Academic literature on the topic 'Farm interest groups'
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Journal articles on the topic "Farm interest groups"
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Vercammen, James, and Murray Fulton. "The Economic Implications of Farm Interest Groups' Beliefs." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 72, no. 4 (November 1990): 851–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1242617.
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Goedecke, E. J., and G. F. Ortmann. "FARM WORKER LEGISLATION: INTEREST GROUPS AND DEVELOPMENTS / Plaasarbeidswetgewing: Belangegroepe en ontwikkelinge." Agrekon 31, no. 4 (December 1992): 192–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03031853.1992.9524686.
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Febrimeli, Dwi, Ameilia Zuliyanti Siregar, and Ratna Gustin Luahambowo. "PERSEPSI KOMUNITAS PEMUDA TANI TERHADAP UPAYA BERKELOMPOKTANI DI BAHOROK-LANGKAT, SUMATERA UTARA." AGRITEXTS: Journal of Agricultural Extension 44, no. 1 (May 30, 2020): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.20961/agritexts.v44i1.41873.
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The low number of youth of farmers in the agricultural sector is one of the main problems in agriculture. The image of the agricultural sector that is less prestigious and less able to provide adequate compensation is the cause of the decline in the interest of young workers in the agricultural sector. Farmer regeneration can be implemented through the interest of youth in groups of farmers. which to develop creativity, productivity, innovation, empowerment, awareness, and independence. This study aims to determine the level of interest and factors that influence the interest of rural youth in groups in the Bahorok District, Langkat Regency, North of Sumatra Province. This study uses the method of explanatory saturation of samples with a quantitative approach, where as many as 37 of respondents (rural youth farmers). Data collection methods using observations, questionnaires and interviews. Data analysis uses a Likert scale and data processing uses multiple linear regression analysis. The results of the study concluded that the interpretation of the level of interest of rural youth in groups of 77.65% with a high category. Simultaneously farm income, family environment, community environment, social status and the role of extension workers simultaneously influence the interest of rural youth in farmer groups. Partially, farm income and family environment significantly influence the interests of youth while the family environment, social status and the role of extension workers do not affect the interests of rural youth in groups of farmers.
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Thomson, Jessica L., Tameka I. Walls, and Alicia S. Landry. "Mississippi Farmers’ Interest in and Experience with Farm to School." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 13 (June 30, 2022): 8025. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19138025.
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The study’s purpose was to collect demographic and farm characteristics from Mississippi small farmers and to determine their abilities, experiences, and desires to engage in Farm to School (F2S) activities. The online survey was created using items taken from existing F2S surveys. Invitations to participate were sent via email to farmers beginning in October 2021 and ending in January 2022. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. Of the 258 individuals with valid email addresses, 43 (17%) completed the online survey, and 38 fit the definition of small farm (<USD 250,000 in gross cash farm income). Mean farm acreage was 68 (range 1–480 acres). Twenty-six (70%) farms did not have any certifications. Common selling practices included farm stands/stores (n = 18; 49%) and farmers markets (n = 16; 43%). Only 4 farmers (11%) sold to schools with half indicating the experience was difficult. Common challenges included no relationship with school staff (n = 14; 44%) and guarantying quantity/date (n = 11; 34%). Twenty-six (68%) farmers expressed an interest in at least one F2S activity. To facilitate mutually beneficial relationships between small farmers and school food service staff, work is needed to connect the two groups and guide farmers in navigating school procurement rules and regulations.
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Beckman, Jayson, and David Schimmelpfennig. "Determinants of farm income." Agricultural Finance Review 75, no. 3 (September 7, 2015): 385–402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/afr-06-2014-0019.
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Purpose – The recent fluctuations in farm income remind us of the boom-bust nature of the agricultural sector. To better understand these fluctuations in farm income, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between farm income and influential factors from 1964 to 2010 allowing for structural breaks in the data. Design/methodology/approach – The authors estimate error-correction models for an overarching model and several sub-models at different scales based on their relationship with farm income: micro, meso, and macro. The authors then provide a series of impulse response functions (IRFs) that combine short- and long-run impacts in a rigorous framework indicating the response of farm income to shocks from any of the explanatory variables. Findings – Results indicate that prices paid (PP) and received by farmers, technological change, interest and exchange rates (ERs), gross domestic product (GDP) and land prices all influence farm income. Results using IRFs show how increases in farm income arise from shocks to prices received and GDP; while PP, interest rates, and land prices have a negative impact on farm income. Technological progress and ERs switch from having a negative short-run impact, to a positive long-run impact. Originality/value – This paper takes a fresh look at the single, overarching model for farm income determinants. The authors break this model into three separate levels, with results indicating that these sub-groups perform better than the one overarching model of all variables.
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Austin, Elizabeth J., Ian J. Deary, Gareth Edwards-Jones, and Dale Arey. "Attitudes to Farm Animal Welfare." Journal of Individual Differences 26, no. 3 (July 2005): 107–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001.26.3.107.
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Abstract. Although the there is considerable public interest in farm animal welfare, relatively little work has been done on the welfare attitudes of farmers. We describe the development of a welfare attitude scale, the EFAWS. The factor structure and correlates of this scale were examined in Scottish pig and sheep farmers, and in agriculture students. The EFAWS was found to have a hierarchical structure, with two superordinate dimensions corresponding to welfare and business orientations being present in both groups. Five narrower facets were extracted for farmers and six for students, with the two factor structures being similar. Factor scores were found to be correlated significantly with personality traits, knowledge about welfare, and farm welfare scores in interpretable ways.
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Germond, Carine Sophie. "An emerging anti-reform green front? Farm interest groups fighting the ‘Agriculture 1980’ project, 1968–72." European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire 22, no. 3 (January 28, 2015): 433–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13507486.2014.1000268.
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ESCALANTE, CESAR L., ADENOLA OSINUBI, CHARLES DODSON, and CARMINA E. TAYLOR. "LOOKING BEYOND FARM LOAN APPROVAL DECISIONS: LOAN PRICING AND NONPRICING TERMS FOR SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED FARM BORROWERS." Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 50, no. 1 (November 27, 2017): 129–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aae.2017.25.
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AbstractThis study utilizes Farm Service Agency lending data to verify if previous racial and gender bias allegations still persist in more recent lending decisions. Beyond loan approval decisions, this study focuses on trends in direct loan packaging terms for approved single proprietorship farm borrowers. Results indicate that although no significant disparities were noted in loan amounts and maturities prescribed for various racial and gender minority groups, nonwhite male and female borrowers were usually charged higher interest rates than the others. Loan pricing differentials could have been the lenders' strategy for price management of borrowers' credit risks.
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Halpin, Darren. "The Collective Political Actions of the Australian Farming and Rural Communities: Putting Farm Interest Groups in Context." Rural Society 13, no. 2 (January 2003): 138–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.5172/rsj.351.13.2.138.
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Smith, Vincent H. "The US federal crop insurance program: a case study in rent seeking." Agricultural Finance Review 80, no. 3 (December 24, 2019): 339–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/afr-11-2018-0102.
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Purpose Rent seeking is endemic to the process through which any policy or regulatory initiative is developed in the USA. The purpose of this paper is to show how farm and other interest groups have formed coalitions to benefit themselves at the expense of the federal government by examining the legislative history of the federal crop insurance program. Design/methodology/approach The federal crop insurance legislation and the way in which the USDA Risk Management Agency manages federal crop insurance program are replete with complex and subtle policy initiatives. Using a new theoretical framework, the study examines how, since 1980, three major legislative initiatives – the 1980 Federal Crop Insurance Act, the 1994 Crop Insurance Reform Act and the 2000 Agricultural Risk Protection Act – were designed to jointly benefit farm interest groups and the agricultural insurance industry, largely through increases in government subsidies. Findings Each of the three legislative initiatives examined here included provisions that, when considered individually, benefitted farmers and adversely affected the insurance industry, and vice versa. However, the joint effects of the multiple adjustments included in each of those legislative initiatives generated net benefits for both sets of interest groups. The evidence, therefore, indicates that coalitions formed between the farm and insurance lobbies to obtain policy changes that, when aggregated, benefited both groups, as well as banks with agricultural lending portfolios. However, those benefits came at an increasingly substantial cost to taxpayers through federal government subsidies. Originality/value This is the first analysis of the US federal crop insurance program to examine the issue of coalition formation.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic "Farm interest groups"
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Egdell, Janet M. "Interest groups and information in the development of agri-environment policy in Scotland." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1999. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk/R?func=search-advanced-go&find_code1=WSN&request1=AAIU484063.
