The Potential Economic Returns of Converting Agricultural Land to Forestry: An Analysis of System and Soil Effects from 1995 to 2009

peer-reviewedPrivate land owners have been responsible for the majority of annual afforestation in Ireland since the mid1990s, but planting rates have generally been declining since 2002. Although the decision to plant may be driven by a number of factors, the profitability of forestry as a landuse option should be an important driver and offer some insight into trends in afforestation rates. As farmers undertake most afforestation in Ireland it is important to account for the opportunity cost of lost agricultural income when analysing the financial outcome of planting. In addition, soil quality plays an essential role in dictating the productivity and profitability of both agriculture and forestry. This study examines the effects of soil quality and superseded agricultural system on the potential profitability of afforestation by farmers between 1995 and 2009. Data from the National Farm Survey were employed to identify the annual gross margins for six agricultural systems on six soil types that differ in terms of quality. The measures of soil quality were translated into potential yield classes for forestry using an existing productivity model and Teagasc’s Forest Investment and Valuation Estimator was employed to calculate the net present value of afforestation for each of the systems and soil types. The results demonstrate how the competitiveness of forestry as a landuse option is influenced by soil quality and superseded enterprise and how forestry has become more competitive with agricultural enterprises over the period of analysis.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marin

La reafirmación de la masculinidad en la cruzada franquista

After the First World War, the soldier became the masculine archetype. Aggression was intrinsic to contemporary understandings of masculinity: the ‘new Fascist man’ would be the agent of political and social change. The military coup of July 1936 was a call to men to renew Spain. Falangist ideas of male beauty, brotherhood and comradeship in arms created a new understanding of masculinity in Spain. This cult of virility was instrumental to Franco’s mobilisation during the civil war and seemed to be reinforced by victory. However, the horizontal communities of fascist brotherhood were soon jettisoned, replaced by the vertical connections of history and family hierarchy, so important in the Carlist tradition. Paternalism, not fascism, was the key to the understanding of masculinity fostered by the New State during the postwar.Después de la primera guerra mundial, el soldado se convirtió en el arquetipo masculino. En esa época, las ideas de la masculinidad se centraron en la agresión: el hombre nuevo fascista sería el agente de cambio político y social. El golpe militar de 18 de julio sirvió como un llamamiento a los hombres de España para regenerar a su país. Las ideas falangistas de la belleza masculina, la hermandad y la camaradería de las trincheras crearon un nuevo entendimiento de la virilidad en España. Este culto de la virilidad era fundamental en la movilización del bando franquista durante la guerra civil y parecía que la victoria fortaleciera este concepto de la masculinidad. Sin embargo, pronto se abandonaron las sociedades horizontales de la hermandad fascista a favor de las comunidades verticales de la historia y el linaje, tan importante en la tradición carlista. La clave para entender la masculinidad fomentada por el Nuevo Estado durante la posguerra era el paternalismo en vez del fascismo

On the Enumeration of Minimal Dominating Sets and Related Notions

A dominating set $D$ in a graph is a subset of its vertex set such that each vertex is either in $D$ or has a neighbour in $D$. In this paper, we are interested in the enumeration of (inclusion-wise) minimal dominating sets in graphs, called the Dom-Enum problem. It is well known that this problem can be polynomially reduced to the Trans-Enum problem in hypergraphs, i.e., the problem of enumerating all minimal transversals in a hypergraph. Firstly we show that the Trans-Enum problem can be polynomially reduced to the Dom-Enum problem. As a consequence there exists an output-polynomial time algorithm for the Trans-Enum problem if and only if there exists one for the Dom-Enum problem. Secondly, we study the Dom-Enum problem in some graph classes. We give an output-polynomial time algorithm for the Dom-Enum problem in split graphs, and introduce the completion of a graph to obtain an output-polynomial time algorithm for the Dom-Enum problem in $P_6$-free chordal graphs, a proper superclass of split graphs. Finally, we investigate the complexity of the enumeration of (inclusion-wise) minimal connected dominating sets and minimal total dominating sets of graphs. We show that there exists an output-polynomial time algorithm for the Dom-Enum problem (or equivalently Trans-Enum problem) if and only if there exists one for the following enumeration problems: minimal total dominating sets, minimal total dominating sets in split graphs, minimal connected dominating sets in split graphs, minimal dominating sets in co-bipartite graphs.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, In revisio

Material Things

My art practice explores things considered without hierarchy as well as how materials used in unfamiliar contexts are continuously unfolding and becoming while also being in a nomadic state of flux. My MFA thesis exhibition, material things, is comprised of two shows in separate gallery spaces. I will present a selection of freestanding and wall mounted works at the Allison Milne Gallery in Toronto, and Gales Gallery at York University will house a large-scale installation of mine. My thesis support paper addresses the in-between state of material relationships while considering and experiencing things without labels or categories. Through the slow unfolding of the unaccustomed unions of discarded or mundane materials a heightened awareness arises and affect is created. This work strives for a visceral response that could be triggered by the rich saturation of colours, palpable textures and familiar forms that are simultaneously alluring and repellent while maintaining a captivating presence during what is to come

A comparative study of vocabulary concepts between mentally retarded and normal children

The retarded child does deviate from the normal child. This comparative study is to be conducted to investigate vocabulary concepts among normal and retarded children and to show to what degree such deviations exist in the children examined. By using the development of vocabulary of normal children as a basis of the study, the differences between the normal children and the retarded children will be ascertained as far as possible, and a scale of educational differences noted. By means of this comparison, an evaluation of the mental abilities of the retarded child will be shown in accordance with his degree of deviation from the performance of the normal child. A study of screening procedure for special educational services to mentally retarded children: 1. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between the S-B Form LM and the PPVT, which is an easily administered procedure in screening. A second purpose is to determine the child\u27s proper educational placement. Our Lady of Confidence Day School, like so many schools tor the retarded, is in need of an immediate and brief screening procedure to evaluate the more upset and uncooperative children before entrance into school. This screening device would be helpful in determining the degree of deviation of any child who would be recommended for evaluation. Any child who screens below or at the 70 I.Q., would be tested on the S-B Form L, M, or LM. 2. This study should produce suggestions to help identify children in need of special educational placement and to make reasonably sure that only eligible children are placed in classes tor the retarded. 3. Those who seem to rate as retarded can be reconsidered for further extensive study, including individual verbal and performance psychometric tests, referral to social workers, case studies, and complete medical check-ups. The following null hypotheses will be tested: 1. The correlation between PPVT and the S-B intelligence quotients is not significantly different from zero. 2. There is no significant difference between the mean I.Q.\u27s of the two tests

Team Up. Pressure Down. Addressing hypertension to improve cardiovascular health

IMPACT. 1: Number of patients reached since April, 2014 nearly doubled -- 2. Educated 219 new patients and 31 recurring patients about HTN -- 3. Provided 41 BP monitors and 14 large sized cuffs.PRIMARY CONTACT: Abbey Strazar, Mary VincentTeam Up, Pressure Down (TUPD) is a pharmacist-driven HTN education program developed to improve cardiovascular health and reduce strokes for the uninsured and underserved in Franklin County

A Polynomial Delay Algorithm for Enumerating Minimal Dominating Sets in Chordal Graphs

An output-polynomial algorithm for the listing of minimal dominating sets in graphs is a challenging open problem and is known to be equivalent to the well-known Transversal problem which asks for an output-polynomial algorithm for listing the set of minimal hitting sets in hypergraphs. We give a polynomial delay algorithm to list the set of minimal dominating sets in chordal graphs, an important and well-studied graph class where such an algorithm was open for a while.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, submitte