869 resultados para History . Theoretical thought . Collaborative research . Concepts
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Studying liquid fuel combustion is necessary to better design combustion systems. Through more efficient combustors and alternative fuels, it is possible to reduce greenhouse gases and harmful emissions. In particular, coal-derived and Fischer-Tropsch liquid fuels are of interest because, in addition to producing fewer emissions, they have the potential to drastically reduce the United States' dependence on foreign oil. Major academic research institutions like the Pennsylvania State University perform cutting-edge research in many areas of combustion. The Combustion Research Laboratory (CRL) at Bucknell University is striving to develop the necessary equipment to be capable of both independent and collaborative research efforts with Penn State and in the process, advance the CRL to the forefront of combustion studies. The focus of this thesis is to advance the capabilities of the Combustion Research Lab at Bucknell. Specifically, this was accomplished through a revision to a previously designed liquid fuel injector, and through the design and installation of a laser extinction system for the measurement of soot produced during combustion. The previous liquid fuel injector with a 0.005" hole did not behave as expected. Through spray testing the 0.005" injector with water, it was determined that experimental errors were made in the original pressure testing of the injector. Using data from the spray testing experiment, new theoretical hole sizes of the injector were calculated. New injectors with 0.007" and 0.0085" orifices were fabricated and subsequently tested to qualitatively validate their behavior. The injectors were installed in the combustion rig in the CRL and hot-fire tested with liquid heptane. The 0.0085" injector yielded a manageable fuel pressure and produced a broad flame. A laser extinction system was designed and installed in the CRL. This involved the fabrication of a number of custom-designed parts and the specification of laser extinction equipment for purchase. A standard operating procedure for the laser extinction system was developed to provide a consistent, safe method for measuring soot formation during combustion.
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From Bushs September 20, 2001 War on Terror speech to Congress to President-Elect Barack Obamas acceptance speech on November 4, 2008, the U.S. Army produced visual recruitment material that addressed the concerns of falling enlistment numbersdue to the prolonged and difficult war in Iraqwith quickly-evolving and compelling rhetorical appeals: from the introduction of an Army of One (2001) to Army Strong (2006); from messages focused on education and individual identity to high-energy adventure and simulated combat scenarios, distributed through everything from printed posters and music videos to first-person tactical-shooter video games. These highly polished, professional visual appeals introduced to the American public during a time of an unpopular war fought by volunteers provide rich subject matter for research and analysis. This dissertation takes a multidisciplinary approach to the visual media utilized as part of the Armys recruitment efforts during the War on Terror, focusing on American mythsas defined by Barthesand how these myths are both revealed and reinforced through design across media platforms. Placing each selection in its historical context, this dissertation analyzes how printed materials changed as the War on Terror continued. It examines the television ad that introduced Army Strong to the American public, considering how the combination of moving image, text, and music structure the message and the way we receive it. This dissertation also analyzes the video game Americas Army, focusing on how the interaction of the human player and the computer-generated player combine to enhance the persuasive qualities of the recruitment message. Each chapter discusses how the design of the particular medium facilitates engagement/interactivity of the viewer. The conclusion considers what recruitment material produced during this time period suggests about the persuasive strategies of different media and how they create distinct relationships with their spectators. It also addresses how theoretical frameworks and critical concepts used by a variety of disciplines can be combined to analyze recruitment media utilizing a Selber inspired three literacy framework (functional, critical, rhetorical) and how this framework can contribute to the multimodal classroom by allowing instructors and students to do a comparative analysis of multiple forms of visual media with similar content.
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The welfare sector has seen considerable changes in its operational context. Welfare services respond to an increasing number of challenges as citizens are confronted with lifes uncertainties and a variety of complex situations. At the same time the service-delivery system is facing problems of co-operation and the development of staff competence, as well as demands to improve service effectiveness and outcomes. In order to ensure optimal user outcomes in this complex, evolving environment it is necessary to enhance professional knowledge and skills, and to increase efforts to develop the services. Changes are also evident in the new emergent knowledge-production models. There has been a shift from knowledge acquisition and transmission to its construction and production. New actors have stepped in and the roles of researchers are subject to critical discussion. Research outcomes, in other words the usefulness of research with respect to practice development, is a topical agenda item. Research is needed, but if it is to be useful it needs to be not only credible but also useful in action. What do we know about different research processes in practice? What conceptions, approaches, methods and actor roles are embedded? What is the effect on practice? How does here and now practice challenge research methods? This article is based on the research processes conducted in the institutes of practice research in social work in Finland. It analyses the different approaches applied by elucidating the theoretical standpoints and the critical elements embedded in them, and reflects on the outcomes in and for practice. It highlights the level of change and progression in practice research, arguing for diverse practice research models with a solid theoretical grounding, rigorous research processes, and a supportive infrastructure.
Resumo:
Background: Statistical shape models are widely used in biomedical research. They are routinely implemented for automatic image segmentation or object identification in medical images. In these fields, however, the acquisition of the large training datasets, required to develop these models, is usually a time-consuming process. Even after this effort, the collections of datasets are often lost or mishandled resulting in replication of work. Objective: To solve these problems, the Virtual Skeleton Database (VSD) is proposed as a centralized storage system where the data necessary to build statistical shape models can be stored and shared. Methods: The VSD provides an online repository system tailored to the needs of the medical research community. The processing of the most common image file types, a statistical shape model framework, and an ontology-based search provide the generic tools to store, exchange, and retrieve digital medical datasets. The hosted data are accessible to the community, and collaborative research catalyzes their productivity. Results: To illustrate the need for an online repository for medical research, three exemplary projects of the VSD are presented: (1) an international collaboration to achieve improvement in cochlear surgery and implant optimization, (2) a population-based analysis of femoral fracture risk between genders, and (3) an online application developed for the evaluation and comparison of the segmentation of brain tumors. Conclusions: The VSD is a novel system for scientific collaboration for the medical image community with a data-centric concept and semantically driven search option for anatomical structures. The repository has been proven to be a useful tool for collaborative model building, as a resource for biomechanical population studies, or to enhance segmentation algorithms.
