Core Purpose Research Articles

DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF SUGARCANE BUD CHIPPER MACHINE TO IMPROVE THE FARM PRODUCTIVITY

Sugarcane holds immense significance, particularly in a nation like Pakistan, where it is a staple for millions of people. Sugarcane farming in Pakistan spans from small individual farms to corporate enterprises. While modern machinery with advanced technology has been developed to simplify sugarcane cultivation, it’s primarily accessible to corporate farmers due to its high cost. Consequently, there is a pressing need for a cost-effective, user-friendly machine that can deliver excellent results, enhance profits, and be more accessible. In the traditional method of planting sugarcane, the sugarcane is typically cut into pieces and buried. However, only a single bud-chip is required for sugarcane growth, leading to wastage of the remaining sugarcane. The machine is designed to precisely extract single bud-chips from sugarcane, saving time compared to manual and other cutting methods. The primary objective of this project is to streamline the bud-chip extraction process through the aforementioned machine, which demands less human labor, reduces investment costs, and saves time, making it a profitable investment for all farmers. The core purpose of this development is to enhance sugarcane germination while using a smaller quantity of sugarcane. In this method, only bud-chips are utilized to cultivate the sugarcane nursery. The initial weight of the sugarcane ranged from 0.92 kg to 1.21 Kg, and the length of the sugarcane from these selected stalks varied between 53 and 84 inches. The combined weight of the three sugarcane stalks was 3.28 kg, but after removing the buds, it reduced to 2.45 kg, with the bud-chips themselves accounting for a weight of approximately 0.74 kg. This approach to sugarcane production will bolster farm productivity and sustainability.

An Approach to Hyperparameter Tuning in Transfer Learning for Driver Drowsiness Detection Based on Bayesian Optimization and Random Search

Driver drowsiness is a critical factor in road safety, and developing accurate models for detecting it is essential. Transfer learning has been shown to be an effective technique for driver drowsiness detection, as it enables models to leverage large, pre-existing datasets. However, the optimization of hyper-parameters in transfer learning models can be challenging, as it involves a large search space. The core purpose of this research is on presenting an approach to hyperparameter tuning in transfer learning for driving fatigue detection based on Bayesian optimization and Random search algorithms. We examine the efficiency of our approach on a publicly available dataset using transfer learning models with the MobileNetV2, Xception, and VGG19 architectures. We explore the impact of hyperparameters such as dropout rate, activation function, the number of units (the number of dense nodes), optimizer, and learning rate on the transfer learning models’ overall performance. Our experiments show that our approach improves the performance of the transfer learning models, obtaining cutting-edge results on the dataset for all three architectures. We also compare the efficiency of Bayesian optimization and Random search algorithms in terms of their ability to find optimal hyperparameters and indicate that Bayesian optimization is more efficient in finding optimal hyperparameters than Random search. The results of our study provide insights into the importance of hyperparameter tuning for transfer learning-based driver drowsiness detection using different transfer learning models and can guide the selection of hyperparameters and models for future studies in this field. Our proposed approach can be applied to other transfer learning tasks, making it a valuable contribution to the field of ML.

Amazon's Artificial Intelligence in Retail Novelty - Case Study

Purpose: The provision of a method for thoughtful decision-making is the core purpose of artificial intelligence research and development. The primary goal of artificial intelligence (AI) is to give computers the ability to do intellectual tasks such as making decisions, solving problems, seeing their surroundings, and understanding human communication. Amazon is famous for using robots—roughly 30,000 of them—within its distribution centres. The company has gained mechanical autonomous organisation, which allows the robots to function independently. Kiva in 2012. Retailers can improve their demand estimates, make better pricing decisions, and optimise product placement with the aid of AI. The end result is that customers are connected with the proper products at the suitable time, in the appropriate place, and at the appropriate price. Utilizing predictive analytics may assist in determining the amount of a product that should be ordered to ensure that shops do not end up with either an excess or a shortage of inventory. Design/Methodology/Approach: The efficiency of our workplaces may be substantially improved by the use of artificial intelligence. When AI is utilised to do tasks that are boring or dangerous, human workers are given more time to concentrate on endeavours that need capabilities such as creativity and empathy, amongst other abilities. Artificial intelligence (AI) may be of assistance to a corporation in three different areas: the automation of corporate processes; the acquisition of insight through data analysis; and the interaction with consumers and staff. Findings/Result: As a result of AI, individuals will be freed up to focus on the 20% of non-routine jobs that account for 80% of the value they create. In the future, "intelligent automation of process change" (IAPC) will be used by smart machines to constantly examine and improve the whole process of a business's response to artificial intelligence. Automated and optimised everyday chores save your time and money and improves operational efficiency and productivity. The outputs of cognitive technology may help you make quicker business judgments and benefits the AI in the Workplace. Doing the same thing over and over again might take a toll on your workers' productivity. Automating and optimising these procedures will save you money. Employees will be able to concentrate on multiple areas at once, resulting in increased production. As AI processes data more quickly than humans, this leads to increased productivity. Originality/Value: It is essential to have a deeper comprehension of the differences between AI and human intelligence if we are to be adequately prepared for a society in which AI will play a much more pervasive role in our everyday lives in the foreseeable future. The process of reproduction is intricately connected to both biological and human intelligence. The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is significant for the reason that it paves the way for software to perform human activities and cost-effective than it was previously possible. Paper Type: Company Analysis.