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This thesis explores the processes by which agri-environmental policy has developed in Scotland, using the 1996 Countryside Premium Scheme consultation as a case study. The role of interest groups within the policy process and the impacts those groups have on policy outcomes through the provision of information to policy-makers are investigated. In the process of developing a new policy, policy-makers require new information. In designing agri-environmental schemes, the Scottish Office requires information on the likely environmental, farm management and farm income impacts of proposed schemes and prescriptions. Such information is increasingly sought through public consultations, which can be considered in terms of the policy-makers demanding information which is then supplied by interested parties. This policy 'market' is amenable to analysis using economic tools more generally used in conventional markets for priced goods and services, such as the Structure-Conduct-Performance framework and the analysis of transaction costs. The public consultations undertaken prior to the introduction of the Countryside Premium Scheme in 1997 was investigated as such a policy 'market'. This revealed the structure of the agri-environmental policy network within Scotland. Three-quarters of the 71 respondents to the consultation were interviewed to establish their conduct within the policy process, and the costs involved in their providing information to the Scottish Office. The impact of the information provided on the policy outcome was explored using a combination of the perceptions of the policy actors surveyed and, more objectively, a comparison of the suggestions made in the written consultation responses with the changes made prior to implementation of the Scheme. The transaction costs paid by interest groups involved in this consultation were the equivalent of around £50,000. In return for this investment, both agricultural and environmental interest groups were found to have had some limited impact on the policy outcomes, through the provision of different types of information.
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Fatseas, Nicole. "The role of special interest groups in agricultural policy : a case study of the 1995 Farm Bill /." Thesis, This resource online, 1996. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-09042008-063728/.
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Halpin, Darren Richard, of Western Sydney Hawkesbury University, Faculty of Environmental Management and Agriculture, and School of Agriculture and Rural Development. "Authenticity and the representative paradox: the political representation of Australian farmers through the NFF family of interest groups." THESIS_FEMA_ARD_Halpin_D.xml, 1999. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/22.
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This thesis examines the political representation of Australian farmers. The NFF family of interest groups is charged with the political representation of farmers in Australia.Given that their state affiliates are the only organisations that farmers can directly join, this study takes the case of the New South Wales Farmers' Association (NSWFA) as its major reference point. A paradox is immediately confronted. On one hand, both the state and commentators refer to the NFF family as an exemplar of a successful modern interest group. However, on the other, the NFF family is being confronted with escalating levels of disillusionment and criticism from its own constituency.Two points of interest are highlighted. Firstly, it is suggested that theoretical frameworks, which assist commentators and researchers to come to the conclusion that the NFF family is 'successful', are not constructed in such a fashion as to throw sufficient light on the paradoxical nature of an existing situation. Secondly, this paradox suggests that the NFF itself must be able to disassociate the contingent relationship between its internal levels of support and external levels of access and influence. These two focal points are explored in this thesis, and the framework used by researchers to understand the actions of Australian farm interest groups are scrutinised. Discussing 'authentic' political representation assists considering the major theme of the 'representative paradox'. It is argued that this paradox is best understood by locating it within a search by farmers for authentic political representation - both through the NFF family and apart from it.Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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Halpin, Darren Richard. "Authenticity and the representative paradox: the political representation of Australian farmers through the NFF family of interest groups." Thesis, View thesis View thesis, 1999. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/22.
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This thesis examines the political representation of Australian farmers. The NFF family of interest groups is charged with the political representation of farmers in Australia.Given that their state affiliates are the only organisations that farmers can directly join, this study takes the case of the New South Wales Farmers' Association (NSWFA) as its major reference point. A paradox is immediately confronted. On one hand, both the state and commentators refer to the NFF family as an exemplar of a successful modern interest group. However, on the other, the NFF family is being confronted with escalating levels of disillusionment and criticism from its own constituency.Two points of interest are highlighted. Firstly, it is suggested that theoretical frameworks, which assist commentators and researchers to come to the conclusion that the NFF family is 'successful', are not constructed in such a fashion as to throw sufficient light on the paradoxical nature of an existing situation. Secondly, this paradox suggests that the NFF itself must be able to disassociate the contingent relationship between its internal levels of support and external levels of access and influence. These two focal points are explored in this thesis, and the framework used by researchers to understand the actions of Australian farm interest groups are scrutinised. Discussing 'authentic' political representation assists considering the major theme of the 'representative paradox'. It is argued that this paradox is best understood by locating it within a search by farmers for authentic political representation - both through the NFF family and apart from it.
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Brasier, Kathryn J. "Ideology and discourse characterization of the 1996 Farm Bill by agricultural interest groups /." 1998. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/41297982.html.
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Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1998.Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-117).
Books on the topic "Farm interest groups"
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Barry, Wilson. Farm interest groups and Canadian agricultural policy. Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan, Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, 1988.
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Cowan, Michael. Film Societies in Germany and Austria 1910–1933. Nieuwe Prinsengracht 89 1018 VR Amsterdam Nederland: Amsterdam University Press, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.5117/9789463725477.
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This study traces the evolution of early film societies in Germany and Austria, from the emergence of mass movie theaters in the 1910s to the turbulent years of the late Weimar Republic. Examining a diverse array of groups, it approaches film societies as formations designed to assimilate and influence a new medium: a project emerging from the world of amateur science before taking new directions into industry, art and politics. Through an interdisciplinary approach—in dialogue with social history, print history and media archaeology—it also transforms our theoretical understanding of what a film society was and how it operated. Far from representing a mere collection of pre-formed cinephiles, film societies were, according to the book’s central argument, productive social formations, which taught people how to nurture their passion for the movies, how to engage with cinema, and how to interact with each other. Ultimately, the study argues that examining film societies can help to reveal the diffuse agency by which generative ideas of cinema take shape.
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Epstein, Ben. Interest Group Innovation. Oxford University Press, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190698980.003.0007.
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This chapter uses a case study approach to explore the political choice phase of the political communication cycle (PCC) over time. Focusing on interest groups and detailing the long history of these organizations in America, the chapter primarily examines innovations made by four of the largest interest groups in American history: AARP, the Sierra Club, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and MoveOn.org. These four interest groups have spanned multiple political communication orders (PCOs) and their overall lack of innovativeness until recent years is tied to the distinct nature of their shared political communication goals. These goals are far narrower than campaigns or social movements and therefore are much less likely to motivate innovative efforts. These trends have started to change in the internet-based era as new organizational and communication strategies have opened up interest groups to greater innovation along the lines of MoveOn.org.
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Lindenmayer, David, Andrew Claridge, Donna Hazell, Damian Michael, Mason Crane, Christopher MacGregor, and Ross Cunningham. Wildlife on Farms. CSIRO Publishing, 2003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/9780643069848.
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Many landowners are interested in the native animals that live on their farms or once occurred there. In particular they want to know why particular species are present (or absent), what they can do to encourage them to visit, and what they might do to keep them there.
Wildlife on Farms outlines the key features of animal habitats—large flowering trees, hollow trees, ground cover, understorey vegetation, dams and watercourses—and describes why landholders should conserve these habitats to encourage wildlife on their farms. It shows how wildlife conservation can be integrated with farm management and the benefits this can bring.
The book presents 29 example species—mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians—that are common to a large part of southern and eastern Australia. Each entry gives the distinguishing features of the animal, key features of its required habitat, and what can be done on a farm to better conserve the species.
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Alter, Karen J., and Laurence R. Helfer. The Judicialization of Andean Politics. Oxford University Press, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199680788.003.0006.
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This chapter follows the twists and turns of four politically and legally fraught disputes. These disputes were contentious in that they were linked to wider political fights among national leaders and Community officials, were carefully monitored by influential foreign actors, and had the potential to establish precedents with far reaching consequences for Andean integration. As a group, the four cases show governments, interest groups, and litigants mixing adjudicatory and policy-making strategies to affect policy outcomes. The chapter reveals that the Andean Tribunal of Justice (ATJ) protects itself by being faithful to laws on the books while policing good governance practices. However, the four disputes also reveal the ease with which member states respond to ATJ rulings by changing Andean secondary legislation.
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Hohnsträter, Dirk, Stefan Krankenhagen, and Jörn Lamla, eds. Verbrauchermacht in Bewegung. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.5771/9783748934295.