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Donors increasingly require that the research they fund be of benefit for society and the environment. To this end, researchers addressing complex and uncertain problems should work together with research users. This is not always easy: researchers are expected to collaborate with non-academic partners, but are not funded for the additional work. Collaborative research projects often cannot tap the full potential of user engagement. Therefore, specific institutional and organisational conditions are necessary that foresee or even foster researchuser engagement; funding schemes are one possible solution. Right from the start, the NCCR North-South programme introduced Partnership Actions for Mitigating Syndromes of Global Change (PAMS). This evaluation assesses the types of collaboration supported by PAMS, as well as the value of PAMS as a funding scheme for collaboration. It compares PAMS with similar funding schemes of other universities, research programmes, or projects, and contains recommendations.
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This book presents six essays by researchers associated with the Technological University of Dresdens collaborative research centre, Transzendenz und Gemeinsinn, on the interesting theme of religious deviance in early modern cities. As Gerd Schwerhoff and Alexander Kstner make clear in the introduction, early modern religious deviance is a broad concept, and one difficult to delimit, particularly because most early modern secular crimestheft, adultery, witchcraft and magic, blasphemywere also sins. Should such offences fall under the rubric of secular or religious deviance? Historians have traditionally approached these offences as secular (and indeed, they were commonly prosecuted in secular courts), but one cannot help but see their religious roots. Moreover, religious deviance also encompassed divergence over confessional practices and doctrinal beliefs among Catholics, Protestants, Anabaptists, Calvinists, and so on. To try and demarcate this broad field, Schwerhoff and Kstner advocate using the labelling approach, drawn from sociology and previously used in Schwerhoffs work: that is, behaviour only becomes deviant when contemporaries classified (or labelled) it as such (p. 27).
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Environmental aspects are increasingly being integrated in Negev Bedouin studies by both, NGO activists and scholars. We will present these recent works and discuss new concepts and methodologies of environmental studies with potential relevance in the field of Negev Bedouin studies. We will then identify research areas where environmental and development approaches converge or diverge with mainstream social sciences on this specific field of research. While most of the Bedouin population in southern Israel lives in urban centers in the Northern Negev, a large part of Bedouin people live in unrecognized clusters of houses in remote areas. Extensive livestock rearing is an important source of livelihood at least for non-urbanized Bedouin, the latter forming the lowest economic strata of the Israeli spectrum of incomes. Numerous stressors affect this Bedouin community enduring uncertain livelihood and access to land. The erratic precipitations from year to year and long-term changes in precipitation trends are a source of great uncertainty. With a significant price increase for feeding supplements to compensate for dry years, livestock rearing has become a harsher source of livelihood. Land scarcity for grazing adds to the difficulty in ensuring enough income for living. Studies in the last 15 years have described several livelihood strategies based on a livestock rearing semi-nomadic economy in the Negev. A number of other analyses have shown how Bedouin herders and governmental agencies have found agreements at the advantage of both, the agencies and the herders. New concepts such as transformability, resilience and adaptation strategies are important tools to analyze the capacity of vulnerable communities to cope with an ever increasing livelihood uncertainty. Such research concepts can assist in better understanding how Bedouin herders in the Negev may adapt to climate and political risks.
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This dissertation develops and tests through path analysis a theoretical model to explain how socioeconomic, socioenvironmental, and biologic risk factors simultaneously influence each other to further produce short-term, depressed growth in preschoolers. Three areas of risk factors were identified: child's proximal environment, maturational stage, and biological vulnerability. The theoretical model represented both the conceptual framework and the nature and direction of the hypotheses. Original research completed in 1978-80 and in 1982 provided the background data. It was analyzed first by nested-analysis of variance, followed by path analysis. The study provided evidence of mild iron deficiency and gastrointestinal symptomatology in the etiology of depressed, short-term weight gain. Also, there was evidence suggesting that family resources for material and social survival significantly contribute to the variability of short-term, age-adjusted growth velocity. These results challenge current views of unifocal intervention, whether for prevention or control. For policy formulations, though, the mechanisms underlying any set of interlaced relationships must be decoded. Theoretical formulations here proposed should be reassessed under a more extensive research design. It is suggested that studies should be undertaken where social changes are actually in progress; otherwise, nutritional epidemiology in developing countries operates somewhere between social reality and research concepts, with little grasp of its real potential. The study stresses that there is a connection between substantive theory, empirical observation, and policy issues. ^
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This paper reports a cost-effectiveness analysis of standard therapeutic interventions received by ambulatory dually diagnosed clients of a Community Mental Health Center (CMHC). For the purposes of this study dually diagnosed was defined as a DSM-III-R or IV diagnosis of a major mental disorder and a concomitant substance abuse disorder. The prevalence of dually diagnosed people among the mentally ill and their unique and problematic nature continues to challenge and encumber CMHCs and poses grave public health risks. An absence of research on these clients in community-based settings and the cost-effectiveness of their standard CMHC care has hindered the development of effective community-based intervention strategies. This exploratory and descriptive effort is a first step toward providing information on which to base programmatic management decisions.^ Data for this study were derived from electronic client records of a CMHC located in a large Southwestern, Sun-belt metropolitan area. A total of 220 records were collected on clients consecutively admitted during a two-and-one-half year period. Information was gathered profiling the clients' background characteristics, receipt of standard services and treatments, costs of the care they received, and length of CMHC enrollment and subsequent psychiatric hospitalizations. The services and treatments were compared with regard to their costs and predicted contributions toward maintaining clients in the community and out of public psychiatric hospitals.^ This study investigated: (1) the study groups' background, mental illness, and substance abuse characteristics; (2) types, extent, and patterns of their receipt of standard services and treatments; (3) associations between the receipt of services and treatments, community tenure, and risk of psychiatric hospitalization; and, (4) comparisons of average costs for services and treatments in terms of their contributions toward maintaining the clients in the community.