ECOPOLITICS OF ‘GREEN ECONOMY’, ENVIRONMENTALISM AND EDUCATION

The ‘green economy’ has emerged as a strong policy direction in Obama’s administration with $100 billion in dedicated funds over the next decade to provide infrastructure investment for a range of initiatives including alternative energy technologies that will lessen the reliant on foreign oil supplies. The concept of the ‘green economy’ has appeared at the point of the collapse of neoliberal ideology of deregulation and a new age of poverty after the worst global recession since WWII. First, this paper reviews the claims of ‘green capitalism’ examining, in particular the promise of distributed energy systems and the ‘hydrogen economy’ as proposed solutions to the energy problem of the U.S. economy. Second, it proposes a postmodern critique of neoliberal economics before examining conceptions of the green economy and its sustainability. The paper concludes by looking more broadly at the need for a broad shift from anthropocentric conceptions of economy to one based on a systems framework, and in this light, considers the relations among ecopolitics, environmental education and prospects for green capitalism.Green economy, green capitalism, alternative energy, ecopolitics

The global politics of policy circulation in higher education: A case study of Paraguay 1998-2008

This dissertation is concerned with the idea of global policy transfer, as it has increasingly appeared in the literature of policy studies, and has been used to understand recent educational policy transformations around the world. To carry out this investigation, I have conducted a case study of higher education in Paraguay in order to determine the uses and limitations of the transfer literature in explaining policy developments in the Paraguayan higher education sector since 1989. As an exploratory study, this dissertation does not seek to provide specific recommendations in terms of specific programs or policy reform. Instead, it explores the possibilities of using the notion of policy transfer, and the conceptual discussions that surround it, in understanding various policy shifts and continuities that take place at a specific national setting which could potentially result from a diverse array of global networks and interactions. The key arguments in this dissertation suggest that, in the current period of globalization, policy environments within the borders of the nation-state cannot be adequately understood without an understanding of the role that externalities???exogenous factors and institutions???play in the processes of policy making. However, the influence of those external situations, as in the case of international transfer of policy, is always contingent on the national policy environment that past and present activities of national institutions within specific sectors of policy making have helped produce. Both global and local processes, in terms of public policy, are thus, always contextually located, as is the nature of the relationship between the two, and this is an insight that is fundamental to an understanding of the concept of global policy transfer

The Global Politics of Policy Circulation in Higher Education: A Case Study of Paraguay 1998--2008

226 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010.The key arguments in this dissertation suggest that, in the current period of globalization, policy environments within the borders of the nation-state cannot be adequately understood without an understanding of the role that externalities---exogenous factors and institutions---play in the processes of policy making. However, the influence of those external situations, as in the case of international transfer of policy, is always contingent on the national policy environment that past and present activities of national institutions within specific sectors of policy making have helped produce. Both global and local processes, in terms of public policy, are thus, always contextually located, as is the nature of the relationship between the two, and this is an insight that is fundamental to an understanding of the concept of global policy transfer.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

Percepciones sobre la formación del Bachillerato Científico con énfasis en Ciencias Básicas de la Educación Media y la demanda de saberes para el ingreso en las carreras de ingenierías: apuntes para el diálogo entre la Educación Media y la Educación Superior

El objetivo general del trabajo es analizar la pertinencia del diseño curricular de la Educación Media - Bachillerato Científico con énfasis en Ciencias Básicas y Tecnología en relación a los saberes requeridos para la formación universitaria en las carreras de las Ingenierías. Se pretendió realizar un acercamiento a la pertinencia desde la percepción de los actores directamente relacionados con los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje; por esta razón en la investigación se incorporaron las voces de los estudiantes y docentes de ambos niveles, EM y Educación Superior (ES), reportando sus apreciaciones desde la experiencia misma de la acción educativa.CONACYT – Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y TecnologíaPROCIENCI

Evaluator effect on the ultrasound measurement of subcutaneous fat deposition and loin eye area from weaning to slaughter lambs

Background and Aim: Ultrasound is a non-invasive technique that enables animal evaluation and body condition classification of animals. Although it is not difficult to obtain an image, the analysis of this image can influence results quality. This study aimed to evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of the technician trained in image interpretation obtained using different ultrasound frequencies. Materials and Methods: Ninety-six lambs were used, ranging in weight from 15 to 40 kg. The images were captured using a linear probe of 13 cm, with a 3.5 megahertz (MHz) frequency and an acoustic couplant aid "standoff" or using a multifrequency transducer (6 and 8 MHz), on B mode, with a linear probe and 8.0 MHz frequency. All measurements were performed by the same technician, on the left side, between the 12th and 13th rib. Five different evaluators, at two different times, with aid of Image J software measured the loin eye area (LEA; only for images obtained with 3.5 MHz), Longissimus thoracis et lumborum depth (DLM), subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT), subcutaneous fat thickness plus skin (SFST), and skin thickness (ST). Results: For LEA, DLM, SFT, SFST, and ST, variation was observed (p0.05) between the 2 times of evaluation. Images measurements obtained with a frequency of 8.0 MHz had better repeatability indices and reproducibility indices. Accordingly, the identity test demonstrated that measurements performed on images obtained using 3.5 or 8.0 MHz were not equivalent. Conclusion: Ultrasound image measurements obtained using an 8.0 MHz frequency were more accurate and precise. It is important to use only one evaluator or providing the simultaneous training for all evaluators