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Consumers can influence markets through their consumption behaviour—whether by consciously choosing or rejecting certain products and consumption patterns, or by loudly protesting, for example in demonstrations against climate change. But how far does the power of consumers extend? How capable of conflict are they in the face of often heterogeneous interests, differing objectives and, at best, weakly developed group identities? What forms of interest articulation are available and how are they used? What role do consumer policy, companies and the digital revolution play in this regard? This volume documents the fifth annual conference of the Consumer Research Network. With contributions by Dr. Holger Backhaus-Maul, Prof. Dr. Kai Uwe Hellmann, Prof. Dr. Christian Kastrop, Dr. Annekathrin Kohout, Prof. Dr. Jörn Lamla, Dr. Alexander Sedlmaier, Prof. Dr. Holger Straßheim, Prof. Dr. Christoph Strünck, Maria Ullrich, M.A. and Dr. Katharina Witterhold.
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Sandler, Todd. Terrorism. Oxford University Press, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/wentk/9780190845841.001.0001.
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The causes and consequences of terrorism are matters of considerable debate and great interest. Spectacular events are recognized by their dates, including the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington and the 7/7 London bombings. Many other attacks, including those in non-Western countries, receive far less attention even though they may be more frequent and cumulatively cause more casualties. In Terrorism: What Everyone Needs to KnowRG, leading economist Todd Sandler provides a broad overview of a persistently topical topic. The general issues he examines include what terrorism is, its causes, the roles of terrorist groups, how governments seek to counter terrorism, its economic consequences, and the future of terrorism. He focuses on the modern era and how specific motivations, ranging from nationalism/separatism to left- or right-wing extremism or religious ideals, and general conditions, such as poverty and inequality or whether a country is democratic or authoritarian, affect the frequency and costs of terrorism. The diversity of terrorist groups and type of attacks can be overwhelming, and Sandler provides a unifying framework to generate insight: strategic interaction. That is, like other organizations, terrorist groups organize to pursue goals and respond in an optimal fashion to a risky environment that can influence the group's size, its diversity of attacks, its regional location, its host country's characteristics, and the group's ideology. Terrorists also responded to enhanced security measures by altering their tactics, targets, and location. As such, they are formidable opponents to their stronger government adversaries. Governments, in turn, pursue various costly strategies to prevent terrorism, including passive barriers and active attacks against terrorists, their resources, and those who support them. Terrorism covers numerous questions on the subject and sheds lights on a wide-range of theoretical and empirical research.
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Benvenisti, Eyal, and Georg Nolte. Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198825210.003.0001.
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The Introduction describes the term “community interests” for the purpose of exploring the extent to which states owe duties toward those who are affected by their actions and omissions. It argues that the relevant “communities” which are envisaged by the book extend beyond the “international community of states” to cover individuals and groups, even when their interests were not taken into account at the negotiation table or in policymaking bodies. The community can also be humanity at large, as reflected in the concept of crimes against humanity. As far as “community interests” are concerned, the Introduction explores questions related to the identification of these interests, the prioritization among them and their achievement. The Introduction outlines a typology of duties states might have toward others.
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Goodall, Alex. Red Scare. University of Illinois Press, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.5406/illinois/9780252038037.003.0004.
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This chapter looks at how the government began 1919 by beating a retreat from political policing, far from charging toward a Red Scare. However, much of the private-sector machinery of countersubversion still remained in place. Voluntarist groups were less concerned with constitutional restrictions on political policing than Congress or the White House and, having benefited directly from the wartime campaign, sought to continue their activities. In so doing, they tended to drift away from the basic question of national security that had shaped wartime policy and toward matters of personal interest. Having already demonstrated their efficacy, national security justifications for countersubversive activism persisted, but they became increasingly tenuous, as individual groups sought to denounce their rivals as disloyal, treasonous, and a danger to the general good.
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Pols, Hans. Eugenics in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. Edited by Alison Bashford and Philippa Levine. Oxford University Press, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195373141.013.0021.
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Eugenics has never held broad appeal in the Netherlands and is taken up far more enthusiastically in the Dutch East Indies. This article aims to investigate the characteristics of the racial and ethnic groups that inhabited the Indonesian archipelago, acclimatization, the consequences of crossbreeding, and the effects of rapid modernization. It discusses percieved threats to the quality of the Dutch population. It concerns the participation of eugenicists in public health discussions that focuses on the quality of the future population of the Netherlands. Tensions between racial and ethnic groups provide the main context for a growing interest in eugenics in the Dutch East Indies. This article discusses the main reason for the lack of success of the rather moderate eugenics movement in the Netherlands as related to the pillarization of Dutch society.
Book chapters on the topic "Farm interest groups"
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Germond, Carine. "Preventing Reform: Farm Interest Groups and the Common Agricultural Policy." In Societal Actors in European Integration, 106–28. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9781137017659_6.
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Halpin, D. R. "Farm protest and militancy in Australia: supporting or undermining interest-group politics?" In Rural protest groups and populist political parties, 145–62. The Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-807-0_7.
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Schaffar, Wolfram, and Naruemon Thabchumpon. "Militant far-right royalist groups on Facebook in Thailand. Methodological and ethical challenges of Internet-based research." In Researching Far-Right Movements, 121–39. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. | Series: Social movements in the 21st century: new paradigms: Routledge, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429491825-8.
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Svatoňová, Eva. "The Dark Side of Laughter: Humour as a Tool for Othering in the Memes of Czech Far-Right Organization Angry Mothers." In Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies, 239–63. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98798-5_11.
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AbstractFar-right grassroot organizations were early adopters of the internet and social media and have been using it to spread their ideologies, mobilize people and network since the 1990s. With the increased usage of social media, their communication style has naturally changed. Due to the interactive nature of social media, the far-right groups started to communicate in a savvy style based on meme and DIY aesthetics. This style allows these groups to blurry the line between serious and irony (Shifman, L., Memes in Digital Culture. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2014) but also between facts and misinformation (Klein, O., The Open Journal of Sociopolitical Studies 154–179, 2020). There is a burgeoning body of literature investigating the way and for what purposes such organizations use the internet in which the researchers look particularly on memes (Klein, O., The Open Journal of Sociopolitical Studies 154–179, 2020) but also humour (Billig, M., Comic racism and violence. In S. Lockyer, & M. Pickering (Eds.), Beyond a joke. The limits of humor (pp. 25–44). New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005a; Billig, M., Laughter and ridicule. Towards a social critique of humor. London: SAGE Publications, 2005b). However, not many studies explored the link between humour and morality. The aim of this exploratory study, in which humour is viewed as a means of claims making and negotiation of political views, is to deepen the knowledge of how humour in memes produced and reproduced by far-right organizations can serve as a tool for constructing a moral order. To do so, I analysed memes used on the far-right Facebook page run by Czech organization Angry Mothers which engage in anti-Islam and anti-gender activism. Based on Michael Billig’s (2005) distinction between rebellious and disciplinary humour, I argue that the organization used rebellious humour to present themselves as an alternative to mainstream media and resistance to the alleged dictatorship of liberal elites and disciplinary humour to put minorities (both sexual and ethnic) “in their place”.
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van der Weele, Cor. "How to Save Cultured Meat from Ecomodernism? Selective Attention and the Art of Dealing with Ambivalence." In The International Library of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Ethics, 545–57. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63523-7_30.
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AbstractAs a highly technological innovation, cultured meat is the subject of techno-optimistic as well as techno-sceptical evaluations. The chapter discusses this opposition and connects it with arguments about seeing the world in the right way. Both sides not only call upon us to see the world in a very particular light, but also point to mechanisms of selective attention in order to explain how others can be so biased. I will argue that attention mechanisms are indeed relevant for dealing with the Anthropocene, but that dualism has paralysing effects. In a dualistic framework, cultured meat is associated with ecomodernist optimism, bold technological control over nature and alienation from animals. But interested citizens and farmers in focus groups rather envisioned the future of cultured meat through small scale production on farms combined with intensive relations with animals. Such scenarios, involving elements from both sides of the dualistic gap, depend on constructive ways of dealing with dualisms and ambivalence.
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Tse, Ka Kui, Rebecca Choy Yung, Yanto Chandra, and Gilbert Lee. "Social Enterprises and Certified B Corporations in Hong Kong: Development, Key Lessons Learnt, and Ways Forward." In The International Handbook of Social Enterprise Law, 601–19. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14216-1_29.
