Alternative Evaluation of the Agrarian Sector in Guatemala 10 Years ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Alternative Evaluation of the Agrarian Sector in Guatemala 10 Years after the ... in research and advocacy for agrarian legislation ever since the adoption of the ... conference of McGill's Institute for the Study of International Development.

REGIONAL FEATURES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP FUNCTIONING IN THE AGRARIAN SPHERE

OpenAIRE

Tyumerova I. B.

2014-01-01

The article analyzes the activities of the agrarian sphere in the Chuvash Republic; we have also developed a matrix of opportunities for the development of the agrarian sector in conjunction with the entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial development strategy identified the cluster as the main factor of socio-economic development of the region

Peace through agrarian justice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Richards, P.; Bah, K.

2005-01-01

Postwar countries in Africa are among the poorest. In the countries of the Mano River region (Liberia, Sierra Leone) agrarian injustice emerges as a major cause of both poverty and conflict. Serious efforts are needed to improve the labour, land and property rights of rural women and young people if

The Origins of Agrarianism and the Development of the Self.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanson, Victor Davis

1998-01-01

Describes the history of agrarianism and its connection with Western cultural values of private property, civil liberties, constitutional government, separation of power, individualism, and self-reliance. Argues that agrarian history has vast implications beyond just farming, affecting the language, values, and foundations of culture. Discusses…

Estructura agraria y violencia rural en América Latina Agrarian structure and rural violence in Latin America

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Cristóbal Kay

2003-01-01

crucial to analyze the origins of that violence in order to find solutions to the problems that cause it. The purpose of the present essay is to explore relations between the agrarian structure, agrarian reform and rural violence in Latin America. Its interrelations are examined from a historical perspective in which global transformation processes are underscored. Factors such as the political regime, markets, technology, crops (for instance, coca and State actions have an important presence in the several kinds of conflicts and violence in rural areas. Nevertheless, the level of influence of such factors varies a good deal according to the characteristics of existing agrarian structure and social relations. A special examination is made on the influence of agrarian reforms and/or peasants' demands for agrarian reform over rural conflicts and violence. The cases of Chile, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and some countries from Central America are considered. Although preliminary, the conclusions present some comparative analyses. However, it is my understanding that those should be further developed, but I hope they might offer reference points for more encompassing comparative analyses. The studies on rural conflicts and violence have so far focused mainly on one country. Comparative studies, in my opinion, can offer a broader analytical scope and comparative context might open new possibilities for a better understanding of causes and consequences of rural violence in Latin American countries.

The politics of biofuels, land and agrarian change: editors' introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Borras, Saturnino M

2010-01-01

This introduction frames key questions on biofuels, land and agrarian change within agrarian political economy, political sociology and political ecology. It identifies and explains big questions that provide the starting point for the contributions to this collection. We lay out some of the emerging themes which define the politics of biofuels, land and agrarian change revolving around global (re)configurations; agro-ecological visions; conflicts, resistances and diverse outcomes; state, capital and society relations; mobilising opposition, creating alternatives; and change and continuity. An engaged agrarian political economy combined with global political economy, international relations and social movement theory provides an important framework for analysis and critique of the conditions, dynamics, contradictions, impacts and possibilities of the emerging global biofuels complex. Our hope is that this collection demonstrates the significance of a political economy of biofuels in capturing the complexity of the "biofuels revolution" and at the same time opening up questions about its sustainability in social and environmental terms that provide pathways towards alternatives.

Environmental Costs of Government-Sponsored Agrarian Settlements in Brazilian Amazonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Maurício; Peres, Carlos A

2015-01-01

Brazil has presided over the most comprehensive agrarian reform frontier colonization program on Earth, in which ~1.2 million settlers have been translocated by successive governments since the 1970's, mostly into forested hinterlands of Brazilian Amazonia. These settlements encompass 5.3% of this ~5 million km2 region, but have contributed with 13.5% of all land conversion into agropastoral land uses. The Brazilian Federal Agrarian Agency (INCRA) has repeatedly claimed that deforestation in these areas largely predates the sanctioned arrival of new settlers. Here, we quantify rates of natural vegetation conversion across 1911 agrarian settlements allocated to 568 Amazonian counties and compare fire incidence and deforestation rates before and after the official occupation of settlements by migrant farmers. The timing and spatial distribution of deforestation and fires in our analysis provides irrefutable chronological and spatially explicit evidence of agropastoral conversion both inside and immediately outside agrarian settlements over the last decade. Deforestation rates are strongly related to local human population density and road access to regional markets. Agrarian settlements consistently accelerated rates of deforestation and fires, compared to neighboring areas outside settlements, but within the same counties. Relocated smallholders allocated to forest areas undoubtedly operate as pivotal agents of deforestation, and most of the forest clearance occurs in the aftermath of government-induced migration.

Environmental Costs of Government-Sponsored Agrarian Settlements in Brazilian Amazonia

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Brazil has presided over the most comprehensive agrarian reform frontier colonization program on Earth, in which ~1.2 million settlers have been translocated by successive governments since the 1970’s, mostly into forested hinterlands of Brazilian Amazonia. These settlements encompass 5.3% of this ~5 million km2 region, but have contributed with 13.5% of all land conversion into agropastoral land uses. The Brazilian Federal Agrarian Agency (INCRA) has repeatedly claimed that deforestation in these areas largely predates the sanctioned arrival of new settlers. Here, we quantify rates of natural vegetation conversion across 1911 agrarian settlements allocated to 568 Amazonian counties and compare fire incidence and deforestation rates before and after the official occupation of settlements by migrant farmers. The timing and spatial distribution of deforestation and fires in our analysis provides irrefutable chronological and spatially explicit evidence of agropastoral conversion both inside and immediately outside agrarian settlements over the last decade. Deforestation rates are strongly related to local human population density and road access to regional markets. Agrarian settlements consistently accelerated rates of deforestation and fires, compared to neighboring areas outside settlements, but within the same counties. Relocated smallholders allocated to forest areas undoubtedly operate as pivotal agents of deforestation, and most of the forest clearance occurs in the aftermath of government-induced migration. PMID:26247467

BULLYING IN AN AGRARIAN UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF MEXICO

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Rosalva Ruíz-Ramírez

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This investigation analyzes bullying in a high school belonging to an agrarian university in the municipal area of Texcoco, State of Mexico. The profile of the students that attend this agrarian high school was analyzed, the impact of bullying on education is explained, along with the risk factors and their consequences, a phenomenon which is very scarcely documented in formative spaces of high school studies, and particularly absent in investigations from agrarian institutions in Mexico. A quantitative investigation was proposed containing a sample of 112 students. In order to collect data, a questionnaire was used, and the information was analyzed using univariate descriptive statistics and Spearman’s correlation analysis. Out of all the interviewees, 99.1% claimed there is bullying in the agrarian high school and mentioned that the main cause is the lack of values among students, who discriminate their classmates; due to gender stereotypes, it is men who are mainly in the triangle of bullying as attackers, victims, or observers. The analysis of bullying in the agrarian high school helped to know the profile of the students who are vulnerable to become victims, attackers, or observers of bullying: they are not friendly or tolerant, they partake in pranks, they are violent, aggressive, jealous, restless, and they feel uncomfortable in the presence of homosexual or transgender people.

Political economy of agrarian change: Some key concepts and questions

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H Bernstein

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper draws on lectures given in recent years at the China Agricultural University, on author’s book Class Dynamics of Agrarian Change [1] and on a recent article [3]. The author supplied as few references as possible to very large literature in English on agrarian change both historical and contemporary; there is an ample bibliography in [1], which is expanded in [2-5]. The paper outlines in schematic fashion some key concepts in the political economy of agrarian change with special reference to capitalism historically and today; some key questions posed by the political economy of agrarian change, and how it seeks to investigate and answer them; two sets of more specific questions about agrarian transition to capitalism and agrarian change within capitalism (internal to the countryside, bringing in rural-urban interconnections, pointing towards the place of agriculture within larger ‘national’ economies, and concerning the character and effects of the capitalist world economy. With the aid of the last group of questions, the author discusses three themes, which they are deployed to investigate: the agrarian origins of capitalism, the distinction between farming and agriculture generated by capitalism, and the fate(s of peasant farmers in the modern world of capitalism. The author believes that one cannot conceive the emergence and functioning of agriculture in modern capitalism without the centrality and configurations of new sets of dynamics linking agriculture and industry, and the rural and urban, and the local, national and global. The three themes all feed into the fourth and final theme, that of investigating the fate(s of the peasantry in capitalism today, which resonates longstanding debates of the ‘disappearance’ or ‘persistence’ of the peasantry, albeit now in the conditions of contemporary ‘globalization’. The author does not deny some of the critique of the contemporary globalization, or at least its effects

The transition between energy efficient and energy inefficient states in Cameroon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adom, Philip Kofi

2016-01-01

I use a two-state (energy efficient/inefficient) Markov-switching dynamic model to study energy efficiency in Cameroon in a novel manner, employing yearly data covering 1971 to 2012. I find that the duration of an energy inefficient state is about twice as long as an energy efficient state, mainly due to fuel subsidies, low income, high corruption, regulatory inefficiencies, poorly developed infrastructure and undeveloped markets. To escape from an energy inefficient state a broad policy overhaul is needed. Trade liberalization and related growth policies together with the removal of fuel subsidies are useful, but insufficient policy measures; the results suggest that they should be combined with structural policies, aiming at institutional structure and investment in infrastructure. - Highlights: • I investigate the transition between energy efficient/inefficient states. • On the average, energy inefficient state persists more than energy efficient state. • The duration of energy inefficient state is about twice as long as energy efficient state. • Price, income and trade openness have distinct energy saving effect irrespective of state. • A broad policy overhaul is needed to escape the energy inefficient state.

The Land and Agrarian Reform and Food Security: Lessons for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Hence the aim of this article is to create a historical review of the land and agrarian issues in developing countries in general, and in Africa in particular, as well as map up a landscape of the political economy of land and agrarian reform in the current millennium, and demonstrate how these relate to the issue of food security ...

Demographic perspectives on agrarian transformations and 'surplus populations': supply-side banalities versus redistributive imperatives

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.M. Fischer (Andrew Martín)

2011-01-01

textabstractThis paper frames the discussion of agrarian transformations and 'surplus populations' in the Global South within a political economy and macro-structural consideration of the developmental challenges faced in the context of contemporary rapid population growth. The case is made that the

[Agrarian movements, development alternatives and food security in Central America: scenarios of transition].

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez Rojas, R

1991-01-01

This article, based on personal experiences with a network of organizations of small and medium agricultural producers in Central America, aims to present the views of peasant organizations concerning agrarian problems in the region. The 3 major sections of work define the place of peasant agriculture in the traditional agrarian structure and the new problems resulting from the structural adjustment programs of the 1980s; separately describe the new peasant movements emerging in Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, identifying common themes an efforts at international collaboration; and explore the positions of the peasant organizations on the optimal strategies for agricultural development and agrarian change. Agriculture remains the backbone of the Central American economies. But because the economic model in the region is 1 of accumulation characterized by dependency, concentration of capital, and social marginalization, the agrarian structure is at the basis of social tensions. Efforts to develop peasant agriculture and to give small producers access to marketing and credit services have been weak and sporadic. The new peasant movements are less inclined than those of the past to employ tactics of confrontation in their efforts to secure access to land and better working conditions. The new movement is the expression of small market producers sometimes grouped into associations who are oriented to production of basic foodstuffs for the internal market. A new concern with adaptation and negotiation is evident. The new organizations have in common a belief in their ability to propose new solutions to regional problems. Their views are founded on a positive assessment of the ability of peasant agriculture to produce food and add dynamism to the regional economy after barriers to credit, technological progress, and modernization in general are removed. Signs of increased cooperation are evident between peasant organizations and other groups

Planned Change in Agrarian Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Niehoff, Arthur H.

The report provides operationally relevant concepts and guidelines for persons responsible for planning and implementing development projects in agrarian countries. A framework for describing or evaluating the conduct of development projects is proposed, and applied to the results of an analysis of 203 case studies of past projects. Influences,…

The Effects of Violence and Internal Displacement on Rural-Agrarian Change in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Sonmez, Abdulkerim

2008-01-01

This paper addresses two interrelated issues that have assumed major political significance in the handling of the Kurdish question in Turkey. The first is the impact of violence and resulting internal displacement in Eastern and Southeastern Turkey on rural-agrarian change. The second concerns the implications of the structural change and social…

INSTITUTIONAL APPROACHES OF MODERN SOCIO-ECOLOGO-ECONOMIC FORMS OF ECONOMY IN AGRARIAN SECTOR OF ECONOMY OF UKRAINE

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O. Pimenova

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Main problems of agrarian sector of economy of Ukraine are revealed. Main directions of development of agriculture of Ukraine are determined. The necessity of socio-ecologo-economic agrarian sector is proved. Tendencies of institutionalization of forms of economy in a system of agrarian relationship were investigated. The necessity of creation of effective system of institutions with an aim of functioning effective and rational forms of economy in agrarian sector of Ukraine, which could provide a balancing of economic, social and ecologic spheres, is confirmed. In the paper is proved the necessity of creation and function of social-ecologo-economic model of agriculture development, where a social-ecologo-economic development is characterized like economic development of rural territories, rural employment in agriculture, the efficiency of employment, ecologo-safe production focused on human needs and etc., on the one side and on the other side is a significant role of rural social capital. Based on the analysis of scientific literature, it's confirmed that development socio-ecologo-economical forms of economy are accompanied with modification of the institutional structure of regulation of agriculture. It's proved that the functioning of effective forms of economy promotes the competitiveness of the agricultural sector of the national economy.

Agrarian Reform and Rural Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Biswas, Margaret R.

1979-01-01

This paper presents the plight of the world's poor, which was discussed at The World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development in July, 1979. Urban bias is attributed to the failure of rural development. More participation of rural people is needed. Progress is being made. Examples of literary programs in Iraq and the Sudan are included.…

Types of planned agrarian colonization in Brazilian forests: Historical examples

OpenAIRE

Gerd Kohlhepp

2015-01-01

About 200 years ago state or privately controlled agrarian colonization in South Brazil began with immigrants from Central and Southern Europe. As the Brazilian campos had been occupied by extensive cattle ranching of large landholders, forests were systematically cleared by peasants, the new rural social middle class. Three examples of the most different types of agrarian colonization are presented, colonization of European small farmers in South Brazil in the 19th century; colonization of a...

Peasant in transition : agrarian society in Western Sri Lanka under Dutch rule, 1740-1800

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dewasiri, Nirmal Ranjith

2007-01-01

This thesis investigates the structural changes in the agrarian society in Western parts of Sri Lanka as seen in the mid and late eighteenth century in the context of the encounter with the Dutch United East India Company (VOC) administration. It attempts to understand the developments in the period

Competitiveness analysis of Czech agrarian foreign trade in the context of world agrarian market and agrarian trade of EU-27 countries

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Miroslav Svatoš

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the commodity structure of Czech (CR agrarian trade in relation to the EU countries. An emphasis is put on comparative advantages of particular aggregations from the view-point of their application on the EU internal market. This analysis is based on an evaluation of comparative advantages by means of a modified Balassa index. It is studied in two stages, for the internal EU market and the world market. The analysis results are then shown in a graph. Subsequently, the authors implement an idea arising from a BCG matrix on the results of the graphic presentation. The aim is to identify those aggregations (SITC, rev. 3 which are or have a potential to be a pillar of agri-business (ie, the “cash cows” and “stars”, and vice versa to show the aggregation which are non-prospective in the long term or problematic (ie, the “dogs” and “problem children”. As start are identified as those aggregations which are characterised by the highest growth rate of comparative advantage value. From the analysis results, changes are apparent if we compare the CR trade commodity structure in relation to the EU countries. Findings also concern the development of comparative advantages and following CR specialisation on trade with certain aggregations.

Introducing and modeling inefficiency contributions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Asmild, Mette; Kronborg, Dorte; Matthews, Kent

2016-01-01

-called inefficiency contributions, which are defined as the relative contributions from specific variables to the overall levels of inefficiencies. A statistical model for distinguishing the inefficiency contributions between subgroups is proposed and the method is illustrated on a data set on Chinese banks....

Other Kinds of Violence: Wendell Berry, Industrialism, and Agrarian Pacifism

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William Major

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This article examines the need to understand pacifism and environmentalism as essentially consonant philosophies and practices, just as a proper theorization of ecocide must also include the violence inherent to industrialism and militarism. Few contemporary writers understand the stakes involved in this conflation as well as Wendell Berry, and few have had more occasion to enact the entwined values of pacifism and environmentalism than he has. Berry therefore marries pacifist politics to a land ethic of care, a union from which emerges an environmentalism highly critical of the violence of American corporate capitalism and militarism, the apotheosis of which can be seen in the guise of war (Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, the “War on Terror”. Moreover, such violence has its domestic ecocidal analogy, best evidenced by strip mining and mountaintop removal. Berry’s union of peaceableness and agrarian environmentalism does, however, deserve critical examination, for it often rests upon the construction of a sometimes frustrating disconnection between a precious and benign domesticity and a theoretically corrupt public sphere. To be sure, in his reworking of the fluid boundaries between the private and public through which his agrarian ethics is often articulated, Berry simultaneously invokes and disavows a separation he clearly understands to be artificial. In Berry’s peaceful agrarian vision, then, the agrarian pacifist who is also by definition an environmentalist must draw upon enormous internal resources if she is to revolutionize the economies of ruin that characterize modern life.

Reframing ‘Crisis’ in Fair Trade Coffee Production: Trajectories of Agrarian Change in Nicaragua

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fraser, J.; Fisher, E.; Arce, A.M.G.

2014-01-01

A focus on crisis provides a methodological window to understand how agrarian change shapes producer engagement in fair trade. This orientation challenges a separation between the market and development, situating fair trade within global processes that incorporate agrarian histories of social

The failure of agrarian capitalism : agrarian politics in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and the USA, 1846 - 1919

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koning, N.

1994-01-01

This thesis presents a comparative analysis of agrarian policies in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and the USA from 1846-1919.

The author examines the evolution of agricultural policy and factors that motivate it. These factors are discussed in the context of the repeal

INTERNATIONALIZATION OF EDUCATION ON THE EXAMPLE OF KRASNOYARSK STATE AGRARIAN UNIVERSITY

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Natalia Vladimirovna Antonova

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The article is devoted to issues of internationalization of educational process in Federal state budget educational institution of higher education “Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University”. The authors’ aim is to analyze and describe the methodology for this work at Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University. Methods. Theoretical and empirical methods of research, such as analysis and synthesis of the information available in psychological and pedagogical literature, as well as modelling, observation and experiment constitute the basis of the research. Results. In the study, the authors analyze and substantiate the reasonability of the implementation of practical forms of education internationalization at Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University, as the basis for fulfillment of the efficiency indicators in the higher education institutions monitoring, including internationalization of curricula and educational programs, mobility of students and teachers, as well as the export of educational services as a separate component of the internationalization. Separately, the linguistic and socio-psychological adaptation of foreign students in Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University as the basis of internationalization is examined. The work on the internationalization of education in the Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University allowed fulfilling the indicator of monitoring. If in 2014 the university had only 0,41% of foreign students in the given contingent, then starting with 2015, the indicator is met. In 2017, it was 4,8%. The indicator of the receipt of funds from foreign students training also increased from 1,8 million rubles in 2016, up to 2,2 million rubles in 2017. Practical implication and results. The results of the study may be of interest for the management of higher educational institutions implementing the provisions of the Bologna Declaration, the staff of the international and educational departments of universities and can be used as

Inefficiency of Malaysian palm oil refineries and the impact of different factors on its inefficiency

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Zahra Shahverdi

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to analyze changes in the inefficiency of Malaysian palm oil refineries using DEA window analysis method over the period 1996 to 2009. We investigated the effects of different factors on inefficiency of Malaysian palm oil refineries. Based on empirical results, the effect of all factors such as vertical integration, types of ownership, foreign investment, location, experience, and liberalization on inefficiency of refineries was significant. Experience, liberalization, and joint venture between private and public sectors showed an increase in efficiency, while joint venture between local and foreign investment and vertical integration increased refineries’ inefficiency. However, palm oil refineries which were located in the states of Sabah and Sarawak were less technically inefficient than those located in peninsular Malaysia.

On the position of the Democratic Party of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on the Agrarian Reform

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Drakić Gordana

2012-01-01

Full Text Available One of the most important issues in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was the process of the agrarian reform. The agrarian reform was a complex state measure with an economic, social and political aspect. All political parties, due to political reasons, spoke in favor of the resolution of the agrarian issue through agrarian reform. Political parties kept in mind the large number of those individuals interested in the agrarian reform, as well as the fact that majority of the voters were farmers, when they formulated their position towards the reform. The Democratic Party was one of the most influential political party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The paper presents the basic concepts related to the agrarian reform and agricultural policy in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes that represented the Democratic Party.

Mechanism of management of competitiveness of production of agrarian and industrial complex

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Buryak E. A.

2016-04-01

Full Text Available the concept of competitiveness and mechanisms of management of competitiveness of production is considered. Major factors of ensuring competitiveness of production of agrarian and industrial complex are allocated. The main problems of production of wheat in the Republic of Crimea making negative impact on the level of her competitiveness are revealed. The mechanism of management of competitiveness of production of agrarian and industrial complex is developed.

Does resilient mean eco-inefficient?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pizzol, Massimo

as long-term perfomance. Resilience is not explicitly taken into account within life cycle assessment (LCA). LCA determines the eco-efficiency of product systems, i.e. the ratio between the function provided by the product and its impact on the environment. The question is whether a product system which...... structure is improved or designed to be more resilient will not only be more inefficient, but also eco-inefficient, when studied by means of LCA. In this work a two steps approach is proposed to study resilience of product systems: 1) assessment of disturbance conditions and their inclusion within the scope......, because the redundant connections between elements of a system make it less efficient but also more flexible and adaptable and allow to perform a function even if some connections are interrupted or missing. Balancing between resilience and efficiency seems to be the key for sustainability intended...

Diseño organizacional de la unidad de desarrollo agroempresarial del Banco Agrario de Colombia s.a. Organizational design for an agrarian business development unit of the agrarian bank of colombia s.a.

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Morales C. José Rubén

2002-08-01

beneficiaries to small and medium rural producers by means of their association with the purpose of making them more competitive and take advantage of the use of the credit better, it becomes necessary that an entity with national covering as the Agrarian Bank of Colombia, direct and prosecute their mission through the redesign of their organizational structure. This argument was constituted in the element by which was ahead this study, whose investigation objective was the organizational culture of the system of credit of the Agrarian Bank. As prominent results of this investigation, it is worthwhile to mention the valuation in very high degree of
the organizational culture in reason to domains as leadership, climate and organizational context and their corresponding indexes had excellent perception in the group of interviewed officials and employees. Likewise the answers related to agrarian business are overwhelming for the appreciation that the officials have about the necessity that the Bank offers, to advance this strategy in a direct way, through a wombed structure oriented to projects, which promotes agrarian business development by means of the initiation stages development and consolidation, to make viable the execution of their strategic objectives.

Agrarian Violence: A Comparative Analysis of Recent Farm Movements in Europe and North America.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartell, Ted

Collective agrarian violence was examined in the U.S. and Canada to determine: (1) if the American historical experience was unique; (2) if the American farm movements evidenced the same characteristics and development as those in Europe; (3) if American collective agrarian violence has manifested the same characteristic shape as that of France…

Geographical proximity on the valuations of unlisted agrarian companies: Does distance from company to company and to strategic points matter?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Occhino, P.; Maté, M.

2017-07-01

This paper is a first attempt to examine the role played by the geography on agrarian firms’ valuations. The geography was evaluated through the physical proximity from agrarian companies to other companies and to some strategic points which ease their accessibility to external economic agents. To get our purpose, we developed an empirical application on a sample of non-listed agrarian Spanish companies located in the region of Murcia over the period 2010-2015. We applied Discount Cash Flow methodology for non-listed companies to get their valuations. With this information, we used spatial econometric techniques to analyse the spatial distribution of agrarian firms’ valuations and model the behavior of this variable. Our results supported the assertion that agrarian firms’ valuations are conditioned by the geography. We found that firms with similar valuations tend to be grouped together in the territory. In addition, we found significant effects on agrarian firms valuations derived from the geographical proximity among closer agrarian companies and from them to external agents and transport facilities.

Geographical proximity on the valuations of unlisted agrarian companies: Does distance from company to company and to strategic points matter?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Occhino, P.; Maté, M.

2017-01-01

This paper is a first attempt to examine the role played by the geography on agrarian firms’ valuations. The geography was evaluated through the physical proximity from agrarian companies to other companies and to some strategic points which ease their accessibility to external economic agents. To get our purpose, we developed an empirical application on a sample of non-listed agrarian Spanish companies located in the region of Murcia over the period 2010-2015. We applied Discount Cash Flow methodology for non-listed companies to get their valuations. With this information, we used spatial econometric techniques to analyse the spatial distribution of agrarian firms’ valuations and model the behavior of this variable. Our results supported the assertion that agrarian firms’ valuations are conditioned by the geography. We found that firms with similar valuations tend to be grouped together in the territory. In addition, we found significant effects on agrarian firms valuations derived from the geographical proximity among closer agrarian companies and from them to external agents and transport facilities.

Sectoral transitions - modeling the development from agrarian to service economies

Science.gov (United States)

Lutz, Raphael; Spies, Michael; Reusser, Dominik E.; Kropp, Jürgen P.; Rybski, Diego

2013-04-01

We consider the sectoral composition of a country's GDP, i.e the partitioning into agrarian, industrial, and service sectors. Exploring a simple system of differential equations we characterise the transfer of GDP shares between the sectors in the course of economic development. The model fits for the majority of countries providing 4 country-specific parameters. Relating the agrarian with the industrial sector, a data collapse over all countries and all years supports the applicability of our approach. Depending on the parameter ranges, country development exhibits different transfer properties. Most countries follow 3 of 8 characteristic paths. The types are not random but show distinct geographic and development patterns.

Latin American USOMs Seminar on Agrarian Reform.

Science.gov (United States)

International Cooperation Administration (Dept. of State), Washington, DC.

This report of seminar proceedings discusses land reform policies and programs and their place in the economic development of Latin America. It analyzes experiences and current situations in Latin America, the United States, and elsewhere which shed light on the problems and possibilities of agrarian reform. An appraisal of existing physical,…

Competitiveness of Agrarian Areas in the Stavropol Region

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Varivoda, V.; Heijman, W.J.M.; Ophem, van J.A.C.

2010-01-01

Regional development is determined by possessing specific competitive advantages and their constant improvement. The problem how to increase competitiveness of the areas remains one of the most important for the agrarian sector. Russian economic policy aims at the stable development of the agro

Venezuelan Agrarian dynamic: reflections for its discussion La dinámica agraria venezolana: reflexiones para su discusión

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Diosey Ramón Lugo-Morin

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Century XX started in Latin America with intense social movements. Most important it was the Mexican revolution that it destroyed many of the oppressive structures under which was the immense majority of the population. The example of the movement invaded all Latin America and the notion of the agrarian reform was adopted by the advanced social sectors more than they tried to take to his own countries to more modern productive models. By the previous thing, the present study proposes to make an analytical reflection of the dynamics of change of the Venezuelan agrarian from an neoinstitutional perspective. It was concluded that the transformations in the Venezuelan agrarian structure sustain to a positive impact in their rural space and an opportunity for a reflective debate is opened on the paper of the institutions in the task of the Venezuelan agrarian question.El siglo XX arrancó en América Latina con intensos movimientos sociales. El más importante fue la revolución mexicana que destruyó muchas de las estructuras opresivas bajo las que se encontraba la inmensa mayoría de la población. El ejemplo del movimiento invadió toda América Latina y la noción de la reforma agraria fue adoptada por los sectores sociales más avanzados que intentaban llevar a sus propios países a modelos productivos más modernos. Por lo anterior, el presente estudio propone hacer una reflexión analítica de la dinámica agraria venezolana desde una perspectiva neoinstitucional. Se concluye que las transformaciones en la estructura agraria venezolana sustentan un impacto positivo en su espacio rural y abre la oportunidad para un debate reflexivo sobre el papel de las instituciones en el quehacer de la cuestión agraria venezolana.

Agrarian Landscape Management in a Modernized World

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Andreas Aagaard

) A historical analysis of social drivers of land use change affecting agrarian landscapes in the Western world in the period 1700-2000 based on a litterature review of modernization theory applied to two local scale historical case studies of changes in landscape structure; (2) A national scale analysis based...... on archival and cartographic sources of the way selected modernization processes affected rural land use patterns in New Zealand in the period from its first Europeancolonial exploration in the 17th century until the present. (3) A global scale analysis of historical patterns of modernization affecting rural...... land use patterns within the Western world based on historical cartographic evidence, (4) A local scale analysis of the decision making practices of landscape managers in four modern case landscapes in Denmark and New Zealand, based on interview surveys conducted in 2011 and 2012. Findings indicate...

A review investigating agrarian female entrepreneurship in the Republic of Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maksimović Goran

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Present research has found the link between economic development, gender equality and rural development of particular areas. Female agrarian entrepreneurship leaning on multifunctional agriculture and agribusiness, can create favorable work climate in the whole region. Comparative analysis of female agrarian entrepreneurship of some populated places in north and south of Serbia gives information that can help in creating independent regional developmental politics. Experiences, attitudes, suggestions and recommendations acquired from polled women entrepreneurs give valuable and hardly attainable data to the other women living in rural areas and planning on starting their own businesses.

MONITORING AND PROGNOSTICATING PROCESSES OF INVESTMENT IN AGRARIAN-AND-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX OF UKRAINE

OpenAIRE

Stepanova I.

2018-01-01

Introduction. At present, Ukraine’s development depends on the agrarian-and-industrial sector as a sphere of priority to ensure the competitive ability of the national economy. The following growth of the agrarian-and-industrial complex demands accessible and considerable financing. The latest legislative changes created a great extent for investing climate in the country and a great probability of the moratorium cancellation to sell agricultural lands give grounds to observe and analyze the...

Investigating the impact of agrarian policies on conflict and ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2011-07-14

Jul 14, 2011 ... Investigating the impact of agrarian policies on conflict and peacebuilding ... tourism industry, defusing the conflict impact of relative land scarcity. ... the idea — flowing from the increasingly influential "Economic Theory of War" ...

The Tendencies and Prospects of Teaching the Discipline of «Managerial Consulting» in the Agrarian Institutions for Higher Education

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Kravchuk Iryna I.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Teaching the discipline of «Managerial consulting» in the higher education institutions of Ukraine is characterized by a wide range of thematic issues and depends on the structure of the educational programs of specializations. The article is aimed at substantiating the prospects for contents of the discipline of «Managerial consulting» and proposing innovative approaches to its teaching in the agrarian higher education institutions. The article substantiates the algorithm of the content formation of the discipline of «Managerial consulting» in the agrarian higher education institutions, based on the object-subject approach and using the principle of sectoral differentiation in the process of its teaching. As innovative approaches in the course of teaching the discipline of «Managerial consulting» should be considered the interchangeability of contents, the possibility to group topics, the concentration of information as to institutional regulation, the information support of the agrarian consulting, the development of the system of agricultural consulting, the implementation of mechanisms of educative consulting.

The Investment Model for the Intensive Development of Ukrainian Enterprises in the Agrarian Sector

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Kulynych Yurii M.

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The article proposes an investment model for the development of Ukrainian enterprises in the agrarian sector, which is one of the «locomotives» of the domestic economy. However, only by creating high value-added can be expected sustainable economic development both as an economic entity and as a whole economy of country. A long-term partnership with the advanced economies of the world is another key prerequisite for sustainable economic development. The article explores a potential Norwegian market in the context of the consumption of agriproducts as fodder for aquaculture, as well as Ukrainian agrarian market. Ukraine’s competitive advantages in the market for food ingredients for fish in Northern Europe have been formulated. The results of the study point to the high potential of soybean protein concentrate (SPC for the Norwegian market and, in turn, the great prospects for Ukraine in this market as a leader in the European soya growing. Measures that will facilitate the establishment of strong economic ties between Ukrainian agrarian enterprises and the markets of the developed countries have been determined. An investment model for the intensive development of Ukrainian enterprises in the agrarian sphere has been formed.

Decomposing dynamic profit inefficiency of Belgian dairy farms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ang, Frederic; Lansink, Alfons Oude

2018-01-01

This paper introduces a nonparametric framework for analysing dynamic profit inefficiency and applies this to a sample of Belgian, specialised dairy farms from 1996 to 2008. Profit inefficiency is decomposed into technical and allocative inefficiency. The paper also decomposes profit inefficiency

Analysis of investment potential for enterprises of economic agrarian sector

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A.E. Dankevych

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals with and determines the peculiarities of the investment potential of lands of Ukrainian economic agrarian sector. The author studies the main positives contributing the development of investment for enterprises of agricultural purpose. The reasons that restrain the investment in agriculture are determined. It is emphasized that when using land resources, one should take into account the current specificity of environment in the economic agrarian sector. The article singles out the factors, which form the specificity of development of lease land relations. It is stressed that the important characteristic of lease land relations is their social and economic direction. It is proved that the obligatory condition of a lease agreement has to become the characteristic of a quality state for a land plot. More than a third part of all national income of the country was formed in economic agrarian sector. In particular, 70 % of total amount of retail goods turnover, a third part of main production facilities, a fourth part of population, employed in the Ukrainian economy, was busy working. According to the data of UNO, the potential of Ukrainian lands allows to provide about 100 mln. individuals with foods. To reach this and to renew the present level under current economic conditions one can due to the implementation of essentially new approaches to the organization of agricultural production.

Planning livelihood cohesion for agrarian Tsunami victims | Newport ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper highlights the need for adequate livelihood planning for agrarian Tsunami victims in Tamil Nadu are of India. It looks at the reason why the inhabitants of the area were affected by the disaster especially as they are around the coastal plains, which experience periodic monsoon. The recent tsunami devastated the ...

GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS AND AGRARIAN HOUSEHOLDS' INCOME, REMITTANCE AND PRICES IN RURAL NIGERIA AMID POLICY RESPONSES

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Mmaduabuchukwu Mkpado

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The recent global financial crisis affected almost all aspect of human life. This paper explored effects of the global financial crisis on farmers' income, remittance and prices of food staples and highlighted certain government policy responses. The study was conducted in Nigeria. Secondary data were used. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, equivalent variation and Shannon index analysis. Results showed the global financial crisis affected the agrarian households/sector in Nigeria. The increase in prices meant more nominal income to farmers but grossly reduced their welfare due to decrease in real income as result of high inflation trend. Recommendations include that government should continue to sustain agrarian programs aimed at helping poor farmers to increase their capacity in production to meet the growing demand and changes. In both cases, the disturbed age structure has a reverse effect on the movement of the population (the size of reproductive contingent, but also to all other structures of the population (the size of contingent employment, population, compulsory school contingent, contingent dependent population ratio. Rating natural conditions aimed at separation of homogenous territorial units with some degree of benefits and limitations types of economic development.

Another countryside? Policy options for land and agrarian reform in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

abel

The focus on South Africa's land and agrarian policies is relevant at a time ... be coordinated at various policy levels, including macroeconomic policy, trade policy, agricultural policy and local economic development and planning for land.

Determinants of technical inefficiency among maize-based farming ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Examining the level of farm-specific technical inefficiency of maize-based farming households in Niger state of Nigeria, this study fitted cross-sectional data into a Cobb- Douglass production frontier. Data used for this study were obtained using structured questionnaire administered to 108 randomly selected maize-based ...

Rational inefficiency and non-performing loans in Chinese banking: A non-parametric bootstrapping approach

OpenAIRE

Matthews, Kent; Guo, Jianguang; Zhang, Nina

2007-01-01

The existing Chinese banking system was born out of a state-planning framework focussed on the funding of state-owned enterprises. Despite the development of a modern banking system, numerous studies of Chinese banking point to its high level of average inefficiency. Much of this inefficiency relates to the high level of non-performing loans held on the banks books. This study argues that a significant component of inefficiency relates to a defunct bureaucratic incentive structure. Using boot...

Imaging the Rural: Modernity and Agrarianism in Hiroshi Hamaya’s ‘Snow Land’ Photographs

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Ross Tunney

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This article analyses the Snow Land photographic series by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Hamaya [1915–1999] in relation to issues of modernity, nostalgia and discourses of agrarianism in 1940s and 1950s Japan. Hamaya is one of Japan’s most celebrated and influential documentary photographers at both a national and international level. His Snow Land series presents an idyllic view of life in the small mountain villages of Japan’s Niigata Prefecture, emphasising a sense of community and spiritual meaning that Hamaya perceived to be lacking in modern society. In this sense, Snow Land constituted a critique of modernity. Through engagement with theorists such as Heidegger, Foucault and Barthes, as well as critical writings on agrarian ideology, this article investigates the underlying assumptions that govern Hamaya’s depiction of snow country, demonstrating that the series is shaped by a modern worldview and is tied to ideological discourses of agrarianism.

The Place of Pluriactivity in Brazil's Agrarian Reform Institutions

Science.gov (United States)

Chase, Jacquelyn

2010-01-01

Livelihood diversification by Brazil's peasantry has intensified as rural areas have become more integrated with the country's urban fabric and as landlessness and poverty have increased. Despite the growing awareness of pluriactivity by rural households, key agrarian institutions have not addressed this key feature of life of the people they…

The rise of agrarian capitalism and the decline of family farming in England.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw-Taylor, Leigh

2012-01-01

Historians have documented rising farm sizes throughout the period 1450–1850. Existing studies have revealed much about the mechanisms underlying the development of agrarian capitalism. However, we currently lack any consensus as to when the critical developments occurred. This is largely due to the absence of sufficiently large and geographically wide-ranging datasets but is also attributable to conceptual weaknesses in much of the literature. This article develops a new approach to the problem and argues that agrarian capitalism was dominant in southern and eastern England by 1700 but that in northern England the critical developments came later.

Inefficiency in the market for 'Fine Art': how this market inefficiency promotes 'Art Tourism' in South Africa

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Peter Baur

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The market for 'Fine Art' is dominated by institutions and auction houses. These act as gatekeepers by monopolising the primary market. The choice of art as an investment vehicle is based on a combination of expected return and subjective preference. The reason for investing in 'Fine Art' is more than purely for financial gain. There are other more intrinsic factors that are considered as part of the investor decision-making process. This market for 'Fine Art' can be considered largely inefficient. Exclusivity, high prices, institutional based indexes and the overall lack of information are by far the greatest drivers of this market inefficiency. 'Art' prices are usually set in the primary market for 'Fine Art' through the auction process and the auction process should also typically reflect an efficient way of creating shared value. However, the auction process in the primary art market is not efficient and does not create shared value as would occur in a typical free market structure. The systems employed by the auction process in the primary art market is a strategy in itself, giving the impression that there is shared value, and thus distorting prices while simultaneously stimulating investor confidence. This becomes apparent when the price for 'Fine Art' does not necessarily reflect the 'true' value of the respective 'Fine Art' being sold. Thus investors may take advantage of this situation, by traveling across international borders to purchase what they would consider valuable art. In effect, art tourism is driven by market inefficiency in the 'Fine Art' market.

Agrarian diet and diseases of affluence – Do evolutionary novel dietary lectins cause leptin resistance?

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Jönsson Tommy

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The global pattern of varying prevalence of diseases of affluence, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, suggests that some environmental factor specific to agrarian societies could initiate these diseases. Presentation of the hypothesis We propose that a cereal-based diet could be such an environmental factor. Through previous studies in archaeology and molecular evolution we conclude that humans and the human leptin system are not specifically adapted to a cereal-based diet, and that leptin resistance associated with diseases of affluence could be a sign of insufficient adaptation to such a diet. We further propose lectins as a cereal constituent with sufficient properties to cause leptin resistance, either through effects on metabolism central to the proper functions of the leptin system, and/or directly through binding to human leptin or human leptin receptor, thereby affecting the function. Testing the hypothesis Dietary interventions should compare effects of agrarian and non-agrarian diets on incidence of diseases of affluence, related risk factors and leptin resistance. A non-significant (p = 0.10 increase of cardiovascular mortality was noted in patients advised to eat more whole-grain cereals. Our lab conducted a study on 24 domestic pigs in which a cereal-free hunter-gatherer diet promoted significantly higher insulin sensitivity, lower diastolic blood pressure and lower C-reactive protein as compared to a cereal-based swine feed. Testing should also evaluate the effects of grass lectins on the leptin system in vivo by diet interventions, and in vitro in various leptin and leptin receptor models. Our group currently conducts such studies. Implications of the hypothesis If an agrarian diet initiates diseases of affluence it should be possible to identify the responsible constituents and modify or remove them so as to make an agrarian diet healthier.

The debate on food sovereignty theory: agrarian capitalism, dispossession and agroecology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen, K.

2015-01-01

This contribution reviews recent critiques of the food sovereignty framework. In particular it engages with the debate between Henry Bernstein and Philip McMichael and analyzes their different conceptualizations of agrarian capitalism. It critically identifies tendencies in food sovereignty

The agrarian social structure of Pehuajoïs party (2010 La estructura social agraria en el partido de Pehuajó (2010

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Manuela Moreno

2011-01-01

Full Text Available As a product of the ongoing transformations in the Agricultural sector in Argentina, recent debates in the social sciences have compared the new characteristics of development with older forms. Inside this field of debates, the question of the agrarian actors at present has been particularly relevant. Though their exists a great quantity of works that approach the problems of the actors, few analyses make reference to their productive roles. The present article presents a case study of Pehuajó's party. It provides a description of the social agrarian structure, focusing on the forms in which production develops as a result of the links between different actors, and establishing "rupture" points that caracterize the older forms of development.Producto de las transformaciones recientes en el sector agropecuario argentino, en las ciencias sociales se han ampliado los debates en torno a las nuevas características que asume en comparación con las formas de desarrollo del pasado. Dentro de este campo de debates, la cuestión de los sujetos agrarios en la actualidad ha cobrado una especial relevancia. Si bien existen una gran cantidad de trabajos que abordan la problemática de los sujetos, pocos análisis refieren a las vinculaciones que entre estos se establecen para llevar a cabo la producción. En el presente artículo, a partir de un estudio de caso en el partido de Pehuajó, se describirá la estructura social agraria focalizando en las formas en que se desarrolla la producción a partir de la combinación de vínculos entre distintos sujetos y estableciendo los puntos de "ruptura" con respecto a las formas de desenvolvimiento del pasado.

Bell inequalities resistant to detector inefficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Massar, Serge; Pironio, Stefano; Roland, Jeremie; Gisin, Bernard

2002-01-01

We derive both numerically and analytically Bell inequalities and quantum measurements that present enhanced resistance to detector inefficiency. In particular, we describe several Bell inequalities which appear to be optimal with respect to inefficient detectors for small dimensionality d=2,3,4 and two or more measurement settings at each side. We also generalize the family of Bell inequalities described by Collins et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 040404 (2002)] to take into account the inefficiency of detectors. In addition, we consider the possibility for pairs of entangled particles to be produced with probability less than 1. We show that when the pair production probability is small, one should in general use different Bell inequalities than when the pair production probability is high

The Modern Elements of the Management System of the Agrarian Business Enterprises

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Fostolovych Valentyna A.

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The article provides an operation mechanism for the integrated management system that is recommended for the introduction at the enterprises of the agrarian business by means of principles, methods and tools of management system. An example of the modern element of the management system of the agricultural enterprises is the software product Soft.Farm. The article considers improving of the organizational structure of enterprises in the direction of formation of clusters of different forms and active implementing of an integrated management system with wide application of its principles (Deming principles, principle of continuous improvement of processes, zero defects principle, principle of collaboration, methods (teamwork method, quality function deployment (QFD, value analysis, failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA, SKO, SPC and structural elements (flowchart, Ishikawa diagram, Pareto chart, column chart, checklists, and control maps.

Problems of software financial resources agrarian sector in the current economic conditions of management

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Grischuk Nadiya Viktorivna

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Research of financial science on questions providing of financial resources does not exhaust and needs a further study that acquires new descriptions and vectors of development constantly, what costing illuminations in the conditions of present time. Research of the state of provision of financial resources agrarian to the sector of economy with allocating of main segment – loan and attracted financial resources, today topically. In the article the essence funds are considered sources of agricultural enterprises financial resources and problems associated with the formation and use of financial resources in the modern world. Also the problems arising in improving the process of raising funds agricultural enterprises. Revealed that an effective tool to attract financial resources is the issue of convertible bonds and the introduction of agricultural receipts. It is well-proven that in the conditions of unstable environment forward development of the system of agrarian relations must be carried out on the basis of the government programs, and normatively-legal adjusting that take into account not only the existent state of affairs at the market of agroindustrial products but also economic provision of enterprises national agrarian to the sector.

Parkinson's Law Quantified: Three Investigations on Bureaucratic Inefficiency

OpenAIRE

Klimek, Peter; Hanel, Rudolf; Thurner, Stefan

2008-01-01

We formulate three famous, descriptive essays of C.N. Parkinson on bureaucratic inefficiency in a quantifiable and dynamical socio-physical framework. In the first model we show how the use of recent opinion formation models for small groups can be used to understand Parkinson's observation that decision making bodies such as cabinets or boards become highly inefficient once their size exceeds a critical 'Coefficient of Inefficiency', typically around 20. A second observation of Parkinson - w...

Agrarian Reform Policies and Development in the Arab Middle East.

Science.gov (United States)

Baali, Fuad

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the nature, scope, and implications of the rural development in the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa. The first section of the paper deals with the forces that have caused changes in agrarian reform policies as they affected rural development in these countries. Specifically…

The Interaction between Environmental Preservation throuout Sustainability as an Agrarian Law Principle: Hermeneutics Transcending Borders in Order to Obtain a New Paradigm

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Luciana Ramos Jordão

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses environmental preservation as a principle of Agrarian Law and hermeneutics. It aims to comprehend connection between both concepts from refounding Agroecology and Sustainability as a major precept in order to obtain agrarian development and environmental preservation. By using the deductive method, it analyses the fact that environment (and studying Law cannot be seen in separate ways, otherwise, it would risk having high complexity environmental and agrarian damage. Therefore, consciousness of how dependent human is from environment as an issue of fundamentality and materiality of mere formal rights nowadays.

Migration decisions, agrarian structure, and gender: the case of Ecuador.

Science.gov (United States)

Bravo-ureta, B E; Quiroga, R E; Brea, J A

1996-07-01

This article briefly reviews the literature on migration in Latin America and examines migration decision making in Ecuador. Aggregate data are obtained from the 1974 census of agriculture and population for cantones. Individual level data are obtained from the 1982 census of population. Migration refers to all census persons who recorded differences in their present and previous place of residence during 1974-82. Migration is modeled as dependent upon gender, age, education, marital status, income at origin and at destination, and population pressure or agrarian reform. Logistic model findings indicate that migration decisions are influenced by individual characteristics of migrants and contextual variables. Migration varied by gender. The results confirm Todaro's hypothesis that the probability of migrating is related to income differences between place of destination and origin, but only for males. Findings suggest that females migrate for primary reasons other than economic ones. The probability of migration was greater with increased levels of education. The decision to migrate was affected by quality of life differences, such as literacy rates and levels of urbanization. The probability of migration was reduced by the effects of land reform. Population pressure had a significant effect in increasing migration. The effects of land reform differ from findings in Mexico by William E. Cole and Richard D. Sanders. Land reforms were initiated in 1964 in Ecuador, but by 1974 there was still considerable inequality in land distribution and increased population pressure. Traditional haciendas were modernized, and peasants increased their dependency on non-farm income.

The expansion of agrarian societies towards the North – new evidence for agriculture during the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition in Southern Scandinavia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Lasse; Karg, Sabine

2014-01-01

activities are intertwined at inland sites showing a rapid change to agrarian ideology. ► At coastal and lake shore sites agrarian subsistence was applied gradually showing a slow change towards farming activities. ► Local hunter–gatherers and pioneering farmers gradually assimilated during a complex process....

Place-Based Education in the Architectural Design Studio: Agrarian Landscape as a Resource for Sustainable Urban Lifestyle

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Ana Nikezić

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This article highlights how “place-based education” can be used to raise awareness about sustainability and potentially influence design process decisions that have environmental and cultural implications. “Place-based education” is a term used to describe an educational worldview based on development of curriculum centered on the local, social, economic, and ecological resources of a community. The study shows results of Masters Students’ research on situating a housing complex in the context of the agrarian landscape of Vojvodina, Serbia, considering it as a resource for a new sustainable urban lifestyle. During the first year of Masters Studies at the Faculty of Architecture, Belgrade University, an architectural design studio with 15 students had the task of exploring the potential of expanding the city of Belgrade across the agrarian landscape, as to affirm the role of place in contemporary everyday life. Students were expected to explore the possibilities and limitations of the relationship between man and agrarian landscape via architecture, re-thinking how various architectural design approaches could balance and harmonize the impact of the built environment on the agrarian landscape. The paper shows that “place-based education” possesses elements necessary for the inclusion of a wider spatial-cultural context in the process of architectural design and prioritization of environmental literacy and responsibility, as one of the main components of sustainable development.

Dynamic Profit Inefficiency: A DEA Application to Belgian Dairy Farms

OpenAIRE

Ang, Frederic; Oude Lansink, Alfons

2014-01-01

Using a nonparametric framework, we analyze dynamic profit inefficiency for a sample of Belgian, specialized dairy farms from 1996–2008. Profit inefficiency is decomposed into contributions of output, input, and investment. Moreover, we identify the contributions of technical and allocative inefficiency in each input and output. The results suggest substantial profit inefficiency under the current dairy-quota system, mainly driven by an average underproduction of approximately 50 percent and ...

Histórico e os limites da reforma agrária na contemporaneidade brasileira History and limits of the agrarian reform in the Brazilian contemporary time

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Paulo Nakatani

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Objetiva-se reconstituir a trajetória da questão fundiária (e agrária na experiência de maior concentração de riqueza e recursos vivenciada no âmbito do sistema capitalista, partindo-se da premissa de que a crescente desigualdade do modelo brasileiro passa necessariamente pela questão agrária. Num segundo momento, procede-se à análise dos limites atualmente colocados a qualquer possibilidade de uma Reforma Agrária ampla e estrutural, dados pelo avanço do agronegócio nos últimos dez anos, pela desmobilização política de parcela significativa da sociedade no que se refere a esta questão e pelos próprios limites estruturais da economia brasileira nos quadros da globalização financeira. O texto será dividido em seis sessões: a colonização e origens do latifúndio; b O modelo agroexportador e a ruptura incompleta; c a questão agrária e a industrialização brasileira; d a questão agrária e o agronegócio; e os limites da reforma agrária na contemporaneidade; f considerações finais.This paper aims at reconstructing the history of the land (agrarian issue considering the greatest concentration of wealth and resources in the capitalist system. The standpoint is that the growing inequality of the Brazilian model is related to the agrarian issue. Secondly, we analyze the limits ­currently placed on any possibility of a comprehensive and structural agrarian reform, due to the advancement of the agribusiness over the last ten years, the political demobilization of a significant portion of society that put this issue aside, and the limits of the Brazilian economy in the context of the financial globalization. The paper is divided into six parts: a colonization and origins of the large landed estates; b the agro-export model and the incomplete rupture; c the agrarian issue and the Brazilian industrialization; d the agrarian issue and the agribusiness; e the limits of the agrarian reform in the contemporary time; f final

Formation of the investment mechanism in the agrarian sphere of the region

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Valentina Arkad'evna Li

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews investment activity in the agrarian sector of economy of the Russian Federation during the period after overcoming the sharp phase of world financial crisis. Estimation is given to the factors constraining further improvement and development of branches of agriculture, first of all — investment activity. The question of possibility of the account of the earth as resource of mortgaging maintenance in system of crediting of agriculture is revealed. The urgency of creation of Land bank is proved; preconditions for formation of the third link of banking system are defined: a specialized financially-credit institution (mortgage, investment, ground banks with a regulation and supervision particular treatment. Measures regarding a solution of a financial maintenance problem and agriculture crediting are offered. To raise efficiency of crediting of agrarian sector, means of development of institutes of crediting of bank system taking into account post crisis factors are suggested.

Agrarian Problems in the New Republic

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Barbara Karsky

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Le phénomène des révoltes agraires était bien connu en Amérique coloniale. Cependant, les chercheurs ne s’accordent pas sur la signification qu’il convient de donner à la présence continue de révoltes rurales organisées au cours des années qui suivirent la révolution américaine. Les historiens se sont surtout concentré sur deux mouvements post‑révolutionnaires : les Shays et Whiskey Rebellions. Par leur volonté de resituer ces mouvements, au‑delà des doléances agraires exprimées, dans le contexte politique plus large d’une nation en pleine création, les travaux de David Szatmary et Thomas Slaughter, publiés dans les années 1980, ont joué un rôle important dans la recherche sur les révoltes rurales. Quelle a été, depuis, l’évolution des études sur les Shays et Whiskey Rebellions ? Si les historiens ne s’accordent pas sur les causes et la composition des mouvements agraires, la plupart d’entre eux tendent à réduire la signification politique du petit fermier dans la nouvelle nation en reléguant les mouvements au contexte de l’arrière‑pays ou de la frontière. Une autre question divisant les historiens spécialisés dans l’étude de ces rébellions est celle de la part que les fermiers ont prise dans l’économie de marché. Ces mouvements demandent à être analysés dans un cadre économique et social plus vaste, afin de mieux comprendre leur contribution au développement de la démocratie dans la jeune République.Agrarian protest was a well known phenomenon of colonial North America. Yet the continued presence of organized rural protest in the years following the revolutionary war has divided scholars as to its significance. Historians have focused their attention especially on two postrevolutionary movements, the Shays and the Whiskey Rebellions. In attempting to interpret these movements beyond their immediate agrarian grievances in a larger political framework of nation‑making, the

Agriculture 2008. The critical agrarian report. Main topic 2008: Agriculture as an energy producer; Landwirtschaft 2008. Der kritische Agrarbericht. Schwerpunkt 2008: Landwirtschaft als Energieerzeuger

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneider, M.; Fink-Kessler, A.; Stodieck, F. (comps.)

2008-01-15

The focus of the critical agrarian report in this year is the topic 'agriculture as an energy producer'. In 44 contributions, the agrarian events of the year 2007 are analyzed and the setting the points for the future are discussed. The topics of this report are: Agricultural policy and social situation, world trade and nutrition, ecological agriculture, production and market, regional market, regional development, nature and environment, forest, animal protection and animal husbandry, genetic engineering, agrarian culture, consumer and nourishing culture.

Enhancing Productivity and Resource Conservation by Eliminating Inefficiency of Thai Rice Farmers: A Zero Inefficiency Stochastic Frontier Approach

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Jianxu Liu

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The study first identified fully efficient farmers and then estimated technical efficiency of inefficient farmers, identifying their determinants by applying a Zero Inefficiency Stochastic Frontier Model (ZISFM on a sample of 300 rice farmers from central-northern Thailand. Next, the study developed scenarios of potential production increase and resource conservation if technical inefficiency was eliminated. Results revealed that 13% of the sampled farmers were fully efficient, thereby justifying the use of our approach. The estimated mean technical efficiency was 91%, implying that rice production can be increased by 9%, by reallocating resources. Land and labor were the major productivity drivers. Education significantly improved technical efficiency. Farmers who transplanted seedlings were relatively technically efficient as compared to those who practised manual and/or mechanical direct seeding methods. Elimination of technical inefficiency could increase output by 8.64% per ha, or generate 5.7–6.4 million tons of additional rice output for Thailand each year. Similarly, elimination of technical inefficiency would potentially conserve 19.44% person-days of labor, 11.95% land area, 11.46% material inputs and 8.67% mechanical power services for every ton of rice produced. This translates into conservation of 2.9–3.0 million person-days of labor, 3.7–4.5 thousand km2 of land, 10.0–14.5 billion baht of material input and 7.6–12.8 billion baht of mechanical power costs to produce current level of rice output in Thailand each year. Policy implications include investment into educating farmers, and improving technical knowledge of seeding technology, to boost rice production and conserve scarce resources in Thailand.

