The study of criminal law by lawyers has traditionally been confined to a consideration of general principles of criminal law and of specific crimes, the material or substantive criminal law.

No description available.

No description available.

Objective: To develop an original survey on public attitudes, knowledge and practices on West Nile Virus (WNV), mosquitoes, and pesticides. We sought to gain insight on what personal protective behaviors (PPBs) are used by the public and whether the public is supportive of pesticide use in combating the threat of WNV. An effective WNV control program must take into account the public's attitudes regarding PPBs and what would influence their use of PPBs. The survey findings will be used to develop a new educational plan for the West Nile Virus Surveillance and Control Program of Delaware County. We sought to determine if knowledge and concern about one's personal risk of contracting WNV were driving forces in one's use of PPBs and support of pesticide use. Results: The sample population was highly informed on WNV and used many PPBs. Knowledge of WNV and concern about contracting WNV were not significant predictors of PPB use or pesticide support. However, odds ratios indicate an increased odds of being in the high PPB group with increasing knowledge. Knowing someone who has or has had WNV was a factor in PPB use, although the outcome of WNV infection is rarely reported. Older age predicted greater PPB use while higher education predicted a lack of support for pesticide use. Conclusion: Future surveys of the public knowledge will need to reach a more diverse population than that of the current study. It appears that many people are using PPBs despite not believing in their efficacy at preventing mosquito bites and WNV. Future studies should seek to identify what is motivating people to use these PPBs, besides knowledge of WNV and concern for their health. / Public Health

No description available.

Houselessness is a prevalent issue in America's major cities. In large cities such as Washington, D.C., it is common to see people living on the streets and in public spaces. The underlying causes of houselessness are multifaceted, but it is evident that the city does not provide appropriate resources for these individuals to exist humanely. This study aims to comprehend the primary needs of a houseless person and determine how urban design solutions might provide resources to address those needs. For the investigation, SW Washington, DC's waterfront neighborhood was chosen. In its urban fabric, numerous unused or underutilized spaces have been observed. These spaces have the potential to be transformed into urban places that could make the city more supportive to the population without houses. A number of such resources have been identified. Several survey methods, such as non-participatory observation, and traffic and pedestrian counts, were utilized to obtain primary data for the research. In addition, diverse data sources, such as GIS data, journals, books, podcasts, television interviews, and website content, were consulted to obtain secondary data. Collected data was studied and synthesized to develop urban design ideas that can aid unsheltered individuals with their daily needs and make the city more hospitable. This research is not intended to solve the issue of homelessness in American cities; rather, it aims to highlight the needs of those impacted and propose possible intervention strategies in conjunction with other social services and design solutions (i.e., traditional shelters, traditional housing). The study also provides a brief overview of the causes of houselessness in the United States and an investigation into the lives of people living unsheltered. The outcome will give policymakers an understanding of how a city can facilitate its unfortunate residents. / Master of Science / Housing is a fundamental need for all people. What occurs when an individual loses their home and becomes houseless? He or she investigates potential alternatives. The alternatives can include a hotel or motel, a friend's or relative's house, a homeless shelter, and in desperate situations, a tent inside the city. This study primarily focuses on the houseless individuals who could not find any housing and sought out services in the city that a house provides. This study used the SW waterfront neighborhood of Washington, DC, as a study area and demonstrated the design of places within this city fabric that may lessen the challenges a houseless person may encounter. The study outcome proposes services like restrooms, shaded parking, cooking places, and places to lie down in various parts of the city. If implemented, it is expected that the city's fabric will be more hospitable to its unfortunate houseless citizens.

Yes

No

Two experiments were conducted to detect differences in growth and cold hardiness during establishment of northern grown wine grapevines. One experiment tested the use of four grow tube treatments and two pruning levels on vine establishment in the upper Midwest. The variables included leaf area, stem height, root growth, phenology, and hardiness. Overall, few significant differences occurred among treatments where grow tubes were utilized. In the second season, vines without grow tubes had superior measurements in nearly all leaf area categories. For this reason, it is recommended that growers refrain from grow tube use during establishment in northern growing regions. Vines pruned to three buds after transplanting varied little from those without pruning. For this reason, it is recommended that growers utilize the most efficient early pruning strategy for their particular situation. Another experiment was conducted to determine the effectiveness of different weed control measures. This experiment compared three kinds of mulches and an herbicide treatment on the growth and establishment of four wine grape varieties. Annual weed control, plant growth, phenology, soil water content and temperature, and vine hardiness were measured. Overall, vines receiving mulch had more consistent annual weed control and reduced early season growth when compared to chemically treated vines. For this reason, mulch is recommended in the vineyard for annual weed control during establishment in situations where vigor is not unacceptably low.