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AbstractSocial enterprise (SE) has experienced rapid development over the last 15 years in Hong Kong both in quantity and quality of its solutions and models and the diversity of social issues tackled. In this chapter, we reflect on the journey of the rise of this sector in Hong Kong, the key drivers of and players in the sector, and some of the encouraging and discouraging lessons we learned so far––as observers and operators––in the sector. However, SE are not alone since there are other newer developments such as Certified B Corporation (B Corp)––starting six years ago in Hong Kong––which has a shared interest but follows a different trajectory and model closer to the business world. Following these insights, we conducted focus groups to further understand key businesspeople and social enterprise players’ views about what B Corp can do to achieve “shared prosperity” in Hong Kong. While this chapter does not offer a formula to resolve Hong Kong’s problems, it provides some useful recommendations on the applicability of B Corp as a framework to inspire and guide mainstream businesses to become purpose-driven companies that strike a healthy balance of people, profit, and planet.
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Skovdal, Morten, Phyllis Magoge-Mandizvidza, Rufurwokuda Maswera, Melinda Moyo, Constance Nyamukapa, Ranjeeta Thomas, and Simon Gregson. "Stigma and Confidentiality Indiscretions: Intersecting Obstacles to the Delivery of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis to Adolescent Girls and Young Women in East Zimbabwe." In Social Aspects of HIV, 237–48. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69819-5_17.
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AbstractDespite efforts to scale-up biomedical HIV prevention technologies, such as oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), many countries and regions of the world are far off–track in reaching global HIV prevention targets. Uptake of, and adherence to PrEP amongst adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in sub-Saharan Africa has proved particularly challenging. Drawing on qualitative individual interviews and focus group discussions with thirty AGYW in east Zimbabwe, as well as interviews with healthcare providers, we investigate some of the root causes of this challenge, namely the social risks involved with accessing PrEP. We find that stigma and the worry of AGYW that privacy and confidentiality cannot be maintained in local health clinics and by local healthcare providers, presents a major barrier to the uptake of PrEP. We call for interventions that recognise the need to tackle the range of socio-cultural norms and social practices that interact and in synergy make engagement with PrEP an (im)possible and (un)desirable thing to do for AGYW.
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Phusamruat, Visakha. "The Promise and Challenges of Privacy in Smart Cities: The Case of Phuket." In Smart Cities in Asia, 65–77. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1701-1_6.
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AbstractThe aim of this chapter is to examine privacy and personal data-related issues arising from the smart city development. Based on recent smart city campaigns in Phuket involving closed-circuit television (CCTV) installation and digitally-tracking wristbands, the author finds that local actors’ privacy perceptions and data processing practices substantially deviate from the privacy views and practices required by the Thai Personal Data Protection Act. This deviation will potentially result in the lack of actual implementation or inevitable forced changes to the local community life just to meet the new legal standard. The global–local tension created by norms brought by visitors from various cultural backgrounds and the local tradition makes finding a common ground far more difficult. The case demonstrates the limitations of current legal approaches to embracing diverse societal views and interests, while also paving the possibility of a new way to understand privacy in smart cities and integrate this knowledge into their universal design.
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"5 The Contingent Creation of Rural Interest Groups." In Fighting for the Farm, 96–110. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003. http://dx.doi.org/10.9783/9780812201031.96.
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Greer, Alan. "Farm Interest Groups in Ireland: Adaptation, Partnership and Resilience." In Surviving Global Change?, 51–70. Routledge, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781351148320-3.
Full textConference papers on the topic "Farm interest groups"
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Wood-Gaines, Adam, and Josh Grant. "Data mining for effective render farm management." In SIGGRAPH '15: Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Conference. New York, NY, USA: ACM, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2775280.2792538.
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Spangler, Christy, and Eric Stolzenberg. "El faro." In SIGGRAPH '18: Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Conference. New York, NY, USA: ACM, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3230744.3230794.
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Balson, Franck. "Far cry 5." In SIGGRAPH '18: Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Conference. New York, NY, USA: ACM, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3209800.3232909.
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Stepnova, Liudmila, and Elizaveta Prokopenko. "Susceptibility to Internet Addiction in Russia: Geography, Age, And Frustrated Existential Values." In The Public/Private in Modern Civilization, the 22nd Russian Scientific-Practical Conference (with international participation) (Yekaterinburg, April 16-17, 2020). Liberal Arts University – University for Humanities, Yekaterinburg, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.35853/ufh-public/private-2020-47.
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The article is the first in Russia to present sociologically correct (relative to the general population) and simultaneously psychologically profound results of 2 All-Russian Internet surveys: screening-diagnostics of the level of resistance/vulnerability to Internet addiction in Russia and its federal districts (2017: n = 3 007, ages 10-40); identification of words - markers of values for norm and risk groups (2018: n = 144, ages 18-28). Methods: Internet addiction test (A. E. Zichkina), self-reports on the duration of the offline period per year, 16-FLO (R. Kettell, MD self-evaluation scale, B intellect scale), ‘Short portrait questionnaire of the Big Five (B5-10)’ (M.S. Egorova, O.B Parshikova), ‘Existence’ (A. Langle, K. Orgler, S.V. Krivtsova), author’s questionnaire, Deception scale. Results: 3/4 citizens of the Russian Federation fall within a normal range, but only 1/4 have no signs of internet addiction. Contrary to social prejudice and statistics from English-language studies, Internet addiction is least pronounced among 18-21-year-old Russian respondents (when they are virtually active). Normally young people are characterised by the needs for Career, Care, the ability to Manage/Control and Influence events/decisions, anticipate internet escapism when they lose their Meaning, Wisdom or Interest. The risk group includes 8.6 % males, and 23.6 % females. Internet addicts 2.3 % (coinciding with global statistics): twice as many women (different from global statistics). Girls under 14, teenagers, men aged 22-25 and women aged 30-35 are at risk and among those considered to be Internet addicts. Adults in this group develop existential indecisiveness, have unmet status-related claims (specifically Respect) and a strongly overestimated willingness to use coping strategies in reality instead of virtually. Internet addicts are most numerous in the Central Federal District (4.6 %), with the highest risk group in the Far East (37.8 %).
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LADYCHENKO, Kateryna, and Anna METELSKA. "INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR UKRAINIAN FARMS." In RURAL DEVELOPMENT. Aleksandras Stulginskis University, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.15544/rd.2017.237.
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The study aimed to explore the current situation and services efficiency level of problems of Institutional framework of government support for Ukrainian farms. Nowadays, the agrarian sector of the economy shows a positive dynamics of growth, forming in recent years about 14% of gross value added in the country and about 40% of foreign exchange earnings on exports in Ukraine. This article aims to examine, through content analysis and statistical description, the importance of the agrarian sector in the national economy and its role in ensuring the country's food security requires the sustainability and effectiveness of its development based by experiences of USA and Europe practices. Therefore, the study examined the development of farming and service cooperatives are the necessary actions of the state, aimed at ensuring that a person working on the ground can earn enough money to be interested in continuing the work on his own land. Research data were collected from State Statistics Service of Ukraine, World Economic Forum and The European Statistical System. Research results showed that creating new jobs in the countryside are taxes to local budgets, and the development of rural areas, and the slowdown of urbanization, the reduction of the rate of extinction of the Ukrainian village. Such economic results, supplemented by the solution of other problems that farmers say, will obviously be better prepared for the opening of the land market in the future.
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Gryzunova, Natalia V., Olga V. Romanchenko, Usmon S. Karimov, Fatimat D. Ulbasheva, and Elena I. Gromova. "Modern dividend policy strategies for sustainable socio-economic development." In Sustainable and Innovative Development in the Global Digital Age. Dela Press Publishing House, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.56199/dpcsebm.rucg6894.
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The present time needs additional drivers for economic growth and market stabilization instruments which could be represented by dividend and tax policies. The main priority today (not only in Russia, but worldwide) is stability. Many companies form target groups of minority, institutional and majority shareholders and investors and motivate their specific fiscal behavior towards the company. All of this requires financial and social innovations and dividend strategies. The purpose of the article is identification of dependence between the dividend policy, key company performance parameters and investment behavior of the public. Whereas in the past, according to the firm value theory, companies tried to extend capitalization of companies and thus increase the shareholders’ yield, presently shareholders are interested in creating a profitable dividend portfolio, since the returns on it have become comparable to deposits and bond investments. As far as the sources of income have changed, the tax policy is changing too. The financial behavior of market participants has changed; the disintermediation is fining off; further differentiation of tax and non-tax revenue rates has taken place. It is necessary to optimize the tax burden on investors, to differentiate them into financial groups and to ensure adequate dividend payments for each group.
