Month: July 2024

Boundary Spanning Methodological Approaches for Collaborative Moose Governance in Eeyou Istchee

Latest Results

Abstract

Natural resource governance challenges are often highly complex, particularly in Indigenous contexts. These challenges involve numerous landscape-level interactions, spanning jurisdictional, disciplinary, social, and ecological boundaries. In Eeyou Istchee, the James Bay Cree Territory of northern Quebec, Canada, traditional livelihoods depend on wild food species like moose. However, these species are increasingly being impacted by forestry and other resource development projects. The complex relationships between moose, resource development, and Cree livelihoods can limit shared understandings and the ability of diverse actors to respond to these pressures. Contributing to this complexity are the different knowledge systems held by governance actors who, while not always aligned, have broadly shared species conservation and sustainable development goals. This paper presents fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) as a methodological approach used to help elicit and interpret the knowledge of land-users concerning the impacts of forest management on moose habitat in Eeyou Istchee. We explore the difficulties of weaving this knowledge together with the results of moose GPS collar analysis and the knowledges of scientists and government agencies. The ways in which participatory, relational mapping approaches can be applied in practice, and what they offer to pluralistic natural resource governance research more widely, are then addressed.

Actor Perceptions of the Governance Framework and Non-Carbon Benefits from the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Program: An Extended Q-Study of the Juabuso-Bia Hotspot Intervention Area

Latest Results

Abstract

The expansion of cocoa farms is a major driver of deforestation and emissions in Ghana’s high forest zone. The Ghana Cocoa Forest Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Program (REDD+) was launched as the world’s first commodity-based initiative to address emissions from deforestation caused by cocoa production and generate non-carbon benefits. Hotspot Intervention Areas were established to implement the Ghana Cocoa REDD+ program. This study combines Q-methodology with focus group discussions and interviews to assess stakeholder perceptions in the Juabuso-Bia cocoa landscape regarding the capacity of the Hotspot Intervention Area to facilitate the generation of governance and economic non-carbon benefits to sustain emission reductions. We found that introducing the Hotspot Intervention Area has re-centralized landscape governance, which, coupled with weak collaboration among stakeholders, has led to poor generation of non-carbon benefits. Furthermore, efforts to include women in the leadership structure of the Hotspot Intervention Area can be described as tokenism, and little has been done to improve land and tree tenure for vulnerable groups. This, combined with the low adoption of climate-smart cocoa practices, is likely to negatively affect the generation of economic non-carbon benefits. To overcome these challenges, we recommend reforming the Hotspot Intervention Area, bolstering community-level sensitization, improving access to decision-making spaces that will enhance the participation of women and minority groups in landscape governance, and improving farmers’ tenure security through a registration scheme for land and trees. These recommendations can ensure the efficient generation of non-carbon benefits, which are key to the success of REDD+.

Elephants in the Room — Analyzing Local Discourses for Sustainable Management of Bannerghatta National Park, South India

Latest Results

Abstract

Landscape governance challenges, particularly in peri-urban contexts like the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) region in South India, exemplify ‘wicked’ problems due to their inherent complexities. These challenges arise from a mix of conflicting interests, policy ambiguities, and sociocultural dynamics, which often blur the definition of problems and hinder effective solutions. Despite apparent options for resolution, stakeholder disagreements and deep uncertainties about implementation strategies complicate governance. This study, therefore, has two broad objectives. The first objective is to analyze the local discourses surrounding planned policy interventions around the BNP region in South India. Based on the findings, the second objective is to draw insights for sustainable natural resource governance research and practice. We applied Q-methodology to understand the discourses that underpin various conflicts in the rapidly urbanizing elephant corridor at BNP. We elicited information on how various local actors frame solutions to current collective action challenges in the BNP landscape and their perspectives on the proposed eco-sensitive zone notification, as well as the functioning of current policy interventions concerning conservation and development. The study uncovers the micropolitics and power regimes underpinning various natural resource governance challenges and demonstrates the utility of the Q-methodology in bringing diverse perspectives together in response to ‘wicked’ governance challenges.

