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• 131. [Article] Towards Gender-Equitable Small-Scale Fisheries and Markets in Solomon Islands

  Suggested Bibliographic Reference: Challenging New Frontiers in the Global Seafood Sector: Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Towards Gender-Equitable Small-Scale Fisheries and Markets in Solomon Islands Author: Barclay, Kate, Payne, Anne Maree, Senoveva, Mauli Year: 2016 Suggested Bibliographic Reference: Challenging New Frontiers in the Global Seafood Sector: Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, July 11-15, 2016. Compiled by Stefani J. Evers and Ann L. Shriver. International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET), Corvallis, 2016. Title: Towards Gender-Equitable Small-Scale Fisheries and Markets in Solomon Islands Author: Barclay, Kate, Payne, Anne Maree, Senoveva, Mauli Year: 2016 Suggested Bibliographic Reference: Challenging New Frontiers in the Global Seafood Sector: Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, July 11-15, 2016. Compiled by Stefani J. Evers and Ann L. Shriver. International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET), Corvallis, 2016. Close

• 132. [Article] What Country Makes the Best Place for Work? By using Hierarchical Decision Model (HDM)

  Work is very basic practice in human civilization. Starting with billions of years ago, a human was busy with farming, lumberjack, hunting, and sailor. Indeed, the role of labor and the development of ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: What Country Makes the Best Place for Work? By using Hierarchical Decision Model (HDM) Author: AL Saglab, Bashair Year: 2017 Work is very basic practice in human civilization. Starting with billions of years ago, a human was busy with farming, lumberjack, hunting, and sailor. Indeed, the role of labor and the development of different kinds of jobs have been prime to our growth and wealthiest; as a result, human will seek to the most convenient place in the earth that will provide a good place for work. From this concept, finding the best country for work is important in these days. Because human cannot live without work, finding the most desirable country to work is essential. Based on the evaluation of the most priority needs from a set of criteria, a good decision for selecting the criteria that are influencing the decision can be taken. In fact, a good evaluation tool will help human to select the adequate country for work. This paper is about decision-making model for selection a country for work that a family or an indivisible will choose to ensure a better quality of life, happiness, and comfort. This paper develops a framework to determine the most outstanding country for work from different countries around the global. The decision model used in this research paper is a comprehensive evaluation tool for a personal decision analysis that answers this question "What country makes the best place for work?" Indeed, a hierarchical decision model (HDM) was constructed for the framework. Experts judgments were used in this research paper to provide a pair-wised comparison evaluation for choosing one of the country outcomes that are: KSA, USA, UAE, and UK. The hierarchy model includes three levels: criteria, sub-criteria, and alternatives. The results of this analysis show that working in The United Kingdom is the best place to work because of the weighted score for political stability, tolerance for other customs, and Language barriers. This model would be helpful for an individual case who is qualified to start looking for a good work opportunity in either KSA, USA, UAE, and UK and have these characteristics of a limited budget, special traditions, and socially interactive. Though this paper highlighted several issues in selecting the best place for work, this would make a good topic for future research. Indeed, addressing the size of the company and the size of the family who lives in the household. And the education level for the work seeker, also the working experience period. Title: What Country Makes the Best Place for Work? By using Hierarchical Decision Model (HDM) Author: AL Saglab, Bashair Year: 2017 Work is very basic practice in human civilization. Starting with billions of years ago, a human was busy with farming, lumberjack, hunting, and sailor. Indeed, the role of labor and the development of different kinds of jobs have been prime to our growth and wealthiest; as a result, human will seek to the most convenient place in the earth that will provide a good place for work. From this concept, finding the best country for work is important in these days. Because human cannot live without work, finding the most desirable country to work is essential. Based on the evaluation of the most priority needs from a set of criteria, a good decision for selecting the criteria that are influencing the decision can be taken. In fact, a good evaluation tool will help human to select the adequate country for work. This paper is about decision-making model for selection a country for work that a family or an indivisible will choose to ensure a better quality of life, happiness, and comfort. This paper develops a framework to determine the most outstanding country for work from different countries around the global. The decision model used in this research paper is a comprehensive evaluation tool for a personal decision analysis that answers this question "What country makes the best place for work?" Indeed, a hierarchical decision model (HDM) was constructed for the framework. Experts judgments were used in this research paper to provide a pair-wised comparison evaluation for choosing one of the country outcomes that are: KSA, USA, UAE, and UK. The hierarchy model includes three levels: criteria, sub-criteria, and alternatives. The results of this analysis show that working in The United Kingdom is the best place to work because of the weighted score for political stability, tolerance for other customs, and Language barriers. This model would be helpful for an individual case who is qualified to start looking for a good work opportunity in either KSA, USA, UAE, and UK and have these characteristics of a limited budget, special traditions, and socially interactive. Though this paper highlighted several issues in selecting the best place for work, this would make a good topic for future research. Indeed, addressing the size of the company and the size of the family who lives in the household. And the education level for the work seeker, also the working experience period. Close