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Boyd, Gary T., Cecil V. Francis, and John E. Trend. "Second harmonic generation as a probe of free volume and local constraints on polar groups in polymers." In OSA Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C.: Optica Publishing Group, 1989. http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/oam.1989.wb6.
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Poled polymers are of interest as new electrooptic materials. In situ second harmonic generation (SHG) provides an important tool for studying and optimizing the processing of these polymers. Here, SHG is used to probe the extent of electric field-induced orientation of dopant chromophores in polymethyl methacrylate and polycarbonate. The results indicate that a fraction of the dopants were able to freely rotate at room temperature both before and after thermal cycling. This fraction correlates with the dopant molecular volume, and the long term decay time of the SHG signal after poling. The SHG signal gradually increases as the temperature is raised above an onset temperature far below the glass transition temperature of the host polymer.
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Tajalli Bakhsh, Tayebeh, Kent Simpson, Tony LaPierre, Mahmud Monim, Jason Dahl, Malcolm Spaulding, Jill Rowe, Jennifer Miller, and Daniel O’Connell. "Potential Geo-Hazards to Floating Offshore Wind Farms in the US Pacific." In ASME 2021 3rd International Offshore Wind Technical Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/iowtc2021-3564.
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Abstract To help the selection of suitable sites for development of offshore wind projects in the US on the coasts of California, Oregon and Hawaii, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) funded this study to assess the potential geo-hazards in this region. First, a comprehensive review of potential threats to the sites based on historic events is provided. The geospatial indexing for the call areas are then calculated based on weights associated with inputs, consisting of: sea floor slope, soil type, and seismicity (peak ground acceleration data of 500 year event). Finally, suitability indices are provided for each region. To perform a suitability analysis using geospatial indexing, all input factors are first standardized into a common scale, then a weighted overlay function is applied. Each of the criteria in the analysis is multiplied by the weights defined based on their importance in the region and then added together and suitability maps for each lease block are developed. Comprehensive maps of geohazards and geological data, suitability index maps and suitability rankings for the area of interest are being generated and presented online. This paper focuses on the floating windfarm call areas offshore California, including Humboldt, Morro Bay and Diablo Canyon, and presents the new approach for evaluating, integrating and indexing geospatial geohazard data for offshore windfarms, and the state-of-the-art suitability analysis approach. This new method can be also beneficial in the other parts of the world (e.g. East Asia), and similar concept can be implemented to evaluate the suitability of sites, based on the hazards in the area of interest.
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Lantz, Jonas, Roland Gårdhagen, Joakim Wren, and Matts Karlsson. "Heating in a Stenosed Coronary Artery With Pulsating Flow and Non-Newtonian Viscosity." In ASME 2008 Summer Bioengineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/sbc2008-192532.
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Cardiovascular disease is the most prevalent cause of death in the developed countries and most deaths are due to coronary atherosclerosis [1]. During the development of atherosclerosis, several stages can be distinguished including vulnerable plaque. This group of plaque has an inclination for erosion and rupture and is therefore of particular interest. Due to the inflammatory response of vulnerable plaque including an increased metabolism and thereby a locally increased temperature, it is possible to detect such warm cores by intracoronally temperature measurement under some prerequisitions. Temperature differences up to 2.2 K on the surface of carotid plaques have been measured [2], but the relation between plaque vulnerability, inflammatory response, temperature increase and possibility to detection by means of temperature measurement is far from fully perceived.
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Brown, Clifford. "Jet-Surface Interaction Test: Far-Field Noise Results." In ASME Turbo Expo 2012: Turbine Technical Conference and Exposition. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/gt2012-69639.
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Many configurations proposed for the next generation of aircraft rely on the wing or other aircraft surfaces to shield the engine noise from the observers on the ground. However, the ability to predict the shielding effect and any new noise sources that arise from the high-speed jet flow interacting with a hard surface is currently limited. Furthermore, quality experimental data from jets with surfaces nearby suitable for developing and validating noise prediction methods are usually tied to a particular vehicle concept and, therefore, very complicated. The Jet/Surface Interaction Test was intended to supply a high quality set of data covering a wide range of surface geometries and positions and jet flows to researchers developing aircraft noise prediction tools. During phase one, the goal was to measure the noise of a jet near a simple planar surface while varying the surface length and location in order to: (1) validate noise prediction schemes when the surface is acting only as a jet noise shield and when the jet/surface interaction is creating additional noise, and (2) determine regions of interest for more detailed tests in phase two. To meet these phase one objectives, a flat plate was mounted on a two-axis traverse in two distinct configurations: (1) as a shield between the jet and the observer (microphone array) and (2) as a reflecting surface on the opposite side of the jet from the observer. The surface was moved through axial positions 2 ≤ xTE/Dj ≤ 20 (measured at the surface trailing edge, xTE, and normalized by the jet diameter, Dj) and radial positions 1 ≤ h/Dj ≤ 20. Far-field and phased array noise data were acquired at each combination of axial and radial surface location using two nozzles and at 8 different jet exit conditions across several flow regimes (subsonic cold, subsonic hot, underexpanded, ideally expanded, and overexpanded supersonic cold). The far-field noise results, discussed here, show where the surface shields some of the jet noise and, depending on the location of the surface and the observer, where scrubbing and trailing edge noise sources are created as a surface extends downstream and approaches the jet plume.
Reports on the topic "Farm interest groups"
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Droogan, Julian, Lise Waldek, Brian Ballsun-Stanton, and Jade Hutchinson. Mapping a Social Media Ecosystem: Outlinking on Gab & Twitter Amongst the Australian Far-right Milieu. RESOLVE Network, September 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.37805/remve2022.6.
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Attention to the internet and the online spaces in which violent extremists interact and spread content has increased over the past decades. More recently, that attention has shifted from understanding how groups like the self-proclaimed Islamic State use the internet to spread propaganda to understanding the broader internet environment and, specifically, far-right violent extremist activities within it. This focus on how far right violent extremist—including far-right racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists (REMVEs) within them—create, use, and exploit the online networks in which they exist to promote their hateful ideology and reach has largely focused on North America and Europe. However, in recent years, examinations of those online dynamics elsewhere, including in Australia, is increasing. Far right movements have been active in Australia for decades. While these movements are not necessarily extremist nor violent, understanding how violent far right extremists and REMVEs interact within or seek to exploit these broader communities is important in further understanding the tactics, reach, and impact of REMVEs in Australia. This is particularly important in the online space access to broader networks of individuals and ideas is increasingly expanding. Adding to a steadily expanding body of knowledge examining online activities and networks of both broader far right as well as violent extremist far right populations in Australia, this paper presents a data-driven examination of the online ecosystems in which identified Australian far-right violent extremists exist and interact,1 as mapped by user generated uniform resource locators (URL), or ‘links’, to internet locations gathered from two online social platforms—Twitter and Gab. This link-based analysis has been used in previous studies of online extremism to map the platforms and content shared in online spaces and provide further detail on the online ecosystems in which extremists interact. Data incorporating the links was automatically collected from Twitter and Gab posts from users existing within the online milieu in which those identified far right extremists were connected. The data was collected over three discrete one-month periods spanning 2019, the year in which an Australian far right violent extremist carried out the Christchurch attack. Networks of links expanding out from the Twitter and Gab accounts were mapped in two ways to explore the extent and nature of the online ecosystems in which these identified far right Australian violent extremists are connected, including: To map the extent and nature of these ecosystems (e.g., the extent to which other online platforms are used and connected to one another), the project mapped where the most highly engaged links connect out to (i.e., website domain names), and To explore the nature of content being spread within those ecosystems, what sorts of content is found at the end of the most highly engaged links. The most highly engaged hashtags from across this time are also presented for additional thematic analysis. The mapping of links illustrated the interconnectedness of a social media ecosystem consisting of multiple platforms that were identified as having different purposes and functions. Importantly, no links to explicitly violent or illegal activity were identified among the top-most highly engaged sites. The paper discusses the implications of the findings in light of this for future policy, practice, and research focused on understanding the online ecosystems in which identified REMVE actors are connected and the types of thematic content shared and additional implications in light of the types of non-violent content shared within them.