^ The results suggest that substance abuse and other lifestyle factors were related to the dually diagnosed clients' admissions to the CMHC. The dually diagnosed clients' receipt of care was associated strongly with their insurability and global functioning. Medication Services were the most expensive yet effective service or treatment. Supported Education was the third most expensive and second most effective. Psychosocial Services, the second most expensive, were only effective in terms of maintaining clients in the community. Group Counseling, the fourth most expensive, had no effect on community maintenance and increased the risk of hospitalization when accompanied by Medication Services. Individual Counseling, the least expensive, had no effect on community maintenance. But it reduced the risk of hospitalization when accompanied by Medication Services. Networking/Referral, the fifth most expensive service or treatment, was ineffective.^ The study compared the results with findings in the literature. Implications are discussed regarding further research, study limitations, practical applications and benefits, and improvements to theoretical understandings, in particular, concepts underscoring Managed Care. ^
Resumo:
El sector ganadero est siendo gradualmente dominado por sistemas intensivos y especializados en los que los factores de produccin estn controlados y en los que los caracteres productivos son los criterios principales para la seleccin de especies y razas. Entretanto, muchos de los bienes y servicios que tradicionalmente suministraba el ganado, tales como los fertilizantes, la traccin animal o materias primas para la elaboracin vestimenta y calzado estn siendo reemplazados por productos industriales. Como consecuencia de ambos cambios, las razas seleccionadas intensivamente, las cuales estn estrechamente ligadas a sistemas agrcolas de alta produccin y altos insumos, han desplazado a muchas razas autctonas, en las que la seleccin prcticamente ha cesado o es muy poco intensa. Actualmente existe una mayor conciencia social sobre la situacin de las razas autctonas y muchas funciones del ganado que previamente haban sido ignoradas estn siendo reconocidas. Desde hace algunas dcadas, se ha aceptado internacionalmente que las razas de ganado cumplen funciones econmicas, socio-culturales, medioambientales y de seguridad alimentaria. Por ello, diferentes organismos internacionales han reconocido que la disminucin de los recursos genticos de animales domsticos (RGADs) es un problema grave y han recomendado su conservacin. Aun as, la conservacin de RGADs es un tema controvertido por la dificultad de valorar las funciones del ganado. Esta valoracin es compleja debido que los RGADs tiene una doble naturaleza privada - pblica. Como algunos economistas han subrayado, el ganado es un bien privado, sin embargo debido a algunas de sus funciones, tambin es un bien pblico. De esta forma, el aumento del conocimiento sobre valor de cada una de sus funciones facilitara la toma de decisiones en relacin a su conservacin y desarrollo. Sin embargo, esta valoracin es controvertida puesto que la importancia relativa de las funciones del ganado vara en funcin del momento, del lugar, de las especies y de las razas. El sector ganadero, debido a sus mltiples funciones, est influenciado por factores tcnicos, medioambientales, sociales, culturales y polticos que estn interrelacionados y que engloban a una enorme variedad de actores y procesos. Al igual que las funciones del ganado, los factores que afectan a su conservacin y desarrollo estn fuertemente condicionados por localizacin geogrfica. Asimismo, estos factores pueden ser muy heterogneos incluso dentro de una misma raza. Por otro lado, es razonable pensar que el ganadero es el actor principal de la conservacin de razas locales. Actualmente, las razas locales estn siendo Integration of socioeconomic and genetic aspects involved in the conservation of animal genetic resources 5 explotadas por ganaderos muy diversos bajo sistemas de produccin tambin muy diferentes. Por todo ello, es de vital importancia comprender y evaluar el impacto que tienen las motivaciones, y el proceso de toma de decisiones de los ganaderos en la estructura gentica de las razas. En esta tesis doctoral exploramos diferentes aspectos sociales, econmicos y genticos involucrados en la conservacin de razas locales de ganado vacuno en Europa, como ejemplo de RGADs, esperando contribuir al entendimiento cientfico de este complejo tema. Nuestro objetivo es conseguir una visin global de los procesos subyacentes en la conservacin y desarrollo de estas razas. Pretendemos ilustrar como se pueden utilizar mtodos cuantitativos en el diseo y establecimiento de estrategias de conservacin y desarrollo de RGADs objetivas y adecuadas. En primer lugar, exploramos el valor econmico total (VET) del ganado analizando sus componentes pblicos fuera de mercado usando como caso de estudio la raza vacuna Alistana-Sanabresa (AS). El VET de cualquier bien est formado por componentes de uso y de no-uso. Estos ltimos incluyen el valor de opcin, el valor de herencia y el valor de existencia. En el caso del ganado local, el valor de uso directo proviene de sus productos. Los valores de uso indirecto estn relacionados con el papel que cumple las razas en el mantenimiento de los paisajes y cultura rural. El valor de opcin se refiere a su futuro uso potencial y el valor de herencia al uso potencial de las generaciones venideras. Finalmente, el valor de existencia est relacionado con el bienestar que produce a la gente saber que existe un recurso especfico. Nuestro objetivo fue determinar la importancia relativa que tienen los componentes fuera de mercado sobre el VET de la raza AS. Para ello evaluamos la voluntad de la gente a pagar por la conservacin de la AS mediante experimentos de eleccin (EEs) a travs de encuestas. Estos experimentos permiten valorar individualmente los distintos componentes del VET de cualquier bien. Los resultados los analizamos mediante de uso de modelos aleatorios logit. Encontramos que las funciones pblicas de la raza AS tienen un valor significativo. Sus valores ms importantes son el valor de uso indirecto como elemento cultural Zamorano y el valor de existencia (ambos representaron el 80% de VET). Adems observamos que el valor que gente da a las funciones pblicas de la razas de ganado dependen de sus caractersticas socioeconmicas. Los factores que condicionaron la voluntad a pagar para la conservacin de la raza AS fueron el lugar de residencia (ciudad o pueblo), el haber visto animales de la raza o haber consumido sus productos y la actitud de los encuestados ante los conflictos entre el desarrollo econmico y el medioambiente. Por otro lado, encontramos que no todo el mundo tiene una visin completa e integrada de todas las funciones pblicas de la raza AS. Por este motivo, los programas o actividades de concienciacin sobre su estado deberan hacer hincapi en este aspecto. La existencia de valores pblicos de la raza AS implica que los ganaderos deberan recibir compensaciones econmicas como pago por las funciones pblicas que cumple su raza local. Las compensaciones aseguraran un tamao de poblacin que permitira que la raza AS siga realizando estas funciones. Un mecanismo para ello podra ser el desarrollo del turismo rural relacionado con la raza. Esto aumentara el valor de uso privado mientras que supondra un elemento aadido a las estrategias de conservacin y desarrollo. No obstante, los ganaderos deben analizar cmo aprovechar los nichos de mercado existentes, as como mejorar la calidad de los productos de la raza prestando especial atencin al etiquetado de los mismos. Una vez evaluada la importancia de las funciones pblicas de las razas locales de ganado, analizamos la diversidad de