• 133. [Article] Travel Mode Choice Framework Incorporating Realistic Bike and Walk Routes

  For a number of reasons--congestion, public health, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, demographic shifts, and community livability to name a few--the importance of walking and bicycling as transportation ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Travel Mode Choice Framework Incorporating Realistic Bike and Walk Routes Author: Broach, Joseph Paul Year: 2016 For a number of reasons--congestion, public health, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, demographic shifts, and community livability to name a few--the importance of walking and bicycling as transportation options will only continue to increase. Currently, policy interest and infrastructure funding for nonmotorized modes far outstrip our ability to model bike and walk travel. To ensure scarce resources are used most effectively, accurate models sensitive to key policy variables are needed to support long-range planning and project evaluation, and to continue adding to our growing understanding of key factors driving walk and bike behavior. This research attempts to synthesize and advance the state of the art in trip-based, nonmotorized mode choice modeling. Over the past fifteen years, efforts to model the decision to walk or bike on a given trip have been hampered by the lack of a comprehensive behavioral framework and inconsistency in measurement scales and model specification. This project develops a mode choice behavioral framework that acknowledges the importance of attributes along the specific walk and bike routes that travelers are likely to consider, in addition to more traditional area-based measures of travel environments. The proposed framework is applied to a revealed preference, GPS-based travel dataset collected from 2010-2013 in Portland, Oregon. Measurement of nonmotorized trip distance, built environment, tour-level variables, and attitudinal attributes as well as mode availability are explicitly addressed. Route and mode choice models are specified using discrete choice techniques, and predicted walking and bicycling routes are tested as inputs to various mode choice models. Results suggest strong potential for predicted route measures to enhance walk and bicycle mode choice modeling. Findings also support the specific notion that bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure contribute not only to route choice but also to the choice of whether to bike or walk. For decisions to bicycle, availability of low-traffic routes may be particularly important to women. Model results further indicate that land use and built environments around trip ends and a person’s home still have important effects on nonmotorized travel when controlling for route quality. Both route and area travel environment impacts are mostly robust to the inclusion of residential self-selection variables, consistent with the idea that built environment differences matter even for households that choose to live in a walkable or bikeable neighborhood. The combination of area and route-based built environment measures alongside trip context, sociodemographic, and attitudinal attributes provides a new perspective on nonmotorized travel behavior relevant to both policy and practice. Title: Travel Mode Choice Framework Incorporating Realistic Bike and Walk Routes Author: Broach, Joseph Paul Year: 2016 For a number of reasons--congestion, public health, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, demographic shifts, and community livability to name a few--the importance of walking and bicycling as transportation options will only continue to increase. Currently, policy interest and infrastructure funding for nonmotorized modes far outstrip our ability to model bike and walk travel. To ensure scarce resources are used most effectively, accurate models sensitive to key policy variables are needed to support long-range planning and project evaluation, and to continue adding to our growing understanding of key factors driving walk and bike behavior. This research attempts to synthesize and advance the state of the art in trip-based, nonmotorized mode choice modeling. Over the past fifteen years, efforts to model the decision to walk or bike on a given trip have been hampered by the lack of a comprehensive behavioral framework and inconsistency in measurement scales and model specification. This project develops a mode choice behavioral framework that acknowledges the importance of attributes along the specific walk and bike routes that travelers are likely to consider, in addition to more traditional area-based measures of travel environments. The proposed framework is applied to a revealed preference, GPS-based travel dataset collected from 2010-2013 in Portland, Oregon. Measurement of nonmotorized trip distance, built environment, tour-level variables, and attitudinal attributes as well as mode availability are explicitly addressed. Route and mode choice models are specified using discrete choice techniques, and predicted walking and bicycling routes are tested as inputs to various mode choice models. Results suggest strong potential for predicted route measures to enhance walk and bicycle mode choice modeling. Findings also support the specific notion that bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure contribute not only to route choice but also to the choice of whether to bike or walk. For decisions to bicycle, availability of low-traffic routes may be particularly important to women. Model results further indicate that land use and built environments around trip ends and a person’s home still have important effects on nonmotorized travel when controlling for route quality. Both route and area travel environment impacts are mostly robust to the inclusion of residential self-selection variables, consistent with the idea that built environment differences matter even for households that choose to live in a walkable or bikeable neighborhood. The combination of area and route-based built environment measures alongside trip context, sociodemographic, and attitudinal attributes provides a new perspective on nonmotorized travel behavior relevant to both policy and practice. Close

