Rural livelihoods, empowerment and the environment: Going beyond the farm boundary

The 15th International Symposium of the Association for farming Systems Research-Extension (AFSR-E) was held at the University of Pretoria between 29 November and 4 December 1998 with the theme of "Rural livelihoods, empowerment and the environment: Going beyond the farm boundary". The conference was sponsored by twenty organisations involved in farming systems research (a list of sponsors is attached as Appendix 1) and was attended by 560 delegates from more than seventy countries (delegate list attached as Appendix 2). The Symposium addressed five sub-themes: ecological sustainable development and farming systems; short term farmer survival versus long term sustainability; empowerment through capacity building; the institutional environment and farming systems; and methodological issues and challenges

An investigation of pesticide and microbial interactions on coffee as a means of developing an IPM strategy for economically important coffee pests in small-holder farming systems in Malawi

The results in this report highlight the importance of coffee in the rural communities of northern Malawi, the recent changes that have occurred in the system and smallholder's desire to continue with the production of the crop. Economic analysis also indicates that coffee should remain an important element of the farming system, but that there are key production and marketing issues which need to be addressed if coffee cultivation is to be successful in this sector. These include: a) reducing the economic impact of coffee plant diseases and insect pests under the smallholder low input/output system b) development of a new sustainable credit system c) creating an enabling environment for the effective development of a competitive domestic marketing system including access to rural pulperies (wet factories) for private buyers. Whilst this project is principally concerned with the first issue, as the others fall outside its direct remit, they remain important for the successful uptake of the project's scientific outputs

A CLASSIFICATION OF LOWER PALEOZOIC CARBONATE-BEARING ROCKS FOR GEOTECHNICAL APPLICATIONS

An empirically-based classification of lower Paleozoic carbonate-bearing rocks was created for field-based geotechnical applications. Geotechnical parameters were subsequently correlated to that classification. Seven hundred seventy-seven samples were used as the basis for the classification. Thirteen categories based on visual and tactile properties and a hydrochloric acid test were created. Samples were from central, north-central, and south-central Kentucky and represented the majority of Ordovician exposures in the state, and some Mississippian exposures. Few Silurian and Devonian units were included in the sample set. Geotechnical parameters, including density as well as elastic constants (shear and compression wave velocities, Poisson’s ratio, Young’s modulus, and shear modulus), were calculated for 113 representative samples from the classification. Compression strength testing was completed on 29 samples and the slake durability index was calculated for 18 samples. Testing values were correlated to the classification system in an attempt to use the classification as a predictive and comparative tool for geotechnical applications. Despite samples being heterogeneous and isotropic, each of the 13 categories behaved differently and predictably, with the sharpest contrast in siliciclastic and carbonate rocks

cytonGrasp: Cyton Alpha Controller via GraspIt! Simulation

This thesis addresses an expansion of the control programs for the Cyton Alpha 7D 1G arm. The original control system made use of configurable software which exploited the arm’s seven degrees of freedom and kinematic redundancy to control the arm based on desired behaviors that were configured off-line. The inclusions of the GraspIt! grasp planning simulator and toolkit enables the Cyton Alpha to be used in more proactive on-line grasping problems, as well as, presenting many additional tools for on-line learning applications. In short, GraspIt! expands what is possible with the Cyton Alpha to include many machine learning tools and opportunities for future research. Noteworthy features of GraspIt!: • A 3D user interface allowing the user to see and interact virtual objects, obstacles, and robots, in addition to a 3D representation of the Cyton Alpha • A collision detection and contact determination system within simulation • On-line grasp analysis routines • Visualization methods for determining the weak points within a grasp, as well as, creating projections of grasp quality and ability to resist dynamic forces. • Computation of numerical grasp quality metrics and visualization methods for proposed grasps • Dynamics engine • Support for lower-dimensional hand posture subspaces • Interaction with sensors (Flock of Birds tracker) and hardware (Pioneer robot) within simulation • GraspIt! can generate huge databases of labeled grasp data, which can be used for data-driven grasp-planning algorithms and has built in support for the Columbia Grasp Database. By making use of the GraspIt! simulator, it is possible to test algorithms for grasp manipulation, grasp planning, or grasp synthesis more quickly and with greater repeatability than would be possible on the real robot. Contributions of this system include: 1. A joint based 3D rendering of the Cyton Alpha 7D 1G arm 2. Simulated bodies for several objects in the DI Lab 3. Support for multiple representations of joint data within three-dimensional space • Euler Angles • Quaternions • Denavit-Hartenberg Parameters 4. Framework for future work in grasp-planning, grasp synthesis, cooperative grasping tasks, and transfer learning applications with the Cyton Alpha arm

The Impact of Tier 1 PBIS Implementation Fidelity on Education Outcomes for Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

This dissertation study aimed to examine the relationship between Tier 1 Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) implementation fidelity and the academic (e.g., MAP Growth scores) and behavioral outcomes (e.g., major office discipline referrals, suspensions). High quality PBIS implementation fidelity has been linked with improved standardized test scores and decreased instances of major office discipline referrals, in-school suspensions, and out-of-school suspensions for students with and without behavioral difficulties. However, no research has been done on the impact of PBIS implementation fidelity on students with ADHD. It is estimated that at least 40% of students with ADHD require at least one school-based support (e.g., behavioral interventions, academic interventions, an Individualized Education Plan [IEP]), but less than half of students with ADHD receive formalized special education services. Tier 1 implementation fidelity was selected because these supports are received by all students with ADHD regardless of special education eligibility. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between PBIS Tier 1 implementation fidelity and the educational outcomes for students with behavior similar to individuals with ADHD using a sample of elementary and middle school students from a school district in Nebraska. The data analytical strategies in this study included descriptive statistics and three-level hierarchical linear models. The results elucidate the impact of PBIS implementation on the outcomes for these students. Advisor: Matthew J. Gormle

Shifting the E-Discovery Solution: Why Taniguchi Necessitates a Decline in E-Discovery Court Costs

The amount of electronically stored information in the United States doubles every 18-24 months, and 90 percent of U.S. corporations are currently engaged in some kind of litigation. These factors, combined with the new way we store our information, have turned discovery into a complicated and expensive process. In response, parties have attempted to pass these costs off to the non-prevailing party as court costs under 28 U.S.C § 1920 ( Section 1920 ), which enumerates six items that can be awarded as court costs. The U.S. Courts of Appeals are split regarding the interpretation of Section 1920. If the statute is interpreted broadly, a variety of ediscovery tasks, ranging from hiring outside counsel to creating litigation-related databases, can be properly awarded as costs. If the statute is read more narrowly, however, courts will limit the type of ediscovery costs that can be awarded under the language of the statute, which will reduce e-discovery court costs. This Comment will describe the current state of the circuit split and discuss the various approaches to interpreting Section 1920. This Comment will then describe the Taniguchi v. Kan Pacific Saipan, Ltd. case in detail and analyze how the case\u27s dicta might affect the ediscovery court costs debate. Finally, this Comment will propose a judicial test for interpreting Section 1920 in a uniform manner. This Comment ultimately urges the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and mandate such a test