El Parque Agrario: Preservación de la actividad agraria en espacios periurbanos (El caso del Bajo Llobregat / The agrarian Park: Agrarian activity preservation in periurban areas (The case of the Baix Llobregat

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Ana Zazo Moratalla

2011-09-01

��Parque Agrario del Bajo Llobregat’ has been tested. The basic organizational structure of the figure is induced from thin specific case, analyzing it in a multifaceted and multiscalar way. The ultimate purpose of the study is to assess the sustainability of the figure in the outcome of their application to a suburban agricultural area, typological and biased. Its merge and fusion with the application to a periurban agrarian area, will lead to another ‘concept applied’ park, which will create and strengthen its own production networks to enter in the food cycle of the nearby town, blocking the territorial base opposite the urban process.KeywordsPreservation, governance, protectionism, agrarian revitalization, multifunctionality, territorial multidimensionality.

Pioneiros da ecologia política agrária contemporânea The pioneers of the contemporary agrarian political ecology

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Humberto Miranda Nascimento

2009-12-01

Full Text Available O presente artigo tem por objetivo apresentar os pioneiros dos estudos materialistas sobre ecologia política agrária contemporânea. É feita uma análise das contribuições da Escola Russa de Estudos do Solo e de referências mais recentes aos escritos de Marx e Liebig. Nas considerações finais, enfatiza-se a necessidade de desenvolver a abordagem da Ecologia Política Agrária como maneira mais apropriada de entender a relação entre sistemas agrários, formações sociais e ecossistemas específicos em áreas rurais.The pioneering studies on the relationship between society and nature are important for the analysis of agricultural and ecological changes in rural areas. The goal of the present article is to introduce the contemporary pioneers of the agrarian ecology studies with a Marxist Materialism approach. The agrarian ecology describes the relations among agrarian systems, social formations and specific ecosystems in rural territories. Thence, the concept has a double function: turn the agrarian problem into an ecological theme and redefine its importance for the current studies on rural territory.

Sociodemographic profile of suicide attempters among the rural agrarian community of central India

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Kshirod Kumar Mishra

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Suicides, attempted suicides and different form of suicidal behaviors are on the rise in most part of the world. It is generally assumed that official suicidal rate are underestimated from the true rate by 20-100 % due to prevailing socio-cultural issues, religious attitude, stigma attached, and legal process involved. Attempted suicides occur 8-20 times more frequently than complete suicide. Statistics on attempted suicide or deliberate self harm are not usually available officially. Materials and Methods: All the cases of attempted suicide who were admitted and referred for psychiatric evaluation and management to a rural medical college of central India during a period of one Year (April 13-March-14, following initial recovery they were evaluated on a semi-structured performa on socio demographic profile, mode of attempt and reason for attempt. Data collected was analyzed using suitable statistical methods. Results: Total 68 cases were evaluated during the study period. 43% of the cases were involved in farming. Among 85% of the study population pesticide consumption was the common mode of attempt, which is easily available among the agrarian community of rural India. Interpersonal conflict in the family due to indebtedness, financial loss due to crop failure was the commonest reason for attempt. Conclusion: Though there is reduced reporting in the incidents of suicide cases in media from this region, still quite a number of people attempt suicide due to financial constraint from crop failure, ongoing indebtedness, and poor socioeconomic condition culminating into poor mental health among the rural agrarian community of central Maharashtra.

The System of Indicators for Monitoring the Achievement of the Goals of Sustainable Development in the Agrarian Sector

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Chala Tеtyana G.

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The article describes the results of statistical evaluation of the system of indicators for monitoring the achievement of the goals of sustainable development (GSD in the agrarian sector. It has been determined that, in order to achieve sustainable development, the following three pillars need to be reconciled: economic growth, social integration, and environmental protection. The objectives and indicators of the GSD 2 «Overcoming hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition, and facilitating sustainable development of agriculture» were considered in detail. It has been determined that the indicator, which illustrates vividly the status and perspective of development of the agrarian sector, is the indicator 2.a.1 «Index of orientation towards agriculture, defined by the public expenditure structure». Methods for calculation of the Agriculture Orientation Index (AOI were considered. The dynamics of the AOI for Ukraine and world-wide for 2004-2013 were analyzed. The values of the AOI index for Ukraine, the neighboring countries, and the EU Member States in 2013 have been provided. It has been determined that Ukraine has a low AOI among the EU countries and among the neighboring countries, which indicates a poor orientation towards agriculture.

The Neoindustrial Principles for the Development of Integration Relations in the Agrarian Sector of Economy

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Hutorov Andrii O.

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at elaborating the neoindustrial principles for the development of integration relations in the agrarian sector of economy. It has been shown that the engine of sectoral development and economic growth in the context of neoliberal globalization are the integration relations formed by the product principle and intrinsically linked to the neoindustrial transformation of the agro-industrial potential. The article explores the lack of options when choosing a national model for the sectoral development of economy: vertical integration of advanced playback, neoindustrialization, and economic security. It has been proven that the mutual relationship between the socio-economic formations and the strategies for integration interaction is organic. The replacement of the functional target setting of economic system at all levels of the hierarchy from the maximum profit to the maximum of the cumulative newly created (added value has been substantiated. A conceptual model for the development of the agrarian sector through integration and neoindustrialization has been accomplished, as well as the principles of strategic management of the system of integration relations have been elaborated. The main forms of implementation of the integration relations with the centralized and decentralized models of neoindustrial development of the agrarian sector have been defined.

KEY FEATTURES OF THE AGRARIAN TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE FORMER GDR

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Ш Мерль

2018-12-01

Full Text Available The article considers the agrarian transformations (primarily privatization and structural adaptation to the domestic and international markets in the former GDR that are often presented as a success story due to the growth in agricultural productivity and competitiveness of new types of agricultural en-terprises. First, the author identifies the main tasks of these transformations: (1 privatization of the “socialist property” and its distribution between (a those who contributed capital and land to the agricultural enter-prise when it was established, and (b its employees at the moment of restructuring; (2 adaptation to new market conditions. Both tasks were extremely difficult and challenging for they required large investments in better breeds and machinery, and a significant reduction of agricultural workforce. Second, the author considers the legislative basis for privatization and the real practices of the reorganization of the former agricultural enterprises (proposals for the distribution of the assets, land restitution as prior to compen-sation, the successor large-scale enterprises forced land leasing contracts, manipulations with the balance sheets to obtain hidden reserves necessary for survival by underestimation of the existing assets, etc.. The author believes that the Kohl government did not foresee that privatization would be so complicated, and made many mistakes while striving to keep agricultural production in the new countries, especially to restrain the growth of unemployment. Therefore, the contemporary research of the agricultural economy is very critical of the regulations and frameworks set by the German government that is blamed for being responsible for many serious development constraints (short-term leasing contracts, paying off old debts, the lack of state subsidies for large enterprises, etc.. The final section of the article reveals the meaning of the land property in the agrarian transformations in the GDR

INFRASTRUCTURE ACTIVATION OF INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF UKRAINIAN AGRARIAN SECTOR

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Svitlana Syrtseva

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is a justification of roles and identifying areas of improving the functioning of innovation infrastructure that will boost innovation in the agricultural sector of Ukraine. Methodology. The methodical basis of the study consists of general scientific cognition methods of economic phenomena and processes. Realization of the work tasks required such methods: theoretical generalization method – during study of scientific papers, legislative and regulatory acts; abstract logical method – to summarize theoretical and methodological provisions, as well as define the research goal; system approach method – identifying areas for improving the functioning of the innovation infrastructure of Ukrainian agrarian sector. Results. Found that in modern development conditions, a network of innovative structures that would provide infrastructure support for innovation development in the agricultural sector should be represented by such institutions as: agricultural innovation clusters, science parks, business incubators, venture funds, advisory services. Taking into account the international experience of the main institutions of infrastructural maintenance of innovative development, suggested areas of improvement and optimization of their formation and functioning to ensure innovation in the agricultural sector of Ukraine. Proved that the formation of agricultural innovation regional clusters should be represented by the following stages: a preliminary analysis and identifying promising areas and productions; selection of the cluster members; the strategic planning stage; setting goals and objectives; work scheduling of the cluster members in order to implement strategies; control over the execution of the approved programs and projects. Taking into account the global model of organization of advisory services, determined that the development of agricultural advisory system should be implemented through extension services

Organizational and legal support of innovation development in the agrarian sector of the economy of Ukraine

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Вікторія Валеріївна Панченко

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In the course of a long process of reform, Ukraine is trying to create a competitive, export-oriented agriculture in accordance with international standards of safety and product quality. In Ukraine is no efficient system for the transfer of innovations, the spread of modern technologies for the production and processing of agricultural products, methods and ways to organizing production and economic activity of agricultural enterprises. System analysis of the current legislation on innovation development in the agrarian sector of the Ukrainian economy proved that it is premature to assert a coherent and mutually agreed system of legal acts in this area. The legislation under consideration requires further improvement in order to enhance the appropriate level of organizational and legal support for innovation development by concentrating the state resources on the priority directions of scientific and technical updating of agricultural production, increasing the competitiveness of domestic products in the external and internal markets. To address the issues of proper organizational and legal provision of innovation development in the agrarian sector of the Ukrainian economy in order to increase the competitiveness of agriculture and promote the development of rural areas on a sustainable basis in accordance with EU standards and international standards it is necessary: to define a long-term concept of development of agriculture and rural areas, have a basis for a stable, predictable and transparent legal system aimed at improving the business climate, countering corruption and stimulating investment for the modernization of the agrarian sector, to carry out the institutional reform necessary for effective control. This will balance the approach to strengthening the competitiveness of the agrarian sector and increase exports, will promote the development of rural areas and the conservation of natural resources and the environment.

Impact of Euro-Canadian agrarian practices: in search of sustainable import-substitution strategies to enhance food security in subarctic Ontario, Canada.

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Spiegelaar, Nicole F; Tsuji, Leonard J S

2013-01-01

In Canada, food insecurity exists among Aboriginal (Inuit, Metis and First Nations) people living in remote northern communities, in part, because of their reliance on the industrialized, import-based food system. Local food production as a substitute to imports would be an adaptive response, but enhancement of food security via food localization requires reflection on previous failings of conventional agricultural strategies so that informed decisions can be made. In light of potential reintroduction of local food production in remote First Nations communities, we investigated the cultural, social and ecological effects of a 20th century, Euro-Canadian agrarian settlement on the food system of a subarctic First Nation; this will act as the first step in developing a more sustainable local food program and enhancing food security in this community. To investigate the socio-cultural impacts of the Euro-Canadian agrarian initiative on the food system of Fort Albany First Nation, purposive, semi-directive interviews were conducted with elders and other knowledgeable community members. Interview data were placed into themes using inductive analyses. To determine the biophysical impact of the agrarian initiative, soil samples were taken from one site within the cultivated area and from one site in an undisturbed forest area. Soil properties associated with agricultural use and productivity were assessed. To compare the means of a given soil property between the sites, one-tailed t-tests were employed. Vegetative analysis was conducted in both sites to assess disturbance. According to the interviewees, prior to the agrarian initiative, First Nation families harvested wild game and fish, and gathered berries as well as other forms of vegetation for sustenance. With the introduction of the residential school and agrarian initiative, traditional food practices were deemed inadequate, families were forced to work and live in the settlement (becoming less reliant on

Measuring and explaining multi-directional inefficiency in the Malaysian dairy industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohd Suhaimi, Nurul Aisyah Binti; de Mey, Yann; Oude Lansink, Alfons

2017-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to measure the technical inefficiency of dairy farms and subsequently investigate the factors affecting technical inefficiency in the Malaysian dairy industry. This study uses multi-directional efficiency analysis to measure the technical inefficiency scores on a sample of 200 farm observations and single-bootstrap truncated regression model to define factors affecting technical inefficiency. Managerial and program inefficiency scores are presented for intensive and semi-intensive production systems. The results reveal marked differences in the inefficiency scores across inputs and between production systems. Intensive systems generally have lowest managerial and program inefficiency scores in the Malaysian dairy farming sector. Policy makers could use this information to advise dairy farmers to convert their farming system to the intensive system. The results suggest that the Malaysian Government should redefine its policy for providing farm finance and should target young farmers when designing training and extension programs in order to improve the performance of the dairy sector. The existing literature on Southeast Asian dairy farming has neither focused on investigating input-specific efficiency nor on comparing managerial and program efficiency. This paper aims to fill this gap.

Doing Justice Outside the Courts: From 19th Century Demands to the Reparations of the Agrarian Reform

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Helga Baitenmann

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This article interprets Mexico’s revolutionary agrarian reform as a rearrangement of the balance of power between the executive and judicial branches of government in which village representatives played a key role. In the nineteenth century, when villagers were unable to resolve their land conflicts in the courts, they often asked the executive to intervene. However, the judiciary successfully defended its authority over contentious land matters. The same dynamic played out during Francisco I. Madero’s government, when pueblo representatives assumed that the Ministry  of development would take over land and settle boundary disputes, but the judiciary continued to defend the constitutional separation of powers. Yet the existing balance of power changed radically when Venustiano  Carranza, in the middle of a civil war during which he shut down the judiciary,  signed an agrarian law that allowed the executive to appropriate court functions. The first two reinstated Supreme Courts subsequently gave up some of the prerogatives that constitutionally belonged to the judiciary. This analysis reevaluates prevailing understandings of Mexican agrarian law and the origins of the federal executive’s extraordinary twentieth-century powers.

Book review of Prof.Ph.D. Božidar Petrač: AGRARIAN ECONOMICS, Faculty of Economics in Osijek, 2002

OpenAIRE

K. Zmaić

2002-01-01

Author of the book AGRARIAN ECONOMICS is Božidar Petrač, an assocciate professor of the Faculty of Economics in Osijek. The book is composed of 265 pages. This is the first book from agrarian economics field appeared in the Republic of Croatia. Research results obtained by Ph.D. B. Petrač, other domestic and foreign scientists as well as modern aspect of agriculture and agricultural economics development are included in the book. The main parts of the book are as follows: I. Introduction into...

Agrarian land use decision making in the light of global change and climate change

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Murambadoro, M

2014-09-01

Full Text Available in Limpopo Province to help land beneficiaries to achieve integrated and coordinated agrarian land use decision making. The second project is ongoing and it seeks to build local resilience to climate change by providing people at local government...

Technical inefficiency in dry season vegetable farming among urban ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Stochastic production frontier function is applied to estimate output-oriented technical inefficiency of urban women cultivating waterleaf. By means of MLE, asymptotically consistent and efficient maximum likelihood (ML) estimates are obtained together with inefficiency determinants. Empirical result reveals the mean level of ...

Social Capital, Organic Agriculture, and Sustainable Livelihood Security: Rethinking Agrarian Change in Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Getz, Christy

2008-01-01

This paper explores the relevance of extra local market linkages and local-level social capital to sustainable livelihood outcomes in two agrarian communities on Mexico's Baja Peninsula. Contextualized by the specificity of Mexico's transition from state-directed rural development to neoliberally-guided rural development in the 1990s, findings…

Inefficiency persistence and heterogeneity in Colombian electricity utilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galán, Jorge E.; Pollitt, Michael G.

2014-01-01

The electricity reform in Colombia has exhibited gains in terms of reliability but its effects on firm efficiency and service quality have not been clear. Previous studies evaluating the performance of distribution companies after the reform have not found evidence of improvements, although large differences in efficiency have been found among firms. This suggests high inefficiency persistence and heterogeneity in the Colombian distribution sector. In this paper, we propose an extension of dynamic stochastic frontier models that accounts for unobserved heterogeneity in the inefficiency persistence and in the technology. The model incorporates total expenses, service quality and energy losses in an efficiency analysis of Colombian distributors over fifteen years after the reform. We identify the presence of high inefficiency persistence in the sector, and important differences between firms. In particular, rural companies and firms with small customers present low persistence and evidence the largest gains in efficiency during the period. However, increases in efficiency are only manifested during thelast five years when the main improvements in service quality and energy losses are presented. Overall, inefficiency persistence, customer density and consumption density are found to be important criteria to be considered for regulatory purposes. - Highlights: • We evaluate efficiency of Colombian electricity distributors after the reform. • We use a stochastic frontier model with dynamic effects and heterogeneity. • We find high inefficiency persistence but important differences among firms. • High persistent and low efficient firms should draw the attention of the regulator. • Recent regulation in quality has increased not only efficiency but also tariffs

Inefficient equilibria in transition economy

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Sergei Guriev

1999-01-01

Full Text Available The paper studies a general equilibrium in an economy where all market participants face a bid-ask spread. The spread may be caused by indirect business taxes, middlemen rent-seeking, delays in payments or liquidity constraints or price uncertainty. Wherever it comes from the spread causes inefficiency of the market equilibrium. We discuss some institutions that can decrease the inefficiency. One is second currency (barter exchange in the inter-firm transactions. It is shown that the general equilibrium in an economy with second currency is effective though is still different from Arrow–Debreu equilibrium. Another solution can be introduction of mutual trade credit. In the economy with trade credit there are multiple equilibria that are more efficient than original bid-ask spread but still not as efficient as Arrow–Debreu one, too. The implications for firms' integration and applicability to Russian economy are discussed.

Cultural differences in the imitation and transmission of inefficient actions.

Science.gov (United States)

Corriveau, Kathleen H; DiYanni, Cara J; Clegg, Jennifer M; Min, Grace; Chin, Jason; Nasrini, Jad

2017-09-01

Across two studies, we explored cultural differences in children's imitation and transmission of inefficient actions. Chinese American and Caucasian American preschoolers (N=115) viewed either one or three models using two inefficient tools to perform two different tasks. In the video, when the model(s) performed the task, only the inefficient tool was available; thus, their choice to use that tool could be considered rational. Next, children were invited to complete the task with either the inefficient tool or an efficient alternative. Whereas the two cultural groups imitated a single model at similar rates, Chinese American children imitated significantly more than Caucasian American children after viewing a consensus. Similar results were found when exploring differences in information transmission. The Chinese American children were significantly more likely than their Caucasian American peers to instruct using an inefficient tool when they had initially viewed a consensus demonstrate it. We discuss these findings with respect to differences in children's use of social versus task-specific cues for learning and teaching. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Small farms, cash crops, agrarian ideals, and international development.

Science.gov (United States)

Effland, Anne

2010-01-01

This address is an exploration of a lifetime of disparate and often conflicting observations about how different people view what is right and good for agriculture, food, and farmers around the world. The exploration utilizes the concept of wicked problems to focus on the issue of differing historical interpretations of global agricultural development. Sandra Batie defines wicked problems as "dynamically complex, ill-structured, public problems" for which "there can be radically different views and understanding of the problem by different stakeholders, with no unique 'correct' view." The wicked problem construct is applied to four core ideas in the history of agricultural development -- small farms, cash crops, agrarian ideals, and international development -- to demonstrate the potential for using this concept to approach complex problems of historical interpretation and contribute to solutions to the challenges of global agricultural development. The author suggests historians should acknowledge contradictory interpretations adn work toward reconciliation and synthesis, where it is possible and, where not, toward a clear explication of the basis for remaining differences. The author also encourages historians to seek multidisciplinary research opportunities that will help bring insights about historical context to policy deliberations.

Impact of HMO penetration and other environmental factors on hospital X-inefficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosko, M D

2001-12-01

This study examined the impact of health maintenance organization (HMO) market penetration and other internal and external environmental factors on hospital X-inefficiency in a national sample (N = 1,966) of urban U.S. hospitals in 1997. Stochastic frontier analysis, a frontier regression technique, was used to measure X-inefficiency and estimate parameters of the correlates of X-inefficiency. Log-likelihood restriction tests were used to test a variety of assumptions about the empirical model that guided its selection. Average estimated X-inefficiency in study hospitals was 12.96 percent. Increases in managed care penetration, dependence on Medicare and Medicaid, membership in a multihospital system, and location in areas where competitive pressures and the pool of uncompensated care are greater were associated with less X-inefficiency. Not-for-profit ownership was associated with increased X-inefficiency.

Identifying Organizational Inefficiencies with Pictorial Process Analysis (PPA

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David John Patrishkoff

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Pictorial Process Analysis (PPA was created by the author in 2004. PPA is a unique methodology which offers ten layers of additional analysis when compared to standard process mapping techniques.  The goal of PPA is to identify and eliminate waste, inefficiencies and risk in manufacturing or transactional business processes at 5 levels in an organization. The highest level being assessed is the process management, followed by the process work environment, detailed work habits, process performance metrics and general attitudes towards the process. This detailed process assessment and analysis is carried out during process improvement brainstorming efforts and Kaizen events. PPA creates a detailed visual efficiency rating for each step of the process under review.  A selection of 54 pictorial Inefficiency Icons (cards are available for use to highlight major inefficiencies and risks that are present in the business process under review. These inefficiency icons were identified during the author's independent research on the topic of why things go wrong in business. This paper will highlight how PPA was developed and show the steps required to conduct Pictorial Process Analysis on a sample manufacturing process. The author has successfully used PPA to dramatically improve business processes in over 55 different industries since 2004.  

The drive for accumulation: environmental contestation and agrarian support to Mexico's oil palm expansion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Castellanos Navarrete, A.; Jansen, K.

2013-01-01

Oil palm expansion has been related to rural dispossession, environmental degradation and rural resistance. This paper explores the politics and impact of farmer-based oil palm expansion in Chiapas, Mexico. In relation to the debate on the greening of the agrarian question, this paper engages with

Inefficiency in Latin-American market indices

Science.gov (United States)

Zunino, L.; Tabak, B. M.; Pérez, D. G.; Garavaglia, M.; Rosso, O. A.

2007-11-01

We explore the deviations from efficiency in the returns and volatility returns of Latin-American market indices. Two different approaches are considered. The dynamics of the Hurst exponent is obtained via a wavelet rolling sample approach, quantifying the degree of long memory exhibited by the stock market indices under analysis. On the other hand, the Tsallis q entropic index is measured in order to take into account the deviations from the Gaussian hypothesis. Different dynamic rankings of inefficieny are obtained, each of them contemplates a different source of inefficiency. Comparing with the results obtained for a developed country (US), we confirm a similar degree of long-range dependence for our emerging markets. Moreover, we show that the inefficiency in the Latin-American countries comes principally from the non-Gaussian form of the probability distributions.

543 DETERMINANTS OF TECHNICAL INEFFICIENCY AMONG ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Osondu

2013-08-19

Aug 19, 2013 ... randomly selected maize-based farming households. Descriptive analysis and ... inefficiency is 0.357 (35.7%), implying that about 36% percent efficiency gap from the optimum .... yields consistent estimators for β, the variance.

How Biodiversity Conservation Policy Accelerates Agrarian Differentiation: The Account of an Upland Village in Vietnam

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Dressler, W.H.; Xuan To, P.; Mahanty, S.

2013-01-01

This paper shows how the implementation of Vietnam«SQ»s recent biodiversity conservation policy in Ba Vi National Park has increased the economic value of nature, created sustained conflict, and exacerbated agrarian differentiation in an upland village in northern Vietnam. Increased global and

Further thoughts on agrarian capitalism: a reply to Albritton.

Science.gov (United States)

Zmolek, M

2001-01-01

In response to Albritton [2000], who asserts that the central dynamic of capitalism's genesis was putting-out manufacturing, I provide a sketch of the processes of agrarian capitalism. The elaboration of the common law in the Middle Ages enabled widespread conversion to leaseholds after the plague. An increasingly privatized system of land ownership resulted from the enclosure movement in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and the upheavals of the seventeenth century represented the triumph of the enclosers. The rise of cottage industry in the eighteenth century was supported by a systematic effort at improving agricultural productivity. By the Industrial Revolution, the principle of individual control over production had long been established.

ROMANIAN PEASANTRY AND BULGARIAN AGRARIANISM IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD: BENCHMARKS FOR A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

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Cornel POPESCU

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This article is a comparative study that attempts to highlight the similarities and differences between Bulgarian agrarianism and Romanian peasants during the Interwar period, the Second World War and period of transition towards the Leninist-Stalinist totalitarian regimes. The objectives of our approach are integrated within the boundaries of the main research directions and concrete levels, namely: the general context from the two countries, early agrarian/peasants’ movements, the political program, election results, the promotion of certain legislative measures, and the relationship with other political and institutional entities. Without trying to offer an exhaustive view or reveal new aspects in the strict sense of the term, our contribution confronts, in a coherent whole, a series of data and information on the basis of which one could make value judgments. These judgments might help to shape a global, comparative image. Among the main sources of the article we included the monographic works signed by Ioan Scurtu, Pamfil Șeicaru, Apostol Stan, Dimitrina Petrova, John D. Bell, R.J. Crampton, supplemented by data from several other publications (encyclopedias, syntheses etc.. One can identify several distinct stages within the period under review (1918-1947. The broad picture is that the Bulgarian agrarian group was more popular and better organized than its Romanian counterpart, but more inclined towards Leftism and authoritarianism, which led to its political isolation in 1923 and subsequent fragmentation, whilst the Romanian peasants’ movement managed, after 1924, to remain at the forefront of the political scene, showing an interest for dialogue and sometimes for compromise, first with The National Party, then with the authoritarian monarchy, but also with the Antonescu regime and, to a lesser extent, with the communist regime.

Technical inefficiency of Vietnamese pangasius farming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anh Ngoc, Pham Thi; Gaitán-Cremaschi, D.; Meuwissen, Miranda P.M.; Le, Tru Cong; Bosma, Roel H.; Verreth, Johan; Lansink, Alfons Oude

2018-01-01

Vietnamese pangasius farming needs to produce efficiently to compete in world markets. This study investigates the input- and output-specific technical inefficiency of Vietnamese pangasius farmers. First, we used a Russell-type (input–output) directional distance function to estimate the input- and

Views on agrarian question in the russian empire early twentieth century public don (on the example of V.I. Denisov

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Z. V. Svyaschenko

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The article highlights the essence of agrarian nobility Don initiatives as an example of marshal of the nobility of the Don area V.I. Denisova, draws attention to the radical changes large landowners understand the nature of the agrarian question. Detailed analysis of vision causes aggravation and solving agricultural problems under conditions of revolution «Union supporters peaceful resolution of the agrarian question», which was organized by Don autumn 1905 Union believed that the government should immediately allow farmers free access to the community with fixing them processed before this allotment in private ownership and the right of selling. The analysis looks marshal of the nobility area of the Don V. Denisov, according to which land reform must be focused on the transition from communal farmers to homestead entities on the basis of peasant private ownership of land, increasing the size of peasant land ownership through the purchase of additional land they or their resettlement intensification individual farm. A general conclusion is that the views of V.I. Denisov and other landowners reflect the general mood and position of large landowners on agricultural issues. Their analysis shows a major fact of evolution beliefs representatives of large estates. As the patriots of their country, they offered very real steps to address not only the agricultural problems and to improve general well-being of the population, increasing the efficiency of the economy and legal equality of different layers Russian imperial society and so on. A large estates in various regions of the country were unanimous that stop the deployment of revolutionary elements in the country is possible only on one condition - the resolution of the agrarian question.

Measuring and explaining multi-directional inefficiency in the Malaysian dairy industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mohd Suhaimi, Nurul Aisyah Binti; Mey, de Yann; Oude Lansink, Alfons

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure the technical inefficiency of dairy farms and subsequently investigate the factors affecting technical inefficiency in the Malaysian dairy industry. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses multi-directional efficiency analysis to measure the

Wealth geography, environment and hunger: small critic contribution to the current agrarian/agricultural model of the natural resources usage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Walter Porto Gonçalves

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The text questions the geopolitical issue implied in the argument about hunger and the environment. It criticizes the current agrarian / agricultural model of the natural resources usage, stating it is a model of economic development of mild regions that has been imposed all over the world at a very high ecological, cultural and political cost. This model has faced the patrimonial, collective and community knowledge, characteristic of populations with distinct rationality from the occidental atomistic-individualistic one, with severe risks to the feeding safety. It analyzes the social-environmental consequences of the current agrarian / agricultural model, the contradictory results of the increase of the world capacity of food production, hunger in the world, the meanings of the Green Revolution from the seventies on, the social-environmental impacts of the agrarian business in the Brazilian cerrado and the complexity of the use of transgenic products. It criticizes the restricted ecological sustentation based on a political realism, and proposes a reflection upon a new rationality for the environmental challenge. It concludes that hunger is not a technical problem, for it does not happen because of the lack of food, but because of the way the food is produced and distributed. Today hunger lives with the provisions necessary to overcome itself.

Financing Education: Overcoming Inefficiency and Inequity.

Science.gov (United States)

McMahon, Walter W., Ed.; Geske, Terry G., Ed.

Fiscal inefficiency in education is addressed in this book and ideas for achieving increased efficiency while more effectively using resources to maintain reasonable equality of opportunity in higher education are examined. Fourteen articles and authors that consider social efficiency, equity, and policy implications are as follows: "Efficiency…

Game animals and small terrestrial mammals - Suitable bioindicators for the pollution assessment in agrarian ecosystems

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vávrová, M.; Zlámalová Gargošová, H.; Šucman, E.; Večerek, V.; Kořínek, P.; Zukal, Jan; Zejda, Jan; Sebestiánová, N.; Kubištová, I.

2003-01-01

Roč. 12, č. 2 (2003), s. 165-172 ISSN 1018-4619 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR KSK6005114 Keywords : bioindicator s * agrarian ecosystems * pollution Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 0.325, year: 2003 http://www.psp-parlar.de/details_artikel.asp?tabelle=FEBArtikel&artikel_id=234&jahr=2003

Profit inefficiency and its determinants among yam producers in Imo ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Farm profit inefficiency in yam production in Imo State, Nigeria was estimated using stochastic translog profit frontier model. The mean output of yam producers was 10.3tons/ha, while the mean level of profit inefficiency was 63.7 percent with a wide range of 23.41 – 94.23 percent. Mean loss of profit was N76061 per hectare.

Explaining the inefficiency of electrical distribution companies. Peruvian firms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perez-Reyes, Raul [Organismo Supervisor de la Inversion en Energia y Mineria, OSINERGMIN (Peru); Tovar, Beatriz [Infrastructure and Transport Research Group (EIT), Department of Applied Economics, University of Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain)

2010-09-15

This paper investigates the extent to which the structural reform of the Peruvian electricity market, implemented in the 1990s, has improved the efficiency of the distribution companies; and it evaluates the influence on efficiency of firm specific explanatory variables. To do this, we rely on data from 14 distribution companies between 1996 and 2006. The results indicate that the incentives generated by the reform process led to the firms becoming more efficient. Moreover, the time trend and private management of the distribution companies are variables that positively affect the levels of efficiency, whereas the lower network densities are then the greater the inefficiency. (author)

Explaining the inefficiency of electrical distribution companies. Peruvian firms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez-Reyes, Raul; Tovar, Beatriz

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the extent to which the structural reform of the Peruvian electricity market, implemented in the 1990s, has improved the efficiency of the distribution companies; and it evaluates the influence on efficiency of firm specific explanatory variables. To do this, we rely on data from 14 distribution companies between 1996 and 2006. The results indicate that the incentives generated by the reform process led to the firms becoming more efficient. Moreover, the time trend and private management of the distribution companies are variables that positively affect the levels of efficiency, whereas the lower network densities are then the greater the inefficiency. (author)

[Johan Eellend. Cultivating the Rural Citizen : Modernity, Agrarianism and Citizenship in Late Tsarist Estonia] / Kersti Lust

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Lust, Kersti, 1976-

2008-01-01

Arvustus: Eellend, Johan. Cultivating the Rural Citizien : Modernity, Agrarianism and Citizenship in Late Tsarist Estonia. Stockholm : Stockholm Universty, 2007. Eesti agraarideoloogia kujunemist ja olemust käsitlevast dissertatsioonist. Tegemist on Eesti ühiskondliku mõtte voolude ja nende mõjuulatuse tavapärasest erineva nägemusega

Heterogeneity of the HIV epidemic in agrarian, trading, and fishing communities in Rakai, Uganda: an observational epidemiological study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Larry W; Grabowski, Mary K; Ssekubugu, Robert; Nalugoda, Fred; Kigozi, Godfrey; Nantume, Betty; Lessler, Justin; Moore, Sean M; Quinn, Thomas C; Reynolds, Steven J; Gray, Ronald H; Serwadda, David; Wawer, Maria J

2016-08-01

Understanding the extent to which HIV burden differs across communities and the drivers of local disparities is crucial for an effective and targeted HIV response. We assessed community-level variations in HIV prevalence, risk factors, and treatment and prevention service uptake in Rakai, Uganda. The Rakai Community Cohort Study (RCCS) is an open, population-based cohort of people aged 15-49 years in 40 communities. Participants are HIV tested and interviewed to obtain sociodemographic, behavioural, and health information. RCCS data from Aug 10, 2011, to May 30, 2013, were used to classify communities as agrarian (n=27), trading (n=9), or lakeside fishing sites (n=4). We mapped HIV prevalence with Bayesian methods, and characterised variability across and within community classifications. We also assessed differences in HIV risk factors and uptake of antiretroviral therapy and male circumcision between community types. 17 119 individuals were included, 9215 (54%) of whom were female. 9931 participants resided in agrarian, 3318 in trading, and 3870 in fishing communities. Median HIV prevalence was higher in fishing communities (42%, range 38-43) than in trading (17%, 11-21) and agrarian communities (14%, 9-26). Antiretroviral therapy use was significantly lower in both men and women in fishing communities than in trading (age-adjusted prevalence risk ratio in men 0·64, 95% CI 0·44-0·97; women 0·53, 0·42-0·66) and agrarian communities (men 0·55, 0·42-0·72; women 0·65, 0·54-0·79), as was circumcision coverage among men (vs trading 0·48, 0·42-0·55; vs agrarian 0·64, 0·56-0·72). Self-reported risk behaviours were significantly higher in men than in women and in fishing communities than in other community types. Substantial heterogeneity in HIV prevalence, risk factors, and service uptake in Rakai, Uganda, emphasises the need for local surveillance and the design of targeted HIV responses. High HIV burden, risk behaviours, and low use of combination

Stewardship to tackle global phosphorus inefficiency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Withers, Paul J. A.; Dijk, Kimo van; Neset, Tina-Simone

2015-01-01

The inefficient use of phosphorus (P) in the food chain is a threat to the global aquatic environment and the health and well-being of citizens, and it is depleting an essential finite natural resource critical for future food security and ecosystem function. We outline a strategic framework of 5R...

Stewardship to tackle global phosphorus inefficiency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Withers, P.J.A.; Dijk, van K.C.; Neset, T.S.S.; Nesme, Thomas; Oenema, Oene; Rubæk, G.H.; Schoumans, O.F.; Smit, Bert; Pellerin, Sylvain

2015-01-01

The inefficient use of phosphorus (P) in the food chain is a threat to the global aquatic environment and the health and well-being of citizens, and it is depleting an essential finite natural resource critical for future food security and ecosystem function. We outline a strategic framework of

The Institutions of «Green Economy» for Sustainable Development of Agrarian Sector: Theoretical Dimension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khodakivska Olga V.

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at substantiating the conceptual foundations and theoretical positions of the place and role of institutions in formation of the «green economy» in the context of implementation of the principles for sustainable development of agrarian sector. The article reflects the main scientific concepts that are directed to address the problems of environmentally oriented development, in particular the concepts of ecotopia, anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, biocentrism, and the concept of sustainable development. It has been found that the conceptual foundations for sustainable development include ecologization of economy, humanization of production, introducing a system of principled approaches to public affairs. The general provisions of formation of «green economy» have been characterized and its key principles have been provided. The role and value of institutions in the organizational provision of the sustainable development of agrarian sector, which, in the organizational-economic, coordinating and enabling aspects are the key driver for harmonization of the interaction of all participants in economic relations, have been substantiated.

A Post-Truncation Parameterization of Truncated Normal Technical Inefficiency

OpenAIRE

Christine Amsler; Peter Schmidt; Wen-Jen Tsay

2013-01-01

In this paper we consider a stochastic frontier model in which the distribution of technical inefficiency is truncated normal. In standard notation, technical inefficiency u is distributed as N^+ (μ,σ^2). This distribution is affected by some environmental variables z that may or may not affect the level of the frontier but that do affect the shortfall of output from the frontier. We will distinguish the pre-truncation mean (μ) and variance (σ^2) from the post-truncation mean μ_*=E(u) and var...

Comparative Analysis of Pedagogical Technologies in the Context of Future Agrarians' Multicultural Education in the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Kravets, Ruslan

2015-01-01

In the article the comparative analysis of pedagogical technologies in the USA has been carried out in the context of future agrarians' multicultural education. The essence of traditional and innovative pedagogical technologies and the peculiarities of their realization at higher educational establishments have been viewed. The expediency of…

Significance of monitoring of the phytoradiobiological researches for development of agrarian radiology in Georgia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gogebashvili, M.E.; Ivanishvili, N.I.

2012-01-01

Full text : Monitoring of development of concrete scientific discipline-multifactorial process and at studying of its efficiency is necessary selection of adequate ways of the analysis. Especially it is important under conditions cardinal changes of schemes of management of a science, level of financing and serious redistribution of personnel structure. It has occurred last years in many Post-Soviet countries. Thus, the question of the control and regulation of development of scientific directions to become rather actual. It is known, that selection of adequate criteria of the estimation is necessary for monitoring of a condition of various scientific directions. It is natural, if we consider a science as reception innovation process knowledge it is necessary to track distribution and growth of number of thematic scientific publications. For the task in view decision namely to carry out monitoring of development of radio plant biology in Georgia within the limits of an agrarian science the known method of an estimation of scientific publications on Key Word has been used. It demands creation of new mechanisms of management by development of a science with the assistance of regulating academic and state structures

DCF Fair Value Valuation, Excessive Assetes and Hidden Inefficiencies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paweł Mielcarz

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Fair value concept is widely used in DCF (Discounted Cash Flow  business valuation. One of the main principle of fair value concept is full information symmetry between contracting parties. The assumption enforces specific way of FCF (Free Cash Flow estimation: all areas of inefficiency of valuated companies should be identified and their effect on free cash flow should be eliminated. The projection of free cash flow thus prepared should reflect the optimum operations of the business. The methodological issues of fair value valuation of inefficient companies are not comprehensibly addressed in the financial and accounting literature. There is easily observable gap between fair value theory and valuation practices. Thus this article is an attempt to answer the question about practical issues in fair value valuation of companies which do not apply value based management rules. It is based on literature review, theory examination and short case studies which present proposed solution for practical problems. Methods of identification and assessment of impact of inefficiencies on the fair value of a business are hereinafter presented and supported with arguments.

Applicability of economic instruments for protecting ecosystem services from cultural agrarian landscapes in Doñana, SW Spain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gaitán-Cremaschi, Daniel; Palomo, Ignacio; Baraibar Molina, Sergio; Groot, De Rudolf; Gómez-Baggethun, Erik

2017-01-01

Abandonment and conversion of cultural agrarian landscapes are major drivers behind the loss of ecosystem services in Europe. One incentive for land-use conversion is the higher (private) economic return from industrial mono-functional crops relative to traditional multi-functional ones. However,

On the Evolutionary Stability of Bargaining Inefficiency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Anders

This paper investigates whether 'tough' bargaining behavior, which gives rise to inefficiency, can be evolutionary stable. We show that in a two-stage Nash Demand Game tough behavior survives. Indeed, almost all the surplus may be wasted. We also study the Ultimatum Game. Here evolutionary select...

Parkinson's Law quantified: three investigations on bureaucratic inefficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Klimek, Peter; Hanel, Rudolf; Thurner, Stefan

2009-03-01

We formulate three famous, descriptive essays of Parkinson on bureaucratic inefficiency in a quantifiable and dynamical socio-physical framework. In the first model we show how the use of recent opinion formation models for small groups can be used to understand Parkinson's observation that decision-making bodies such as cabinets or boards become highly inefficient once their size exceeds a critical 'Coefficient of Inefficiency', typically around 20. A second observation of Parkinson—which is sometimes referred to as Parkinson's Law—is that the growth of bureaucratic or administrative bodies usually goes hand in hand with a drastic decrease of its overall efficiency. In our second model we view a bureaucratic body as a system of a flow of workers, who enter, become promoted to various internal levels within the system over time, and leave the system after having served for a certain time. Promotion usually is associated with an increase of subordinates. Within the proposed model it becomes possible to work out the phase diagram under which conditions of bureaucratic growth can be confined. In our last model we assign individual efficiency curves to workers throughout their life in administration, and compute the optimum time to give them the old age pension, in order to ensure a maximum of efficiency within the body—in Parkinson's words we compute the 'Pension Point'.

Simulation of the Dynamic Inefficiency of the CMS Pixel Detector

CERN Document Server

INSPIRE-00380273

2015-05-07

The Pixel Detector is the innermost part of the CMS Tracker. It therefore has to prevail in the harshest environment in terms of particle fluence and radiation. There are several mechanisms that may decrease the efficiency of the detector. These are mainly caused by data acquisition (DAQ) problems and/or Single Event Upsets (SEU). Any remaining efficiency loss is referred to as the dynamic inefficiency. It is caused by various mechanisms inside the Readout Chip (ROC) and depends strongly on the data occupancy. In the 2012 data, at high values of instantaneous luminosity the inefficiency reached 2\\% (in the region closest to the interaction point) which is not negligible. In the 2015 run higher instantaneous luminosity is expected, which will result in lower efficiencies; therefore this effect needs to be understood and simulated. A data-driven method has been developed to simulate dynamic inefficiency, which has been shown to successfully simulate the effects.

Inefficient procurement processes undermine access to medicines in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Inefficient procurement processes undermine access to medicines in the Western ... chronic infectious and non-communicable diseases in the public sector. ... (ii) absence of contracts for certain medicines appearing on provincial code lists; ...

A technique of forecasting inefficient negative investments in Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nataliya N. Andrienko

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper reviews a methodology of inefficient capital outflow forecasting in Ukraine, as one of the new instruments for investment activity revivification under the system crisis conditions. An analogy is made between the foreseeable and unexpected losses in crediting as well as the efficient and inefficient capital outflows in the form of reserve funds accrual and subsequent reverse procedure. Phenomenological approach and generalization of the experience in negative investment analysis are applied. Exposed is the substantiation of phenomenological approach in choosing one of the proposed beta distribution options with economic interpretation of this approach development. Considered is the maximum entropy principle as a stochastic dominance revealed therein.

Backlash and Beyond: The Criminalization of Agrarian Reform and Peasant Response in the Philippines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Franco

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the 35 years since the end of the dictatorship in the Philippines many rural poor Filipinos have been caught up in a political battle over the pace and direction of agrarian change. This paper focuses on the political-legal dimension of agrarian conflict in one region, exploring how it has fueled and been fueled by criminalization, particularly the indiscriminate filing of criminal charges against share tenants struggling for recognition as legal land rights holders under the 1988 agrarian reform law. Here, criminalization is a form of landlord retribution against tenants who dare to defy the status quo. The case demonstrates how tenants get “bound by law” – e.g., caught up in inconsistencies in state law and ensnared in costly legalist traps set by powerful landowners threatened with redistribution, but then also leading to innovative collective efforts to activate state officials to step in on the side of peasants to make state law authoritative in society. En los 35 años transcurridos desde el final de la dictadura en Filipinas muchos filipinos pobres de zonas rurales se han visto atrapados en una batalla política por el ritmo y la dirección del cambio agrario. Este artículo se centra en la dimensión político-jurídica del conflicto agrario en una región, analizando cómo ha impulsado y ha sido impulsado por la criminalización, especialmente la presentación indiscriminada de cargos penales contra los aparceros que luchan por que se les reconozcan los derechos de tierra legales, bajo la ley de reforma agraria de 1988. En este caso, la criminalización es la forma que tienen los terratenientes de responder contra los aparceros que osan desafiar el status quo. El caso demuestra cómo los arrendadores están "obligados por ley" - por ejemplo, están inmersos en incoherencias en la ley estatal y atrapados en costosas trampas legalistas puestas por los poderosos terratenientes amenazados con la redistribución, pero al mismo

Dynamic technical inefficiency and industrial concentration in the Indonesian food and beverages industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Setiawan, Maman; Oude Lansink, Alfons G.J.M.

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation between industrial concentration and technical inefficiency in the Indonesian food and beverages industry using a dynamic performance measure (dynamic technical inefficiency) that accounts for the presence of adjustment costs.

Peasantry and politics in the Athenian society. On the Aristotelian model of agrarian democracy

OpenAIRE

Julián GALLEGO

2013-01-01

The article analyzes the peasantry's situation in the Athenian polis under the condition of full citizenship. Athens has recently been recognized as a society whose democratic political organization was based on the presence of citizen agriculturists who controlled most of the land, constituted the majority of the civic body and had a decisive role in the working of the government. Under certain limits, Aristotle's ideas in the Politics with respect to the agrarian democracy are taken as elem...

Livelihood strategies in settlement projects in the Brazilian Amazon: Determining drivers and factors within the Agrarian Reform Program.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Diniz, F.H.; Hoogstra, M.A.; Kok, K.; Arts, B.J.M.

2013-01-01

Over the last decades, hundreds of thousands of families have settled in the Brazilian Amazon within the framework of the Agrarian Reform Program (ARP). The rationale behind the program is to enable settlers to earn their living by small-scale farming and producing an agricultural surplus for the

Through Student Eyes: Perceptions and Aspirations of Students from the Armenian State Agrarian University and Selected European Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Shinn, Glen C.; Briers, Gary E.; Navarro, Maria; Peake, Jason; Parr, Brian; Ter-Mkrtchyan, Ani; Duncan, Dennis

2009-01-01

This research compared attributes of students enrolled in the Armenian State Agrarian University (ASAU) with university students from 30 European countries (EFMD) about graduate study policy issues. A cross-national comparative design used a survey questionnaire to explore contextual, social and cultural phenomena. Samples included 801 ASAU and…

The Ecological Footprint of the Agrarian Sector in Villa Clara. A qualitative approximation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Reinoso Pérez

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This research deals with the environmental impacts and aspects and their relationship to the ecological footprint of the agrarian sector in Villa Clara. In order to achieve this goal, 23 enterprises were used as study cases, which were clustered according to the main land use: (i succession planting (17 and (ii livestock and animal production (6. The information collected was used to develop the environmental aspects and impacts matrixes associated to the productive processes in each enterprise. The environmental aspects with higher relative frequencies (> 0.60 were water and energy consumption, the existence of invasive plants, the soil use, the greenhouse gas emissions, the use of forest resources, the generation of solid wastes and the use of agro-chemicals. Such aspects are causing negative impacts on the environment, and consequently they are increasing the ecological print of the sector in this province. The use of heavy machineries, the generation of liquid and dangerous residues, the continuous grazing and the use of alien species had a significant impact with a relative frequency below 0.55. However, these environmental aspects should be under control. It is concluded that, in all of the studied cases, the environmental aspects had a negative incidence on the environment. And they contribute in many ways to increase the ecological footprint of the agrarian sector in the territory. The implementation of the Environmental Management System, according to the international standards, is recommended.

Quantifying the economic impact of communication inefficiencies in U.S. hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, Ritu; Sands, Daniel Z; Schneider, Jorge Díaz

2010-01-01

Care delivery is a complex enterprise that involves multiple interactions among multiple stakeholders. Effective communication between these dispersed parties is critical to ensuring quality and safety and improves operational efficiencies. Time and motion studies in hospital settings provide strong evidence that care providers-doctors and nurses-spend a significant proportion of their time obtaining or providing information (i.e., communicating). Yet, surprisingly, no studies attempt to quantify the economic waste associated with communication inefficiencies in hospital settings at a national level. Our research focuses on developing models for quantifying the economic burden on hospitals of poor communications. We developed a conceptual model of the effects of poor communications in hospitals that isolates four outcomes: (1) efficiency of resource utilization, (2) effectiveness of core operations, (3) quality of work life, and (4) service quality, identifying specific metrics for each outcome. We developed estimates of costs associated with wasted physician time, wasted nurse time, and increase in length of stay caused by communication inefficiencies across all U.S. hospitals, using primary data collected from interviews in seven hospitals and secondary data from a literature review, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). We find that U.S. hospitals waste over $12 billion annually as a result of communication inefficiency among care providers. Increase in length of stay accounts for 53 percent of the annual economic burden. A 500-bed hospital loses over $4 million annually as a result of communication inefficiencies. We note that our estimates are conservative as they do not include all dimensions of economic waste arising from poor communications. The economic burden of communication inefficiency in U.S. hospitals is substantial. Information technologies and process redesign may help alleviate some of

Peasantry and politics in the Athenian society. On the Aristotelian model of agrarian democracy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julián GALLEGO

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the peasantry's situation in the Athenian polis under the condition of full citizenship. Athens has recently been recognized as a society whose democratic political organization was based on the presence of citizen agriculturists who controlled most of the land, constituted the majority of the civic body and had a decisive role in the working of the government. Under certain limits, Aristotle's ideas in the Politics with respect to the agrarian democracy are taken as elements valid to the Athenian political context in some periods. According to this model, it is analyzed the ways of incorporation of the rural villages to the State structure, the relation of hoplite farmers both with landed aristocrats and other candidates to leadership and with the social classes located below the farmers, and the actual political participation that the latter could develop in different stages of the Athenian history. The conclusion aims to maintain, beyond certain schematizations, the possibility of a long term vision of the Athenian history starting from Aristotle's characterizations.

Estimating farmers’ productive and marketing inefficiency: an application to vegetable producers in Benin

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Singbo, A.G.; Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.; Emvalomatis, G.

2014-01-01

This paper estimates the technical and marketing inefficiency of a sample of urban vegetable producers in Benin. Marketing inefficiency is defined as the failure of farmers to achieve better marketing output and is reflected in lower output price indices. The study proposes a Russell-type measure of

AGRICULTURA Y DESARROLLO RURAL; REFERENCIA ESPECIAL AL ASOCIACIONISNO AGRARIO/AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT; SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE AGRARIAN AFFILIATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamín GARCÍA SANZ

2007-05-01

de los productos alimenticios y la trazabilidad, retos para los que sin duda están muy concienciadas las cooperativas./The agriculture is an activity trasversal that concerns the rural world but also to villages that are not rural. It is an activity that is present in very big villages of the South named agro cities. Regardless there is a very direct entail between agriculture and ruralidad, not so much because the agriculture is already the base of the work of the rural world, but because being his counterfoil. To analyze the agrarian work in the rural world there are several sources, one is the Survey of the Active Population (EPA who realizes of the persons who are employed at this sector and other one is the Agrarian Census or the Survey of Agrarian Structures that he gathers all the persons who have some labour entail with the agrarian activity. The contrast between these two sources reveals the existence of new figures that appear in the Censuses and not in the EPA as the holders of agrarian developments who have another activity, the holders who cover less half a day in the exploitation, the spouses of the holders or the relatives. This leads us to affirming the importance that has the activity in the rural world as the entail o the works of the agriculture not only of the farmers but also of those that are retired, they have another principal occupation or are simply temporary collaborators of the agrarian work. Raising the future of the agriculture a commentary has interfered on the importance of the asociacionismo, not so much that of production, but that of marketing. Though the levels reached as for members and implied sectors it is high, still there stays a great span that to cross, especially regarding cooperatives of the second degree and control of the markets. This one is a challenge to that it is necessary to add a new bet that consists of penetrating in the circuits of the transformation for taking part of the distribution of benefits, which

Liquidity Hoarding and Inefficient Abundant Funding

OpenAIRE

Enisse Kharroubi

2015-01-01

This paper studies banks’ choice between building liquidity buffers and raising funding ex post to deal with reinvestment shocks. We uncover the possibility of an inefficient liquidity squeeze equilibrium when ex post funding is abundant. In the model, banks typically build larger liquidity buffers when they expect funding to be expensive. However, when banks hold larger liquidity buffers, pledgeable income is larger and they hence can raise more funding, which in the aggregate raises the fun...

Allocative inefficiency and the capital-energy controversy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christopoulos, Dimitris K.; Tsionas, Efthymios G.

2002-01-01

The purpose of the paper is to estimate a system of input demands for Greek manufacturing deviating from the standard practice of assuming strict cost minimization. The study allows for the presence of price distortions and allocative inefficiency in the decision process. This assumption affects parameter estimates and estimated elasticities materially, and throws new light on the capital-energy controversy in Greek manufacturing

Factors associated with minimal meal frequency and dietary diversity practices among infants and young children in the predominantly agrarian society of Bale zone, Southeast Ethiopia: a community based cross sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tegegne, Mekonnen; Sileshi, Semere; Benti, Tomas; Teshome, Mulusew; Woldie, Haile

2017-01-01

Poor infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in the first 2 years of age are among major causes of childhood malnutrition, in developing countries including Ethiopia. It results in irreversible outcomes of stunting, poor cognitive development, and significantly increases risks of many chronic and infectious diseases. This study was intended to assess factors associated with minimum meal frequency and minimum dietary diversity practice among children aged 6-23 months in the predominantly agrarian society of Bale zone, Southeast Ethiopia. A community based cross sectional study was employed from January to June 2016. An interviewer administered, pretested and structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Multi-stage sampling followed by a systematic random sampling technique was used to include study subjects. Data was entered using Epi info version 3.5.3 and analyzed by SPSS version 20. In the logistic regression, both bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to identify factors associated with minimum meal frequency and minimum dietary diversity scores. All variables with P -values of agrarian society of Bale zone, Southeast Ethiopia.

Inefficient Self-Selection into Education and Wage Inequality

Science.gov (United States)

Ordine, Patrizia; Rose, Giuseppe

2011-01-01

This paper proposes a theoretical framework where "within graduates" wage inequality is related to overeducation/educational mismatch in the labor market. We show that wage inequality may arise because of inefficient self-selection into education in the presence of ability-complementary technological progress and asymmetric information…

Monotony, Isolation and Backward Agriculture. Travel Accounts of 19th Century and Agrarian History of Bogota Plateau (Colombia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katherinne Giselle Mora Pacheco

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Different works of Agrarian History reproduce a similar description of Bogota Plateau (Colombia throughout the nineteenth century: agricultural use since colonial times; vast fields of wheat and barley; abrupt replacement of crops by cattle; agricultural crisis linked to the agro-export booms and the demand for tropical products that could not be obtained above 2000 meters. This paper discusses how this approach has perpetuated descriptions of travelers who visited the region during the nineteenth century and wrote up their notebooks based on their origins, objectives, political and economic interests, or from affirmations of their guides and informants. This article rebuilds a profile of travelers that are most often quoted by historians, their views about the Plateau landscape and its farming and ranching, and their influence on today reconstructions of the agrarian history of Bogota Plateau along nineteenth century. This text invites to contrast the travel accounts among themselves and with another sources, and also to incorporate the results of the research about the Colonial period and the biophysical conditions of the regions under study in the analysis.

Women and microcredit in rural agrarian households of Uganda: match or mismatch between lender and borrower?

OpenAIRE

Namayengo, M.M.F.; Ophem, van, J.A.C.; Antonides, G.

2016-01-01

The alignment of microfinance programs with the context and expectations of the recipients is critical for ensuring clients' satisfaction and desired program outcomes. This study sought to investigate the extent to which the objectives and design of the BRAC microfinance program match the expectations, context and characteristics of female borrowers in a rural agrarian setting in Uganda. Quantitative and qualiative methods were used to obtain socio-demographic, personality and microenterprise...

Agrarian reform, land and territory: evolution in the thinking of La Via Campesina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Michael Rosset

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The evolution of the thinking of the transnational rural social movement La Via Campesina over the past two decades, particularly concerning agrarian reform and the defense of land and territory, is analyzed from a participant-observer perspective. The rural world has changed, and the changes external to the movements, along with their internal dialogs and exchange of experiences, have generated new positions, strategies of struggle, consensuses and dilemmas.  Several issues are highlighted, such as the concept of territory, what to do with the land, relationships among actors who share territories, land occupations, titling, the state, and new rights.