• 134. [Article] Determinants of Recent Mover Non-work Travel Mode Choice

  Active transportation modes of walking and bicycling have the potential to help mitigate environmental and health concerns ranging from growing greenhouse gas emissions to increasing rates of obesity. ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Determinants of Recent Mover Non-work Travel Mode Choice Author: Adkins, Arlie Steven Year: 2014 Active transportation modes of walking and bicycling have the potential to help mitigate environmental and health concerns ranging from growing greenhouse gas emissions to increasing rates of obesity. This dissertation investigates how new movers make decisions about active transportation, particularly non-work utilitarian walking, in the context of a new home and neighborhood. New movers are an important, yet often overlooked, population in travel behavior research because they provide an opportunity to observe behavior adoption in new contexts, but also because the roughly one-in-ten Americans who move each year are more likely to consider changes to daily routines, including travel behavior, making them prime targets for voluntary travel behavior change programs. Using data from a two-wave survey of recent movers in six U.S. cities, psychological and social mechanisms essential to the built environment travel behavior relationship. The research is divided into three stand-alone papers (chapters 4, 5 and 6). First, to isolate the built environment effect on active travel mode adoption, the relative influence of the built environment and a robust set of self-selection variables is quantified. Second, the psychological constructs that facilitate the built environment travel behavior relationship are identified. And in light of increasing market demand for housing in walkable urban neighborhoods and the observed importance of self-selection, the final paper quantifies the extent to which low-income households face are able to realize preferences for walkable housing locations. The key findings of this dissertation are that 1) the built environment plays a key role in determining recent mover adoption of utilitarian walking even after controlling for self-selection; 2) the influence of the built environment on post-move adoption of utilitarian walking largely mediated by perceived behavior control, as expected, and, unexpectedly, by descriptive social norms; and 3) low-income movers who prioritized moving to a walkable place were about half as likely as higher-income movers to be able to realize this preference. These findings have practical and theoretical implications which are discussed in each paper and in the final chapter. Title: Determinants of Recent Mover Non-work Travel Mode Choice Author: Adkins, Arlie Steven Year: 2014 Active transportation modes of walking and bicycling have the potential to help mitigate environmental and health concerns ranging from growing greenhouse gas emissions to increasing rates of obesity. This dissertation investigates how new movers make decisions about active transportation, particularly non-work utilitarian walking, in the context of a new home and neighborhood. New movers are an important, yet often overlooked, population in travel behavior research because they provide an opportunity to observe behavior adoption in new contexts, but also because the roughly one-in-ten Americans who move each year are more likely to consider changes to daily routines, including travel behavior, making them prime targets for voluntary travel behavior change programs. Using data from a two-wave survey of recent movers in six U.S. cities, psychological and social mechanisms essential to the built environment travel behavior relationship. The research is divided into three stand-alone papers (chapters 4, 5 and 6). First, to isolate the built environment effect on active travel mode adoption, the relative influence of the built environment and a robust set of self-selection variables is quantified. Second, the psychological constructs that facilitate the built environment travel behavior relationship are identified. And in light of increasing market demand for housing in walkable urban neighborhoods and the observed importance of self-selection, the final paper quantifies the extent to which low-income households face are able to realize preferences for walkable housing locations. The key findings of this dissertation are that 1) the built environment plays a key role in determining recent mover adoption of utilitarian walking even after controlling for self-selection; 2) the influence of the built environment on post-move adoption of utilitarian walking largely mediated by perceived behavior control, as expected, and, unexpectedly, by descriptive social norms; and 3) low-income movers who prioritized moving to a walkable place were about half as likely as higher-income movers to be able to realize this preference. These findings have practical and theoretical implications which are discussed in each paper and in the final chapter. Close

• 135. [Article] Peer-To-Peer Carsharing: Short-Term Effects on Travel Behavior in Portland, OR

