Participatory research approaches in the development of improved management practices in indigenous chickens production systems with smallholder farmers in Kenya

This thesis is concerned with development of improved management practices in indigenous chicken production systems in a research process that includes participatory approaches with smallholder farmers and other stakeholders in Kenya. The research process involved a wide range of activities that included on-station experiments, field surveys, stakeholder consultations in workshops, seminars and visits, and on-farm farmer participatory research to evaluate the effect of some improved management interventions on production performance of indigenous chickens. The participatory research was greatly informed from collective experiences and lessons of the previous activities. The on-station studies focused on hatching, growth and nutritional characteristics of the indigenous chickens. Four research publications from these studies are included in this thesis. Quantitative statistical analyses were applied and they involved use of growth models estimated with non-linear regressions for the growth characteristics, chi-square determinations to investigate differences among different reciprocal crosses of indigenous chickens and general linear models and covariance determination for the nutrition study. The on-station studies brought greater understanding of performance and production characteristics of indigenous chickens and the influence of management practices on these characteristics. The field surveys and stakeholder consultations helped in understanding the overarching issues affecting the productivity of the indigenous chickens systems and their place in the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. These activities created strong networking opportunities with stakeholders from a wide spectrum. The on-farm farmer participatory research involved selection of 200 farmers in five regions followed by training and introduction of interventions on improved management practices which included housing, vaccination, deworming and feed supplementation. Implementation and monitoring was mainly done by individual farmers continuously for close to one and half years. Six quarterly visits to the farms were made by the research team to monitor and provide support for on-going project activities. The data collected has been analysed for 5 consecutive 3-monthly periods. Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied to analyse the data collected involving treatment applications, production characteristics and flock demography characteristics. Out of the 200 farmers initially selected, 173 had records on treatment applications and flock demography characteristics while 127 farmers had records on production characteristics. The demographic analysis with a dissimilarity index of flock size produced 7 distinct farm groups from among the 173 farms. Two of these farm groups were represented in similar numbers in each of the five regions. The research process also involved a number of dissemination and communication strategies that have brought the process and project outcomes into the domain of accessibility by wider readership locally and globally. These include workshops, seminars, field visits and consultations, local and international conferences, electronic conferencing, publications and personal communication via emailing and conventional posting. A number of research and development proposals were also developed based on the knowledge and experiences gained from the research process. The thesis captures the research process activities and outcomes in 8 chapters which include in ascending order ��� introduction, theoretical concepts underpinning FPR, research methodology and process, on-station research output, FPR descriptive statistical analysis, FPR inferential statistical analysis on production characteristics, FPR demographic analysis and conclusions. Various research approaches both quantitative and qualitative have been applied in the research process indicating the possibilities and importance of combining both systems for greater understanding of issues being studied. In our case, participatory studies of the improved management of indigenous chickens indicates their potential importance as livelihood assets for poor people.

���He has told you, O man, what is good!���

Purpose ��� The purpose of this paper is to introduce three fundamental concepts of Jewish thought that act as the basis of society. The authors use these concepts to examine standard organisational behaviour in modern society and highlight basic shortcomings of modern organisational thought. Design/methodology/approach ��� The methodology is a conceptual/theoretical one. Findings ��� The paper reveals the shortcomings of modern organisation and its members of not accepting the three fundamental concepts that underpin Jewish thought and, in turn, the unwillingness of the organisation's members to resume responsibility. Originality/value ��� This paper highlights three fundamental values from Jewish thought that are applicable to all, using a domain of knowledge that scholars usually use in research into management.

Categories, concepts and units: representing energy demand in and through time

Methods of data collection are unavoidably rooted in some sort of theoretical paradigm, and are inextricably tied to an implicit agenda or broad problem framing. These prior orientations are not always explicit, but they matter for what data is collected and how it is used. They also structure opportunities for asking new questions, for linking or bridging between existing data sets and they matter even more when data is re-purposed for uses not initially anticipated. In this paper we provide an historical and comparative review of the changing categories used in organising and collecting data on mobility/travel and time use as part of ongoing work to understand, conceptualise and describe the changing patterns of domestic and mobility related energy demand within UK society. This exercise reveals systematic differences of method and approach, for instance in units of measurement, in how issues of time/duration and periodicity are handled, and how these strategies relate to the questions such data is routinely used to address. It also points to more fundamental differences in how traditions of research into mobility, domestic energy and time use have developed. We end with a discussion of the practical implications of these diverse histories for understanding and analysing changing patterns of energy/mobility demand at different scales.