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Zhou, Jiayi, Fei Su, and Jingdong Yuan. Treading Lightly: China’s Footprint in a Taliban-led Afghanistan. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, November 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.55163/ovbo3684.
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This SIPRI Insights Paper provides a preliminary assessment of China’s attitudes to and policies on Afghanistan since the August 2021 Taliban takeover. It examines the scope of China’s security, economic and humanitarian interests, and the depth of its engagement so far. It finds that China’s footprint has been minimal not only due to China’s non-interference policy but also to a range of broader challenges: the militant extremist groups that continue to operate on Afghan soil, the risks of investing in a country where the government remains unrecognized by any member of the international community and a fragile stability that is far from conducive to long-term planning. While there may be prospects and opportunities for China to contribute to Afghan stability and development, particularly from a broader regional perspective, current realities mean that China’s overall approach to Afghanistan will remain cautious, pragmatic and limited.
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Sadot, Einat, Christopher Staiger, and Mohamad Abu-Abied. Studies of Novel Cytoskeletal Regulatory Proteins that are Involved in Abiotic Stress Signaling. United States Department of Agriculture, September 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.32747/2011.7592652.bard.
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In the original proposal we planned to focus on two proteins related to the actin cytoskeleton: TCH2, a touch-induced calmodulin-like protein which was found by us to interact with the IQ domain of myosin VIII, ATM1; and ERD10, a dehydrin which was found to associate with actin filaments. As reported previously, no other dehydrins were found to interact with actin filaments. In addition so far we were unsuccessful in confirming the interaction of TCH2 with myosin VIII using other methods. In addition, no other myosin light chain candidates were found in a yeast two hybrid survey. Nevertheless we have made a significant progress in our studies of the role of myosins in plant cells. Plant myosins have been implicated in various cellular activities, such as cytoplasmic streaming (1, 2), plasmodesmata function (3-5), organelle movement (6-10), cytokinesis (4, 11, 12), endocytosis (4, 5, 13-15) and targeted RNA transport (16). Plant myosins belong to two main groups of unconventional myosins: myosin XI and myosin VIII, both closely related to myosin V (17-19). The Arabidopsis myosin family contains 17 members: 13 myosin XI and four myosin VIII (19, 20). The data obtained from our research of myosins was published in two papers acknowledging BARD funding. To address whether specific myosins are involved with the motility of specific organelles, we cloned the cDNAs from neck to tail of all 17 Arabidopsis myosins. These were fused to GFP and used as dominant negative mutants that interact with their cargo but are unable to walk along actin filaments. Therefore arrested organelle movement in the presence of such a construct shows that a particular myosin is involved with the movement of that particular organelle. While no mutually exclusive connections between specific myosins and organelles were found, based on overexpression of dominant negative tail constructs, a group of six myosins (XIC, XIE, XIK, XI-I, MYA1 and MYA2) were found to be more important for the motility of Golgi bodies and mitochondria in Nicotiana benthamiana and Nicotiana tabacum (8). Further deep and thorough analysis of myosin XIK revealed a potential regulation by head and tail interaction (Avisar et al., 2011). A similar regulatory mechanism has been reported for animal myosin V and VIIa (21, 22). In was shown that myosin V in the inhibited state is in a folded conformation such that the tail domain interacts with the head domain, inhibiting its ATPase and actinbinding activities. Cargo binding, high Ca2+, and/or phosphorylation may reduce the interaction between the head and tail domains, thus restoring its activity (23). Our collaborative work focuses on the characterization of the head tail interaction of myosin XIK. For this purpose the Israeli group built yeast expression vectors encoding the myosin XIK head. In addition, GST fusions of the wild-type tail as well as a tail mutated in the amino acids that mediate head to tail interaction. These were sent to the US group who is working on the isolation of recombinant proteins and performing the in vitro assays. While stress signals involve changes in Ca2+ levels in plants cells, the cytoplasmic streaming is sensitive to Ca2+. Therefore plant myosin activity is possibly regulated by stress. This finding is directly related to the goal of the original proposal.
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Beiker, Sven. Unsettled Issues Regarding Communication of Automated Vehicles with Other Road Users. SAE International, November 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.4271/epr2020023.
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The focus of this SAE EDGE™ Research Report is to address a topic overlooked by many who choose to view automated driving systems and AVs from a “10,000-foot” perspective: how automated vehicles (AVs) will actually communicate with other road users. Conventional (human-driven) vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians already have a functioning system of understating each other while on the move. Adding automated vehicles to the mix requires assessing the spectrum of existing modes of communication – both implicit and explicit, biological and technological, and how they will interact with each other in the real world. The impending deployment of AVs represents a major shift in the traditional approach to ground transportation; its effects will inevitably be felt by parties directly involved with the vehicle manufacturing and use and those that play roles in the mobility ecosystem (e.g., aftermarket and maintenance industries, infrastructure and planning organizations, automotive insurance providers, marketers, telecommunication companies). Unsettled Issues Regarding Communication of Automated Vehicles with Other Road Users brings together the multiple scenarios we are likely to see in a future not too far away and how they are likely to play out in practical ways.
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Delmer, Deborah P., Douglas Johnson, and Alex Levine. The Role of Small Signal Transducing Gtpases in the Regulation of Cell Wall Deposition Patterns in Plants. United States Department of Agriculture, August 1995. http://dx.doi.org/10.32747/1995.7570571.bard.
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The combined research of the groups of Delmer, Levine and Johnson has led to a number of interesting findings with respect to the function of the small GTPase Rac in plants and also opened up new leads for future research. The results have shown: 1) The Rac13 protein undergoes geranylgeranlyation and is also translocated to the plasma membrane as found for Rac in mammals; 2) When cotton Rac13 is highly- expressed in yeast, it leads to an aberrant phenotype reminiscent of mutants impaired in actin function, supporting a role for Rac13 in cytoskeletal organization; 3) From our searches, there is no strong evidence that plants contain homologs of the related CDC42 genes found in yeast and mammals; 4) We have identified a rather unique Rac gene in Arabidopsis that has unusual extensions at both the N- and C-terminal portions of the protein; 5) New evidence was obtained that an oxidative burst characterized by substantial and sustained production of H202 occurs coincident with the onset of secondary wall synthesis in cotton fibers. Further work indicates that the H202 produced may be a signal for the onset of this phase of development and also strongly suggests that Rac plays an important role in signaling for event. Since the secondary walls of plants that contain high levels of lignin and cellulose are the major source of biomass on earth, understanding what signals control this process may well in the future have important implications for manipulating the timing and extent of secondary wall deposition. 6) When the cotton Rac13 promoter is fused to the reporter gene GUS, expression patterns in Arabidopsis indicate very strong and specific expression in developing trichomes and in developing xyelm. Since both of these cell types are engaged in secondary wall synthesis, this further supports a role for Rac in signaling for onset of this process. Since cotton fibers are anatomically defined as trichomes, these data may also be quite useful for future studies in which the trichomes of Arabidopsis may serve as a model for cotton fiber development; the Rac promoter can therefore be useful to drive expression of other genes proposed to affect fiber development and study the effects on the process; 7) The Rac promoter has also been shown to be the best so far tested for use in development of a system for transient transformation of developing cotton fibers, a technique that should have many applications in the field of cotton biotechnology; 8) One candidate protein that may interact with Rac13 to be characterized further in the future is a protein kinase that may be analogous to the PAK kinase that is known to interact with Rac in mammals.
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Ghanim, Murad, Joe Cicero, Judith K. Brown, and Henryk Czosnek. Dissection of Whitefly-geminivirus Interactions at the Transcriptomic, Proteomic and Cellular Levels. United States Department of Agriculture, February 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.32747/2010.7592654.bard.
