Participation or further exclusion? : Contestations over forest conservation and control in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

This Ph.D. thesis Participation or Further Exclusion? Contestations over Forest Conservation and Control in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania describes and analyses the shift in the prevailing discourse of forest and biodiversity conservation policies and strategies towards more participatory approaches in Tanzania, and the changes in the practises of resource control. I explore the scope for and limits to the different actors and groups who are considered to form the community, to participate in resource control, in a specific historical and socio-economic context. I analyse whether, how and to which extent the targets of such participatory conservation interventions have been able to affect the formal rules and practices of resource control, and explore their different responses and discursive and other strategies in relation to conservation efforts. I approach the problematic through exploring certain participatory conservation interventions and related negotiations between the local farmers, government officials and the external actors in the case of two protected forest reserves in the southern part of the East Usambaras, Tanzania. The study area belongs to the Eastern Arc Mountains that are valued globally and nationally for their high level of biodiversity and number of endemic and near endemic species. The theoretical approach draws from theorising on power, participation and conservation in anthropology of development and post-structuralist political ecology. The material was collected in three stages between 2003 and 2008 by using an ethnographic approach. I interviewed and observed the actors and their resource use and control practices at the local level, including the representatives of the villagers living close to the protected forests and the conservation agency, but also followed the selected processes and engaged with the non-local agencies involved in the conservation efforts in the East Usambaras. In addition, the more recent processes of change and the actors strategies in resource control were contextualised against the social and environmental history of the study area and the evolvement of institutions of natural resource control. My findings indicate that the discourse of participation that has emerged in global conservation policy debate within the past three decades, and is being institutionalised in the national policies in many countries, including Tanzania, has shaped the practices of forest conservation in the East Usambaras, although in a fragmented and uneven way. Instrumental interpretation of participation, in which it is to serve the goals of improving the control of the forest and making it more acceptable and efficient, has prevailed among the governmental actors and conservation organisations. Yet, there is variation between the different projects and actors promoting participatory conservation regarding the goals and means of participation, e.g. to which extent the local people are to be involved in decision-making. The actors representing communities also have their diverse agendas, understandings and experiences regarding the rationality, outcomes and benefits of being involved in forest control, making the practices of control fluid. The elements of the exclusive conservation thinking and practices co-exist with the more recent participatory processes, and continue to shape the understandings and strategies of the actors involved in resource control. The ideas and narratives of the different discourses are reproduced and selectively used by the parties involved. The idea of forest conservation is not resisted as such by most of the actors at local level, quite the opposite. However, the strict regulations and rules governing access to resources, such as valuable timber species, continue to be disputed by many. Furthermore, the history of control, such as past injustices related to conservation and unfulfilled promises, undermines the participation of certain social groups in resource control and benefit sharing. This also creates controversies in the practices of conservation, and fuels conflicts regarding the establishment of new protected areas. In spite of this, the fact that the representatives of the communities have been invited to the arenas where information is shared, and principles and conditions of forest control and benefit sharing are discussed and partly decided upon, has created expectations among the participants, and opened up opportunities for some of the local actors to enhance their own, and sometimes wider interests in relation to resource control and the related benefits. The local actors experiences of the previous government and other interventions strongly affect how they position themselves in relation to conservation interventions, and their responses and strategies. However, my findings also suggest, in a similar way to research conducted in some other protected areas, that the benefits of participation in conservation and resource control tend to accrue unevenly between different groups of local people, e.g. due to unequal access to information and differences in their initial resources and social position.

Method for evaluation of the acoustical impedance of a black box, with or without mean flow, measuring pressures at fixed positions

The transmission-line or the impedance-tube method for the measurement of the acoustic impedance of any termination involves a search for various minima and maxima of pressure. For this purpose, arrangement has to be made for the microphone to travel along the length of the impedance tube, and this complicates the design of the tube considerably. The present paper discusses a method which consists in evaluating the tube attenuation factor at any convenient frequency by making use of measured SPL's at two (or more) fixed locations with a rigid termination, calculating the tube attenuation factor and wave number at the required frequency of interest with or without mean flow (as applicable), and finally evaluating the impedance of the given termination by measuring and using SPL's at three (or more) fixed locations. Thus, the required impedance tube is considerably smaller in length, simpler in design, easier to manufacture, cheaper in cost and more convenient to use. The design of the tube is also discussed. Incidentally, it is also possible to evaluate the impedance at any low frequency without having to use a larger impedance tube.