  Peer-to-peer (P2P) carsharing is a relatively new concept in the U.S. Enabled by recent internet and mobile technology development, P2P carsharing generally involves a facilitating company connecting private ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Peer-To-Peer Carsharing: Short-Term Effects on Travel Behavior in Portland, OR Author: Dill, Jennifer, McNeil, Nathan, Howland, Steven Year: 2017 Peer-to-peer (P2P) carsharing is a relatively new concept in the U.S. Enabled by recent internet and mobile technology development, P2P carsharing generally involves a facilitating company connecting private vehicle owners to people who are interested in renting a vehicle. P2P carsharing has many things in common with business-to-consumer (B2C) carsharing services. Consumers join the service to rent vehicles on a short-term basis from locations dispersed throughout a certain area. Both services may allow households to reduce their private car ownership. However, P2P carsharing differs substantially from other models in that there are two distinct sets of consumers: those who rent the vehicles (renters) and those who put their vehicles up for rent (owners). The members of the service are providing the supply as well as the demand. Not only does the car owner provide the vehicle and determine where it is parked, they determine what hours it is available for rent and at what price (though with some influence from the facilitating company). This report presents findings from a multiyear study of P2P carsharing that began in early 2012 and targeted members of Getaround, which launched in February 2012 in Portland, OR. The goal of this study, which collected information from both owners and renters, is to evaluate the impact of peer-to-peer carsharing relative to other models of car use, including ownership, rental, and conventional (corporate) carsharing. The two primary research questions are whether P2P carsharing can reduce overall and peak- period vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by marginalizing the cost of driving, and whether P2P carsharing increases access to jobs and other activities for those without cars. Compared with conventional carsharing, P2P carsharing has the potential to influence VMT for both the renter and the owner. P2P owners may reduce their driving so that the vehicle is available for rent. Renters, as with other forms of carsharing, may decide to forgo or reduce vehicle ownership and drive less because the marginal costs of driving are more apparent. This report also examines motivations and factors associated with greater or lesser participation (in terms of rental activity), the influence of P2P carsharing on travel behavior and attitudes toward car ownership, and general experiences with P2P carsharing Title: Peer-To-Peer Carsharing: Short-Term Effects on Travel Behavior in Portland, OR Author: Dill, Jennifer, McNeil, Nathan, Howland, Steven Year: 2017 Peer-to-peer (P2P) carsharing is a relatively new concept in the U.S. Enabled by recent internet and mobile technology development, P2P carsharing generally involves a facilitating company connecting private vehicle owners to people who are interested in renting a vehicle. P2P carsharing has many things in common with business-to-consumer (B2C) carsharing services. Consumers join the service to rent vehicles on a short-term basis from locations dispersed throughout a certain area. Both services may allow households to reduce their private car ownership. However, P2P carsharing differs substantially from other models in that there are two distinct sets of consumers: those who rent the vehicles (renters) and those who put their vehicles up for rent (owners). The members of the service are providing the supply as well as the demand. Not only does the car owner provide the vehicle and determine where it is parked, they determine what hours it is available for rent and at what price (though with some influence from the facilitating company). This report presents findings from a multiyear study of P2P carsharing that began in early 2012 and targeted members of Getaround, which launched in February 2012 in Portland, OR. The goal of this study, which collected information from both owners and renters, is to evaluate the impact of peer-to-peer carsharing relative to other models of car use, including ownership, rental, and conventional (corporate) carsharing. The two primary research questions are whether P2P carsharing can reduce overall and peak- period vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by marginalizing the cost of driving, and whether P2P carsharing increases access to jobs and other activities for those without cars. Compared with conventional carsharing, P2P carsharing has the potential to influence VMT for both the renter and the owner. P2P owners may reduce their driving so that the vehicle is available for rent. Renters, as with other forms of carsharing, may decide to forgo or reduce vehicle ownership and drive less because the marginal costs of driving are more apparent. This report also examines motivations and factors associated with greater or lesser participation (in terms of rental activity), the influence of P2P carsharing on travel behavior and attitudes toward car ownership, and general experiences with P2P carsharing Close

• 136. [Article] Examining Generational and Gender Differences in Parent-Young Adult Child Relationships During Co-residence