Core components of project-based intervention after acquired brain injury: Delivering meaningful groups online.

Rehabilitation for cognitive-communication impairments following brain injury can be complex given the heterogenous nature of impairments post injury. Project-based intervention has the potential to improve communication skills and create a meaningful real-life context where individuals collaborate to develop a concrete product, which benefits others. While evidence for this intervention is emerging, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted increased use of telehealth interventions to serve people with brain injury. This paper aims to describe a framework for the delivery of project-based intervention via telehealth within community rehabilitation settings; and present several case studies of telehealth groups completed in the United Kingdom and the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. A working group was formed to map the components of project-based intervention onto the rehabilitation treatment specification system (RTSS). This system is a conceptual framework that helps to explain the link between treatment theory and ingredients, allowing a clinician to clearly understand how and why a treatment works. First, a literature search was completed to identify eligible studies on project-based intervention after brain injury. Second, those studies were thematically mapped onto the RTSS to identify important intervention components. Third, the presence of these components was assessed for community brain injury groups delivered via telehealth in the United Kingdom and United States. These groups were further described using a taxonomy of social activities that help to describe the degree of meaningful social engagement. The literature was described with a thematic RTSS summary. Treatment aims focus on skills training and self-efficacy, advocacy and self-empowerment, emotional well-being and quality of life, and collaboration and community belonging. Treatment ingredients involve a range of cognitive and behavioural supports to deliver meaningful activities and contexts to complete a project. Mechanisms of action involve learning by doing and cognitive and affective information processing. All four telehealth groups conducted in the United Kingdom and United States involved at least three treatment aims, >7 targets, and >8 treatment ingredients. All groups reported positive experiences from activities that involve working collaboratively to help others and contribute to society. Project-based intervention delivered via telehealth has the potential for supporting people with acquired brain injury to improve their communication skills and engage in meaningful, collaborative activity. Application of the RTSS helps clinicians to understand the aims and therapeutic ingredients (or clinician activities) through which a person with brain injury may achieve specific treatment targets during the rehabilitation process. What is already known on the subject Project-based interventions have the potential to improve cognitive, self-regulatory, behavioural and social communication skills, renegotiate identity and reaffirm sense of self, providing a positive impact on quality of life for persons with acquired brain injuries. Projects serve as a context for meaningful engagement for individuals in the chronic phase of traumatic brain injury recovery, without fulfilling work, family or social responsibilities. However, most published research has involved in-person projects and few projects have been delivered via telehealth. What this paper adds to existing knowledge While past published works have shared core principles of intervention, a variety of projects, durations, dosages and methods have been employed. The current paper provides a framework to support more consistent implementation. By mapping previous project-based interventions to the RTSS, clinicians will have a better understanding of the aims, targets, ingredients and theoretical underpinnings of project-based interventions. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the shift to telehealth moved interventions to a virtual context. The four case projects in this paper demonstrate that it is possible to conduct project-based interventions via telehealth and provides a clear description to guide clinicians in their delivery. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? This work begins to build the foundation for more rigorous, empirical examination of project-based interventions. By mapping project-based interventions to the RTSS, core aims, targets and ingredients are established that can be objectively examined. This investigation also provides a road map for clinicians who wish to implement this complex intervention.

