ECONOMIC MALAISE SLOWS REFORM: A REVIEW OF CURRENT CONDITIONS IN THE SOVIET UNION

Agricultural and Food Policy,

A RANGELAND GRASSHOPPER INSURANCE PROGRAM

The incidence of benefits and costs from controlling rangeland grasshoppers on public grazing lands poses problems of economic efficiency and distributional equity. Public grasshopper control programs operate like public disaster assistance. However, grasshopper infestations are an insurable risk. This article proposes a rangeland grasshopper insurance program which reduces the economic inefficiencies and distributional inequities of the existing program.Risk and Uncertainty,

SUSTAINABILITY: OBSERVATIONS, EXPECTATIONS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Overview of the Evolution of China's Central Bank and Monetary Policy: Correlation to the European Union

As an innovator in the financial system, China was the first to use paper currency. Eventually the form of currency was held responsible for devastating inflation and was abandoned during the Ming Dynasty. Going forward in time, uprisings and discontent have emphasized the importance of controlling inflation. The central bank is pivotal in issuing monetary policy to control inflation and to maintain financial stability as the government transforms itself from a planned economy to a mixed market economy. The transforming economy is moving toward a free market system through series of economic reforms. The correlation between China’s structure and the European Union’s structure provides opportunities for further study to determine next steps for both.China; central bank; monetary policy; inflation; economy

INCREASES IN COSTS AND RETURNS DUE TO INTENSIFYING RANGE FORAGE PRODUCTION SURVEYS: AN INFORMATION ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

The U.S. Congress and courts have directed federal natural resource agencies to use better information for management decisions than they have used in the past. It is also important for these agencies to improve the efficiency of resource use where possible. This information economics study estimates increased costs and revenues which can be directly imputed to improving the accuracy of range forage production surveys. It suggests that a high level of survey accuracy may often be justifiable.Crop Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

THE ECONOMIC THRESHOLD FOR GRASSHOPPER CONTROL ON PUBLIC RANGELANDS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is responsible for controlling grasshopper populations on public rangelands. Under current guidelines, control of grasshoppers on rangeland should occur if grasshopper densities are at least eight per square yard. This article evaluates the concept of an economic threshold relative to the value of forage saved from destruction during a grasshopper outbreak. It is shown that financial justification for treating grasshopper outbreaks depends upon grasshopper density, rangeland productivity, climate factors, livestock cost and return relationships, and the efficacy of treatment options.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Agriculture in the former Soviet Union: the long road ahead

Agriculture ; Russia

All-electrical coherent control of the exciton states in a single quantum dot

We demonstrate high-fidelity reversible transfer of quantum information from the polarisation of photons into the spin-state of an electron-hole pair in a semiconductor quantum dot. Moreover, spins are electrically manipulated on a sub-nanosecond timescale, allowing us to coherently control their evolution. By varying the area of the electrical pulse, we demonstrate phase-shift and spin-flip gate operations with near-unity fidelities. Our system constitutes a controllable quantum interface between flying and stationary qubits, an enabling technology for quantum logic in the solid-state

Ecological Art Exhibition as Transformative Pedagogy

Environmental degradation is considered one of the biggest issues facing humankind. The problem is deep and global with fast fashion playing a significant, yet underrealized role. Scholars have established that developing the sustainable behaviors necessary to mitigate the effects of environmental degradation is a complex process, that knowledge of environmental degradation alone is insufficient to develop sustainable behaviors, and that both attitudinal and behavioral transformations are necessary for global environmental action and stewardship. As a result, researchers have called for new approaches to environmental education to promote transformative learning. Art experiences can function as a powerful tool in learning and transformation, but art exhibition experiences are underutilized in environmental education. This quasi-experimental study was designed to determine whether an ecological art exhibition, Canary Concepts and the Hidden Danger of Ubiquitous Things, could be associated with internal factors related to sustainable behaviors in fast fashion consumption—specifically an environmental attitude consisting of knowledge, values, and intended sustainable behaviors. This repeated measures study compared pre-exhibition and post-exhibition knowledge, values, and intended sustainable behaviors test scores of 163 University of Nebraska-Lincoln student participants. They consisted of 148 females and 15 males ranging between 18 and 34 years-of-age. Two-tailed t-tests were used to determine whether there was a statistically significant increase in knowledge, values, and intended sustainable behaviors associated with the exhibition-intervention. Results indicated a statistically significant increase in knowledge, values, and intended sustainable behaviors supporting the primary hypothesis that an ecological art exhibition experience can be an effective educational intervention and transformative experience. Results also demonstrated the importance of the holistic nature of the exhibition experience, as the majority of participants attributed changes in knowledge, values, and intended sustainable behaviors to the exhibition-as-a whole rather than individual labels or installations. Relationships between participants’ characteristics and changes in knowledge, values, and intended sustainable behaviors were also explored. Advisor: Mary Alice Cast