<p> Small-scale family farming to meet household food and livelihood needs is a central activity for most households in rural Malawi. Food insecurity and malnutrition are persistent problems for these farmers. Conventional agriculture techniques and maize production are the focus of most household farming, government agriculture policy, and agricultural development programs. However, conventional agriculture and maize production are expensive and unreliable in the short term, and environmentally and financially unsustainable in the long term. As an alternative, some NGOs and farmers in Malawi use permaculture, an agroecology design and low external input agriculture system. Previous research and NGO reports have pointed to benefits and constraints to permaculture adoption in Malawi. </p><p> For this dissertation, I investigated the relationships between agriculture practices and food security among smallholder conventional and permaculture farmers in Lilongwe Rural District in Malawi in partnership with two implementing permaculture organizations. Building on political ecology, the anthropology of food, structural violence, and permaculture literatures, I analyzed the impact of permaculture practice on farmers' agricultural practices, diet, and food security. This analysis showed that farmers who used permaculture experienced agricultural, environmental, livelihood, and food and nutrition security benefits in comparison to farmers who solely used conventional agriculture. These benefits were important given the context of structural violence in which farmers face systemic risk to impoverishment, food insecurity, and malnutrition. However, the benefits of permaculture use were constrained by the broader agro-food system, resource entitlements, and other structural constraints. The findings of this study add to our understanding of how smallholder farmers in Malawi can maneuver within the broader agro-food system, while pointing to potential strategies that farmers and organizations can use to try to address existing constraints.</p>

<p> In libraries around the world there are people asking librarians for research assistance. As technology has advanced and communication strategies have moved outside the physical library buildings, librarians now respond to reference queries online. This study analyzed two forms of virtual reference; instant messaging (IM) and log-in chat. The purpose of this study was to find out if there is any inherent difference between the way the patrons or the librarians used these two virtual services. </p><p> An exploratory research design focused on numerous aspects of virtual reference communication. During the spring terms of academic years 2011 and 2012 at a community college, 1,341 transcripts of IM and log-in chat sessions were recorded. Using a systematic sampling process, 320 transcripts were sampled and their content analyzed. </p><p> Findings indicate that a length of the transaction significantly affected the outcome of all transactions. Log-in chats were generally longer than IM chats and it was found that; they were more complicated, the librarians were more responsive and friendly, patrons were more satisfied and the librarian was generally able to conduct a reference interview more often. Additionally the findings indicated that both IM and log-in chat were very similar in three aspect; patron formality, completeness/accuracy of the librarians' answer and the reference interview adding/changing or clarifying the patrons question. </p><p> There were four major conclusions of this study: The log-in chat portal had longer online reference transactions and better overall outcomes; instant messaging portal queries, although similar in many aspects to log-in chat, were ultimately treated in a less formal manner by patrons; librarians gave reference interviews and complete/accurate answers equally in both platforms and there were similar overall success rates in both platforms. </p><p> Based on the findings in this study it is recommended that academic libraries serving a general population of students use both the IM and log-in chat portals on their library websites. Patrons appear to appears to be using each portal for different and equally important reasons. Further study of virtual communications practices is needed to enhance the findings of this study as more institutions expand their patron base beyond those who can physically meet with a reference librarian.</p>

Current practices for routine milk composition determination employ commercial infrared systems. The use of SW-NIR and NIR FT-Raman spectra coupled with conductivity and refractive index could lead to more frequent and less costly analysis of fat, lactose and protein in milk. / The present study examines the potential of both SW-NIR absorbance spectrophotometry and NIR FT-Raman spectrophotometry to develop a model to estimate fat, lactose, and protein in whole milk of cows. To accomplish this, 79 milk standards, spanning the range of composition seen in practice, were obtained. Acquisition of NIR spectra over the wavelength range of 700 nm to 1018 nm was conducted. Between 0 and 3700 cm-1, NIR FT-Raman spectrophotometric measurements of the milk samples were made using a 1064 nm Nd: YAG laser source. Conductivity and refractive index measurements were also obtained for the milk standards. / A partial least squares calibration with leave-N-out cross validation was made using spectra with conductivity and refractive index to estimate fat, lactose and protein contents. Calibrations were developed using 75% of the milk standards. Models were further validated using an independent test set comprised of the remaining 25% of the data that had been excluded from calibration. A second calibration was conducted using a genetic algorithm approach. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

It is widely accepted that small and new firms are important in creating income and employment. Their flexible structure enables them to adapt quickly to changes in economic environment and technology. The main purpose of this thesis is to evaluate whether the Technology Development Centers (TEKMERs) established by the Small and Medium Size Industry Development Organization (KOSGEB) in Turkey encourage new firm creation in high-technology sectors and boost the performance of small and new firms both in terms of economic and technological aspects. Information on 48 on- and 41 off-incubator firms is gathered through face-to-face interviews to compare and contrast those that benefit from incubators with those that do not. The data set also covers information on 79 on- and 61 off-incubator founders. Our findings indicate that TEKMERs are important in supporting start-ups in their vulnerable stages and help them to survive. There are profound differences between on- and off-incubator firms regarding their economic performance, highly in favor of on-incubator firms, but the same cannot be put forward concerning technological performance. The claim that the founders of on-incubator firms are more educated is not supported by the data.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Washington State University, 2005. / (UnM)AAI3184160. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-07, Section: B, page: 3539. Chair: Charles G. Edwards.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Washington State University, 2005. / (UMI)AAI3242022. Adviser: Jan R. Busboom. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: B, page: 6127.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: B, page: 3461. Adviser: Nicki J. Engeseth. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 173-211) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Lehigh University, 2007. / Adviser: John P. Coulter.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Business Information Systems, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed July 31, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 100-114). Also issued in print.