factores tcnicos, econmicos y sociales de la produccin de razas locales de ganado vacuno existente en Europa. Con este fin analizamos el caso de quince razas locales de ocho pases en el contexto de un proyecto de colaboracin internacional. Investigamos las diferencias entre los pases para determinar los factores comunes clave que afectan a la viabilidad de las razas locales. Para ello entrevistamos mediante cuestionarios a un total de 355 ganaderos en las quince razas. Como indicador de viabilidad usamos los planes de los ganaderos de variacin del tamao de las ganaderas. Los cuestionarios incluan diferentes aspectos econmicos, tcnicos y sociales con potencial influencia en las dinmicas demogrficas de las razas locales. Los datos recogidos los analizamos mediante distintas tcnicas estadsticas multivariantes como el anlisis discriminante y la regresin logstica. Encontramos que los factores que afectan a la viabilidad de las razas locales en Europa son muy heterogneos. Un resultado reseable fue que los ganaderos de algunos pases no consideran que la explotacin de su raza tenga un alto valor social. Este hecho vuelve a poner de manifiesto la importancia de desarrollar programas Europeos de concienciacin sobre la importancia de las funciones que cumplen las razas locales. Adems los pases analizados presentaron una alta variabilidad en cuanto a la importancia de los mercados locales en la distribucin de los productos y en cuanto al porcentaje en propiedad del total de los pastos usados en las explotaciones. Este estudio reflej la variabilidad de los sistemas y medios de produccin (en el sentido socioeconmico, tcnico y ecolgico) que existe en Europa. Por ello hay que ser cautos en la implementacin de las polticas comunes en los diferentes pases. Tambin encontramos que la variabilidad dentro de los pases puede ser elevada debido a las diferencias entre razas, lo que implica que las polticas nacionales deber ser suficientemente flexibles para adaptarse a las peculiaridades de cada una de las razas. Por otro lado, encontramos una serie de factores comunes a la viabilidad de las razas en los distintos pases; la edad de los ganaderos, la colaboracin entre ellos y la apreciacin social de las funciones culturales, medioambientales y sociales del ganado local. El envejecimiento de los ganaderos de razas locales no es solo un problema de falta de transferencia generacional, sino que tambin puede suponer una actitud ms negativa hacia la inversin en las actividades ganaderas y en una menor capacidad de adaptacin a los cambios del sector. La capacidad de adaptacin de los ganaderos es un factor crucial en la viabilidad de las razas locales. Las estrategias y polticas de conservacin comunes deben incluir las variables comunes a la viabilidad de las razas manteniendo flexibilidad suficiente para adaptarse a las especificidades nacionales. Estas estrategias y polticas deberan ir ms all de compensacin econmica a los ganaderos de razas locales por la menor productividad de sus razas. Las herramientas para la toma de decisiones ayudan a generar una visin amplia de la conservacin y desarrollo de las razas locales. Estas herramientas abordan el diseo de estrategias de conservacin y desarrollo de forma sistemtica y estructurada. En la tercera parte de la tesis usamos una de estas herramientas, el anlisis DAFO (Debilidades, Amenazas, Fortalezas y Oportunidades), con este propsito, reconociendo que la conservacin de RGADs depende de los ganaderos. Desarrollamos un anlisis DAFO cuantitativo y lo aplicamos a trece razas locales de ganado vacuno de seis pases europeos en el contexto del proyecto de colaboracin mencionado anteriormente. El mtodo tiene cuatro pasos: 1) la definicin del sistema; 2) la identificacin y agrupacin de los factores influyentes; 3) la cuantificacin de la importancia de dichos factores y 4) la identificacin y priorizacin de estrategias. Identificamos los factores utilizando multitud de agentes (multi-stakeholder appproach). Una vez determinados los factores se agruparon en una estructura de tres niveles. La importancia relativa de los cada uno de los factores para cada raza fue determinada por grupos de expertos en RGADs de los pases integrados en el citado proyecto. Finalmente, desarrollamos un proceso de cuantificacin para identificar y priorizar estrategias. La estructura de agrupacin de factores permiti analizar el problema de la conservacin desde el nivel general hasta el concreto. La unin de anlisis especficos de cada una de las razas en un anlisis DAFO comn permiti evaluar la adecuacin de las estrategias a cada caso concreto. Identificamos un total de 99 factores. El anlisis revel que mientras los factores menos importantes son muy consistentes entre razas, los factores y estrategias ms relevantes son muy heterogneos. La idoneidad de las estrategias fue mayor a medida que estas se hacan ms generales. A pesar de dicha heterogeneidad, los factores influyentes y estrategias ms importantes estaban ligados a aspectos positivos (fortalezas y oportunidades) lo que implica que el futuro de estas razas es prometedor. Los resultados de nuestro anlisis tambin confirmaron la gran relevancia del valor cultural de estas razas. Las factores internos (fortalezas y debilidades) ms importantes estaban relacionadas con los sistemas de produccin y los ganaderos. Las oportunidades ms relevantes estaban relacionadas con el desarrollo y marketing de nuevos productos mientras que las amenazas ms importantes se encontraron a la hora de vender los productos actuales. Este resultado implica que sera fructfero trabajar en la motivacin y colaboracin entre ganaderos as como, en la mejora de sus capacidades. Concluimos que las polticas comunes europeas deberan centrarse en aspectos generales y ser los suficientemente flexibles para adaptarse a las singularidades de los pases y las razas. Como ya se ha mencionado, los ganaderos juegan un papel esencial en la conservacin y desarrollo de las razas autctonas. Por ello es relevante entender que implicacin puede tener la heterogeneidad de los mismos en la viabilidad de una raza. En la cuarta parte de la tesis hemos identificado tipos de ganaderos con el fin de entender cmo la relacin entre la variabilidad de sus caractersticas socioeconmicas, los perfiles de las ganaderas y las dinmicas de las mismas. El anlisis se ha realizado en un contexto sociolgico, aplicando los conceptos de capital cultural y econmico. Las tipologas se han determinado en funcin de factores socioeconmicos y culturales indicadores del capital cultural y capital econmico de un individuo. Nuestro objetivo era estudiar si la tipologa socioeconmica de los ganaderos afecta al perfil de su ganadera y a las decisiones que toman. Entrevistamos a 85 ganaderos de la raza Avilea-Negra Ibrica (ANI) y utilizamos los resultados de dichas entrevistas para ilustrar y testar el proceso. Definimos los tipos de ganaderos utilizando un anlisis de clster jerarquizado con un grupo de variables cannicas que se obtuvieron en funcin de cinco factores socioeconmicos: el nivel de educacin del ganadero, el ao en que empez a ser ganadero de ANI, el porcentaje de los ingresos familiares que aporta la ganadera, el porcentaje de propiedad de la tierra de la explotacin y la edad del ganadero. La tipologa de los ganaderos de ANI result ser ms compleja que en el pasado. Los resultados indicaron que los tipos de ganaderos variaban en muchos aspectos socioeconmicos y en los perfiles de sus Integration of socioeconomic and genetic aspects involved in the conservation of animal genetic resources 9 ganaderas. Los tipos de ganaderos determinados toman diferentes decisiones en relacin a la modificacin del tamao de su ganadera y a sus objetivos de seleccin. Por otro lado, reaccionaron de forma diferente ante un hipottico escenario de reduccin de las compensaciones econmicas que les planteamos. En este estudio hemos visto que el capital cultural y el econmico