UARK (University of Arkansas )
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The Dark Side of the Balloon: Restrictions on Foreign Investment in U.S. Farmland
Get PDFThis Article argues that if legislators truly want to strengthen our food system, they should shift their focus from preventing foreign investment in farmland to supporting domestic investment in farmland. According to the National Young Farmer Survey, finding affordable land to buy is the top challenge for young farmers. This Article begins with examining the history of restricting foreign ownership of U.S. farmland. This Article also explores the current landscape of foreign investment in U.S. farmland and the perceived threat associated with this investment. The Article also examines the current renewed interest in preventing foreign landholding and what has happened on the state and federal levels in response. The Article concludes with an examination of the policy issues related to farmland access that would aid the American investment in farmland and more effectively strengthen the American food supply
All Stalk and No Action: A Proposal for Arkansas GPS Stalking Legislation
Get PDFThe expanding availability of GPS and internet of things (IoT) devices has equipped abusers with more tools to intensify and broaden the scope of domestic abuse tactics, “threatening the progress advocates have made in the past thirty years and creating novel dangers for survivors.” These devices “allow abusers to overcome geographic and spatial boundaries that would have otherwise prevented them from monitoring, controlling, harassing, and threatening survivors.” Thus, this Comment strongly urges the Arkansas State Legislature to enact a law to protect victims, provide justice, and preventatively deter the tracking of private citizens through GPS tracking while being broad enough to encompass future advances of IoT device tracking and cyberstalking. The Arkansas State Legislature should consider the following: preventing abusers from taking advantage of current and future technology to harm victims, including smart-home capabilities; implementing educational initiatives to educate legislators and the community about the safety risks of those who abuse technology; other areas of cyberstalking such as revenge porn; and lastly, exceptions for legal uses of GPS devices. Finally, while a federal approach is worth evaluating , this Comment will solely focus on Arkansas, because it does not have legislation preventing this conduct
Compositions And Methods To Reduce Dicamba Volatility And Provide Plant Essential Nutrients
Get PDFCompositions and methods to reduce herbicide volatility and provide plant essential nutrients are provided. The composition comprises an effective amount of acidic herbicide, such as dicamba, and an effective amount of borate, where the effective amount of the borate reduces the volatility of the acidic herbicide and wherein the pH of the composition is greater than 5
Untapped Potential? Understanding the Paraeducator-to-Teacher Pipeline and its Potential for Diversifying the Teacher Workforce
Get PDFParaeducators are among the largest categories of public education employees and are increasingly seen as a pool of potential teachers. However, little is known about paraeducator-to-teacher transitions. Using statewide administrative data, we show that while paraeducators may be more racially/ethnically diverse than the teacher workforce, Black and Hispanic paraeducators are less likely than White paraeducators to transition into teaching. We additionally show that teachers with paraeducator experience are similarly effective to teachers without paraeducator experience. Lastly, we use simulations to show that the potential for the paraeducator-to-teacher pipeline to diversify the teaching profession may be limited unless they are highly targeted. Our results have policy design implications for efforts to expand the paraeducator-to-teacher pipeline or to diversify the teacher workforce
Social annotation and dialogic teaching and learning in English language arts
Get PDFThis research study explores the role of social annotation in supporting dialogic teaching in secondary English language arts. Grounded in Bakhtin\u27s dialogism and building upon research into online discussion, this study describes how a high school English teacher and her students used a digital annotation tool to read and talk about texts. Analyzing student annotations based on discourse features associated with comprehension and high-level thinking, the study examines the extent to which social annotation supports quality dialogue. Findings highlight the need for open-ended prompts and teacher scaffolding of online discussions, and authors suggest that dialogue enhances comprehension of texts when students go beyond reporting on others\u27 thoughts and instead share their own ideas, connections, and questions about the text
Constructing Trust among Large-Scale Organizations: An Archaeological Case of Collective Action from Tlaxcallan, Mexico