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Our project focuses on gene expression and proteomics of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) species complex in relation to the internal anatomy and localization of expressed genes and virions in the whitefly vector, which poses a major constraint to vegetable and fiber production in Israel and the USA. While many biological parameters are known for begomovirus transmission, nothing is known about vector proteins involved in the specific interactions between begomoviruses and their whitefly vectors. Identifying such proteins is expected to lead to the design of novel control methods that interfere with whitefly-mediated begomovirus transmission. The project objectives were to: 1) Perform gene expression analyses using microarrays to study the response of whiteflies (B, Q and A biotypes) to the acquisition of begomoviruses (Tomato yellow leaf curl (TYLCV) and Squash leaf curl (SLCV). 2) Construct a whitefly proteome from whole whiteflies and dissected organs after begomovirus acquisition. 3) Validate gene expression by q-RTPCR and sub-cellular localization of candidate ESTs identified in microarray and proteomic analyses. 4) Verify functionality of candidate ESTs using an RNAi approach, and to link these datasets to overall functional whitefly anatomical studies. During the first and second years biological experiments with TYLCV and SLCV acquisition and transmission were completed to verify the suitable parameters for sample collection for microarray experiments. The parameters were generally found to be similar to previously published results by our groups and others. Samples from whole whiteflies and midguts of the B, A and Q biotypes that acquired TYLCV and SLCV were collected in both the US and Israel and hybridized to B. tabaci microarray. The data we analyzed, candidate genes that respond to both viruses in the three tested biotypes were identified and their expression that included quantitative real-time PCR and co-localization was verified for HSP70 by the Israeli group. In addition, experiments were undertaken to employ in situ hybridization to localize several candidate genes (in progress) using an oligonucleotide probe to the primary endosymbiont as a positive control. A proteome and corresponding transcriptome to enable more effective protein identification of adult whiteflies was constructed by the US group. Further validation of the transmission route of begomoviruses, mainly SLCV and the involvement of the digestive and salivary systems was investigated (Cicero and Brown). Due to time and budget constraints the RNAi-mediated silencing objective to verify gene function was not accomplished as anticipated. HSP70, a strong candidate protein that showed over-expression after TYLCV and SLCV acquisition and retention by B. tabaci, and co-localization with TYLCV in the midgut, was further studies. Besides this protein, our joint research resulted in the identification of many intriguing candidate genes and proteins that will be followed up by additional experiments during our future research. To identify these proteins it was necessary to increase the number and breadth of whitefly ESTs substantially and so whitefly cDNAs from various libraries made during the project were sequenced (Sanger, 454). As a result, the proteome annotation (ID) was far more successful than in the initial attempt to identify proteins using Uniprot or translated insect ESTs from public databases. The extent of homology shared by insects in different orders was surprisingly low, underscoring the imperative need for genome and transcriptome sequencing of homopteran insects. Having increased the number of EST from the original usable 5500 generated several years ago to >600,000 (this project+NCBI data mining), we have identified about one fifth of the whitefly proteome using these new resources. Also we have created a database that links all identified whitefly proteins to the PAVEdb-ESTs in the database, resulting in a useful dataset to which additional ESTS will be added. We are optimistic about the prospect of linking the proteome ID results to the transcriptome database to enable our own and other labs the opportunity to functionally annotate not only genes and proteins involved in our area of interest (whitefly mediated transmission) but for the plethora of other functionalities that will emerge from mining and functionally annotating other key genes and gene families in whitefly metabolism, development, among others. This joint grant has resulted in the identification of numerous candidate proteins involved in begomovirus transmission by B. tabaci. A next major step will be to capitalize on validated genes/proteins to develop approaches to interfere with the virus transmission.
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Adegoke, Damilola, Natasha Chilambo, Adeoti Dipeolu, Ibrahim Machina, Ade Obafemi-Olopade, and Dolapo Yusuf. Public discourses and Engagement on Governance of Covid-19 in Ekiti State, Nigeria. African Leadership Center, King's College London, December 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.47697/lab.202101.
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Numerous studies have emerged so far on Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) across different disciplines. There is virtually no facet of human experience and relationships that have not been studied. In Nigeria, these studies include knowledge and attitude, risk perception, public perception of Covid-19 management, e-learning, palliatives, precautionary behaviours etc.,, Studies have also been carried out on public framing of Covid-19 discourses in Nigeria; these have explored both offline and online messaging and issues from the perspectives of citizens towards government’s policy responses such as palliative distributions, social distancing and lockdown. The investigators of these thematic concerns deployed different methodological tools in their studies. These tools include policy evaluations, content analysis, sentiment analysis, discourse analysis, survey questionnaires, focus group discussions, in depth-interviews as well as machine learning., These studies nearly always focus on the national government policy response, with little or no focus on the constituent states. In many of the studies, the researchers work with newspaper articles for analysis of public opinions while others use social media generated contents such as tweets) as sources for analysis of sentiments and opinions. Although there are others who rely on the use of survey questionnaires and other tools outlined above; the limitations of these approaches necessitated the research plan adopted by this study. Most of the social media users in Nigeria are domiciled in cities and their demography comprises the middle class (socio-economic) who are more likely to be literate with access to internet technologies. Hence, the opinions of a majority of the population who are most likely rural dwellers with limited access to internet technologies are very often excluded. This is not in any way to disparage social media content analysis findings; because the opinions expressed by opinion leaders usually represent the larger subset of opinions prevalent in the society. Analysing public perception using questionnaires is also fraught with its challenges, as well as reliance on newspaper articles. A lot of the newspapers and news media organisations in Nigeria are politically hinged; some of them have active politicians and their associates as their proprietors. Getting unbiased opinions from these sources might be difficult. The news articles are also most likely to reflect and amplify official positions through press releases and interviews which usually privilege elite actors. These gaps motivated this collaboration between Ekiti State Government and the African Leadership Centre at King’s College London to embark on research that will primarily assess public perceptions of government leadership response to Covid-19 in Ekiti State. The timeframe of the study covers the first phase of the pandemic in Ekiti State (March/April to August 2020).
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Ohad, Itzhak, and Himadri Pakrasi. Role of Cytochrome B559 in Photoinhibition. United States Department of Agriculture, December 1995. http://dx.doi.org/10.32747/1995.7613031.bard.
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The aim of this research project was to obtain information on the role of the cytochrome b559 in the function of Photosystem-II (PSII) with special emphasis on the light induced photo inactivation of PSII and turnover of the photochemical reaction center II protein subunit RCII-D1. The major goals of this project were: 1) Isolation and sequencing of the Chlamydomonas chloroplast psbE and psbF genes encoding the cytochrome b559 a and b subunits respectively; 2) Generation of site directed mutants and testing the effect of such mutation on the function of PSII under various light conditions; 3) To obtain further information on the mechanism of the light induced degradation and replacement of the PSII core proteins. This information shall serve as a basis for the understanding of the role of the cytochrome b559 in the process of photoinhibition and recovery of photosynthetic activity as well as during low light induced turnover of the D1 protein. Unlike in other organisms in which the psbE and psbF genes encoding the a and b subunits of cytochrome b559, are part of an operon which also includes the psbL and psbJ genes, in Chlamydomonas these genes are transcribed from different regions of the chloroplast chromosome. The charge distribution of the derived amino-acid sequences of psbE and psbF gene products differs from that of the corresponding genes in other organisms as far as the rule of "positive charge in" is concerned relative to the process of the polypeptide insertion in the thylakoid membrane. However, the sum of the charges of both subunits corresponds to the above rule possibly indicating co-insertion of both subunits in the process of cytochrome b559 assembly. A plasmid designed for the introduction of site-specific mutations into the psbF gene of C. reinhardtii. was constructed. The vector consists of a DNA fragment from the chromosome of C. reinhardtii which spans the region of the psbF gene, upstream of which the spectinomycin-resistance-conferring aadA cassette was inserted. This vector was successfully used to transform wild type C. reinhardtii cells. The spectinomycin resistant strain thus obtained can grow autotrophically and does not show significant changes as compared to the wild-type strain in PSII activity. The following mutations have been introduced in the psbF gene: H23M; H23Y; W19L and W19. The replacement of H23 involved in the heme binding to M and Y was meant to permit heme binding but eventually alter some or all of the electron transport properties of the mutated cytochrome. Tryptophane W19, a strictly conserved residue, is proximal to the heme and may interact with the tetrapyrole ring. Therefore its replacement may effect the heme properties. A change to tyrosine may have a lesser affect on the potential or electron transfer rate while a replacement of W19 by leucine is meant to introduce a more prominent disturbance in these parameters. Two of the mutants, FW19L and FH23M have segregated already and are homoplasmic. The rest are still grown under selection conditions until complete segregation will be obtained. All mutants contain assembled and functional PSII exhibiting an increased sensitivity of PSII to the light. Work is still in progress for the detailed characterization of the mutants PSII properties. A tobacco mutant, S6, obtained by Maliga and coworkers harboring the F26S mutation in the b subunit was made available to us and was characterized. Measurements of PSII charge separation and recombination, polypeptide content and electron flow indicates that this mutation indeed results in light sensitivity. Presently further work is in progress in the detailed characterization of the properties of all the above mutants. Information was obtained demonstrating that photoinactivation of PSII in vivo initiates a series of progressive changes in the properties of RCII which result in an irreversible modification of the RCII-D1 protein leading to its degradation and replacement. The cleavage process of the modified RCII-D1 protein is regulated by the occupancy of the QB site of RCII by plastoquinone. Newly synthesized D1 protein is not accumulated in a stable form unless integrated in reassembled RCII. Thus the degradation of the irreversibly modified RCII-D1 protein is essential for the recovery process. The light induced degradation of the RCII-D1 protein is rapid in mutants lacking the pD1 processing protease such as in the LF-1 mutant of the unicellular alga Scenedesmus obliquus. In this case the Mn binding site of PSII is abolished, the water oxidation process is inhibited and harmful cation radicals are formed following light induced electron flow in PSII. In such mutants photo-inactivation of PSII is rapid, it is not protected by ligands binding at the QB site and the degradation of the inactivated RCII-D1 occurs rapidly also in the dark. Furthermore the degraded D1 protein can be replaced in the dark in absence of light driven redox controlled reactions. The replacement of the RCII-D1 protein involves the de novo synthesis of the precursor protein, pD1, and its processing at the C-terminus end by an unknown processing protease. In the frame of this work, a gene previously isolated and sequenced by Dr. Pakrasi's group has been identified as encoding the RCII-pD1 C-terminus processing protease in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The deduced sequence of the ctpA protein shows significant similarity to the bovine, human and insect interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding proteins. Results obtained using C. reinhardtii cells exposes to low light or series of single turnover light flashes have been also obtained indicating that the process of RCII-D1 protein turnover under non-photoinactivating conditions (low light) may be related to charge recombination in RCII due to back electron flow from the semiquinone QB- to the oxidised S2,3 states of the Mn cluster involved in the water oxidation process.