Reforma agrária: o impossível diálogo sobre a História possível Agrarian Reform: the impossible dialogue about the possible History

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José de Souza Martins

1999-10-01

Full Text Available Os desencontros entre o governo, de um lado, e o MST, a Igreja e as oposições, de outro, quanto à política de reforma agrária, só podem ser compreendidos se tivermos em conta o que vem a ser a questão agrária no Brasil. Num país em que o grande capital se tornou proprietário de terras, a concepção clássica da questão agrária, e das reformas que ela pede, fica substancialmente alterada. São essas alterações que propõem as condições e os limites da reforma agrária no país. São elas, também que apontam o desenrolar possível da história brasileira a partir dessa referência estrutural. A reforma agrária se tornou uma reforma cíclica em virtude da, de certo modo, contínua entrada e reentrada em cena de clientes potenciais dessa medida. O fato de que o MST e os sem-terra tenham assumido a iniciativa das ocupações, atuando o governo como suplente para fazer a reforma, não indica a debilidade do Estado democrático para realizá-la. Apenas indica que a sociedade civil, através de organizações e movimentos populares, passou a ter um papel na nova estrutura do Estado brasileiro.The misunderstandings between the government, on one side, and the MST, the Church and the opposition parties on the other side, when the topic is the agrarian reform, can only be understood if we keep in mind what this agrarian matter is in Brazil. In a country which the big capital turned to be the owner of the lands, the classical conception of the agrarian matter, and of the reforms required by it, is substantially altered. These reforms are what really propose the new conditions and limits to the reform in the country. Moreover, they also point to a possible development of the History of Brazil based in this structural reference. The agrarian reform turned to be a cyclical reform due to the continuous entry and reentry of potential clients in this scene. The fact that the MST and the landless have assumed the initiative of the occupations

The Conceptual Approaches to Strategic Management of Region Using the Spatially Localized Agrarian Economic Systems

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Petrenko Natalia О.

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at improving the theoretical and methodical provisions of the cluster approach to development of the spatially localized systems of the agricultural sector of Ukrainian economy at the regional level. Based on generalizing the relevant theoretical provisions, the identified characteristics of formation and development of the spatially localized systems, it has been found that, originating in the form of economic growth zones, they have been transformed into clustered and subclustered forms. It has been indicated that a prospective form of further development of the spatially localized systems is formation of subclustered structures that take account of the established specialization of localities, appropriate infrastructure, resource availability. The possibility of creating a project of developing a cluster formation was discussed on the example of the Central Economic Area. A complex of basic requirements for the intended localization of the cluster has been formulated. Proceeding from the results of the study, practical proposals for strategic management of region have been developed on the basis of development of cluster formations, using the spatially localized agrarian economic systems.

Land Use and the Agrarian Economy in the Roman Dutch River Area

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Maaike Groot

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This article aims to reconstruct agrarian land use for a rural community in the Roman frontier zone in the Netherlands. The Dutch River Area was characterised by a dynamic landscape. Rivers regularly flooded the surrounding low-lying land. Only the higher streamridges provided suitable places for habitation and arable agriculture. The limitations of the landscape dictated to a large extent both the types and quantities of crops and animals that could be produced. An interactive map of the micro-region of Tiel-Passewaaij shows how the land was used for agrarian production and sourced for other products. These symbols link to short texts that discuss the archaeological evidence for aspects such as growing cereals, raising livestock and the exploitation of wood and wild animals. The complex and dynamic geological situation of the Dutch River Area is also explained, and the consequences for agriculture discussed. We address three main research questions. How were the different elements of the riverine landscape used by rural inhabitants? How were arable agriculture and animal husbandry organised spatially, both within the settlement and in its immediate surroundings? Which natural resources were used and managed? Our research is mainly based on one large and well-excavated settlement complex (Tiel-Passewaaij, but we will use complementary data from several other settlements in the region. Our results show that the river landscape offered plenty of opportunities for agriculture. The interaction between arable and pastoral farming was essential, with livestock providing manure and agricultural labour, and the fields offering fodder and additional grazing (after harvest or during fallow years. The location of large enclosure ditches suggest that even minor differences in height, caused by older streamridges, may have made arable farming possible in the flood basin.

Inefficiency of Data Storing in Physical Memory

OpenAIRE

Kamaruddin Malik Mohamad; Sapiee Haji Jamel; Mustafa Mat Deris

2009-01-01

Memory forensic is important in digital investigation. The forensic is based on the data stored in physical memory that involve memory management and processing time. However, the current forensic tools do not consider the efficiency in terms of storage management and the processing time. This paper shows the high redundancy of data found in the physical memory that cause inefficiency in processing time and memory management. The experiment is done using Borland C compile...

The agropecuarian sector in Los Lagos region, and the paradigm "Chile power food": challenges for a national agrarian policy

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Sandra Ríos Núñez

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The restructuring of the economic model in Chile in the mid- seventies hit all productive fields and the agropecuarian sector was no exception. Thus started the beginning of the "Agricultural export Age" that fostered productive guidelines with clear competitive advantages in international markets. The Chilean agricultural paradigm has been characterized by functioning on the basis of low wages, availability of labor and favorable exchange rate. In 2006, under this scenario, the public policy called "Chile Power Food 2020" was implemented, which seeks to reinforce the above formula. This initiative considers growth strategies which make bimodal agrarian structure, present in the country, invisible. To the above an added aggravating factor is that territories (such as Los Lagos Region in southern Chile with traditional productive orientations (specifically cattle have clearly vulnerable positions, especially in those producer groups which are characterized by different rationales to run business

From the history of agrarian thought

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Avtandil Silagadze

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Agriculture has long been recognized as the main field of production in Egypt, Babylon, China, India … It is not accidental that we still have the most precious materials on the issues of management of this sphere, which have not lost their sensitivity to the present day. The study analyzes the individual aspects of the problem mainly on the example of ancient countries, particularly Rome. Based on the conclusion: For Platon the main thing is: The existence of natural farmland where everything is made according to demand; The land is the main sign - “mother”, which is the property of the “ideal state”. About the role of farming, Xenophon had a similar view, who first used the term “economics” and Aristotle, whose ownership is the term “economic science”; The issues of Latifundian agrarian farming research gained particular attention to Antiquity in Rome, where the specialists of Roman thinkers clearly outlined that the main field of agriculture, and the income derived from it - is the most sacred; The most effective product is near the selling markets; The importance of livestock, viticulture and gardening took place in the foreground; The objective of the science of farming is to study soil composition, selection of favorable time for land-processing tools and land cultivation; Additional work used in land cultivation ensures receiving of surplus product … Despite the experience of history, unfortunately, in post-Soviet Georgia does not pay much attention to the development of real economy, including agriculture sector. Keywords: Ancient epoch, Economy, Agriculture, Georgia, Real estate, Employment

Technical inefficiency and competitiveness in production: the case of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study examined technical inefficiency and competitiveness among rice farmers in Niger State, Nigeria. Data for the analysis came from a random sample survey of the area of study. A Single-stage (Cobb-Douglas based stochastic frontier production function was used in analyzing the data. Evidence from the analysis ...

State intervention causing inefficiency: an empirical analysis of the Norwegian Continental Shelf

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kashani, Hossein A.

2005-01-01

State intervention in the Norwegian Continental Shelf started with the establishment of Statoil as the medium of state ownership over the found petroleum and as a tool to monitor oil companies' procurement behaviour. This paper tests the extent to which the state intervention created inefficiencies in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) activities, as measured by data envelopment analysis, stochastic frontier analysis, Malmquist Indices, and standard regression analysis. Our results confirm such inefficiencies. Accordingly, the results provide an important insight into NCS production techniques and, more generally, into governments' abilities to influence private sector behaviour through contracts and tendering

a study of technical inefficiencies of maize farmers within and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

p2333147

frontier production functions were estimated for a sample of maize farmers within and outside the .... the normal distributions with the same variance, σ2, such that the mean,. µit, associated with the technical inefficiency effect, uit, is defined by.

Technical and Environmental Change in Spain: Agrarian Underdevelopment or “European Dragon”?

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Ricardo Robledo Hernández

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The belittling view of Spanish agriculture, the main source of employment until 1950, was a constant reference in the socioeconomic analyses carried out until the end of last century. This became one of the clichés that nourished the Hispanic inferiority complex, to which writers like Joaquin Costa contributed. The revision of agrarian history has helped to correct the image of social and economic underdevelopment in two ways. Firstly, the better knowledge of the technical innovation processes. Secondly, the environmental and biological limits the Spanish agricultural activity suffered. The latter statement is also useful to underline the risks of productivism after the destruction and redirection of the innovation systems by the Franco regime, when the opportunities for farming development offered by the Republican agricultural reform disappeared

Solving problems of modern land relations on the way of formation of competitive agrarian production in Ukraine

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Skoruk Olena P.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The goal of the article is identification of modern problems of conduct of the land reform and ways of their solution in the context of economic consequences for development of the competitive agrarian production in Ukraine. It identifies that the main task of completion of the land reform is creation of the land market, which would ensure transition of the right of ownership on land lots to an efficient land owner. The basis of this development are farms that combine the owner and master of land in one entity. The article shows that adoption of the Draft Law “On Agricultural Land Turnover” would facilitate development of this form of management. The article identifies main problems of the moratorium on agricultural land sales, namely: land black market activity, withdrawal from market turnover of land of about USD 40 thousand million cost and, as a result, impossibility for agrarians to apply mortgage. The article identifies gaps in the legislation with respect to state control over unclaimed shares and escheats, due to which the state budget does not receive significant amounts of money. It offers ways of solution of these problems through empowering the founded Goszembank, which should become a partner and support for development of small and medium farms after withdrawal of the moratorium on agricultural land sales, with relevant authorities.

Inefficiency, heterogeneity and spillover effects in maternal care in India: a spatial stochastic frontier analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kinfu, Yohannes; Sawhney, Monika

2015-03-25

Institutional delivery is one of the key and proven strategies to reduce maternal deaths. Since the 1990s, the government of India has made substantial investment on maternal care to reduce the huge burden of maternal deaths in the country. However, despite the effort access to institutional delivery in India remains below the global average. In addition, even in places where health investments have been comparable, inter- and intra-state difference in access to maternal care services remain wide and substantial. This raises a fundamental question on whether the sub-national units themselves differ in terms of the efficiency with which they use available resources, and if so, why? Data obtained from round 3 of the country's District Level Health and Facility Survey was analyzed to measure the level and determinants of inefficiency of institutional delivery in the country. Analysis was conducted using spatial stochastic frontier models that correct for heterogeneity and spatial interactions between sub-national units. Inefficiency differences in maternal care services between and within states are substantial. The top one third of districts in the country has a mean efficiency score of 90 per cent or more, while the bottom 10 per cent of districts exhibit mean inefficiency score of as high as over 75 per cent or more. Overall mean inefficiency is about 30 per cent. The result also reveals the existence of both heterogeneity and spatial correlation in institutional delivery in the country. Given the high level of inefficiency in the system, further progress in improving coverage of institutional delivery in the country should focus both on improving the efficiency of resource utilization--especially where inefficiency levels are extremely high--and on bringing new resources in to the system. The additional investment should specifically focus on those parts of the country where coverage rates are still low but efficiency levels are already at a high level. In

Decree No. 2.363 of 21 October 1987 abolishing the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform--INCRA, creating the Legal Institute of Rural Land--INTER, and other measures.

Science.gov (United States)

1989-01-01

This Decree abolishes the Brazilian National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) and creates a Legal Institute of Rural Land (INTER) linked to the Ministry of Agrarian Reform (MIRAD) to perform the activities of INCRA. MIRAD will henceforth be responsible for the rights, powers, and obligations of INCRA and will supervise INCRA's property and resources. In this capacity MIRAD will supervise, coordinate, and execute activities related to agrarian reform and agricultural policy. Among these activities are the promotion of social justice and productivity through 1) the just and adequate distribution of ownership of rural land, 2) limitation of the acquisition of rural property by foreigners, and 3) encouragement of the harmonious development of rural life. In developing such activities MIRAD is to make use of legal measures contained in land law, including those relating to the selection of public rural lands, the privatization of rural land through regularization of ownership, colonization, zoning, and taxation. It is also authorized to expropriate and distribute unexploited or improperly exploited land to worker families, with priority going to labor cooperatives. Further provisions establish rules on expropriation. Among these is the requirement that forests must be protected.

Locating inefficient links in a large-scale transportation network

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Li; Liu, Like; Xu, Zhongzhi; Jie, Yang; Wei, Dong; Wang, Pu

2015-02-01

Based on data from geographical information system (GIS) and daily commuting origin destination (OD) matrices, we estimated the distribution of traffic flow in the San Francisco road network and studied Braess's paradox in a large-scale transportation network with realistic travel demand. We measured the variation of total travel time Δ T when a road segment is closed, and found that | Δ T | follows a power-law distribution if Δ T 0. This implies that most roads have a negligible effect on the efficiency of the road network, while the failure of a few crucial links would result in severe travel delays, and closure of a few inefficient links would counter-intuitively reduce travel costs considerably. Generating three theoretical networks, we discovered that the heterogeneously distributed travel demand may be the origin of the observed power-law distributions of | Δ T | . Finally, a genetic algorithm was used to pinpoint inefficient link clusters in the road network. We found that closing specific road clusters would further improve the transportation efficiency.

Viability study of cold generation from biomass in an agrarian exploitation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ganan Gomez, J.; Gonzalez, J.F.; Roman, S. [Departamento Ingenieria Quimica y Energetica, E II, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda, Elvas s/n, 06071 Badajoz (Spain); Miranda, A. [Departamento Eng, Electromecanica, Universidade da Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilha (Portugal); Turegano, J.P. [Esc. Sup. de Tecnologia e Gestao, Instituto Politecnico de Portalegre, 7300 Portalegre (Portugal)

2006-01-15

In this work the performance of a cold production plant using biomass residuals from an agrarian exploitation as the primary energy source is analyzed. These residuals are generated in the pruning and renovation of fruit trees and are used in a boiler to convey heat to an absorption refrigeration engine. At first the study carries out the characterization and quantification of the energy produced by the residuals. Furthermore, it ponders on the viability analysis of converting that energy in cold by means of an absorption machine. The estimated thermal power sourced from the biomass generated in the exploitation (approx. 4216 ton) is of approximately 56.92x10{sup 6} MJ/year. This energy was shown to be greater than that required to keep the fruits at a suitable low temperature, thus obviating the use of conventional refrigeration and avoiding their associated high energy consumption. (author)

Is an inefficient transmission market better than none at all? On zonal and nodal pricing in electricity systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bertsch, Joachim

2015-09-15

In this paper, the trade-off between inefficient transmission forward markets (in nodal pricing regimes) and the inefficiency induced by hiding transmission constraints from the market (in zonal pricing regimes) is analyzed. First, a simple two node model formalizing the general trade-off is developed. Then, comparative statics are performed with a stochastic equilibrium model including more nodes, loop flows and an energy and transmission forward market. Inefficiency in the transmission forward market is introduced via a bid-ask-spread and risk aversion of market participants. The welfare impacts for a broad range of supply, demand, grid and inefficiency parameters are analyzed numerically. For efficient spot and forward markets, the results of the literature of nodal pricing being the efficient benchmark are confirmed. With inefficient transmission forward markets, however, zonal pricing proves advantageous in situations with little congestion and low costs. The results imply that the trade-off between the pricing regimes should be considered carefully when defining the geographical scope of bidding zones.

On the inefficiency of equilibria in linear bottleneck congestion games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

B. de Keijzer (Bart); G. Schäfer (Guido); O. Telelis (Orestis); S. Kontogiannis (Spyros); E. Koutsoupias (Elias); P.G. Spirakis (Paul)

2010-01-01

htmlabstractWe study the inefficiency of equilibrium outcomes in bottleneck congestion games. These games model situations in which strategic players compete for a limited number of facilities. Each player allocates his weight to a (feasible) subset of the facilities with the goal to minimize the

Technical and allocative inefficiencies and factor elasticities of substitution. An analysis of energy waste in Iran's manufacturing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khiabani, Nasser; Hasani, Karim [Department of Economics, Institute for Management and Planning Studies, Mokhtar Asgari Str.10, 19395, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2010-09-15

Ignoring technical and allocative inefficiencies or embedding one of them alone in a system of input demands may result in biased elasticities. We consider a comprehensive model including technical inefficiency (in input and output forms) and allocative inefficiency and apply it to panel data from Iran's manufacturing sector. The results show that the presence of both inefficiencies affects the computed elasticities of demand and substitution. Moreover, in spite of current waste of energy in Iran's manufacturing, the elimination of environmental constraints will prompt the manufacturing firms to increase the utilization of energy relative to both capital and labor. (author)

Smartphone Based Approach For Monitoring Inefficient And Unsafe Driving Behavior And Recognizing Drink And Drive Conditions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. V. Mane

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Many automobile drivers having knowledge of the driving behaviours and habits that can lead to inefficient and unsafe driving. However it is often the case that these same drivers unknowingly manifest these inefficient and unsafe driving behaviours in their everyday driving activity. The proposed system proposes a practical and economical way to capture measure and alert drives of inefficient and unsafe driving as well as highly efficient system aimed at early detection and alert of dangerous vehicle maneuvers typically related to drunk driving. The upcoming solution consists of a mobile application running on a modern smartphone device paired with a compatible OBDII On-board diagnostics II reader.

[Agrarian overpopulation and household structure in Saguenay (1881-1931)].

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchard, G

1994-01-01

"Our paper investigates the effect of land shortage in the Saguenay region [of Quebec, Canada,] upon the household structures, more precisely on the frequency of a) complex structures, b) celibacy, c) cohabitation with strangers (non-relatives). The data come from 28 parish censuses of the period 1881-1931. For each of these three indicators, findings show that the saturation of arable land did not entail significant changes." (SUMMARY IN ENG) excerpt

Exacerbating the Tragedy of the Commons: Private Inefficient Outcomes and Peer Effect in Experimental Games with Fishing Communities.

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Jorge Higinio Maldonado

Full Text Available Economic Experimental Games have shown that individuals make decisions that deviate down from the suboptimal Nash equilibrium. However, few studies have analyzed the case when deviation is above the Nash equilibrium. Extracting from above the Nash equilibrium is inefficient not only socially but also privately and it would exacerbate the tragedy of the commons. That would be the case of a race to the fish when stocks are becoming depleted or driver behavior on a highly congested road. The objective of this study is to analyze private inefficient extraction behavior in experimental games and to associate the type of player and the type of player group with such inefficient outcomes. To do this, we carried out economic experimental games with local coastal fishermen in Colombia, using a setting where the scarcity of the resource allows for an interior Nash equilibrium and inefficient over-extraction is possible. The state of the resource, the type of player and the composition of the group explain, in part, this inefficient behavior.

Inefficiency and classical communication bounds for conversion between partially entangled pure bipartite states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fortescue, Ben; Lo, H.-K.

2005-01-01

We derive lower limits on the inefficiency and classical communication costs of dilution between two-term bipartite pure states that are partially entangled. We first calculate explicit relations between the allowable error and classical communication costs of entanglement dilution using a previously described protocol, then consider a two-stage dilution from singlets with this protocol followed by some unknown protocol for conversion between partially entangled states. Applying overall lower bounds on classical communication and inefficiency to this two-stage protocol, we derive bounds for the unknown protocol. In addition we derive analogous (but looser) bounds for general pure states

Scaling and contextualizing climate-conflict nexus in historical agrarian China

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Harry F.

2017-04-01

This study examines climate-conflict nexus in historical agrarian China in multi-scalar and contextualized approach, illustrating what and how socio-political factors could significantly mediate the climate-violent link in pre-industrial society. Previous empirical large-N studies show that violent conflict in historical agrarian society was triggered by climate-induced food scarcity. The relationship was valid in China, Europe, and various geographic regions in the Northern Hemisphere in pre-industrial era. Nevertheless, the observed relationship has only been verified at a macro level (long-term variability of the nexus is emphasized and data over large area are aggregated), and somewhat generalized in nature (only physical environmental factors are controlled). Three inter-related issues remain unresolved: First, the key explanatory variable of violent conflicts may change substantially at different spatio-temporal scales. It is necessary to check whether the climate-conflict nexus is valid at a micro level (about short-term variability of the nexus and data in finer spatial resolution), and explore how the nexus changes along various spatio-temporal dimensions. Second, as the climate-conflict nexus has only been demonstrated in a broad sense, it is necessary to check whether and how the nexus is mediated by local socio-political context. More non-climatic factors pertinent to the cause and distribution of conflicts (e.g., governance, adaptive mechanisms, etc.) should be considered. Third, the methodology applied in the previous studies assumes spatially-independent observations and linear relationship, which may simplify the climate-conflict link. Moreover, the solitary reliance on quantitative methods may neglect those non-quantifiable socio-political dynamics which mediates the climate-conflict nexus. I plan to address the above issues by using disaggregated spatial analysis and in-depth case studies, with close attention to local and temporal differences and

The 1921 Agrarian Reform in Transylvania and its Reflection in the Considerations of the Members of the Bucharest School of Sociology

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TELEGDY, Balázs

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The 1921 agrarian reform aimed to be a significant step towards Romania’s agricultural development. The main motive of this reform – at least on a declarative level – was a socially oriented one: to expropriate a part of the big landowners’ estates, and to distribute in among the poverty-stricken people, with a special concern towards the First World War veterans, or their widows. At the same time, the agrarian reform recognised the differences in development between the different regions of the newly-formed Greater Romania, and as such there were two different laws regulating the reform processes in the Old Kingdom and in the newly annexed territories. The members of the Bucharest School of Sociology, based on the scarce data available to them to the time, approached the economically questionable results of this reform in a critical manner. József Venczel, who had acquired the bases of his professional knowledge at the same school, also proves, with regard to the Transylvanian land reform, that this had a second, national policy oriented goal, and its implementation was also ethnically biased.

The cost of trauma operating theatre inefficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Ang, W W; Sabharwal, S; Johannsson, H; Bhattacharya, R; Gupte, C M

2016-05-01

The National Health Service (NHS) is currently facing a financial crisis with a projected deficit of £2billion by the end of financial year 2015/16. As operating rooms (OR) are one of the costliest components in secondary care, improving theatre efficiency should be at the forefront of efforts to improve health service efficiency. The objectives of this study were to characterize the causes of trauma OR delays and to estimate the cost of this inefficiency. A 1-month prospective single-centre study in St. Mary's Hospital. Turnaround time (TT) was used as the surrogate parameter to measure theatre efficiency. Factors including patient age, ASA score and presence of surgical and anaesthetic consultant were evaluated to identify positive or negative associations with theatre delays. Inefficiency cost was calculated by multiplying the time wasted with staff capacity costs and opportunity costs, found to be £24.77/minute. The commonest causes for increased TT were delays in sending for patients (50%) and problems with patient transport to the OR (31%). 461 min of delay was observed in 12 days, equivalent to loss of £951.58/theatre/day. Non-statistically significant trends were seen between length of delays and advancing patient age, ASA score and absence of either a senior clinician or an anaesthetic consultant. Interestingly, the trend was not as strong for absence of an anaesthetic consultant. This study found delays in operating TT to represent a sizable cost, with potential efficiency savings based on TT of £347,327/theatre/year. Further study of a larger sample is warranted to better evaluate the identified trends.

Inefficient Job Destructions and Training with Hold-up

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chéron, Arnaud; Rouland, Benedicte

2011-01-01

This paper develops an equilibrium search model with endogenous job destructions and where firms decide at the time of job entry how much to invest in match-specific human capital. We first show that job destruction and training investment decisions are strongly complementary. It is possible...... that there are no firings at equilibrium. Further, training investments are confronted to a hold-up problem making the decentralized equilibrium always inefficient. We show therefore that both training subsidies and firing taxes must be implemented to bring back efficiency....

A importância do desenvolvimento de revistas científicas em mídia digital: O caso da Revista Agrarian

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Poliana Campos Burin

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Estudos e pesquisas são ações fundamentais em qualquer área do conhecimento e funcionam como alicerces no processo de evolução e desenvolvimento. Tão importante quanto a geração do conhecimento é a disseminação e difusão destas informações, utilizando meios de comunicação abrangentes e eficientes. O objetivo dos autores foi apresentar o caso da Revista Científica Agrarian: sua criação, desenvolvimento e consolidação, enfatizando os resultados e ações obtidos durante seus 6 anos em atividade. A revista científica foi criada em 2008, sendo a primeira revista científica de Mato Grosso do Sul de acesso aberto e totalmente digital que publica trabalhos nas áreas de Ciências Agrárias, Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos, Economia e Administração do Agronegócio. A Agrarian recebe submissões de todas as regiões do país, o que possibilita disponibilizar conhecimentos de grande importância ao público, entre técnicos, pesquisadores e estudantes. Foram publicadas vinte e uma edições entre os anos 2008-2013, todas disponibilizadas no Sistema Eletrônico de Editoração de Revistas (SEER. Com um número de 615 submissões e 285 artigos publicados, é possível concluir que a Revista Agrarian está se tornando um veículo de informação confiável e consolidado. Estes dados também confirmam as hipóteses relacionadas à importância de veículos práticos e econômicos para a difusão do conhecimento científico agrário no Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul, importante centro do agronegócio no País.

Allocentric but not egocentric visual memory difficulties in adults with ADHD may represent cognitive inefficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Franklin C; Roth, Robert M; Katz, Lynda J

2015-08-30

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has often been conceptualized as arising executive dysfunctions (e.g., inattention, defective inhibition). However, recent studies suggested that cognitive inefficiency may underlie many ADHD symptoms, according to reaction time and processing speed abnormalities. This study explored whether a non-timed measure of cognitive inefficiency would also be abnormal. A sample of 23 ADHD subjects was compared to 23 controls on a test that included both egocentric and allocentric visual memory subtests. A factor analysis was used to determine which cognitive variables contributed to allocentric visual memory. The ADHD sample performed significantly lower on the allocentric but not egocentric conditions. Allocentric visual memory was not associated with timed, working memory, visual perception, or mental rotation variables. This paper concluded by discussing how these results supported a cognitive inefficiency explanation for some ADHD symptoms, and discussed future research directions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The analysis of irreversibility, uncertainty and dynamic technical inefficiency on the investment decision in the Spanish olive sector

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lambarraa, Fatima; Stefanou, Spiro; Gil, José M.

2016-01-01

This study addresses irreversible investment decision-making in the context of uncertainty when allowing for inefficiency to be transmitted over time. Both irreversibility and persistence in technical inefficiency can lead to sluggish adjustment of quasi-fixed factors of production. The context

Production inefficiency of electricity markets with hydro generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Philpott, Andy; Guan, Ziming; Khazaei, Javad; Zakeri, Golbon

2010-01-01

Electricity market designs that decentralize decision making for participants can lead to inefficiencies in the presence of nonconvexity or missing markets. This has been shown in the case of unit-commitment problems that can make a decentralized market equilibrium less efficient than a centrally planned solution. Less attention has been focused on systems with large amounts of hydro-electric generation. We describe the results of an empirical study of the New Zealand wholesale electricity market that attempts to quantify production efficiency losses by comparing market outcomes with a counterfactual central plan. (author)

Tracking in dense environments and its inefficiency measurement using pixel $dE/dx$

CERN Document Server

Mansour, Jason Dhia; The ATLAS collaboration

2016-01-01

We present a measurement of the charged particle reconstruction inefficiency inside of jet cores, using data collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2015 of $pp$ collisions produced at the LHC, at a center of mass energy of 13 TeV. The determination of this inefficiency is important for jet energy scale and mass calibration, as well as multiple other performance studies and analyses. A data driven method is used, where the fraction of lost particle tracks is determined from energy deposition $dE/dx$ in the pixel detector. The fraction of lost tracks is found to be less than 5%, which is an improvement since the previous study, and agrees well within systematic uncertainties with a Monte Carlo simulation.

A Comparative Leadership Development Study within Student Collegiate Clubs and Organizations at an Agrarian University in Ukraine and a University within the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Kelling, Erik; Hoover, Tracy

2005-01-01

This study was conducted to explore leadership development within student collegiate clubs and organizations at an agrarian university in Ukraine. The data were then compared to a College of Agricultural Sciences at a university within the United States. The information collected in the study will serve as a basis for understanding leadership…

The Emergence of Network Inefficiencies in Infants With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

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Lewis, John D; Evans, Alan C; Pruett, John R; Botteron, Kelly N; McKinstry, Robert C; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie; Estes, Annette M; Collins, D Louis; Kostopoulos, Penelope; Gerig, Guido; Dager, Stephen R; Paterson, Sarah; Schultz, Robert T; Styner, Martin A; Hazlett, Heather C; Piven, Joseph

2017-08-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder defined by behavioral features that emerge during the first years of life. Research indicates that abnormalities in brain connectivity are associated with these behavioral features. However, the inclusion of individuals past the age of onset of the defining behaviors complicates interpretation of the observed abnormalities: they may be cascade effects of earlier neuropathology and behavioral abnormalities. Our recent study of network efficiency in a cohort of 24-month-olds at high and low familial risk for ASD reduced this confound; we reported reduced network efficiencies in toddlers classified with ASD. The current study maps the emergence of these inefficiencies in the first year of life. This study uses data from 260 infants at 6 and 12 months of age, including 116 infants with longitudinal data. As in our earlier study, we use diffusion data to obtain measures of the length and strength of connections between brain regions to compute network efficiency. We assess group differences in efficiency within linear mixed-effects models determined by the Akaike information criterion. Inefficiencies in high-risk infants later classified with ASD were detected from 6 months onward in regions involved in low-level sensory processing. In addition, within the high-risk infants, these inefficiencies predicted 24-month symptom severity. These results suggest that infants with ASD, even before 6 months of age, have deficits in connectivity related to low-level processing, which contribute to a developmental cascade affecting brain organization and eventually higher-level cognitive processes and social behavior. Copyright © 2017 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Public health and agrarian liberal politics in Spain: the Rural Health Bureau (1910-1918).].

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Rodríguez-Ocaña, Esteban

2010-01-01

This paper reviews the meaning of the Rural Health Bureau (1910-1918) for the history of Spanish public health, thanks to a wealth of previously unknown sources found through a systematic search through medical journals of the time and the Bulletin of the national department of Agriculture. The Bureau was dependent of the Ministry of Development, in the same way as the competences on animal health. It aimed to provide a public health rationale for a plan of agrarian infrastructures, a goal resolved into a huge task of surveillance on hookworm disease, malaria, water supplies, and diet. Thus it becomes a perfect paradigm of the Spanish Liberal tradition of promoting information instead than actual changes into society, as well as a needed complement to the hydraulic policy sponsored by Rafael Gasset.

Agricultural Elites; Economic Structure; and the Transition Towards Democracy in El Salvador

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Ana Sofía Cardenal

1996-12-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the process of democratization in El Salvador. More particularly, it attempts to explain a political outcome: the Peace Accords that were achieved in this country in January of 1992. Despite the attention recent theories about democracy have placed on political variables and strategic behavior, this study focusses mainly on structural factors emphasizing the role that such variables played in explaining democratic change in El Salvador. The argument lay down here rests on Barrington Moore’s thesis regarding the role of agrarian elites in democratic transitions. Based on his seminal comparative study, he established that no democratic result could possibly emerge without an erosion of the agrarian elite’s power base. As this article discloses, the Moore Condition was fullfiled for El Salvador in the 80s, rendering possible the peace accords. One of the most important consequences of the war -and the political and social processes that accompanied it- concerned the changes that took place in the economy. Those transformations moved El Salvador away from an agro-export economy to place it into a commercial and moreindustrialized one, leading in turn to a weakening of the traditional agrarian elite.

The Agrarian Question and the Neoliberal Rural Transformation in Latin America

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Cristóbal Kay

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Since the neoliberal turn in Latin America the rural economy and society has experienced a great transformation. Corporate capital and transnational agro-industries have taken hold of agriculture radically transforming the economic and social relations of production leading to the precarization and feminisation of rural labour as well as the intensification of work. Peasant farmers were further squeezed having to increasingly find off-farm incomes, largely through precarious wage labour activities, so as to make a living thereby furthering the process of proletarianization. The ‘new rurality’ and ‘territorial’ approaches tried to take account of these transformations but they are found wanting. Instead, a political economy view to the agrarian question is found more promising. A counter-movement to neoliberalism has emerged spearheaded by indigenous peoples and the rural poor, sometimes linked to the transnational peasant movement ‘Via Campesina’. Their main aim is to construct an alternative agrarian system based on ‘food sovereignty’ which is promising but also controversial. Resumen: La Cuestión Agraria y la Transformación Rural Neoliberal en Latinoamérica  Desde el giro neoliberal en América Latina la economía y sociedad rural han experimentado una gran transformación. El capital corporativo y las agroindustrias transnacionales se han apoderado de la agricultura transformando radicalmente las relaciones económicas y sociales de producción que llevan a la precarización y feminización de la mano de obra rural, así como a la intensificación del trabajo. Los campesinos enfrentan condiciones cada vez más difíciles teniendo que buscar con mayor frecuencia ingresos fuera de la finca, principalmente a través de actividades salariales precarias, con el fin de ganarse la vida impulsando con ello el proceso de proletarización. Los enfoques de la ‘nueva ruralidad’ y ‘territoriales’ trataron de explicar estas

INCOME AND ENERGY SOURCES AMONG AGRARIAN HOUSEHOLDS IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR LOW CARBON ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

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M. Mkpado

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Low-carbon power comes from sources that produce fewer greenhouse gases than do traditional means of power generation. It includes zero carbon power generation sources, such as wind power, solar power, geothermal power and (except for fuel preparation nuclear power, as well as sources with lower-level emissions such as natural and petroleum gas, and also technologies that prevent carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere, such as carbon capture and storage. This article correlated value of income from different sources to energy sources used by agrarian households in Nigeria and drew implications for low carbon development in Africa. It analysis included use of wind power for irrigation purposes, harnessing solar energy for lightening and possible cost implications. Secondary data were collected from Community Based Monitoring System Nigeria Project. Descriptive statistics, correlation and qualitative analysis were employed. The average annual income of agrarian households from different sources such as crop farming, livestock farming, petty trading, forest exploitation, remittance and labour per day was below the poverty line of $1 per day. The source of energy that had the highest number of significant correlation was electrical energy (low carbon electrical energy. It showed the possibility of pooling resources as farmers group to attract grants or equity financing to build wind mills for irrigation. The study recommended use of energy efficient bulbs to reduce CO2 emissions. This requires creating awareness among rural dwellers of the need to make such change.

Contract-based electricity markets in developing countries: Overcoming inefficiency constraints

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Perera, M. N. Susantha

The electric utility sector throughout the world has been undergoing significant changes. It is changing from its traditional, central-station generation model managed under a vertically integrated monopoly to a more market-dependent business. In the rich industrialized countries, this change has progressed rapidly with the emergence of competitive markets---not only in the area of electricity generation, but also in the extension of such markets down to the level of retail domestic consumer. Developing countries, on the other hand, are trying to attract much-needed investment capital for their power sector expansion activities, particularly for the expansion of generating capacity, through the involvement of the private sector. Unlike their industrialized counterparts, they are facing many limitations in transforming the mostly government-owned monopolies into market-driven businesses, thereby creating an environment that is conducive to private sector participation. Amongst these limitations are the lack of a well-developed, local private sector or domestic financial market that can handle the sophisticated power sector financing; inadequate legal and regulatory frameworks that can address the many complexities of private power development; and numerous risk factors including political risks. This dissertation research addresses an important inefficiency faced by developing countries in the new contract-based market structure that has emerged within these countries. It examines the inefficiencies brought on by restrictions in the contracts, specifically those arising from the guaranteed purchase conditions that are typically included in contracts between the purchasing utility and independent power producers in this new market. The research attempts to provide a solution for this problem and proposes a methodology that enables the parties to conduct their businesses in a cost-efficient manner within a cooperative environment. The situation described above is

Polymer ultrapermeability from the inefficient packing of 2D chains

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Rose, Ian; Bezzu, C. Grazia; Carta, Mariolino; Comesaña-Gándara, Bibiana; Lasseuguette, Elsa; Ferrari, M. Chiara; Bernardo, Paola; Clarizia, Gabriele; Fuoco, Alessio; Jansen, Johannes C.; Hart, Kyle E.; Liyana-Arachchi, Thilanga P.; Colina, Coray M.; McKeown, Neil B.

2017-09-01

The promise of ultrapermeable polymers, such as poly(trimethylsilylpropyne) (PTMSP), for reducing the size and increasing the efficiency of membranes for gas separations remains unfulfilled due to their poor selectivity. We report an ultrapermeable polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-TMN-Trip) that is substantially more selective than PTMSP. From molecular simulations and experimental measurement we find that the inefficient packing of the two-dimensional (2D) chains of PIM-TMN-Trip generates a high concentration of both small (Gas permeability data for PIM-TMN-Trip surpass the 2008 Robeson upper bounds for O2/N2, H2/N2, CO2/N2, H2/CH4 and CO2/CH4, with the potential for biogas purification and carbon capture demonstrated for relevant gas mixtures. Comparisons between PIM-TMN-Trip and structurally similar polymers with three-dimensional (3D) contorted chains confirm that its additional intrinsic microporosity is generated from the awkward packing of its 2D polymer chains in a 3D amorphous solid. This strategy of shape-directed packing of chains of microporous polymers may be applied to other rigid polymers for gas separations.

Agrarian foreign trade of the Czech Republic in the period of 2004–2008, competitiveness of commodities

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Jaroslava Burianová

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with agrarian foreign trade (AFT of the Czech Republic during the period of 2004–2008. Distinct changes in the trade volume, but also changes in the net export structure were observed. The export is being assisted with a much larger trading area without customs restrictions but it is also exposed to a much tougher competition. A methodology that makes it possible to evaluate the competitiveness of individual commodities is described in the first part. A sequence of individual items from a total list of basic food goods was analyzed using chosen indicators – Balass indicator RCA (Revealed Comparative Advantage as well as the Michaely index MI that shows a specific degree of specialization for export. In the Results section, attention is firstly focused on the year 2004. The values of export and import for 24 items of basic food commodities are summarised, and the most important items in respect of the share in total export are selected. Analogical output was acquired for the year 2008. The values of RCA and MI indicators are then itemised, and a sequence is determined for the highest values for the commodities able to compete that shows the specific degree of specialization for export.

Adopting new medical technologies in Russian hospitals: what causes inefficiency? (qualitative study).

Science.gov (United States)

Shishkin, Sergey; Zasimova, Liudmila

2018-01-01

The adoption of new medical technologies often generates losses in efficiency associated with the excess or insufficient acquisition of new equipment, an inappropriate choice (in terms of economic and clinical parameters) of medical equipment, and its poor use. Russia is a good example for exploring the problem of the ineffective adoption of new medical technologies due to the massive public investment in new equipment for medical institutions in 2006-2013. This study examines the procurement of new technologies in Russian hospitals to find the main causes of inefficiency. The research strategy was based on in-depth semistructured interviews with representatives of prominent actors (regional health care authorities, hospital executives, senior physicians). The main result is that inefficiencies arise from the contradiction between hospitals' and authorities' motivation for acquiring new technologies: hospitals tend to adopt technologies which bring benefits to their department heads and physicians and minimize maintenance and servicing costs, while the authorities' main concern is the initial cost of the technology.

The impact of global trends on Czech trade in agrarian and foodstuff products

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Eva Rosochatecká

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The Czech retail market has changed its structure and form during the last twenty years. The influence of two factors is especially significant. The first one is the growth of internationalization and the second one is market concentration growth. The significant opening process of the Czech economy, accompanied by the liberalization of the Czech market process, enabled the international retail companies to penetrate the national retail market. The most powerful European retail companies are now present in the Czech market. The available shopping area/cap is also one of the largest in Europe. Retail chains have taken a dominant position in the market, and because of their market power they are able to determine trade/contract conditions for domestic suppliers. Retail chains’ sales have been constantly growing. While in 2006 the value of sales was about 258.5 billion CZK, in 2008 it was about 312.2 billion CZK. The impact of the economic crisis on the Czech retail market has not been as stressful as it was abroad. In 2009, a slowdown of the Czech retail market was recorded, but the value of sales decreased by only 3 billion CZK (in comparison with 2008. The highest sales (59 billion CZK were recorded by the Lidl & Schwarz-Gruppe, which is the owner of two dominant retail chains in the Czech retail market (Kaufland and Lidl. The main aim of the paper is to evaluate the selected aspects, which have been influencing the relationship between multinational companies (retail companies – supermarkets and hypermarkets and local (Czech suppliers of agrarian and foodstuff products (farmers and foodstuff companies. The paper analyses the problem of abuse of multinational companies’ significant market power in relation to their suppliers. Based on a pilot project, the efficiency of market force law, and its use in practice, are analysed. The main idea is to analyse the following problems: the impact of 30 days payment period for goods delivered, under

Is Declining malaria vector population in Africa a result of intervention Measures or sampling tools inefficiency?

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Eliningaya Kweka

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Recent entomological surveys have shown a declining trend of malaria vector population in sub-Saharan Africa and the observation have beenassociated with the scale-up and intensive use of malaria intervention measures such as insecticides treated nets and insecticide residual sprays.However, little is known on the contribution of the mosquito sampling tools inefficiency on the declining trends of malaria vector population. Inthis commentary paper, we explore the possibility of contribution of mosquito sampling tools’ inefficiency to the observed declining trends ofmalaria vector population in Africa.

Breaking the Logic of Groundwater-Led Agrarian Change in India

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Siegfried, T.

2007-12-01

It is well known that the past groundwater led agrarian change in India is not sustainable and the major productivity growth in the agricultural sector over the last 50 years threatened. The groundwater economy in South Asia is characterized by the multitude (20 million in India alone) of individual private well owners who make independent extraction choices in an imperfect market environment. As a result and all over the subcontinent, dramatic regional aquifer depletion (100 to 150 m drops of groundwater levels in some regions) and soil salinization (20'000 to 30'000 ha lost to water logging and soil salinization annually) is observed. Considering that agriculture accounts for approximately 25% of India's GDP and employs nearly 62% of the population these observations are all the more worrisome. Consequently, India might turn from a major crop exporter (35 cubic km / a of freshwater equivalent presently or 50% of the annual average runoff of the Nile river) to a large volume staple food importer in the future so as to be able to feed its estimated population of 1.5 billion (2 billion) people by 2030 (2050). Apart from constantly worsening local employment opportunities, this development will most likely have repercussions on global food markets by causing substantial food commodity price increases on a world-wide level. In order for policies to effectively address the problems related to groundwater irrigated agriculture in India, the micro foundations of the above mentioned macro level outcomes have to be properly understood. This is far from simple, given the complex fragmentation of the social, political and economic spaces in India and their intricate interplay. Examples of the latter are the targeted public food distribution systems. It will be argued that the outcomes to freshwater allocation, i.e. the absence or presence of certain institutional forms, are critically shaped by the place-dependent dialectic between nature and society. Thus, a prerequisite

El problema agrario: una crisis epistemológica Tha agrarian problem: an epistemological crisis

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Rivera Carlos Fernando

1999-12-01

Full Text Available Las políticas agrícolas de los últimos veinte años en Colombia presentan evidentes incoherencias, falta de claridad, avances y retrocesos sin sentido. El autor sostiene que ese caos obedece a la carencia de una visión de largo p.lazo del sector rural y, en los medios académicos, a la carencia de una teoría agraria que abarque la complejidad de 10 rural, que aclare -con rigor, un método definodo e instrumentos adecuados- en qué consiste el problema agrario que las politicas deben contribuir a resolver. Luego de recordar algunos fundamentos teóricos se pregunta cómo se llegó a la confusión que hoy existe y, para responderla, hace un seguimiento, en la obra de Jesus Bejarano, de la evolución de la visión del problema agrario, hasta desaparecer de las preocupaciones académicas actuales. Conc 1uyc presentando algunas opciones epistemológicas que tienen la academia y la sociedad para revisar sus fundamentos, partiendo de la necesidad de volver a pensarse como sociedad.Agricultural policy in Colombia during the last two decades has been characterized by incoherence, lack of clarity and a senseless pattern of advances and U-turns. The author sustains that this chaos is due to the lack of a long term vision of the rural sector and, in academic circles, the lack of of an adequate theory capable of encompassing its complexity. Such a theory should clearly establish -with rigor, a definite method and appropiate instruments- what precisely in the
agrarian problem to whose solution policies are addressed. After reviewing some basic theoretical concepts, this essay explores the causes of the current confusion. In order to formulate an answer, it follows the evolution, in the work of Bejarano, of the vision of the agrarian problem until it disappeared below the horizon of current academic concerns. It concludes with a discussion some epistemological
options available to society and academia to return to the basics. One of these is the

Pediatric Trauma Transfer Imaging Inefficiencies-Opportunities for Improvement with Cloud Technology.

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Puckett, Yana; To, Alvin

2016-01-01

This study examines the inefficiencies of radiologic imaging transfers from one hospital to the other during pediatric trauma transfers in an era of cloud based information sharing. Retrospective review of all patients transferred to a pediatric trauma center from 2008-2014 was performed. Imaging was reviewed for whether imaging accompanied the patient, whether imaging was able to be uploaded onto computer for records, whether imaging had to be repeated, and whether imaging obtained at outside hospitals (OSH) was done per universal pediatric trauma guidelines. Of the 1761 patients retrospectively reviewed, 559 met our inclusion criteria. Imaging was sent with the patient 87.7% of the time. Imaging was unable to be uploaded 31.9% of the time. CT imaging had to be repeated 1.8% of the time. CT scan was not done per universal pediatric trauma guidelines 1.2% of the time. Our study demonstrated that current imaging transfer is inefficient, leads to excess ionizing radiation, and increased healthcare costs. Universal implementation of cloud based radiology has the potential to eliminate excess ionizing radiation to children, improve patient care, and save cost to healthcare system.

Landscape Transformation under Global Environmental Change in Mediterranean Mountains: Agrarian Lands as a Guarantee for Maintaining Their Multifunctionality

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Diego Varga

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The analysis of past and present patterns of agrarian mountain areas allows researchers to characterize the influence of landscape heterogeneity on biodiversity, cultural heritage, and forest fire hazard. This process was mapped, quantified, and described through the use of digital mapping (GIS and landscape indexes in a protected area in Alta Garrotxa (Catalonia, Spain. These areas require urgent management and modelling to provide alternative management scenarios, in order to maintain and recover habitats. A set of different scenarios have been designed using a multi-criteria evaluation and geospatial information available for the study area to identify the key areas for management action and to predict the potential effects on agricultural lands by prioritizing one or another management objective: biodiversity, landscape structure and perception, cultural heritage, fire hazard, and management cost. The observed progressive land abandonment of open areas with a small size and greater isolation will have a large impact on biodiversity and cultural heritage, and increase fire risk. Sustainable development will require planning objectives compatible with the conservation of biodiversity and the preservation of Mediterranean features with support for agricultural activities. This methodology can contribute to and be easily implemented by land managers, which could help to strengthen the link between managers and stakeholders.

The inherent inefficiency of simultaneously feasible financial transmission rights auctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng, Shi-Jie; Oren, Shmuel; Meliopoulos, A.P.

2010-01-01

Empirical evidence from the New York ISO shows that the clearing prices for point-to-point congestion revenue rights, also known as financial transmission rights (FTRs), resulting from centralized auctions conducted by Independent System Operators differ significantly and systematically from the realized congestion revenues that determine the accrued payoffs of these rights. The question addressed by this paper is whether such deviations are due to price discovery errors which will eventually vanish or due to inherent inefficiencies in the auction structure. We show that even with perfect foresight of average congestion rents the clearing prices for the FTRs depend on the bid quantity and therefore may not be priced correctly in the financial transmission right (FTR) auction. In particular, we prove that quantity limits on the FTR bids may cause the auction clearing prices to differ from the bid prices. This phenomenon which is inherent in the theoretical properties of the optimization algorithm used to clear the auction, is further illustrated through numerical simulations with test systems. We conclude that price discovery alone would not remedy the discrepancy between the auction prices and the realized values of the FTRs. Secondary markets or frequent reconfiguration auctions are necessary in order to achieve such convergence. (author)

A Market-Clearing Role for Inefficiency on a Limit Order Book

OpenAIRE

Jeremy Large

2006-01-01

Using a stochastic sequential game in ergodic equilibrium, this paper models limit order book trading dynamics. It deduces investor surplus and some agents' strategies from depth's stationarity, while bypassing altogether agents' intricate forecasting problems. Market inefficiency adjusts to induce equal supply and demand for liquidity over time. Consequently, at a given bid-ask spread surplus per investor is invariant to faster, more regular or more sophisticated trading, or modified queuing...

More nonlocality with less entanglement in Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt experiments using inefficient detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Dilley, Daniel; Chitambar, Eric

2018-06-01

It is well-known that in certain scenarios weakly entangled states can generate stronger nonlocal effects than their maximally entangled counterparts. In this paper, we consider violations of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality when one party has inefficient detectors, a scenario known as an asymmetric Bell experiment. For any fixed detection efficiency, we derive a simple upper bound on the entanglement needed to violate the inequality by more than some specified amount κ ≥0 . When κ =0 , the amount of entanglement in all states violating the inequality goes to zero as the detection efficiency approaches 50 % from above. We finally consider the scenario in which detection inefficiency arises for only one choice of local measurement. In this case, it is shown that the CHSH inequality can always be violated for any nonzero detection efficiency and any choice of noncommuting measurements.

Discursos y políticas agrarias en Argentina, 1920-1955 Discourse and Agrarian Policies in Argentina, 1920-1955

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Javier Balsa

2012-12-01

Full Text Available En este artículo se analiza cómo el discurso agrarista crítico del latifundio fue consolidándose en la opinión pública argentina y se tradujo en medidas que fueron teniendo cada vez más impacto sobre la realidad agraria. En 1921 la lucha de los chacareros logró una primera ley que reguló los contratos de arrendamiento. En las décadas siguientes, incluso algunas figuras políticas del conservadurismo fueron incorporando la discursividad agrarista crítica e implementaron políticas acordes, aunque de carácter limitado que, de todos modos, contribuyeron a la legitimación de las demandas chacareras. Con el golpe militar de 1943 y el ascenso de Perón, el agrarismo crítico se convirtió en una real estrategia política, hasta que a partir de 1948 asistimos a un giro discursivo y político por parte de Perón, frenándose el proceso colonizador oficial y reduciéndose las medidas agraristas.This article analyzes the consolidation of an agrarist discourse critique of the latifundio in the Argentine public opinion and how this had impact on the agrarian reality. In 1921, the chacareros' fight achieved the first law that regulated tenure contracts. In the next decades, even some political figures of the Argentine conservatism begun to assimilate the critique agrarist discursivity and they took some appropriate, but limited measures that, anyway, contributed to the legitimation of the chacareros' demands. With the military coup of 1943 and the promotion of the political figure of Perón, critique agrarism became a real political strategy, until from 1948 when we attend to a political and discursive turn of Peron's policies, that stopped the official colonization process and reduced the amount of agrarian measures.

Fractal stock markets: International evidence of dynamical (in)efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Bianchi, Sergio; Frezza, Massimiliano

2017-07-01

The last systemic financial crisis has reawakened the debate on the efficient nature of financial markets, traditionally described as semimartingales. The standard approaches to endow the general notion of efficiency of an empirical content turned out to be somewhat inconclusive and misleading. We propose a topological-based approach to quantify the informational efficiency of a financial time series. The idea is to measure the efficiency by means of the pointwise regularity of a (stochastic) function, given that the signature of a martingale is that its pointwise regularity equals 1/2 . We provide estimates for real financial time series and investigate their (in)efficient behavior by comparing three main stock indexes.

Energy savings potential in China's industrial sector: From the perspectives of factor price distortion and allocative inefficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ouyang, Xiaoling; Sun, Chuanwang

2015-01-01

China's industrial energy consumption accounted for 70.82% of national and 14.12% of world energy usage in 2011. In the context of energy scarcity and environmental pollution, the industrial sector in China faces unsustainable growth problems. By adopting the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) framework, this paper analyzes the factor allocative efficiency of China's industrial sector, and estimates the energy savings potential from the perspective of allocative inefficiency. This paper focuses on three issues. The first is examining the factor allocative inefficiency of China's industrial sector. The second is measuring factor price distortion by the shadow price model. The third is estimating the energy savings potential in China's industrial sector during 2001–2009. Major conclusions are thus drawn. First, factor prices of capital, labor and energy are distorted in China due to government regulations. Moreover, energy price is relatively low compared to capital price, while is relatively high compared to labor price. Second, the industry-wide energy savings potential resulted from energy allocative inefficiency was about 9.71% during 2001–2009. The downward trend of energy savings potential implies the increasing energy allocative efficiency in China's industrial sector. Third, a transparent and reasonable pricing mechanism is conducive to improving energy allocative efficiency. - Highlights: • We measure energy savings potential resulted from allocative inefficiency in China's industrial sector. • Allocative inefficiency is explained based on the theoretical and empirical models. • Factor prices of capital, labor and energy are distorted because of government regulations. • Energy pricing reform is conducive to improving energy allocative efficiency

Explaining technical inefficiency and the variation in income from apple adoption in highland Ethiopia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alemu, Sintayehu Hailu; Kempen, van Luuk; Ruben, Ruerd

2017-01-01

This paper considers the performance and quality of apple fruits and seedlings production in Chencha district of southern Ethiopia. The estimated, three-factor (labour, land and capital) production frontier reveals that the technical inefficiency is 60% and 48% for fruits and seedlings

Creating Sustainable Businesses by Reducing Food Waste : A Value Chain Framework for Eliminating Inefficiencies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drs. Gerry Kouwenhoven; Dr. Vijayender Reddy Nalla; Ton Lossonczy von Losoncz

2012-01-01

This study proposes a systematic value chain approach to helping businesses identify and eliminate inefficiencies. The authors have developed a robust framework, which food-sector entrepreneurs can use to increase profitability of an existing business or to create new profitable opportunities. The

The Mechanisms of Market Inefficiency: An Introduction to the New Finance

OpenAIRE

Stout, Lynn A.

2004-01-01

During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Efficient Capital Market Hypothesis (ECMH) became one of the most widely-accepted and influential ideas in finance economics. More recently, however, the idea of market efficiency has fallen into disrepute as a result of market events and growing empirical evidence of inefficiencies. This essay argues that the weaknesses of the efficient market theory are, and were, apparent from a careful inspection of its initial premises, including the presumptions of ...

The effect of group rational emotive behavior therapy on inefficient ideas of female high school students

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F. Hassani

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The perpose of this stud was to determiine the effpyct of group rational emotive therapy on inefficient ideas of female high school students . Therfor 24 students were randomly selected and two therapy and control groups. The therapy group received 10 sessions of 90 minute therapy while the control groups did not receive any thing. The inefficient ideas quertomaire was administered to all subjects as the pre and post tests. The results of analysis of covariance showed that the mean total scores of the therapy group was significantly less on the following sub-scales : expectations (p=0/05 , excessive anxiety (p=0/04 , helplessness with change (p=0/05 , expecting others support (p=0/03 , and dependency (p=0/0001 .

RESEARCHING FACTORS OF INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES OF AGRARIAN BUSINESS OF UKRAINE UNDER GLOBALIZATION OF THE WORLD ECONOMY

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Vadim Sidorov

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Modern processes of reforming the agroindustrial complex of Ukraine, a large part of which belongs to the agrarian sector, under the globalization of world economic processes in the agricultural market require that domestic agroindustrial enterprises improve and rationally manage innovative activities (IА. The effective solution of problems that arise in this context in the rapidly changing economic and social and political environment requires that analytical methods in the management of the enterprises of the agroindustrial complex (AIC be used on the basis of the tools of economic and mathematical modelling, taking into account characteristics of agrarian production. The main approaches to modelling systems related to IА management are either descriptive or insufficiently formalized, and suggest virtual experimenting with IA management, avoiding the possibility of assessing the impact and consequences of different management options in the long view, minimizing IA risks when making managerial decisions. The subject matter of the article is the tools of economic and mathematical simulation of the development of innovative activities of the domestic agroindustrial complex. The goal is to develop tools for modelling innovative activities of enterprises of the agroindustrial complex of Ukraine in the form of analytical dependencies of impact factors. The objective is to research the dynamics of innovative activities of enterprises of the agroindustrial complex of Ukraine in terms of its components under the globalization of world economic processes in the market of agricultural products. General scientific methods are used, such as system analysis – to determine the peculiarities of development of IА of agroindustrial production in Ukraine, factor analysis – to formalize the cause-and-effect relationships of the investigated factors of AIC enterprises impact on IA. The following results were obtained: on the basis of the analysis of the

Inefficient national environmental regulation as a signal of high abatement costs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steiner, U.