Get PDFWithin nation-states, agencies, cooperatives, and other groups seeking to coordinate in the management of resources, conflicting interests can hinder cooperation and preclude joint action. Increasing transparency in resource management policies and facilitating communication among groups can reduce cooperative dilemmas by building trust. Developments in collective action research have demonstrated that increased communication and transparency among participants can build trust because future outcomes and behaviors can be predicted based on observations of past actions. Archaeology provides case studies to explore some of the earliest attempts by nation-states to reduce tensions caused by competing factions. This dissertation explores one such case study from Late Postclassic (1250 AD to 1530 AD) Tlaxcallan, Mexico. Ethnohistoric accounts suggest that the multiethnic Tlaxcallan confederacy was comprised of multiple social, ethnic, and political groups with competing interests. Despite their differences, cooperation was achieved through two strategies 1) establishment of a council-based government, and 2) building a cohesive identity through resistance against foreign economic and territorial conquest. Symbols of cooperative institutions at Tlaxcallan are revealed by “egalitarian” iconography visible on public buildings. Similar iconography painted on Codex-Style polychrome pottery is examined to determine if participants in different households, neighborhoods, and districts engaged in this collective ideology. Codex-Style polychromes painted with statements of self-aggrandizement, instead of inclusionary themes, reveal if households deviated from ideology painted on public architecture. Public plazas were one location where Codex-Style pottery would have been used in public performance alongside public architecture. The variation in methods used to construct public plazas and residential terraces is compared at three levels of political organization (state, district, and neighborhood) to identify where their construction was coordinated. Identifying where the authority behind the construction of these spaces was situated, which was necessary for producing and reproducing a state identity, can reveal where collective institutions were organized. The hoarding of goods promoting statements of prestige and power, such as polychrome pottery, projectile points, and foreign obsidians reveals whether household members practiced the message of symbolic egalitarianism proclaimed on public architecture. Neutron Activation Analysis of polychrome pottery is used to identify if any bottlenecks formed around the exchange of these items. Portable X-ray fluorescence is used to identify if Tlaxcaltecan producers and consumers favored an obsidian source open to all members of the community, or if foreign sources available to comparatively smaller groups were used. A technological analysis of obsidian blades, projectile points, and other tools is used to understand if any exclusionary economic controls existed around the production and exchange of these goods. I argue that the creation of a shared identity through the use of more inclusive iconography, equitably distributed public space, and open exchange networks of obsidian and ceramic items allowed residents located in different districts and neighborhoods to build trust across large distances, ethnicities, and socio-economic factors. While not all households participated, efforts to build trust and reduce competitive tensions among a multiethnic population are indicated. This dissertation contributes to the limited body of research on how trust is created among large-scale organizations such as nation-states
Green at Eye Level: From Measurement Approaches to Simulated Models and Inequality Assessments in U.S. Major Cities
Get PDFThis dissertation delves into the multifaceted dynamics of urban greenness, addressing critical aspects of sustainable urban development. Providing urban green spaces has been widely acknowledged to offer numerous benefits to individuals and communities. Recently, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of evaluating urban greenness from a human-centered perspective, partly due to the rapid development of eye-level greenness measurement. First, to provide a comprehensive overview of measurement approaches and topics related to eye-level urban greenness, a systematic review of 77 papers was conducted in this research. This review revealed that street view images are the primarily utilized data source to quantify eye-level urban greenness in urban analysis. Additionally, simulated eye-level urban greenness represents a new frontier for the general public and urban planners, offering the potential to acquire universally applicable quantitative greenness data. The findings further suggest that eye-level urban greenness has been explored across various domains, including physical behavior, public health, urban planning, human perception, and inequity. Such exploration has highlighted a significant association between eye-level urban greenness and individuals and communities. This review generates new insights on integrating