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African Open Science Platform Part 1: Landscape Study. Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/assaf.2019/0047.
Full textAbstract:
This report maps the African landscape of Open Science – with a focus on Open Data as a sub-set of Open Science. Data to inform the landscape study were collected through a variety of methods, including surveys, desk research, engagement with a community of practice, networking with stakeholders, participation in conferences, case study presentations, and workshops hosted. Although the majority of African countries (35 of 54) demonstrates commitment to science through its investment in research and development (R&D), academies of science, ministries of science and technology, policies, recognition of research, and participation in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI), the following countries demonstrate the highest commitment and political willingness to invest in science: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. In addition to existing policies in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), the following countries have made progress towards Open Data policies: Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Africa and Uganda. Only two African countries (Kenya and South Africa) at this stage contribute 0.8% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to R&D (Research and Development), which is the closest to the AU’s (African Union’s) suggested 1%. Countries such as Lesotho and Madagascar ranked as 0%, while the R&D expenditure for 24 African countries is unknown. In addition to this, science globally has become fully dependent on stable ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) infrastructure, which includes connectivity/bandwidth, high performance computing facilities and data services. This is especially applicable since countries globally are finding themselves in the midst of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is not only “about” data, but which “is” data. According to an article1 by Alan Marcus (2015) (Senior Director, Head of Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries, World Economic Forum), “At its core, data represents a post-industrial opportunity. Its uses have unprecedented complexity, velocity and global reach. As digital communications become ubiquitous, data will rule in a world where nearly everyone and everything is connected in real time. That will require a highly reliable, secure and available infrastructure at its core, and innovation at the edge.” Every industry is affected as part of this revolution – also science. An important component of the digital transformation is “trust” – people must be able to trust that governments and all other industries (including the science sector), adequately handle and protect their data. This requires accountability on a global level, and digital industries must embrace the change and go for a higher standard of protection. “This will reassure consumers and citizens, benefitting the whole digital economy”, says Marcus. A stable and secure information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure – currently provided by the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) – is key to advance collaboration in science. The AfricaConnect2 project (AfricaConnect (2012–2014) and AfricaConnect2 (2016–2018)) through establishing connectivity between National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), is planning to roll out AfricaConnect3 by the end of 2019. The concern however is that selected African governments (with the exception of a few countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia and others) have low awareness of the impact the Internet has today on all societal levels, how much ICT (and the 4th Industrial Revolution) have affected research, and the added value an NREN can bring to higher education and research in addressing the respective needs, which is far more complex than simply providing connectivity. Apart from more commitment and investment in R&D, African governments – to become and remain part of the 4th Industrial Revolution – have no option other than to acknowledge and commit to the role NRENs play in advancing science towards addressing the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals). For successful collaboration and direction, it is fundamental that policies within one country are aligned with one another. Alignment on continental level is crucial for the future Pan-African African Open Science Platform to be successful. Both the HIPSSA ((Harmonization of ICT Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa)3 project and WATRA (the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly)4, have made progress towards the regulation of the telecom sector, and in particular of bottlenecks which curb the development of competition among ISPs. A study under HIPSSA identified potential bottlenecks in access at an affordable price to the international capacity of submarine cables and suggested means and tools used by regulators to remedy them. Work on the recommended measures and making them operational continues in collaboration with WATRA. In addition to sufficient bandwidth and connectivity, high-performance computing facilities and services in support of data sharing are also required. The South African National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System5 (NICIS) has made great progress in planning and setting up a cyberinfrastructure ecosystem in support of collaborative science and data sharing. The regional Southern African Development Community6 (SADC) Cyber-infrastructure Framework provides a valuable roadmap towards high-speed Internet, developing human capacity and skills in ICT technologies, high- performance computing and more. The following countries have been identified as having high-performance computing facilities, some as a result of the Square Kilometre Array7 (SKA) partnership: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zambia. More and more NRENs – especially the Level 6 NRENs 8 (Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and recently Zambia) – are exploring offering additional services; also in support of data sharing and transfer. The following NRENs already allow for running data-intensive applications and sharing of high-end computing assets, bio-modelling and computation on high-performance/ supercomputers: KENET (Kenya), TENET (South Africa), RENU (Uganda), ZAMREN (Zambia), EUN (Egypt) and ARN (Algeria). Fifteen higher education training institutions from eight African countries (Botswana, Benin, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, and Tanzania) have been identified as offering formal courses on data science. In addition to formal degrees, a number of international short courses have been developed and free international online courses are also available as an option to build capacity and integrate as part of curricula. The small number of higher education or research intensive institutions offering data science is however insufficient, and there is a desperate need for more training in data science. The CODATA-RDA Schools of Research Data Science aim at addressing the continental need for foundational data skills across all disciplines, along with training conducted by The Carpentries 9 programme (specifically Data Carpentry 10 ). Thus far, CODATA-RDA schools in collaboration with AOSP, integrating content from Data Carpentry, were presented in Rwanda (in 2018), and during17-29 June 2019, in Ethiopia. Awareness regarding Open Science (including Open Data) is evident through the 12 Open Science-related Open Access/Open Data/Open Science declarations and agreements endorsed or signed by African governments; 200 Open Access journals from Africa registered on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ); 174 Open Access institutional research repositories registered on openDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories); 33 Open Access/Open Science policies registered on ROARMAP (Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies); 24 data repositories registered with the Registry of Data Repositories (re3data.org) (although the pilot project identified 66 research data repositories); and one data repository assigned the CoreTrustSeal. Although this is a start, far more needs to be done to align African data curation and research practices with global standards. Funding to conduct research remains a challenge. African researchers mostly fund their own research, and there are little incentives for them to make their research and accompanying data sets openly accessible. Funding and peer recognition, along with an enabling research environment conducive for research, are regarded as major incentives. The landscape report concludes with a number of concerns towards sharing research data openly, as well as challenges in terms of Open Data policy, ICT infrastructure supportive of data sharing, capacity building, lack of skills, and the need for incentives. Although great progress has been made in terms of Open Science and Open Data practices, more awareness needs to be created and further advocacy efforts are required for buy-in from African governments. A federated African Open Science Platform (AOSP) will not only encourage more collaboration among researchers in addressing the SDGs, but it will also benefit the many stakeholders identified as part of the pilot phase. The time is now, for governments in Africa, to acknowledge the important role of science in general, but specifically Open Science and Open Data, through developing and aligning the relevant policies, investing in an ICT infrastructure conducive for data sharing through committing funding to making NRENs financially sustainable, incentivising open research practices by scientists, and creating opportunities for more scientists and stakeholders across all disciplines to be trained in data management.