  Young adults of the twenty-first century face a long path to adulthood marked by uncertainty and lack of stability. In response, young adults are heading back to or failing to leave their family homes ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Examining Generational and Gender Differences in Parent-Young Adult Child Relationships During Co-residence Author: Ferguson, Lauren Elizabeth Year: 2016 Young adults of the twenty-first century face a long path to adulthood marked by uncertainty and lack of stability. In response, young adults are heading back to or failing to leave their family homes in higher numbers than generations before (Jacobsen and Mather 2011; Qian 2012). These macro-level trends bring about questions about their impact on family relationships as well as how these relationships have evolved over time. My thesis investigates parent-child relationships during co-residence with a specific focus on generation and gender differences. Through secondary data analysis of the National Survey of Families and Households, I explore how parent-child relationships during co-residence differ between parents of Generation Xer young adults (born between 1965-1980) and Millennial young adults (born between 1981-1996). Additionally, I examine gender differences between these two generational cohorts. My findings offer support that intergenerational relationships are not necessary closer, but look different for parents of Millennials as compared to Generation Xers. I also find that there are significant gender differences between mothers and fathers of Generation Xers versus those of Millennials. I find that mothers of Generation Xers report more time shared with co-residing young adults and increased frequency of perceived emotional support from their child than fathers; yet, fathers of Millennials report more perceived support than mothers. I suggest these findings offer support for the notion that gendered roles play out into young adulthood and potentially have more flexibility for fathers across time. As the economic and social landscape continues to change and present more uncertainty, family relationships become a form of social security; thus it becomes increasingly important to understand these dynamics. My findings are significant as they contribute to a better understanding of parent-child relationships over time and offer discussion on the potential implications. Title: Examining Generational and Gender Differences in Parent-Young Adult Child Relationships During Co-residence Author: Ferguson, Lauren Elizabeth Year: 2016 Young adults of the twenty-first century face a long path to adulthood marked by uncertainty and lack of stability. In response, young adults are heading back to or failing to leave their family homes in higher numbers than generations before (Jacobsen and Mather 2011; Qian 2012). These macro-level trends bring about questions about their impact on family relationships as well as how these relationships have evolved over time. My thesis investigates parent-child relationships during co-residence with a specific focus on generation and gender differences. Through secondary data analysis of the National Survey of Families and Households, I explore how parent-child relationships during co-residence differ between parents of Generation Xer young adults (born between 1965-1980) and Millennial young adults (born between 1981-1996). Additionally, I examine gender differences between these two generational cohorts. My findings offer support that intergenerational relationships are not necessary closer, but look different for parents of Millennials as compared to Generation Xers. I also find that there are significant gender differences between mothers and fathers of Generation Xers versus those of Millennials. I find that mothers of Generation Xers report more time shared with co-residing young adults and increased frequency of perceived emotional support from their child than fathers; yet, fathers of Millennials report more perceived support than mothers. I suggest these findings offer support for the notion that gendered roles play out into young adulthood and potentially have more flexibility for fathers across time. As the economic and social landscape continues to change and present more uncertainty, family relationships become a form of social security; thus it becomes increasingly important to understand these dynamics. My findings are significant as they contribute to a better understanding of parent-child relationships over time and offer discussion on the potential implications. Close

• 137. [Article] Evaluation of Smart Home Hubs

  A smart home hub is a hardware device that connects the devices on a home automation network and controls communications among them. The devices on a home automation or smart home network might include ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Evaluation of Smart Home Hubs Author: Alzahrani, Ahmed, Alshamlani, Majed, Hsu, Wei-Chen, Harish, Shreyas Year: 2017 A smart home hub is a hardware device that connects the devices on a home automation network and controls communications among them. The devices on a home automation or smart home network might include thermostats, light bulbs, wall outlets and switches, door locks, energy monitors, window coverings, appliances, motion sensors, etc. With a smart hub, all of these smart devices can be controlled using a single app. In spite of being very useful devices, smart hubs have their limitations. Certain smart hubs are only compatible with certain smart devices, whereas others support a limited number of languages. Some operate well only over a short distance (about 15 feet). Some hubs support more smart devices than others, while certain hubs can connect to more devices simultaneously than others. These limitations present a question to consumers as to which smart hub will best suit their needs. This project proposes a hierarchical decision model (HDM) to help consumers decide which smart hub alternative is best for them, based on their needs. The HDM is coupled with a pairwise comparison method in order to evaluate all possible alternatives. The model incorporates various criteria for smart hubs such as range of operation, communication protocols supported, number of devices supported, etc for various smart hubs available in today's market, thus providing the consumer with the right information and feedback needed to purchase the smart hub that suits him/her best. Four alternatives for smart hubs were used in this model, namely Samsung SmartThings, VeraSecure, Wink2 and Securifi Almond 3. Rankings were assigned to these alternatives based on experts’ opinions used in the HDM. Results concluded that the SamsungSmartThings is the best alternative for the model used, followed by Wink2 and Securifi Almond 3. This indicated that initial cost, number of protocols supported by the hub and ease of use were the most important criteria considered to achieve the desired objective of selecting the appropriate smart hub. Title: Evaluation of Smart Home Hubs Author: Alzahrani, Ahmed, Alshamlani, Majed, Hsu, Wei-Chen, Harish, Shreyas Year: 2017 A smart home hub is a hardware device that connects the devices on a home automation network and controls communications among them. The devices on a home automation or smart home network might include thermostats, light bulbs, wall outlets and switches, door locks, energy monitors, window coverings, appliances, motion sensors, etc. With a smart hub, all of these smart devices can be controlled using a single app. In spite of being very useful devices, smart hubs have their limitations. Certain smart hubs are only compatible with certain smart devices, whereas others support a limited number of languages. Some operate well only over a short distance (about 15 feet). Some hubs support more smart devices than others, while certain hubs can connect to more devices simultaneously than others. These limitations present a question to consumers as to which smart hub will best suit their needs. This project proposes a hierarchical decision model (HDM) to help consumers decide which smart hub alternative is best for them, based on their needs. The HDM is coupled with a pairwise comparison method in order to evaluate all possible alternatives. The model incorporates various criteria for smart hubs such as range of operation, communication protocols supported, number of devices supported, etc for various smart hubs available in today's market, thus providing the consumer with the right information and feedback needed to purchase the smart hub that suits him/her best. Four alternatives for smart hubs were used in this model, namely Samsung SmartThings, VeraSecure, Wink2 and Securifi Almond 3. Rankings were assigned to these alternatives based on experts’ opinions used in the HDM. Results concluded that the SamsungSmartThings is the best alternative for the model used, followed by Wink2 and Securifi Almond 3. This indicated that initial cost, number of protocols supported by the hub and ease of use were the most important criteria considered to achieve the desired objective of selecting the appropriate smart hub. Close