urban greenness into urban planning and design, encouraging a greater focus on eye-level urban greenness as a critical component of urban environmental quality. According to the systematic review, simulated urban greenness shows great potential to be involved in the human-centric urban sciences. However, the performance or representative of this method is still unknown. A recently proposed simulation of the viewshed greenness visibility index (VGVI) adopted both viewshed analysis and distant decay function has brought wide attention but has not been comprehensively assessed. Therefore, in the second Chapter, VGVI was evaluated in urban landscapes in a typical midsize U.S. city. By conducting a field trip to collect 360-degree imageries and applying deep learning semantic segmentation technology on these imageries, the ground truth eye-level urban greenness was calculated. Based on the TOST (Two One-side tests) equivalence test, this chapter revealed that the performance of the simulated model is robust enough to mimic the urban greenness obtained from the human eye view. The evaluation contributes to refining tools and methodologies essential for effective urban planning by offering insights into the practical implications of simulated green infrastructure. These findings bridge the gap between theoretical understanding and actionable strategies, emphasizing the importance of precision in planning and implementing urban green spaces for resilient and livable cities. Eye-level urban greenness can have significant implications for public health, willingness of physical activities, and urban attractiveness. However, the benefits of eye-level urban greenness may not be equally distributed across communities. Under the complex and diverse composition of societies in eight big cities in the U.S.A., the inequalities of eye-level urban greenness provision urgently need a comprehensive estimation, especially in the background of rapid Urbanization. Simulating eye-level urban greenness from a modeling way can better mimic the human-eye view in a 3D city model in every location with a robust performance. In the third chapter, the VGVI model was employed to assess eye-level urban greenness in eight major U.S. cities, aiming to quantify disparities in green space provision. The population-weighted Gini coefficient of VGVI highlighted existing inequalities in eye-level urban greenness distribution. Findings revealed that downtown or central business districts exhibited low VGVI and high GINI, indicating both reduced greenery and heightened provision inequality in these areas. This study delves into the correlation between VGVI and various socioeconomic factors, including income, race, age, education, gender, and employment rate. The results illustrate varying degrees of inequality in eye-level urban greenness provision among different socioeconomic groups across the eight major U.S. cities. This disparity is closely tied to city-specific characteristics such as historical context, planning strategies, and development concepts. In conclusion, these studies collectively emphasize the crucial role of eye-level urban greenness in influencing individual and community well-being. The integration of simulated green indices, such as VGVI, offers a valuable tool for assessing and addressing inequalities in eye-level urban greenery provision, with implications for urban planning and design aimed at creating more sustainable and equitable cities. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for formulating targeted interventions to ensure equitable access to eye-level urban greenery, fostering a healthier and more inclusive urban environment. Future research endeavors are encouraged to explore the potential applications of these findings in urban development and the optimization of green spaces
Towards Side-Channel Infrastructure for Software Implementations of PQC Algorithms
Get PDFPost-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) is a new class of asymmetric cryptography algorithms that are supposed to be secure against both classical computers and quantum computers through Shor’s algorithm. Since PQC algorithms are currently being standardized, they will replace older standardized asymmetric algorithms (such as RSA) and will be deployed within the digital infrastructure. Before implementations of the PQC algorithms are placed into the infrastructure, they must undergo evaluation of both performance and security. One such security issue that needs large investigation before deployment are side-channels. Side-channel attacks (SCA) are a method of gathering information from the implementation, such as power-consumption and timing differences, that can help attackers infer information that should be secret. Much of the PQC algorithms are fairly new in the cryptography world, meaning there may be much side-channel vulnerabilities within implementations that are hidden due to lack of evaluation. This thesis describes the work towards a cloud-based SCA infrastructure tool for PQC algorithms with a focus on the software side that will be open for the research community. This infrastructure tool consists of a fully automated power-analysis SCA evaluation flow, where the user submits the implementation of a PQC algorithm and is given back an SCA evaluation report (through Test-Vector Leakage Assessment) along with the collected traces used for the analysis. This infrastructure tool helps implementers who do not have the tools or SCA knowledge to conduct the SCA power-based evaluation to do the SCA work for them. Having an infrastructure tool open to the public that conducts power-based SCA evaluations helps improve the overall security of PQC implementations before they are deployed into the infrastructure
