482 research outputs found
The press and the presidency
Este artículo discute el destino interrelacionado de dos instituciones
estadounidenses que se originaron en la época revolucionaria y que son extensiones de
la idea de la soberanía del pueblo. Una es la presidencia, algo que no tiene
equivalente fuera de los Estados Unidos, y la otra es la prensa independiente, cosa que
ha sido muy escasa fuera del mundo occidental. La libertad de la prensa está
garantizada en la Constitución de los Estados Unidos y, como resultado, muchos
periodistas han aprovechado del derecho para criticar duramente a la política, y en
particular al presidente. Este artículo recorre la evolución de la relación entre estas dos instituciones, utilizando distintos ejemplos de conflicto y malentendidos, desde la época de Benjamín Franklin hasta los presidentes más destacados del siglo XX.
Aunque la controversia de los últimos años entre la prensa estadounidense y los
presidentes ha provocado mayor auto-conciencia e introspección entre los periodistas, desafortunadamente estos problemas no están más cerca a una resolución que cuando surgieron por primera vez hace varias décadas
Florida\u27s Fudged Identity
No symbols where none intended, the warning that Samuel Beckett issued near the end of his second novel, would drive American Studies professors out of business and push them into an occupation of greater social benefit.1 For it is the point of this essay to find some inadvertent symbols and to discern iconographic significance in the history of a state. Florida should make an especially promising subject because of its mythic status, tapping into the nation’s definition of itself. Its saga appears to be more than a combination of geographic constraints and political boundaries and economic developments and demographic patterns. Its history also incorporates a mystique, which no state in the union needs but which a few states have nevertheless transmitted. Florida might well be such a rarity because it has claimed to be a kind of hologram of Paradise, a place where the most ancient, Edenic memories of the race are somehow re-invented in the form of contemporary fantasies
Making America Harmonious: The Jewish Contribution to Popular Music
Dr. Stephen J. Whitfield, Max Richter Professor of American Civilization, Brandeis University… An exploration of how American musical taste was unified from World War I through the Vietnam War by the contributions of Jewish songwriters.https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/bennettcenter-posters/1331/thumbnail.jp
From modernization to post-modernism : a century and a half of french views of the United States
Pese al tiempo transcurrido, Democracy in America de Alexis de Tocqueville continúa siendo una obra fundamental para entender cómo los europeos ven y entienden a los Estados Unidos. La aproximación de Tocqueville se entiende, desde nuestra visión de finales del siglo XX, como una obra eminentemente sociológica y no exclusivamente
política. Será desde esta perspectiva a partir de la cual se aproximen a la realidad
norteamericana autores contemporáneos como Baudrillard, Simone de Beauvoir o Micel
Crozier
From modernization to post-modernism : a century and a half of french views of the United States
Pese al tiempo transcurrido, Democracy in America de Alexis de Tocqueville continúa siendo una obra fundamental para entender cómo los europeos ven y entienden a los Estados Unidos. La aproximación de Tocqueville se entiende, desde nuestra visión de finales del siglo XX, como una obra eminentemente sociológica y no exclusivamente
política. Será desde esta perspectiva a partir de la cual se aproximen a la realidad
norteamericana autores contemporáneos como Baudrillard, Simone de Beauvoir o Micel
Crozier
Envisaging change in maize farming: the push and pull factors
Participatory and deliberative approaches were used in order to draw out and evaluate pathways of adaptation in maize farming in the Kenyan districts of Makueni (in Central Province) and Nandi/Nyando (in Western Province), whilst allowing participants to reflect on and share their own perceptions, experiences, and expectations of future change
Negotiating an uncertain future: a multi-study of narratives of Kenyan agricultural climate change adaptation
This research addresses the following question: ‘In the context of climate change, how do different actors narrate the uncertain, ambiguous and risky future of maize agriculture, and what are the implications?’ A multi-sited and institutional ethnography approach was adopted in order to look critically at how knowledge and narratives of future change in Kenyan maize agriculture are constructed by a variety of actors. The thesis describes: contested narratives of climate change and climate change impacts (through an analysis of the global climate impact modelling endeavour); contested narratives of change on smallholder farms (based on two case study sites in Kenya); contested narratives of pro-poor technological interventions (including the development of genetically modified drought tolerant maize); and contested narratives of technology regulation (with a focus on Kenyan biosafety policy). It is shown that narratives are contested in multiple sites and by a variety of actors and, although the resolution of these contestations often fall along familiar lines of power and elite capture, there are examples in which alternative perspectives find agency. This is the case not only in national policy-making arenas and the board-rooms of international development initiatives, but also in the fields and communities of smallholder farmers, the offices of national research centres, and the operations of civil society organisations. It is argued that, within these diverse settings, critical analysis of the constructed nature of knowledge is a necessary foundation on which to open up the negotiation of Kenya’s agricultural future to multiple alternatives
Under What Circumstances and Conditions Does Adoption of Technology Result in Increased Agricultural Productivity? A Systematic Review
New technology that enables sustainable and profitable production of food and fibre is critical for both food security and economic development. Whether framed in terms of modernisation, productivity enhancement, poverty reduction, social protection, environmental protection or adaptation to climate change, technical change is at the heart of most agricultural policy, programmes and projects. From a development perspective, a nagging question is why the benefits of new agricultural technology often appear to by-pass poorer farmers – even when they are the ‘target’ group.
