Where is the "Frugal Olympics"?

The one-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and its media fanfare have come and gone, leaving behind persistent calls for an "economical and practical" Olympics to counteract perceived waste and excess in preparing for the Games. Increasingly, in the past few years, such sentiments have found their way onto the Internet, in blogs, discussion forums and local papers as a full accounting of the spending on various Olympic constructions and events has yet to be fully disclosed to the public.Similar to the open letter "OneWorld,One Dream and Universal Human Rights" from 40 Chinese academics, writers and human rights activists, these sentiments against an extravagant and wasteful Olympics provide another perspective often hidden from themedia glare aimed at festivities and publicity campaigns. This HRIC Issues Brief provides a sample of the range and diversity of these critical views on the Beijing Olympic Games expressed by Chinese Netizens on general blogs and Internet discussion and news forums

Culture, water, livelihoods and adaptation in the complex socio-ecological systems of Colorado, U.S.A.

2020 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation comprises the results of several years of mixed-methods qualitative research on the socio-ecological systems of the U.S. state of Colorado, with a particular focus on their ability to effectively manage natural resource and ecosystem-related challenges amid intensifying social, environmental, and climatic change. Located at the interface of the Great Plains and the Semi-Arid Western U.S., Colorado faces numerous significant challenges from current escalations of climate variability, future trends towards warming temperatures, intensified urban population growth trends, and growing demand for limited water resources. This work, comprised of the results of two distinct but interrelated projects, therefore asks, in the broadest terms, How are key livelihood and cultural systems in the state engaging with critical natural resource and climate-related risks? Taken to a more granular level, it investigates, 1) What are the most vulnerable components of the socio-ecological systems of Colorado in terms of local expressions of climate change and resource management; 2) How are these systems currently engaging with those vulnerabilities on a cultural level, and 3) How can the interdisciplinary scientific community and policy-makers better align themselves to serve their needs for adaptation? In Part I, titled "Changing Weather and Livelihoods in Rural Colorado," I attempt to answer these questions at a state-wide level. Here, I rely upon interviews with ranchers, farmers, recreational sector experts, and extensive secondary data gathering on the varied ways in which sensitive land-based livelihoods in the state have been impacted by drought, wildfire, flooding, extreme precipitation events, and related phenomena over the last two decades, doing so in order to chart out how leaders in these sectors are adapting to changing weather-related risk profiles. In this, I identify significant vulnerabilities within livelihoods central to rural economics and identity, as well as barriers to current and future adaptation efforts in the form of economic, policy, information access, and cross-cultural communication challenges. As part of this, water – both as a resource and as a site of cultural values – emerges as critical to nearly every future-oriented line of inquiry, as the state's physical and socially constructed patterns of water scarcity weave through nearly every aspect of both its vulnerabilities and its capacity to adapt to climate- and ecologically-driven challenges. In Part II, then, I ask, "How can the state's human-altered hydrological systems – i.e., socio-hydrological systems – approach a level of self-understanding that takes into account the wide range of diverse perspectives and livelihoods associated with water systems at the basin scale?" Titled "Conceptualizations and Valuations of Water in the South Platte Basin," it takes a more zoomed-in approach, examining cultures of water commodification, use, interaction, cultural connection, and risk management across six key viewpoints within the Colorado South Platte Basin's complex and multi-layered water management systems. In this, it attempts to bridge existing gaps within the varied literatures related to water resources management and the social-science investigation of human-water system interactions, aiming to advance understanding of how cultural systems within hydrological basins heavily influenced by human intervention influence contemporary and future dynamics of water management and socially-constructed water scarcity. Based on in-depth interviews with water managers, users, advocates, and consultants from around the region as well as a variety of secondary data, it attempts to sketch out a typology of water valuation and understand across four distinct levels of value and across six distinct viewpoints with implications for the water system's current operation and future capacity to adapt to increasing variability and extreme event risk. It finds significant diversity among different types of actor groups involved in the water decision-making systems of the region, as well as numerous innovative avenues toward bridging these gaps in the form of "hybridized" or "nexus" approaches to water infrastructure development, environmental protection, and flood risk mitigation that capitalize upon multiple value orientations as they enact manipulations of the region's water systems. Finally, I discuss several important gaps identified in the region's cultures of water, including the lack of a meaningful system-wide identity, and the lack of affirmative spaces for creatively imagining the future at the basin scale

