Evolving Deforestation Narratives in Practice: A study of the UN-REDD+ Readiness Programme in Nigeria

The UN-REDD+ Readiness Programme was conducted between 2009 and 2015. The REDD+ Programme in Nigeria began once the readiness program was completed. This study conducts a document analysis of the program utilizing a political ecology lens to determine the extent to which the program adheres to or strays away from critical narratives surrounding both drivers of deforestation and inclusion and autonomy of federal, state, and local communities. By examining the entirety of the available documentation of the REDD+ Readiness program in Nigeria using a political ecological lens, this study demonstrates both an evolution of the program itself, and an evolution of reforestation efforts conducted by UN-REDD+. This study finds that while the REDD+ Programme in Nigeria began by utilizing satellite imagery to conduct its analysis of forest cover, the program later incorporated information gathered from local communities in order to form a better understanding of forest cover as well as the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. Indeed, while the program began with the claim that subsistence farming was the prime driver of deforestation and forest degradation, at its conclusion, macroeconomic farming took over as the leading driver and many other drivers were added to the program’s list of drivers. This study also finds that the REDD+ Programme in Nigeria was effective at empowering and giving autonomy to Nigerian actors at the federal, state, and local levels by utilizing a bottom-up approach as opposed to a top-down approach

Measurements and modeling of ion and neutral distribution functions in a partially ionized magnetically confined argon plasma

The influence of ion-neutral collisions on the ion and neutral distribution functions in low field radio frequency (rf) heated argon discharges was investigated. In order to obtain some insight into the ion heating mechanism and to resolve apparent inconsistencies between probe and spectroscopic measurements of the ion temperature, the measurements were initially undertaken. It was found that the measurements of the ion distribution function reveal a substantially elevated fraction of low energy particles, associated with charge exchange and ionization. The ion and neutral distribution functions were modeled using the Boltzmann equation including, collision operators for ion-ion and ion-neutral collisions, ionization, heating and particle loss

Support for part-time teachers of sociology

This handbook has been produced to help Sociology departments to provide support for their part-time teaching staff. It has been produced as part of an HEFCE Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning (FDTL) project. It is based on current practice in Sociology departments and elsewhere in response to three changes in context: an increase in the number and proportion of part-time teachers; quality problems associated with the unsupported use of part-time teachers; and the introduction of accreditation for teachers in higher education

Using total specific cost indices to compare the cost performance of additive manufacturing for the medical devices domain

The label additive manufacturing, also known as three-dimensional printing, serves as an umbrella term for a number of technologies designed to deposit product geometries directly from build materials and digital design information. However, as a relatively recent addition to the spectrum of manufacturing processes, the relationship between process type, system characteristics and cost performance is still broadly unclear for several technology types. To address this gap, the current research develops comprehensive and robust additive manufacturing cost models for two less-studied polymeric additive manufacturing technology variants, material jetting and mask projection stereolithography. Despite sharing the fundamental principle of photopolymerization, the operating processes of both systems are markedly different. This is reflected in the constructed cost models, which incorporate process maps to capture ancillary process elements, ensure efficient capacity utilisation through optimised build volume packing and approximate the expected cost impact of build failure. On this basis, this article estimates a set of specific cost indices reflecting the overall total cost performance of the investigated systems in an example application from the medical devices domain. Specific cost results range from £2.01 to £1.19/cm3 deposited on the Objet Connex 260 system and from £1.59 to £1.00/cm3 of material deposited on the Perfactory system. These results are discussed in the context of similar cost indices extracted from the empirical engineering literature. This article shows that next to increases in build speed, improvements in overall process automation and process stability are needed to enhance the commercial proposition of the investigated technology variants

Experiment-theory comparison for low frequency BAE modes in the strongly shaped H-1NF stellarator

Recent advances in the modeling, analysis, and measurement of fluctuations have significantly improved the diagnosis and understanding of Alfvén eigenmodes in the strongly shaped H-1NF helical axis stellarator. Experimental measurements, including 3D to

Fluctuations and stability of plasmas in the H-lNF heliac

The H-1NF heliac is a medium-sized heliac stellarator experiment with major radius R = 1m, and average plasma minor radius a = 0.15-0.2m. Its 'flexible-heliac' coil set permits precise variation in the value and shape of the rotational transform (τ) pro