1997-12-31

This paper analyses the importance of informational asymmetries in international environmental regulation by use of a game theoretic approach of signaling games. More specific it analysis whether it is possible for a government to try to extract higher compensation in an international unidirectoral environmental problem. This may be possible when the national environmental regulation carries a signal of the cost of the regulated industry. In this case the government e.g. by means of inefficient environmental regulation on a national level may try to signal high abatement costs. In spite of the fact that many international environmental problems seem to be solvable by the use of financial payments there are only few examples that compensation payment arrangements have been implemented. As many countries and especially many polluting firms possess better information about abatement costs than the countries that receive the pollution, it is worthwhile to include asymmetric information. Consequently, this paper analyses whether the introduction of asymmetric information about abatement costs may bring forward incentives to misrepresent the true abatement cost in order to capture more compensation. If these incentives turn out to be present, it may explain some of the suspicion against using financial payment in order to induce other countries to join an agreement. The analysis shows that it may indeed be the case that the expected gain from cheating is so large that it gives incentives to use an inefficient national environmental policy. (au) 13 refs.

Fast Recognition of BCI-Inefficient Users Using Physiological Features from EEG Signals: A Screening Study of Stroke Patients

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Xiaokang Shu

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Motor imagery (MI based brain-computer interface (BCI has been developed as an alternative therapy for stroke rehabilitation. However, experimental evidence demonstrates that a significant portion (10–50% of subjects are BCI-inefficient users (accuracy less than 70%. Thus, predicting BCI performance prior to clinical BCI usage would facilitate the selection of suitable end-users and improve the efficiency of stroke rehabilitation. In the current study, we proposed two physiological variables, i.e., laterality index (LI and cortical activation strength (CAS, to predict MI-BCI performance. Twenty-four stroke patients and 10 healthy subjects were recruited for this study. Each subject was required to perform two blocks of left- and right-hand MI tasks. Linear regression analyses were performed between the BCI accuracies and two physiological predictors. Here, the predictors were calculated from the electroencephalography (EEG signals during paretic hand MI tasks (5 trials; approximately 1 min. LI values exhibited a statistically significant correlation with two-class BCI (left vs. right performance (r = −0.732, p < 0.001, and CAS values exhibited a statistically significant correlation with brain-switch BCI (task vs. idle performance (r = 0.641, p < 0.001. Furthermore, the BCI-inefficient users were successfully recognized with a sensitivity of 88.2% and a specificity of 85.7% in the two-class BCI. The brain-switch BCI achieved a sensitivity of 100.0% and a specificity of 87.5% in the discrimination of BCI-inefficient users. These results demonstrated that the proposed BCI predictors were promising to promote the BCI usage in stroke rehabilitation and contribute to a better understanding of the BCI-inefficiency phenomenon in stroke patients.

Losses, inefficiencies and waste in the global food system.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Peter; Brown, Calum; Arneth, Almut; Finnigan, John; Moran, Dominic; Rounsevell, Mark D A

2017-05-01

Losses at every stage in the food system influence the extent to which nutritional requirements of a growing global population can be sustainably met. Inefficiencies and losses in agricultural production and consumer behaviour all play a role. This paper aims to understand better the magnitude of different losses and to provide insights into how these influence overall food system efficiency. We take a systems view from primary production of agricultural biomass through to human food requirements and consumption. Quantities and losses over ten stages are calculated and compared in terms of dry mass, wet mass, protein and energy. The comparison reveals significant differences between these measurements, and the potential for wet mass figures used in previous studies to be misleading. The results suggest that due to cumulative losses, the proportion of global agricultural dry biomass consumed as food is just 6% (9.0% for energy and 7.6% for protein), and 24.8% of harvest biomass (31.9% for energy and 27.8% for protein). The highest rates of loss are associated with livestock production, although the largest absolute losses of biomass occur prior to harvest. Losses of harvested crops were also found to be substantial, with 44.0% of crop dry matter (36.9% of energy and 50.1% of protein) lost prior to human consumption. If human over-consumption, defined as food consumption in excess of nutritional requirements, is included as an additional inefficiency, 48.4% of harvested crops were found to be lost (53.2% of energy and 42.3% of protein). Over-eating was found to be at least as large a contributor to food system losses as consumer food waste. The findings suggest that influencing consumer behaviour, e.g. to eat less animal products, or to reduce per capita consumption closer to nutrient requirements, offer substantial potential to improve food security for the rising global population in a sustainable manner.

Przeludnienie agrarne a rozwój gospodarczy wsi polskiej w pracach Władysława Grabskiego

OpenAIRE

Puliński, Włodzimierz

1983-01-01

The article discusses the concepts of the agrarian policy formulated by W. Grabski and aiming at elimination of agrarian overpopulation being one of basie socio-economic problems of the interwar Poland. Grabski's postulates are of complex charactęr. They encompass in their coverage co-ordinated activities inside the agricultural sector: transformation of the agrarian structure, development of agricultural education, development of agricultural infrastructure, and activ...

Popular Demobilization, Agribusiness Mobilization, and the Agrarian Boom in Post-Neoliberal Argentina

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Pablo Lapegna

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Based on ethnographic research, archival data, and a catalog of protest events, this article analyzes the relationship between popular social movements, business mobilization, and institutional politics in Argentina during the post-neoliberal phase, which arguably began circa 2003. How did waves of popular mobilization in the 1990s shape business mobilization in the 2000s? How did contentious politics influence institutional politics in the post-neoliberal period? What are the changes and continuities of the agrarian boom that cut across the neoliberal and post-neoliberal periods? While I zoom in on Argentina, the article goes beyond this case by contributing to three discussions. First, rather than limiting the analysis to the customary focus on the mobilization of subordinated actors, it examines the demobilization of popular social movements, the mobilization of business sectors, and the connections between the two. Second, it shows the ways in which the state can simultaneously challenge neoliberal principles while also favoring the global corporations that dominate the contemporary neoliberal food regime. Finally, the case of Argentina sheds light on the political economy of the "Left turn" in Latin America, particularly the negative socio-environmental impacts of commodity booms. The article concludes that researchers need to pay closer attention to the connections between contentious and institutional politics, and to the protean possibilities of neoliberalism to inspire collective actions.

Fast Recognition of BCI-Inefficient Users Using Physiological Features from EEG Signals: A Screening Study of Stroke Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Shu, Xiaokang; Chen, Shugeng; Yao, Lin; Sheng, Xinjun; Zhang, Dingguo; Jiang, Ning; Jia, Jie; Zhu, Xiangyang

2018-01-01

Motor imagery (MI) based brain-computer interface (BCI) has been developed as an alternative therapy for stroke rehabilitation. However, experimental evidence demonstrates that a significant portion (10-50%) of subjects are BCI-inefficient users (accuracy less than 70%). Thus, predicting BCI performance prior to clinical BCI usage would facilitate the selection of suitable end-users and improve the efficiency of stroke rehabilitation. In the current study, we proposed two physiological variables, i.e., laterality index (LI) and cortical activation strength (CAS), to predict MI-BCI performance. Twenty-four stroke patients and 10 healthy subjects were recruited for this study. Each subject was required to perform two blocks of left- and right-hand MI tasks. Linear regression analyses were performed between the BCI accuracies and two physiological predictors. Here, the predictors were calculated from the electroencephalography (EEG) signals during paretic hand MI tasks (5 trials; approximately 1 min). LI values exhibited a statistically significant correlation with two-class BCI (left vs. right) performance (r = -0.732, p discrimination of BCI-inefficient users. These results demonstrated that the proposed BCI predictors were promising to promote the BCI usage in stroke rehabilitation and contribute to a better understanding of the BCI-inefficiency phenomenon in stroke patients.

Fast Recognition of BCI-Inefficient Users Using Physiological Features from EEG Signals: A Screening Study of Stroke Patients

Science.gov (United States)

Shu, Xiaokang; Chen, Shugeng; Yao, Lin; Sheng, Xinjun; Zhang, Dingguo; Jiang, Ning; Jia, Jie; Zhu, Xiangyang

2018-01-01

Motor imagery (MI) based brain-computer interface (BCI) has been developed as an alternative therapy for stroke rehabilitation. However, experimental evidence demonstrates that a significant portion (10–50%) of subjects are BCI-inefficient users (accuracy less than 70%). Thus, predicting BCI performance prior to clinical BCI usage would facilitate the selection of suitable end-users and improve the efficiency of stroke rehabilitation. In the current study, we proposed two physiological variables, i.e., laterality index (LI) and cortical activation strength (CAS), to predict MI-BCI performance. Twenty-four stroke patients and 10 healthy subjects were recruited for this study. Each subject was required to perform two blocks of left- and right-hand MI tasks. Linear regression analyses were performed between the BCI accuracies and two physiological predictors. Here, the predictors were calculated from the electroencephalography (EEG) signals during paretic hand MI tasks (5 trials; approximately 1 min). LI values exhibited a statistically significant correlation with two-class BCI (left vs. right) performance (r = −0.732, p discrimination of BCI-inefficient users. These results demonstrated that the proposed BCI predictors were promising to promote the BCI usage in stroke rehabilitation and contribute to a better understanding of the BCI-inefficiency phenomenon in stroke patients. PMID:29515363

The economic inefficiency of grid parity. The case of German photovoltaics in scenarios until 2030

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaegemann, Cosima; Hagspiel, Simeon; Lindenberger, Dietmar [Koeln Univ. (Germany). Inst. of Energy Economics

2012-07-01

Due to massive reductions in the price for photovoltaic (PV) systems, PV grid parity has recently been reached for German households. As PV system prices continue to decrease, the gap between the levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) of PV and the retail electricity tariff will grow and trigger investments in residential PV systems for captive electricity generation - even in the absence of any direct financial incentives such as solar power feed-in tariffs. However, while the single household can lower its annual electricity costs through investments in rooftop PV systems for captive electricity generation, the partial optimization of the single household is inefficient from an economic perspective. Households optimize their PV investment by comparing the LCOE of PV to the residential electricity tariff that includes network tariffs, taxes, levies and other surcharges that can be avoided when consuming self-produced PV electricity instead of purchasing electricity from the grid. Therefore, private investments in rooftop PV systems receive an indirect financial incentive in the current regulatory environment. This paper analyzes the consequences of PV grid parity in Germany until 2030 from both the single household and the wholesale market perspective. We find that exempting self-consumed PV electricity from all additional charges induces significant investments in rooftop PV systems and small scale storage systems, allowing for high shares of in-house PV electricity consumption. From the single household perspective, the optimal PV and storage system capacities increase with the number of residents living in the household, enabling households to cover on average 72 % of their annual electricity demand by self-produced PV electricity. The single households's optimization behavior entails direct consequences for the wholesale market, as it changes the residual load both in volume and structure. The inefficiency caused by the partial optimization of single

FACTORS OF LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN AGRICULTURE OF THE AGRARIAN REGION

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Anatoly Babenko

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to study the conceptual provisions of the essence of labour productivity in agriculture in order to determine the factors and conditions for its growth at the present stage of economic development. Methods. The theoretical and methodological bases of research are the works of classical and modern economic science concerning labour productivity and human capital. With the aim of concretizing the conceptual and categorical apparatus, the dialectical and abstract-logical methods were used; a monographic method was used during covering the views of scientists on the investigated problem; for the analysis of labour productivity trends, the method of comparative analysis and the graphical method were used. Results. The conditions of agricultural production management in an agrarian region are characterized. Factors of labour productivity growth in agriculture are determined. It is established that the main reserves of increasing labour productivity consist of reducing labour costs for the production of agricultural products. In turn, the reduction of labour costs is caused by the use of new equipment and new technologies, progressive forms of labour organization, improvement of the system of material incentives for labour. Practical significance. The realization of proposals and recommendations concerning the formation and development of human capital for agricultural production, optimization of production resources, strengthening of labour motivation will provide an opportunity to increase the labour activity of personnel, the volume of agricultural production. Relevance/originality. Further development of research results allows us to collect an empirical, multifactorial model of labour productivity growth in agricultural production.

Social Costs of the Inefficient Management of the EU Funds for Bulgaria

OpenAIRE

Nozharov, Shteryo

2016-01-01

The study identifies and defines the social costs of the inefficient management of EU funds for Bulgaria. It is analyzed the last due programme period (2007-2015) and its prolongation. As methodology of the research the V4 BM model of Al-Debei and Avison (2010) which has not been used for analysis of EU funds management for cohesion policy in the public sector, is applied. In this way its potential for application in this field is tested. The concept of the study could be successfully used fo...

Negative emotional stimuli reduce contextual cueing but not response times in inefficient search

OpenAIRE

Kunar, Melina A.; Watson, Derrick G.; Cole, Louise (Researcher in Psychology); Cox, Angeline

2014-01-01

In visual search, previous work has shown that negative stimuli narrow the focus of attention and speed reaction times (RTs). This paper investigates these two effects by first asking whether negative emotional stimuli narrow the focus of attention to reduce the learning of a display context in a contextual cueing task and, second, whether exposure to negative stimuli also reduces RTs in inefficient search tasks. In Experiment 1, participants viewed either negative or neutral images (faces or...

Analysis of major risk factors affecting those working in the agrarian sector (based on a sociological survey).

Science.gov (United States)

Krekoten, Olena M; Dereziuk, Anatolii V; Ihnaschuk, Olena V; Holovchanska, Svitlana E

Issues related to labour potential, its state and problems have consistently been a focus of attention for the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Its respective analysis shows that labour potential problems remain unresolved in many countries of the world. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), adverse working conditions are among major factors of occupational disease development in Europe and the reason for disabilities of economically active population during 2.5% of their lifetime. The aim of the present study is to identify and analyse major risk factors, which have a bearing on people working in agriculture in the course of exercising their occupation, with account of forms of ownership of agricultural enterprises. Carried out was a cross-sectional study involving a sociological survey of 412 respondents - those working in agriculture - who made up the primary group and the control group. The study revealed 21 risk factors, 9 of which were work-related. A modified elementary cybernetic model of studying impact efficiency was developed with the view of carrying out a structural analysis of the sample group and choosing relevant methodological approaches. It has been established that harmful factors related to working environment and one's lifestyle are decisive in the agrarian sector, particularly for workers of privately owned businesses. For one out of three respondents harmful working conditions manifested themselves as industrial noise (31.7±3.4), vibration (29.0±2.1) trunk bending and constrained working posture (36.6±3.4). The vast majority of agricultural workers (91.6±2.5) admitted they could not afford proper rest during their annual leave; male respondents abused alcohol (70.6±3.0) and smoking (41.4±2.0 per 100 workers). The research established the structure of risk factors, which is sequentially represented by the following groups: behavioral (smoking, drinking of alcohol, rest during annual leave, physical culture), working

Cost inefficiency under financial strain: a stochastic frontier analysis of hospitals in Washington State through the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Izón, Germán M; Pardini, Chelsea A

2017-06-01

The importance of increasing cost efficiency for community hospitals in the United States has been underscored by the Great Recession and the ever-changing health care reimbursement environment. Previous studies have shown mixed evidence with regards to the relationship between linking hospitals' reimbursement to quality of care and cost efficiency. Moreover, current evidence suggests that not only inherently financially disadvantaged hospitals (e.g., safety-net providers), but also more financially stable providers, experienced declines to their financial viability throughout the recession. However, little is known about how hospital cost efficiency fared throughout the Great Recession. This study contributes to the literature by using stochastic frontier analysis to analyze cost inefficiency of Washington State hospitals between 2005 and 2012, with controls for patient burden of illness, hospital process of care quality, and hospital outcome quality. The quality measures included in this study function as central measures for the determination of recently implemented pay-for-performance programs. The average estimated level of hospital cost inefficiency before the Great Recession (10.4 %) was lower than it was during the Great Recession (13.5 %) and in its aftermath (14.1 %). Further, the estimated coefficients for summary process of care quality indexes for three health conditions (acute myocardial infarction, pneumonia, and heart failure) suggest that higher quality scores are associated with increased cost inefficiency.

Does moving towards renewable energy causes water and land inefficiency? An empirical investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-mulali, Usama; Solarin, Sakiru Adebola; Sheau-Ting, Low; Ozturk, Ilhan

2016-01-01

This study investigates the effect of renewable energy production on water and land footprint in 58 developed and developing countries for the period of 1980–2009. Utilizing the ecological footprint as an indicator, the fixed effects, difference and system generalized method of moment (GMM) approaches were employed and eight different models were constructed to achieve robustness in the empirical outcomes. Despite the use of different methods and models, the outcome was the same whereby GDP growth, urbanization, and trade openness increase the water and land footprint. Moreover, renewable energy production increases the water and land inefficiency because of its positive effect on ecological footprint. Additionally, based on the square of GDP it is concluded that the EKC hypothesis does not exist while the square of renewable energy production indicates that renewable energy production will continue to increase water and land footprint in the future. From the outcome of this study, a number of recommendations were provided to the investigated countries. - Highlights: •The effect of renewable energy production on water and land footprint is studied. •58 developed and developing countries were examined for the period of 1980–2009. •Eight different models were constructed to achieve robustness in the outcomes. •GDP, urbanization, and trade openness increase the water and land footprint. •Renewable energy production increases the water and land inefficiency.

Structural Change and Income Inequality – Agricultural Development and Inter-sectoral Dualism in the Developing World, 1960-2010

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Martin P. Andersson

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Structural change consists of the long-term changes in the sectoral composition of output and employment. We introduce a structural change perspective to the study of income inequality in 27 countries of the developing world for the period 1960-2010. The service sector has become the main employer, but the agricultural sector is central to the income distribution because poverty is mostly rural, and the labor surplus is high. We decompose the sectoral composition of aggregate labor productivity at the country level, divide the countries into agrarian, dual (beginner, intermediate and advanced, and mature economies and use the inter-sectoral productivity gap to test the effect of structural change on income inequality. We confirm increases in agricultural productivity everywhere and find that the inter-sectoral gap is positively associated with income inequality. The effect is negligible in agrarian and advanced economies but powerful in dual beginner economies: an increase of 1% in the inter-sectoral gap increases income inequality by 0.5%. The effect peters out in dual intermediate economies and disappears completely in dual advanced economies. Finally, redistribution has been the key to compensating the losers in the income changes, particularly for those entering the non-agricultural economy.

On the Inefficiency of Equilibria in Linear Bottleneck Congestion Games

Science.gov (United States)

de Keijzer, Bart; Schäfer, Guido; Telelis, Orestis A.

We study the inefficiency of equilibrium outcomes in bottleneck congestion games. These games model situations in which strategic players compete for a limited number of facilities. Each player allocates his weight to a (feasible) subset of the facilities with the goal to minimize the maximum (weight-dependent) latency that he experiences on any of these facilities. We derive upper and (asymptotically) matching lower bounds on the (strong) price of anarchy of linear bottleneck congestion games for a natural load balancing social cost objective (i.e., minimize the maximum latency of a facility). We restrict our studies to linear latency functions. Linear bottleneck congestion games still constitute a rich class of games and generalize, for example, load balancing games with identical or uniformly related machines with or without restricted assignments.

ADHD performance reflects inefficient but not impulsive information processing: a diffusion model analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Metin, Baris; Roeyers, Herbert; Wiersema, Jan R; van der Meere, Jaap J; Thompson, Margaret; Sonuga-Barke, Edmund

2013-03-01

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with performance deficits across a broad range of tasks. Although individual tasks are designed to tap specific cognitive functions (e.g., memory, inhibition, planning, etc.), these deficits could also reflect general effects related to either inefficient or impulsive information processing or both. These two components cannot be isolated from each other on the basis of classical analysis in which mean reaction time (RT) and mean accuracy are handled separately. Seventy children with a diagnosis of combined type ADHD and 50 healthy controls (between 6 and 17 years) performed two tasks: a simple two-choice RT (2-CRT) task and a conflict control task (CCT) that required higher levels of executive control. RT and errors were analyzed using the Ratcliff diffusion model, which divides decisional time into separate estimates of information processing efficiency (called "drift rate") and speed-accuracy tradeoff (SATO, called "boundary"). The model also provides an estimate of general nondecisional time. Results were the same for both tasks independent of executive load. ADHD was associated with lower drift rate and less nondecisional time. The groups did not differ in terms of boundary parameter estimates. RT and accuracy performance in ADHD appears to reflect inefficient rather than impulsive information processing, an effect independent of executive function load. The results are consistent with models in which basic information processing deficits make an important contribution to the ADHD cognitive phenotype. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Strategy of the effective structure of farmers funding

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Denis Y. Samygin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Research objective. Scientific research raises the problem of state support of peasant farms in Russia, consisting in disproportions in the structure of the budget subsidies of farmers, showing that a significant proportion of directions and types of budgetary allocations is provided by state support for lending to agricultural production.On the one hand, this measure is directed to activization of agrarian policy on attraction of additional loan sources of financing. On the other hand, at insufficient interest of financial structures in agricultural industry, weak competitiveness of landowners with the banking sector, low availability of credit resources to the most part of producers, the specified support measures only promote growth of debt load of major agricultural firms and limit farmers in obtaining budgetary funds that does not increase their special legal status and the importance for agrarian economy, does not add social importance for rural territories, does not lead to increase in the general effectiveness in agricultural production and does not promote efficiency to use the means of support, and, therefore, demands formation basic other more effective approach to subsidizing of small farms in the village. Therefore, a research objective is justification and development of strategic models of structure optimization of the budgetary support of peasant farms, taking into account efficiency of measures, which relevance is confirmed by scientific research of the leading scientists in this subject area.Materials and methods. The study used: data of state programs on agricultural industry during 2008-2012 and 2013–2020; analytical materials of national reports of their realization; statistical information resources of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation; consolidated, individual financial and economic reports on agricultural producers of Penza region, which are processed by the methods of logical analytics, structural

La reforma agraria en Campeche, ¿permanencia de una cultura indí­gena? The Agrarian Reform in Campeche, Continuation of an Indigenous Culture?

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Mauricio Cantún Caamal

2012-04-01

Full Text Available En este trabajo mostraremos el proceso histórico de la reforma agraria mexicana del siglo XX y cómo se dio en el estado de Campeche. Veremos cómo un intento de los gobiernos posrevolucionarios por restituir y dorar de tierras a las comunidades se convirtió en la oportunidad de rescatar y consolidar la tenencia comunal. También cómo las omisiones e inconsistencias de las leyes durante el proceso dio lugar a errores como no contemplar que las comunidades tuvieran aún tierras y no saber cómo clasificarlas. En la mayoría de las veces estos desaciertos permitieron que los campesinos obtuvieran grandes extensiones de tierra. Finalmente discutiremos cómo la reforma agraria permitió la permanencia de un elemento cultural como lo es posesión en común, el cual ha formado parte de la identidad de los grupos mayas del estado de Campeche.This paper shows the historical process of the Mexican agrarian reform in the 20th century and explains how ¡t took place in the state of Campeche. It demonstrates how an attempt by post-revolutionary governments to return and provide land for communities became an opportunity to restore and consolidate communal ownership. It also reveals how the omissions and inconsistencies of the laws during the process gave rise to errors such as not imagining that communities still had land and not knowing how to classify them. Nevertheless, most of the time, these mistakes enabled peasants to obtain large expanses of land. Lastly, it discusses the way the agrarian reform permitted the continuation of a cultural feature, common ownership, which has formed part of the identity of Maya groups in the state of Campeche.

ECONOMETRIC INEFFICIENCY ESTIMATES IN A COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT

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Edward Bernard Bastiaan Rivera Rivera

2008-05-01

Full Text Available

The objective of this paper is to apply a Cobb-Douglas, Translog Stochastic Production Function and Data Envelopment Analysis – particularly the Malmquist index - in order to estimate increases or decreases of inefficiencies over time as well as the sources of TFP changes for the main Brazilian grain crops - namely, rice, beans, maize, soybeans and wheat - throughout the most recent data available comprising the period 2001-2006. According to the Cobb Douglas model, the greatest elasticity presented is that of harvested area, followed by agricultural credit and limestone. The Translog production function presents an amelioration of aggregate productivity over time and, in a decreasing order, the Brazilian regions that have presented the greatest relative degree of efficiency are the Northeast, North, Southeast, South and Center-West regions. The results indicate that, although there have been positive changes in TFP for the sample analyzed, a decline in the use of technology has been evidenced for all the principal Brazilian grain crops between 2005/2007 – period in which we observe a remarkable downfall in the use of inputs in Brazilian agriculture.

Kettle Holes in the Agrarian Landscape: Isolated and Ecological Unique Habitats for Carabid Beetles (Col.: Carabidae and Spiders (Arach.: Araneae

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Platen Ralph

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Kettle holes are small depressional wetlands and because of the high variability of site factors they are potential hotspots of biodiversity in the monotone arable land. We investigated eight kettle holes and two agrarian reference biotopes for carabid beetles and spiders. The animals were captured with pitfall traps from May to August 2005, along with surveys of the soil and vegetation. We asked whether each kettle hole has specific ecological properties which match with characteristic carabid beetle and spider coenoses and whether they represent isolated biotopes. Differences in the composition of ecological and functional groups of carabid beetles and spiders between the plots were tested with an ANOVA. The impact of the soil variables and vegetation structure on the distribution of species was analyzed with a Redundancy Analysis. The assemblage similarities between the kettle hole plots were calculated by the Wainstein-Index. Ecological groups and habitat preferences of carabid beetles had maximal expressions in seven different kettle holes whereas most of the ecological characteristics of the spiders had maximal expression in only two kettle holes. High assemblage similarity values of carabid beetle coenoses were observed only in a few cases whereas very similar spider coenoses were found between nearly all of the kettle holes. For carabid beetles, kettle holes represent much more isolated habitats than that for spiders. We concluded that kettle holes have specific ecological qualities which match with different ecological properties of carabid beetles and spiders and that isolation effects affect carabid beetles more than spiders.

Efficiency of Saffron Farmers in Shahyk Region of Ghaen City, Iran (Application of Data Envelopment Analysis Using the Efficient and Inefficient Frontiers

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Karim Naderi Mahdei

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Addressing the special conditions of saffron growing areas, and planning the optimum use of its production factors need specific attention and determination of the efficiency of saffron farms seems to be necessary. Thus, the current study attempts to measure the efficiency of saffron fields by using bounded data envelopment analysis to give an overall assessment of the performance of the farms. The necessary data was collected by interviewing and filling 36 questionnaires by the saffron farmers of the city of Ghaen, Iran and the data were analyzed by GAMS software. The results showed that average optimistic output and input oriented efficiency is 1.259 and 0.849, respectively. Also, 13.8% of the farms are located on the inefficiency frontiers. 47 percent of the farms are surrounded by efficient and inefficient frontier that reflects the overuse of inputs and potential to produce more and reduce the use of inputs. According to the results, it may be suggested that the efficient farms should be considered as a pattern and we should present training of need assessment in inefficient farms in order to enhance farmers’ efficiency with appropriate and scientific planning.

Stewardship to tackle global phosphorus inefficiency: The case of Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Withers, Paul J A; van Dijk, Kimo C; Neset, Tina-Simone S; Nesme, Thomas; Oenema, Oene; Rubæk, Gitte H; Schoumans, Oscar F; Smit, Bert; Pellerin, Sylvain

2015-03-01

The inefficient use of phosphorus (P) in the food chain is a threat to the global aquatic environment and the health and well-being of citizens, and it is depleting an essential finite natural resource critical for future food security and ecosystem function. We outline a strategic framework of 5R stewardship (Re-align P inputs, Reduce P losses, Recycle P in bioresources, Recover P in wastes, and Redefine P in food systems) to help identify and deliver a range of integrated, cost-effective, and feasible technological innovations to improve P use efficiency in society and reduce Europe's dependence on P imports. Their combined adoption facilitated by interactive policies, co-operation between upstream and downstream stakeholders (researchers, investors, producers, distributors, and consumers), and more harmonized approaches to P accounting would maximize the resource and environmental benefits and help deliver a more competitive, circular, and sustainable European economy. The case of Europe provides a blueprint for global P stewardship.

Fashioning Farmers: Ideology, Agricultural Knowledge and the Manitoba Farm Movement, 1890-1925.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Jeffery

This book presents a study of educational institutions in Manitoba (Canada) agriculture before 1925, the dominant ideologies that resided there, and the impact of those ideologies on the agrarian movement. The first chapter overviews a variety of ideologies, state structures, and agrarian movements in North America during the late 19th and early…

Agriculture and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia

OpenAIRE

Massoud Karshenas

2000-01-01

This paper is a comparative study of the role of agriculture in economic development in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Popular notions of economic duality and agricultural squeeze in sub-Saharan Africa are re-examined, and new explanations in terms of agrarian structures and resource availabilities are put forward to account for the apparent economic duality in that continent. Comparison with surplus labour economies of Asia highlights the constraints posed by the prevailing agrarian structures...

Operational Efficiency as a Factor of Formation of Strategies of Positioning of Products of Agrarian Enterprises in Ukraine

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Kozak Lyudmyla V.

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The article assesses operational efficiency as a factor of formation of strategies of positioning of products of agrarian enterprises in Ukraine on the basis of competitive analysis of crop yield, livestock yield and cost of products by aggregate and variable expenditures. The author analyses the level of intensity of production by the criterion of aggregate and variable expenditures per one hectare of crop (one head of livestock in Ukraine and in its main competitors in the world markets of agricultural products – USA and Germany. On the basis of the conducted analysis the article draws a conclusion that the applied technologies of production in Ukraine have less intensity in the context of crop and livestock yield, but namely the limited use of resources allows domestic producers keeping the production cost at a lower level than that of the competitors. It pays big attention to comparative analysis of competitiveness of supply of agricultural producers in the said countries by the criterion of payout of expenditures without state payments.

Os direitos da mulher à terra e os movimentos sociais rurais na reforma agrária brasileira Women's land rights and rural social movements in the Brazilian agrarian reform

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Carmen Diana Deere

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Este artigo examina a evolução da reivindicação dos direitos da mulher à terra na reforma agrária brasileira sob o prisma dos três principais movimentos sociais rurais: o Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST, os sindicatos rurais e o movimento autônomo de mulheres rurais. O mérito maior por levantar a questão dos direitos da mulher à terra é das mulheres dentro dos sindicatos rurais. Os direitos formais das mulheres à terra foram conseguidos na reforma constitucional de 1988, e em grande medida isso foi um subproduto do esforço para acabar com a discriminação contra as mulheres em todos as suas dimensões. A conquista das igualdades formais, contudo, não levou a um aumento na parcela de mulheres beneficiárias da reforma, a qual permaneceu baixa até a metade da década de 1990. Isso aconteceu principalmente porque garantir na prática os direitos da mulher à terra não estava entre as prioridades dos movimentos sociais rurais. Além disso, o principal movimento social a determinar o passo da reforma agrária, o (MST, considerava classe e gênero questões incompatíveis. Próximo ao final da década de 1990, entretanto, havia uma consciência crescente de que deixar de reconhecer os direitos da mulher à terra era prejudicial ao desenvolvimento e à consolidação dos assentamentos da reforma agrária e, portanto, para o movimento. O crescente consenso, entre todos os movimentos sociais rurais, sobre a importância em assegurar o direito da mulher à terra, junto com um lobby efetivo, encorajou o Estado em 2001 a adotar mecanismos específicos para a inclusão de mulheres na reforma agrária.This article examines the evolution of the demand for women's land rights in the Brazilian agrarian reform through the prism of the three main rural social movements: the landless movement, the rural unions and the autonomous rural women's movement. Most of the credit for raising the issue of women's land rights rests with

The Properties of Reconnection Current Sheets in GRMHD Simulations of Radiatively Inefficient Accretion Flows

Science.gov (United States)

Ball, David; Özel, Feryal; Psaltis, Dimitrios; Chan, Chi-Kwan; Sironi, Lorenzo

2018-02-01

Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects may play a significant role in determining the dynamics, thermal properties, and observational signatures of radiatively inefficient accretion flows onto black holes. In particular, particle acceleration during magnetic reconnection events may influence black hole spectra and flaring properties. We use representative general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of black hole accretion flows to identify and explore the structures and properties of current sheets as potential sites of magnetic reconnection. In the case of standard and normal evolution (SANE) disks, we find that in the reconnection sites, the plasma beta ranges from 0.1 to 1000, the magnetization ranges from 10‑4 to 1, and the guide fields are weak compared with the reconnecting fields. In magnetically arrested (MAD) disks, we find typical values for plasma beta from 10‑2 to 103, magnetizations from 10‑3 to 10, and typically stronger guide fields, with strengths comparable to or greater than the reconnecting fields. These are critical parameters that govern the electron energy distribution resulting from magnetic reconnection and can be used in the context of plasma simulations to provide microphysics inputs to global simulations. We also find that ample magnetic energy is available in the reconnection regions to power the fluence of bright X-ray flares observed from the black hole in the center of the Milky Way.

Reflections for a dialogue on sustainability and the rural education in Colombia, a country in war

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leon Sicard, Tomas Enrique

2000-01-01

The article refers to the concept of agrarian sustainability from a complex perspective, underlying its ambiguity in relation with the interpretations given by the different actors. The difficulties to understand and apply the concept to the Colombian agrarian sector under the present historic moment of chronic war are presented, discussing some aspects of equity in the distribution and quality of agrarian products. The principal factors mentioned as obstacles to reach agrarian sustainability are the diversity of approaches towards agriculture; the multiple facets of sustainability and the various challenges posed by the scientific and technological revolution all the new biotechnological developments. Biological war to cocaine is presented as an example of technological dependence and some structural aspects of the university educational sector are debated in relation to the environmental problematic

Climate change vulnerability to agrarian ecosystem of small Island: evidence from Sagar Island, India

Science.gov (United States)

Mandal, S.; Satpati, L. N.; Choudhury, B. U.; Sadhu, S.

2018-04-01

The present study assessed climate change vulnerability in agricultural sector of low-lying Sagar Island of Bay of Bengal. Vulnerability indices were estimated using spatially aggregated biophysical and socio-economic parameters by applying principal component analysis and equal weight method. The similarities and differences of outputs of these two methods were analysed across the island. From the integration of outputs and based on the severity of vulnerability, explicit vulnerable zones were demarcated spatially. Results revealed that life subsistence agriculture in 11.8% geographical area (2829 ha) of the island along the western coast falls under very high vulnerable zone (VHVZ VI of 84-99%) to climate change. Comparatively higher values of exposure (0.53 ± 0.26) and sensitivity (0.78 ± 0.14) subindices affirmed that the VHV zone is highly exposed to climate stressor with very low adaptive capacity (ADI= 0.24 ± 0.16) to combat vulnerability to climate change. Hence, food security for a population of >22 thousands comprising >3.7 thousand agrarian households are highly exposed to climate change. Another 17% area comprising 17.5% population covering 20% villages in north-western and eastern parts of the island also falls under high vulnerable (VI= 61%-77%) zone. Findings revealed large spatial heterogeneity in the degree of vulnerability across the island and thus, demands devising area specific planning (adaptation and mitigation strategies) to address the climate change impact implications both at macro and micro levels.

Uso de imagens orbitais como base de dados para projetos de reforma agrária The use of orbital images as subsidies to agrarian reform projects

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Marina de Fátima Vilela

2005-08-01

Full Text Available Análises técnica e econômica foram realizadas em imagens dos sensores IKONOS, TM/Landsat 5, ETM+/Landsat 7 e CCD/CBERS, objetivando a verificação da viabilidade destas como base de dados em projetos de reforma agrária. Essas análises efetuadas e a situação de mercado indicaram que a imagem IKONOS apresenta excelente desempenho técnico, mas o custo de aquisição inviabiliza sua utilização como base de dados para a reforma agrária. A imagem do Landsat 7, com baixo custo de aquisição, apresentou grande viabilidade técnica para fins de reforma agrária. No entanto, a perda do contato com a plataforma Landsat 7 inviabilizou a compra de novas imagens do sensor ETM+. A imagem CCD/CBERS apresentou a segunda maior similaridade com a verdade de campo e o menor índice Kappa para a classificação. Apesar do baixo índice de exatidão para a classificação, as análises de custo, o lançamento do CBERS-2 e a possibilidade de correção dos problemas de radiometria podem tornar as imagens da plataforma CBERS-2 concorrentes de peso no mercado e, ainda, preencher a lacuna deixada pela perda do Landsat 7. A imagem do Landsat 5 apresentou o mais baixo desempenho técnico nas análises efetuadas. Entretanto, seu potencial como base de dados é amplamente reconhecido pelo INCRA, que ainda utiliza tais imagens. O declínio da vida útil do Landsat-5 atribui mais importância ao lançamento do CBERS-2.Technical and economical analyses were performed on IKONOS, Landsat TM 5 and Landsat ETM+ 7 and CCD/CBERS data in order to verify their feasibilities to subsidy agrarian reform projects. Results showed that IKONOS data presented excellent technical viability but its high cost prevents its use. Landsat ETM+ 7 data, with low cost, presented good technical viability, however due to the problems occurring in the satellite operation, its use was also prevented . CCD/CBERS data presented the second best similarity with the ground truth data, although it

La cuestión agraria y el desarrollo agropecuario The agrarian question and agricultural development

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Machado C. Absalón

1999-12-01

Full Text Available Este ensayo presenta los principales trabajos de Jesús A. Bejarano sobre historia agraria y economía agrícola y destaca los temas que más le preocuparon desde el punto de vista académico. Esos temas mUestran su esfuerzo por interpretar la compleja realidad colombiana a partir de la teoría clásica y la Literatura económica contemporánea, adaptándolas al país sin caer en dogmatismos y, más bien, combatiéndolos. Sus trabajos constituyen un referente importante para quienes estudian la evolución del sector rural colombiano y se aventuran en el dificil camino de la formulación de políticas.This essay discusses the main contributions of Jesus A. Bejarano in the fields of agrarian history and agricultural economics and emphasizes the issues which most interested him from an academic standpoint. His work shows a concern with the interpretation of the complex Colombian reality using classical theory and contemporary economic li terature as a starting point. Bejarano adapted these to the situation of the country, without incurring in dogmatismo On the contrary, he struggled against it. His work is a necessary reference for students of the evolution of Colombia 's rural sector and for those who adventure in the difficult path of policy formulation.

Public lending to private hedge funds is inefficient, unstable, unconstitutional and unanimously disagreeable

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Sankarshan Acharya

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Public funds include federally insured deposits held under the custody of private banks, central bank loans and taxpayer funds. The principal finding of this paper is that lending such public funds through a private banking system to private hedge funds allied with the banks is inefficient, unstable, fundamentally unfair (unconstitutional and unanimously disagreeable. This finding is akin to the unanimously agreeable safe central banking policy (Acharya, 1991-2016 which, in dynamic general equilibrium, (a eliminates federal guarantee of bank deposits, (b offers every business enterprise and household an option to keep in the central bank any part of its deposits it wants to be held absolutely safely, (c completely deregulates all private banks without any privilege to rob public or private wealth like too-big-to-fail or too-big-to-be-jailed status or the power of market making and clearing. Safe central banking is the only way to make private banks responsible to hold sufficient capital to attract uninsured private deposits like the trading houses currently do. The private banks will then have complete freedom to lend their uninsured deposits to private hedge funds. The Volker Rule (NYT, January 30, 2010, incorporated in the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, is an infeasible and unworkable band-aid for the moral-hazard driven systemic robbery of wealth creators wrought by the government-ordained private banking custody of public funds. The established systemic moral-hazard problem can be efficiently and constitutionally resolved only through unanimously agreeable safe central banking. Current proposals on overhauling of Fannie and Freddie made by various pundits of systemic robbery amount to a gargantuan amount of public lending to private hedge funds and, hence, inefficient, unstable, unconstitutional and unanimously disagreeable.

Inefficiency of IDS Static Anomaly Detectors in Real-World Networks

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Edward Guillen

2015-05-01

Full Text Available A wide range of IDS implementations with anomaly detection modules have been deployed. In general, those modules depend on intrusion knowledge databases, such as Knowledge Discovery Dataset (KDD99, Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA or Community Resource for Archiving Wireless Data at Dartmouth (CRAWDAD, among others. Once the database is analyzed and a machine learning method is employed to generate detectors, some classes of new detectors are created. Thereafter, detectors are supposed to be deployed in real network environments in order to achieve detection with good results for false positives and detection rates. Since the traffic behavior is quite different according to the user’s network activities over available services, restrictions and applications, it is supposed that behavioral-based detectors are not well suited to all kind of networks. This paper presents the differences of detection results between some network scenarios by applying traditional detectors that were calculated with artificial neural networks. The same detector is deployed in different scenarios to measure the efficiency or inefficiency of static training detectors.

Multifractal structure in Latin-American market indices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zunino, Luciano; Figliola, Alejandra; Tabak, Benjamin M.; Perez, Dario G.; Garavaglia, Mario; Rosso, Osvaldo A.

2009-01-01

We study the multifractal nature of daily price and volatility returns of Latin-American stock markets employing the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis. Comparing with the results obtained for a developed country (US) we conclude that the multifractality degree is higher for emerging markets. Moreover, we propose a stock market inefficiency ranking by considering the multifractality degree as a measure of inefficiency. Finally, we analyze the sources of multifractality quantifying the contributions of two factors, the long-range correlations of the time series and the broad fat-tail distributions. We find that the multifractal structure of Latin-American market indices can be mainly attributed to the latter.

Integração entre assentados agrários e comunidades vizinhas Integration between agrarian settlers and neighbor communities

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Francisco José Batista de Albuquerque

2005-12-01

Full Text Available O presente estudo objetivou avaliar o processo de integração entre pequenos agricultores e assentados da reforma agrária de uma cidade da Zona da Mata paraibana, através de um levantamento de crenças destes grupos. Utilizou-se um roteiro de entrevista semi-estruturado Participaram 232 pessoas, com idade entre 14 e 78 anos (M=28,31; DP=14,45, sendo 116 homens e 116 mulheres. Dos participantes, 56,0% eram assentados e 44,0% eram moradores da comunidade. Verificou-se que as variáveis sociodemográficas (sexo, estado civil e origem dos assentados não exercem influência sobre o processo de integração entre os grupos. O fator determinante para esta integração reside no modo como o governo central financia a produção, posto que, antes do Pronaf, era mais forte a presença de discursos conflituosos entre assentados e seus vizinhos pequenos agricultores.It is the purpose of the present study to evaluate the integration process between small farmers and the agrarian reformer settlers in a city that is located in the region known as zona da mata (bushy zone in the state of Paraiba. This evaluation was accomplished by surveying the popular beliefs among the groups. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with 232 individuals from 14 to 78 years of age, (M=28.31; DP=14.45, being 116 male and 116 female. It was verified that the socio-demographic variables (gender, marital status, and the origin of settlers have not exerted any influence on the group's integration process. The leading factor towards integration lays on the way the central government finances farming production, for, before the Pronaf, conflicting dialogues were seen to have occurred between settlers and their neighbors - the small farmers.

A Mutation in PGM2 Causing Inefficient Galactose Metabolism in the Probiotic Yeast Saccharomyces boulardii.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jing-Jing; Zhang, Guo-Chang; Kong, In Iok; Yun, Eun Ju; Zheng, Jia-Qi; Kweon, Dae-Hyuk; Jin, Yong-Su

2018-05-15

The probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii has been extensively studied for the prevention and treatment of diarrheal diseases, and it is now commercially available in some countries. S. boulardii displays notable phenotypic characteristics, such as a high optimal growth temperature, high tolerance against acidic conditions, and the inability to form ascospores, which differentiate S. boulardii from Saccharomyces cerevisiae The majority of prior studies stated that S. boulardii exhibits sluggish or halted galactose utilization. Nonetheless, the molecular mechanisms underlying inefficient galactose uptake have yet to be elucidated. When the galactose utilization of a widely used S. boulardii strain, ATCC MYA-796, was examined under various culture conditions, the S. boulardii strain could consume galactose, but at a much lower rate than that of S. cerevisiae While all GAL genes were present in the S. boulardii genome, according to analysis of genomic sequencing data in a previous study, a point mutation (G1278A) in PGM2 , which codes for phosphoglucomutase, was identified in the genome of the S. boulardii strain. As the point mutation resulted in the truncation of the Pgm2 protein, which is known to play a pivotal role in galactose utilization, we hypothesized that the truncated Pgm2 might be associated with inefficient galactose metabolism. Indeed, complementation of S. cerevisiae PGM2 in S. boulardii restored galactose utilization. After reverting the point mutation to a full-length PGM2 in S. boulardii by Cas9-based genome editing, the growth rates of wild-type (with a truncated PGM2 gene) and mutant (with a full-length PGM2 ) strains with glucose or galactose as the carbon source were examined. As expected, the mutant (with a full-length PGM2 ) was able to ferment galactose faster than the wild-type strain. Interestingly, the mutant showed a lower growth rate than that of the wild-type strain on glucose at 37°C. Also, the wild-type strain was enriched in the

Inefficient charging for delivered gas by local gas distributors

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Siniša Bikić

2005-10-01

Full Text Available In this region, especially in Serbia, common belief is that local distributors of gas used by households don’t charge for gas properly. It is suspected that there are two sources for improper ways of gas charging. Local distributors charge for delivered gas only, according to flow rat but not according to gas quality. It is usual that local distributors deliver gas of different quality than one signed in contract. In this work will be considered only one of aspects inefficient charging for delivered gas by local gas distributors, which is connected to variable atmospheric pressure. There is doubt, that local distributors make mistakes during accounting for delivered gas to costumers in regard atmospheric pressure. At the beginning of every investigation, problem has to be located and recognized. Authors are going to collect as much as possible available data, to elaborate and analyze data by scientific methods and to represent conclusions. So, the aim of this work is to diagnose current state and to approve or disapprove above mentioned suspicions. In our region this theme is very interesting, both because of energy efficiency and air pollution control. In this way both consumer and distributor will know, how mush energy they have really spent.

Inefficient and opaque price formation in the Japan Electric Power Exchange

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakajima, Tadahiro

2013-01-01

This study examines whether the spot prices in the Japan Electric Power Exchange are efficiently formed from April 3, 2006, to March 31, 2012, using the conventional and rank-based variance-ratio tests. The results seem to reject the efficient market hypothesis in the market. Moreover, by applying Granger-causality tests, this paper investigates whether the power price is determined from the information of primary energy and exchange markets that directly affect the cost of power generation. The results indicate no Granger-causality from the prices of oil and gas and the exchange rate to the price of electricity. Finally, this paper discusses the factors that lead to inefficient and mysterious price formation. - Highlights: ► This study examines the wholesale electricity market in Japan. ► Efficient market hypothesis is rejected. ► Prices of imported fuel do not Granger-cause the prices of electricity. ► The WTI prices and the exchange rates do not Granger-cause the power prices

Evaluating zootechnical and environmental inefficiency for ecological intensification of tropical livestock systems. Case study of Reunion Island

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J. Vayssières

2011-01-01

Full Text Available According to FAO, animal production would contribute up to 18% to global anthropogenic green house gas (GHG emissions. In the face of an increasing world population and demand in food products, more productive and more environmentally- friendly livestock systems have to be conceived. With that aim, non-renewable energy uses and GHG emissions of main animal productions (dairy cattle, beef cattle, pig, poultry and rabbit were assessed in Reunion tropical island. Based on a method developed in mainland France, energy coefficients and emission factors were redefined to include specificities of the local context and livestock systems. The studied sample comprised 195 farms, i.e. more than 25% of farms overseen by local cooperatives. The study highlights the positive correlation between environmental inefficiency (non renewable energy uses, and GHG emissions per kilogram of animal product and zootechnical inefficiency (quantity of concentrate feed consumed per kilogram of animal product. It is thus possible to intensify ecologically animal productions. Similar studies are rare in countries of the South. Their development supposes even more drastic methodological adaptations than those conducted in Reunion so as to evaluate little- mechanized low-input mixed systems, where livestock activities are multifunctional and use various energy types.

Molecular biology of breast cancer metastasis: Clinical implications of experimental studies on metastatic inefficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chambers, Ann F; Naumov, George N; Vantyghem, Sharon A; Tuck, Alan B

2000-01-01

Recent technological advances have led to an increasing ability to detect isolated tumour cells and groups of tumour cells in patients' blood, lymph nodes or bone marrow. However, the clinical significance of these cells is unclear. Should they be considered as evidence of metastasis, necessitating aggressive treatment, or are they in some cases unrelated to clinical outcome? Quantitative experimental studies on the basic biology of metastatic inefficiency are providing clues that may help in understanding the significance of these cells. This understanding will be of use in guiding clinical studies to assess the significance of isolated tumour cells and micrometastases in cancer patients

Deformation-driven, lethal damage to cancer cells. Its contribution to metastatic inefficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss, L

1991-04-01

Direct and indirect, in vivo and in vitro observations are in accord with the hypothesis that as a consequence of their deformation within capillaries, cancer cells undergo sphere-to-cylinder shape-transformations that create a demand for increased surface area. When this demand cannot be met by apparent increases in surface area accomplished by nonlethal, surface "unfolding," the cell surface membrane is stretched; if expansion results in more than a 4% increase in true surface area, the membrane ruptures, resulting in cancer cell death. It is suggested that this deformation-driven process is an important factor in accounting for the rapid death of circulating cancer cells that have been trapped in the microvasculature. Therefore, this mechanism is thought to make a significant contribution to metastatic inefficiency by acting as a potent rate-regulator for hematogenous metastasis.

Analysis and Diagnosis of the Agrarian System in the Niayes Region, Northwest Senegal (West Africa

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Yohann Fare

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The agrarian system Analysis and Diagnosis is used for this study, the goal of which was to provide a corpus of basic knowledge and elements of reflection necessary for the understanding the Niayes farming systems dynamics in Senegal, West Africa. Such holistic work has never been done before for this small region that provides the majority of vegetables in the area, thanks to its microclimate and access to fresh water in an arid country. Reading of the landscape and historical interviews coupled with fine-tuned household surveys were used to build a typology of agricultural production units (each type being represented by a production system. The main phases within the region’s history were distinguished. Before colonization, agriculture was based on gathering and shifting agriculture (millet and peanut in the southern region and transhumant stockbreeding in the North. During colonization, market gardening became a source of income as a response to cities’ increasing demand. Two major droughts (in the 1970s and 1980s have accelerated this movement. Extension of market gardening areas and intensification of activities were made possible by Sahelian migrants’ influx and the creation of mbeye seddo, a contract that allows for sharing added value between the employer and seasonal workers, named sourghas. Over the past 20 years, the “race for motorization” has created important social gaps (added value sharing deserves review and a risk of overexploitation of groundwater.

Sustainability of Governing Structures in Bulgarian Farming Industry

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Hrabrin Bachev

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The issue of assessment of absolute and comparative sustainability of major governing structures in agrarian and farming industries is among the most topical issues for researchers, farmers, investors, administrators, politicians, interests groups, and the public worldwide. Despite this issue, practically there are no assessments on the sustainability level of the major types of Bulgarian farming enterprises in the conditions of European Union Common Agricultural Policy implementation. This study applies a holistic framework and assesses the absolute and comparative sustainability of major governing structures in Bulgarian farming industry—unregistered holdings, sole traders, cooperatives, and companies of various types. In this paper, the method of the study is outlined, the inclusion of a novel “governance aspect” of sustainability is justified, and the overall characteristics of the surveyed farming enterprises are presented. Then, the integral, governance, economic, social, and environmental sustainability of the farming structures of different juridical types is assessed. Next, the structure of farming enterprises with different sustainability levels is analyzed. Finally, the conclusion from this study and the directions for further research and amelioration of sustainability assessments are presented.

A Patient Flow Analysis: Identification of Process Inefficiencies and Workflow Metrics at an Ambulatory Endoscopy Unit

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Rowena Almeida

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background. The increasing demand for endoscopic procedures coincides with the paradigm shift in health care delivery that emphasizes efficient use of existing resources. However, there is limited literature on the range of endoscopy unit efficiencies. Methods. A time and motion analysis of patient flow through the Hotel-Dieu Hospital (Kingston, Ontario endoscopy unit was followed by qualitative interviews. Procedures were directly observed in three segments: individual endoscopy room use, preprocedure/recovery room, and overall endoscopy unit utilization. Results. Data were collected for 137 procedures in the endoscopy room, 139 procedures in the preprocedure room, and 143 procedures for overall room utilization. The mean duration spent in the endoscopy room was 31.47 min for an esophagogastroduodenoscopy, 52.93 min for a colonoscopy, 30.47 min for a flexible sigmoidoscopy, and 66.88 min for a double procedure. The procedure itself accounted for 8.11 min, 34.24 min, 9.02 min, and 39.13 min for the above procedures, respectively. The focused interviews identified the scheduling template as a major area of operational inefficiency. Conclusions. Despite reasonable procedure times for all except colonoscopies, the endoscopy room durations exceed the allocated times, reflecting the impact of non-procedure-related factors and the need for a revised scheduling template. Endoscopy units have unique operational characteristics and identification of process inefficiencies can lead to targeted quality improvement initiatives.

A Patient Flow Analysis: Identification of Process Inefficiencies and Workflow Metrics at an Ambulatory Endoscopy Unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Almeida, Rowena; Paterson, William G; Craig, Nancy; Hookey, Lawrence

2016-01-01

Background. The increasing demand for endoscopic procedures coincides with the paradigm shift in health care delivery that emphasizes efficient use of existing resources. However, there is limited literature on the range of endoscopy unit efficiencies. Methods. A time and motion analysis of patient flow through the Hotel-Dieu Hospital (Kingston, Ontario) endoscopy unit was followed by qualitative interviews. Procedures were directly observed in three segments: individual endoscopy room use, preprocedure/recovery room, and overall endoscopy unit utilization. Results. Data were collected for 137 procedures in the endoscopy room, 139 procedures in the preprocedure room, and 143 procedures for overall room utilization. The mean duration spent in the endoscopy room was 31.47 min for an esophagogastroduodenoscopy, 52.93 min for a colonoscopy, 30.47 min for a flexible sigmoidoscopy, and 66.88 min for a double procedure. The procedure itself accounted for 8.11 min, 34.24 min, 9.02 min, and 39.13 min for the above procedures, respectively. The focused interviews identified the scheduling template as a major area of operational inefficiency. Conclusions. Despite reasonable procedure times for all except colonoscopies, the endoscopy room durations exceed the allocated times, reflecting the impact of non-procedure-related factors and the need for a revised scheduling template. Endoscopy units have unique operational characteristics and identification of process inefficiencies can lead to targeted quality improvement initiatives.