• 138. [Article] Do Forest Commons Contribute to International Environmental Initiatives? A Socio-Ecological Analysis of Nepalese Forest Commons in view of REDD+

  Forests in developing countries have the potential to contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate change, promote biodiversity and support the livelihoods of rural, local people. Approximately one-fourth ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Do Forest Commons Contribute to International Environmental Initiatives? A Socio-Ecological Analysis of Nepalese Forest Commons in view of REDD+ Author: Luintel, Harisharan Year: 2016 Forests in developing countries have the potential to contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate change, promote biodiversity and support the livelihoods of rural, local people. Approximately one-fourth of such forests are under the control of local communities, which primarily manage forests for subsistence and to meet their livelihood needs. The trend of bottom-up community control is increasing through the adoption of decentralization reforms over the last 40 years. In contrast, the United Nations has introduced the top-down program, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) for the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon and the sustainable management of forest in developing countries. REDD+ incentivizes forest-managing communities to sequester carbon and reduce emissions. REDD+ has created hope for managing forests to mitigate climate change and has created fear that the new initiative may not be effective and may not ensure continuing forest-managing community benefits. However, little research has been conducted to answer these concerns. By taking nationally representative data from Nepalese community-managed forests (“forest commons"), I bring insights into whether and how these forests can contribute to REDD+ initiatives, particularly as they relate to carbon sequestration, biodiversity, equity in benefit sharing and collective action. My results indicated the highly variable carbon and biodiversity in the forest plots across the country, depicting the availability of space for additional growth in carbon storage and biodiversity conservation. My results also reflect the complex and varied relationships of carbon with different indices of biodiversity at the national level, across geographic and topographic regions, and in forests with varying canopy covers. Weak positive relationships between carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation indicate the possibility of synergies between carbon-forestry and biodiversity conservation. I also found that the formal community forestry program (CFP) has clearly positive impacts on biodiversity conservation and household-level equity in benefit sharing and a negative impact on carbon sequestration at the national level. However, disaggregated results of impacts of CFP on biodiversity, carbon and equity across geography, topography, forest quality and social groups display mixed results i.e., either positive or negative or neutral. I also identified that different drivers of collective action have different (i.e., positive, neutral, and negative) associations with carbon sequestration, which either supports or challenges established knowledge. In aggregate, my research indicates the potential of contribution by forest commons, and specially the CFP, to global environmental initiatives such as REDD+. It suggests that targeted, dedicated policies and programs to increase carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation and foster equity and collective actions are critical. In addition, my results also contribute to the growing literature on socio-ecological implications of forest commons that demonstrated the need of interdisciplinary research to understand human-nature relationships in the changing context. Title: Do Forest Commons Contribute to International Environmental Initiatives? A Socio-Ecological Analysis of Nepalese Forest Commons in view of REDD+ Author: Luintel, Harisharan Year: 2016 Forests in developing countries have the potential to contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate change, promote biodiversity and support the livelihoods of rural, local people. Approximately one-fourth of such forests are under the control of local communities, which primarily manage forests for subsistence and to meet their livelihood needs. The trend of bottom-up community control is increasing through the adoption of decentralization reforms over the last 40 years. In contrast, the United Nations has introduced the top-down program, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) for the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon and the sustainable management of forest in developing countries. REDD+ incentivizes forest-managing communities to sequester carbon and reduce emissions. REDD+ has created hope for managing forests to mitigate climate change and has created fear that the new initiative may not be effective and may not ensure continuing forest-managing community benefits. However, little research has been conducted to answer these concerns. By taking nationally representative data from Nepalese community-managed forests (“forest commons"), I bring insights into whether and how these forests can contribute to REDD+ initiatives, particularly as they relate to carbon sequestration, biodiversity, equity in benefit sharing and collective action. My results indicated the highly variable carbon and biodiversity in the forest plots across the country, depicting the availability of space for additional growth in carbon storage and biodiversity conservation. My results also reflect the complex and varied relationships of carbon with different indices of biodiversity at the national level, across geographic and topographic regions, and in forests with varying canopy covers. Weak positive relationships between carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation indicate the possibility of synergies between carbon-forestry and biodiversity conservation. I also found that the formal community forestry program (CFP) has clearly positive impacts on biodiversity conservation and household-level equity in benefit sharing and a negative impact on carbon sequestration at the national level. However, disaggregated results of impacts of CFP on biodiversity, carbon and equity across geography, topography, forest quality and social groups display mixed results i.e., either positive or negative or neutral. I also identified that different drivers of collective action have different (i.e., positive, neutral, and negative) associations with carbon sequestration, which either supports or challenges established knowledge. In aggregate, my research indicates the potential of contribution by forest commons, and specially the CFP, to global environmental initiatives such as REDD+. It suggests that targeted, dedicated policies and programs to increase carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation and foster equity and collective actions are critical. In addition, my results also contribute to the growing literature on socio-ecological implications of forest commons that demonstrated the need of interdisciplinary research to understand human-nature relationships in the changing context. Close

