Water markets in Pakistan: participation and productivity

Water markets provide one of the most promising institutional mechanisms for increasing access to irrigation from groundwater, particularly for tenants and small farmers. While water markets are found in all provinces of Pakistan, they are most prevalent in canal irrigated areas of Punjab and in NWFP. This study reviews the emerging literature on water markets and uses farm-level survey data to examine the performance of groundwater markets, with particular emphasis on Faisalabad District in Punjab and Dir District in NWFP.Water Management., Irrigation water Economic aspects Pakistan., Groundwater Economic aspects Pakistan.,

Fit for the Stage: The Function of a Pre-Performance Warm-up Routine for College Theatre Students

College theatre programs require students to perform in stage productions that demand a high level of stamina, endurance, strength, and flexibility. This level of athleticism makes injury rates more prevalent with one dance study documenting a 74% injury rate among participants (Chmelar et al., 1987, as cited in Malkogeorgos et al., 2011). In sports programs, warm-up protocols are utilized as injury prevention techniques. Due to the physical demands on college performers, a specific warm-up routine should be designed and implemented for each production. A properly conceived warm-up will include aerobic exercise, dynamic stretching, and movement patterns resembling those in the show. Additional details such as timing and length of the warm-up will vary based on the needs of individual performers and productions

Zebrafish Feeding and Breeding: Adapting Best Practices for Zebrafish Husbandry

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are a tropical, freshwater fish that serve as a key research model for human health and disease. The anatomical and genetic similarities shared by humans and zebrafish make establishing a zebrafish laboratory advantageous for undergraduate research and coursework. Zebrafish feeding protocols utilize two primary food types: dry (flake or pelleted) food and live prey such as artemia (brine shrimp) or rotifers. Adopting a feeding protocol that incorporates both dry and live feed optimizes considerations of nutrition and cost for maintaining healthy fish. Best practices for feeding were adapted from authoritative sources in the current literature and published standards. Source, amount, regularity, and scheduling were optimized for our new zebrafish laboratory. Breeding zebrafish is necessary to maintain stock during ongoing experiments involving necropsy as well as studying developmental changes in zebrafish. Breeding protocols utilize a collection of special apparatus and environmental cues that produce the appropriate behavioral conditions for spawning. The key environmental cues are the onset of light in the morning, controlled by room light timers and angled and shallow breeding tank apparatus to imitate the shallow waters zebrafish naturally spawn in. A special slotted, false bottom tank is used to isolate eggs away from the natural predation of adult zebrafish. Eggs are collected by siphoning several hours after lights on and numbers are estimated by volume. Best practices for zebrafish breeding were tested and adapted to optimize egg and embryo production. Optimizing and adapting these protocols for our new laboratory are necessary for establishing a successful zebrafish laboratory with standard operating procedures in supporting future research

Agritourism in the West: Exploring the Behavior of Colorado Farm and Ranch Visitors

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Relative desirability of leisure activities and work parameters in a simulation of isolated work stations

The kinds of activities that are attractive to man in long duration isolation are delineated considering meaningful work as major activity and a choice of leisure/living provisions. The dependent variables are the relative distribution between various work, leisure, and living activities where external constraints on the subject's freedom of choice are minimized. Results indicate that an average of at least five hours per day of significant meaningful work is required for satisfactory enjoyment of the situation; most other parameters of the situation have less effects on overall performance and satisfactio

Effect of Group Size on the Activity Budget of Two Captive Chimpanzees (\u3ci\u3ePan troglodytes\u3c/i\u3e)

Captive facilities housing chimpanzees are required to provide adequate care and provisions such as dietary, social, and environmental enrichment to promote the psychological well-being of the apes in their care. Chimpanzees are social creatures and changes in groups as well as relocation to a facility with new social partners, can impact each individual chimpanzee’s welfare. By tracking each chimpanzee’s activity budgets, managers can assess welfare and make improvements or adjustments if necessary. I looked at the activity budgets of two captive chimpanzees after the death of a group member and the two chimpanzees’ subsequent relocation to a novel, more socially complex environment. Data collection took place during three conditions of social grouping: when the two chimpanzees lived in a long-term group with a third member, when they lived as a pair, and after their move to a sanctuary with 11 other chimpanzees. Data coders recorded the behavioral context of both chimpanzees during each condition. The results supported the hypothesis that upon relocation to an environment with additional conspecifics, social behaviors such as grooming and play increased