Our review focuses on technology for food crop production in low and lower middle income countries (LLMIC) and the productivity gains farmers achieve when adopting them. It is also concerned with other impacts, positive and negative, that may accrue, for example with respect to health, food security or environmental services. Both individually and collectively managed technologies are considered.
This review is directed to an audience of policy-makers and practitioners in the agricultural research area and to development studies academics. It has two main objectives:
Providing policy makers and practitioners a more realistic understanding of the outcomes that can be expected from technological change as well as of the opportunities to shape the innovation environment so as to favour a productive agriculture supporting broad-based livelihoods;
Informing the academic community on key gaps in evidence and on the evolution of theory and its drivers in this field.
This appears to be the first systematic review of the conditions and circumstances under which productivity gains are achieved from the adoption of agricultural technology, either globally or by region.Department for International Development (DFID
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Some possible roles for selenium in the reproductive physiology of the male graytailed vole (Microtus canicaudus)
The testes of the gray-tailed vole (Microtus canicaudus Miller) exhibited a high affinity for selenium relative to other selected tissues. Uptake of selenium-75 in the testis-epididymis complex was delayed relative to uptake by the whole body, kidney, and liver. This pattern of uptake suggested that selenium was metabolically incorporated into developing sperm. Challenge with unlabeled selenite following ⁷⁵Se administration reduced subsequent retention by the whole body and testis, but failed to reduce epididymal retention. Challenge with sulfite failed to reduce subsequent retention in any of these compartments. These results suggested that observed ⁷⁵Se retention patterns in voles were not simply a reflection of metabolic substitution of selenium for sulfur. Investigation of the intracellular distribution of ⁷⁵Se in sperm revealed that most of the incorporated selenium was localized in the nucleus and mitochondria. This observation was consistent with sperm autoradiographs. These latter results indicated that the nuclear selenium was associated with the nuclear envelope and the nucleus proper, where a dense, but patchy distribution was evidenced. The mitochondrial selenium appeared to be mainly associated with the outer mitochondrial membrane. In the absence of dietary vitamin E, the addition of sufficient selenium to a torula yeast ration significantly reduced the incidence of sperm abnormalities. Body weight and testes weight were significantly increased under these conditions. When no selenium was added to the diet, 60 ppm vitamin E in the ration significantly increased testes weight relative to body weight. With 60 ppm vitamin E in the diet, the addition of selenium produced no significant changes in measured physiological parameters. Males placed on a vitamin E-supplemented low selenium diet for four weeks or eight weeks did not exhibit impaired reproductive performance relative to selenium-supplemented males
Management of the Brown-Headed Cowbird: Implications for Endangered Species and Agricultural Damage Mitigation
The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater; cowbird) is unique among North American blackbirds (Icteridae) because it is managed to mitigate the negative effects on endangered songbirds and economic losses in agricultural crops. Cowbird brood parasitism can further affect species that are considered threatened or endangered due to anthropogenic land uses. Historically, cowbirds have often been culled without addressing ultimate causes of songbird population declines. Similar to other North American blackbirds, cowbirds depredate agricultural crops, albeit at a lower rate reported for other blackbird species. Conflicting information exists on the extent of agricultural damage caused by cowbirds and the effectiveness of mitigation measures for application to management. In this paper, we reviewed the progress that has been made in cowbird management from approximately 2005 to 2020 in relation to endangered species. We also reviewed losses to the rice (Oryza sativa) crop attributed to cowbirds and the programs designed to reduce depredation. Of the 4 songbird species in which cowbirds have been managed, both the Kirtland’s warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii) and black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapilla) have been removed from the endangered species list following population increases in response to habitat expansion. Cowbird trapping has ceased for Kirtland’s warbler but continues for the vireo. In contrast, least Bell’s vireo (V. bellii pusillus) and southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) still require cowbird control after modest increases in suitable habitat. Our review of rice depredation by cowbirds revealed models that have been created to determine the number of cowbirds that can be taken to decrease rice loss have been useful but require refinement with new data that incorporate cowbird population changes in the rice growing region, dietary preference studies, and current information on population sex ratios and female cowbird egg laying. Once this information has been gathered, bioenergetic and economic models would increase our understanding of the damage caused by cowbirds
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