interactan y hemos explicado como lo hacen en los distintos tipos de ganaderos. Por ejemplo, los ganaderos que posean un mayor capital econmico, capital cultural formal y capital cultural adquirido sobre la raza, eran los ganaderos cuyos animales tenan una mayor demanda por parte de otros ganaderos, lo cual podra responder a su mayor prestigio social dentro de la raza. Uno de los elementos claves para el futuro de la raza es si este prestigio responde a una superioridad gentica de las animales. Esto ocurrira si los ganaderos utilizaran las herramientas que tienen a su disposicin a la hora de seleccionar animales. Los tipos de ganaderos identificados mostraron tambin claras diferencias en sus formas de colaboracin y en su reaccin a una hipottica variacin de las compensaciones econmicas. Aunque algunos tipos de ganaderos mostraron un bajo nivel de dependencia a estas compensaciones, la mayora se manifestaron altamente dependientes. Por ello cualquier cambio drstico en la poltica de ayudas puede comprometer el desarrollo de las razas autctonas. La adaptacin las polticas de compensaciones econmicas a la heterogeneidad de los ganaderos podra aumentar la eficacia de las mismas por lo que sera interesante explorar posibilidades a este respecto. Concluimos destacando la necesidad de desarrollar polticas que tengan en cuenta la heterogeneidad de los ganaderos. Finalmente abordamos el estudio de la estructura gentica de poblaciones ganaderas. Las decisiones de los ganaderos en relacin a la seleccin de sementales y su nmero de descendientes configuran la estructura demogrfica y gentica de las razas. En la actualidad existe un inters renovado por estudiar las estructuras poblacionales debido a la influencia potencial de su estratificacin sobre la prediccin de valores genmicos y/o los anlisis de asociacin a genoma completo. Utilizamos dos mtodos distintos, un algoritmo de clsteres basados en teora de grafos (GCA) y un algoritmo de clustering bayesiano (STRUCTURE) para estudiar la estructura gentica de la raza ANI. Prestamos especial atencin al efecto de la presencia de parientes cercanos en la poblacin y de la diferenciacin gentica entre subpoblaciones sobre el anlisis de la estructura de la poblacin. En primer lugar evaluamos el comportamiento de los dos algoritmos en poblaciones simuladas para posteriormente analizar los genotipos para 17 microsatlites de 13343 animales de 57 ganaderas distintas de raza ANI. La ANI es un ejemplo de raza con relaciones complejas. Por otro lado, utilizamos el archivo de pedigr de la raza para estudiar el flujo de genes, calculando, entre otras cosas, la contribucin de cada ganadera a la constitucin gentica de la raza. En el caso de las poblaciones simuladas, cuando el FST entre subpoblaciones fue suficientemente alto, ambos algoritmos, GCA y STRUCTURE, identificaron la misma estructura gentica independientemente de que existieran o no relaciones familiares. Por el contrario, cuando el grado de diferenciacin entre poblaciones fue bajo, el STRUCTURE identific la estructura familiar mientras que GCA no permiti obtener ningn resultado concluyente. El GCA result ser un algoritmo ms rpido y eficiente para de inferir la estructura gentica en poblaciones con relaciones complejas. Este algoritmo tambin puede ser usado para reducir el nmero de clsteres a testar con el STRUTURE. En cuanto al anlisis de la poblacin de ANI, ambos algoritmos describieron la misma estructura, lo cual sugiere que los resultados son robustos. Se identificaron tres subpoblaciones diferenciadas que pudieran corresponderse con tres linajes distintos. Estos linajes estaran directamente relacionados con las ganaderas que han tenido una mayor contribucin a la constitucin gentica de la raza. Por otro lado, hay un conjunto muy numeroso de individuos con una mezcla de orgenes. La informacin molecular describe una estructura estratificada de la poblacin que se corresponde con la evolucin demogrfica de la raza. Es esencial analizar en mayor profundidad la composicin de este ltimo grupo de animales para determinar cmo afecta a la variabilidad gentica de la poblacin de ANI. SUMMARY Summary Livestock sector is gradually dominated by intensive and specialized systems where the production environment is controlled and the production traits are the main criteria for the selection of species and breeds. In the meantime, the traditional use of domestic animals for draught work, clothes and manure has been replaced by industrial products. As a consequence of both these changes, the intensively selected breeds closely linked with high-input highoutput production systems have displaced many native breeds where the selection has practically ceased or been very mild. People are now more aware of the state of endangerment among the native breeds and the previously ignored values of livestock are gaining recognition. For some decades now, the economic, socio-cultural, environmental and food security function of livestock breeds have been accepted worldwide and their loss has been recognized as a major problem. Therefore, the conservation of farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR) has been recommended. The conservation of FAnGR is controversial due to the complexity of the evaluation of its functions. This evaluation is difficult due to the nature of FAnGR both as private and public good. As some economists have highlighted, livestock animals are private goods, however, they are also public goods by their functions. Therefore, there is a need to increase the knowledge about the value of all livestock functions since to support the decision-making for the sustainable conservation and breeding of livestock. This is not straightforward since the relative importance of livestock functions depends on time, place, species and breed. Since livestock play a variety of roles, their production is driven by interrelated and everchanging economic, technical, environmental, social, cultural and political elements involving an enormous range of stakeholders. Not only FAnGR functions but also the importance of factors affecting the development and conservation of FAnGR can be very different across geographical areas. Furthermore, heterogeneity can be found even within breeds. Local breeds are nowadays raised by highly diverse farmers in equally diverse farms. It is quite reasonable to think that farmer is the major actor in the in situ conservation of livestock breeds. Thus, there is a need to understand the farmers motivations, decision making processes and the impact of their decisions on the genetic structure of breeds. In this PhD thesis we explore different social, economic and genetic aspects involved in the conservation of local cattle breeds, i.e. FAnGR, in Europe seeking to contribute to the scientific understanding of this complex issue. We aim to achieve a comprehensive view of the processes involved in the conservation and development of local cattle breeds and have made special efforts in discussing the implications of the research results in this respect. The final outcome of the thesis is to illustrate how quantitative methods can be exploited in designing and establishing sound strategies and programmes for the conservation and development of local livestock breeds. Firstly we explored the public non-market attributes of the total economic value (TEV) of livestock, using the Spanish Alistana-Sanabresa (AS) cattle breed as a case study. Total economic value of any good comprises both use and non-use components, where the latter include option, bequest and existence values. For livestock, the direct use values are mainly stemming from production outputs. Indirect use values relate to the role of livestock as a maintainer of rural culture and landscape. The option value is related to the potential use of livestock, the bequest values relate to the value associated with the inheritance of the resources to future generation and