Exercise Adherence and Depression

In this study, exercise adherence levels were examined from archival data collected from 2004 to 2006 to determine if an association existed with the levels of depression among individuals over 49 in 3 rural community centers. Abundant research has shown that exercise is effective in alleviating depression but has not shown how levels of exercise adherence may impact the efficacy of exercise in the treatment of depression. The focus of the study was to determine if an increase in exercise adherence may be associated with a decrease in the symptoms of depression. An ANCOVA was used to determine if differences in levels of depression were significantly associated between low and high exercise adherence. The results did not provide evidence that a high level of exercise adherence is associated with lower symptoms of depression. An independent samples t test was used to determine if gender makes any difference in exercise adherence. The results did not provide evidence that gender made any difference in exercise adherence. An ANOVA was used to determine if the type of exercise was associated with exercise adherence. The results provided significant evidence that select exercises were adhered to more than others. A new study comparing varying levels of exercise adherence, not merely low exercise adherence and high exercise adherence, would allow for a more precise measurement of the association between exercise adherence and depression. It is hoped that providing further insight into an adjunct treatment of depression will result in an increased efficacy of treatment and a positive social change for society

Factors Related to Student Persistence in a New Residential STEM High School: The Case of the Tennessee Governor’s Academy for Mathematics and Science

Public and private sectors are grappling with decreasing numbers of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals as the need for them rises. State-supported STEM residential high schools may be the premier conduit to educate and socialize students in order to prepare for STEM college majors and careers. Gaining understanding of how these schools can nurture students academically and affectively so that they successfully matriculate to university STEM settings is valuable; however, minimal research exists related to the affective domain in relationship to retention at state-supported STEM residential schools. This exploratory, mixed methods case study describes factors that contribute to student persistence in a residential school setting. This study had four purposes: a) to describe students’ meaning of belonging at a STEM residential school; b) to explore potential relationships between students’ personality traits, expectations fulfillment, and belonging; c) to explore potential relationships between belonging and persistence, expectation fulfillment and persistence, and personality traits and persistence, and d) to describe characteristics of persistors and non-persistors. Participants in the study were the student population of the Tennessee Governor’s Academy for Mathematics and Science (TGA) (n = 41). Following interviews of the population, qualitative analysis of the interviews included pattern coding and creation of an explanatory effects matrix; quantitative analysis of survey data utilized ANOVA, chi-square, and correlation. Results of analyses produced a student-generated, multidimensional definition of belonging and showed that students who perceived they belonged and expressed institutional commitment via ownership of TGA had the highest persistence rate (100%). Quantitative findings showed that students whose expectations for TGA were met or exceeded had a higher sense of belonging, and belonging was associated with higher persistence. The personality traits agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and work drive were significantly related to belonging, suggesting that sense of belonging may function as a moderator between personality traits and expectation fulfillment. For future study, a longitudinal design is recommended as well as incorporation of the variable educational practices in relation to the variables expectation fulfillment, personality, belonging, and persistence

The Effects of Cognitive Disequilibrium on Student Question Generation While Interacting with AutoTutor

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to test the effects of cognitive disequilibrium on student question generation while interacting with an intelligent tutoring system. Students were placed in a state of cognitive disequilibrium while they interacted with AutoTutor on topics of computer literacy. The students were tutored on three topics in computer literacy: hardware, operating system, and the internet. During the course of the study a confederate was present to answer any questions that the participant may have had. Additional analyses examined any potential influence the confederates had on student question asking. Lastly, the study explored the relationship between emotions and cognitive disequilibrium. More specifically, the study examined the temporal relationship between confusion and student generated questions. Based on previous cognitive disequilibrium literature, it was predicted that students who were placed in a state of cognitive disequilibrium would generate a significantly higher proportion of question than participants who were not placed in a state of cognitive disequilibrium. Additionally, it was predicted that students who were placed in a state of cognitive disequilibrium would generate “better” questions than participants who were not in a state of cognitive disequilibrium. Results revealed that participants who were not placed in a state of cognitive disequilibrium generated a significantly higher proportion of questions. Furthermore, there were no significant differences found between participants for deep or intermediate questions. Results did reveal significant main effects as a function of time for certain action units. Lastly, it was discovered that certain measures of individual differences were significant predictors of student question generation