Utilization of agrarian potentials'. Challenges for agriculturists and society; Agrar-Potenziale nutzen.. Herausforderung fuer Landwirte und Gesellschaft

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-07-01

Within the scope of the meeting 'Utilization of agrarian potentials' held by Deutsche Landwirtschaftliche Gesellschaft e.V. at 8th to 10th January, 2008, in Muenster (Federal Republic of Germany) the following lectures were held: (a) The world markets move - challenges for production (Joachim von Braun); (b) Global markets - future terms of references for the agriculture: guidelines for future strategies under new objectives (Juergen Zeddies); (c) Structural change and globalization - challenges for cooperative societies as market partners of the agriculture (Andreas Schueren, Dieter Hake); (d) More efficient utilization of scarce resources - we need changed thought patterns and decision patterns (Carl-Albrecht Bartmer); (e) Optimal intensities in the agriculture - the requirement of the hour: Adjustment of production at optimal intensity (Theo Jachmann); (f) Growth potentials of selected locations for the agriculture - area productivity in the international comparison (Klaus Nehring); (g) Optimization of the intensities in the crop farming - new challenges, possible adjustments (Hubertus Paetow); (h) Considering inventory management? The fertilization of tomorrow (Klaus Muenchhoff); (i) Value added chain of grain - quality requirements from the view of the traceability: The test system grain (Petra Melisch); (j) Young farmers full of optimism - current results of interview for the estimation of the situation and future and to efficiency potentials (Marika Prasser-Strith); (k) The responsibility for the soil - challenges at technology for cultivation and tillage (Franz-Georg von Busse); (l) The sustainable use of the plough land is an obligation - plough land is precious. (Lothar Hoevelmann); (m) Development of milk cattle companies till 2015 - strategic future planning now necessarily (Johannes Thomsen); (n) The ethical responsibility for a sustainable and global development - agriculture and nutrition (Beatrice van Saan-Klein, Markus Vogt); (o) Ethical

Non-economic determinants of structural transformations in Małopolska agriculture

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Maciej Basaj

2009-01-01

Full Text Available In the article results of the research conducted in 2008 among farmers in two districts located in northern part of the Małopolska voivodeship have been presented. The aim of the article is the presentation of farmers’ opinions and attitudes against accomplishing structural alternations in their vicinity. Getting to know farmers’ intentions against the future of their farms, and also getting to know their estimations about the future of their farms in the vicinity can have particular significance in the prognosis and program of further development of rural areas – especially in such a region, with a big agrarian overpopulation as the Małopolska.

Constrained Optimization Approaches to Estimation of Structural Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iskhakov, Fedor; Rust, John; Schjerning, Bertel

2015-01-01

We revisit the comparison of mathematical programming with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) and nested fixed point (NFXP) algorithms for estimating structural dynamic models by Su and Judd (SJ, 2012). They used an inefficient version of the nested fixed point algorithm that relies on successive app...

SPECIFICATIONS OF ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR OF UKRAINE

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Viktor Meglei

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The subject of the author’s research is the processes of development of the agrarian sector of Ukrainian economy by ecological-economic specifications. The methodological justification is based on the use of fundamental principles that reflect the main strategies of agrarian development. The systematic approach to the characteristics of the agrarian system, complex by the structure and functional parameters in interaction with the external environment, is applied. Methods of analysis/synthesis are used for the disclosure of the integral nature of the agrarian environment in the context of management of the main processes. The purpose of the author’s research suggests a consideration of the processes of formation of the agrarian system by economic and environmental interactions as modern dominant in the development of the agrarian sector of Ukraine. The analysis of integral components of agrarian development with the reflection of interactions of the sphere of agrarian production and agrarian relations is carried out. The emphasis is made on the importance of the formation of an effective and promising domestic agricultural policy, in the basis of which is the activation of entrepreneurial initiatives, comprehensive development of the agrarian community, ecologically and socially oriented projects of reproduction of rural territories, innovative strategies of ecological and economic ascension of agriculture in Ukraine. The resource base is considered as the economic basis of agriculture from the standpoint of the main sales markets, the state of transport infrastructure, the growth of world and domestic demand for agrarian raw materials and finished products, and the availability of relatively cheap labour resources. The agrarian production is analysed from ecological positions and influences of natural and climatic factors. The state of individual agro-ecological mismatches in agriculture of Ukraine is explained, as well as the reasons of

Information transfer in the agricultural sector in Spain

OpenAIRE

Munoz-Canavate, Antonio; Hipola, Pedro

2010-01-01

This paper examines the structures of information transfer to the agricultural (production) and agro-alimentary (transformation and commercialization of the products) sector within Spain. A historical perspective is provided to better illustrate the reality and complexity of Spain with regard to the systems of agrarian extension, agricultural research, resources provided by Spain’s central administration, and the use of information by related enterprises. The Service of Agrarian Extens...

Fast Recognition of BCI-Inefficient Users Using Physiological Features from EEG Signals: A Screening Study of Stroke Patients

OpenAIRE

Xiaokang Shu; Shugeng Chen; Lin Yao; Xinjun Sheng; Dingguo Zhang; Ning Jiang; Jie Jia; Xiangyang Zhu

2018-01-01

Motor imagery (MI) based brain-computer interface (BCI) has been developed as an alternative therapy for stroke rehabilitation. However, experimental evidence demonstrates that a significant portion (10–50%) of subjects are BCI-inefficient users (accuracy less than 70%). Thus, predicting BCI performance prior to clinical BCI usage would facilitate the selection of suitable end-users and improve the efficiency of stroke rehabilitation. In the current study, we proposed two physiological variab...

Assessing the efficiency versus the inefficiency of the energy sectors in formerly centrally planned economies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vorsatz, D. [Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, CA (United States)

1995-12-01

As much the extreme inefficiency of Eastern European energy sectors is emphasized, as little attention their relatively efficient aspects receive. Indeed, a few efficiency indicators show the highest global efficiencies for the formerly centrally planned economies, such as the overall primary to useful energy efficiency. These figures draw the attention to an underestimated feature of former socialist energy sectors and to crucial policy implications: in some respects central planning lead to a more efficient use of energy than the market economy. Consequently, if transitions from the central planning to the market economy are not managed carefully, further reductions in energy efficiency can be expected in some sectors of the economy.

YIELD CAPACITY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GREEN BEANS IN CULTIVARS OF KIDNEY BEAN BRED AT OMSK AGRARIAN UNIVERSITY IN THE SOUTH FOREST-STEPPE OF WESTERN SIBERIA

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N. G. Kazydub

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In  2014-2016  the  assessment of  kidney bean  cultivars bred at Omsk State Agrarian University on yield capacity, quality, and biochemical  chemical compounds  in green beans, such as proteins, zinc, iodine, iron and sucrose was carried  out  in  the  south  forest-steppe  of  Western Siberia. The technological  parameters of  green  beans: the  shape  of  cross-section  area; pulpiness,  fibrous  or non-fibrous,  and bean thickness were estimated. Threeyear study showed that all tested cultivars bred at Omsk State  Agrarian  University  surpassed  control  cultivar  in yield capacity,  chemical composition  and technological parameters of green beans. The cultivar ‘Pamiyaty Rizhovoy’ gave a highest yield: 563.4 g/m2  in 2014; 622.8 g/m2 in 2015; and 620.4 g/m2  in 2016. It is worth noticing that this cultivar is also distinguished by contents of micro and macroelements: 21.20-28.68  mg/kg  of zinc; 0.012-0.018 mg/kg of iodine; and 1.8-3.2 mg/kg of iron. In the course of the study, it was noticed the dependence of  yield  capacity  on  hydrothermal  coefficient  (HC. In 2014-2015 the yield capacity was a lowest when the moisturization was insufficient at 0.7 HC. With increase of HC the yield was higher. With sufficient moisturization at 1.0 HC the highest yield of green beans was observed in 2016.  The estimation  of  kidney  bean  cultivars  bred  at Omsk State  Agrarian University showed  that  all beans were  distinguished  by  high  quality  parameters  in  the phase  of  technical  maturity,  such  as  pulpiness,  nonfibrous, thickness 0.5 to  1.0 cm, and green and yellow colors.  The  highest  protein  content  comparing  to  the control  cultivar  ‘Zolushka’  was  detected  in  ‘Marusya’ 23.60%  in  2014,  20.94%  in  2015;  and  ‘Zoloto  Sibiry’ 19.79%  in  2016.  The  observed  results  confirmed  that contents  change of

Do Children and Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa Display an Inefficient Cognitive Processing Style?

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Katie Lang

Full Text Available This study aimed to examine neuropsychological processing in children and adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa (AN. The relationship of clinical and demographic variables to neuropsychological functioning within the AN group was also explored.The performance of 41 children and adolescents with a diagnosis of AN were compared to 43 healthy control (HC participants on a number of neuropsychological measures.There were no differences in IQ between AN and HC groups. However, children and adolescents with AN displayed significantly more perseverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and lower Style and Central Coherence scores on the Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure Test relative to HCs.Inefficient cognitive processing in the AN group was independent of clinical and demographic variables, suggesting it might represent an underlying trait for AN. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Public health and agrarian liberal politics in Spain: the Rural Health Bureau (1910-1918

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Rodríguez-Ocaña, Esteban

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the meaning of the Rural Health Bureau (1910-1918 for the history of Spanish public health, thanks to a wealth of previously unknown sources found through a systematic search through medical journals of the time and the Bulletin of the national department of Agriculture. The Bureau was dependent of the Ministry of Development, in the same way as the competences on animal health. It aimed to provide a public health rationale for a plan of agrarian infrastructures, a goal resolved into a huge task of surveillance on hookworm disease, malaria, water supplies and diet. Thus it becomes a perfect paradigm of the Spanish Liberal tradition of promoting information instead than actual changes into society, as well as a needed complement to the hydraulic policy sponsored by Rafael Gasset.

Abordo el significado en la historia de la Salud pública española de la Inspección de Sanidad del Campo (1910-1918 partiendo de fuentes escasamente conocidas producto de una búsqueda sistemática en las revistas médicas de la época y en el Boletín de Agricultura técnica y económica, órgano de la Dirección general de Agricultura. La Inspección dependió del Ministerio de Fomento, al igual que la higiene veterinaria, y su objetivo era proporcionar bases higiénicas para un plan de infraestructuras agrarias, lo que se tradujo en una ingente tarea de vigilancia epidemiológica sobre anquilostomiasis, paludismo, aguas y alimentación. En este sentido resulta un perfecto epítome de la tradición informativa liberal, así como un complemento de la política hidráulica impulsada por Rafael Gasset.

Areas of rural reservation in Bolivar's South: a proposal of rural territorial reordering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molina Lopez, Luis

2005-01-01

The article describes by means of a methodological process and inside an analysis mark that picks up aspects tried from the perspective of agrarian economy and the human geography, the effects of the public politics of the rural reservations in Bolivar's south, as well as its advances and challenges in the territorial reorganization of the territory. In this context, the document evidences the process of the new territorial configurations, in Bolivar's south, result of a social construction exercised by its own rural communities. In a same way the document presents a brief analysis of the agrarian structure of the rural reservations, and it illustrates the new underlying classification, product of the territorial control that develop the illegal armed groups at the moment. The advances, difficulties and challenges of the rural reservations, are the central axis of the present text, since the figure is presents as an interesting project of public politics, not alone of colonization and of agrarian reformation, but of territorial rural ordination, stiller, when in the country it has not been possible to approve an organic law of territorial classification that involves in an integral way the territorial aspects with the agrarian ones, going outside of the conception of the agrarian things of the strictly agricultural thing

DNA Sequences Proximal to Human Mitochondrial DNA Deletion Breakpoints Prevalent in Human Disease Form G-quadruplexes, a Class of DNA Structures Inefficiently Unwound by the Mitochondrial Replicative Twinkle Helicase*

Science.gov (United States)

Bharti, Sanjay Kumar; Sommers, Joshua A.; Zhou, Jun; Kaplan, Daniel L.; Spelbrink, Johannes N.; Mergny, Jean-Louis; Brosh, Robert M.

2014-01-01

Mitochondrial DNA deletions are prominent in human genetic disorders, cancer, and aging. It is thought that stalling of the mitochondrial replication machinery during DNA synthesis is a prominent source of mitochondrial genome instability; however, the precise molecular determinants of defective mitochondrial replication are not well understood. In this work, we performed a computational analysis of the human mitochondrial genome using the “Pattern Finder” G-quadruplex (G4) predictor algorithm to assess whether G4-forming sequences reside in close proximity (within 20 base pairs) to known mitochondrial DNA deletion breakpoints. We then used this information to map G4P sequences with deletions characteristic of representative mitochondrial genetic disorders and also those identified in various cancers and aging. Circular dichroism and UV spectral analysis demonstrated that mitochondrial G-rich sequences near deletion breakpoints prevalent in human disease form G-quadruplex DNA structures. A biochemical analysis of purified recombinant human Twinkle protein (gene product of c10orf2) showed that the mitochondrial replicative helicase inefficiently unwinds well characterized intermolecular and intramolecular G-quadruplex DNA substrates, as well as a unimolecular G4 substrate derived from a mitochondrial sequence that nests a deletion breakpoint described in human renal cell carcinoma. Although G4 has been implicated in the initiation of mitochondrial DNA replication, our current findings suggest that mitochondrial G-quadruplexes are also likely to be a source of instability for the mitochondrial genome by perturbing the normal progression of the mitochondrial replication machinery, including DNA unwinding by Twinkle helicase. PMID:25193669

EJERCICIO DE LAS FUNCIONES EMPRESARIALES POR PARTE DE LOS SOCIOS EN LAS COOPERATIVAS AGRARIAS / THE EXECUTION OF MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS BY THE MEMBERS OF AGRARIAN COOPERATIVES

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Carmen GALVE GÓRRIZ

2010-01-01

Full Text Available El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar cómo es efectuada por parte de los socios la coordinación de la empresa cooperativa agraria. Dicha coordinación ha sido analizada a través del análisis de las funciones que deben desarrollar los socios como empresarios. Estas funciones son enumeradas, descritas teóricamente y analizadas a partir de una muestra de cooperativas agrarias pertenecientes a la Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja. Entre los principales resultados obtenidos cabe destacar que, en la mayoría de los casos analizados, la función de inversor es realizada sin que exista separación con la desempeñada como proveedor; el control formal es ejercido bajo el principio democrático de un hombre un voto; existe poca delegación de las actividades de gestión en una gerencia profesionalizada y cuando esta delegación se produce, no se obtiene niveles de eficiencia significativamente superiores; la organización de actividades muestra una clara especialización en las primeras fases del ciclo productivo y una alta concentración de ventas; por último, la selección de personal es realizada exigiendo unos niveles de cualificación adecuados en cada departamento. / The aim of this work is to analyse how the coordination of the agrarian cooperative firm is brought about by the members. Said coordination has been analysed by means of a study of the functions which members have to develop in their role as managers. These functions have been numbered; theoretically described, and analysed by using a sample of agrarian cooperatives belonging to the Domination of Origin Qualified Rioja. From the principal results obtained, we can highlight the fact that, in most cases analysed, formal control is exercised under the democratic principle, “one-man-one-vote”; where little delegation of management activities exists in professional management and when this delegation occurs, the cooperative does not obtain higher efficiency levels. The

The changing of land use and land management in Ignalina NPP region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milius, J.; Ribokas, G.

1998-01-01

The investigated locality (Ignalina NPP) represents territory of NPP and Visaginas town as well as agrarian territories of three former environs Dukshtas and Rimshe (Ignalina district) and Turmantas (Zarasai district). The changes of land, started with the beginning of construction works of NPP (1974) and are still taking place, are analyzed. The data on the land fund and current data of land reform agrarian services were used. The changes of the plots of farming lands in agrarian territories were preconditioned by the same factors which operated in other territories of hilly agrarian landscape. In the drained terrains the plots of farming lands increased, whereas, in other territories re naturalization processes set in resulting in the increase of the areas covered with forests and bushes which were not used for agricultural purposes. Thus, we may assert that the impact of the NPP itself on the change of the structure of farming lands in agrarian territories was minimal. It manifested not as a permanent process but as a spontaneous fact - a mechanical allotment of a plots of land for building the NPP and town itself. The comparison of the structure of farming lands at the moment of allotment with the data of 1995 revealed that during the mentioned period the farming land were completely destroyed (1003 ha of ploughed lands, 168 ha - grasslands, 180 ha - pastures). The forest area was reduced by 625 ha. The destroyed farming lands were occupied by territories under buildings (719 ha), artificial ground cover (159 ha), and high tension current lines (over 800 ha) which are absolutely unfit neither for agriculture nor forestry. Though the NPP and Visaginas town exerted no appreciable influence on the structure of farming lands in the surrounding territories they substantially changed the territory of NPP and Visaginas. The former wooded - agrarian landscape was replaced by an untypical for these places technical - urbanized landscape. This should be taken into

ECONOMETRIC INEFFICIENCY ESTIMATES IN A COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT doi: 10.5329/RECADM.20080701001

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Edward Bernard Bastiaan Rivera Rivera

2008-05-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to apply a Cobb-Douglas, Translog Stochastic Production Function and Data Envelopment Analysis – particularly the Malmquist index - in order to estimate increases or decreases of inefficiencies over time as well as the sources of TFP changes for the main Brazilian grain crops - namely, rice, beans, maize, soybeans and wheat - throughout the most recent data available comprising the period 2001-2006. According to the Cobb Douglas model, the greatest elasticity presented is that of harvested area, followed by agricultural credit and limestone. The Translog production function presents an amelioration of aggregate productivity over time and, in a decreasing order, the Brazilian regions that have presented the greatest relative degree of efficiency are the Northeast, North, Southeast, South and Center-West regions. The results indicate that, although there have been positive changes in TFP for the sample analyzed, a decline in the use of technology has been evidenced for all the principal Brazilian grain crops between 2005/2007 – period in which we observe a remarkable downfall in the use of inputs in Brazilian agriculture.

TO THE QUESTION OF FORMATION OF EARTHQUAKES OF CORPORATE STRUCTURES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

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KUSTOVSKA О.

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the development of corporate structures in agricultural production, proves the influence of corporate formations on the efficiency of agrarian production. On the basis of the analysis of official information of agro holdings, an assessment was made of the efficiency of their activities and a conclusion was made about the optimal size of their structural subdivisions. The advantages and disadvantages of integrated structures are highlighted, peculiarities of formation of their land relations are determined. Issues of expansion of land masses of agro holdings related to the conclusion of land lease agreements are considered. The association of separate agro-industrial enterprises of various industrial-economic orientation form an independent legal entity - a legal entity. The economic feasibility of the creation and functioning of corporate associations is objective based on obtaining the greatest effect, the essence of which is that the result of the joint corporate activities of economic structures will always be higher compared to the results of the individual work of each of them. Corporate forms of management in agriculture were founded in Ukraine on the basis of the general theoretical model of an open, competitive, multi-faceted agricultural market economy type, aimed at an integrated world economic system. The methodology of construction involves taking into account the world economic trends and the national specificity of the country's agricultural development; it is aimed at finding rational forms of organization of agricultural production, mechanisms for overcoming crisis phenomena, stabilizing the economy and creating conditions for further qualitative and quantitative growth of the agrarian sector of the economy. For many years, leading American co-operators have been distributing concepts and concepts that are perceived and used throughout the world. This work is coordinated by the Organization for International

Information inefficiency and willingness-to-pay for energy-efficient technology: A stated preference approach for China Energy Label

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Hui; Bukenya, James O.

2016-01-01

The paper examines the extent to which consumers' willingness-to-pay for energy-efficient room air conditioners may be altered by correcting the information inefficiency on the China Energy Label. The data are collected from a discrete choice experiment with two alternatives (variable-speed and constant-speed room air conditioners) characterized by attributes of brand, purchase price and energy grade. Three versions of the questionnaires with choice sets differing only in energy consumption indicators were distributed randomly to 1602 potential consumers in Nanjing, China and a sample of 1569 was obtained after dropping missing data. The analysis with multinomial and mixed logit models reveal that the price premium that consumers are willing to pay for a variable-speed room AC over a constant-speed room AC increases significantly when energy consumption information becomes comparable and additional energy-related information is provided. Furthermore, the impact of information on WTP varies under different energy-saving scenarios. It is suggested that China Energy Label should correct information inefficiency by adopting same energy indicators for room ACs with different technologies and providing energy consumption information based on different climate zones. - Highlights: • Choice experiments were carried out to examine the effect of information on WTP. • WTP for energy efficient technology increases if information is comparable. • WTP for energy efficient technology increases if more information is provided. • The impact of information on WTP is significant when energy saving is considerable. • Some demographics influence people's WTP.

Inefficient Metabolism of the Human Milk Oligosaccharides Lacto-N-tetraose and Lacto-N-neotetraose Shifts Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis Physiology

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Ezgi Özcan

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Human milk contains a high concentration of indigestible oligosaccharides, which likely mediated the coevolution of the nursing infant with its gut microbiome. Specifically, Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis often colonizes the infant gut and utilizes these human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs to enrich their abundance. In this study, the physiology and mechanisms underlying B. infantis utilization of two HMO isomers lacto-N-tetraose (LNT and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT was investigated in addition to their carbohydrate constituents. Both LNT and LNnT utilization induced a significant shift in the ratio of secreted acetate to lactate (1.7–2.0 in contrast to the catabolism of their component carbohydrates (~1.5. Inefficient metabolism of LNnT prompts B. infantis to shunt carbon toward formic acid and ethanol secretion. The global transcriptome presents genomic features differentially expressed to catabolize these two HMO species that vary by a single glycosidic linkage. Furthermore, a measure of strain-level variation exists between B. infantis isolates. Regardless of strain, inefficient HMO metabolism induces the metabolic shift toward formic acid and ethanol production. Furthermore, bifidobacterial metabolites reduced LPS-induced inflammation in a cell culture model. Thus, differential metabolism of milk glycans potentially drives the emergent physiology of host-microbial interactions to impact infant health.

A POLICY MIX TO PREVENT A NON-COMMONS TRAGEDY FOR COLLECTIVE FOREST RESERVES IN AGRARIAN SETTLEMENTS IN NORTHWEST MATO GROSSO

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R.B. Davenport

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Agrarian reform settlements have recently been identified as a major contributor to ongoing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Collective forest reserves were established in some settlements to thwart forest loss, but settlers usually do not recognize forest commons, opting instead for continued private accumulation through forest clearing, or a "non-commons" tragedy. Pathways toward ensuring the viability of common-pool management in settlements remain unclear. Our case study focused on two similarly sized settlements in neighboring municipalities in Northwest Mato Grosso, Brazil, each with formally designated collective forest areas. In one, deforestation shifted into the collective reserve and intensified; in the other, deforestation stabilized and the collective reserve was protected. In the latter, settlers understood their collective forest reserve as a commonly held asset, with two commercially viable settlement cooperatives involved in Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa extractivism and added value processing. We analyze differences between the two settlements using Elinor Ostrom's framework for analysis of socio-ecological systems, and identify the locally applied policy mix ensuring the viability of a forest commons. The study concludes that "top-down" efforts to institutionalize collective governance over remaining forests will likely fail in most settlements, without a focus on alternative livelihood opportunities synergetic with forest tenure.

More Energy and Less Work, but New Crises: How the Societal Metabolism-Labour Nexus Changes from Agrarian to Industrial Societies

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Willi Haas

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The scientific finding that humanity is overburdening nature and thus risks further ecological crises is almost uncontroversial. Main reason for the crises is the drastic increase in the societal metabolism, which is accomplished through labour. In this article, we examine the societal metabolism-labour nexus in two energy regimes: a valley in the Ethiopian highlands, typical of an agrarian society, and a village in Austria, typical of an industrial society. In the Ethiopian village, the supply of food demands almost the entire labour force, thus limiting the capacity to facilitate material flows beyond food provision. In the Austrian village, fewer working hours, lower workloads but 50 times higher useful energy allow to accumulate stocks like buildings 70 times higher than the Ethiopian case. With fossil energy, industrial societies decisively expand their energy supply and reduce labour hours at the cost of high carbon emissions, which are almost non-existent in the Ethiopian case. To overcome the resulting ecological crises, there is a call to drastically reduce fossil fuel consumption. Such an abandonment of fossil fuels might have as far reaching consequences for the societal metabolism-labour nexus and consequently human labour as the introduction of fossil fuels has had.

Mitochondrial complex III defects contribute to inefficient respiration and ATP synthesis in the myocardium of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Jian-Jun; Garg, Nisha Jain

2010-01-01

In this study, we conducted a thorough analysis of mitochondrial bioenergetic function as well as the biochemical and molecular factors that are deregulated and contribute to compromised adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production in the myocardium during Trypanosoma cruzi infection. We show that ADP-stimulated state 3 respiration and ATP synthesis supported by pyruvate/malate (provides electrons to complex I) and succinate (provides electrons to complex II) substrates were significantly decreased in left ventricular tissue and isolated cardiac mitochondria of infected mice. The decreased mitochondrial ATP synthesis in infected murine hearts was not a result of uncoupling between the electron-transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation and decreased availability of the intermediary metabolites (e.g., NADH). The observed decline in the activities of complex-I, -IV, and -V was not physiologically relevant and did not contribute to compromised respiration and ATP synthesis in infected myocardium. Instead, complex III activity was decreased above the threshold level and contributed to respiratory-chain inefficiency and the resulting decline in mitochondrial ATP synthesis in infected myocardium. The loss in complex III activity occurred as a consequence of cytochrome b depletion. Treatment of infected mice with phenyl-alpha-tert-butyl nitrone (PBN, antioxidant) was beneficial in preserving the mtDNA-encoded cytochrome b expression, and subsequently resulted in improved complex III activity, mitochondrial respiration, and ATP production in infected myocardium. Overall, we provide novel data on the mechanism(s) involved in cardiac bioenergetic inefficiency during T. cruzi infection.

Negative emotional stimuli reduce contextual cueing but not response times in inefficient search.

Science.gov (United States)

Kunar, Melina A; Watson, Derrick G; Cole, Louise; Cox, Angeline

2014-02-01

In visual search, previous work has shown that negative stimuli narrow the focus of attention and speed reaction times (RTs). This paper investigates these two effects by first asking whether negative emotional stimuli narrow the focus of attention to reduce the learning of a display context in a contextual cueing task and, second, whether exposure to negative stimuli also reduces RTs in inefficient search tasks. In Experiment 1, participants viewed either negative or neutral images (faces or scenes) prior to a contextual cueing task. In a typical contextual cueing experiment, RTs are reduced if displays are repeated across the experiment compared with novel displays that are not repeated. The results showed that a smaller contextual cueing effect was obtained after participants viewed negative stimuli than when they viewed neutral stimuli. However, in contrast to previous work, overall search RTs were not faster after viewing negative stimuli (Experiments 2 to 4). The findings are discussed in terms of the impact of emotional content on visual processing and the ability to use scene context to help facilitate search.

The scope of public organisations with productive functions: insights from the inefficiency of Italian local public transport

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Giacomo Di Foggia

2015-12-01

Full Text Available It is a well-known fact that reforms necessary to enhance competition and make the economy more attractive play a major role in the Government activity in Europe. Considering the Italian state of affairs, this paper focuses on the inefficiency of public producers in the light of certain market and legal impediments. This paper describes key barriers that undermine the healthy functioning of an important industrial and service sector of the Italian economy: specifically local public transport. This paper also sheds some light on this problem analysing the impact that a controversial regulation framework may have on an industry and suggests that the degree of liberalisation affects the return on investments.

A well-informed ‘model of administration’ for agrarian states. Or: how not to fall into the trap of ‘nostri cation’ when comparing colonial West African States with 18th century Prussia

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Hubert Treiber

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In a noteworthy essay entitled “The Operation Called Vergleichen (Comparison” Joachim Matthes has drawn attention to the fact that studies which claim to compare particular phenomena from one’s own culture (such as law or administration, for example with those of an alien culture do not, strictly speaking, perform a real comparison.  Instead, what takes place is (in his words a “nostrification”, that is, “an appropriation of the other in one’s own terms” or conceptual assimilation.  Even the ideal-type constructions of Max Weber seem largely to confirm this proposition.  In principle, then, it ought to be quite hard to find studies which are not exposed to the charge of nostrification.  In what follows works by Gerd Spittler are examined in some detail from this particular perspective.  In the first instance Spittler investigated the specific problems encountered by the colonial administration in West African peasant states (1919-39, before examining if this problematic could be applied to the peasant state of Prussia in the 18th century.  So, for example, he asked himself how a bureaucratic administration reliant on written documents resolved the problem of raising taxes on a body of untruly peasants who to a large extent communicated orally amongst themselves.  Since in both cases Spittler relates the typical structures of an agrarian society to typical administrative structures, he attains a level of reflection where the ‘“One” can be translated into the “Other” and vice versa’ (Matthes, and in this way he escapes the particular danger of nostrification.

Frontopolar cortical inefficiency may underpin reward and working memory dysfunction in bipolar disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Jogia, Jigar; Dima, Danai; Kumari, Veena; Frangou, Sophia

2012-12-01

Emotional dysregulation in bipolar disorder is thought to arise from dysfunction within prefrontal cortical regions involved in cognitive control coupled with increased or aberrant activation within regions engaged in emotional processing. The aim of this study was to determine the common and distinct patterns of functional brain abnormalities during reward and working memory processing in patients with bipolar disorder. Participants were 36 euthymic bipolar disorder patients and 37 healthy comparison subjects matched for age, sex and IQ. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted during the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the n-back working memory task. During both tasks, patients with bipolar disorder demonstrated a pattern of inefficient engagement within the ventral frontopolar prefrontal cortex with evidence of segregation along the medial-lateral dimension for reward and working memory processing, respectively. Moreover, patients also showed greater activation in the anterior cingulate cortex during the Iowa Gambling Task and in the insula during the n-back task. Our data implicate ventral frontopolar dysfunction as a core abnormality underpinning bipolar disorder and confirm that overactivation in regions involved in emotional arousal is present even in tasks that do not typically engage emotional systems.

Influence of irrigation on the occurrence of organic and inorganic pollutants in soil, water and sediments of a Spanish agrarian basin (Lerma)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abrahao, R.; Sarasa, J.; Causape, J.; Garcia-Garizabal, I.; Ovelleiro, J. L.

2011-07-01

In order to understand the several possible environmental impacts caused by irrigation, the existence of a study area under transition from unirrigated to irrigated land is a great advantage. This work investigates the presence of 44 pesticides and metabolites, 11 organo chlorinated compounds, 17 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 13 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and several metals and metalloids such as Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, As, Se and Hg, in the soil, water and sediments of an agrarian basin in Northeast Spain. The study area was unirrigated until 2006, when irrigation began. The objective of this work was to verify if the first irrigation years influenced the concentrations of the substances and elements analyzed. The main contaminants detected were organo chlorinated compounds, Paths and metals in the soil; atrazine, desethyl atrazine, terbuthylazine, dicofol and pp'-DDT in the water; and PAHs, 1,2,4 trichlorobenzene and metals in the sediments. Until the conclusion of this study, no serious contamination issues existed related to the analyzed substances, and for the moment, irrigation has not significantly influenced the concentrations of such substances in the basin. Nevertheless, slightly elevated punctual values were observed for endrin in the soil, pp'-DDT in the water, and Ni and Zn in the sediments. (Author) 45 refs.

DRG migration: A novel measure of inefficient surgical care in a value-based world.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Byron D; Mehta, Hemalkumar B; Sieloff, Eric; Shan, Yong; Senagore, Anthony J

2018-03-01

Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) migration, DRG 331 to 330, is defined by the assignment to a higher cost DRG due only to post admission comorbidity or complications (CC). We assessed the 5% national Medicare data set (2011-2014) for colectomy (DRG's 331/330), excluding present on admission CC's and selecting patients with one or more CC's post-admission to define the impact on payments, cost, and length of stay (LOS). The incidence of DRG migration was 14.2%. This was associated with statistically significant increases in payments, hospital cost, and LOS compared to DRG 331 patients. When DRG migration rate was extrapolated to the entire at risk population, the results were an increase of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cost by $98 million, hospital cost by $418 million, and excess hospital days equaling 68,669 days. These negative outcomes represent potentially unnecessary variations in the processes of care, and therefore a unique economic concept defining inefficient surgical care. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ACCESS REFORM DALAM KERANGKA REFORMA AGRARIA UNTUK MEWUJUDKAN KEADILAN SOSIAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferry Irawan Febriansyah

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In essence, the purpose of the implementation of agrarian reformis to improve the welfare of the poor peasants. Agrarian reformis not only understood as a policy for there distribution of land, but also as abroader process such as access to natural resources, financial/capital, technology, goods and labor markets, and also the distribution of political power. Equitable distribution of land tenureinrural areas as a result of agrarian reform will result in an increase in the welfare of the villagers who are generally small farmers or farm laborers. Agrarian reform plays an important role in the fight against ruralpoverty. The main target of the agrarian reformis the creation of social justice that is characterized by the presence of agrarian justice.

Annealing bounds to prevent further Charge Transfer Inefficiency increase of the Chandra X-ray CCDs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Monmeyran, Corentin, E-mail: comonmey@mit.edu [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Patel, Neil S., E-mail: neilp@mit.edu [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Bautz, Mark W., E-mail: mwb@space.mit.edu [Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Grant, Catherine E., E-mail: cgrant@space.mit.edu [Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Prigozhin, Gregory Y., E-mail: gyp@space.mit.edu [Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Agarwal, Anuradha, E-mail: anu@mit.edu [Microphotonics Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Kimerling, Lionel C., E-mail: lckim@mit.edu [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Microphotonics Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

2016-12-15

After the front-illuminated CCDs on board the X-ray telescope Chandra were damaged by radiation after launch, it was decided to anneal them in an effort to remove the defects introduced by the irradiation. The annealing led to an unexpected increase of the Charge Transfer Inefficiency (CTI). The performance degradation is attributed to point defect interactions in the devices. Specifically, the annealing at 30 °C activated the diffusion of the main interstitial defect in the device, the carbon interstitial, which led to its association with a substitutional impurity, ultimately resulting in a stable and electrically active defect state. Because the formation reaction of this carbon interstitial and substitutional impurity associate is diffusion limited, we recommend a higher upper bound for the annealing temperature and duration of any future CCD anneals, that of −50 °C for one day or −60 °C for a week, to prevent further CTI increase.

Hidden costs of HIV treatment in Spain: inefficiency of the antiretroviral drug packaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Llibre-Codina, Josep M; Andreu-Crespo, Angels; Cardona-Peitx, Gloria; Sala-Piñol, Ferran; Clotet-Sala, Bonaventura; Bonafont-Pujol, Xavier

2014-01-01

Antiretroviral drugs in Spain are delivered by law only in hospital pharmacies. Commercial packages meet variable quality standards when dispensed drugs are returned due to treatment changes or adherence problems Nearly 20-25% of the initial regimens will be changed at 48 weeks for different reasons. We evaluated the economic impact on public health system of the inability of using returned drugs due to inefficient packaging. We defined socially efficient packaging as the best adapted one to being delivered in unit dose to outpatients and classified: Class A - Drug packed in unit doses with complete info (name of drug, dosage in mg, lot, and expiring date) in each unit, maintaining complete information of the drug if returned when the external package is opened. Class B - packed in blisters with complete info in the blister, but not in unit doses, without special conservation conditions (should be re-packed in unit doses in the pharmacy before its dispensation to assure a class A excellence). Class C - packed in plastic containers with complete info written only on a label over the container, would allow repackaging only before its initial delivery, but not when returned. Class D - drug packed in plastic containers with manufacturer's warning that the product cannot be placed outside of the original package due to special conditions of conservation (fridge, humidity) that doesn't allow a unit dose repackaging or reusing an opened container. We analysed a 12-month period (July 2011-June 2012) in a hospital-based HIV outpatient pharmacy that serves 2413 treated individuals. Patients generated 23,574 visits to pharmacy, and received 48,325 drug packages, with 2.529.137 pills delivered. The patients suffered 1051 treatment changes for any reason. A total amount of 122.945€ in treatment were returned to pharmacy in opened packages during the study period. 47.139.91€ would be totally lost, mainly due to being packaged in class C and D boxes, the equivalent of

Price and Structure Risks Consideration when Selecting a Marketing Strategy for an Agricultural Enterprise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shiyan Dmytro V.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The goal of the article lies in development and approval of the indicator of complex assessment of the level of price and structure risks of agricultural enterprises with the further goal of selecting a marketing strategy. It was established in the result of the study that agricultural enterprises with a high price and structure risk ratio have high indicators of economic efficiency compared to the groups with a low value of this indicator. At the same time, major enterprises (mostly agro-holdings at a certain stage, which corresponds with the set critical size of the area or livestock, have a possibility to diversify production and, consequently, reduce the price and structure risk ratio. Further studies would deal with establishing groups of agricultural enterprises on the basis of differences in economic efficiency by selected criteria (profitability of realisation of products, profit per 1 hectare and crop capacity and livestock productivity, that result not from the territorial and geographical location, but from specific features of formation of the market of agrarian products of Ukraine.

The importance of including dynamic soil-structure interaction into wind turbine simulation codes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damgaard, Mads; Andersen, Lars Vabbersgaard; Ibsen, Lars Bo

2014-01-01

A rigorous numerical model, describing a wind turbine structure and subsoil, may contain thousands of degrees of freedom, making the approach computationally inefficient for fast time domain analysis. In order to meet the requirements of real-time calculations, the dynamic impedance of the founda......A rigorous numerical model, describing a wind turbine structure and subsoil, may contain thousands of degrees of freedom, making the approach computationally inefficient for fast time domain analysis. In order to meet the requirements of real-time calculations, the dynamic impedance...... of the foundation from a rigorous analysis can be formulated into a so-called lumped-parameter model consisting of a few springs, dashpots and point masses which are easily implemented into aeroelastic codes. In this paper, the quality of consistent lumped-parameter models of rigid surface footings and mono piles...... is examined. The optimal order of the models is determined and implemented into the aeroelastic code HAWC2, where the dynamic response of a 5.0 MW wind turbine is evaluated. In contrast to the fore-aft vibrations, the inclusion of soil-structure interaction is shown to be critical for the side-side vibrations...

Improvement of Structural Life Management System(SLMS) for N.P.P. Structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Myung Sug; Noh, Jae Myung; Lee, Jong Suk; Kim, Do Gyeum

2009-01-01

The first investigation on the degradation mechanism and establishment of systematic inspection procedure for nuclear power plant (NPP) structures in Korea were conducted through a research project performed from 1993 to 19961). Accordingly, the Structural Life Management System (SLMS) was developed in 1998. Currently, SLMS is still operating for the lifetime management of NPP structures. However, the function of currently operating SLMS is focusing essentially on the management of degradation data detected during periodical inspections. Such limited function is today stressing the necessity to supplement its functions by improving the inefficiency of D/B due to the huge volume of data as well as by reflecting additional requirements. Accordingly, this research intends to develop a system improving the former SLMS so as to accommodate to the various demands of the users like integrated D/B system exploiting web-server, integrity assessment and durability management

An Example of an Improvable Rao-Blackwell Improvement, Inefficient Maximum Likelihood Estimator, and Unbiased Generalized Bayes Estimator.

Science.gov (United States)

Galili, Tal; Meilijson, Isaac

2016-01-02

The Rao-Blackwell theorem offers a procedure for converting a crude unbiased estimator of a parameter θ into a "better" one, in fact unique and optimal if the improvement is based on a minimal sufficient statistic that is complete. In contrast, behind every minimal sufficient statistic that is not complete, there is an improvable Rao-Blackwell improvement. This is illustrated via a simple example based on the uniform distribution, in which a rather natural Rao-Blackwell improvement is uniformly improvable. Furthermore, in this example the maximum likelihood estimator is inefficient, and an unbiased generalized Bayes estimator performs exceptionally well. Counterexamples of this sort can be useful didactic tools for explaining the true nature of a methodology and possible consequences when some of the assumptions are violated. [Received December 2014. Revised September 2015.].

Transient Oral Human Cytomegalovirus Infections Indicate Inefficient Viral Spread from Very Few Initially Infected Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayer, Bryan T; Krantz, Elizabeth M; Swan, David; Ferrenberg, James; Simmons, Karen; Selke, Stacy; Huang, Meei-Li; Casper, Corey; Corey, Lawrence; Wald, Anna; Schiffer, Joshua T; Gantt, Soren

2017-06-15

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is acquired by the oral route in children, and primary infection is associated with abundant mucosal replication, as well as the establishment of latency in myeloid cells that results in lifelong infection. The efficiency of primary CMV infection in humans following oral exposure, however, is unknown. We consistently detected self-limited, low-level oral CMV shedding events, which we termed transient CMV infections, in a prospective birth cohort of 30 highly exposed CMV-uninfected infants. We estimated the likelihood of transient oral CMV infections by comparing their observed frequency to that of established primary infections, characterized by persistent high-level shedding, viremia, and seroconversion. We developed mathematical models of viral dynamics upon initial oral CMV infection and validated them using clinical shedding data. Transient infections comprised 76 to 88% of oral CMV shedding events. For this high percentage of transient infections to occur, we identified two mathematical prerequisites: a very small number of initially infected oral cells (1 to 4) and low viral infectivity (<1.5 new cells infected/cell). These observations indicate that oral CMV infection in infants typically begins with a single virus that spreads inefficiently to neighboring cells. Thus, although the incidence of CMV infection is high during infancy, our data provide a mechanistic framework to explain why multiple CMV exposures are typically required before infection is successfully established. These findings imply that a sufficiently primed immune response could prevent CMV from establishing latent infection in humans and support the achievability of a prophylactic CMV vaccine. IMPORTANCE CMV infects the majority of the world's population and is a major cause of birth defects. Developing a vaccine to prevent CMV infection would be extremely valuable but would be facilitated by a better understanding of how natural human CMV infection is acquired. We

Конкурентоспроможність високотоварних сільськогосподарських підприємств

OpenAIRE

Збарський, В. К.; Місевич, М. А.; Misevych, M.

2009-01-01

The features of competitive environment of highly commodity agrarian enterprises of Zhytomyr Region have been investigated. The economic evaluation of the resource potential and the economic efficiency of the agrarian production of highly commodity agrarian enterprises have been done and analyzed. The main factors influencing the competitiveness of these enterprises have been revealed. The ways of competitiveness‘s raising of highly commodity agrarian enterprises have been offered on the basi...

Inefficient procurement processes undermine access to medicines in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Magadzire, Bvudzai P; Ward, Kim; Leng, Henry M J; Sanders, David

2017-06-30

South Africa (SA) has experienced several stock-outs of life-saving medicines for the treatment of major chronic infectious and non-communicable diseases in the public sector. To identify the causes of stock-outs and to illustrate how they undermine access to medicines (ATM) in the Western Cape Province, SA. This qualitative study was conducted with a sample of over 70 key informants (frontline health workers, sub-structure and provincial health service managers). We employed the critical incident technique to identify significant occurrences in our context, the consequences of which impacted on access to medicines during a defined period. Stock-outs were identified as one such incident, and we explored when, where and why they occurred, in order to inform policy and practice. Medicines procurement is a centralised function in SA. Health service managers unanimously agreed that stock-outs resulted from the following inefficiencies at the central level: (i) delays in awarding of pharmaceutical tenders; (ii) absence of contracts for certain medicines appearing on provincial code lists; and (iii) suppliers' inability to satisfy contractual agreements. The recurrence of stock-outs had implications at multiple levels: (i) health facility operations; (ii) the Chronic Dispensing Unit (CDU), which prepacks medicines for over 300 000 public sector patients; and (iii) community-based medicines distribution systems, which deliver the CDU's prepacked medicines to non-health facilities nearer to patient homes. For instance, stock-outs resulted in omission of certain medicines from CDU parcels that were delivered to health facilities. This increased workload and caused frustration for frontline health workers who were expected to dispense omitted medicines manually. According to frontline health workers, this translated into longer waiting times for patients and associated dissatisfaction. In some instances, patients were asked to return for undispensed medication at a later

Accidental ingestion of BiTine ring and a note on inefficient ring separation forceps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baghele ON

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Om Nemichand Baghele1, Mangala Om Baghele21Department of Periodontology, SMBT Dental College and Hospital, Sangamner, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India; 2Private General Dental Practice, Mumbai, IndiaBackground: Accidental ingestion of medium-to-large instruments is relatively uncommon during dental treatment but can be potentially dangerous. A case of BiTine ring ingestion is presented with a note on inefficient ring separation forceps.Case description: A 28-year-old male patient accidentally ingested the BiTine ring (2 cm diameter, 0.5 cm outward projections while it was being applied to a distoproximal cavity in tooth # 19. The ring placement forceps were excessively flexible; bending of the beaks towards the ring combined with a poor no-slippage mechanism led to sudden disengagement of the ring and accelerated movement towards the pharynx. We followed the patient with bulk forming agents and radiographs. Fortunately the ring passed out without any complications.Clinical implications: Checking equipment and methods is as important as taking precautions against any preventable medical emergency. It is the responsibility of the clinician to check, verify and then use any instrument/equipment.Keywords: foreign bodies/radiography, foreign bodies/complications, equipment failure, dental instrument, accidental ingestion

The Role of Proanthocyanidins Complex in Structure and Nutrition Interaction in Alfalfa Forage

OpenAIRE

Jonker, Arjan; Yu, Peiqiang

2016-01-01

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the main forages grown in the world. Alfalfa is a winter hardy, drought tolerant, N-fixing legume with a good longevity, high yield, high nutrient levels, high digestibility, unique structural to non-structural components ratio, high dry matter intake, and high animal productivity per hectare. However, its main limitation is its excessively rapid initial rate of protein degradation in the rumen, which results in pasture bloat and inefficient use of prote...

Effect of an inefficient electron scavenger on infrared- and visible-absorbing electrons in an ethanol matrix

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noda, S.; Yoshida, K.; Ogasawara, M.; Yoshida, H.

1980-01-01

In order to obtain a deeper insight into the initial localization and the subsequent stabilization of electrons and to unravel the detailed mechanism of the electron scavenging reaction in a glassy ethanol matrix, spectrophotometric studies have been made on this matrix with toluene, an inefficient electron scavenger, γ irradiated at 4.2 0 K. Inhomogeneous depletion of the trapped electron spectrum by toluene indicates that IR-absorbing (lambda/sub max/ = 1500 nm) and visible-absorbing (lambda/sub max/ = 640 nm) electrons are initially generated, but that the former are unstable at higher temperature. Toluene scavenges the IR-absorbing electrons more efficiently by a factor of 10 than the visible-absorbing electrons. This selectivity is much higher than that of an efficient scavenger, such as benzyl chloride, as previously reported. The electron scavenging reaction results in the formation of the transient radical anion of toluene, which is readily protonated to yield the methylcyclohexadienyl radical at 77 0 K. 3 figures

All projects related to guatemala | Page 4 | IDRC - International ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2007-06-30

CEIDEPAZ, an independent nongovernmental organization has been involved in research and advocacy for agrarian legislation ever since the adoption of the Peace Accords 10 years ago. Start Date: June 30, 2007. End Date: December 1, 2008. Topic: CONFLICT RESOLUTION, AGRARIAN POLICY, AGRARIAN REFORM ...

Cerebral Inefficient Activation in Schizophrenia Patients and Their Unaffected Parents during the N-Back Working Memory Task: A Family fMRI Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sisi Jiang

Full Text Available It has been suggested that working memory deficits is a core feature of symptomatology of schizophrenia, which can be detected in patients and their unaffected relatives. The impairment of working memory has been found related to the abnormal activity of human brain regions in many functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI studies. This study investigated how brain region activation was altered in schizophrenia and how it was inherited independently from performance deficits.The authors used fMRI method during N-back task to assess working memory related cortical activation in four groups (N = 20 in each group, matching task performance, age, gender and education: schizophrenic patients, their unaffected biological parents, young healthy controls for the patients and older healthy controls for their parents.Compared to healthy controls, patients showed an exaggerated response in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (brodmann area [BA] 46 and bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and had reduced activation in bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 9. In the conjunction analysis, the effect of genetic risk (parents versus older control shared significantly overlapped activation with effect of disease (patients versus young control in the right middle frontal gyrus (BA 46 and left inferior parietal gyrus (BA 40.Physiological inefficiency of dorsal prefrontal cortex and compensation involvement of ventral prefrontal cortex in working memory function may one physiological characteristics of schizophrenia. And relatively inefficient activation in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex probably can be a promising intermediate phenotype for schizophrenia.

ANALISIS KRITIS TERHADAP DIMENSI IDEOLOGIS REFORMASI AGRARIA DAN CAPAIAN PRAGMATISNYA

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Ali Imron

2017-10-01

Full Text Available An idea about agrarian reform was stated againin all over the world. This phenomenon was followed by various studies about the model and the concept of agrarian reform and even it became the agendaofsome international organizations, state governmentand various social organizations in rural areas in developed countries. Ups and downs of the agrarian reform program that the core was on the landreformin Indonesia was done without something special and clear target although the strong will of the founding fathers hadbeen formulated clearly in both the constitution and UUPA. Essentially in both principle norms there was an effort to form life and structure in a society, nation, and country more fairly. The factors which influenced the policy inconsistency, considering the agrarian reform, were not only dealing with social-economy, but it also had an ideological background. The main design of the agrarian reform was not enough to be formed by the law and political actors, but it was also done by economy actors and it even had to involve people organization proportionally, mainly to avoid the pragmatism behavior. ?Gagasan mengenai penataan struktur agraria atau agrarian reform bergulir kembali ke permukaan di berbagai belahan dunia. Fenomena tersebut diikuti berbagai studi tentang model dan konsep reforma agraria bahkan sudah menjadi agenda dari berbagai badan internasional, pemerintahan negara maupun berbagai gerakan organisasi sosial pedesaan di negara-negara berkembang. Pasang-surut program reforma agraria yang berintikan pada landreform di Indonesia berjalan tanpa greget dan sasaran jelas, sekalipun tekad dari para the founding fathers sudah terumus dengan jelas di dalam konstitusi maupun UUPA. Secaca esensiil di dalam kedua norma dasar itu terkandung suatu upaya untuk menata kehidupan dan struktur bermasyarakat, berbangsa dan bernegara secara lebih adil. Faktor yang mempengaruhi inkonsistensi kebijakan tersebut, mengingat reforma agraria tidak

Ambiguities in the grid-inefficiency correction for Frisch-Grid Ionization Chambers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Adili, A.; Hambsch, F.-J.; Bencardino, R.; Oberstedt, S.; Pomp, S.

2012-01-01

Ionization chambers with Frisch grids have been very successfully applied to neutron-induced fission-fragment studies during the past 20 years. They are radiation resistant and can be easily adapted to the experimental conditions. The use of Frisch grids has the advantage to remove the angular dependency from the charge induced on the anode plate. However, due to the Grid Inefficiency (GI) in shielding the charges, the anode signal remains slightly angular dependent. The correction for the GI is, however, essential to determine the correct energy of the ionizing particles. GI corrections can amount to a few percent of the anode signal. Presently, two contradicting correction methods are considered in literature. The first method adding the angular-dependent part of the signal to the signal pulse height; the second method subtracting the former from the latter. Both additive and subtractive approaches were investigated in an experiment where a Twin Frisch-Grid Ionization Chamber (TFGIC) was employed to detect the spontaneous fission fragments (FF) emitted by a 252 Cf source. Two parallel-wire grids with different wire spacing (1 and 2 mm, respectively), were used individually, in the same chamber side. All the other experimental conditions were unchanged. The 2 mm grid featured more than double the GI of the 1 mm grid. The induced charge on the anode in both measurements was compared, before and after GI correction. Before GI correction, the 2 mm grid resulted in a lower pulse-height distribution than the 1 mm grid. After applying both GI corrections to both measurements only the additive approach led to consistent grid independent pulse-height distributions. The application of the subtractive correction on the contrary led to inconsistent, grid-dependent results. It is also shown that the impact of either of the correction methods is small on the FF mass distributions of 235 U(n th , f).

Apathy, but not depression, reflects inefficient cognitive strategies in Parkinson's disease.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Varanese

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The relationship between apathy, depression and cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD is still controversial. The objective of this study is to investigate whether apathy and depression are associated with inefficient cognitive strategies in PD.In this prospective clinical cohort study conducted in a university-based clinical and research movement disorders center we studied 48 PD patients. Based on clinical evaluation, they were classified in two groups: PD with apathy (PD-A group, n = 23 and PD without apathy (PD-NA group, n = 25. Patients received clinical and neuropsychological evaluations. The clinical evaluation included: Apathy Evaluation Scale-patient version, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 items, the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale and the Hoehn and Yahr staging system; the neuropsychological evaluation explored speed information processing, attention, working memory, executive function, learning abilities and memory, which included several measures of recall (immediate free, short delay free, long delay free and cued, and total recall.PD-A and PD-NA groups did not differ in age, disease duration, treatment, and motor condition, but differed in recall (p<0.001 and executive tasks (p<0.001. Immediate free recall had the highest predictive value for apathy (F = 10.94; p = 0.002. Depression and apathy had a weak correlation (Pearson index= 0.3; p<0.07, with three items of the depression scale correlating with apathy (Pearson index between .3 and.4; p<0.04. The depressed and non-depressed PD patients within the non-apathetic group did not differ.Apathy, but not depression, is associated with deficit in implementing efficient cognitive strategies. As the implementation of efficient strategies relies on the fronto-striatal circuit, we conclude that apathy, unlike depression, is an early expression of executive impairment in PD.

Farmers' participation in knowledge circulation and the promotion of agroecological methods in South India

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arora, S.

2012-01-01

In the context of widespread agrarian distress in rural India, finding ways to secure livelihood sustainability of small farmers have become urgent concerns. Agroecological methods (AEMs) are considered by some to be effective in solving structural problems with farmers' production processes

Inefficient procurement processes undermine access to medicines in the Western Cape Province of South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bvudzai P Magadzire

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Background. South Africa (SA has experienced several stock-outs of life-saving medicines for the treatment of major chronic infectious and non-communicable diseases in the public sector. Objective. To identify the causes of stock-outs and to illustrate how they undermine access to medicines (ATM in the Western Cape Province, SA. Methods. This qualitative study was conducted with a sample of over 70 key informants (frontline health workers, sub-structure and provincial health service managers. We employed the critical incident technique to identify significant occurrences in our context, the consequences of which impacted on access to medicines during a defined period. Stock-outs were identified as one such incident, and we explored when, where and why they occurred, in order to inform policy and practice. Results. Medicines procurement is a centralised function in SA. Health service managers unanimously agreed that stock-outs resulted from the following inefficiencies at the central level: (i delays in awarding of pharmaceutical tenders; (ii absence of contracts for certain medicines appearing on provincial code lists; and (iii suppliers’ inability to satisfy contractual agreements. The recurrence of stock-outs had implications at multiple levels: (i health facility operations; (ii the Chronic Dispensing Unit (CDU, which prepacks medicines for over 300 000 public sector patients; and (iii community-based medicines distribution systems, which deliver the CDU’s prepacked medicines to non-health facilities nearer to patient homes. For instance, stock-outs resulted in omission of certain medicines from CDU parcels that were delivered to health facilities. This increased workload and caused frustration for frontline health workers who were expected to dispense omitted medicines manually. According to frontline health workers, this translated into longer waiting times for patients and associated dissatisfaction. In some instances, patients were

KONFLIK AGRARIA DI INDONESIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Zuber

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This article describe agrarian conflict in Indonesia. Until this moment many agrarian conflict are happen in Papua, Java, Kalimantan and Sumatera. This conflict consist many interests and there isn’t equity policy to society are following this conflict. The implication the agrarian conflict become latent conflict. It usually make huge damage in society and nation.

Globalisation, structural adjustment and african agriculture: analysis and evidence

OpenAIRE

Bryceson, Deborah; Sarkar, Prabirjit; Fennel, Shailaja; Singh, Ajit

2010-01-01

A major purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of poor governance or ‘state fragility’ in African countries on their overall economic and agrarian performance. The results of our econometric analysis show that a higher level of public security is conducive to lower levels of conflict, whether of an ethnic, religious and regional nature. It also corresponds with greater agricultural value-added per capita. The analysis further indicates that trade openness and aid do not have a substa...

Stiffness design of geometrically nonlinear structures using topology optimization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buhl, Thomas; Pedersen, Claus B. Wittendorf; Sigmund, Ole

2000-01-01

of the objective functions are found with the adjoint method and the optimization problem is solved using the Method of Moving Asymptotes. A filtering scheme is used to obtain checkerboard-free and mesh-independent designs and a continuation approach improves convergence to efficient designs. Different objective......The paper deals with topology optimization of structures undergoing large deformations. The geometrically nonlinear behaviour of the structures are modelled using a total Lagrangian finite element formulation and the equilibrium is found using a Newton-Raphson iterative scheme. The sensitivities...... functions are tested. Minimizing compliance for a fixed load results in degenerated topologies which are very inefficient for smaller or larger loads. The problem of obtaining degenerated "optimal" topologies which only can support the design load is even more pronounced than for structures with linear...