• 139. [Article] Assessing Ultrasonography as a Diagnostic Tool for Porcine Cysticercosis

  Background Taenia solium inflicts substantial neurologic disease and economic losses on rural communities in many developing nations. Ring-strategy is a control intervention that targets treatment of humans ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Assessing Ultrasonography as a Diagnostic Tool for Porcine Cysticercosis Author: Flecker, Robert H., Pray, Ian W., Santivanez, Saul J., Ayvar, Viterbo, Gamboa, Ricardo, Muro, Claudio, Moyano, Luz M., Benavides, Victor, Garcia, Hector H., O'Neal, Seth E. Year: 2017 Background Taenia solium inflicts substantial neurologic disease and economic losses on rural communities in many developing nations. Ring-strategy is a control intervention that targets treatment of humans and pigs among clusters of households (rings) that surround pigs heavily infected with cysticerci. These pigs are typically identified by examining the animal's tongue for cysts. However, as prevalence decreases in intervened communities, more sensitive methods may be needed to identify these animals and to maintain control pressure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate ultrasonography as an alternative method to detect pigs heavily infected with T. solium cysts. Methodology/Principal Findings We purchased 152 pigs representing all seropositive animals villagers were willing to sell from eight communities (pop. 2085) in Piura, Peru, where T. solium is endemic. Tongue and ultrasound examinations of the fore and hind-limbs were performed in these animals, followed by necropsy with fine dissection as gold standard to determine cyst burden. We compared the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography with tongue examination for their ability to detect heavy infection (> 100 viable cysts) in pigs. Compared to tongue examination, ultrasonography was more sensitive (100% vs. 91%) but less specific (90% vs. 98%), although these differences were not statistically significant. The greater sensitivity of ultrasound resulted in detection of one additional heavily infected pig compared to tongue examination (11/11 vs. 10/11), but resulted in more false positives (14/141 vs. 3/141) due to poor specificity. Conclusions/Significance Ultrasonography was highly sensitive in detecting heavily infected pigs and may identify more rings for screening or treatment compared to tongue examination. However, the high false positive rate using ultrasound would result in substantial unnecessary treatment. If specificity can be improved with greater operator experience, ultrasonography may benefit ring interventions where control efforts have stalled due to inadequate sensitivity of tongue examination. Title: Assessing Ultrasonography as a Diagnostic Tool for Porcine Cysticercosis Author: Flecker, Robert H., Pray, Ian W., Santivanez, Saul J., Ayvar, Viterbo, Gamboa, Ricardo, Muro, Claudio, Moyano, Luz M., Benavides, Victor, Garcia, Hector H., O'Neal, Seth E. Year: 2017 Background Taenia solium inflicts substantial neurologic disease and economic losses on rural communities in many developing nations. Ring-strategy is a control intervention that targets treatment of humans and pigs among clusters of households (rings) that surround pigs heavily infected with cysticerci. These pigs are typically identified by examining the animal's tongue for cysts. However, as prevalence decreases in intervened communities, more sensitive methods may be needed to identify these animals and to maintain control pressure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate ultrasonography as an alternative method to detect pigs heavily infected with T. solium cysts. Methodology/Principal Findings We purchased 152 pigs representing all seropositive animals villagers were willing to sell from eight communities (pop. 2085) in Piura, Peru, where T. solium is endemic. Tongue and ultrasound examinations of the fore and hind-limbs were performed in these animals, followed by necropsy with fine dissection as gold standard to determine cyst burden. We compared the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography with tongue examination for their ability to detect heavy infection (> 100 viable cysts) in pigs. Compared to tongue examination, ultrasonography was more sensitive (100% vs. 91%) but less specific (90% vs. 98%), although these differences were not statistically significant. The greater sensitivity of ultrasound resulted in detection of one additional heavily infected pig compared to tongue examination (11/11 vs. 10/11), but resulted in more false positives (14/141 vs. 3/141) due to poor specificity. Conclusions/Significance Ultrasonography was highly sensitive in detecting heavily infected pigs and may identify more rings for screening or treatment compared to tongue examination. However, the high false positive rate using ultrasound would result in substantial unnecessary treatment. If specificity can be improved with greater operator experience, ultrasonography may benefit ring interventions where control efforts have stalled due to inadequate sensitivity of tongue examination. Close