the existence values relate to the utility perceived by people from knowing that specific resources exist. We aimed to determine the relative importance of the non-market components of the TEV of the AS breed, the socio-economic variables that influence how people value the different components of TEV and to assess the implications of the Spanish national conservation strategy for the AS breed. To do so, we used a choice experiment (CE) approach and applied the technique to assess peoples willingness to pay (WTP) for the conservation of AS breed. The use of CE allows the valuation of the individual components of TEV for a given good. We analysed the choice data using a random parameter logit (RPL) model. AS breed was found to have a significant public good value. Its most important values were related to the indirect use value due to the maintenance of Zamorian culture and the existence value (both represent over 80% of its TEV). There were several socioeconomic variables influencing peoples valuation of the public service of the breed. In the case of AS breed, the place of living (city or rural area), having seen animals of the breed, having eaten breed products and the respondents attitude towards economic development environment conflicts do influence peoples WTP for AS conservation. We also found that people do not have a complete picture of all the functions and roles that AS breed as AnGR. Therefore, the actions for increasing awareness of AS should go to that direction. The farmers will need incentives to exploit some of the public goods values and maintain the breed population size at socially desirable levels. One such mechanism could be related to the development of agritourism, which would enhance the private good value and provide an important addition to the conservation and utilisation strategy. However, the farmers need a serious evaluation on how to invest in niche product development or how to improve product quality and brand recognition. Using the understanding on the importance of the public function of local cattle we tried to depict the current diversity regarding technical, economic and social factors found in local cattle farming across Europe. To do so we focused in an international collaborative project on the case of fifteen local cattle breeds in eight European countries. We investigated the variation among the countries to detect the common key elements, which affect the viability of local breeds. We surveyed with interviews a total of 355 farms across the fifteen breeds. We used the planned herd size changes by the farmer as an indicator of breed viability. The questionnaire included several economic, technical and social aspects with potential influence on breeds demographic trends. We analysed the data using multivariate statistical techniques, such as discriminat analysis and logistic regression. The factors affecting a local breeds viability were highly heterogeneous across Europe. In some countries, farmers did not recognise any high social value attached to keeping a local cattle breed. Hence there is a need to develop communication programmes across EU countries making people aware about the diversity and importance of values associated to raising local breeds. The countries were also very variable regarding the importance of local markets and the percentage of farm land owned by the farmers. Despite the country specificities, there were also common factors affecting the breed viability across Europe. The factors were from different grounds, from social, such as the age of the farmer and the social appreciation of their work, to technicalorganizational, such as the farmers attitude to collaborating with each other. The heterogeneity found reflects the variation in breeding systems and production environment (in the socioeconomic, technical and ecological sense) present in Europe. Therefore, caution should be taken in implementing common policies at the country level. Variability could also be rather high within countries due to breed specificities. Therefore, the national policies should be flexible to adapt to the specificities. The variables significantly associated with breed viability should be positively incorporated in the conservation strategies, and considered in developing common and/or national policies. The strategy preparation and policy planning should go beyond the provision of a general economic support to compensate farmers for the lower profitability of local breeds. Of particular interest is the observation that the opportunity for farmer collaboration and the appreciation by the society of the cultural, environmental and social role of local cattle farming were positively associated with the breed survival. In addition, farmer's high age is not only a problem of poor generation transfer but it is also a problem because it might lead to a lower attitude to investing in farming activities and to a lower ability to adapt to environment changes. The farmers adaptation capability may be a key point for the viability of local breeds. Decision making tools can help to get a comprehensive view on the conservation and development of local breeds. It allows us to use a systematic and structured approach for identifying and prioritizing conservation and development strategies. We used SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats) analysis for this purpose and recognized that many conservation and development projects rely on farmers. We developed a quantified SWOT method and applied it in the aforementioned collaborative research to a set of thirteen cattle breeds in six European countries. The method has four steps: definition of the system, identification and grouping of the driving factors, quantification of the importance of driving factors and identification and prioritization of the strategies. The factors were determined following a multi-stakeholder approach and grouped with a three level structure. FAnGR expert groups ranked the factors and a quantification process was implemented to identify and prioritize strategies. The structure of the SWOT analysis allowed analyzing the conservation problem from general down to specific perspectives. Joining breed specific analyses into a common SWOT analysis permitted comparison of breed cases across countries. We identified 99 driving factors across breeds. The across breed analysis revealed that irrelevant factors were consistent. There was high heterogeneity among the most relevant factors and strategies. The strategies increased eligibility as they lost specificity. Although the situation was very heterogeneous, the most promising factors and strategies were linked to the positive aspects (Strengths and Opportunities). Therefore, the future of the studied local breed is promising. The results of our analysis also confirmed the high relevance of the cultural value of the breeds. The most important internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) were related farmers and production systems. The most important opportunities were found in developing and marketing new products, while the most relevant threats were found in selling the current conventional products. In this regard, it should be fruitful to work on farmers motivation, collaboration, and capacity building. We conclude that European policies should focus on general aspects and be flexible enough to be adapted to the country and breed specificities. As mentioned, farmers have a key role in the conservation and development of a local cattle breed. Therefore, it is very relevant to understand the implications of farmer heterogeneity within a breed for its viability. In the fourth part of the thesis, we developed a general farmer typology to help analyzing the relations between farmer features and farm profiles, herd dynamics and farmers decision making. In the analysis we applied and used the sociological framework of economic