Lignin-First Biorefinery for Converting Lignocellulosic Biomass into Fuels and Chemicals

Driven by the excessive consumption of fossil resources and environmental pollution concerns, a large amount of biorefinery research efforts have been made for converting lignocellulosic biomass into fuels and chemicals. Recently, a strategy termed “lignin-first,” which allows for realizing high-yield and high-selectivity aromatic monomers, is regarded as one of the best prospective strategies. This review summarizes recent research advances in lignin-first biorefinery, starting from the raw lignocellulose through lignin-first processing and moving to downstream processing pathways for intermediate compounds. In particular, for the core purpose of producing liquid fuels, the corresponding downstream processing strategies are discussed in detail. These are based on the structural properties of the intermediates derived from lignin-first biorefinery, including the catalytic conversion of lignin and its derivatives (aqueous phase system and pyrolysis system) and the cascade utilization of carbohydrate residues (fermentation, pyrolysis, and hydrothermal liquefaction). We conclude with current problems and potential solutions, as well as future perspectives on lignin-first biorefinery, which may provide the basis and reference for the efficient utilization of lignocellulosic biomass.

What drives farmers to use conservation agriculture? Application of mediated protection motivation theory.

Conservation agriculture is an approach for managing agricultural ecosystems, improving productivity, increasing benefits and food security, and preserving resources and the environment. The core purpose of this study was to analyze the constructs affecting the intention to use conservation agriculture measures. For this purpose, protection motivation theory was applied as the theoretical framework. Validation of the model was done using a cross-sectional survey among Iranian farmers, and SMART PLS software was used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that the direct effects of the five constructs of perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, response cost, response efficacy, and self-efficacy were significant on the intention to use conservation agriculture measures. In addition, the variables of perceived severity, response cost, and perceived self-efficacy had significant effects on the fear of not using conservation agriculture measures. The results of the bootstrapping analysis indicated that the fear of not using conservation agriculture measures significantly mediated the effects of perceived severity, response cost, and self-efficacy on the intention to use conservation agriculture. The results of the present research help to develop protection motivation theory by defining new relationships between its variables and achieving a deeper understanding of these relationships. The results also can pave the way for social and psychological interventions in the field of adopting the principles of conservation agriculture in agricultural societies. Finally, the results of this research can be used as a decision-making tool and help for users and planners of behavioral changes to better identify the focus points and necessary strategies.

Skjönsberg, Max. The Persistence of Party: Ideas of Harmonious Discord in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Skjönsberg, Max. <i>The Persistence of Party: Ideas of Harmonious Discord in Eighteenth-Century Britain</i>

Intentions in Ecological Psychology: An Anscombean Proposal

According to ecological psychology, agency is a crucial feature of living organisms: therefore many ecological psychologists maintain that explaining agency is one of the core aims of the discipline. This paper aims to contribute to this goal by arguing that an ecological understanding of agency requires an account of intention. So far, intentions have not played a dominant role in ecological accounts of agency. The reluctance to integrate a notion of intention seems to be motivated by the widespread assumption that intentions should be understood as internal states with representational content. This assumption goes against two main tenets of ecological psychology: its anti-representationalist stance and its claim that perception is direct (in the sense of not being mediated by inferential processes). Ecological psychology thus needs a different answer to the question what intentions are. In this paper, we aim to show that Elizabeth Anscombe’s theory of intention can be fruitfully brought to bear on an ecological theory of agency. We will argue that Anscombe’s account can meet the two challenges of bringing intentions into the framework of ecological psychology: firstly it can explain what intentions are, if not representational states; and, secondly, it can show how our perception of affordances is guided by intention without undermining the idea of direct perception.

Advancing and Mobilizing Knowledge about Youth-Initiated Mentoring through Community-Based Participatory Research: A Scoping Review

The core purpose of Youth-Initiated Mentoring (YIM) is to adopt a more collaborative approach to mentoring by inviting youth to nominate and select their own mentors. This article performs a scoping review of research on YIM to identify common methodologies and emerging evidence from available studies. Six online research databases were used to identify peer-reviewed academic articles published in English. No date restrictions were applied. In total, nine peer-reviewed articles were identified and reviewed. The main findings from these studies indicate that collaborating with youth during the mentor nomination process offers several benefits to youth in mentoring relationships. Based on the knowledge gained from this scoping review, a secondary purpose of this article is to encourage researchers to adopt a more participatory approach to their future investigations of YIM. Despite YIM’s recent exploration into more collaborative approaches to practice, the model has yet to fully embrace more collaborative approaches to research. To address this limitation, this article begins a productive dialogue between YIM and Community-Based Participatory Research. Specifically, this article reviews four of the principles within Community-Based Participatory Research and surfaces helpful strategies that researchers can use to begin celebrating the local knowledge and expertise of youth and their communities.