• 140. [Article] A Study on the Current State of Contaminants of Concern Research, With a Focus on Biosolids and Regulations

  Wastewater treatment plants are a major source of contaminants of emerging concern, as these facilities are the main receptors of these products via household, commercial, and industrial drains, and transport ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: A Study on the Current State of Contaminants of Concern Research, With a Focus on Biosolids and Regulations Author: Fulton, Maren Year: 2016 Wastewater treatment plants are a major source of contaminants of emerging concern, as these facilities are the main receptors of these products via household, commercial, and industrial drains, and transport via stormwater runoff. Biosolids are composed of numerous constituents, with a number of environmentally persistent and potentially toxic contaminants of emerging concern identified as present in large concentrations. Research is needed to understand the transport and fate mechanisms of these compounds in biosolids. Additionally, this research is needed to determine a new priority framework to regulate CECs, both on the national level and regional levels. Wastewater treatment plant influent and effluent treatment regulations and practices may be improved upon as more knowledge accrues regarding contaminants of emerging concern behavior in the environment. The United States environmental regulatory process is a constant work in progress. Inherited from decades-old public health traditions, environmental regulatory programs arose to address the issues of public health as water and air quality issues surfaced. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. 2601), enacted in 1976, provided the EPA regulatory authority to protect the environment and consumers’ health against risks posed by chemicals in commerce. TSCA only retroactively addressed chemical hazards, after they had been deemed unsafe and previously unrestricted in the public. A bill to overhaul TSCA, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2576, TSCA Modernization Act of 2015), was passed by the Senate on June 7, 2016 and sent on for President Obama’s signature. The amended law will give the EPA new authority to evaluate the safety of a new chemical before it enters the marketplace. It will also allow EPA to evaluate the safety of chemicals already known to be risks, including chemicals found to persist in the human body and in the environment. The Columbia River is presented as a case study as an example of a significant waterbody with research and regulatory gaps concerning CECs. The Columbia River waterbody was chosen as it represents an important natural resource for which data gaps exist on CEC sources and pathways into the waterbody, and which also does not receive adequate protective regulations under the national regulatory framework. Title: A Study on the Current State of Contaminants of Concern Research, With a Focus on Biosolids and Regulations Author: Fulton, Maren Year: 2016 Wastewater treatment plants are a major source of contaminants of emerging concern, as these facilities are the main receptors of these products via household, commercial, and industrial drains, and transport via stormwater runoff. Biosolids are composed of numerous constituents, with a number of environmentally persistent and potentially toxic contaminants of emerging concern identified as present in large concentrations. Research is needed to understand the transport and fate mechanisms of these compounds in biosolids. Additionally, this research is needed to determine a new priority framework to regulate CECs, both on the national level and regional levels. Wastewater treatment plant influent and effluent treatment regulations and practices may be improved upon as more knowledge accrues regarding contaminants of emerging concern behavior in the environment. The United States environmental regulatory process is a constant work in progress. Inherited from decades-old public health traditions, environmental regulatory programs arose to address the issues of public health as water and air quality issues surfaced. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. 2601), enacted in 1976, provided the EPA regulatory authority to protect the environment and consumers’ health against risks posed by chemicals in commerce. TSCA only retroactively addressed chemical hazards, after they had been deemed unsafe and previously unrestricted in the public. A bill to overhaul TSCA, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2576, TSCA Modernization Act of 2015), was passed by the Senate on June 7, 2016 and sent on for President Obama’s signature. The amended law will give the EPA new authority to evaluate the safety of a new chemical before it enters the marketplace. It will also allow EPA to evaluate the safety of chemicals already known to be risks, including chemicals found to persist in the human body and in the environment. The Columbia River is presented as a case study as an example of a significant waterbody with research and regulatory gaps concerning CECs. The Columbia River waterbody was chosen as it represents an important natural resource for which data gaps exist on CEC sources and pathways into the waterbody, and which also does not receive adequate protective regulations under the national regulatory framework. Close