and cultural capital and studied how the determined farmer types were linked to farm profiles and breeding decisions, among others. The typology was based on measurable socioeconomic factors indicating the economic and cultural capital of farmers. A group of 85 farmers raising the Spanish Avilea-Negra Ibrica (ANI) local cattle breed was used to illustrate and test the procedure. The farmer types were defined by a hierarchical cluster analysis with a set of canonical variables derived from the following five the socioeconomic factors: the formal educational level of the farmer, the year the farmer started keeping the ANI breed, the percentage of the total family income covered by the farm, the percentage of the total farm land owned by the farmer and the farmers age. The present ANI farmer types were much more complex than what they were in the past. We found that the farmer types differed in many socioeconomic aspects and in the farms profile. Furthermore, the types also differentiate farmers with respect to decisions about changing the farm size, breeding aims and stated reactions towards hypothetical subsidy variation. We have verified that economic and cultural capitals are not independent and further showed how they are interacting in the different farmer types. The farmers related to the types with high economic, institutionalized and embodied cultural capitals had a higher demand of breeding animals from others farmers of the breed, which may be related to the higher social prestige within the breed. One of the key implications of this finding for the future of the breed is whether or not the prestige of farmers is related to genetic superiority of their animals, what is to say, that it is related with a sound use of tools that farmers have available to make selection decisions. The farmer types differed in the form of collaboration and in the reactions to the hypothetical variation in subsidies. There were farmers with low dependency on subsidies, while most of them are highly dependent on subsidies. Therefore, any drastic change in the subsidy programme might have influence on the development of local breeds. The adaptation of these programme to the farmers heterogeneity might increase its efficacy, thus it would be interesting to explore ways of doing it. We conclude highlighting the need to have a variety of policies, which take into account the heterogeneity among the farmers. To finish we dealt with the genetic structure of livestock populations. Farmers decisions on the breeding animals and their progeny numbers shape the demographic and genetic structure of the breeds. Nowadays there is a renovated interest in studying the population structure since it can bias the prediction of genomic breeding values and genome wide association studies. We determined the genetic structure of ANI breed using two different methods, a graphical clustering algorithm (GCA) and a Bayesian clustering algorithm (STRUCTURE) were used. We paid particular attention to the influence that the presence of closely related individuals and the genetic differentiation of subpopulations may have on the inferences about the population structure. We first evaluated the performance of the algorithms in simulated populations. Then we inferred the genetic structure of the Spanish cattle breed ANI analysing a data set of 13343 animals (genotyped for 17 microsatellites) from 57 herds. ANI breed is an example of a population with complex relationships. We used the herdbook to study the gene flow, estimation among other things, the contribution of different herds to the genetic composition of the ANI breed. For the simulated scenarios, when FST among subpopulations was sufficiently high, both algorithms consistently inferred the correct structure regardless of the presence of related individuals. However, when the genetic differentiation among subpopulations was low, STRUCTURE identified the family based structure while GCA did not provide any consistent picture. The GCA was a fast and efficient method to infer genetic structure to determine the hidden core structure of a population with complex history and relationships. GCA could also be used to narrow down the number of clusters to be tested by STRUCTURE. Both, STRUCTURE and GCA describe a similar structure for the ANI breed suggesting that the results are robust. ANI population was found to have three genetically differentiated clusters that could correspond to three genetic lineages. These are directly related to the herds with a major contribution to the breed. In addition, ANI breed has also a large pool made of individuals with an admixture of origins. The genetic structure of ANI, assessed by molecular information, shows a stratification that corresponds to the demographic evolution of the breed. It will be of great importance to learn more about the composition of the pool and study how it is related to the existing genetic variability of the breed.
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This paper explores alterations in social dynamics caused by coca crops in Curvarado and Jiguamiando, at Choco department in the Colombian Pacific region. The research analyzes the role of armed actors such as paramilitaries and guerrillas in the conformation of new social spaces where local people find resistance as the main tool to survive in chaotic environments. Local power as a politics of resistance is also analyzed. Non-governmental organizations are a key tool to comprehend new social configurations. By doing the analysis and comparison using political ecology as the theoretical background along with concepts of moral economy and everyday resistance, with qualitative research methods. The paper aims to interpret and provide a better understanding of those changes considering social-environmental relations. Findings suggest that those changes in social structure are leading to an understanding, not just of the organization of the area, but also that social dynamics and coca crops cannot be generalized in the country.
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Periodic public concern about heroin use has been a major driver of Australian drug policy in the four decades since heroin use was first reported. The number of heroin-dependent people in Australia has increased from several hundreds in the late 1960s to around 100000 by the end of the 1990s. In this paper I do the following: (1) describe collaborative research on heroin dependence that was undertaken between 1991 and 2001 by researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre: (2) discuss the contribution that this research may have made to the formulation of policies towards the treatment of heroin dependence during a period when the policy debate crystallized around the issue of whether or not Australia should conduct a controlled trial of heroin prescription; and (3) reflect on the relationships between research and policy-making in the addictions field, specifically on the roles of investigator-initiated and commissioned research, the interface between researchers, funders and policymakers: and the need to be realistic about the likely impact of research on policy and practice.
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De Ishtar discusses ways in which Whites could develop research epistemologies and methodologies which responded to and reflected those being developed by Indigenous researchers across Australia and around the world. She details her own explorations in developing a methodology which enabled her to work in collaboration with a group of Indigenous women elders from Western Australia's Great Sandy Desert. She stresses that if collaborative research with Indigenous women is to be possible, White feminists must learn how to do research which is culturally unobtrusive, and that means taking responsibility for their own cultural practices, attitudes and values.