Feminism without “gender identity”

Talk of gender identity is at the core of heated current philosophical and political debates. Yet, it is unclear what it means to have one. I examine several ways of understanding this concept in light of core aims of trans writers and activists. Most importantly, the concept should make good trans people's understanding of their own gender identities and help understand why misgendering is a serious harm and why it is permissible to require information about people's gender identities in public life. I conclude that none of the available accounts meets these essential criteria, on the assumption that the gender norms of femininity and masculinity are unjustified. But we can, and should, pursue the feminist project without “gender identity”. Such feminism can include trans people because it is possible to account for the specific harm of misgendering without assuming a claim to the recognition of our gender identities. I conclude that we should eliminate the concept of “gender identity.” To understand the phenomena that are putatively captured by “gender identity,” we are better off employing other concepts, such as “sexual dysphoria,” (assigned or aspirational) “gender roles,” and (internalised or endorsed) “gender norms”. These concepts can usefully replace “gender identity” in an individual evaluation of each of the trans people's claims to inclusion into particular spaces.

Exploring the Recent Trends in Management of Dementia and Frailty: Focus on Diagnosis and Treatment.

Dementia and frailty increase health adversities in older adults, which are topics of growing research interest. Frailty is considered to correspond to a biological syndrome associated with age. Frail patients may ultimately develop multiple dysfunctions across several systems, including stroke, transient ischemic attack, vascular dementia, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, cortico-basal degeneration, multiple system atrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Patients with dementia and frailty often develop malnutrition and weight loss. Rigorous nutritional, pharmacological, and non-pharmacological interventions generally are required for these patients, which is a challenging issue for healthcare providers. A healthy diet and lifestyle instigated at an early age can reduce the risk of frailty and dementia. For optimal treatment, accurate diagnosis involving clinical evaluation, cognitive screening, essential laboratory evaluation, structural imaging, functional neuroimaging, and neuropsychological testing is necessary. Diagnosis procedures best apply the clinical diagnosis, identifying the cause(s) and the condition(s) appropriate for treatment. The patient's history, caregiver's interview, physical examination, cognitive evaluation, laboratory tests, and structural imaging should best be involved in the diagnostic process. Varying types of physical exercise can aid the treatment of these disorders. Nutrition maintenance is a particularly significant factor, such as exceptionally high-calorie dietary supplements and a Mediterranean diet to support weight gain. The core purpose of this article is to investigate trends in the management of dementia and frailty, focusing on improving diagnosis and treatment. Substantial evidence builds the consensus that a combination of balanced nutrition and good physical activity is an integral part of treatment. Notably, more evidence-based medicine knowledge is required.

Chromatism and Marginality: A Post-colonial Reading of ‘The Jewel of the Crown’ by Paul Scott

This study explores the post-colonial concepts of chromatism and marginality, which led to the conflict, tension, and gap in the British India in Paul Scott’s novel ‘The Jewel in the Crown’. Fairclough’s model of Critical Discourse Analysis is used to trace descriptive, interpretational, and explanatory aspects embedded in the novel. To meet the core purpose of the study, five extracts are selected using purposive sampling technique. Each extract is analyzed critically ranging from lexicons to broad socio-political contexts of the era before independence. The study reveals that language is the reflective of identity, ideology, and power. These three things are explored with the linguistic and contextual analysis of various characters of the novel. This work supports that language is not neutral rather it is loaded with multiple layers of meanings. The knots of the meaning are untied with the application of Critical Discourse Analysis.