The effect of suction on boundary layer for rotating flows with or without magnetic field

The effect of suction on the steady laminar incompressible boundarylayer flow for a stationary infinite disc with or without magnetic field, when the fluid at a large distance from the surface of the disc undergoes a solid body rotation, has been studied. The governing coupled nonlinear equations have been solved numerically using the shooting method with least square convergence criterion. It has been found that suction tends to reduce the velocity overshoot and damp the oscillation.

Knowledge identification and acquisition in SMEs: Strategically emergent or just ad hoc

Researchers and practitioners have been preoccupied with identifying ways for larger organizations to acquire and manage knowledge, however far less research attention has been directed towards these same pursuits in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper examines how SMEs engage in knowledge identification and acquisition; in particular how they identify knowledge needs and source this knowledge to enhance their business. The research studied six SMEs in Australia and Denmark. Contrary to prevailing assumptions, the findings suggest that SMEs engage in identification and sourcing of critical knowledge, albeit often with less than formal processes. These organizations relied on business plans to direct knowledge activities and ensure balance between long-range planning and flexibility. The results address a lack of empirical evidence about SME approaches to knowledge identification and acquisition, and demonstrate that although SMEs may approach such activities in an informal way, they are nonetheless deliberate and strategic in their knowledge activities.

Anderson transitions in Ln1-xSrxCoO3 (Ln=Pr or Nd)

Electrical conductivity measurements show that Ln1-xSrxCoO3, (Ln = Pr or Nd) undergoes a non-metal-metal transition when x-0 3. The d.c. conductivity of compositions with 0or a change in the mechanism of conduction (around 350 K) from variable range hopping to transport at Ec. All these transport properties suggest that Co4+ ions in Ln1-xSrxCoO3 (0orm a degenerate gas and that the states at the Fermi energy are Anderson localized.

Popper or Kuhn: Truth and the progress of science

The questions of whether science pursues truth as correspondence to reality and whether science in fact progresses towards attaining a truthful understanding of physical reality are fundamental and contested in the philosophy of science. On one side of the debate stands Popper, who argues that science is objective, necessarily assumes a correspondence theory of truth, and inevitably progresses toward truth as physical theories develop, gaining a more truthful understanding of reality through progressively more sophisticated empirical analysis. Conversely Kuhn, influenced by postmodern philosophy, argues that ultimate truth cannot be attained since no objective metaphysical reality exists and it cannot be known, and consequently the notion of scientific objectivity and "progress" is a myth, marred by philosophical and ideological value judgments. Ultimately, Kuhn reduces so-called scientific progress through the adoption of successive paradigms to leaps of "faith". This paper seeks a reconciliation of the two extremes, arguing that Popper is correct in the sense that science assumes a correspondence theory of truth and may progress toward truth as physical theories develop, while simultaneously acknowledging with Kuhn that science is not purely objective and free of value judgments. The notion of faith is also critical, for it was the acknowledgement of God's existence as the creator and instituter of observable natural laws which allowed the development of science and the scientific method in the first place. Therefore, accepting and synthesising the contentions that science is to some extent founded on faith, assumes and progresses toward truth, and is subject to value judgments is necessary for the progress of science.

Calm or storm? : Wind power actors perceptions of Finnish wind power and its future

