Design Matters : CBNRM and Democratic Innovation

Community-based natural resource management (CBRNM) aims to realize sustainable management of resources and improvements in livelihood. A central focus is the empowerment of indigenous and local communities through customary or devolved rights to common pool resources. Less attention is given to the extent to which inclusive forms of governance are realized in CBNRM. Democratic innovations are institutions designed explicitly to increase and deepen citizen participation in political decision-making. A number of exemplary cases around the world provide evidence that it is possible to empower citizens in ways that are inclusive and achieve desirable outcomes such as redistribution, recognition of marginalized groups, and improved livelihoods. By clarifying elements of the design of democratic innovations - in particular goods, tasks, mechanisms, and co-design - it is possible to understand how effective forms of participatory governance can be crafted. With careful attention to the endogenous practices of indigenous and local communities and the governance structures imposed by public authorities, CBNRM practitioners can draw on these elements of democratic design to craft forms of inclusive participatory governance that promote sustainable management of resources and improve livelihoods. A program of collaboration between CBNRM and democratic innovations practitioners will contribute to improvements amongst both communities of practice and the communities they serve

Ionospheric battery Patent

Lightweight, rugged, inexpensive satellite battery for producing electrical power from ionosphere using electrodes with different contact potential

Monitor assures availability and quality of communication channels

System monitors a communication channel for proper circuit parameters and energizes an alarm if these parameters do not fall within allowable limits. It comprises a monitor-signal transmitter at the transmitting end of the channel and a monitor-signal receiver at the receiving end

Self-stabilized theodolite for manual tracking using photosensitive stabilizing means Patent

Self-stabilized vernier theodolite for determining angular orientation of line of sight between target and inertial reference system on manned space vehicl

Polymorphisms of Bovine HSP90 and Their Implications in Beef Cattle Productivity

Production of beef cattle represents a $60 billion industry in the United States (USDA, 2015). The American beef cattle industry loses an estimated$370 million annually due to heat stress (St-Pierre, 2003). As of 2003, this was equal to nearly 99 million pounds of beef lost (USDA, 2015). The average American consumed roughly 65 pounds of beef in 2003; this means that the 99 million pounds of beef lost to heat stress would have been enough to feed approximately 1.5 million Americans for an entire year (Barclay, 2012)