Improving mechanical properties of FSWed AA6061-T6 joint by controlling microstructural changes through utilization of stationary shoulder tool in presence of Al2O3 nanoparticles and external cooling

Latest Results

Abstract

A novel cooling-assisted stationary shoulder friction stir welding (SSFSW) was employed, using Al2O3 nanoparticles, to achieve high-strength joints in AA6061-T6. The approach resulted in improved mechanical properties, with the optimal joint achieving an efficiency of 91%, representing a substantial increase compared to the 77% efficiency achieved in submerged FSW with rotational shoulder (RFSW). This was accomplished through narrower weld zones, finer grain structure, maintained strengthening precipitates, and more symmetrical temperature and material flow fields. In contrast to RFSW, SSFSW samples exhibited a nugget zone with a grain structure in the nanometer range (900 nm) and a higher density of strengthening precipitates. The underwater SSFSW prevented weakening in the heat-affected zone by reducing the heat input and increasing the cooling rate. As a result, the minimum hardness shifted from the heat affected zone to its boundary with the thermo-mechanically affected zone. The addition of nanoparticles significantly contributed to joint strengthening, and the specimen prepared from the stir zone of the SSFSW-optimum sample achieved a tensile strength of 494 MPa. The primary mechanism of joint strengthening in SSFSW was grain boundary hardening, while quench hardening was the primary mechanism in RFSW. Additionally, the Orowan hardening mechanism had a more significant contribution in SSFSW due to the higher concentration of strengthening precipitates that were retained during the process.

Addressing Inequities in Access to Mental Healthcare: A Policy Analysis of Community Mental Health Systems Serving Minoritized Populations in North Carolina

Latest Results

Abstract

Racial and ethnic minoritized uninsured populations in the United States face the greatest barriers to accessing mental healthcare. Historically, systems of care in the U.S. were set up using inadequate evidence at the federal, state, and local levels, driving inequities in access to quality care for minoritized populations. These inequities are most evident in community-based mental health services, which are partially or fully funded by federal programs and predominantly serve historically minoritized groups. In this descriptive policy analysis, we outline the history of federal legislative policies that have dictated community mental health systems and how these policies were implemented in North Carolina, which has a high percentage of uninsured communities of color. Several gaps between laws passed in the last 60 years and research on improving inequities in access to mental health services are discussed. Recommendations to expand/fix these policies include funding accurate data collection and implementation methods such as electronic health record (EHR) systems to ensure policies are informed by extensive data, implementation of evidence-informed and culturally sensitive interventions, and prioritizing preventative services that move past traditional models of mental healthcare.

Differences in Achilles tendon mechanical properties between professional ballet dancers and collegiate athletes utilizing shear wave elastography

Latest Results

Abstract

Purpose

To report normative stiffness parameters obtained using shear wave elastography in dorsiflexion from the Achilles tendons in asymptomatic professional ballet dancers and compare them with college-level athletes.

Methods

An Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved study consists of 28 professional ballet dancers and 64 asymptomatic collegiate athletes. The athletes were further subdivided into runner and non-runner disciplines. Shear wave elastography (SWE) measurements were made in maximum ankle dorsiflexion position.

Results and discussion

Forty-eight (52%) males and 44 (48%) females were examined with an overall mean age of 22.2 (± 3.8 years). There were no significant SWE differences between dominant and non-dominant legs in both groups and comparing spin vs. non-spin leg of ballet dancers (p > 0.05). Ballet dancers had significantly higher short-axis velocity values than runners and non-runners (2.34 m/s increase and 2.79 m/s increase, respectively, p < 0.001). Long-axis velocity was significantly higher in ballet dancers compared to non-runners (by 0.80 m/s, p < 0.001), but was not different between ballet dancers and runners (p > 0.05). Short-axis modulus was significantly higher in dancers compared to runners and non-runners (by 135.2 kPa and 159.2 kPa, respectively, p < 0.001). Long-axis modulus (LAM) was not significantly different in ballet dancers when compared to runners.

Conclusion

Asymptomatic professional ballet dancers exhibit greater short-axis tendon stiffness compared to athletes and greater long-axis tendon stiffness compared to non-runners but similar to runners. The functional benefit from elevated short-axis stiffness in dancers is not clear but may be related to greater axial loading and adaptations of the tendon matrix.