Basic concepts for convection parameterization in weather forecast and climate models: COST Action ES0905 final report

The research network ���Basic Concepts for Convection Parameterization in Weather Forecast and Climate Models��� was organized with European funding (COST Action ES0905) for the period of 2010���2014. Its extensive brainstorming suggests how the subgrid-scale parameterization problem in atmospheric modeling, especially for convection, can be examined and developed from the point of view of a robust theoretical basis. Our main cautions are current emphasis on massive observational data analyses and process studies. The closure and the entrainment���detrainment problems are identified as the two highest priorities for convection parameterization under the mass���flux formulation. The need for a drastic change of the current European research culture as concerns policies and funding in order not to further deplete the visions of the European researchers focusing on those basic issues is emphasized.

Examining Cognitive Models of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Adolescents

Abstract. Three influential theoretical models of OCD focus upon the cognitive factors of inflated responsibility (Salkovskis, 1985), thought-action fusion (Rachman, 1993) and meta-cognitive beliefs (Wells and Matthews, 1994). Little is known about the relevance of these models in adolescents or about the nature of any direct or mediating relationships between these variables and OCD symptoms. This was a cross-sectional correlational design with 223 non-clinical adolescents aged 13 to 16 years. All participants completed questionnaires measuring inflated responsibility, thought-action fusion, meta-cognitive beliefs and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Inflated responsibility, thought-action fusion and metacognitive beliefs were significantly associated with higher levels of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. These variables accounted for 35% of the variance in obsessive-compulsive symptoms, with inflated responsibility and meta-cognitive beliefs both emerging as significant independent predictors. Inflated responsibility completely mediated the effect of thoughtaction fusion and partially mediated the effect of meta-cognitive beliefs. Support for the downward extension of cognitive models to understanding OCD in a younger population was shown. Findings suggest that inflated responsibility and meta-cognitive beliefs may be particularly important cognitive concepts in OCD. Methodological limitations must be borne in mind and future research is needed to replicate and extend findings in clinical samples. Keywords: Obsessive compulsive disorder, adolescents, cognitive models.

Introduction: the legacy of Greek political thought

This Introduction offers context for the individual papers by examining the intersections and productive tensions between political thought and classical reception studies. While Plato and Aristotle have long been privileged interlocutors for political philosophers, classical reception studies has pluralised both this ancient canon and given rise to a more complex understanding of the modern heirs of ancient political thought. Similarly, the insights of studying the history of political texts and ideas across a longer tradition calls into question the fixity of concepts such as democracy, empire and political freedom. Indeed, we query the very notion of tradition by emphasising how the past has been repeatedly constructed and reconstructed in divergent modern political discourses and conversely how modern political theories and realities have been shaped and reshaped by an idea of antiquity. The Introduction closes with a brief survey of the collected papers.

A Comunica����o Social do IBGE e as novas tecnologias para a integra����o da informa����o: o caso da introdu����o da Internet

O presente trabalho tenta mostrar a import��ncia da aplica����o de novas tecnologias no mundo globalizado, especialmente a rede Internet, como ferramenta indispens��vel na melhoria da qualidade da divulga����o dos estudos produzidos pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estat��stica - IBGE, pela Coordena����o de Comunica����o Social do ��rg��o. A pesquisa valeu-se de documentos administrativos, tais como Decretos, Resolu����es, Portarias, Boletins de Servi��o, entre outros materiais dispon��veis que pudessem auxiliar nessa mem��ria institucional. Utilizou como embasamento te��rico a literatura especializada e para a pesquisa qualitativa aplicou a metodologia pertinente �� pesquisa com coleta de dados da Hist��ria Oral. Com o prop��sito de resgatar e percorrer o caminho hist��rico da cria����o do site do IBGE na Internet e a amplia����o de seu uso por localidades do Brasil, esta pesquisa priorizou a import��ncia que a Internet teve para a divulga����o e dissemina����o dos trabalhos produzidos pelo IBGE. Para poder analisar esse processo foi preciso recorrer a alguns conceitos capazes de ajudar na reflex��o sobre as transforma����es em curso, tais como: inova����o tecnol��gica, cultura comunicacional, globaliza����o, identidade global, identidade nacional, entre outros.