Culture-driven scripts for meetings: An integrative theoretical lens for studying workplace meetings

The current research conceptualizes workplace meetings as socially embedded forms of organizing and proposes that cross-cultural comparisons of workplace meetings offer insights into differences in meeting structures and processes. This provides a deeper understanding of how meetings drive organizing in different cultural settings. Specifically, we build programmatic theory proposing cognitive and behavioral scripts as a promising theoretical lens through which to capture and integrate sociocultural influences on workplace meetings. We adapt Cramton et al.'s (2021) cultural coordination scripts formulation (consisting of the task setting, role structure, temporal structure, and cues) to develop an interpretive framework for workplace meeting processes that orients future research on cross-cultural meetings. We further integrate existing research on cross-cultural meeting differences to develop a generic prototype meeting script and two illustrative examples of culturally specific meeting scripts (for German and U.S.-American meetings) to demonstrate the practical usefulness and usability of this programmatic theory.

Evaluation of The Necessity and The Feasibility of Solutions on E-assessment Methods and Tools for Foreign Language Lecturers

Since the end of the outbreak, most higher education institutions (HEIs) in Vietnam have continued to offer blended-learning courses, including those in foreign languages. Thus, the popularity of e-assessments has increased, compelling lecturers to determine how to effectively manage this assessment model. The core aims of this paper are 1) to propose several solutions on e-assessment methods and tools for foreign language lecturers and 2) evaluate their degree of necessity and feasibility. Based on the quantitative research approach, an online survey using Google Form was conducted to collect data on the necessity and feasibility of our proposed solutions from the perspectives of foreign language lecturers at University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University of Ho Chi Minh City (USSH-VNU-HCM). The questionnaire obtained 31 valid responses. According to the results of the study, the criteria on the 5-point Likert scale are highly necessary and feasible. These findings provide insights that may assist HEIs’ leadership, policymakers, curriculum developers, and lecturers to consider testing these offered solutions.

Unsupervised Domain Adaptation with Adversarial Self-Training for Crop Classification Using Remote Sensing Images

Crop type mapping is regarded as an essential part of effective agricultural management. Automated crop type mapping using remote sensing images is preferred for the consistent monitoring of crop types. However, the main obstacle to generating annual crop type maps is the collection of sufficient training data for supervised classification. Classification based on unsupervised domain adaptation, which uses prior information from the source domain for target domain classification, can solve the impractical problem of collecting sufficient training data. This study presents self-training with domain adversarial network (STDAN), a novel unsupervised domain adaptation framework for crop type classification. The core purpose of STDAN is to combine adversarial training to alleviate spectral discrepancy problems with self-training to automatically generate new training data in the target domain using an existing thematic map or ground truth data. STDAN consists of three analysis stages: (1) initial classification using domain adversarial neural networks; (2) the self-training-based updating of training candidates using constraints specific to crop classification; and (3) the refinement of training candidates using iterative classification and final classification. The potential of STDAN was evaluated by conducting six experiments reflecting various domain discrepancy conditions in unmanned aerial vehicle images acquired at different regions and times. In most cases, the classification performance of STDAN was found to be compatible with the classification using training data collected from the target domain. In particular, the superiority of STDAN was shown to be prominent when the domain discrepancy was substantial. Based on these results, STDAN can be effectively applied to automated cross-domain crop type mapping without analyst intervention when prior information is available in the target domain.

More Creativity and Less Restriction: About the Relationship between Translation and Copyright

This article discusses the importance of adjusting the attitude toward the copyright of translation, taking the articles in United States Copyright Law and the Berne Convention as the reference. By looking into various incidents and examples in translation across different languages and areas, and among licensed and voluntary translator communities, the article discusses the significant amount of creative labor and intellectual work in the translation and why less restriction from the original work’s copyright can lead to quality improvement in translation. The article concludes that creativity takes an influential role throughout the translation process, and an environment with fewer restrictions from the copyright holder of the original work can boost the average quality of the translations. Hence, society can fully benefit from U.S. copyright law’s core purpose of promoting “the Progress of Science and useful Arts.”

Analysis of the Targets and Progress toward Meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal - 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation: Evidence from India

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) success has been a major challenge for governments of every nation over the past few years. In particular, this research focuses on the progress being made toward achieving SDG 6 which aims to make sure that every person has access to clean drinking water and sanitation. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is perhaps the most squeezing challenge in the nation and is being tended to by the public authority on a fundamentally important premise. The core purpose of this paper was to evaluate the progress made to achieve the SDG 6 objectives in India and Indian states and UTs. Using SDG Index reports for 2018, 2019 and 2020, we assess the progress made in terms of SDG 6. The results showed that most states and UTs are in the front runner category and progress is being made. The paper raises various policy issues, including drafting water and sanitation regulations that benefit the poor and marginalized sectors of society, as well as states and areas that lack access. The importance of formal education, especially for rural women, cannot be overstated, which impacts their decisions about the type of bathroom to use and what water treatment alternatives are most applicable to their particular needs. Strong collaboration between non-state organizations and the government as well as involvement of local institutions such as PRIs in introducing reforms in the water and sanitation sectors are the ways to achieve targets under SDG 6.