大学生伦理学学习效果欠佳的成因剖析%Reasons of the Inefficiency of College Students＇ Ethics Learning

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

范虹

2012-01-01

The research on the effects of college students＇ ethics learning is not only because of the requirement of ethics teaching and research,but also because of the inefficiency of their ethics learning.The reasons of this inefficiency reside in the unimportance of humane education in colleges and universities,the insufficient supply of ethics teaching methods,the insufficient reliability of the subjects of ethics theory teaching,etc.%对大学生伦理学学习效果的研究,不仅缘于伦理学教学理论研究的需要,更迫于大学生伦理学学习效果欠佳的现状。伦理学在内的高校人文科学教育的被边缘化、伦理学有效教学方式的供给不足、伦理学理论传播主体的可信赖性不够等因素的存在是造成一些大学生对伦理学理论难以产生深感兴趣、自觉内化、主动践行等方面良好学习效果的重要根源。

Reforma Agraria dan Aliansi Kelas Pekerja di Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emilianus Yakob Sese Tolo

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Land tenure system is a crucial factor for the development of the nation. As a developing country, Indonesia is still encountering serious problems related to unequal land tenure system, indicated by the continuing rise of the Gini index of the land ownership year by year. This has negative implications for productivity and livelihoods. Therefore, agrarian reform is an urgent need that must be executed immediately. The agrarian reform in Indonesia should be led and pioneered by the alliance of the working class: the industrial workers (laborers and farmers. The author argues that the alliance of the working class will have an impact on realization of agrarian reform which could lead the nation to the better development. However, agrarian reform must also be supported by other sectors such as cooperatives and village industrialization. However, these sectors are necessary to put into practice sustainable economic democracy after implementing agrarian reform so as to escape from capitalism logic of capital accumulation.

FORCED INDUSTRIALIZATION IN ROMANIA AND FOREIGN TRADE CHANGES DURING SOCIALISM

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Eugen Ghiorghita

2016-09-01

Full Text Available During the 40 years (1949-1989 of centralized management of the economy, Romania was transformed from an agrarian-industrial country into an industrial-agrarian country, but not beyond the stage of a developing country. Planning the formation of the accumulation fund and the fixed funds allocation made possible to faster diversify and increase the industrial production. In a first stage, during the 8th decade (1971-1980, the increase in imports of capital goods needed in industries’ technology revamping engendered the growth of Romania's foreign debt. In the 9th decade, the policy of forced payment of previously accumulated foreign debt was achieved by aggressive compression of imports and boost of exports. At the end, in 1989, Romania's foreign trade structure corresponded almost completely to the structure of the supply from the countries producing industrial processed goods. From this point of view, Romania became, after four decades of accelerated development, an acceptable client to Western exporters.

A descriptive approach to the social and territorial inequality in rural areas of Northwest Argentina in the first decade of the XXI century

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julieta Krapovickas

2018-02-01

Full Text Available From the last decades of the twentieth century, the rural sector of the Argentine Northwest was the scene of deep territorial and productive transformations linked to the expansion of extractive activities. The effects of these activities include privatization, concentration and land grabs, generating an increase of social and territorial inequality. The aim of this paper is therefore to analyze the socio-territorial inequality in rural areas of Northwest Argentina in the first decade of the XXI century. Four dimensions were analyzed: poverty, education, habitat quality, and agrarian structure. For the analysis of the first three dimensions, data from national population census 2001 and 2010 were used. For the analysis of the territorial and productive transformations were used data from national agricultural censuses 1988, 2002 and 2008. The results allow us to observe that while the habitat quality and education improved during the first decade of the century, there are high poverty and vulnerability in a context of a progressively unequal agrarian structure.

[In the America of mountain ranges, the brief summer of Indian agrarian movements (1970-1991)].

Science.gov (United States)

Le Bot, Y

1991-01-01

Indians actors in cultural, social, or political affairs at the regional or national level previously dominated by non-Indians. The peasant Indian movements are above all interested in issues of land and agrarian development, but they are not exclusively peasant. Some of the members are not agricultural workers, and their concerns exceed those of a simple peasant society. Diverse influences have been exercised on the formation and development of the movements. Progressive sectors of the Catholic Church were influential in almost all. The movements encountered opposition from class and national adversaries interested in maintaining the status quo, and also often experienced distrust, misunderstanding, or paternalistic attitudes on the part of nonpeasant organizations working for change. The future is uncertain for all of the movements, despite notable past successes for some of them.

Social costs of the inefficient management of the EU funds for Bulgaria, Kiel und Hamburg: ZBW – Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft

OpenAIRE

Nozharov, Shteryo

2016-01-01

Abstract: The study identifies and defines the social costs of the inefficient management of EU funds for Bulgaria. It is analyzed the last due programme period (2007-2015) and its prolongation. As methodology of the research the V4 BM model of Al-Debei and Avison (2010) which has not been used for analysis of EU funds management for cohesion policy in the public sector, is applied. In this way its potential for application in this field is tested. The concept of the study could be successful...

MODERN FEATURES OF TAXATION OF AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES OF UKRAINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Burkovskaya A.

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Permanent changes in tax legislation and a significant share of the cost structure of agricultural enterprises for taxes on payment of taxes determine the special importance of the correct decision while choosing a system of taxation. Today, for Ukraine, the issue of developing a mechanism that would define new and more effective principles of taxation of agricultural producers is particularly relevant. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to study changes in taxation of agricultural producers over the last few years, to identify the peculiarities and problems of taxation of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine, and to determine how the state supports agriculture. Results. In this article, the system of tax burden on agricultural enterprises of Ukraine is considered: tax rates, mechanisms and types of taxes to be paid by agrarian enterprises. The methods and instruments of tax regulation in the agrarian sector and their gradual change over the last few years have been analyzed. A schematic diagram of the changes of the special regime in taxation in 2016-2017 years has been constructed. The alternative ways of supporting agricultural commodity producers by means of subsidy programs are presented. The flaws of tax innovations in agriculture are substantiated. The importance of state regulation of the agrarian sector of the economy through the tax mechanisms has been confirmed. Conclusion. Conclusions are made regarding to the modern state of the system of taxation of agrarian enterprises and the consequences of increasing the tax burden for taxpayers of the IV group of the single tax. Taking into account changes in the agrarian sector and the economy as a whole, the agricultural taxation system requires serious reforms, including in terms of eliminating tax problems for different categories of agricultural producers. However, taxation in agriculture, where there are specific economic conditions, should stimulate producers, which

The agrarian question in the Colombian orinoquia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia Gutierrez, E.

1999-01-01

Historical, social, economic and political aspects of the agricultural sector are described in the region of the Colombian Orinoquia, with emphasis in the Meta and Casanare Departments. The factors are analyzed implied in the change of the rural economy of the region, the colonization processes and their incidence in the environment, the structural and of the situation factors committed in the rural poverty of the Orinoquense oil cord; the situation of concentration of the earth and the perspectives of production of tropical exotic fruits and their linking with the external market. The economic politicians and the agricultural sector of the region are confronted in terms of the economic opening, the costs, prices and productivity of the sector

Heterochromatinization associated with cell differentiation as a model to study DNA double strand break induction and repair in the context of higher-order chromatin structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Falk, Martin; Lukášová, Emilie; Štefančíková, Lenka; Baranová, Elena; Falková, Iva; Ježková, Lucie; Davídková, Marie; Bačíková, Alena; Vachelová, Jana; Michaelidesová, Anna; Kozubek, Stanislav

2014-01-01

Cell differentiation is associated with extensive gene silencing, heterochromatinization and potentially decreasing need for repairing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Differentiation stages of blood cells thus represent an excellent model to study DSB induction, repair and misrepair in the context of changing higher-order chromatin structure. We show that immature granulocytes form γH2AX and 53BP1 foci, contrary to the mature cells; however, these foci colocalize only rarely and DSB repair is inefficient. Moreover, specific chromatin structure of granulocytes probably influences DSB induction. - Highlights: ► DSB repair is absent in mature granulocytes with condensed chromatin. ► Repair proteins and γH2AX appear in immature stages but rarely colocalize. ► γH2AX persist long times in these cells and DSB repair is inefficient. ► Even though, γH2AX foci “move” out of the dense chromatin. ► 53BP1 enters HP1β domains only after their decondensation

Performance-based shape optimization of continuum structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang Qingquan

2010-01-01

This paper presents a performance-based optimization (PBO) method for optimal shape design of continuum structures with stiffness constraints. Performance-based design concepts are incorporated in the shape optimization theory to achieve optimal designs. In the PBO method, the traditional shape optimization problem of minimizing the weight of a continuum structure with displacement or mean compliance constraints is transformed to the problem of maximizing the performance of the structure. The optimal shape of a continuum structure is obtained by gradually eliminating inefficient finite elements from the structure until its performance is maximized. Performance indices are employed to monitor the performance of optimized shapes in an optimization process. Performance-based optimality criteria are incorporated in the PBO method to identify the optimum from the optimization process. The PBO method is used to produce optimal shapes of plane stress continuum structures and plates in bending. Benchmark numerical results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the PBO method for generating the maximum stiffness shape design of continuum structures. It is shown that the PBO method developed overcomes the limitations of traditional shape optimization methods in optimal design of continuum structures. Performance-based optimality criteria presented can be incorporated in any shape and topology optimization methods to obtain optimal designs of continuum structures.

Proposals for the gradual reduction of the inefficiencies associated with the account of consumption of fossil fuels of isolated systems; Propostas para a gradativa reducao das ineficiencias associadas a conta de consumo de combustiveis fosseis dos sistemas isolados

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Magalhaes, Pedro Coelho de Souza Monteiro; Tiryaki, Gisele Ferreira [Universidade Salvador (UNIFACS), BA (Brazil)

2008-07-01

Restricted access to electricity, the existence of an energy matrix based on fossil fueled electricity plants and the lack of financial means by the population living in the Northern region of Brazil to afford the costs with electricity generation, transmission and distribution in the region created the need to implement cross subsidies in the country's Electric Sector Isolated System. The subsidy policies have aimed at allowing the access to electricity for the population and industries in the north of Brazil and at promoting the economic development of this region, but have brought a great cost to society, particularly the Fuel Consumption Account (CCC). This paper evaluates the current structure and the regulatory norms of the electricity sector' subsidies granted to the Isolated Systems, and indicates solutions to the inefficiency associated to cross-subsidization. (author)

Stuck in default mode: inefficient cross-frequency synchronization may lead to age-related short-term memory decline.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinal, Diego; Zurrón, Montserrat; Díaz, Fernando; Sauseng, Paul

2015-04-01

Aging-related decline in short-term memory capacity seems to be caused by deficient balancing of task-related and resting state brain networks activity; however, the exact neural mechanism underlying this deficit remains elusive. Here, we studied brain oscillatory activity in healthy young and old adults during visual information maintenance in a delayed match-to-sample task. Particular emphasis was on long range phase:amplitude coupling of frontal alpha (8-12 Hz) and posterior fast oscillatory activity (>30 Hz). It is argued that through posterior fast oscillatory activity nesting into the excitatory or the inhibitory phase of frontal alpha wave, long-range networks can be efficiently coupled or decoupled, respectively. On the basis of this mechanism, we show that healthy, elderly participants exhibit a lack of synchronization in task-relevant networks while maintaining synchronized regions of the resting state network. Lacking disconnection of this resting state network is predictive of aging-related short-term memory decline. These results support the idea of inefficient orchestration of competing brain networks in the aging human brain and identify the neural mechanism responsible for this control breakdown. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Measurement and investigation of proton irradiation-induced charge transfer inefficiency in PPD CIS at different integration times

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Yuanyuan; Wang, Zujun; Zhang, Fengqi; Bian, Jingying; Yao, Zhibin; He, Baoping; Liu, Minbo; Sheng, Jiangkun; Ma, Wuying; Dong, Guantao; Jin, Junshan

2018-04-01

Charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) is an important parameter for photodiode (PPD) CMOS image sensors (CISs). A test system was built and used to measure the CTI of PPD CIS devices at different integration times. The radiation effects of 3 MeV and 10 MeV protons on the CTI were investigated. The experiments were carried out at the EN Tandem Van de Graaff accelerator at proton fluences in the range 1010 to 1011 p/cm2. The CTI was measured within the 2 h following proton radiations. The dependence of CTI on integration time, proton energy and fluence were investigated. The CTI was observed to increase after proton irradiation: with the effect of irradiation with 3 MeV proton being more severe than that with 10 MeV protons. The CTI was also observed to decrease with increasing integration time, which is thought to be related to the charge density in the space charge region (SCR) of the CIS devices. This work has provided a simple method to measure the CTI and helped us to understand proton radiation effects on the CTI of PPD CISs.

Gas market distorting effects of imbalanced gas balancing rules: Inefficient regulation of pipeline flexibility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keyaerts, Nico; Hallack, Michelle; Glachant, Jean-Michel; D'haeseleer, William

2011-01-01

This paper analyzes the value and cost of line-pack flexibility in liberalized gas markets through examination of the techno-economic characteristics of gas transport pipelines and the trade-offs between different ways to use the infrastructure: transport and flexibility. Line-pack flexibility is becoming increasingly important as a tool to balance gas supply and demand over different periods. In the European liberalized market context, a monopolist unbundled network operator offers regulated transport services and flexibility (balancing) services according to the network code and balancing rules. Therefore, gas policy makers should understand the role and consequences of line-pack regulation. The analysis shows that the line-pack flexibility service has an important economic value for the shippers and the TSO. Furthermore, the analysis identifies distorting effects in the gas market due to inadequate regulation of line-pack flexibility: by disregarding the sunk costs of flexibility in the balancing rules, the overall efficiency of the gas system is decreased. Finally, the analysis demonstrates that the actual costs of line-pack flexibility are related to the peak cumulative imbalance throughout the balancing period. Any price for pipeline flexibility should, therefore, be based on the related trade-off between the right to use the line-pack flexibility and the provision of transport services. - Research Highlights: →Line-pack flexibility is a main gas balancing instrument. →Capacity related costs of line-pack flexibility depend on peak cumulative imbalances. →Line-pack pricing rules determine choice between ex ante and ex post balancing. →Inefficient line-pack regulation causes gas market distortions.

Cost structure of yam farmers in Ghana: The case of the forest ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated the cost functions and the determinants of cost inefficiencies among yam farmers in Ghana using the stochastic frontier cost approach. The stochastic frontier cost approach estimates the general and inefficiency models simultaneously. Farm-level data and socio-economic variables on a sample of ...

A long HBV transcript encoding pX is inefficiently exported from the nucleus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doitsh, Gilad; Shaul, Yosef

2003-01-01

The longest hepatitis B virus transcript is a 3.9-kb mRNA whose function remained unclear. In this study, we wished to identify the translation products and physiological role of this viral transcript. This transcript initiates from the X promoter region ignoring the inefficient and noncanonical viral polyadenylation signal at the first round of transcription. However, an HBV mutant with canonical polyadenylation signal continues, though with lower efficiency, to program the synthesis of this long transcript, indicating that the deviated HBV polyadenylation signal is important but not essential to enable transcription of the 3.9-kb species. The 3.9-kb RNA contains two times the X open reading frame (ORF). The X ORF at the 5'-end is positioned upstream of the CORE gene. By generating an HBV DNA mutant in which the X and Core ORFs are fused, we demonstrated the production of a 40-kDa X-Core fusion protein that must be encoded by the 3.9-kb transcript. Mutagenesis studies revealed that the production of this protein depends on the 5' X ORF ATG, suggesting that the 3.9-kb RNA is active in translation of the X ORF. Based on these features, the 3.9-kb transcript was designated lxRNA for long X RNA. Unlike other HBV transcripts, lxRNA harbors two copies of PRE, the posttranscriptional regulatory element that controls the nuclear export of HBV mRNAs. Unexpectedly, despite the presence of PRE sequences, RNA fractionation analysis revealed that lxRNA barely accumulates in the cytoplasm, suggesting that nuclear export of lxRNA is poor. Collectively, our data suggest that two distinct HBV mRNA species encode pX and that the HBV transcripts are differentially regulated at the level of nuclear export

Creation of structured documentation templates using Natural Language Processing techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Kashyap, Vipul; Turchin, Alexander; Morin, Laura; Chang, Frank; Li, Qi; Hongsermeier, Tonya

2006-01-01

Structured Clinical Documentation is a fundamental component of the healthcare enterprise, linking both clinical (e.g., electronic health record, clinical decision support) and administrative functions (e.g., evaluation and management coding, billing). One of the challenges in creating good quality documentation templates has been the inability to address specialized clinical disciplines and adapt to local clinical practices. A one-size-fits-all approach leads to poor adoption and inefficiencies in the documentation process. On the other hand, the cost associated with manual generation of documentation templates is significant. Consequently there is a need for at least partial automation of the template generation process. We propose an approach and methodology for the creation of structured documentation templates for diabetes using Natural Language Processing (NLP).

As condições de vida dos assentados da região de Andradina: a realidade e os indicadores de avaliação da política pública de reforma agrária

OpenAIRE

Carvalho, Lívia Hernandes [UNESP

2013-01-01

The theme of this research is the rural settlements in the region of Andradina-SP, northwest of São Paulo, and it starts with the analysis of the history of the agrarian question in this region in order to contextualize the agrarian situation in the rural settlements surveyed. The objective was to analyze the public policy of agrarian reform in the region, focusing on indicators of quality of life improvement of the families settled. Questionnaires were administered to the heads of 244 famili...

Time to let go of CARP? Not so fast

OpenAIRE

Toby C. Monsod; Sharon A. Piza

2014-01-01

We review the data being used to argue that the PhilippinesÕÊcomprehensive agrarian reform program (CARP) has failedÊin economic terms. We find that important statistics andÊeconometric results from cited references have been eitherÊmisinterpreted or used to make invalid comparisons. A moreÊcareful reading of the data shows that productivity for all fourÊmajor crops under land reform rose more in agrarian reformÊcommunities than elsewhere, poverty incidence declined moreÊin agrarian reform co...

Inefficient Angular Momentum Transport in Accretion Disk Boundary Layers: Angular Momentum Belt in the Boundary Layer

Science.gov (United States)

Belyaev, Mikhail A.; Quataert, Eliot

2018-04-01

We present unstratified 3D MHD simulations of an accretion disk with a boundary layer (BL) that have a duration ˜1000 orbital periods at the inner radius of the accretion disk. We find the surprising result that angular momentum piles up in the boundary layer, which results in a rapidly rotating belt of accreted material at the surface of the star. The angular momentum stored in this belt increases monotonically in time, which implies that angular momentum transport mechanisms in the BL are inefficient and do not couple the accretion disk to the star. This is in spite of the fact that magnetic fields are advected into the BL from the disk and supersonic shear instabilities in the BL excite acoustic waves. In our simulations, these waves only carry a small fraction (˜10%) of the angular momentum required for steady state accretion. Using analytical theory and 2D viscous simulations in the R - ϕ plane, we derive an analytical criterion for belt formation to occur in the BL in terms of the ratio of the viscosity in the accretion disk to the viscosity in the BL. Our MHD simulations have a dimensionless viscosity (α) in the BL that is at least a factor of ˜100 smaller than that in the disk. We discuss the implications of these results for BL dynamics and emission.

Inefficient postural responses to unexpected slips during walking in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, P F; Woollacott, M H

1998-11-01

maintaining trunk stability. In an attempt to quickly reestablish the base of support after the slips, older adults had an earlier contralateral foot strike and shortened stride length. The combination of slower onset and smaller magnitude of postural responses to slips in older adults resulted in an inefficient balance strategy. Older adults needed secondary compensatory adjustments, including a lengthened response duration and the use of the arms, to fully regain balance and prevent a fall. The shorter stride length and earlier contralateral foot strike following the slip indicate use of a more conservative balance strategy in older adults.

Prevalence and determinants of hypertension in an agrarian rural ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A structured questionnaire was administered on the participants in their native dialect. Blood pressure (BP) and anthropometric parameters of the participants were measured using standard techniques. Hypertension was defined as systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg and diastolic BP of ≥ 90 mmHg. Results: Two hundred and ...

Human appropriation of net primary production in the United Kingdom, 1800-2000. Changes in society's impact on ecological energy flows during the agrarian-industrial transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Musel, Annabella

2009-01-01

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the United Kingdom's society's long-term intervention into the energy flows of domestic terrestrial ecosystems through the human appropriation of aboveground net primary production (aHANPP) covering the period 1800-2000. The depicted aHANPP trajectory and the historical development of its components are discussed in view of a continuously increasing population and the transition process from an agrarian to an industrial socioecological regime. During the 19th century, aHANPP shows a steady decline from its level of 71% in 1800. While even higher levels were reached during the mid 20th century, the trend during the last forty years of the period under investigation again shows a reduction of aHANPP, which lies at 68% in the year 2000. The high values of aHANPP in the United Kingdom are primarily attributable to the limited amount of forest in comparison to large agricultural areas. At the beginning of the studied period, the relative stabilisation or even decrease in aHANPP in comparison to population development was made possible through the area expansion of and productivity increases on cropland and permanent pastures. Later this was made possible through the outsourcing of biomass harvest, by satisfying local nutritional demands by means of overseas imports, and as from the mid 20th century through huge amounts of fossil fuel based inputs into agriculture (e.g. increased amounts of fertilizers and motorized traction) which allowed increases in biomass harvest to be decoupled from HANPP. (author)

Rationalising inefficiency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Asmild, Mette; Bogetoft, Peter; Hougaard, Jens Leth

2013-01-01

]). A systematic pattern of slack consumption emerges, which suggests that the allocation of slack between staff groups is far from random. The slack pattern seems natural from the point of view of employee value and hierarchy and also considering employee flexibility and substitutability. For example we find...

An Embedded Wireless Sensor Network with Wireless Power Transmission Capability for the Structural Health Monitoring of Reinforced Concrete Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallucci, Luca; Menna, Costantino; Angrisani, Leopoldo; Asprone, Domenico; Moriello, Rosario Schiano Lo; Bonavolontà, Francesco; Fabbrocino, Francesco

2017-11-07

Maintenance strategies based on structural health monitoring can provide effective support in the optimization of scheduled repair of existing structures, thus enabling their lifetime to be extended. With specific regard to reinforced concrete (RC) structures, the state of the art seems to still be lacking an efficient and cost-effective technique capable of monitoring material properties continuously over the lifetime of a structure. Current solutions can typically only measure the required mechanical variables in an indirect, but economic, manner, or directly, but expensively. Moreover, most of the proposed solutions can only be implemented by means of manual activation, making the monitoring very inefficient and then poorly supported. This paper proposes a structural health monitoring system based on a wireless sensor network (WSN) that enables the automatic monitoring of a complete structure. The network includes wireless distributed sensors embedded in the structure itself, and follows the monitoring-based maintenance (MBM) approach, with its ABCDE paradigm, namely: accuracy, benefit, compactness, durability, and easiness of operations. The system is structured in a node level and has a network architecture that enables all the node data to converge in a central unit. Human control is completely unnecessary until the periodic evaluation of the collected data. Several tests are conducted in order to characterize the system from a metrological point of view and assess its performance and effectiveness in real RC conditions.

An Embedded Wireless Sensor Network with Wireless Power Transmission Capability for the Structural Health Monitoring of Reinforced Concrete Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luca Gallucci

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Maintenance strategies based on structural health monitoring can provide effective support in the optimization of scheduled repair of existing structures, thus enabling their lifetime to be extended. With specific regard to reinforced concrete (RC structures, the state of the art seems to still be lacking an efficient and cost-effective technique capable of monitoring material properties continuously over the lifetime of a structure. Current solutions can typically only measure the required mechanical variables in an indirect, but economic, manner, or directly, but expensively. Moreover, most of the proposed solutions can only be implemented by means of manual activation, making the monitoring very inefficient and then poorly supported. This paper proposes a structural health monitoring system based on a wireless sensor network (WSN that enables the automatic monitoring of a complete structure. The network includes wireless distributed sensors embedded in the structure itself, and follows the monitoring-based maintenance (MBM approach, with its ABCDE paradigm, namely: accuracy, benefit, compactness, durability, and easiness of operations. The system is structured in a node level and has a network architecture that enables all the node data to converge in a central unit. Human control is completely unnecessary until the periodic evaluation of the collected data. Several tests are conducted in order to characterize the system from a metrological point of view and assess its performance and effectiveness in real RC conditions.

Inefficient cognitive control in adult ADHD: evidence from trial-by-trial Stroop test and cued task switching performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heuser Isabella

2007-08-01

transient task-set updating were also found to be dependent on experimental manipulation of task preparation processes. With the exception of Stroop task error rates, all analyses revealed generally slower and less accurate ADHD group response patterns. Conclusion The current data obtained with experimental paradigms deliver novel evidence of inefficient interference control and task-set coordination in adults with persistent ADHD. However, all group differences observed in these central cognitive control processes were found to be partially dependent on atypical ADHD group task preparation mechanisms and/or response inconsistency. These deficiences may have contributed not only to inefficient cognitive control, but also generally slower and less accurate ADHD group performance. Given the inability to dissociate these impairments with the current data, it remains inconclusive as to whether ineffecient cognitive control in the clinical sample was due to top-down failure or bottom-up engagement thereof. To clarify this issue, future neuropsychological investigations are encouraged to employ tasks with significantly more trials and direct manipulations of bottom-up mechanisms with larger samples.

From landless to forestless? : settlers, livelihoods and forest dynamics in the Brazilian Amazon

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Homero Diniz, F.

2013-01-01

Keywords: deforestation; remote sensing; mental models; stakeholders’ perceptions; agrarian reform

Over the last decades, hundreds of thousands of families have settled in projects in the Brazilian Amazon within the Agrarian Reform Program (ARP) framework, the rationale

FINANCIAL MECHANIZM OF AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES’ ACTIVITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perkov Vladislav

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction. The development of the economic system requires continuous improvement of the financial mechanism on the scale of the whole country and at the level of individual branches and economic entities. The process of globalization requires the development strategies of agrarian enterprises to have an innovative orientation, as well as to provide a highly competitive position in the markets. Production of competitive products is related to the need of reorganization of the production, organizational and personnel structure of enterprises, adapting it to all the changes that take place. The same problem applies to the financial policy of enterprises, the main instrument of which is the financial mechanism. Therefore, there is a need for its improvement and identification of the constituent elements. The purpose of the research is to substantiate the theoretical and methodological principles of the financial mechanism of agrarian enterprises’ activity aimed at increasing its efficiency and ensuring competitiveness. Results. The author investigated theoretical and methodological foundations of the formation and functioning of the financial mechanism of management, in particular, modern approaches to the definition of its constituent elements. The financial mechanism was determined to be a set of methods, levers and instruments based on the fundamental principles, they ensure the rational use of financial resources of the enterprise and influence its effective development. Nowadays, the problem of financial support for the development of agrarian enterprises at the expense of external sources lies not in the absence of financial resources in general, but in the access of each individual enterprise to them, as well as to the forms and methods of their distribution between sectors of the economy and economic entities. Based on the peculiarities of the financial mechanism of agrarian enterprises, it was revealed that their main problems are the

Social utopia and technological utopia in the Argentinean lefts wingsthinking in order to change agrarian capitalism, 1890-1945 Utopía social y utopía tecnológica en el pensamiento de las izquierdas argentinas para la transformación del capitalismo agrario, 1890-1945

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Osvaldo Fabián Graciano

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The objectives of this work are to rebuild the Communist and Socialist thinking and the political proposals used, between 1890 and 1945, to set a new model of economics and society within the agrarian sector in the Pampas Region, and which, on its basis, include elements of social and technological utopias. Along the first half of the twentieth century, the left wings developed several projects aimed to transform the agrarian economics and society in Argentina and thus, tried to influence the modifications of social and economics rural relations dominant in the country, and in particular in the Pampas Region. Those proposals started to throw the imaginary of a rural world different to the current upon the speech and the political thinking of the left wings. In many of them shaped as a social utopia and in others shaped as a technological utopia, for its realization.Este trabajo tiene como objetivos reconstruir el pensamiento socialista y comunista y las propuestas políticas con las que buscaron entre 1890 y 1945, concretar un nuevo modelo de sociedad y economía en el agro pampeano y que en sus fundamentos inscribían elementos de las utopías sociales y las tecnológicas. A lo largo de la primera mitad del siglo XX las izquierdas formularon diversos proyectos para la transformación de la economía y la sociedad agrarias argentina, intentando con ellos incidir en la modificación de las relaciones económicas y sociales rurales dominantes en el país y en particular en su región pampeana. Esas propuestas fueron proyectando en el discurso y en el pensamiento político de izquierdas el imaginario de un mundo rural alternativo al vigente, tomando en muchas de ellas la forma de la utopía social y en otras la de la utopía de tipo tecnológico para su realización.

Key Players in I-DmoI Endonuclease Catalysis Revealed from Structure and Dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Molina, Rafael; Besker, Neva; Marcaida, Maria Jose

2016-01-01

. The cleavage mechanism was related both to key structural effects, such as the position of water molecules and ions participating in the cleavage reaction, and to dynamical effects related to protein behavior. In particular, we found that the protein perturbation pattern significantly changes between cleaved......Homing endonucleases, such as I-DmoI, specifically recognize and cleave long DNA target sequences (∼20 bp) and are potentially powerful tools for genome manipulation. However, inefficient and off-target DNA cleavage seriously limits specific editing in complex genomes. One approach to overcome...

Bonded Labour and its Roots in Rural Sphere: An Analysis by Criticality Gaps in the Brazilian Agricultural Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Carolina Amaral de Pontes

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Relations between the Agrarian Law and slave labor phenomenon derived from situations of oppression in rural work sometimes are invisibilized by the agrarian academic debate. It is necessary to analyze the Brazilian identity of land property for an interconnected approach to the bonded labour. The exit from legalistic bubble to recognize its relation to the genesis and maintenance of slave labor is our focus. Other regulations, either the CF in 1988 cannot able to eradicate slavery, "updated" in contemporary mold. The uncritical view of agrarian institutes cause false aseptic realities of the Brazilian context, is our approach.

Consuming the forest in an environment of crisis: nature tourism, forest conservation and neoliberal agriculture in south India.

Science.gov (United States)

Münster, Daniel; Münster, Ursula

2012-01-01

This article engages ethnographically with the neoliberalization of nature in the spheres of tourism, conservation and agriculture. Drawing on a case study of Wayanad district, Kerala, the article explores a number of themes. First, it shows how a boom in domestic nature tourism is currently transforming Wayanad into a landscape for tourist consumption. Second, it examines how tourism in Wayanad articulates with projects of neoliberalizing forest and wildlife conservation and with their contestations by subaltern groups. Third, it argues that the contemporary commodification of nature in tourism and conservation is intimately related to earlier processes of commodifying nature in agrarian capitalism. Since independence, forest land has been violently appropriated for intensive cash-cropping. Capitalist agrarian change has transformed land into a (fictitious) commodity and produced a fragile and contested frontier of agriculture and wildlife. When agrarian capitalism reached its ecological limits and entered a crisis of accumulation, farming became increasingly speculative, exploring new modes of accumulation in out-of-state ginger cultivation. In this scenario nature and wildlife tourism emerges as a new prospect for accumulation in a post-agrarian economy. The neoliberalization of nature in Wayanad, the authors argue, is a process driven less by new modes of regulation than by the agrarian crisis and new modes of speculative farming.

INVESTMENT ACTIVITY OF AGRIBUSINESS IN THE AGROINDUSTRIAL COMPLEX REGION, AS ONE OF THE ELEMENTS OF THE FINANCIAL SECURITY OF THE AGRO-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX OF THE STATE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Nikolaevna Uglitskikh

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The developed economic-political situation around of Russia, specifies an indispensability of support of agricultural commodity producers as from their financial well-being, investment activity the financial security of agrarian and industrial complex of the state depends. Limitation of own financial resources at agrarians does not allow them to realize independently conceived projects. Studying of questions of formation and functioning of investment activity in agriculture of Stavropol Territory and an assessment of investment projects offered to reali-zation, have allowed to analyse investment activity of agrarian and industrial complex of region up to the introduction of Russia into WTO and in conditions of its membership. By results of the lead assessment the administrative areas of region showing the greatest investment activity, threats of a financial security of agrarian and industrial complex of region not putting by the activity have been revealed. It is drawn a conclusion on influence West-American sanctions on financial without-danger agra-rian and industrial complex of the state and the responsibility сельхозтоваропроизводителей about delivery of agricultural production in necessary volume and import substitution.

Study of the Relevance of the Quality of Care, Operating Efficiency and Inefficient Quality Competition of Senior Care Facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Jwu-Rong; Chen, Ching-Yu; Peng, Tso-Kwei

2017-09-11

The purpose of this research is to examine the relation between operating efficiency and the quality of care of senior care facilities. We designed a data envelopment analysis, combining epsilon-based measure and metafrontier efficiency analyses to estimate the operating efficiency for senior care facilities, followed by an iterative seemingly unrelated regression to evaluate the relation between the quality of care and operating efficiency. In the empirical studies, Taiwan census data was utilized and findings include the following: Despite the greater operating scale of the general type of senior care facilities, their average metafrontier technical efficiency is inferior to that of nursing homes. We adopted senior care facility accreditation results from Taiwan as a variable to represent the quality of care and examined the relation of accreditation results and operating efficiency. We found that the quality of care of general senior care facilities is negatively related to operating efficiency; however, for nursing homes, the relationship is not significant. Our findings show that facilities invest more in input resources to obtain better ratings in the accreditation report. Operating efficiency, however, does not improve. Quality competition in the industry in Taiwan is inefficient, especially for general senior care facilities.

Dynamiek en duurzaamheid : beschouwingen over bedrijfsstijlen, bestuur en beleid

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruin, de R.

1997-01-01

This book is about processes of ordering in agriculture. It is about taking differential patterns of agrarian development as the starting point for sustainable development. It can be seen as a critique of one-dimensional approaches to agrarian development, which assume that there is one,

Leading the Charge in Changing Times: 21st Century Learning and Leading

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Amanda Criswell

2016-01-01

Throughout history educational practices have typically been modeled after economic work practices. During the agrarian-age, educational practices modeled agrarian practices. Likewise, in the industrial-age, education became standardized and was modeled after industrial practices to prepare students for work in factories and industrial settings.…

The Ideological Foundations of Midwest Rural Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Theobald, Paul

A relationship exists between agrarian thought and the practice of formal schooling in the rural Midwest. Three traditions have shaped agrarian thinking about democracy and its application to social institutions, especially education. Fundamentalism, localism, and pastoralism have combined to form the ideological base for rural resistance to…

Economic growth, poverty and rural labour markets in India: a survey of research.

OpenAIRE

Bardhan K

1983-01-01

ILO pub-WEP pub. Working paper on the relationship between agricultural development, agrarian structures, rural employment and poverty in India - based on a literature survey, examines trends in rural population, agricultural income, labour contracts, farm size and food prices; investigates the role of agricultural credit, wage determination and labour market segmentation; considers the informal sector and rural public works. Bibliography.

Farmers without borders-genetic structuring in century old barley (Hordeum vulgare).

Science.gov (United States)

Forsberg, N E G; Russell, J; Macaulay, M; Leino, M W; Hagenblad, J

2015-02-01

The geographic distribution of genetic diversity can reveal the evolutionary history of a species. For crop plants, phylogeographic patterns also indicate how seed has been exchanged and spread in agrarian communities. Such patterns are, however, easily blurred by the intense seed trade, plant improvement and even genebank conservation during the twentieth century, and discerning fine-scale phylogeographic patterns is thus particularly challenging. Using historical crop specimens, these problems are circumvented and we show here how high-throughput genotyping of historical nineteenth century crop specimens can reveal detailed geographic population structure. Thirty-one historical and nine extant accessions of North European landrace barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), in total 231 individuals, were genotyped on a 384 single nucleotide polymorphism assay. The historical material shows constant high levels of within-accession diversity, whereas the extant accessions show more varying levels of diversity and a higher degree of total genotype sharing. Structure, discriminant analysis of principal components and principal component analysis cluster the accessions in latitudinal groups across country borders in Finland, Norway and Sweden. FST statistics indicate strong differentiation between accessions from southern Fennoscandia and accessions from central or northern Fennoscandia, and less differentiation between central and northern accessions. These findings are discussed in the context of contrasting historical records on intense within-country south to north seed movement. Our results suggest that although seeds were traded long distances, long-term cultivation has instead been of locally available, possibly better adapted, genotypes.

Optimal simultaneous superpositioning of multiple structures with missing data.

Science.gov (United States)

Theobald, Douglas L; Steindel, Phillip A

2012-08-01

Superpositioning is an essential technique in structural biology that facilitates the comparison and analysis of conformational differences among topologically similar structures. Performing a superposition requires a one-to-one correspondence, or alignment, of the point sets in the different structures. However, in practice, some points are usually 'missing' from several structures, for example, when the alignment contains gaps. Current superposition methods deal with missing data simply by superpositioning a subset of points that are shared among all the structures. This practice is inefficient, as it ignores important data, and it fails to satisfy the common least-squares criterion. In the extreme, disregarding missing positions prohibits the calculation of a superposition altogether. Here, we present a general solution for determining an optimal superposition when some of the data are missing. We use the expectation-maximization algorithm, a classic statistical technique for dealing with incomplete data, to find both maximum-likelihood solutions and the optimal least-squares solution as a special case. The methods presented here are implemented in THESEUS 2.0, a program for superpositioning macromolecular structures. ANSI C source code and selected compiled binaries for various computing platforms are freely available under the GNU open source license from http://www.theseus3d.org. dtheobald@brandeis.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

User-inspired design methodology using Affordance Structure Matrix (ASM) for construction projects

OpenAIRE

Maheswari J. Uma; Charlesraj V. Paul C.; Battacharya Soma

2017-01-01

Traditionally, design phase of construction projects is often performed with incomplete and inaccurate user preferences. This is due to inefficiencies in the methodologies used for capturing the user requirements that can subsequently lead to inconsistencies and result in non-optimised end-result. Iterations and subsequent reworks due to such design inefficiencies is one of the major reasons for unsuccessful project delivery as they impact project performance measures such as time and cost am...

Human appropriation of net primary production in the United Kingdom, 1800-2000. Changes in society's impact on ecological energy flows during the agrarian-industrial transition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Musel, Annabella [Institute of Social Ecology, Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt - Graz - Wien, Schottenfeldgasse 29, 1070 Vienna (Austria)

2009-12-15

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the United Kingdom's society's long-term intervention into the energy flows of domestic terrestrial ecosystems through the human appropriation of aboveground net primary production (aHANPP) covering the period 1800-2000. The depicted aHANPP trajectory and the historical development of its components are discussed in view of a continuously increasing population and the transition process from an agrarian to an industrial socioecological regime. During the 19th century, aHANPP shows a steady decline from its level of 71% in 1800. While even higher levels were reached during the mid 20th century, the trend during the last forty years of the period under investigation again shows a reduction of aHANPP, which lies at 68% in the year 2000. The high values of aHANPP in the United Kingdom are primarily attributable to the limited amount of forest in comparison to large agricultural areas. At the beginning of the studied period, the relative stabilisation or even decrease in aHANPP in comparison to population development was made possible through the area expansion of and productivity increases on cropland and permanent pastures. Later this was made possible through the outsourcing of biomass harvest, by satisfying local nutritional demands by means of overseas imports, and as from the mid 20th century through huge amounts of fossil fuel based inputs into agriculture (e.g. increased amounts of fertilizers and motorized traction) which allowed increases in biomass harvest to be decoupled from HANPP. (author)

Does reducing food losses and wastes in sub-Saharan Africa make economic sense?

Science.gov (United States)

Aragie, Emerta; Balié, Jean; MoralesOpazo, Cristian

2018-06-01

Reducing food losses and waste (FLW) is one of the sustainable ways of closing the food requirement gap in developing countries. However, there is not yet adequate knowledge on the extent of FLW by commodity type and stage of the food supply chain (FSC). Focusing on ten agrarian countries in Africa and building mainly on the Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Balance Sheets (FBSs), this study generates some new insights on the level of FLW by country, FSC and food type. Across the FSC, we find that these countries lose a cumulative amount equivalent to 28% (641 kilocalories per capita per day - kcal/cap/day) of the current calorie intake. Within the FSC, the production and post-harvest handling stages contribute the greater shares of the total losses with 38% or 244 kcal/cap/day and 34% or 218 kcal/cap/day, respectively. Our results also show that farm incomes would increase by 20% if the avoidable losses and waste were recovered. These results are troublesome given the level of poverty and food insecurity in these countries and suggest inefficient and unsustainable use of natural resources (water and cropland) associated with the FSC losses.

ARE THE EUROPEAN UNION CAP’S SUBSIDIES A POLITICAL RENT? AN ATTEMPT AT METHODOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

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Bazyli Czyżewski

2014-03-01

Full Text Available According to the “induced innovation model of agricultural development” there exist mechanisms for this sector’s participation in contributing to economic development, as well as in sharing its benefits. Nonetheless, inefficiencies of the market that distort market signals, constitute a barrier of the latter process. Therefore, the so-called “surplus drainage” from agriculture takes place. The authors claim that it is possible to objectively measure a “surplus drainage” from agriculture as a result of market failure. Assuming that rural areas generate public goods (i.e. a landscape, a biodiversity, rural culture and tradition, unique food quality, food safety, food security speculative land investors have lower willingness to contribute to its creation, than family farms. This is why agrarian policy levies more duties on them (institutional barriers and favours farmers. The mentioned premises imply that the CAP’s subsidies should not be perceived as political rents according to its classical definition. Only a part of subsidies left after subtracting a value of “surplus drainage” and a compensation of public goods has a hallmark of the rent. A valuation of these values is an important scientific challenge.

Molecular evidence of inefficient transduction of proliferating human B lymphocytes by VSV-pseudotyped HIV-1-derived lentivectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serafini, M.; Naldini, L.; Introna, M.

2004-01-01

Lentiviral vectors are attractive tools to transduce dividing and nondividing cells. Human tonsillar B lymphocytes have been purified and induced to proliferate by the addition of anti-CD40 + IL-4 or anti-CD40 + anti-μ signals and transduced at high MOI with a VSV pseudotyped lentivector carrying the eGFP gene under the control of the PGK promoter. Parallel cultures of PHA-stimulated T lymphocytes containing a comparable amount of cycling cells during the infection reached over 70% eGFP transduction. By contrast, only less than 3% B lymphocytes became eGFP positive after 7 days from transduction. Molecular analysis of the viral life cycle shows that cytoplasmic retrotranscribed cDNA and nuclear 2LTR circles are detectable at lower levels and for a shorter period of time in proliferating B cells with respect to proliferating T lymphocytes. Moreover, FACS-sorted eGFP-positive and negative B cell populations were both positive for the presence of retrotranscribed cDNA and 2LTR circles nuclear forms. By contrast, nested Alu-LTR PCR allowed us to detect an integrated provirus in FACS-sorted eGFP-positive cells only. Together with the demonstration that infection in saturation conditions led to an increase in the percentage of transduced cells (reaching 9%), these findings suggest that in proliferating B lymphocytes, lentiviral transduction is an inefficient process blocked at the early steps of the viral life cycle possibly involving partially saturable restriction factors

Self-regulating star formation and disk structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dopita, M.A.

1987-01-01

Star formation processes determine the disk structure of galaxies. Stars heavier than about 1 solar mass determine the chemical evolution of the system and are produced at a rate which maintains (by the momentum input of the stars) the phase structure, pressure, and vertical velocity dispersion of the gas. Low mass stars are produced quiescently within molecular clouds, and their associated T-Tauri winds maintain the support of molecular clouds and regulate the star formation rate. Inefficient cooling suppresses this mode of star formation at low metallicity. Applied to the solar neighborhood, such a model can account for age/metallicity relationships, the increase in the O/Fe ratio at low metallicity, the paucity of metal-poor G and K dwarf stars, the missing mass in the disk and, possibly, the existence of a metal-poor thick disk. For other galaxies, it accounts for constant w-velocity dispersion of the gas, the relationship between gas content and specific rates of star formation, the surface brightness/metallicity relationship and for the shallow radial gradients in both star formation rates and HI content. 71 references

Practical computational toolkits for dendrimers and dendrons structure design

Science.gov (United States)

Martinho, Nuno; Silva, Liana C.; Florindo, Helena F.; Brocchini, Steve; Barata, Teresa; Zloh, Mire

2017-09-01

Dendrimers and dendrons offer an excellent platform for developing novel drug delivery systems and medicines. The rational design and further development of these repetitively branched systems are restricted by difficulties in scalable synthesis and structural determination, which can be overcome by judicious use of molecular modelling and molecular simulations. A major difficulty to utilise in silico studies to design dendrimers lies in the laborious generation of their structures. Current modelling tools utilise automated assembly of simpler dendrimers or the inefficient manual assembly of monomer precursors to generate more complicated dendrimer structures. Herein we describe two novel graphical user interface toolkits written in Python that provide an improved degree of automation for rapid assembly of dendrimers and generation of their 2D and 3D structures. Our first toolkit uses the RDkit library, SMILES nomenclature of monomers and SMARTS reaction nomenclature to generate SMILES and mol files of dendrimers without 3D coordinates. These files are used for simple graphical representations and storing their structures in databases. The second toolkit assembles complex topology dendrimers from monomers to construct 3D dendrimer structures to be used as starting points for simulation using existing and widely available software and force fields. Both tools were validated for ease-of-use to prototype dendrimer structure and the second toolkit was especially relevant for dendrimers of high complexity and size.

TRENDS OF DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTION AND REALIZATION OF PLANT PRODUCTION AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES OF MYKOLAIV REGION

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Kushniruk Viktor

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Agriculture is one of the largest and most important sectors of the Ukrainian economy. The food security and independence of the state, the state of the internal and external markets, and, consequently, the standard of living of the population are directly dependent on its functional state. Mykolaiv region has significant opportunities for the development of the agricultural sector. There are favorable natural and climatic conditions, fertile land, labor resources and long-standing cultivating traditions. The region is considered one of the regions of intensive agriculture in Ukraine and has significant land resources. Purpose. The article presents the analysis of the development of production and sale of crop production by the agrarian enterprises of the Mykolaiv region, as well as revealing ways to increase the volume of their production and sales. Results. The crop area of main agricultural crops in all categories of farms was analyzed, and structural changes for 2010-2016 were revealed. The priority branch of the agro-industrial complex, which has an important strategic significance, first of all, is determined by the level of production of which the food security of the state depends, its economy and welfare of the population. The dynamics of agricultural crop yields in agrarian enterprises as the determining factor of influence on the efficiency of activity in the field of plant growing is researched. The dynamics of gross collections of crop production in agricultural enterprises is analyzed and the contribution of the Mykolaiv region to the national production of grain is determined. The volumes and average prices of sales of agricultural products by agrarian enterprises are investigated and it is determined that the modern development of the agrarian sector of the economy requires special attention to the formation and activation of the activities of market infrastructure entities. The production of which crops are an

Aspekte van die sosiale stratifikasie van die ontwikkelde agrariese samelewing in die eerste-eeuse Palestina

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A. G. van Aarde

1993-01-01

Full Text Available Aspects of the social stratification of the advanced agrarian society in first-century Palestine This article focuses on aspects of the social stratification of first-century Palestine as an advanced agrarian society. It aims at describing the interaction between different classes and the sociological origins of groups like the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The relation between the elites and the peasant communities is interpreted in terms of, inter alia, the social location of villages surrounding cities. It is argued that in an advanced agrarian society the family as institution should still be regarded as the dominant ideology. However, political and economic pressures caused a weakening of the influence of the extended family on the surface.

Electricity structure and the impact on pricing, trade and the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pineau, P.O.

2007-01-01

The feasibility of integrating different electricity markets was discussed along with the benefits that can be derived. It was noted that some important differences in Canadian electricity markets create distortions that are harmful both economically and environmentally. Indirect subsidies provided to electricity consumers in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec result in inefficient consumption levels and in missed opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The structure of the Canadian electricity sector is characterized by public ownership and decentralization at the provincial level. The impact that this structure has on pricing policies, independent planning and environmental strategies was discussed. Alberta and Ontario have an hourly spot market fixing the market price for electricity, but all the other provinces use a pricing policy based on average cost, including a return on investment. This article also addressed the issue of electric generating units (EGUs) within each province and and their role in meeting provincial electricity demands. It was shown that electricity prices do not reflect the value of the resource across Canada. It was cautioned that subsidies create low electricity prices that result in inefficient consumption levels, thereby preventing clean hydropower to be exported to market-based provinces as a substitute to diesel, natural gas or coal-fuelled EGUs. An estimate of the indirect subsidies was presented in this article along with an analysis of possible consumption reduction scenarios if market prices were used. Carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions reductions that could be obtained if the saved energy was entirely exported were also estimated. Transmission issues involved in exporting electricity were also reviewed. It was argued that once strong financial incentives are in place to induce change, then economic and environmental gains will be proven. 9 tabs., 3 figs

Efficacy of a numerical value of a fixed-effect estimator in stochastic frontier analysis as an indicator of hospital production structure

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Kawaguchi Hiroyuki

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The casemix-based payment system has been adopted in many countries, although it often needs complementary adjustment taking account of each hospital’s unique production structure such as teaching and research duties, and non-profit motives. It has been challenging to numerically evaluate the impact of such structural heterogeneity on production, separately of production inefficiency. The current study adopted stochastic frontier analysis and proposed a method to assess unique components of hospital production structures using a fixed-effect variable. Methods There were two stages of analyses in this study. In the first stage, we estimated the efficiency score from the hospital production function using a true fixed-effect model (TFEM in stochastic frontier analysis. The use of a TFEM allowed us to differentiate the unobserved heterogeneity of individual hospitals as hospital-specific fixed effects. In the second stage, we regressed the obtained fixed-effect variable for structural components of hospitals to test whether the variable was explicitly related to the characteristics and local disadvantages of the hospitals. Results In the first analysis, the estimated efficiency score was approximately 0.6. The mean value of the fixed-effect estimator was 0.784, the standard deviation was 0.137, the range was between 0.437 and 1.212. The second-stage regression confirmed that the value of the fixed effect was significantly correlated with advanced technology and local conditions of the sample hospitals. Conclusion The obtained fixed-effect estimator may reflect hospitals’ unique structures of production, considering production inefficiency. The values of fixed-effect estimators can be used as evaluation tools to improve fairness in the reimbursement system for various functions of hospitals based on casemix classification.

Accumulation of dsRNA in endosomes contributes to inefficient RNA interference in the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, June-Sun; Gurusamy, Dhandapani; Palli, Subba Reddy

2017-11-01

RNA interference (RNAi) efficiency varies among insects studied. The barriers for successful RNAi include the presence of double-stranded ribonucleases (dsRNase) in the lumen and hemolymph that could potentially digest double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and the variability in the transport of dsRNA into and within the cells. We recently showed that the dsRNAs are transported into lepidopteran cells, but they are not processed into small interference RNAs (siRNAs) because they are trapped in acidic bodies. In the current study, we focused on the identification of acidic bodies in which dsRNAs accumulate in Sf9 cells. Time-lapse imaging studies showed that dsRNAs enter Sf9 cells and accumulate in acidic bodies within 20 min after their addition to the medium. CypHer-5E-labeled dsRNA also accumulated in the midgut and fat body dissected from Spodoptera frugiperda larvae with similar patterns observed in Sf9 cells. Pharmacological inhibitor assays showed that the dsRNAs use clathrin mediated endocytosis pathway for transport into the cells. We investigated the potential dsRNA accumulation sites employing LysoTracker and double labeling experiments using the constructs to express a fusion of green fluorescence protein with early or late endosomal marker proteins and CypHer-5E-labeled dsRNA. Interestingly, CypHer-5E-labeled dsRNA accumulated predominantly in early and late endosomes. These data suggest that entrapment of internalized dsRNA in endosomes is one of the major factors contributing to inefficient RNAi response in lepidopteran insects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MULTIFRACTAL STRUCTURE OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKETS

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Cn#259;pun#351;an Rn#259;zvan

2012-07-01

Full Text Available It is well known that empirical data coming from financial markets, like stock market indices, commodities, interest rates, traded volumes and foreign exchange rates have a multifractal structure. Multifractals were introduced in the field of economics to surpass the shortcomings of classical models like the fractional Brownian motion or GARCH processes. In this paper we investigate the multifractal behavior of Central and Eastern European foreign exchange rates, namely the Czech koruna, Croatian kuna, Hungarian forint, Polish zlot, Romanian leu and Russian rouble with respect to euro from January 13, 2000 to February 29, 2012. The dynamics of exchange rates is of interest for investors and traders, monetary and fiscal authorities, economic agents or policy makers. The exchange rate movements affect the international balance of payments, trade flows, and allocation of the resources in national and international economy. The empirical results from the multifractal detrending fluctuation analysis algorithm show that the six exchange rate series analysed display significant multifractality. Moreover, generating shuffled and surrogate time series, we analyze the sources of multifractality, long-range correlations and heavy-tailed distributions, and we find that this multifractal behavior can be mainly attributed to the latter. Finally, we propose a foreign exchange market inefficiency ranking by considering the multifractality degree as a measure of inefficiency. The regulators, through policy instruments, aim to improve the informational inefficiency of the markets, to reduce the associated risks and to ensure economic stabilization. Evaluation of the degree of information efficiency of foreign exchange markets, for Central and Eastern Europe countries, is important to assess to what extent these countries are prepared for the transition towards fully monetary integration. The weak form efficiency implies that the past exchange rates cannot help to

Cooperative of second degree. A necessity for the development of the agricultural cooperativismo of the Dominican Republic

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Juan Luis Alfonso Alemán

2015-06-01

The same one was been of an investigation carried out with the purpose of elaborating a basic text for the program of cooperative formation that is executed in the mark of the consultantship work that is developed to the Agricultural Cooperative Project of Sustainable Development, “Toward a new Agrarian Reformation” that lidera and it coordinates the Agrarian Institute of the Dominican Republic.

Agricultural protectionism in innovation activities

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O. A. Bernadskaya

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In article the principles and priorities of agrarian protectionism of innovative activity are specified, approaches to target distribution of means of direct and indirect support of agriculture and branches of agrarian and industrial complex are differentiated and alternative sources of mobilization of financial resources of the budgetary protectionism, proceeding from market conditions of agrofood production are revealed.