Teorias em estrat��gia

A estrat��gia empresarial �� uma disciplina jovem. Comparado com os campos de estudo de economia e sociologia o campo de estrat��gia empresarial pode ser visto como um fen��meno de forma����o mais recente, embora extremamente din��mico em sua capacidade de criar abordagens te��ricas diferenciadas. Este trabalho discute a recente prolifera����o de teorias em estrat��gia empresarial, propondo um modelo de classifica����o destas teorias baseado na an��lise emp��rica do modelo de escolas de pensamento em estrat��gia empresarial desenvolvido por Mintzberg, Ahlstrand e Lampel em seu livro Saf��ri de Estrat��gia (1998). As poss��veis conseq����ncias relativas �� intera����o entre teoria e pr��tica s��o tamb��m discutidas apresentando o que definimos como a s��ndrome do ornitorrinco.

Combining collaborative and content-based filtering to recommend research papers

The number of research papers available today is growing at a staggering rate, generating a huge amount of information that people cannot keep up with. According to a tendency indicated by the United States��� National Science Foundation, more than 10 million new papers will be published in the next 20 years. Because most of these papers will be available on the Web, this research focus on exploring issues on recommending research papers to users, in order to directly lead users to papers of their interest. Recommender systems are used to recommend items to users among a huge stream of available items, according to users��� interests. This research focuses on the two most prevalent techniques to date, namely Content-Based Filtering and Collaborative Filtering. The first explores the text of the paper itself, recommending items similar in content to the ones the user has rated in the past. The second explores the citation web existing among papers. As these two techniques have complementary advantages, we explored hybrid approaches to recommending research papers. We created standalone and hybrid versions of algorithms and evaluated them through both offline experiments on a database of 102,295 papers, and an online experiment with 110 users. Our results show that the two techniques can be successfully combined to recommend papers. The coverage is also increased at the level of 100% in the hybrid algorithms. In addition, we found that different algorithms are more suitable for recommending different kinds of papers. Finally, we verified that users��� research experience influences the way users perceive recommendations. In parallel, we found that there are no significant differences in recommending papers for users from different countries. However, our results showed that users��� interacting with a research paper Recommender Systems are much happier when the interface is presented in the user���s native language, regardless the language that the papers are written. Therefore, an interface should be tailored to the user���s mother language.

Jogos Pan-Americanos de 2007: uma avalia����o social

O presente estudo objetivou verificar at�� que ponto os impactos e o legado da implementa����o dos Jogos Pan-americanos de 2007 alteraram as condi����es sociais e a forma de utiliza����o do espa��o urbano na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Considerou-se que a competi����o das Am��ricas esteja inserida na aplica����o dos conceitos da cidade global, uma vez que os festivais esportivos internacionais se transformaram em megaeventos na esteira da consolida����o do pensamento do planejamento urbano competitivo. Para contextualizar essa an��lise foi necess��ria uma pesquisa sobre a trajet��ria urbana da cidade-sede na interse����o dos dois movimentos: cidade global e megaeventos. Tendo em vista que a decis��o da realiza����o do megaevento carioca foi tomada pela esfera p��blica, assim como o seu financiamento, foram analisados os gastos estatais e reclassificados, segundo a metodologia de O���Connor (1977), e divididos nas fun����es de acumula����o e de legitima����o com o intuito de identificar os favorecidos e os desfavorecidos pela pol��tica p��blica efetivada. Os resultados da investiga����o sinalizam um aprofundamento da desigualdade social e urbana, via transfer��ncias de recursos p��blicos para o dom��nio do capital privado