Effects of Supplementing Crystalline L-Valine and L-Isoleucine and a Novel Threonine Biomass in Reduced Crude Protein Diets fed to Broilers

Poultry nutritionists continue to identify methods to lower feed price without compromising broiler growth performance, processing yields, or animal well-being. A common approach is to reduce dietary crude protein (CP), the second most expensive component in a broiler diet. Subsequently, reducing CP will reduce the inclusion levels of intact protein sources (e.g., soybean meal [SBM]), which can be accomplished by supplementing individual amino acids (AA). This methodology not only reduces diet cost, pending if feed-grade AA are more economical, but can contribute to improving broiler health and environmental sustainability. Therefore, two experiments were conducted to evaluate individual feed-grade AA in commercial reduced CP diets fed to broilers from 0 to 48 d. In experiment 1, L-Val and L-Ile were supplemented in addition to L-Met, L-Lys, and L-Thr to further reduce dietary CP in corn and SBM-based diets. Peanut meal or animal protein blend was used to replace partial amounts of SBM. Results confirmed that broilers maintained performance when fed reduced CP diets, independent of diet composition. Furthermore, broilers fed L-Val and L-Ile had increased breast meat yield and lower nitrogen excretion. The partial replacement of SBM with animal protein blend alleviated footpad dermatitis, whereas feed-grade L-Val and L-Ile did not. In experiment 2, L-Val, L-Ile, and L-Arg were supplemented after the additions of L-Met, L-Lys, and L-Thr to further reduce dietary CP. One experimental diet was devoid of supplemental Thr to demonstrate the necessity of maintaining digestible Thr levels. For two experimental diets, a novel, alternative Thr biomass was used in place of a traditional crystalline L-Thr as a Thr source in reduced CP diets. The Thr biomass not only supplied Thr but energy and other nutrients such as essential and nonessential AA. The Thr biomass was fed in two dietary treatments but formulated differently: in one diet, the biomass was formulated only on the Thr and energy contributions while the other diet considered the full nutrient matrix. Results confirmed that broilers maintained performance when fed reduced CP diets and that broilers need a minimum dietary Thr. The Thr biomass was efficacious in replacing crystalline L-Thr

The Cessation of Daily Exercise and Caloric Restriction Causes Rapid Adiposity Rebound and Glucose Intolerance, Findings that are Abolished by Mifepristone

We tested the efficacy of mifepristone, a glucocorticoid (GC) receptor antagonist, on limiting adiposity rebound and preserving whole-body insulin sensitivity following the cessation of daily exercise and caloric restriction (CR). We calorically restricted male Sprague-Dawley rats and provided 24hr access to voluntary running wheels for three weeks followed by locking of the wheels and reintroduction to ad libitum feeding either with or without mifepristone (80 mg/kg/day) for one week. Cessation of daily running and CR increased HOMA-IR, visceral adipose mass as well as glucose and insulin area under the curve during an oral glucose tolerance test versus exercising rats (p<0.05). These findings were prevented or attenuated by daily mifepristone treatment during the post-wheel lock period. These findings suggest that elevations in GC action following regular exercise and CR promote rapid deterioration in metabolic control in healthy organisms and that this phenomenon can be inhibited by the GC receptor antagonist mifepristone

The verification of identity in online assessment: a comparison of methods

The verification of identity in online assessment: a comparison of method

Development of a 3D printer using scanning projection stereolithography

We have developed a system for the rapid fabrication of low cost 3D devices and systems in the laboratory with micro-scale features yet cm-scale objects. Our system is inspired by maskless lithography, where a digital micromirror device (DMD) is used to project patterns with resolution up to 10 µm onto a layer of photoresist. Large area objects can be fabricated by stitching projected images over a 5cm2 area. The addition of a z-stage allows multiple layers to be stacked to create 3D objects, removing the need for any developing or etching steps but at the same time leading to true 3D devices which are robust, configurable and scalable. We demonstrate the applications of the system by printing a range of micro-scale objects as well as a fully functioning microfluidic droplet device and test its integrity by pumping dye through the channels