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Este trabalho busca apresentar as vivncias de trs pessoas ouvintes, alm do prprio autor, filhas de pais surdos, discutindo as relaes familiares entre pais e filhos, mostrando as diferenas em relao s famlias que no possuem pessoas surdas no seu mago, desmistificando preconceitos e pr-conceitos. Devido as barreiras comunicacionais e pelo preconceito, muitos surdos acabavam sendo privados do direto de serem pais. Nos relatos apresentados nesta dissertao, houve momentos em que isso quase aconteceu na vida dos sujeitos entrevistados para esta pesquisa. Porm, com fora e conscincia dos direitos adquiridos, esses pais surdos no permitiram que tal coisa acontecesse. O texto inicia com a trajetria formativa e profissional do autor para, em seguida, trazer os autores que abordam temas como surdez (Wrigley, 1996; Lacerda, 1998; Perlin, 1998; Moura, 2000; S, 2002; Quadros, 2004; Sacks, 2007), antropologia (Hall, 1992; Gomes, 2008), relaes familiares (Lacan, 1987) e autobiografia (Ferraroti, 1991; Pineau, 2006; demartini, 2008). A lngua de sinais e a histria educacional dos surdos tambm so discutidas neste trabalho. Por ltimo, so apresentados os relatos de histria de vida feitos na pesquisa de campo de forma literria, com as anlises dos depoimentos colhidos pelos sujeitos entrevistados (filhos ouvintes e pais surdos) os quais evidenciam que ser filho de pais surdos pode ser to normal quanto ser filho de pais ouvintes.
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This thesis is concerned with Maine de Birans and Samuel Taylor Coleridges conceptions of will, and the way in which both thinkers posterities have been affected by the central role of these very conceptions in their respective bodies of thought. The research question that animates this work can therefore be divided into two main parts, one of which deals with will, while the other deals with its effects on posterity. In the first pages of the Introduction, I make the case for a comparison between two philosophers, and show how this comparison can bring one closer to truth, understood not in objective, but in subjective terms. I then justify my choice by underlining that, in spite of their many differences, Maine de Biran and Samuel Taylor Coleridge followed comparable paths, intellectually and spiritually, and came to similar conclusions concerning the essential activity of the human mind. Finally, I ask whether it is possible that this very focus on the human will may have contributed to the state of both thinkers works and of the reception of those works. This prologue is followed by five parts. In the first part, the similarities and differences between the two thinkers are explored further. In the second part, the connections between philosophy and singularity are examined, in order to show the ambivalence of the will as a foundation for truth. The third part is dedicated to the traditional division between subject and object in psychology, and its relevance in history and in moral philosophy. The fourth part tackles the complexity of the question of influence, with respect to both Maine de Birans and Coleridges cases, both thinkers being indebted to many philosophers of all times and places, and having to rely heavily on others for the publication, or the interpretation of their own works. The fifth part is concerned with the different aspects of the faculty of will, and primarily its relationship with interiority, as incommensurability, and actual, conditioned existence in a certain historical and spatial context. It ends with a return to the question of will and posterity and an announcement of what will be covered in the main body of the thesis. The main body is divided into three parts:Lmancipation, Laffirmation, and La projection. The first part is devoted to the way Maine de Biran and Samuel Taylor Coleridge extricated themselves from one epistemological paradigm to contribute to the foundation of another. It is divided in four chapters. The first chapter deals with the aforementioned change of paradigm, as corresponding to the emergence of two separate but associated movements, Romanticism and what the French philosopher refers to as The Age of History. The second chapter concerns the movement that preceded them, i.e. the Enlightenment, its main features according to both of our thinkers, and the two epistemological models that prevailed under it and influenced them heavily in their early years: Sensationism (Maine de Biran) and Associationism (Coleridge). The third chapter is about the probable influence of Immanuel Kant and his followers on Maine de Biran and Coleridge, and the various facts that allow us to claim originality for both thinkers works. In the fourth chapter, I contrast Maine de Biran and Coleridge with other movements and thinkers of their time, showing that, contrary to their respective thoughts, Maine de Biran and Coleridge could not but break free from the then prevailing systematic approach to truth. The second part of the thesis is concerned with the first part of its research question, namely, Maine de Birans and Coleridges conceptions of the will. It is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is a reflection on the will as a paradox: on the one hand, the will cannot be caused by any other phenomenon, or it is no longer a will; but it cannot be left purely undetermined, as if it is, it is then not different from chance. It thus needs, in order to be, to be contradictorily already moral. The second chapter is a comparison between Maine de Birans and Coleridges accounts of the origin of the will, where it is found that the French philosopher only observes that he has a will, whereas the English philosopher postulates the existence of this will. The comparison between Maine de Birans and Coleridges conceptions of the will is pursued in the third chapter, which tackles the question of the coincidence between the will and the self, in both thinkers works. It ends with the fourth chapter, which deals with the question of the relationship between the will and what is other to it, i.e. bodily sensations, passions and desires. The third part of the thesis focuses on the second part of its research question, namely the posterity of Maine de Birans and Coleridges works. It is divided into four chapters. The first chapter constitutes a continuation of the last chapter of the preceding part, in that that it deals with Maine de Birans and Coleridges relations to the other, and particularly their potential and actual audience, and with the way these relations may have affected their writing and publishing practices. The second chapter is a survey of both thinkers general reception, where it is found that, while Maine de Biran has been claimed by two important movements of thoughts as their initiator, Coleridge has been neglected by the only real movement he could have, or may indeed have pioneered. The third chapter is more directly concerned with the posterities of Maine de Birans and Coleridges conceptions of will, and attempts to show that the approach to, and the meaning of the will have evolved throughout the nineteenth century, and in the French Spiritualist and the British Idealist movements, from an essentially personal one to a more impersonal one. The fourth chapter is a partial conclusion, whose aim is to give a precise idea of where Maine de Biran and Coleridge stand, in relation to their century and to the philosophical movements and matters we are concerned with. The conclusion is a recapitulation of what has been found, with a particular emphasis on the dialogue initiated between Maine de Biran and Coleridge on the will, and the relation between will and posterity. It suggests that both thinkers have to pay the price of a problematic reception for the individuality that pervades their respective works, and goes further in suggesting that s/he who chooses to found his individuality on the will is bound to feel this incompleteness in his/her own personal life more acutely than s/he who does not. It ends with a reflection on fixedness and movement, as the two antagonistic states that the theoretician of the will paradoxically aspires to.