Conflicts between core purposes: Trade-offs associated with organizational shifts in Mexican community forest enterprises

Community forest enterprises (CFEs) have been promoted globally in conservation and rural development initiatives. CFEs, which are considered social firms, commercialize various forest products and services to provide income, employment, public goods, and services. However, as with other social firms, CFEs may experience a tension between generating revenue and fulfilling their social mission. We explored this tension through a qualitative case study that examined the organizational choices of four CFEs in Oaxaca, Mexico, including the processes and practices they adopted that prioritized their social mission or more profit-oriented aims, and the way they navigated the tensions between their social and financial goals. Interviews revealed that the different organizational features of CFEs, including leadership structures, decision-making processes, enterprise locations, and benefit-distribution schemes, often elevated CFEs’ social mission or more profit-oriented aims, typically at the cost of the other. With some exceptions, we found that the organizational processes and practices CFEs adopted to generate more revenue often negatively impacted trust, transparency, and participation. We build on scholarship that has documented tensions between historical communal governance and enterprise management in Mexico by demonstrating how communities are modifying their organizational structures in ways that blur the lines between traditional governance and enterprise management and, in some cases, in ways that mitigate trade-offs. Better understanding organization and associated trade-offs may allow CFEs–or other stakeholders interested in their proliferation and success–to make more transparent and deliberate decisions and avoid or adapt to undesirable outcomes and unanticipated consequences. As CFEs are promoted and replicated globally, our study is an important step in understanding the perverse outcomes and unintended feedbacks that arise from enterprise organization and illustrates the tension between social and financial performance in CFEs.

The Metric Used in the Global Health Impact Project: Implicit Values and Unanswered Questions

Abstract The core aims of the Global Health Impact Project include incentivizing pharmaceutical companies for socially conscious production and promoting socially conscious consumption among consumers. Its backbone is a metric that computes the amount of illness burden alleviated by a pharmaceutical drug. This essay aims to assess the connection between values and numbers in the Global Health Impact Project. Specifically, I concentrate on two issues, the anonymity of illness burden and the distribution of health benefits. The former issue asks whether we should treat the illness burden of every person the same. The latter issue asks among whom health benefits should be fairly distributed. Examination of these issues begs for clarification of some of the key concepts of the Global Health Impact Project, such as the definition of essential medicines and the significance of national borders. Although this essay focuses on the two particular metric issues in the Global Health Impact Project, its core argument is applicable to other metrics for ethically motivated initiatives—to construct a metric for an ethically motivated initiative, it is not only important to articulate underlying concepts and values, but it is also important to operationalize them, so they are consistently reflected in the metric.

Life Cycle Dynamics and Developmental Processes in Collaborative Partnerships: Examples From Four Watersheds in the U.S.

Collaborative governance ebbs and flows. Partnerships become dormant or extinct, only to resurface with new members, and names, forms, or boundaries. This paper uses a systematic qualitative analysis of data from 4 watershed governance efforts in the United States--Delaware Inland Bays, Narragansett Bay, Tampa Bay, and Tillamook Bay. The study's objective is to develop theory grounded in these data by examining the developmental trajectories associated with collaborative partnerships. The paper begins by summarizing a four-stage life-cycle model. Each stage identifies a cluster of developmental challenges related to sustaining the health and useful life of a collaborative partnership. The paper identifies 31 partnerships across the four watersheds that were self- or externally-initiated. They experienced many different developmental trajectories. Some remained relatively healthy for a considerable period while others declined quite rapidly. Some partnerships had reorientations involving minor and rapid changes to the partnership structure. Some involved recreations with more profound shifts in core values and purposes. Some partnerships lasted for a considerable period while others ended when their work was done. Healthy partnerships also ended prematurely while unhealthy partnerships endured for a considerable period after their useful life ended. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for theory and practice.