The Potential of Trash: Re-Claiming Creative Authority
Get PDFThis project-based thesis catalogs the planning, building, and engagement with community resource libraries that made second-hand art materials available to the community for free. The micro-libraries hold materials that individuals, organizations, and companies have donated. Materials include single-use plastics, off-cast materials from commercial production, and second-hand or leftover art materials. Four material libraries for creative reuse are in four art education institutions in the greater Northwest Arkansas region. The project sews seeds of mutually supportive systems within regional public art institutions and promotes the creative reuse of materials often tossed into local landfills. As a teaching artist, I have long wished for a community with hearts set on creative liberation and care. I am perpetually interested in how materials, their limitations, and potential pilot the act of making. I came to this project to grapple with the roles that identities, individualism, exceptionalism, and competition for resources play in creative publics, what role authority plays in that struggle, and how to alleviate these by reclaiming and redistributing material and social resources amongst the creative community. Using theory, narrative, and photo montage, I engage in this dialogue on mutually reclaiming creative “authority with an empty box, materials, and an invitation
The Role of the Patterning Cascade Model in Human Mandibular Premolar Variation
Get PDFHuman mandibular premolars represent a morphologically transitional tooth class, possessing a relatively caniniform third premolar (P3) and a more molariform fourth premolar (P4). Marked variation in cusp height and lingual cusp number are characteristics unique to these postcanine teeth. The aim of this study is to determine if human premolar variation aligns with predictions outlined by the patterning cascade model (PCM). The PCM posits that tooth size and enamel knot spacing/surrounding inhibitory fields (approximated by cusp tip positioning) play a role in determining ultimate crown morphology, providing a predictive framework for examining crown variation within and between individuals. While there has been considerable research focused on bunodont, quadrate molars, there is a significant lack of studies on human mandibular premolar anatomy and development. Importantly, mandibular premolars may be a more appropriate tooth class to test predictions of the PCM, as their cusp height disparity makes them similar in morphology to seal teeth, to which the model was originally applied. Using three-dimensional (3D) scans and two-dimensional (2D) images of mandibular casts representing contemporary Solomon Islander individuals (n=63), We collected 2D crown area, cusp area, and ICD measurements, as well as 3D intercusp distance (ICD) measurements to account for differential cusp height. To control for size variation, relative cusp areas (RCA) and relative ICDs (RICD) were calculated and subjected to ANOVAs, independent sample t-tests, dichotomized generalized linear model regressions, and linear regressions to determine the variables with significant relationships to later-forming lingual cusp number. RICD between the mesiolingual cusp and its distal neighbor differ significantly as a function of lingual cusp number, with two lingual cusped premolars exhibiting greater RICDs on average than three lingual cusped premolars. These results were consistent across the 2D and 3D datasets for P3s and P4s. For P4s, individuals possessing two versus three lingual cusps differ significantly in 2D buccal to mesiolingual cusp RICD, with two lingual cusped teeth exhibiting greater RICDs, on average. Models involving RCAs of the mesiolingual cusp and its distal neighbor were significant, with three lingual cusped P4s having smaller RCAs than two lingual cusped P4s. These findings align with PCM expectations and demonstrate the potential use of RICD and RCA as predictors for lingual cusp number. The mesiolingual cusp was involved in all significant findings, therefore the enamel knot placement and inhibitory zone for this cusp seem to have the greatest influence on ultimate crown morphology in mandibular premolars. Generally, 2D and 3D analyses yielded similar results, but the strength of relationships was greater for 3D measurements across P3 cusps with significant height disparities