A long-term grazing trial was started in 1977 at Armoedsvlakte Research Station, about 10km west of Vryburg, in Tarchonanthus veld of the Ghaap’s Plateau, which is a variation of the Kalahari Thornveld veld type. The main aim of this study was to use the extensive veld condition and animal production data set to investigate the effects and interactions of stocking rate, grazing system applied and seasonal rainfall on veld condition and cattle production. The grazing trial has changed three times since its inception resulting in three different phases. The main changes in veld condition during phase one (1977-1991) was due to density independent effects (e.g. seasonal rainfall) and not density dependent effects (e.g. stocking rate). A major change occurred in 1985 following a multiple year drought. The drought resulted in adverse changes in species composition, basal cover and residual biomass of all treatments. The system did not recover from the drought during phase one, despite well above mean seasonal rainfall for a number of years after the drought. During phase two (1992-1999) and phase three (2000 to present) completely different vegetation dynamics occurred than what was experienced during phase one. Density dependent effects (e.g. stocking rate) were more important in explaining variation in veld condition during these two phases. High stocking rates resulted in adverse changes in species composition, poor basal cover and a low residual biomass production. It is however important to note that seasonal rainfall did explain a significant additional amount of variation in veld condition. This suggests that a continuum of non-equilibrium and equilibrium vegetation dynamics occurred in these two phases. The residual biomass and seasonal rainfall model for phase one indicate completely different results for the gain per animal data. In the seasonal rainfall model, stocking rate does not have a significant effect on gain per animal, but seasonal rainfall and the interaction of stocking rate with seasonal rainfall explains most of the variation in gain per animal. This suggest a continuum of non-equilibrium and equilibrium dynamics and that animal production is more sensitive to seasonal rainfall than to stocking rate, although the significant interaction of stocking rate with seasonal rainfall suggest that the seasonal rainfall effect on animal production is dependant on stocking rate. The residual biomass model however indicates that stocking rate is more important than rainfall in explaining variation in the mass gains per animal. The stocking rate effect on gain per animal was significant and indicated that as stocking rate increased, that gain per animal decreases. Seasonal rainfall and the interaction of stocking rate with seasonal rainfall had no significant effect on gain per animal. The amount of variation explained by the seasonal rainfall model was larger than the residual biomass model and this indicates that rainfall explains more variation in gain per animal, than residual biomass does. This possibly indicates that non-equilibrium effects are stronger than the equilibrium effects, but it is important to notice that stocking rate had a significant effect in some cases. The gain per hectare models (seasonal rainfall and residual biomass) for phase one indicates that stocking rate has a significant effect on gain per hectare. Increasing stocking rates resulted in higher gain per hectare, which suggests that the turning point of the typical “Jones and Sandland model” has not been reached and this might be due to light stocking rates applied during the duration of phase one. The seasonal rainfall model however has significant effects of seasonal rainfall and interactions of stocking rate with seasonal rainfall on gain per hectare. This suggests that the effect of stocking rate is dependent on seasonal rainfall and that seasonal rainfall explain an additional amount of variation in gain per hectare. In general, it appreared that the optimal stocking rate for animal production was higher than those applied during the duration of the trial, but this is due to lower than planned actual stocking rates applied during all three phases of the trial. It is very difficult to determine a generic optimal stocking rate for different rainfall volumes and it is recommended that the actual stocking rate for different ecological zones be determined based on rainfall, biomass, species compos[i]tion, basal cover and available browse and not just on the provisional recommendations. The type of grazing system applied did not show any statistically significant effects on both gain per animal and gain per hectare for the animal production data during phase one. This result is interesting and contradictive to most of the scientific literature where some authors concluded from their studies that rotational grazing systems produce higher animal production than continuous grazing systems, whereas others researchers state that continuous grazing systems produce higher animal production than rotational grazing systems. In phase two both the residual biomass and seasonal rainfall models for phase two did not show any significant effects and interactions of stocking rate, seasonal rainfall level and/or residual biomass on both gain per animal and gain per hectare. Both the residual biomass and seasonal rainfall models for phase three did not show any significant effects and interactions of stocking rate, seasonal rainfall level and/or residual biomass on animal gains per animal. The seasonal rainfall model did not show any any significant effects and interactions of stocking rate, seasonal rainfall level and/or residual biomass on animal gains per hectare. However, the residual biomass model indicated that stocking rate had a significant effect on gain per hectare and the production closely followed the Jones and Sandland (1974) model as at low stocking rates, gain per hectare increases at a rapid rate, but as stocking rates increases to high stocking rates, the rate of increase in gain per hectare declines, until it eventually reaches a turning point, where after gain per hectare declines with increasing stocking rates. Stocking rate only had a significant effect on the condition score of cows during phase two and phase three, as high stocking rates resulted in poor animal condition in both phases. No significant effects and interactions of stocking rate and seasonal rainfall were indicated on calving percentage, weaning percentage, conception rates and percentage of desirable meat produced during phase two. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, [2011].