Search

The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (http://legacysurvey.org/) are a combination of three public projects (the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey, the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey, and the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey) that will jointly image ≈14,000 deg2 of the extragalactic sky visible from the northern hemisphere in three optical bands (g, r, and z) using telescopes at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The combined survey footprint is split into two contiguous areas by the Galactic plane. The optical imaging is conducted using a unique strategy of dynamically adjusting the exposure times and pointing selection during observing that results in a survey of nearly uniform depth. In addition to calibrated images, the project is delivering a catalog, constructed by using a probabilistic inference-based approach to estimate source shapes and brightnesses. The catalog includes photometry from the grz optical bands and from four mid-infrared bands (at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm) observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite during its full operational lifetime. The project plans two public data releases each year. All the software used to generate the catalogs is also released with the data. This paper provides an overview of the Legacy Surveys project.

In The Theory of Peasant Cooperatives, Chayanov develops the theories of differential optima and vertical integration, which stress the vulnerability of peasant farming in capitalist markets, and argues that cooperatives can support smallholders only if they operate as 'a cooperative movement', are buttressed by a strong 'cooperative culture', and achieve 'vertical integration'. Based on extensive fieldwork in China, we identify six major obstacles that explain the failure of most cooperatives. Chayanov's arguments caution us to not only the vital importance of cooperatives to the resilience of peasant farming, but also the apparently insurmountable obstacles that cooperatives face in market economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under what conditions are some small‐scale agricultural producers able to overcome challenges associated with shifting to organic production, whereas most are not? The answers are vital for the global effort to encourage more sustainable, pro‐poor forms of agriculture—more organic farming, more sustainable production; more smallholders engaged in green production, more income and better livelihoods. Yet, answering this question is challenging in part because previous analyses of global production networks, such as those associated with organic agriculture, focus more on broad governance patterns than the specific factors and actors that help smallholders shift to organic production and link to far‐flung markets. To fill in these gaps, we conducted fieldwork in Isan, Thailand, a major rice‐producing area in which many groups of smallholders have attempted to shift into organic production. Doing so allows us to identify the critical challenges associated with upgrading into organic production and analyse how specific actors enabled some groups to overcome these challenges. Our findings provide a generalizable theoretical approach to understanding how to link small‐scale farmers to global value chains in ways that can potentially enhance smallholders' livelihoods, spark rural development and encourage more sustainable practices in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the retirement of Ella Wilcox, editor of the periodicals of the National Association for Music Education and manager of its book program.

The article presents an interview with Ella Wilcox talking about her retirement, scheduled for the end of February 2024. Topics include viewpoints offer prospective (and veteran) authors a few ideas to consider as they craft their writing for publication; and readers from fifty countries to work together to save the temples of Abu Simbel when the Nile waters held back by the then under-construction Aswan Dam.

Smith's enviable interviewing and fieldwork skills feed into an intimate account of the views of the Chongqing municipal planning bureau, the local leaders of Hailong village, and residents who for generations called Hailong home. Too, in emphasizing the importance of different actors and factors, Smith implies that nearly everything matters, a point made even more emphatic with Smith's newly coined concept, "disjunctional urbanization.". [Extracted from the article]