The income concept in classical applied to the study of agrarian conflict in 2008 El concepto de renta en los clásicos aplicado al estudio del conflicto agrario del año 2008

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José A. Pierri

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The Agrarian Conflict of 2008 divided the society of Argentina in sectors that supported and opposed the adoption of Resolution No. 125 of the Secretary of Agriculture. Fisheries and Food referred to establish mobileexport duties on exports of grains and soy .The confrontation addressed, indirectly, a classic theoretical debate in the economic history of Argentina, the origin and definition of the concept of land and income distribution, issues including the main theme Income Differential. The problem addressed by several authors, can be cited recent work by Ernesto Laclau, Guillermo Flichman, Eduardo Azcuy Ameghino and Juan Iñigo Carreras, refers to the theoretical approaches proposed by Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Karl Marx on these issues applied European countries in the nineteenth century. The purpose of this study is to analyze those classic concepts on income statements and contrast these theoretical approaches with statistical data about the evolution of production and income from the production of soybeans and soybean products in the decades immediately preceding and during the 2008, when agriculture was referred to the long conflict. In light of the above to analyze the validity and limitations of the traditional theoretical approaches to analyze the present agrarian situation.El conflicto agrario del año 2008 dividió a la sociedad argentina en sectores que apoyaron y se opusieron a la aprobación de la Resolución N§ 125 de la Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganadería. Pesca y Alimentación referida a establecer derechos de exportación móviles a la exportación de granos y derivados de la soja. La confrontación abordó, indirectamente, un clásico debate teórico en la historia económica argentina, el del origen y definición del concepto renta de la tierra y su distribución, cuestiones que incluyen como tema principal a la Renta Diferencial. La problemática abordada por diversos autores, entre los que se pueden citar trabajos

User-inspired design methodology using Affordance Structure Matrix (ASM for construction projects

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Maheswari J. Uma

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Traditionally, design phase of construction projects is often performed with incomplete and inaccurate user preferences. This is due to inefficiencies in the methodologies used for capturing the user requirements that can subsequently lead to inconsistencies and result in non-optimised end-result. Iterations and subsequent reworks due to such design inefficiencies is one of the major reasons for unsuccessful project delivery as they impact project performance measures such as time and cost among others. The existing design theories and practice are primarily based on functional requirements. Function-based design deals with design of artifact alone, which may yield favourable or unfavourable consequences with the design artifact. However, incorporating other interactions such as interactions between user & designer is necessary for optimised end-result. Hence, the objective of this research work is to devise a systematic design methodology considering all the three interactions among users, designers and artefacts for improved design efficiency. In this study, it has been attempted to apply the theory of affordances in a case project that involves the design of an offshore facility. A step-by-step methodology for developing Affordance Structure Matrix (ASM, which integrates House of Quality (HOQ and Design Structure Matrix (DSM, is proposed that can effectively capture the user requirements. HOQ is a popular quality management tool for capturing client requirements and DSM is a matrix-based tool that can capture the interdependency among the design entities. The proposed methodology utilises the strengths of both the tools, as DSM compliments HOQ in the process. In this methodology, different affordances such as AUA (Artifact-User-Affordance, AAA (Artifact-Artifact-Affordance and DDA (Designer-Designer-Affordance are captured systematically. Affordance is considered to be user-driven in this context that is in contrast to prevailing design

Laminated composite based on polyester geotextile fibers and polyurethane resin for coating wood structures

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Yuri Andrey Olivato Assagra

2013-01-01

Full Text Available New environmental laws have restricted the use of hardwood trees in overhead power lines structures, such as, poles and cross-arms, leading companies to seek alternative materials. Reforested wood coated with polymeric resin has been proposed as an environmental friendly solution, with improved electrical properties and protection against external agents, e.g. moisture, ultraviolet radiation and fungi. However, the single thin layer of resin, normally applied on such structures reveal to be inefficient, due to be easily damage during handling. In this paper, we present a composite coating, based on geotextile fibers and polyurethane resin that is suitable for wooden structures. Results obtained from two different tree species (from managed and reforested areas coated with the composite reveal that the additional layer not only provided a stronger adhesion between wood and ccoating layer but also a further improvement in the electrical properties and better protection against abrasion and moisture.

DRIVING AND LIMITING FACTORS IN THE FARM MANAGEMENT BY YOUNG FARMERS IN THE CONTEXT OF SURVEY RESEARCH

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Barbara Kiełbasa

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to identify driving and limiting factors of farm management in a region of fragmented agriculture. The paper presents the results of the research conducted in the South-Eastern Poland (Macroregion of Małopolska and Pogórze. The survey was conducted in 2014 in the farms managed by young farmers, i.e. the benefi ciaries of the measure “Setting up of young farmers” from the RDP 2007–2013, with the use of a survey method with a questionnaire interview. The research was empirical, and its main goal was to present a case study of the farm management by young farmers in terms of specifi c management barriers. The results of the studies pointed to the fragmented agrarian structure as the one of the biggest barriers of the eff ective farm management. The young farmers pointed that fragmented agrarian structure signifi cantly impedes the purchase or lease of agricultural land, and the farm development in the same way. The survey pointed to the factors that contribute to the young farmers: the entrepreneurial attitude, activity and creativity, training, the management knowledge and better access to the Common Agricultural Policy instruments.

U.S. Foreign Policy’s Role in Homeland Security: The Egyptian Case

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-01

result of the fact that the requisite condition that economic growth must outpace population growth for the bourgeoisie to flourish did not occur.18...Agrarian Bourgeoisie , Semiproletarians, and the Egyptian State: Lessions for Liberalization,” International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol. 22, No. 4...Agrarian Bourgeoisie , Semiproletarians, and the Egyptian State: Lessons for Liberalization.” International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 22

Valdetorres, de dehesa a aldea (1409-1510. Poblamiento, conflicto y poder en la Tierra de Medellín

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Julián CLEMENTE RAMOS

2009-12-01

Full Text Available RESUMEN: Valdetorres ofrece un ejemplo singular de evolución de una dehesa. De este modo, una explotación ganadera, merced al interés de sus propietarios en obtener mayores rendimientos va poblándose de renteros-campesinos, que configuran una dualidad pecuarioagraria. El crecimiento demográfico y agrario suponen una transformación interna profunda, desarrollándose los elementos propios de la estructura aldeana como la dehesa boyal, las prácticas agrarias colectivas y la iglesia. A partir de esta situación, la nueva comunidad empieza a actuar con autonomía imponiendo sus normas a la familia propietaria. Finalmente, ambas partes llegarán a un acuerdo que reconocerá la autonomía aldeana y el derecho de los copropietarios a obtener el terrazgo, pero eliminando cualquier elemento de dependencia jurisdiccional.ABSTRACT: Valdetorres offers a singular example of evolution of a dehesa. This way, a cattle exploitation, grace to the interest of its proprietors in obtaining bigger yields goes being populated of peasants that configure a cattle-agrarian dualité'. The demographic and agrarian growth supposes a deep internal transformation, being developed the element characteristic of the structure villager like the meadow boyal, the collective agrarian practices and the church. Starting from this situation, the new community begins to act with autonomy imposing its norms to the family landowner. Finally, both parts will reach an agreement that will recognize the autonomy villager and the right of the coproprietors to obtaki the terrai^go, but eliminating any element of jurisdictional dependence.

Assessment of space proton radiation-induced charge transfer inefficiency in the CCD204 for the Euclid space observatory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gow, J P D; Murray, N J; Holland, A D; Hall, D J; Cropper, M; Burt, D; Hopkinson, G; Duvet, L

2012-01-01

Euclid is a medium class European Space Agency mission candidate for launch in 2019 with a primary goal to study the dark universe using the weak lensing and baryonic acoustic oscillations techniques. Weak lensing depends on accurate shape measurements of distant galaxies. Therefore it is beneficial that the effects of radiation-induced charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) in the Euclid CCDs over the course of the 5 year mission at L2 are understood. This will allow, through experimental analysis and modelling techniques, the effects of radiation induced CTI on shape to be decoupled from those of mass inhomogeneities along the line-of-sight. This paper discusses a selection of work from the study that has been undertaken using the e2v CCD204 as part of the initial proton radiation damage assessment for Euclid. The experimental arrangement and procedure are described followed by the results obtained, thereby allowing recommendations to be made on the CCD operating temperature, to provide an insight into CTI effects using an optical background, to assess the benefits of using charge injection on CTI recovery and the effect of the use of two different methods of serial clocking on serial CTI. This work will form the basis of a comparison with a p-channel CCD204 fabricated using the same mask set as the n-channel equivalent. A custom CCD has been designed, based on this work and discussions between e2v technologies plc. and the Euclid consortium, and designated the CCD273.

Lietuvių Užgavėnės : nacionalinio tapatumo linkme?

OpenAIRE

Vaicekauskas, Arūnas

2010-01-01

The article deals with the problem of variations in ethnic agrarian culture. It looks at the regional peculiarities of the Shrovetide festival in Lithuania. The rites of Shrovetide are more or less common in all of Lithuania, but the comparatively homogeneous ritual structure of the festival does not rule out regional particularities. Provided examples of Shrovetide ceremonies prove that the festival used to have clear regional particularities. However, nowadays, with the growing popularity o...

INTERESTERIFIKASI ENZIMATIS MINYAK IKAN DENGAN ASAM LAURAT UNTUK SINTESIS LIPID TERSTRUKTUR [Enzymatic Interesterification of Fish Oil with Lauric Acid for the Synthesis of Structured Lipid

OpenAIRE

Edy Subroto1); Chusnul Hidayat2); Supriyadi2)

2008-01-01

Structured lipid (SL) containing of medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) at outer position and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) at sn-2 position has superior dietary and absorption characteristics. The most methods for the enzymatic synthesis of SL were through two steps process, so that it was inefficient. Caprilic acid was usually used as a source of MCFA. In this research, SL was synthesized by enzymatic interesterification between fish oil and lauric acid. The specific lipase from Mucor miehei...

A Revolução Agrária Cubana: conquistas e desafios

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Juan Valdés Paz

2011-01-01

resolve the "agrarian issue" determined the strategies currently in force and their immediate goals. As part of this process, we examine six aspects that characterize the island's sociopolitical development: the structure of land ownership, land usage, the agrarian organization, the technological model, the agrarian economy, and development of rural society.

Phytotoxins produced by pathogenic fungi for the integrated management of noxious weeds

OpenAIRE

Cimmino, Alessio

2008-01-01

Weeds infest economically important crops causing marked losses in agrarian production, forests, and ornamental heritages. Weed pests, including parasitic plants, have always being recognised as one of the most serious agricultural and environmental problems due to competition with the growth of agrarian crops and forest plants by subtraction of water, nutrients, light and by the serious obstacles they represent for agronomic activities. A number of weed management strategies have been fo...

Recursive formulae and performance comparisons for first mode dynamics of periodic structures

Science.gov (United States)

Hobeck, Jared D.; Inman, Daniel J.

2017-05-01

Periodic structures are growing in popularity especially in the energy harvesting and metastructures communities. Common types of these unique structures are referred to in the literature as zigzag, orthogonal spiral, fan-folded, and longitudinal zigzag structures. Many of these studies on periodic structures have two competing goals in common: (a) minimizing natural frequency, and (b) minimizing mass or volume. These goals suggest that no single design is best for all applications; therefore, there is a need for design optimization and comparison tools which first require efficient easy-to-implement models. All available structural dynamics models for these types of structures do provide exact analytical solutions; however, they are complex requiring tedious implementation and providing more information than necessary for practical applications making them computationally inefficient. This paper presents experimentally validated recursive models that are able to very accurately and efficiently predict the dynamics of the four most common types of periodic structures. The proposed modeling technique employs a combination of static deflection formulae and Rayleigh’s Quotient to estimate the first mode shape and natural frequency of periodic structures having any number of beams. Also included in this paper are the results of an extensive experimental validation study which show excellent agreement between model prediction and measurement. Lastly, the proposed models are used to evaluate the performance of each type of structure. Results of this performance evaluation reveal key advantages and disadvantages associated with each type of structure.

On the Mass Fractal Character of Si-Based Structural Networks in Amorphous Polymer Derived Ceramics

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Sabyasachi Sen

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The intermediate-range packing of SiNxC4−x (0 ≤ x ≤ 4 tetrahedra in polysilycarbodiimide and polysilazane-derived amorphous SiCN ceramics is investigated using 29Si spin-lattice relaxation nuclear magnetic resonance (SLR NMR spectroscopy. The SiCN network in the polysilylcarbodiimide-derived ceramic consists predominantly of SiN4 tetrahedra that are characterized by a 3-dimensional spatial distribution signifying compact packing of such units to form amorphous Si3N4 clusters. On the other hand, the SiCN network of the polysilazane-derived ceramic is characterized by mixed bonded SiNxC4−x tetrahedra that are inefficiently packed with a mass fractal dimension of Df ~2.5 that is significantly lower than the embedding Euclidean dimension (D = 3. This result unequivocally confirms the hypothesis that the presence of dissimilar atoms, namely, 4-coordinated C and 3-coordinated N, in the nearest neighbor environment of Si along with some exclusion in connectivity between SiCxN4−x tetrahedra with widely different N:C ratios and the absence of bonding between C and N result in steric hindrance to an efficient packing of these structural units. It is noted that similar inefficiencies in packing are observed in polymer-derived amorphous SiOC ceramics as well as in proteins and binary hard sphere systems.

On the Mass Fractal Character of Si-Based Structural Networks in Amorphous Polymer Derived Ceramics.

Science.gov (United States)

Sen, Sabyasachi; Widgeon, Scarlett

2015-03-17

The intermediate-range packing of SiN x C 4- x (0 ≤ x ≤ 4) tetrahedra in polysilycarbodiimide and polysilazane-derived amorphous SiCN ceramics is investigated using 29 Si spin-lattice relaxation nuclear magnetic resonance (SLR NMR) spectroscopy. The SiCN network in the polysilylcarbodiimide-derived ceramic consists predominantly of SiN₄ tetrahedra that are characterized by a 3-dimensional spatial distribution signifying compact packing of such units to form amorphous Si₃N₄ clusters. On the other hand, the SiCN network of the polysilazane-derived ceramic is characterized by mixed bonded SiN x C 4- x tetrahedra that are inefficiently packed with a mass fractal dimension of D f ~2.5 that is significantly lower than the embedding Euclidean dimension ( D = 3). This result unequivocally confirms the hypothesis that the presence of dissimilar atoms, namely, 4-coordinated C and 3-coordinated N, in the nearest neighbor environment of Si along with some exclusion in connectivity between SiC x N 4- x tetrahedra with widely different N:C ratios and the absence of bonding between C and N result in steric hindrance to an efficient packing of these structural units. It is noted that similar inefficiencies in packing are observed in polymer-derived amorphous SiOC ceramics as well as in proteins and binary hard sphere systems.

The Role of Proanthocyanidins Complex in Structure and Nutrition Interaction in Alfalfa Forage

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Arjan Jonker

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. is one of the main forages grown in the world. Alfalfa is a winter hardy, drought tolerant, N-fixing legume with a good longevity, high yield, high nutrient levels, high digestibility, unique structural to non-structural components ratio, high dry matter intake, and high animal productivity per hectare. However, its main limitation is its excessively rapid initial rate of protein degradation in the rumen, which results in pasture bloat and inefficient use of protein with consequent excessive excretions of nitrogen into the environment. Proanthocyanidins are secondary plant metabolites that can bind with protein and thereby reduce the rate and extent of ruminal protein degradation. However, these secondary metabolites do not accumulate in alfalfa. This review aims to firstly describe the events involved in the rapid release of protein from alfalfa and its effect on ruminant nutrition, environmental pollution, and pasture bloat; secondly, to describe occurrence, structure, functions and benefits of moderate amounts of proanthocyanidin; and finally, to describe the development of alfalfa which accumulates moderate amounts of proanthocyanidins. The emphasis of this review focuses on the role of proanthocyanidins compounds in structure and nutrition interaction in ruminant livestock systems.

The Role of Proanthocyanidins Complex in Structure and Nutrition Interaction in Alfalfa Forage.

Science.gov (United States)

Jonker, Arjan; Yu, Peiqiang

2016-05-23

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the main forages grown in the world. Alfalfa is a winter hardy, drought tolerant, N-fixing legume with a good longevity, high yield, high nutrient levels, high digestibility, unique structural to non-structural components ratio, high dry matter intake, and high animal productivity per hectare. However, its main limitation is its excessively rapid initial rate of protein degradation in the rumen, which results in pasture bloat and inefficient use of protein with consequent excessive excretions of nitrogen into the environment. Proanthocyanidins are secondary plant metabolites that can bind with protein and thereby reduce the rate and extent of ruminal protein degradation. However, these secondary metabolites do not accumulate in alfalfa. This review aims to firstly describe the events involved in the rapid release of protein from alfalfa and its effect on ruminant nutrition, environmental pollution, and pasture bloat; secondly, to describe occurrence, structure, functions and benefits of moderate amounts of proanthocyanidin; and finally, to describe the development of alfalfa which accumulates moderate amounts of proanthocyanidins. The emphasis of this review focuses on the role of proanthocyanidins compounds in structure and nutrition interaction in ruminant livestock systems.

Future-Adapted Urban Structures Utopia, Vision, or Necessity?

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Wolf Tietze

2003-05-01

Full Text Available Behavioural preferences of people are changing rapidly andmaking use of all sons of technical opponunities or progress.These changes mark a general and global process usually summarizedby the term "urbanization" - rightly referring to urbansettlements. Towns and cities are parlicularly prominent manifestationsof cultural achievements of mankind. They are, atthe same time, the most imporlant means of housing, and aretools to create the values for the material base of life. Most citiesand towns do, however, cope no more with the speed of development,they lag behind and end up in structural chaos, theyfail to adapt to the future requirements. As analysis reveals, theforemost reason is inadequate location of functions resulting inunnecessary traffic. Urban settlements are inefficient, indeed,strangling themselves.To help solve this problem a model is presented here of afull-fledged city of average size. Implementation may be accomplishedpiecemeal. It is a realistic target, it is not utopia butnecessity.

Characteristics of Serbian foreign trade of agricultural and food products

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Božić Dragica

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Agricultural and food products are a significant segment of the total foreign trade of Serbia, which is characterized by a relatively high import dependency, modest export and constantly present deficit. In such conditions, agrarian sector serves as a stabilizer, and its importance is reflected in the permanently positive balance, increased participation, particularly in total exports, and balancing the trade balance of the country. The aim of the paper is to analyze the basic characteristics of foreign trade of agricultural and food products of Serbia in the period 2005-2015. The tendencies in export, import, and the level of coverage of import by export of agro-food (or agrarian products are analysed. The participation of these products in the total foreign trade of Serbia is also considered, followed by the comparison of this indicator with the neighbouring countries. In the next part of the paper, the structure of Serbian export and import of agricultural and food products (by product groups is analysed. Special attention is given to the territorial orientation of export and import of agrarian products by the most important trade partners. In order to conduct more comprehensive analysis of comparative advantages, or competitiveness of certain groups of agro-food products of Serbia in the exchange with the world, indicator of Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA is calculated. The analysis of qualitative competitiveness is derived using the indicator - unit value of export and import. The analysis points to the dynamic growth in the value of Serbian export and import of agro-food products, with the constant surplus of trade balance in the observed period. These products are significantly represented in the structure of the total foreign trade of the country, particularly in export (with about 20%. RCA indicators show that Serbia has a comparative advantage in trade of agro-food products to the world in primary products and products of lower

From communal property to individual property in the republican agrarian scenario of Venezuela. The case study of Timotes, Merida De propiedad comunal a propiedad individual en el escenario agrario republicano de Venezuela. El caso de Timotes, Mérida

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Edda O. Samudio A.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We dealed with here the long process events experienced by indigenous the communal property in Venezuela from its origins in century XVI, the anticorporative policy of the Borbones, to its extinction or suppression, when institutionalizing the individual property in Venezuela in century XIX, by referring particular to the Venezuelan Mérida. The analysis includes/understands the factors that took part in their progressive deterioration, propiciadores of the application of the legislation that determined its liquidation to culminate a stage of the individual dilemma versus community that characterized the agrarian policy of century XIX.Tratamos aquí el largo proceso de acontecimientos experimentados por la propiedad comunal indígena en Venezuela desde sus orígenes en el siglo XVI, la política anticorporativa de los Borbones, hasta su extinción o supresión, al institucionalizarse la propiedad individual en el siglo XIX, con referencia particular a la Mérida venezolana. El análisis comprende los factores que intervinieron en su progresivo deterioro, propiciadores de la aplicación de la legislación que determinó su liquidación para culminar una etapa del dilema individuo versus comunidad que caracterizó la política agraria del siglo XIX.

Territoriality of the agroecological and conventional systems in family farming in Rondônia - the Amazon forest – Brazil.

OpenAIRE

Gianasi, L.M.; Tubaldina, Dra. Maria Aparecida Dos Santos

2010-01-01

This article focuses on one of the themes developed in the Project leader between Fluminense Federal University - UFF (Rio de Janeiro State) and Federal University of Minas Gerais - UFMG (Minas Gerais State) sponsored by CAPES (Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel). The research is developed in Earth and Society Nucleus - Study Group on Agrarian Geography, Familiar Agriculture and Peasant Culture and the Laboratory of Agrarian Geography and Agriculture Family, linked to t...

Lithic Communities of Practice and Daily life in the Northwestern Maya Lowlands during the Late Classic (700-850 A.D.)

OpenAIRE

Silva de la Mora, Flavio Gabriel

2017-01-01

This dissertation uses multiple lines of evidence to understand production, exchange and crafting in agrarian societies with a focus on the Northwestern Mayan Lowlands during the Late Classic Period (700-850 A.D). The organization of production in Pre-Columbian times is poorly understood, yet exchange is believed to be critical to the development of sociopolitical relations in ranked agrarian societies, like those in Mesoamerica. This dissertation will examine how the material culture of ever...

The impacts of the global economic crisis on selected segments of the world trade in commodities

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Elena Horská

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the impacts of the economic crisis on the world trade in order to highlight the mutual interdependence of the development of the world output and trade. The paper observes mutual correlation in development of the world trade and output. The results of the analysis indicate that changes in the value of world GDP and world trade are correlated by more than 90%. It is important to mention that in the years 2000–2009, the value of world trade and world output increased significantly (although in 2009, a significant decline in both value and volume of global production and trade was recorded due to the crisis. In relation to the world trade, it should be noted that its commodity structure is dominated by trade in manufactures. The crisis that occurred in the period 2008–2009 greatly affected the world economy and trade in particular. In this respect it should be pointed out that the crisis mainly affected trade in manufactures and then trade in fuels and mining outputs in terms of both absolute and relative indicators. Agrarian trade dealt with the crisis the best and the impact of the crisis on development of its values and volume was the least significant. This verifies the fact that agrarian and food products tend to be the most resistant to the crisis (on contrary, in times of global economic growth or reconstruction, the trade in agrarian and food products shows lower degree of elasticity in relation to the global GDP growth in comparison to other segments of commodities trade.

Automatic control of negative emotions: evidence that structured practice increases the efficiency of emotion regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Christou-Champi, Spyros; Farrow, Tom F D; Webb, Thomas L

2015-01-01

Emotion regulation (ER) is vital to everyday functioning. However, the effortful nature of many forms of ER may lead to regulation being inefficient and potentially ineffective. The present research examined whether structured practice could increase the efficiency of ER. During three training sessions, comprising a total of 150 training trials, participants were presented with negatively valenced images and asked either to "attend" (control condition) or "reappraise" (ER condition). A further group of participants did not participate in training but only completed follow-up measures. Practice increased the efficiency of ER as indexed by decreased time required to regulate emotions and increased heart rate variability (HRV). Furthermore, participants in the ER condition spontaneously regulated their negative emotions two weeks later and reported being more habitual in their use of ER. These findings indicate that structured practice can facilitate the automatic control of negative emotions and that these effects persist beyond training.

ESPAÇO, TERRITÓRIO E PAISAGEM: uma leitura teóricometodológica da Geografia Agrária brasileira na pós-graduação a partir dos anos 1970

OpenAIRE

Ferreira, Darlene Aparecida de Oliveira; Valle, Maria Ribeiro do; Pessôa, Vera Lúcia Salazar; Romanatto, Maria José; Marafon, Glaucio José

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to propose a reading of theoretical and methodological geography of Brazilian agriculture in Post-Graduate Studies in Geography (PPGE's) from the Southeast, from the 1970s, trying to present a discussion of the analysis categories (space, territory, landscape, region and place) that has been unleashed over the meetings of Agrarian Geography (ENGA's) and in three meetings of the Research Groups of Agrarian Geography (2005, 2006, 2007). So, we started with the hypothes...

Algorithm of developing competitive strategies and the trends of realizing them for agricultural enterprises

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Viktoriia Boiko

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The paper specifies basic stages of developing and realizing the strategy of enhancing competitiveness of enterprises and represents an appropriate algorithm. The study analyzes the economic indexes and results of the activity of the agrarian enterprises in Kherson region and provides competitive strategies of efficient development of agrarian enterprises with different levels of competitiveness and specifies the ways of realizing them which will contribute to the optimal use of the available strategic potential

EL PARADIGMA CIENTÍFICO DE LAS CIENCIAS AGRARIAS: UNA REFLEXION THE SCIENTIFIC PARADIGM OF AGRARIAN SCIENCES: A REFLECTION

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León Darío Vélez Vargas

2004-06-01

. The empirical evidence surpasses the theoretical and assumed limits from which these challenges are analyzed and their solutions proposed. To successfully confront the new challenges and contexts, new paradigms will be required that define a core group of scientific and engineering bases and a minimum unit of study and work. This minimum unit should permit, from a systemic and harmonic perspective, the identification and analysis of the factors that influence the productive processes and their contexts, the work in these disciplines and the formulation of questions and needs. In the agrarian sciences, this change in paradigm could be represented by the agroecosystemic viewpoint, which permits a the hierarchical organization of the work and research unit and its levels of interaction; b the presentation of the productive process as a result of the integrated effect of socioeconomic, ecological, cultural, scientific, and technological factors; c the integral identification of the problems and solutions; d the breaking of disciplinary limits; e the responding to demands for an agriculture that is sustainable, competitive, multifunctional, and equitable.

The effectiveness of fish oil supplementation in asthmatic rats is limited by an inefficient action on ASM function.

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, D T S Z; Zanatta, A L; Dias, B C L; Fogaça, R T H; Maurer, J B B; Donatti, L; Calder, P C; Nishiyama, A

2013-09-01

Episodes of acute exacerbation are the major clinical feature of asthma and therefore represent an important focus for developing novel therapies for this disease. There are many reports that the n-3 fatty acids found in fish oil exert anti-inflammatory effects, but there are few studies of the action of fish oil on airway smooth muscle (ASM) function. In the present investigation, we evaluated the effect of fish oil supplementation on smooth muscle force of contraction in ovalbumin-induced asthmatic Wistar rats, and its consequences on static lung compliance, mucus production, leukocyte chemotaxis and production of proinflammatory cytokines. Fish oil supplementation suppressed the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the lung in asthmatic animals (2.04 ± 0.19 × 10(6) cells vs. 3.33 ± 0.43 × 10(6) cells in the control asthmatic group; P < 0.05). Static lung compliance increased with fish oil supplementation in asthmatic rats (0.640 ± 0.053 mL/cm H2O vs. 0.399 ± 0.043 mL/cm H2O; P < 0.05). However, fish oil did not prevent asthma-associated lung eosinophilia and did not affect the concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β in lung tissue or the proportion of the airways obliterated with mucus. Fish oil had no effect on the force of contraction in asthmatic rats in response to acetylcholine (3.026 ± 0.274 mN vs. 2.813 ± 0.364 mN in the control asthmatic group). In conclusion, although fish oil exerts some benefits in this model of asthma, its effectiveness appears to be limited by an inefficient action on airway smooth muscle function.

Assessment of Urban Structure for The Holy City of Al-Najaf in light of Sustainability

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Hamid Athab Al-Jameel

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The sustainability represents a measure of the efficiency for the urban structure. Al-Najaf city is one of the most important cities in Iraq in terms of religious and historical issues. This study tries to assess AL- Najaf Urban structure – as a sample of Iraqi cities- in the light of sustainable to investigate the extent of the application of urban sustainability principles such as how the density of the population distributed across different quarters, the land use and the hierarchy of the roads in the city. GIS program has been adopted to represent the city and the length of roads. The results of this study indicate that the AL- Najaf urban spatial structure is inefficient, It contains a lot of faults, the city lacks in the hierarchy of roads and land use, which spread across a large area, the population density distribution is irregular, most densities are farther away from the city center, which leads to long trips and random and irregular in it.

SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF PEDOZEMS MECHANICAL IMPEDANCE

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Zhukov A.V.

2013-04-01

Full Text Available We studied the spatial variability of pedozem mechanical impedance in ResearchRemediation Center of the Dnipropetrovsk State Agrarian University in Ordzhonikidze. Thestatistical distribution of the soil mechanical impedance within the studied area is characterized by deviation from the normal law in 0–10 and 30–50 cm layers from the surface. 2D and 3D modeling shows the structural design of the soil as locations of high mechanical impedance which found in the soils with less hardness.

Nos labirintos da lei: a retórica da reforma agrária no Estado Democrático de Direito - Brasil 1995/2006 In the labyrinths of the law: the rhetoric of agrarian reform in the Democratic State - Brazil 1995/2006

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Jeanne Silva

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Este artigo tem por objetivo apresentar de forma condensada, parte das reflexões de pesquisa da autora. Discute alguns vínculos entre direito e história. Procura evidenciar historicamente como o direito é uma prática argumentativa, como são construídos e pensados os argumentos que permitem uma elite política traçar os rumos para o país criando uma legislação que criminalize a atuação dos diversos movimentos sociais, mais concretamente o MST- Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, transformando o problema "político" da reforma agrária em caso jurídico e de "polícia".This article has objective to present in condensed form, part of the reflections of the author's search. Discusses some links between law and history. Search historical evidence as the law is an argumentative practice, as are built and designed the arguments that allowing an group political outlining the direction for the country by creating a law that criminalizes the actions of various social movements, specifically the MST- Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Landless, making the problem "political" of agrarian reform in legal case the "police."

Fäbodväsendet 1550 - 1920

OpenAIRE

Larsson, Jesper

2009-01-01

The thesis is about summer farms (fäbodar) in Sweden, analyzing how the agrarian economy in the north of Sweden developed from the sixteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. The aim is to understand the impact of summer farms in the agricultural economy and their role in the development of agriculture before and during the Agrarian Revolution. The thesis deals with economic aspects of the summer farms, with the emphasis on production and organization. To understand this spec...

A mouse model for Chikungunya: young age and inefficient type-I interferon signaling are risk factors for severe disease.

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Thérèse Couderc

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Chikungunya virus (CHIKV is a re-emerging arbovirus responsible for a massive outbreak currently afflicting the Indian Ocean region and India. Infection from CHIKV typically induces a mild disease in humans, characterized by fever, myalgia, arthralgia, and rash. Cases of severe CHIKV infection involving the central nervous system (CNS have recently been described in neonates as well as in adults with underlying conditions. The pathophysiology of CHIKV infection and the basis for disease severity are unknown. To address these critical issues, we have developed an animal model of CHIKV infection. We show here that whereas wild type (WT adult mice are resistant to CHIKV infection, WT mouse neonates are susceptible and neonatal disease severity is age-dependent. Adult mice with a partially (IFN-alpha/betaR(+/- or totally (IFN-alpha/betaR(-/- abrogated type-I IFN pathway develop a mild or severe infection, respectively. In mice with a mild infection, after a burst of viral replication in the liver, CHIKV primarily targets muscle, joint, and skin fibroblasts, a cell and tissue tropism similar to that observed in biopsy samples of CHIKV-infected humans. In case of severe infections, CHIKV also disseminates to other tissues including the CNS, where it specifically targets the choroid plexuses and the leptomeninges. Together, these data indicate that CHIKV-associated symptoms match viral tissue and cell tropisms, and demonstrate that the fibroblast is a predominant target cell of CHIKV. These data also identify the neonatal phase and inefficient type-I IFN signaling as risk factors for severe CHIKV-associated disease. The development of a permissive small animal model will expedite the testing of future vaccines and therapeutic candidates.

ON THE RADIO POLARIZATION SIGNATURE OF EFFICIENT AND INEFFICIENT PARTICLE ACCELERATION IN SUPERNOVA REMNANT SN 1006

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reynoso, Estela M. [Instituto de Astronomia y Fisica del Espacio (IAFE), C. C. 67, Suc. 28, 1428 Buenos Aires (Argentina); Hughes, John P. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8019 (United States); Moffett, David A., E-mail: ereynoso@iafe.uba.ar, E-mail: jph@physics.rutgers.edu, E-mail: david.moffett@furman.edu [Department of Physics, Furman University, Greenville, SC 29613 (United States)

2013-04-15

inefficient acceleration and little to no generation of magnetic turbulence are obtained for the quasi-perpendicular case.

ON THE RADIO POLARIZATION SIGNATURE OF EFFICIENT AND INEFFICIENT PARTICLE ACCELERATION IN SUPERNOVA REMNANT SN 1006

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reynoso, Estela M.; Hughes, John P.; Moffett, David A.

2013-01-01

Radio polarization observations provide essential information on the degree of order and orientation of magnetic fields, which themselves play a key role in the particle acceleration processes that take place in supernova remnants (SNRs). Here we present a radio polarization study of SN 1006, based on combined Very Large Array and Australia Telescope Compact Array observations at 20 cm that resulted in sensitive images with an angular resolution of 10 arcsec. The fractional polarization in the two bright radio and X-ray lobes of the SNR is measured to be 0.17, while in the southeastern sector, where the radio and non-thermal X-ray emission are much weaker, the polarization fraction reaches a value of 0.6 ± 0.2, close to the theoretical limit of 0.7. We interpret this result as evidence of a disordered, turbulent magnetic field in the lobes, where particle acceleration is believed to be efficient, and a highly ordered field in the southeast, where the acceleration efficiency has been shown to be very low. Utilizing the frequency coverage of our observations, an average rotation measure of ∼12 rad m –2 is determined from the combined data set, which is then used to obtain the intrinsic direction of the magnetic field vectors. While the orientation of magnetic field vectors across the SNR shell appear to be radial, a large fraction of the magnetic vectors lie parallel to the Galactic plane. Along the highly polarized southeastern rim, the field is aligned tangent to the shock, and therefore also nearly parallel to the Galactic plane. These results strongly suggest that the ambient field surrounding SN 1006 is aligned with this direction (i.e., from northeast to southwest) and that the bright lobes are due to a polar cap geometry. Our study establishes that the most efficient particle acceleration and generation of magnetic turbulence in SN 1006 is attained for shocks in which the magnetic field direction and shock normal are quasi-parallel, while inefficient

Diversification as a Socio- economic Strategy among the Keiyo in Kenya

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John Koskey Chang’ach

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the efforts and actions by the Kenyan government to address challenges of agrarian change and rural transformation in Keiyo. The paper demonstrates that state employs the mechanisms of co-opting the forces of rural commercialization through the strategies of land consolidation. The paper explains that these strategies widen the scope of engagement in the Keiyo households in Kenya today. Keiyo households have demonstrated their capacity to respond positively and spontaneously to agrarian changes and innovations which proves vital to the enhancement of their economic well-being. The paper employs data collected from the three ecological zones, in order to examine the characteristics of households in Keiyo. It is demonstrated that the characteristics of these households reflect the different economic opportunity structures of the three areas. It is suggested that while the distribution of resources within any of the three ecological zones is to varying degrees unequal, there is nevertheless a pronounced pattern of inequality across eco-zones: most households in the highland are better endowed with resources than most households either on the escarpment or in the valley.

Agricultural franchising and contribution to achieving objectives of the EU common agricultural policy

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Stanković Milica

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The Common Agricultural Policy is the oldest, the most complex, the most expensive EU policy and it represents one of the most important drivers of European integration. Agrarian franchising is one of the innovations in the field of franchising, which implementation is still in its infancy and it is necessary to strive for the popularization of this business model. The aim of the paper is to emphasize the importance of agricultural franchising concept development and contribution of implementation of this concept to the achievement of the Common Agricultural Policy objectives and improvement of the agrarian sector as a whole. Special attention is paid on agricultural franchising as a hybrid form of disinvestment in conditions of economic crisis. Based on analysis of advantages and disadvantages of agricultural franchising, we conclude that it has the potential for solving a large number of problems that occur in the agrarian sector, with a particular focus on the importance of agricultural franchising to the achievement of the CAP objectives.

Reflexões sobre o manejo florestal em assentamentos rurais do semiárido sergipano

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Lucas Oliveira do Amorim

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to analyze the peasant's reflections about the forest management in the rural settlements of Sergipe semiarid region. Primary and secondary data were collected from projects of the agrarian reform settlements of Santa Rita and José Gomes da Silva, the first one located in the municipality of Canindé do São Francisco and the second one in Lagarto. The data obtained show that the use of timber forest resources is practiced on the agrarian reform settlements studied. In Santa Rita settlement the small farmers prioritize the use of wood fuel from the coal manufactured after clearcuting the trees. In José Gomes da Silva agrarian settlement the small farmers mainly use stakes from pruning the branches for wood fuel and build fences. It was also observed deficiency in the performance of environmental agencies and technical assistance, on enabling sustainable forest management in Sergipe’s rural settlements.

European Anarchism and its Early Influences in Mexico after the Paris Commune: 1871- 1881

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Clara E. Lida

2001-07-01

Full Text Available This article examines the links between European anarchism and social and agrarian movements in Mexico  after the Paris Commune. During those years, while anarchists remained in clandestinity, they developed new revolutionary theories and practices. These included the organization in freely federated autonomous communes, and the right to the land and the product of labor. Occasionally, such reivindications intertwined with those of the agrarian communities in Mexico allowing for European anarchism and Mexican social and peasant groups to come in contact with each other.

Regiões e Especialização na Economia Cafeeira: São Paulo no Início do Século XX

OpenAIRE

Renato Colistete

2014-01-01

This article deals with agricultural specialization in regions and farms of the state of São Paulo in the early nineteenth century, after several decades of changes caused by the coffee boom. I use data from more than forty thousand farms to examine the agrarian structure and specialization in eleven regions which cover the whole state of São Paulo at the time. The article also shows how farmers chose between export (coffee) and internal market crops. The results lend support to a part of the...

SU-E-T-452: Identifying Inefficiencies in Radiation Oncology Workflow and Prioritizing Solutions for Process Improvement and Patient Safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bennion, N; Driewer, J; Denniston, K; Zhen, W; Enke, C [University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE (United States); Jacobs, K; Poole, M; McMahon, R; Wilson, K; Yager, A [Nebraska Medicine, Omaha, NE (United States)

2015-06-15

Purpose: Successful radiation therapy requires multi-step processes susceptible to unnecessary delays that can negatively impact clinic workflow, patient satisfaction, and safety. This project applied process improvement tools to assess workflow bottlenecks and identify solutions to barriers for effective implementation. Methods: We utilized the DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) methodology, limiting our scope to the treatment planning process. From May through December of 2014, times and dates of each step from simulation to treatment were recorded for 507 cases. A value-stream map created from this dataset directed our selection of outcome measures (Y metrics). Critical goals (X metrics) that would accomplish the Y metrics were identified. Barriers to actions were binned into control-impact matrices, in order to stratify them into four groups: in/out of control and high/low impact. Solutions to each barrier were then categorized into benefit-effort matries to identify those of high benefit and low effort. Results: For 507 cases, the mean time from simulation to treatment was 235 total hours. The mean process and wait time were 60 and 132 hours, respectively. The Y metric was to increase the ratio of all non-emergent plans completed the business day prior to treatment from 47% to 75%. Project X metrics included increasing the number of IMRT QAs completed at least 24 hours prior to treatment from 19% to 80% and the number of non-IMRT plans approved at least 24 hours prior to treatment from 33% to 80%. Intervals from simulation to target contour and from initial plan completion to plan approval were identified as periods that could benefit from intervention. Barriers to actions were binned into control-impact matrices and solutions by benefit-effort matrices. Conclusion: The DMAIC method can be successfully applied in radiation therapy clinics to identify inefficiencies and prioritize solutions for the highest impact.

SucStruct: Prediction of succinylated lysine residues by using structural properties of amino acids.

Science.gov (United States)

López, Yosvany; Dehzangi, Abdollah; Lal, Sunil Pranit; Taherzadeh, Ghazaleh; Michaelson, Jacob; Sattar, Abdul; Tsunoda, Tatsuhiko; Sharma, Alok

2017-06-15

Post-Translational Modification (PTM) is a biological reaction which contributes to diversify the proteome. Despite many modifications with important roles in cellular activity, lysine succinylation has recently emerged as an important PTM mark. It alters the chemical structure of lysines, leading to remarkable changes in the structure and function of proteins. In contrast to the huge amount of proteins being sequenced in the post-genome era, the experimental detection of succinylated residues remains expensive, inefficient and time-consuming. Therefore, the development of computational tools for accurately predicting succinylated lysines is an urgent necessity. To date, several approaches have been proposed but their sensitivity has been reportedly poor. In this paper, we propose an approach that utilizes structural features of amino acids to improve lysine succinylation prediction. Succinylated and non-succinylated lysines were first retrieved from 670 proteins and characteristics such as accessible surface area, backbone torsion angles and local structure conformations were incorporated. We used the k-nearest neighbors cleaning treatment for dealing with class imbalance and designed a pruned decision tree for classification. Our predictor, referred to as SucStruct (Succinylation using Structural features), proved to significantly improve performance when compared to previous predictors, with sensitivity, accuracy and Mathew's correlation coefficient equal to 0.7334-0.7946, 0.7444-0.7608 and 0.4884-0.5240, respectively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

IFN-ε is constitutively expressed by cells of the reproductive tract and is inefficiently secreted by fibroblasts and cell lines.

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Pascale Hermant

Full Text Available Type-I interferons (IFNs form a large family of cytokines that primarily act to control the early development of viral infections. Typical type-I IFN genes, such as those encoding IFN-α or IFN-β are upregulated by viral infection in many cell types. In contrast, the gene encoding IFN-ε was reported to be constitutively expressed by cells of the female reproductive tract and to contribute to the protection against vaginal infections with herpes simplex virus 2 and Chlamydia muridarum. Our data confirm the lack of induction of IFN-ε expression after viral infection and the constitutive expression of IFN-ε by cells of the female but also of the male reproductive organs. Interestingly, when expressed from transfected expression plasmids in 293T, HeLa or Neuro2A cells, the mouse and human IFN-ε precursors were inefficiently processed and secretion of IFN-ε was minimal. Analysis of chimeric constructs produced between IFN-ε and limitin (IFN-ζ showed that both the signal peptide and the mature moiety of IFN-ε contribute to poor processing of the precursor. Immunofluorescent detection of FLAG-tagged IFN-ε in transfected cells suggested that IFN-ε and chimeric proteins were defective for progression through the secretory pathway. IFN-ε did not, however, act intracellularly and impart an antiviral state to producing cells. Given the constitutive expression of IFN-ε in specialized cells and the poor processing of IFN-ε precursor in fibroblasts and cell lines, we hypothesize that IFN-ε secretion may require a co-factor specifically expressed in cells of the reproductive organs, that might secure the system against aberrant release of this IFN.

The role of auctions and forward markets in the EU ETS: counterbalancing the cost-inefficiencies of combining generous allocation with a ban on banking

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ehrhart, K.M.; Hoppe, C.; Schleich, J.; Seifert, S.

2005-07-01

From an analysis of the available national allocation plans for the first period (2005-2007) of the EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS), it can be inferred that (i) the total allocation to installations covered under the EU ETS is rather generous and (ii) most EU Member States ban the transfer of allowances (banking) into the second period (2008-2012). In this article, we explore the cost-efficiency issues associated with such a generous allocation of allowances to the trading sectors in combination with the ban on banking. It is argued that allocation to the trading sectors is higher than implied by a cost-minimization approach. Moreover, due to the reduced level of flexibility, a ban on banking increases overall compliance costs. In addition, the results of a simulation game conducted with real company participants and with a student control group suggest that a generous primary allocation in the first phase combined with a ban on banking also leads to a cost-inefficient choice of abatement measures within periods. The results of the simulations are also consistent with the conjecture that forward markets and auctioning off a part of the total quantity of allowances result in more reliable price signals and most cost-efficient outcomes. (author)

The effect of association between inefficient arsenic methylation capacity and demographic characteristics on the risk of skin lesions.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasheed, Hifza; Kay, Paul; Slack, Rebecca; Gong, Yun Yun

2018-01-15

This study was conducted in rural Pakistan to assess the dose-response relationship between skin lesions and arsenic exposure and their variation by demographic characteristics. The study included 398 participants (66 participants with skin lesions and 332 without) residing in six previously unstudied villages exposed to ground water arsenic in the range of iAs), total arsenic (tAs), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) were analysed to determine methylation capacity, methylation efficiency and the dose-response relationship with skin lesions. Study participants with skin lesions were found to be exposed to arsenic >10μgL -1 with a daily arsenic intake of 3.23±3.75mgday -1 from household ground water sources for an exposure duration of 10-20years. The participants with skin lesions compared to those without skin lesions showed higher levels of urinary iAs (133.40±242.48 vs. 44.24±86.48μgg -1 Cr), MMA (106.38±135.04 vs. 35.43±39.97μgg -1 Cr), MMA% (15.26±6.31 vs.12.11±4.68) and lower levels of DMA% (66.99±13.59 vs. 73.39±10.44) and secondary methylation index (SMI) (0.81±0.11 vs. 0.86±0.07). Study participants carrying a lower methylation capacity characterized by higher MMA% (OR 5.06, 95% CI: 2.09-12.27), lower DMA% (OR 0.64, 95% CI: 0.33-1.26), primary methylation index (PMI) (OR 0.56, 95% CI: 0.28-1.12) and SMI (OR 0.43, 95% CI: 0.21-0.88) had a significantly higher risk of skin lesions compared to their corresponding references after adjusting for occupation categories. The findings confirmed that inefficient arsenic methylation capacity was significantly associated with increased skin lesion risks and the effect might be modified by labour intensive occupations. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Inefficient cationic lipid-mediated siRNA and antisense oligonucleotide transfer to airway epithelial cells in vivo

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Hu Jim

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The cationic lipid Genzyme lipid (GL 67 is the current "gold-standard" for in vivo lung gene transfer. Here, we assessed, if GL67 mediated uptake of siRNAs and asODNs into airway epithelium in vivo. Methods Anti-lacZ and ENaC (epithelial sodium channel siRNA and asODN were complexed to GL67 and administered to the mouse airway epithelium in vivo Transfection efficiency and efficacy were assessed using real-time RT-PCR as well as through protein expression and functional studies. In parallel in vitro experiments were carried out to select the most efficient oligonucleotides. Results In vitro, GL67 efficiently complexed asODNs and siRNAs, and both were stable in exhaled breath condensate. Importantly, during in vitro selection of functional siRNA and asODN we noted that asODNs accumulated rapidly in the nuclei of transfected cells, whereas siRNAs remained in the cytoplasm, a pattern consistent with their presumed site of action. Following in vivo lung transfection siRNAs were only visible in alveolar macrophages, whereas asODN also transfected alveolar epithelial cells, but no significant uptake into conducting airway epithelial cells was seen. SiRNAs and asODNs targeted to β-galactosidase reduced βgal mRNA levels in the airway epithelium of K18-lacZ mice by 30% and 60%, respectively. However, this was insufficient to reduce protein expression. In an attempt to increase transfection efficiency of the airway epithelium, we increased contact time of siRNA and asODN using the in vivo mouse nose model. Although highly variable and inefficient, transfection of airway epithelium with asODN, but not siRNA, was now seen. As asODNs more effectively transfected nasal airway epithelial cells, we assessed the effect of asODN against ENaC, a potential therapeutic target in cystic fibrosis; no decrease in ENaC mRNA levels or function was detected. Conclusion This study suggests that although siRNAs and asODNs can be developed to inhibit

Insights into Resistance to Fe Deficiency Stress from a Comparative Study of In Vitro-Selected Novel Fe-Efficient and Fe-Inefficient Potato Plants

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Georgina A. Boamponsem

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Iron (Fe deficiency induces chlorosis (IDC in plants and can result in reduced plant productivity. Therefore, development of Fe-efficient plants is of great interest. To gain a better understanding of the physiology of Fe-efficient plants, putative novel plant variants were regenerated from potato (Solanum tubersosum L. var. ‘Iwa’ callus cultures selected under Fe deficient or low Fe supply (0–5 μM Fe. Based on visual chlorosis rating (VCR, 23% of callus-derived regenerants were classified as Fe-efficient (EF and 77% as Fe-inefficient (IFN plant lines when they were grown under Fe deficiency conditions. Stem height was found to be highly correlated with internodal distance, leaf and root lengths in the EF plant lines grown under Fe deficiency conditions. In addition, compared to the IFN plant lines and control parental biotype, the EF plants including the lines named A1, B2, and B9, exhibited enhanced formation of lateral roots and root hairs as well as increased expression of ferritin (fer3 in the leaf and iron-regulated transporter (irt1 in the root. These morphological adaptations and changes in expression the fer3 and irt1 genes of the selected EF potato lines suggest that they are associated with resistance to low Fe supply stress.

Structural Basis of Actin Filament Nucleation by Tandem W Domains

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaorui; Ni, Fengyun; Tian, Xia; Kondrashkina, Elena; Wang, Qinghua; Ma, Jianpeng

2013-01-01

SUMMARY Spontaneous nucleation of actin is very inefficient in cells. To overcome this barrier, cells have evolved a set of actin filament nucleators to promote rapid nucleation and polymerization in response to specific stimuli. However, the molecular mechanism of actin nucleation remains poorly understood. This is hindered largely by the fact that actin nucleus, once formed, rapidly polymerizes into filament, thus making it impossible to capture stable multisubunit actin nucleus. Here, we report an effective double-mutant strategy to stabilize actin nucleus by preventing further polymerization. Employing this strategy, we solved the crystal structure of AMPPNP-actin in complex with the first two tandem W domains of Cordon-bleu (Cobl), a potent actin filament nucleator. Further sequence comparison and functional studies suggest that the nucleation mechanism of Cobl is probably shared by the p53 cofactor JMY, but not Spire. Moreover, the double-mutant strategy opens the way for atomic mechanistic study of actin nucleation and polymerization. PMID:23727244

The Leverage Ratchet Effect

OpenAIRE

Anat R. Admati; Peter M. DeMarzo; Martin F. Hellwig; Paul Pfleiderer

2013-01-01

Shareholder-creditor conflicts can create leverage ratchet effects, resulting in inefficient capital structures. Once debt is in place, shareholders may inefficiently increase leverage but avoid reducing it no matter how beneficial leverage reduction might be to total firm value. We present conditions for an irrelevance result under which shareholders view asset sales, pure recapitalization and asset expansion with new equity as equally undesirable. We then analyze how seniority, asset hetero...

Relative astrometry of compact flaring structures in Sgr A* with polarimetric very long baseline interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, Michael D.; Doeleman, Sheperd S.; Fish, Vincent L.; Broderick, Avery E.; Wardle, John F. C.; Marrone, Daniel P.

2014-01-01

We demonstrate that polarimetric interferometry can be used to extract precise spatial information about compact polarized flares of Sgr A*. We show that, for a faint dynamical component, a single interferometric baseline suffices to determine both its polarization and projected displacement from the quiescent intensity centroid. A second baseline enables two-dimensional reconstruction of the displacement, and additional baselines can self-calibrate using the flare, enhancing synthesis imaging of the quiescent emission. We apply this technique to simulated 1.3 mm wavelength observations of a 'hot spot' embedded in a radiatively inefficient accretion disk around Sgr A*. Our results indicate that, even with current sensitivities, polarimetric interferometry with the Event Horizon Telescope can achieve ∼5 μas relative astrometry of compact flaring structures near Sgr A* on timescales of minutes.

Agrofuels capitalism: a view from political economy.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Ben; Dasgupta, Anirban

2010-01-01

This article considers the global expansion of agrofuels feedstock production from a political economy perspective. It considers and dismisses the environmental and pro-poor developmental justifications attached to agrofuels. To local populations and direct producers, the specific destination of the crop as fuel, food, cosmetics or other final uses in faraway places is probably of less interest than the forms of (direct or indirect) appropriation of their land and the forms of their insertion or exclusion as producers in global commodity chains. Global demand for both agrofuels and food is stimulating new forms (or the resurgence of old forms) of corporate land grabbing and expropriation, and of incorporation of smallholders in contracted production. Drawing both on recent studies on agrofuels expansion and on the political economy literature on agrarian transition and capitalism in agriculture, this article raises the question whether "agrofuels capitalism" is in any way essentially different from other forms of capitalist agrarian monocrop production, and in turn whether the agrarian transitions involved require new tools of analysis.

Economic and Technical Efficiency of the Biomass Industry in China: A Network Data Envelopment Analysis Model Involving Externalities

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Qingyou Yan

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes the network data envelopment analysis (DEA model accounting for negative externalities and applies it for decomposition of profit inefficiency in the biomass-agriculture circular system (Bio-AG system. A circular structure of the Bio-AG system which is different from the previously applied network structures is assumed. Since the negative externalities (i.e., pollutant emissions from the biomass industry occur in the Bio-AG system, the property rights are taken into consideration to model the externalities-adjusted profits. Therefore, the changes in profits due to changes in the property rights (assuming no property rights, allocating property rights to agricultural sector, and allocating property rights to biomass power generation sector are quantified. Further, the decomposition shows that the biomass power generation sector is less affected by technical inefficiency if contrasted to allocative inefficiency in terms of the profit loss. The findings suggest that the biomass power generation technology influences the profits of the biomass industry. What is more, the inefficient allocation of resources is now the key factor undermining performance of the biomass industry. Therefore, the government should adopt measures to improve the allocation of resources and prevent excessive investments or development of less efficient technologies.

The Technical Efficiency of Specialised Milk Farms: A Regional View

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Jindřich Špička

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to evaluate production efficiency and its determinants of specialised dairy farming among the EU regions. In the most of European regions, there is a relatively high significance of small specialised farms including dairy farms. The DEAVRS method (data envelopment analysis with variable returns to scale reveals efficient and inefficient regions including the scale efficiency. In the next step, the two-sample t-test determines differences of economic and structural indicators between efficient and inefficient regions. The research reveals that substitution of labour by capital/contract work explains the variability of the farm net value added per AWU (annual work unit income indicator by more than 30%. The significant economic determinants of production efficiency in specialised dairy farming are farm size, herd size, crop output per hectare, productivity of energy, and capital (at α=0.01. Specialised dairy farms in efficient regions have significantly higher farm net value added per AWU than inefficient regions. Agricultural enterprises in inefficient regions have a more extensive structure and produce more noncommodity output (public goods. Specialised dairy farms in efficient regions have a slightly higher milk yield, specific livestock costs of feed, bedding, and veterinary services per livestock unit.

Comparative metabolomics in vegans and omnivores reveal constraints on diet-dependent gut microbiota metabolite production

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Gary D; Compher, Charlene; Chen, Eric Z; Smith, Sarah A; Shah, Rachana D; Bittinger, Kyle; Chehoud, Christel; Albenberg, Lindsey G; Nessel, Lisa; Gilroy, Erin; Star, Julie; Weljie, Aalim M; Flint, Harry J; Metz, David C; Bennett, Michael J; Li, Hongzhe; Bushman, Frederic D; Lewis, James D

2015-01-01

Objective The consumption of an agrarian diet is associated with a reduced risk for many diseases associated with a ‘Westernised’ lifestyle. Studies suggest that diet affects the gut microbiota, which subsequently influences the metabolome, thereby connecting diet, microbiota and health. However, the degree to which diet influences the composition of the gut microbiota is controversial. Murine models and studies comparing the gut microbiota in humans residing in agrarian versus Western societies suggest that the influence is large. To separate global environmental influences from dietary influences, we characterised the gut microbiota and the host metabolome of individuals consuming an agrarian diet in Western society. Design and results Using 16S rRNA-tagged sequencing as well as plasma and urinary metabolomic platforms, we compared measures of dietary intake, gut microbiota composition and the plasma metabolome between healthy human vegans and omnivores, sampled in an urban USA environment. Plasma metabolome of vegans differed markedly from omnivores but the gut microbiota was surprisingly similar. Unlike prior studies of individuals living in agrarian societies, higher consumption of fermentable substrate in vegans was not associated with higher levels of faecal short chain fatty acids, a finding confirmed in a 10-day controlled feeding experiment. Similarly, the proportion of vegans capable of producing equol, a soy-based gut microbiota metabolite, was less than that was reported in Asian societies despite the high consumption of soy-based products. Conclusions Evidently, residence in globally distinct societies helps determine the composition of the gut microbiota that, in turn, influences the production of diet-dependent gut microbial metabolites. PMID:25431456

Renewable energies 2020. Potential atlas Germany; Erneuerbare Energien 2020. Potenzialatlas Deutschland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmidt, Janine; Muehlenhoff, Joerg

2009-11-15

A future energy policy equally has to pursue environmental protection and climate protection, economic efficiency as well as supply security. Renewable energies substantially contribute to this. In the last decade, the Federal Government of Germany showed that a strong development of renewable energies is possible within a short time. For the year 2020, the industry prognosticates an amount of the renewable energies of 47 % at the consumption of electricity, 25 % at the heat consumption, and 22 % at the fuel consumption in the traffic. The contribution under consideration shows that the surface which is needed for this is small. Depending upon climate, landscape, settlement structure and agrarian structure, each region offers its own different potentials.