O universo psicossocial de um grupo de mulheres idosas

Este trabalhe tem cerne objetivo investigar e universo psicossocial de um grupo de mulheres idosas de classe socioecon��mica baixa. Inicialmente, s��o analisadas as problem��ticas da mulher e de idoso a partir de uma revis��o cr��tica da literatura, compreendendo estudes te��ricos e pesquisas emp��ricas realizadas no Brasil. Tamb��m s��o focalizados os conceitos de identidade e de marginalidade, cem frequ��ncia referidos no percurso de trabalho. A seguir, �� relatada uma pesquisa de campo em que se utiliza e m��todo de hist��ria de vida. Foram entrevistadas 20 mulheres cem idade acima de 60 anos, de baixa renda, residentes em uma cidade de m��dio porte de Estado de Espirite Santo. Apresenta-se uma caracteriza����o pr��via da popula����o e posteriormente uma an��lise das entrevistas. Nesta an��lise observam-se algumas converg��ncias b��sicas nas condi����es objetivas de vida e nas representa����es constru��das pele grupo das entrevistadas acerca de suas viv��ncias, no que se refere especialmente ��s suas condi����es de trabalho, ��s suas inser����es nos contextos familiar e p��blico, ��s imagens das figuras masculina e feminina elaboradas e �� situa����o. vivencial de envelhecimento. Destacam-se entre essas converg��ncias: o exerc��cio de atividades laborais informais n��o-especializadas; a refer��ncia frequente ao contexto familiar; a constru����o de uma auto imagem fragilizada ou amb��gua que n��o se coaduna com as experi��ncias de sustent��culo familiar relatadas; e uma adequa����o/inadequa����o ao modelo vigente de velhice, denotando, frequentemente, uma defasagem entre a idade cronol��gica e o sentimento subjetivo do envelhecimento. Finalmente, a conclus��o procura integrar os aspectos mais significativos observados nos relatos, delineando-se o perfil psicossocial do grupo estudado.

Institucionaliza����o do ensino em administra����o de empresas na cidade de S��o Paulo: um estudo de caso sobre a Faculdade de Economia, Administra����o e Contabilidade da Universidade de S��o Paulo (FEA-USP)

O objetivo deste trabalho �� entender o processo de institucionaliza����o do curso de gradua����o em Administra����o de Empresas da Faculdade de Economia, Administra����o e Contabilidade da Universidade de S��o Paulo (FEA-USP), tendo como referencial te��rico o modelo de Barley e Tolbert (1997). Explorando aspectos hist��ricos para tentar explicar o ���esp��rito do tempo��� (Zeitgeist) e ilustrar o processo de surgimento de uma nova gradua����o para a USP, a metodologia do estudo de caso (YIN, 2001) foi a escolhida por permitir uma maior gama de recursos de pesquisa. Dessa forma, o trabalho analisou as Atas de Reuni��o da Congrega����o da ��poca (1946-1965), entrevistas colhidas com quinze pessoas entre protagonistas e observadores da hist��ria desta institui����o durante o per��odo analisado, jornais publicados pelos pr��prios alunos da Faculdade e bibliografia sobre o assunto. Utilizando-se de conceitos presentes em Giddens (1979, 1986), Machado-da-Silva, Fonseca e Crubellate (2005), DiMaggio e Powell (1983), Hardy e Maguire (2008), Khurana (2007), entre outros autores que trabalham com a Teoria Institucional, o processo de institucionaliza����o do curso de Administra����o de Empresas na FEA-USP �� analisado, relacionando-se a literatura dispon��vel com os fatos encontrados em documentos e depoimentos colhidos. Alguns acontecimentos chamam a aten����o, como a demora em mais de uma d��cada para a funda����o da FEA dentro da USP, a liga����o da cadeira de Ci��ncia da Administra����o com o Instituto de Administra����o (IA), que teve sua g��nese a partir do Departamento do Servi��o P��blico (DSP), ��rg��o ligado ao Governo do Estado de S��o Paulo. Singularidades �� parte, houve pessoas e situa����es necess��rias para que o curso surgisse na USP apenas a partir da d��cada de 1960. Nesse sentido, os pap��is desempenhados pelo Prof. Ant��nio Delfim Netto e pelo Prof. Ruy Aguiar da Silva Leme s��o explorados com maior detalhamento, tendo em vista o grande impacto que suas decis��es tiveram no processo de cria����o e estabelecimento da carreira de administra����o. De fato, tem-se que as institui����es, com ��nfase nesta pesquisa sobre a FEA-USP, s��o locais prop��cios para o estudo da mudan��a e que os atores sociais atrav��s de suas a����es empreendidas s��o capazes de gerar modifica����o ou reprodu����o do status quo dentro destes estabelecimentos. As institui����es constituem possibilidades para aqueles que a comp��em ao mesmo tempo em que constrangem a����es e s��o necess��rias na sociedade tal qual como �� apresentada na modernidade.