Wind power has grown fast internationally. It can reduce the environmental impact of energy production and increase energy security. Finland has turbine industry but wind electricity production has been slow, and nationally set capacity targets have not been met. I explored social factors that have affected the slow development of wind power in Finland by studying the perceptions of Finnish national level wind power actors. By that I refer to people who affect the development of wind power sector, such as officials, politicians, and representatives of wind industries and various organisations. The material consisted of interviews, a questionnaire, and written sources. The perceptions of wind power, its future, and methods to promote it were divided. They were studied through discourse analysis, content analysis, and scenario construction. Definition struggles affect views of the significance and potential of wind power in Finland, and also affect investments in wind power and wind power policy choices. Views of the future were demonstrated through scenarios. The views included scenarios of fast growth, but in the most pessimistic views, wind power was not thought to be competitive without support measures even in 2025, and the wind power capacity was correspondingly low. In such a scenario, policy tool choices were expected to remain similar to ones in use at the time of the interviews. So far, the development in Finland has followed closely this pessimistic scenario. Despite the scepticism about wind electricity production, wind turbine industry was seen as a credible industry. For many wind power actors as well as for the Finnish wind power policy, the turbine industry is a significant motive to promote wind power. Domestic electricity production and the export turbine industry are linked in discourse through so-called home market argumentation. Finnish policy tools have included subsidies, research and development funding, and information policies. The criteria used to evaluate policy measures were both process-oriented and value-based. Feed-in tariffs and green certificates that are common elsewhere have not been taken to use in Finland. Some interviewees considered such tools unsuitable for free electricity markets and for the Finnish policy style, dictatorial, and being against western values. Other interviewees supported their use because of their effectiveness. The current Finnish policy tools are not sufficiently effective to increase wind power production significantly. Marginalisation of wind power in discourses, pessimistic views of the future, and the view that the small consumer demand for wind electricity represents the political views of citizens towards promoting wind power, make it more difficult to take stronger policy measures to use. Wind power has not yet significantly contributed to the ecological modernisation of the energy sector in Finland, but the situation may change as the need to reduce emissions from energy production continues.

Immune response to insulin and changes in the gut immune system in children with or at risk for type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is considered to be an autoimmune disease. The cause of T1D is the destruction of insulin-producing β-cells in the pancreatic islets. The autoimmune nature of T1D is characterized by the presence of autoreactive T-cells and autoantibodies against β-cell molecules. Insulin is the only β-cell-specific autoantigen associated with T1D but the insulin autoantibodies (IAAs) are difficult to measure with proper sensitivity. T-cell assays for detection of autoreactive T-cells, such as insulin-specific T-cells, have also proven to be difficult to perform. The genetic risk of T1D is associated with the HLA gene region but the environmental factors also play an important role. The most studied environmental risk factors of T1D are enteroviruses and cow's milk which both affect the immune system through the gut. One hypothesis is that the insulin-specific immune response develops against bovine insulin in cow's milk during early infancy and later spreads to include human insulin. The aims of this study were to determine whether the separation of immunoglobulin (Ig)G from plasma would improve the sensitivity of the IAA assay and how insulin treatment affects the cellular immune response to insulin in newly diagnosed patients. Furthermore, the effect of insulin concentration in mother's breast milk on the development of antibodies to dietary insulin in the child was examined. Small intestinal biopsies were also obtained from children with T1D to characterize any immunological changes associated with T1D in the gut. The isolation of the IgG fraction from the plasma of T1D patients negative for plasma IAA led to detectable IAA levels that exceeded those in the control children. Thus the isolation of IgG may improve the sensitivity of the IAA assay. The effect of insulin treatment on insulin-specific T-cells was studied by culturing peripheral blood mononuclear cells with insulin. The insulin stimulation induced increased expression of regulatory T-cell markers, such as Foxp3, in those patients treated with insulin than in patients examined before initiating insulin treatment. This finding suggests that insulin treatment in patients with T1D stimulates regulatory T-cells in vivo and this may partly explain the difficulties in measuring autoantigen-specific T-cell responses in recently diagnosed patients. The stimulation of regulatory T-cells by insulin treatment may also explain the remission period often seen after initiating insulin treatment. In the third study we showed that insulin concentration in mother's breast milk correlates inversely with the levels of bovine insulin-specific antibodies in those infants who were exposed to cow's milk proteins in their diet, suggesting that human insulin in breast milk induces tolerance to dietary bovine insulin. However, in infants who later developed T1D-associated autoantibodies, the insulin concentration in their mother's breast milk was increased. This finding may indicate that in those children prone to β-cell autoimmunity, breast milk insulin does not promote tolerance to insulin. In the small intestinal biopsies the presence of several immunological markers were quantified with the RT-PCR. From these markers the expression of the interleukin (IL)-18 cytokine was significantly increased in the gut in patients with T1D compared with children with celiac disease or control children. The increased IL-18 expression lends further support for the hypothesis that the gut immune system is involved in the pathogenesis of T1D.