Climate change and energy security: the dilemma or opportunity of the century?

Latest Results

Abstract

This paper investigates the connection between climate change and energy security in Europe and provides empirical evidence that these issues are the two faces of the same coin. Using a panel of 39 European countries during the period 1980–2020, the empirical analysis presented in this paper indicates that increasing the share of nuclear, renewables, and other nonhydrocarbon energy and improving energy efficiency could lead to a significant reduction in carbon emissions and improve energy security throughout Europe. Accordingly, policies and reforms aimed at shifting away from hydrocarbons and increasing energy efficiency in distribution and consumption are key to mitigating climate change, reducing energy dependence, and minimizing exposure to energy price volatility.

Board reforms and M&amp;A performance: international evidence

Latest Results

Abstract

This research employs a difference-in-differences framework to study the impact of major board reforms on the performance of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Using an international sample of board reforms implemented in 61 countries from 1985 to 2021, we document a drastic redistribution of wealth from target shareholders to acquirer shareholders after the board reforms in target countries. This effect is most pronounced in M&A transactions that involve the sale of controlling shares, thereby supporting the hypothesis that corporate board reforms mitigate the private benefits of control in the target firm. Furthermore, these reforms increase expected deal synergies, in that deal-level announcement returns are higher after the implementation of the reforms. When country-level institutional quality and legal protection of shareholders are greater, it reinforces the reform effects. Overall M&A activity remains unchanged following the reforms, yet financial bidders complete fewer transactions, implying a reform-induced squeeze-out of financial bidders from the M&A market in the target country. Collectively, these international results are consistent with the predictions of the private benefits of control theory and underscore the role of institutional quality and investor protection in reinforcing the effects of board reforms worldwide.

The war on drugs: how multi-stakeholder partnerships contribute to sustainable development in the Golden Triangle region

Latest Results

Abstract

Studies on multi-stakeholder processes and cross-sector partnerships have demonstrated that multiple stakeholders across different sectors can resolve sustainable development issues when they combine their complementary resources and capacities. These studies have highlighted the role of multinational enterprises (MNEs), considering their requisite resources and capacities to implement intervention strategies. However, MNEs’ role remains largely underexplored in the context of non-state cultural regions where state governance is entirely lacking. Drawing on the findings of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Golden Triangle region near Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos borders, this study investigates how multiple stakeholders’ collective interventions transformed the illicit drug-based economy of the region into an alternative sustainable economy. The region once supplied 60% of the illicit drugs distributed worldwide, yet a series of cross-sector interventions transformed the region into a sustainable economy over the past 60 years. The findings show that the foreign subsidiaries of MNEs proactively explored the unknown region and shared knowledge with other actors, which helped participating stakeholders effectively address regional sustainable development issues. The resulting process model sheds light on MNEs’ central roles at various stages of the multi-stakeholder process, offering new insights into informal institutions and intercultural studies in the field of international business.

Manhandling the Goddess: The Thuggee Archive as a Sum of (Male) Parts

Latest Results

Abstract

Every archive holds many stories; this paper analyses the treatment and socio-political role of the Indian goddess icon, Kali, in the early nineteenth century, considering the story of legal subjectivity through her changing depiction and worship. Kali was reimagined as a monster-like figure of hate and fear, of depravity and unchecked female sexuality, and the anti-thesis of morality, by the East India Company officers who compiled the archive on thuggee. As the icon of reverence to thuggee, an early codified crime of habitual stranglers, this paper follows Kali through her restructuring under the British imperial vision, and as a mirror-metaphor of repressed feminine energy in the legal archive. I analyse the change in Kali’s iconography under the gaze of the law and the advent of a new colonial branding made up from parts of her legend. It is through this new role that the introduction of a standardised legal framework forced Kali to become secondary to Western paternalism, a role that split her Eastern feminine aspect into separate facets. I discuss how the repression of the female voice in the thuggee archive reflects historic attitudes of engendering that echoed as a form of nomos in the twentieth century socio-political climate of Britain. Finally, I present where the feminine energy highlights the need for a subtle reorientation of the criminal law to overcome areas of recurring dissonance in service to its female subjects.