included in the assessment to learn about PMTCT and ART in these sectors and to identify opportunities for public/private sector collaboration in expanding service delivery and ensuring effective commodity distribution. In addition, interviews with pharmaceutical company representatives and visits to retail pharmacies provided an overview of current commercial sector distribution of ARV drugs in Tanzania. The main findings showed an urgent need to build logistics management capacity within the central level MOH to—Coordinate multiple sources of rapidly increasing funding for commodity procurement. Strengthen commodity-forecasting capacity. Align procurement cycles and supplier lead times with the in-country supply pipeline and demand for services. At the facility level, assessment findings showed that individual site readiness is heavily constrained by the availability and quality of human resources; laboratory infrastructure and capacity; and lack of an established inventory control system and standardized pharmacy management procedures

Editorial: the 2 + n ecosophies

Contemporary ecological crises fundamentally threaten our ability to continue inhabiting earth, yet geographical research has only tentatively engaged with perspectives that seek to rethink the human– earth relationship. ‘Ecosophical’ theories, practices and politics recognize that ‘a global culture of a primarily techno-industrial nature is now encroaching upon all the world’s milieu, desecrating living conditions’ (Næss and Rothenberg 1989, 23) and that those who subscribe to its arguments ‘have an obligation directly or indirectly to participate in the attempt to implement the necessary changes’ (29). This collection of papers seeks to explore ecosophical theories and practices, analysing the relationship between techno-industrial global culture and the world. It offers understandings of attempts to change this relation. Although multiple geographical and social science theories – includ- ing feminist perspectives (Gibson-Graham 2006a, 2006b; Haraway 1991), post-human and actor- network theory research (Latour 1993; Law 1994; Whatmore 2002), studies of the Anthropocene (Castree 2014; Clark 2013), and deconstructionist/phenomenological traditions (Morton 2007) – have worked hard to rethink the category of ‘human’ or ‘subject’, in their focus on forms of living, being and becoming with the world, environment and non-human, they have done less to rethink the ‘world’ part of that relationship. Ecosophy offers geography an approach to these questions which starts with how humans relate to nature and non-human at its core, alongside a strong ethical foun- dation for action. Specifically, it is the position of ecosophical theories that nature and the non- human are valuable independent of their human interaction, and that geography must contribute to ways of rethinking and practicing subjectivity that recognize this

Sphagnum physiology in the context of changing climate: emergent influences of genomics, modelling and host-microbiome interactions on understanding ecosystem function.

Peatlands harbour more than one-third of terrestrial carbon leading to the argument that the bryophytes, as major components of peatland ecosystems, store more organic carbon in soils than any other collective plant taxa. Plants of the genus Sphagnum are important components of peatland ecosystems and are potentially vulnerable to changing climatic conditions. However, the response of Sphagnum to rising temperatures, elevated CO2 and shifts in local hydrology have yet to be fully characterized. In this review, we examine Sphagnum biology and ecology and explore the role of this group of keystone species and its associated microbiome in carbon and nitrogen cycling using literature review and model simulations. Several issues are highlighted including the consequences of a variable environment on plant-microbiome interactions, uncertainty associated with CO2 diffusion resistances and the relationship between fixed N and that partitioned to the photosynthetic apparatus. We note that the Sphagnum fallax genome is currently being sequenced and outline potential applications of population-level genomics and corresponding plant photosynthesis and microbial metabolic modelling techniques. We highlight Sphagnum as a model organism to explore ecosystem response to a changing climate and to define the role that Sphagnum can play at the intersection of physiology, genetics and functional genomics

Maintaining Structural Stability of Poly(lactic acid): Effects of Multifunctional Epoxy based Reactive Oligomers

In order to reduce the effects of hydrolytic degradation and to maintain sufficient viscosity during processing of biomass based poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA), various epoxy functional reactive oligomers have been characterized and incorporated into the degraded fragments as chain extenders. The molecular weight of PLLA increased with the increase in functionality of the reactive oligomers. No further increase in molecular weight was observed for oligomers with functionality of greater than five. Under our experimental conditions, no gelation was found even when the highest functionality reactive oligomers were used. This is attributed to the preferential reaction of the carboxylic acid versus the negligible reactivity of the hydroxyl groups, present at the two ends of the degraded PLLA chains, with the epoxy groups. The study provides a clear understanding of the degradation and chain extension reaction of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with epoxy functional reactive oligomers. It is also shown that a higher functionality and concentration of the reactive oligomers is needed, to bring about a sufficient increase in the molecular weight and hence the hydrolytic stability in circumstances when PLA chains suffer significant degradation during processing

First Trimester Plasma Glucose Values in Women without Diabetes are Associated with Risk for Congenital Heart Disease in Offspring

In a retrospective study of 19 171 mother-child dyads, elevated random plasma glucose values during early pregnancy were directly correlated with increased risk for congenital heart disease in offspring. Plasma glucose levels proximal to the period of cardiac development may represent a modifiable risk factor for congenital heart disease in expectant mothers without diabetes.Peer reviewe