An engineering or behavioural approach? A study into employee’s perceptions regarding the effectiveness of occupational road safety initiatives

Background and Aims Considerable variation has been documented with fleet safety interventions’ abilities to create lasting behavioural change, and research has neglected to consider employees’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of fleet interventions. This is a critical oversight as employees’ beliefs and acceptance levels (as well as the perceived organisational commitment to safety) can ultimately influence levels of effectiveness, and this study aimed to examine such perceptions in Australian fleet settings. Method 679 employees sourced from four Australian organisations completed a safety climate questionnaire as well as provided perspectives about the effectiveness of 35 different safety initiatives. Results Countermeasures that were perceived as most effective were a mix of human and engineering-based approaches: - (a) purchasing safer vehicles; - (b) investigating serious vehicle incidents, and; - (c) practical driver skills training. In contrast, least effective countermeasures were considered to be: - (a) signing a promise card; - (b) advertising a company’s phone number on the back of cars for complaints and compliments, and; - (c) communicating cost benefits of road safety to employees. No significant differences in employee perceptions were identified based on age, gender, employees’ self-reported crash involvement or employees’ self-reported traffic infringement history. Perceptions of safety climate were identified to be “moderate” but were not linked to self-reported crash or traffic infringement history. However, higher levels of safety climate were positively correlated with perceived effectiveness of some interventions. Conclusion Taken together, employees believed occupational road safety risks could best be managed by the employer by implementing a combination of engineering and human resource initiatives to enhance road safety. This paper will further outline the key findings in regards to practice as well as provide direction for future research.

Should I stay or should I go? : Reproductive and dispersal strategies of site-specific liverwort species

The area of intensively managed forests, in which required conditions for several liverwort species are seldom found, has expanded over the forest landscape during the last century. Liverworts are very sensitive to habitat changes, because they demand continuously moist microclimate. Consequently, about third of the forest liverworts have been classified as threatened or near threatened in Finland. The general objective of this thesis is to increase knowledge of the reproductive and dispersal strategies of the substrate-specific forest bryophytes. A further aim was to develop recommendations for conservation measures for species inhabiting unstable and stable habitats in forest landscape. Both population ecological and genetic methods have been applied in the research. Anastrophyllum hellerianum inhabits spatially and temporally limited substrate patches, decaying logs, which can be considered as unstable habitats. The results show that asexual reproduction by gemmae is the dominant mode of reproduction, whereas sexual reproduction is considerably infrequent. Unlike previously assumed, not only spores but also the asexual propagules may contribute to long-distance dispersal. The combination of occasional spore production and practically continuous, massive gemma production facilitates dispersal both on a local scale and over long distances, and it compensates for the great propagule losses that take place preceding successful establishment at suitable sites. However, establishment probability of spores may be restricted because of environmental and biological limitations linked to the low success of sexual reproduction. Long-lasting dry seasons are likely to result in a low success of sexual reproduction and decreased release rate of gemmae from the shoots, and consequent fluctuations in population sizes. In the long term, the substratum limitation is likely to restrict population sizes and cause local extinctions, especially in small-sized remnant populations. Contrastingly, larger forest fragments with more natural disturbance dynamics, to which the species is adapted, are pivotal to species survival. Trichocolea tomentella occupies stable spring and mesic habitats in woodland. The relatively small populations are increasingly fragmented with a high risk for extinction for extrinsic reasons. The results show that T. tomentella mainly invests in population persistence by effective clonal growth via forming independent ramets and in competitive ability, and considerably less in sexuality and dispersal potential. The populations possess relatively high levels of genetic diversity regardless of population size and of degree of isolation. Thus, the small-sized populations inhabiting stable habitats should not be neglected when establishing conservation strategies for the species and when considering the habitat protection of small spring sites. Restricted dispersal capacity, also on a relatively small spatial scale, is likely to prevent successful (re-)colonization in the potential habitat patches of recovering forest landscapes. By contrast, random short-range dispersal of detached vegetative fragments within populations at suitable habitat seems to be frequent. Thus, the restoration actions of spring and streamside habitats close to the populations of T. tomentella may contribute to population expansion. That, in turn, decreases the harmful effects of environmental stochasticity.

Factors influencing seasonal and monthly changes in the group size of chital or axis deer in southern India

Chital or axis deer (Axis axis) form fluid groups that change in size temporally and in relation to habitat. Predictions of hypotheses relating animal density, rainfall, habitat structure, and breeding seasonality, to changes in chital group size were assessed simultaneously using multiple regression models of monthly data collected over a 2 yr period in Guindy National Park, in southern India. Over 2,700 detections of chital groups were made during four seasons in three habitats (forest, scrubland and grassland). In scrubland and grassland, chital group size was positively related to animal density, which increased with rainfall. This suggests that in these habitats, chital density increases in relation to food availability, and group sizes increase due to higher encounter rate and fusion of groups. The density of chital in forest was inversely related to rainfall, but positively to the number of fruiting tree species and availability of fallen litter, their forage in this habitat. There was little change in mean group size in the forest, although chital density more than doubled during the dry season and summer. Dispersion of food items or the closed nature of the forest may preclude formation of larger groups. At low densities, group sizes in all three habitats were similar. Group sizes increased with chital density in scrubland and grassland, but more rapidly in the latter—leading to a positive relationship between openness and mean group size at higher densities. It is not clear, however, that this relationship is solely because of the influence of habitat structure. The rutting index (monthly percentage of adult males in hard antler) was positively related to mean group size in forest and scrubland, probably reflecting the increase in group size due to solitary males joining with females during the rut. The fission-fusion system of group formation in chital is thus interactively influenced by several factors. Aspects that need further study, such as interannual variability, are highlighted.

Legumes or nitrification inhibitors to reduce {N2O} emissions from subtropical cereal cropping systems in Oxisols?

The DAYCENT biogeochemical model was used to investigate how the use of fertilizers coated with nitrification inhibitors and the introduction of legumes in the crop rotation can affect subtropical cereal production and {N2O} emissions. The model was validated using comprehensive multi-seasonal, high-frequency dataset from two field investigations conducted on an Oxisol, which is the most common soil type in subtropical regions. Different N fertilizer rates were tested for each N management strategy and simulated under varying weather conditions. DAYCENT was able to reliably predict soil N dynamics, seasonal {N2O} emissions and crop production, although some discrepancies were observed in the treatments with low or no added N inputs and in the simulation of daily {N2O} fluxes. Simulations highlighted that the high clay content and the relatively low C levels of the Oxisol analyzed in this study limit the chances for significant amounts of N to be lost via deep leaching or denitrification. The application of urea coated with a nitrification inhibitor was the most effective strategy to minimize {N2O} emissions. This strategy however did not increase yields since the nitrification inhibitor did not substantially decrease overall N losses compared to conventional urea. Simulations indicated that replacing part of crop N requirements with N mineralized by legume residues is the most effective strategy to reduce {N2O} emissions and support cereal productivity. The results of this study show that legumes have significant potential to enhance the sustainable and profitable intensification of subtropical cereal cropping systems in Oxisols.

Educational action research in Singapore: To prove or improve?

The rise of educational action research amongst schools in Singapore can be attributed to the government’s belief that educational research and reform can improve school performance and help Singapore keep pace with the impact of globalization. However, against a backdrop of neo-liberal educational reform where efficiency, accountability and demonstrable outcomes are valued, the underlying intent of the action research projects would seem to be inconsistent with the emancipatory intent normally associated with action research. A systematic review was conducted of 71 action research projects submitted to a local educational conference in 2006. Of concern to us is how action research has been narrowly interpreted and recruited simply as an evaluative tool with the emancipatory potential largely ignored. The paper is theoretically framed by governmentality and performativity to explore the embedded power relations that may “fabricate” the action research projects. The findings and discussions suggest a need for the government, schools and teacher-researchers to reflexively question the current expectation of action research and to be clear about its broader purpose

Regional Blocs: Building Blocks or stumbling Blocks? (Book Review)

Reviews the book `Regional Blocks: Building Blocks or Stumbling Blocks?,' by A.S. and P. Bhalla.