Renewable energies 2020. Potential atlas Germany. 2. ed.; Erneuerbare Energien 2020. Potenzialatlas Deutschland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmidt, Janine; Muehlenhoff, Joerg

2010-02-15

A future energy policy equally has to pursue environmental protection and climate protection, economic efficiency as well as supply security. Renewable energies substantially contribute to this. In the last decade, the Federal Government of Germany showed that a strong development of renewable energies is possible within a short time. For the year 2020, the industry prognosticates an amount of the renewable energies of 47% at the consumption of electricity, 25% at the heat consumption, and 22% at the fuel consumption in the traffic. The contribution under consideration shows that the surface which is needed for this is small. Depending upon climate, landscape, settlement structure and agrarian structure, each region offers its own different potentials.

Structural covariance and cortical reorganisation in schizophrenia: a MRI-based morphometric study.

Science.gov (United States)

Palaniyappan, Lena; Hodgson, Olha; Balain, Vijender; Iwabuchi, Sarina; Gowland, Penny; Liddle, Peter

2018-05-06

In patients with schizophrenia, distributed abnormalities are observed in grey matter volume. A recent hypothesis posits that these distributed changes are indicative of a plastic reorganisation process occurring in response to a functional defect in neuronal information transmission. We investigated the structural covariance across various brain regions in early-stage schizophrenia to determine if indeed the observed patterns of volumetric loss conform to a coordinated pattern of structural reorganisation. Structural magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained from 40 healthy adults and 41 age, gender and parental socioeconomic status matched patients with schizophrenia. Volumes of grey matter tissue were estimated at the regional level across 90 atlas-based parcellations. Group-level structural covariance was studied using a graph theoretical framework. Patients had distributed reduction in grey matter volume, with high degree of localised covariance (clustering) compared with controls. Patients with schizophrenia had reduced centrality of anterior cingulate and insula but increased centrality of the fusiform cortex, compared with controls. Simulating targeted removal of highly central nodes resulted in significant loss of the overall covariance patterns in patients compared with controls. Regional volumetric deficits in schizophrenia are not a result of random, mutually independent processes. Our observations support the occurrence of a spatially interconnected reorganisation with the systematic de-escalation of conventional 'hub' regions. This raises the question of whether the morphological architecture in schizophrenia is primed for compensatory functions, albeit with a high risk of inefficiency.

La posesión agraria individual en los registros notariales de Fuente El Sol (1481-1482 = Individual Agrarian Property Holding in the Notary Records of Fuente El Sol (1481-1482

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Laura da Graca

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Se analizan diversas prácticas de los productores agrarios a partir de los registros notariales de Fuente el Sol, lugar de señorío privado en el obispado de Ávila. El objetivo del trabajo es documentar el supuesto teórico según el cual la gestión autónoma de la unidad de producción conlleva un posicionamiento individualista y antiseñorial. Se examinan las infracciones sobre tierras particulares, las disputas en torno al patrimonio familiar y la actuación de tenentes acusados de diversas faltas. Se demuestra la continuidad entre la orientación individualista y la resistencia a las imposiciones señoriales, y se revelan estrategias de resguardo y ampliación de la posesión agraria individual, que en ocasiones reproducen mecanismos de lucha contra la renta, como el intento de ocultar el volumen de producción y las transacciones. Se observa la condición cambiante de la unidad productiva, sujeta a constante recomposición, lo cual se asocia a la vocación de dirigir libremente la actividad económica. This article explores some practices of the agrarian producers on the basis of the notary records of Fuente el Sol, a village within a lordship in the bishopric of Ávila. The aim is to document the theoretical assumption that autonomous management of the unit of production involves both individualistic attitudes and resistance to the lord. We will analyse trespassing offences, disputes over family inheritance, and the action of tenants accused of different violations. We will demonstrate the link between the individual approach and resistance to seigneurial impositions, as well as some strategies aiming at protecting and enlarging individual property holdings, strategies that at times reproduce procedures of the struggle against rent incomes, such as concealing the volume of production and transactions. We will also consider the changing composition of the unit of production, an aspect associated with the purpose of freely managed

Land reform in NE Brazil: a stochastic frontier production efficiency evaluation

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Marcelo Marques de Magalhães

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to address the sources of technical and allocative inefficiency from a cross section sample of 308 beneficiaries of a market assisted land reform program, called "Cédula da Terra"; from five states in Northeastern region of Brazil. In spite of some differences on governance of the "Cédula da Terra"; in comparison with traditional expropriation land reform program, studies carried by Buainain et al. (2002 have shown small differences between then, regarding their social and economic characteristics. We believe that our results could be useful to identify the main problems of Brazilian land reform settlements. We estimated a potential production frontier following the methodology of Battese and Coelli (1995, Coelli et al. (1998 and applied econometric techniques to explain inefficiency. The results indicate the existence of technical and allocative inefficiency, which is identified mostly in situations where the presence of production for consumption is high. This is a result that shows how immature the agriculture activity is in most of Cédula da Terra Program settlements and the difficulty to overcome the limitations imposed by the initial condition of formation of agrarian reform, primarily in Northeastern region of Brazil.O objetivo desse artigo é caracterizar as fontes da ineficiência técnica e alocativa em um conjunto de 308 beneficiários de um programa de reforma agrária de mercado, chamado "Cédula da Terra";, distribuídos em cinco estados do Nordeste brasileiro. Estudos conduzidos por Buainain et al. (2002 mostraram existem poucas diferenças entre as características de beneficiários deste programa e dos programas tradicionais de reforma agrária por expropriação e que portanto, os resultados obtidos por este trabalho permitem visualizar as dificuldades enfrentadas pelos assentamentos no Brasil. Para medir eficiência, estimou-se uma função de produção potencial segundo a metodologia de Battese e

The expert meeting dedicated to the discussion of results of a local open-label multicenter observational study of the efficiency and safety of tofacitinib in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis with the inefficiency of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and to the elaboration of recommendations for the use for tofacitinib in the therapy of rheumatoid arthritis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The expert meeting dedicated to the discussion of results of a local open-label multicenter observational study of the efficiency and safety of tofacitinib in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis with the inefficiency of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and to the elaboration of recommendations for the use for tofacitinib in the therapy of rheumatoid arthritis.

Biophysical structure of the Ecuadorian economy, foreign trade, and policy implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vallejo, Maria Cristina

2010-01-01

At the core of this paper lays the notion that a systematic analysis of material flow accounts enables us to discuss the sustainability of an economic model. Ecuador is going through a socio-ecological transition from an agrarian towards an industrial regime, based on the use of nonrenewable sources of materials and energy. Direct material flow indicators are used in this article to analyze the ecological dimension of the economy of Ecuador during 1970-2007. This approach enables the concept of societal metabolism to become operative. The paper compares societal metabolic profiles showing that per capita use of materials is still at about one-fifth of the average in the high income countries of the world. Physical flows of trade indicate that there is an ecologically unequal exchange. Whereas a positive trade balance is desirable from an economic policy, its counterpart in physical units has been a persistent net outflow of material resources, the extraction of which causes environmental impacts and social conflicts. (author)

Biophysical structure of the Ecuadorian economy, foreign trade, and policy implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vallejo, Maria Cristina [Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Pradera E7-174 y Avenida Diego de Almagro, Quito (Ecuador)

2010-12-15

At the core of this paper lays the notion that a systematic analysis of material flow accounts enables us to discuss the sustainability of an economic model. Ecuador is going through a socio-ecological transition from an agrarian towards an industrial regime, based on the use of nonrenewable sources of materials and energy. Direct material flow indicators are used in this article to analyze the ecological dimension of the economy of Ecuador during 1970-2007. This approach enables the concept of societal metabolism to become operative. The paper compares societal metabolic profiles showing that per capita use of materials is still at about one-fifth of the average in the high income countries of the world. Physical flows of trade indicate that there is an ecologically unequal exchange. Whereas a positive trade balance is desirable from an economic policy, its counterpart in physical units has been a persistent net outflow of material resources, the extraction of which causes environmental impacts and social conflicts. (author)

A Survey of the Relation Between Capital Structure and Corporate Strategy

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M. La Rocca

2008-06-01

Full Text Available This paper responds to the general call for integration between finance and strategy researchby examining how financial decisions are related to corporate strategy. In particular, the paperfocuses on the link between capital structure and strategy. Corporate strategies complementtraditional finance paradigms and extend our insight into a firm’s decisions regarding capitalstructure. Equity and debt must be considered as financial instruments as well as strategicinstruments of corporate governance (Williamson 1988. Debt subordinates governanceactivities to stricter management, while equity allows for greater flexibility and decisionmakingpower.The literature on finance and strategy analyzes how the strategic actions of key players(managers, shareholders, debtholders, competitors, workers, suppliers, etc affect firm valueand the allocation of value between claimholders. Specifically, financing decisions canconcern value creation process (1 influencing efficient investments decisions according to theexistence of conflict of interest between managers and firm’s financial stakeholders(shareholders and debtholders and (2 affecting the relationship with non-financialstakeholders, as suppliers, competitors, customers.To summarize, the potential interaction between managers, financial stakeholders, and nonfinancialstakeholders influences capital structure, corporate governance activities, and valuecreation processes. These in turn, may give rise to inefficient managerial decisions or theymay shape the industry’s competitive dynamics to achieve a competitive advantage. A goodintegration between strategy and finance dimensions can be tantamount to a competitiveweapon.

A multi-resolution HEALPix data structure for spherically mapped point data

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Robert W. Youngren

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Data describing entities with locations that are points on a sphere are described as spherically mapped. Several data structures designed for spherically mapped data have been developed. One of them, known as Hierarchical Equal Area iso-Latitude Pixelization (HEALPix, partitions the sphere into twelve diamond-shaped equal-area base cells and then recursively subdivides each cell into four diamond-shaped subcells, continuing to the desired level of resolution. Twelve quadtrees, one associated with each base cell, store the data records associated with that cell and its subcells.HEALPix has been used successfully for numerous applications, notably including cosmic microwave background data analysis. However, for applications involving sparse point data HEALPix has possible drawbacks, including inefficient memory utilization, overwriting of proximate points, and return of spurious points for certain queries.A multi-resolution variant of HEALPix specifically optimized for sparse point data was developed. The new data structure allows different areas of the sphere to be subdivided at different levels of resolution. It combines HEALPix positive features with the advantages of multi-resolution, including reduced memory requirements and improved query performance.An implementation of the new Multi-Resolution HEALPix (MRH data structure was tested using spherically mapped data from four different scientific applications (warhead fragmentation trajectories, weather station locations, galaxy locations, and synthetic locations. Four types of range queries were applied to each data structure for each dataset. Compared to HEALPix, MRH used two to four orders of magnitude less memory for the same data, and on average its queries executed 72% faster. Keywords: Computer science

Life cycle assessment and the resilience of product systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pizzol, Massimo

2015-01-01

Resilience is the capacity of systems to withstand and recover from disturbance, depends on the structure and architecture of a system, and plays a key role for the sustainability of complex systems. Despite its importance, resilience is not explicitly taken into account by studies of life cycle...... assessment (LCA), which main objective is determining the eco-efficiency of a product system with limited focus on its structure. The question is whether a product system which structure is improved or designed to be more resilient will result in being not only inefficient, but also eco-inefficient, when...... assessed by means of LCA. This study proposes a theoretical modelling approach to compare vulnerable and resilient product systems within the framework of LCA, consisting of assessment of disturbance and system expansion. Examples are provided where the theory is made operational. The structure...

GLOBAL STRUCTURE OF THREE DISTINCT ACCRETION FLOWS AND OUTFLOWS AROUND BLACK HOLES FROM TWO-DIMENSIONAL RADIATION-MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohsuga, Ken; Mineshige, Shin

2011-01-01

We present the detailed global structure of black hole accretion flows and outflows through newly performed two-dimensional radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations. By starting from a torus threaded with weak toroidal magnetic fields and by controlling the central density of the initial torus, ρ 0 , we can reproduce three distinct modes of accretion flow. In model A, which has the highest central density, an optically and geometrically thick supercritical accretion disk is created. The radiation force greatly exceeds the gravity above the disk surface, thereby driving a strong outflow (or jet). Because of mild beaming, the apparent (isotropic) photon luminosity is ∼22L E (where L E is the Eddington luminosity) in the face-on view. Even higher apparent luminosity is feasible if we increase the flow density. In model B, which has moderate density, radiative cooling of the accretion flow is so efficient that a standard-type, cold, and geometrically thin disk is formed at radii greater than ∼7 R S (where R S is the Schwarzschild radius), while the flow is radiatively inefficient otherwise. The magnetic-pressure-driven disk wind appears in this model. In model C, the density is too low for the flow to be radiatively efficient. The flow thus becomes radiatively inefficient accretion flow, which is geometrically thick and optically thin. The magnetic-pressure force, together with the gas-pressure force, drives outflows from the disk surface, and the flow releases its energy via jets rather than via radiation. Observational implications are briefly discussed.

The Fall and Rise Again of Plantations in Tropical Asia: History Repeated?

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Derek Byerlee

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The type of agrarian structure employed to produce tropical commodities affects many dimensions of land use, such as ownership inequality, overlapping land rights and conflicts, and land use changes. I conduct a literature review of historical changes in agrarian structures of commodities grown on the upland frontier of mainland Southeast and South Asia, using a case study approach, of tea, rubber, oil palm and cassava. Although the production of all these commodities was initiated in the colonial period on large plantations, over the course of the 20th century, most transited to smallholder systems. Two groups of factors are posited to explain this evolution. First, economic fundamentals related to processing methods and pioneering costs and risks sometimes favored large-scale plantations. Second, policy biases and development paradigms often strongly favored plantations and discriminated against smallholders in the colonial states, especially provision of cheap land and labor. However, beginning after World War I and accelerating after independence, the factors that propped up plantations changed so that by the end of the 20th century, smallholders overwhelmingly dominated perennial crop exports, except possibly oil palm. Surprisingly, in the 21st century there has been a resurgence of investments in plantation agriculture in the frontier countries of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, driven by very similar factors to a century ago, especially access to cheap land combined with high commodity prices. As in the last century, this may be a temporary aberration from the long-run trend toward smallholders, but much depends on local political economy.

Parallel structures for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in Southern Africa

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Per Becker

2013-01-01

Full Text Available During the last decade, the interest of the international community in the concepts of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation has been growing immensely. Even though an increasing number of scholars seem to view these concepts as two sides of the same coin (at least when not considering the potentially positive effects of climate change, in practice the two concepts have developed in parallel rather than in an integrated manner when it comes to policy, rhetoric and funding opportunities amongst international organisations and donors. This study investigates the extent of the creation of parallel structures for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the Southern African Development Community (SADC region. The chosen methodology for the study is a comparative case study and the data are collected through focus groups and content analysis of documentary sources, as well as interviews with key informants. The results indicate that parallel structures for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation have been established in all but one of the studied countries. The qualitative interviews performed in some of the countries indicate that stakeholders in disaster risk reduction view this duplication of structures as unfortunate, inefficient and a fertile setup for conflict over resources for the implementation of similar activities. Additional research is called for in order to study the concrete effects of having these parallel structures as a foundation for advocacy for more efficient future disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

La historia rural de la España oriental durante la Edad Moderna: un estado de la cuestión

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Manuel ARDIT

2009-10-01

Full Text Available RESUMEN: La historia rural de la España oriental durante la Edad Moderna: un estado de la cuestión. En este artículo se traza un estado de la cuestión de la historia agraria de los territorios de la antigua Corona de Aragón y la región murciana durante la Edad Moderna. Se analiza en primer lugar la evolución cronológica de ciertas variables fundamentales, como son la población y los indicadores de producción agraria, repasándose las consecuencias de ciertos acontecimientos considerados puntos de ruptura fundamentales, como la sentencia arbitral de Guadalupe o la expulsión de los moriscos. Seguidamente se estudian los aspectos esenciales de la historia agraria propiamente dicha, como son los cultivos, la ganadería, el bosque, el regadío y las técnicas agrarias. Finalmente se dedica un tercer y último apartado a la historia social agraria, en el que se trata el señorío, la propiedad, las formas de cesión y explotación de la tierra, los procesos de diferenciación social, las normas hereditarias y la confl ictividad social.ABSTRACT: The Rural History of Oriental Spain during the Early Modern Period: a State of the Art. In this article it’s outlined a state of the art of the agrarian history of the territories of the ancient Crown of Aragon and the Murcian Country during the Early Modern period. In the fi rst place are analyzed the chronological evolution of some basic variables, such as population and the indicators of the agrarian production, being checked too the results of some basic historical events, considered main breaking historical points, such as the arbitral verdict of Guadalupe or the expulsion of the Moriscos. Next are studied the essential aspects of the agrarian history properly said, that’s to say, cultivations, cattle farming, wood, irrigation and the agrarian techniques. Eventually a third and last paragraph is devoted to the agrarian social history, in which are discussed themes such as feudalism, property

Fermentation of Xylose Causes Inefficient Metabolic State Due to Carbon/Energy Starvation and Reduced Glycolytic Flux in Recombinant Industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Science.gov (United States)

Matsushika, Akinori; Nagashima, Atsushi; Goshima, Tetsuya; Hoshino, Tamotsu

2013-01-01

In the present study, comprehensive, quantitative metabolome analysis was carried out on the recombinant glucose/xylose-cofermenting S. cerevisiae strain MA-R4 during fermentation with different carbon sources, including glucose, xylose, or glucose/xylose mixtures. Capillary electrophoresis time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used to determine the intracellular pools of metabolites from the central carbon pathways, energy metabolism pathways, and the levels of twenty amino acids. When xylose instead of glucose was metabolized by MA-R4, glycolytic metabolites including 3- phosphoglycerate, 2- phosphoglycerate, phosphoenolpyruvate, and pyruvate were dramatically reduced, while conversely, most pentose phosphate pathway metabolites such as sedoheptulose 7- phosphate and ribulose 5-phosphate were greatly increased. These results suggest that the low metabolic activity of glycolysis and the pool of pentose phosphate pathway intermediates are potential limiting factors in xylose utilization. It was further demonstrated that during xylose fermentation, about half of the twenty amino acids declined, and the adenylate/guanylate energy charge was impacted due to markedly decreased adenosine triphosphate/adenosine monophosphate and guanosine triphosphate/guanosine monophosphate ratios, implying that the fermentation of xylose leads to an inefficient metabolic state where the biosynthetic capabilities and energy balance are severely impaired. In addition, fermentation with xylose alone drastically increased the level of citrate in the tricarboxylic acid cycle and increased the aromatic amino acids tryptophan and tyrosine, strongly supporting the view that carbon starvation was induced. Interestingly, fermentation with xylose alone also increased the synthesis of the polyamine spermidine and its precursor S-adenosylmethionine. Thus, differences in carbon substrates, including glucose and xylose in the fermentation medium, strongly influenced the dynamic metabolism of MA-R4

Agrarian-Economic Structure of Agricultural Holdings in Poland and East Germany: Selected Elements of Comparative Analysis

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Jezierska-Thöle Aleksandra

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine differences in the development of farms in Poland against the agriculture of East Germany, and to show areas with similar conditions for development. The time range of the research covered the years 2002-2010, i.e. the stage of preparation of Polish agriculture for accession to the European Union, the implementation of pre-accession aid programmes, and the establishment and implementation of the tools of the Common Agricultural Policy. To assess the level of agricultural development, natural, productive and social characteristics were adopted. Spatial variations in the analysed features were based on the variation coefficient (Vz, and the level of agricultural development, on Perkal’s index (Wi. In the analysed period the range of variation and the degree of the spatial dispersion of sub-indices changed, indicating a deepening of the polarisation processes in agriculture. The implementation of CAP intensified the process of specialisation and modernisation in agriculture, an example of which is the increase in the average farm size and in agricultural productivity. On the other hand, agricultural production intensified, as exemplified by a decrease in the minimum value in six of the analysed characteristics, which indicates growing disparities.

La agricultura comercial de los distritos de riego en México y su impacto en el desarrollo agrícola

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Consuelo Soto Mora

1981-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the development conditions of commercial agriculture in the main irrigations districts of Mexico, as well as the development of agriculture under the influence of foreign capital investments. Some of the results these have produced are a change on the agrarian structure of the Mexican country–side, and the explosive growth of certain cities, all of them within the hinterland of irrigated areas or under the influence of agroindustrial development. Thus, in Mexico there is an economic inequality among and within regions; those differences are more striking in the Northwest part of the country.

Globalisation determinants of export-led development of Ukrainian agricultural sector

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Nataliia Karasova

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This article describes globalisation preconditions for export in the agricultural sector of Ukraine. The summarised results of the previous research highlight the essential characteristics of the export-led activity concept, establish the current trends, factor conditions and the impact of globalisation on the development of agricultural exports. The article also shows the dynamics and peculiarities of goods and geographical structure of agrarian exports. The areas and causes of Ukraine’s vulnerability in the global agro-food market have been established. The work also deals with the directions of export-led activity development in the context of economic globalisation

The Efficiency of Repressive Anti-Corruption Measures in Conditions of High-Level Corruption

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Abramov Fedir V.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at determining the efficiency of repressive anti-corruption measures in conditions of high-level corruption. It is shown that the formal rules regulating the use of repressive methods of countering corruption are characterized by a significant level of the target inefficiency of formal rules. Resulting from ignorance as to the causes of both occurence and spread of corruption – the inefficiency of the current formal rules – repressive anti-corruption measures are fundamentally incapable of achieving a significant reduction in the level of corruptness. It has been proved that, in addition to significant target inefficiency, repressive anti-corruption methods can potentially lead to increased levels of corruption because of abusing by supervisory officials of their official duties and the spread of internal corruption within anti-corruption structures. The potential threats from the uncontrolled anti-corruption structures towards other controlling organizations were considered. It is shown that in conditions of high-level corruption repressive anti-corruption measures can lead to expansion of imitation of anti-corruption activity.

"Who Did Archaeology in the United States Before There Were Archaeologists and Why? Preprofessional Archaeologies of the Nineteenth Century." by Thomas C. Patterson. In Processual and Postprocessual Archaeologies, edited by Robert W. Preucel, Center for A

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Alice B. Kehoe

1992-05-01

Full Text Available Patterson's paper is a condensation of two he had presented in 1988 and 1989, at conferences previous to the Carbondale Visiting Scholar Conference of 1989. He characterizes the early United States as harboring two contrasting political philosophies, agrarian versus mercantile capitalism. The agrarians, of whom Thomas Jefferson is of course the most illustrious example, followed the physiocrats in believing agricultural land to be the foundation of societies, therefore the manifest destiny of the new Republic was to conquer, and colonize more land. The mercantilists, primarily in Boston, emphasized civilization as the refinement of technologies, social order, and tastes. Both philosophies were cast in Enlightenment terms.

Le trasformazioni urbane nei luoghi della riforma agraria

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Anna Abate

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Basilicata Region, inside the project Pays.Med.URBAN, has elaborated the Atlas of Urban Landscape, an observatory that, integrating the traditional instruments of technical-scientific analysis with photography, stresses the impact caused on local landscapes by phenomena of urban disintegration and fragmentation of agrarian- ecological-texture. From the research, articulated in section representatives of the principal and more diffuses landscape alterations, emerged a thematic that runs transversely: the safeguard of regional centers born in fascist period and during the Fifties in relation with the Agrarian Reform. They are rural settlements that strongly characterized landscape both for typological character of buildings, than for the unitary design of territories.

Characterizing the development of sectoral gross domestic product composition

Science.gov (United States)

Lutz, Raphael; Spies, Michael; Reusser, Dominik E.; Kropp, Jürgen P.; Rybski, Diego

2013-07-01

We consider the sectoral composition of a country's gross domestic product (GDP), i.e., the partitioning into agrarian, industrial, and service sectors. Exploring a simple system of differential equations, we characterize the transfer of GDP shares between the sectors in the course of economic development. The model fits for the majority of countries providing four country-specific parameters. Relating the agrarian with the industrial sector, a data collapse over all countries and all years supports the applicability of our approach. Depending on the parameter ranges, country development exhibits different transfer properties. Most countries follow three of eight characteristic paths. The types are not random but show distinct geographic and development patterns.

Reforma agrária e desenvolvimento na América Latina: rompendo com o reducionismo das abordagens economicistas

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Sérgio Pereira Leite

2007-09-01

. Countries with a high concentration of land achieve slower economic growth than those with a more egalitarian land structure. High levels of economic and land concentration also form a barrier to the promotion of social justice, leaving millions of people in the margins of full citizenship. Agrarian reform programmes should be accompanied by measures such as poverty reduction and equity promotion policies, to support the beneficiaries in order for these reforms to have significant and sustainable results.

AGROFOOD POLYCLUSTERING AS METHOD OF REALIZATION OF TARGET INTERESTS

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L. V. Bryantseva

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Summary. Ensuring food security of Russia is one of the strategic tasks solved during sustainable social and economic development of national economy. The key role is played in this regard by processes of integration of the interfaced productions – subsystems of agro-industrial complex (agrarian and industrial complex. The modern directions of development of economic activity of the organizations of a food and agricultural profile to some extent already use integration advantages, however thus there are insufficiently balanced target interests of the interfaced participants of agro-industrial production that is directly or indirectly reflected in methods and instruments of organizational management. For mitigation of this situation and leveling of influence of factors of imbalance of management processes, it is offered to reform modern system of the business relations in agrarian and industrial complex on the basis of creation of the polycluster formations possessing the following key properties: territorial concentration of subjects; intra cluster competition; stability of economic relations; politsentrichnost; sona-pravlenny development of subjects; manifestation of a positive synergy. Considering these attributive lines of a cluster, methodological approach to creation of the agrofood polycluster formation (APF is developed, using instruments of interindustry reengineering, in a beet sugar subsystem of agrarian and industrial complex. The aprioristic analysis and an assessment of conditions and a tendency of functioning of the interfaced participants of beet sugar production where negative consequences of the import substitution which is real threat of food security are most shown formed the basis for introduction of APF in this subsystem. As the characteristic of the content of the updated methodological approach to creation of APF the matrix of interface of target interests of subjects of a cluster in which structure are included is

Agents’ Response to Inefficient Judiciary

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gregoric, Aleksandra; Zajc, Katarina; Simoneti, Marko

2012-01-01

The paper questions the impact of rule-based governance in an environment with poor legal enforcement and general mistrust in the law-setting institutions. We conduct a quasi-experiment and a survey to prove that ‘law on books’ can still play a role by triggering the social norm of ‘obeying the law......’. We furthermore expose and empirically confirm the role of the Corporate Governance Code as a signaling tool, and discuss why in a weak institutional environment the Code’s potential may be even stronger than in the developed market economies....

Inefficient but robust public leadership.

OpenAIRE

Matsumura, Toshihiro; Ogawa, Akira

2014-01-01

We investigate endogenous timing in a mixed duopoly in a differentiated product market. We find that private leadership is better than public leadership from a social welfare perspective if the private firm is domestic, regardless of the degree of product differentiation. Nevertheless, the public leadership equilibrium is risk-dominant, and it is thus robust if the degree of product differentiation is high. We also find that regardless of the degree of product differentiation, the public lead...

The chinese health care system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Østerdal, Lars Peter Raahave; Yu, Yi

2011-01-01

We describe the structure and present situation of the Chinese healthcare system and discuss its primary problems and challenges. We discuss problems with inefficient burden sharing, adverse provider incentives and huge inequities, and seek explanations in the structural features of the Chinese...

Illegal Immigration and Agrarian Labour Market

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Venancio Salcines

2003-03-01

Full Text Available In this work we analyse the relation which exists between a landowner and the immigrant workers contracted illegally by this person. For this reason, a theoretical model is developed based on the interconnection between the illegal and legal labour market. The big landowner analysed exercises a monopolistic power in the contracting of illegal manual labour. The application of a tariff in two parts permits this big landowner to obtain a greater surplus from the worker.

Variable effects of cinder-cone eruptions on prehistoric agrarian human populations in the American southwest

Science.gov (United States)

Ort, Michael H.; Elson, Mark D.; Anderson, Kirk C.; Duffield, Wendell A.; Samples, Terry L.

2008-10-01

Two ˜ 900 BP cinder-cone eruptions in the American Southwest affected prehistoric human populations in different ways, mostly because of differences in the eruption styles and area affected. Primary pre-eruption cultural factors that may have led to successful adaptation to the eruptions include decision-making at the family or household level, low investment in site structures, dispersion of agricultural sites in varied environments, and settlement spread over a large area so that those who were less affected could shelter and feed evacuees. Sunset Crater, near Flagstaff, Arizona, produced about 8 km 2 lava flow fields and a ˜ 2300-km 2 tephra blanket in an area that had been settled by prehistoric groups for at least 1000 years. Local subsistence relied on agriculture, primarily maize, and > 30 cm tephra cover rendered 265 km 2 of prime land unfarmable. This area was apparently abandoned for at least several generations. A > 500-km 2 area was probably marked by collapsed roofs and other structural damage from the fallout. If the eruption occurred during the agricultural season, the fallout would also have significantly damaged crops. The eruption did have some benefits to local groups because lower elevation land, which had previously been too dry to farm, became agriculturally productive due to 3-8 cm of tephra 'mulch' and some temporary soil nutrient improvements. This previously uninhabited land became the site of significant year-round settlement and farming, eventually containing some of the largest pueblo structures ever built in the region. New agricultural techniques were developed to manage the fallout mulch. The eruption also affected ceramic production and trading patterns, and volcano-related ritual behavior - the production of maize-impressed lava-spatter agglutinate - was initiated. Little Springs Volcano, about 200 km northwest of Sunset Crater, is a small spatter rampart around a series of vents that produced about 5 km 2 of lava flow fields

COLLECTIVE FARMS IN THE WORKS OF A.N. CHELINTSEV AND N.P. MAKAROV (1951-1966

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А М Никулин

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article presents a part of the intellectual legacy of the Chayanov’s school that is often con-sidered as consisting exclusively of the studies of peasant economy and its cooperative development. Such an interpretation overlooks the school’s contribution to the study of large-scale agrarian production within the establishing soviet system of collective farms. The authors provide another interpretation of the intellectual legacy of Chayanov and his colleagues, and focus on the works of A.N. Chelintsev (1874-1962 and N.P. Makarov (1888-1980, who survived the repressions of the 1930s and since the 1940s returned to the studies of economic organization of collective farms, which had become the main insti-tutional form of the soviet agrarian system. Chelintsev studied lagging collective farms, which were un-popular and even dangerous subject in the soviet agrarian science. Chelintsev’s recommendations were not followed in the collective farms’ economy of the 1950s. However, today they help to understand some system features of weak collective farms. Makarov summarized the results of his collective farms studies at the rise of the Kosygin’s reforms in the monograph published in 1966; it emphasized both the importance of collective farms in the soviet agriculture and alternative strategies of collective farms develop-ment by granting them more independence and involving in inter-farm cooperation. With such works, Chelintsev and Makarov ensured the highest methodological level of social-economic research typical for the 1920s’ soviet agrarian science, thus confirming that the Chayanov’s school introduced many original ideas in the study of peculiarities of the economic organization of both peasant households and large-scale collective farms, which determines the necessity of reevaluating the intellectual legacy of the organizational-production school to understand better the phenomenon of Russian collective farming in the XX century.

EVALUATION METHODS OF INVESTMENT ATTRACTIVENESS OF UKRAINIAN AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES

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Nadiia Davydenko

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to reveal scientific approaches to determining investment attractiveness of enterprises. Evaluation methods of investment attractiveness of enterprises, which are based on various expert assessments, on statistical information, and also combined methodologies based on expert and statistical calculations are investigated. Decision-making criteria on the appropriateness of investment are determined. Methodology. To determine investment attractiveness of agrarian enterprise on the basis of rating and analytical assessment, it is necessary to use an integrated approach and take into account certain set of indicators. During developing and organizing rating restrictions, we conducted an analysis of groups of indicators, which combined characterize investment attractiveness in a complex way, taking into account specifics of the industry. Results. Application of this approach allows quickly evaluating perspectives of funds investing and the reliability of the investment object. At the same time, the investment potential of company and investment risk are expressed by one general indicator, which allows applying rating comparisons. In order to approbate research results, seven agrarian enterprises with positive profitability and appropriate level of financial autonomy are selected. Based on financial statements, we determined their investment attractiveness and rating. Practical implications. Proposed calculation methodology covers all major processes occurring in different functional sectors of the internal environment of agrarian enterprise, which ensures a systematic view of the subject of management, which enables to identify all the strengths and weaknesses, as well as to create a strategy for prospective development on this basis. Presented methodology for the evaluation of investment attractiveness of enterprises can be successfully applied in agrarian enterprises as during the choice of priority directions of

Climate change and macro-economic cycles in pre-industrial europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Pei, Qing; Zhang, David D; Lee, Harry F; Li, Guodong

2014-01-01

Climate change has been proven to be the ultimate cause of social crisis in pre-industrial Europe at a large scale. However, detailed analyses on climate change and macro-economic cycles in the pre-industrial era remain lacking, especially within different temporal scales. Therefore, fine-grained, paleo-climate, and economic data were employed with statistical methods to quantitatively assess the relations between climate change and agrarian economy in Europe during AD 1500 to 1800. In the study, the Butterworth filter was adopted to filter the data series into a long-term trend (low-frequency) and short-term fluctuations (high-frequency). Granger Causality Analysis was conducted to scrutinize the associations between climate change and macro-economic cycle at different frequency bands. Based on quantitative results, climate change can only show significant effects on the macro-economic cycle within the long-term. In terms of the short-term effects, society can relieve the influences from climate variations by social adaptation methods and self-adjustment mechanism. On a large spatial scale, temperature holds higher importance for the European agrarian economy than precipitation. By examining the supply-demand mechanism in the grain market, population during the study period acted as the producer in the long term, whereas as the consumer in the short term. These findings merely reflect the general interactions between climate change and macro-economic cycles at the large spatial region with a long-term study period. The findings neither illustrate individual incidents that can temporarily distort the agrarian economy nor explain some specific cases. In the study, the scale thinking in the analysis is raised as an essential methodological issue for the first time to interpret the associations between climatic impact and macro-economy in the past agrarian society within different temporal scales.

Comparative metabolomics in vegans and omnivores reveal constraints on diet-dependent gut microbiota metabolite production.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Gary D; Compher, Charlene; Chen, Eric Z; Smith, Sarah A; Shah, Rachana D; Bittinger, Kyle; Chehoud, Christel; Albenberg, Lindsey G; Nessel, Lisa; Gilroy, Erin; Star, Julie; Weljie, Aalim M; Flint, Harry J; Metz, David C; Bennett, Michael J; Li, Hongzhe; Bushman, Frederic D; Lewis, James D

2016-01-01

The consumption of an agrarian diet is associated with a reduced risk for many diseases associated with a 'Westernised' lifestyle. Studies suggest that diet affects the gut microbiota, which subsequently influences the metabolome, thereby connecting diet, microbiota and health. However, the degree to which diet influences the composition of the gut microbiota is controversial. Murine models and studies comparing the gut microbiota in humans residing in agrarian versus Western societies suggest that the influence is large. To separate global environmental influences from dietary influences, we characterised the gut microbiota and the host metabolome of individuals consuming an agrarian diet in Western society. Using 16S rRNA-tagged sequencing as well as plasma and urinary metabolomic platforms, we compared measures of dietary intake, gut microbiota composition and the plasma metabolome between healthy human vegans and omnivores, sampled in an urban USA environment. Plasma metabolome of vegans differed markedly from omnivores but the gut microbiota was surprisingly similar. Unlike prior studies of individuals living in agrarian societies, higher consumption of fermentable substrate in vegans was not associated with higher levels of faecal short chain fatty acids, a finding confirmed in a 10-day controlled feeding experiment. Similarly, the proportion of vegans capable of producing equol, a soy-based gut microbiota metabolite, was less than that was reported in Asian societies despite the high consumption of soy-based products. Evidently, residence in globally distinct societies helps determine the composition of the gut microbiota that, in turn, influences the production of diet-dependent gut microbial metabolites. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Design Efficient and Ultralong Pure Organic Room-Temperature Phosphorescent Materials by Structural Isomerism.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Yu; Zhao, Zheng; Zhao, Wei Jun; Ma, Hui Li; Peng, Qian; He, Zi Kai; Zhang, Xue Peng; Chen, Yun Cong; He, Xue Wen; Lam, Jacky; Tang, Ben Zhong

2018-05-08

Pure organic materials with ultralong room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) are attractive alternatives to inorganic phosphors. However, without heavy atoms and carbonyl or heteroatomic groups, they generally show inefficient intersystem crossing (ISC) due to the weak spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Many efforts have been made to enhance SOC but examples in realizing both efficient and ultralong RTP have been limited. Here we present a novel design principle based on the realization of small energy gap between the lowest singlet and triplet states (ΔEST) and pure ππ* configuration of the lowest triplet state (T1) via structural isomerism to obtain efficient and ultralong RTP materials. The meta-isomer of carbazole-substituted methyl benzoate exhibits an ultralong lifetime of 795.0 ms with a quantum yield of 2.1%, whose performance is among the best RTP materials reported so far. Study on the structure-property relationship demonstrates that the varied steric and conjugation effects imposed by ester substituent at different positions are responsible for the small ΔEST and pure ππ* configuration of T1. This rational design will open a new avenue for exploring novel pure organic RTP materials. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Residential energy consumption and conservation programs: A systematic approach to identify inefficient households, provide meaningful feedback, and prioritize homes for conservation intervention

Science.gov (United States)

Macsleyne, Amelia Chadbourne Carus

There are three main objectives for residential energy conservation policies: to reduce the use of fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce the energy costs seen by the consumer (U.S. Department of Energy: Strategic Objectives, 2006). A prominent difficulty currently facing conservation policy makers and program managers is how to identify and communicate with households that would be good candidates for conservation intervention, in such a way that affects a change in consumption patterns and is cost-effective. This research addresses this issue by separating the problem into three components: how to identify houses that are significantly more inefficient than comparable households; how to find the maximum financially-feasible investment in energy efficiency for a household in order to reduce annual energy costs and/or improve indoor comfort; and how to prioritize low-income households for a subsidized weatherization program. Each component of the problem is presented as a paper prepared for publication. Household consumption related to physical house efficiency, thermostat settings, and daily appliance usage is studied in the first and second paper by analyzing natural gas utility meter readings associated with over 10,000 households from 2001-2006. A rich description of a house's architectural characteristics and household demographics is attained by integrating publicly available databases based on the house address. This combination of information allows for the largest number of individual households studied at this level of detail to date. The third paper uses conservation program data from two natural gas utilities that administer and sponsor the program; over 1,000 weatherized households are included in this sample. This research focuses on natural gas-related household conservation. However, the same principles and methods could be applied for electricity-related conservation programs. We find positive policy implications from each of

Predatory peace

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Christian

2018-01-01

The end of the civil war in Aceh brought peace, but it has been of a predatory nature. As a moment of rupture, the peace revealed interests, powers and dynamics, and it offered an opportunity for their reconfiguration. When unrest ceased, old agrarian conflicts between smallholders and planters r....... The study is based on fieldwork in areas where current land conflicts are played out, as well as on secondary sources.......The end of the civil war in Aceh brought peace, but it has been of a predatory nature. As a moment of rupture, the peace revealed interests, powers and dynamics, and it offered an opportunity for their reconfiguration. When unrest ceased, old agrarian conflicts between smallholders and planters...

Predatory peace

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Christian

2017-01-01

The end of the civil war in Aceh brought peace, but it has been of a predatory nature. As a moment of rupture, the peace revealed interests, powers and dynamics, and it offered an opportunity for their reconfiguration. When unrest ceased, old agrarian conflicts between smallholders and planters r....... The study is based on fieldwork in areas where current land conflicts are played out, as well as on secondary sources.......The end of the civil war in Aceh brought peace, but it has been of a predatory nature. As a moment of rupture, the peace revealed interests, powers and dynamics, and it offered an opportunity for their reconfiguration. When unrest ceased, old agrarian conflicts between smallholders and planters...

The food security under another look: analysis on the evolution of the Brazilian population occupied in activities of self-consumption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flávio Sacco dos Anjos

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the evolution of the Brazilian active population occupied in activities of self-consumption between 2001 and 2006 years. The date used come from the National Research on Sample of Domiciles. The authors examine the situation since the point of view the individuals and families (rural or urban, also classified as employers, self employed e and workers families, besides others forms of classification (exclusively agrarian, no-agrarian and pluriactive. The study reveals an important and general increment on the population employed in the self-consumption activities. However this research showed that this kind of activity is essentially feminine which occupies approximately 6.1 million of families in rural and urban areas of Brazil.

The U.S. Marine Corps Combined Action Program (CAP): A Proposed Alternative Strategy for the Vietnam War

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Williamson, Curtis

2002-01-01

.... The CAP offered a viable alternative to the strategy taken in Vietnam, challenging the sustaining infrastructure of the guerrilla, while providing security for the largely agrarian populace. Discussion...

Chiapas' Delayed Entry into the International Labour Market: A Story of Peasant Isolation, Exploitation, and Coercion.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Jason; Eakin, Hallie

2013-06-01

This manuscript presents a synthetic view of Chiapas' migration history over the last century through a thorough examination of relevant English and Spanish-language literature sources. Unlike most Mexican states, Chiapas did not heavily rely upon migration, especially international migration, as an economic strategy until very recently. The reasons that underlie Chiapas' late adoption of economic migration include socio-political and economic structural factors that shaped rural and agrarian policy and demographic trends. This paper evaluates these structural factors with regards to several migration theories to assist our understanding of how and why Chiapans were prevented or discouraged from leaving their native communities. The paper concludes by detailing the perfect cascade of climatic, demographic, economic and political factors that ultimately forced Chiapans to resort to international migration as a major economic diversification strategy.

Climate control systems using pozzolan materials

KAUST Repository

Almadhoun, Mahmoud Nassar Mahmoud

2016-02-18

A system and method for conditioning air is provided that optimizes the use of sustainable and locally sourced materials with agrarian, residential, and industrial applications. The system can be formed with a porous siliceous, or siliceous and aluminous material that is sufficiently porous, to allow conditioning fluid to flow there through. The material can also be formed into a structure that includes one or more passageways configured to allow air to be conditioned to also pass there through. The structure can be configured to cause the conditioning fluid passing through the porous portions of the structure to intersect and mix with air passing there through. The structure may include a plurality of passageways and intersections and may include a plurality of air inlets and outlets for air passage. The system may additionally include a means for storing, collecting, and driving conditioning fluid through the system and a means for collecting solar radiation to drive airflow and regenerate conditioning fluid.

The effect of migration on family structures in sub-Saharan Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Okoth-ogendo, H W

1989-06-01

This paper assesses the effect of migration or family structures in sub-Saharan Africa, especially the effect of emigration on the reproduction, production, and social stability of the family in areas of origin in the predominantly agrarian communities of East and Southern Africa. Migration in precolonial Africa usually occurred for 1 of the following reasons: 1) the search by communities for new habitats and opportunities; 2) as a community response to droughts, floods, environmental degradation, and similar disasters; and 3) as a result of internecine wars, civil strife, and general hostilities. Thus, because of the collective nature of early migrations, the family unit maintained a much greater degree of social cohesion. The effects of the rise of the modern state in Africa on migration include 1) spatial limits of collective migration were frozen, 2) the colonial boundaries did not always correspond to cultural divisions, 3) both migration within colonial boundaries and individual migration became dominant, and 4) cyclical migration began. The end of colonialism resulted in 1) difficulties in creating strong and internally coherent nation states because of the uncertainty of national borders and 2) more cyclical migrants. The effects of migration on reproduction in the family during the colonial period include 17 extremely low fertility rates, 2) widespread domestic instability, and 3) exacerbation of moral decadence. Contemporary patterns of emigration have been far less disruptive, due in part to increased personal mobility and migration of the complete reproductive unit. The effects of migration on production include 1) depletion of labor for production; 2) women had to assume production functions, together with all their other responsibilities; and 3) very little cash or goods were available for remittance to areas of origin. Production and productivity among rural African families will continue to suffer as long as plantations, mines, and urban centers

Social Effects and Limitations of Development Planning: The Case of Indonesia and Singapore

Science.gov (United States)

Goering, John M.

1972-01-01

The effects and limitations of the choices made by development planners in their efforts to promote either agrarian development or industrial development in Indonesia and Singapore are discussed. (Author/FF)

[Analysis of the genetic and demographic structure of populations from Aginskii Buryat district contrasting in habitation conditions].

Science.gov (United States)

Tabikhanov, L E; Osipova, L P

2012-12-01

Genetic and demographic characteristics of populations from two settlements from the Aginskii Buryat district of Trans-Baikal krai (Alkhanai and Orlovskii) were studied. It was demonstrated that the mononational Buryat settlement of Alkhanai, located in the agrarian Dul'durginskii region of the district far from large settlements and transport highways, is characterized by a large prereproductive volume (45%) and by a small share of individuals from the elderly age group (16.4%). A shift in age characteristics in the Buryat group (36.6 and 22.4%, respectively) was detected in the urban settlement of Orlovskii with a population of mixed ethnic composition, located in a densely populated industrialized part of the district. A modified sex ratio was also demonstrated in Alkhanai as opposed to the Buryat part of the Orlovskii population (sex indices were 0.94 and 0.99). Analysis of population mixture was conducted; marriage structure and migrations were described. The endogamy index of the Alkhanai locality was 0.41; in the group of Buryats from Orlovskii, 0.09. A decrease in the amount of pregnancies and births and a larger distribution of family planning practice among Buryats from Orlovskii were detected. The average amount of births of living children per woman in Alkhanai was 5.11; in Buryats from Orlovskii, 3.90. The selection pressure was estimated as low by means of the Crow index (I(tot) 0.28-0.48). In all described groups, a component that characterizes differential fertility (I(f)) exceeds the child mortality component (I(m)).

Efficient Model Order Reduction for the Dynamics of Nonlinear Multilayer Sheet Structures with Trial Vector Derivatives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wolfgang Witteveen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The mechanical response of multilayer sheet structures, such as leaf springs or car bodies, is largely determined by the nonlinear contact and friction forces between the sheets involved. Conventional computational approaches based on classical reduction techniques or the direct finite element approach have an inefficient balance between computational time and accuracy. In the present contribution, the method of trial vector derivatives is applied and extended in order to obtain a-priori trial vectors for the model reduction which are suitable for determining the nonlinearities in the joints of the reduced system. Findings show that the result quality in terms of displacements and contact forces is comparable to the direct finite element method but the computational effort is extremely low due to the model order reduction. Two numerical studies are presented to underline the method’s accuracy and efficiency. In conclusion, this approach is discussed with respect to the existing body of literature.

Informatics in radiology: automated structured reporting of imaging findings using the AIM standard and XML.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Stefan L; Kim, Woojin; Boonn, William W

2011-01-01

Quantitative and descriptive imaging data are a vital component of the radiology report and are frequently of paramount importance to the ordering physician. Unfortunately, current methods of recording these data in the report are both inefficient and error prone. In addition, the free-text, unstructured format of a radiology report makes aggregate analysis of data from multiple reports difficult or even impossible without manual intervention. A structured reporting work flow has been developed that allows quantitative data created at an advanced imaging workstation to be seamlessly integrated into the radiology report with minimal radiologist intervention. As an intermediary step between the workstation and the reporting software, quantitative and descriptive data are converted into an extensible markup language (XML) file in a standardized format specified by the Annotation and Image Markup (AIM) project of the National Institutes of Health Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid. The AIM standard was created to allow image annotation data to be stored in a uniform machine-readable format. These XML files containing imaging data can also be stored on a local database for data mining and analysis. This structured work flow solution has the potential to improve radiologist efficiency, reduce errors, and facilitate storage of quantitative and descriptive imaging data for research. Copyright © RSNA, 2011.

Signalign: An Ontology of DNA as Signal for Comparative Gene Structure Prediction Using Information-Coding-and-Processing Techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Ning; Guo, Xuan; Gu, Feng; Pan, Yi

2016-03-01

Conventional character-analysis-based techniques in genome analysis manifest three main shortcomings-inefficiency, inflexibility, and incompatibility. In our previous research, a general framework, called DNA As X was proposed for character-analysis-free techniques to overcome these shortcomings, where X is the intermediates, such as digit, code, signal, vector, tree, graph network, and so on. In this paper, we further implement an ontology of DNA As Signal, by designing a tool named Signalign for comparative gene structure analysis, in which DNA sequences are converted into signal series, processed by modified method of dynamic time warping and measured by signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The ontology of DNA As Signal integrates the principles and concepts of other disciplines including information coding theory and signal processing into sequence analysis and processing. Comparing with conventional character-analysis-based methods, Signalign can not only have the equivalent or superior performance, but also enrich the tools and the knowledge library of computational biology by extending the domain from character/string to diverse areas. The evaluation results validate the success of the character-analysis-free technique for improved performances in comparative gene structure prediction.

On the importance of the supply side in demand-side management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, Carolyn

2005-01-01

We discuss how the structure of market supply affects the evaluation of policies to promote energy efficiency in household appliances. If competitive markets offer the levels that consumers demand, product standards inefficiently restrict choice. If suppliers price discriminate, minimum standards can restrict the inefficient use of energy intensity to segment consumers. We also compare the effects of average intensity standards, energy prices and innovation, and consider what the different behavioral predictions imply for empirical studies of energy efficiency. Good policymaking requires knowing not only how consumers value energy efficiency in their decision-making, but also how producers respond to those values

The AGILE anticoincidence detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perotti, F.; Fiorini, M.; Incorvaia, S.; Mattaini, E.; Sant'Ambrogio, E.

2006-01-01

AGILE is a γ-ray astrophysics space mission which will operate, starting from 2006, in the 30 MeV-50 GeV energy range with imaging capability also in the 15-45 keV energy band. In order to achieve the required detection sensitivity, all AGILE detectors are surrounded by an anticoincidence detector aimed at charged particle background rejection with an inefficiency as low as 10 -4 . In this work, the design and the structure of this anticoincidence detector are presented, as well as its performances in terms of charged particles detection inefficiency as derived from extensive calibrations performed at CERN PS

On the importance of the supply side in demand-side management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, C.

2005-01-01

We discuss how the structure of market supply affects the evaluation of policies to promote energy efficiency in household appliances. If competitive markets offer the levels that consumers demand, product standards inefficiently restrict choice. If suppliers price discriminate, minimum standards can restrict the inefficient use of energy intensity to segment consumers. We also compare the effects of average intensity standards, energy prices and innovation, and consider what the different behavioral predictions imply for empirical studies of energy efficiency. Good policy making requires knowing not only how consumers value energy efficiency in their decision-making, but also how producers respond to those values. (author)

Inside...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

PC1

enough precipitation to support an agrarian population. Shetye ... simulate this entire system of wind and water in interaction, to see that the ... Decision sciences and technologies, ... issues, using varied approaches and methodologies.

What we do | Page 141 | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

IDRC Corporate Strategy 2010-2015 : Environmental Scan ... Psychosocial trauma resulting from the Colombian armed conflict constitutes a pressing ... involved in research and advocacy for agrarian legislation ever since the adoption of the ...

Future Contract Selection by Term Structure Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasco Grossmann

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In futures markets, a single asset is generally represented by several contracts with different maturities. The selection of specific contracts is an inevitable task that also creates new opportunities, especially in terms of speculative trading. Evaluating immediate and upcoming trading costs for all considered contracts might lead to a significantly improved performance. Among that, even possible market inefficiencies might be taken into consideration. This research introduces and evaluates a new algorithm for the contract selection. The results are benchmarked and compared with established methods using a Monte Carlo simulation on different commodity and index futures.

Program Transformation to Identify List-Based Parallel Skeletons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Venkatesh Kannan

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Algorithmic skeletons are used as building-blocks to ease the task of parallel programming by abstracting the details of parallel implementation from the developer. Most existing libraries provide implementations of skeletons that are defined over flat data types such as lists or arrays. However, skeleton-based parallel programming is still very challenging as it requires intricate analysis of the underlying algorithm and often uses inefficient intermediate data structures. Further, the algorithmic structure of a given program may not match those of list-based skeletons. In this paper, we present a method to automatically transform any given program to one that is defined over a list and is more likely to contain instances of list-based skeletons. This facilitates the parallel execution of a transformed program using existing implementations of list-based parallel skeletons. Further, by using an existing transformation called distillation in conjunction with our method, we produce transformed programs that contain fewer inefficient intermediate data structures.

Heavy Alcohol Consumption Effects on Blood Pressure and on Kidney Structure Persist After Long-Term Withdrawal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Leal

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: Heavy ethanol consumption is a risk factor for hypertension and prompts organ damage. There is no information regarding the impact of long-term heavy ethanol consumption on kidney structure and function linking to their hypertensive effects nor the repercussions after withdrawal. Methods: Rats were exposed to ethanol for 24 weeks and, afterwards, a group was assigned to withdrawal for 8 weeks. Blood pressure (BP was measured and serum biochemical parameters were quantified. Glomerular volume density, areal density of glomerular tuft and renal corpuscles were determined. Angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R protein expression was evaluated. Results: Twenty-four weeks of ethanol consumption causes atrophy of renal corpuscles and glomeruli and reduces the volume of glomeruli. Glomerular changes induced by ethanol consumption were still evident after withdrawal. Renal AT1R levels were increased in ethanol-treated rats and returned to control levels during withdrawal. Ethanol consumption also induced an increase in BP, uric acid and albumin levels. Upon withdrawal, systolic and mean arterial pressures decreased, but were still higher than in controls rats. Conclusion: Ethanol consumption induces changes in glomerular morphology associated with increased BP and AT1R expression. Long-term withdrawal was inefficient to restore the structural integrity of renal corpuscles and in lowering systolic pressure.

Strategic management of labor resources of agricultural enterprises on the basis of marketing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia Kalyuzhna

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The goal of this paper is to characterize the theoretical aspects of strategic management of labor resources with the marketing principles in agrarian enterprises; to identify individual factors of influence on labor resources and to form a scheme effective strategic management of labor resources in conjunction with marketing activities of the enterprise. Methodology / approach. In the process of writing the article, were used such methods as: logical generalization – for the theoretical substantiation of the marketing activity’s and labor resources’ essence; statistical analysis – for the estimation of such factors, as migration movement of labor resources from rural areas, which influence on the functioning of agrarian enterprises; system analysis – for research and substantiation of effective strategic management of labor resources with the marketing principles as the main element of the enterprise’s activity. Results. Today in Ukraine one of the main problems of effective management of is the attraction and use of labor resources. Since labor is the main productive force in solving the issues of competitiveness, economic growth and ensuring the effective operation of the enterprise. The labor resources management is a complex process and has its own specific properties and regularities and should have systemic character and completeness based on the development of strategic management. Application of strategic management of labor resources with the marketing principles at agrarian enterprises will allow using economic, organizational and technical possibilities of production effectively. Originality / scientific novelty. An attempt to investigate the influence of interstate migration growth (decrease in the rural population as a negative factor of the labor resources reduction in agrarian enterprises, and the forecast for the prospective period was made. Practical value / implications. The forecasting level of labor

Focused Logistics: Time for Functional Command

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Mintzlaff, Jeffrey G

2005-01-01

.... Unfortunately, logistical support is often taken for granted. As a result, the U.S. Military's logistical system has become sluggish, often unreliable, and expensive, in part due to its fragmented and inefficient organizational structure. The U.S...

survey of operators kn and maintenance o in ebonyi st vey

African Journals Online (AJOL)

eobe

o access the operators' knowledge of operation and maintenance of farm to access the operators' .... other factors hinder agricultural mechanization in Nigeria. Ebonyi State is an agrarian area, hence, the ... MATERIALS AND METHODS. 2.

Search Results | Page 4 | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Results 31 - 40 of 48 ... IDRC-supported research highlights importance of positive social ... Reducing global mercury emissions in artisanal and small-scale gold mining ... Investigating the impact of agrarian policies on conflict and peacebuilding.

Quantifying multiscale inefficiency in electricity markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uritskaya, Olga Y.; Serletis, Apostolos

2008-01-01

One of the basic features of efficient markets is the absence of correlations between price increments over any time scale leading to random walk-type behavior of prices. In this paper, we propose a new approach for measuring deviations from the efficient market state based on an analysis of scale-dependent fractal exponent characterizing correlations at different time scales. The approach is applied to two electricity markets, Alberta and Mid Columbia (Mid-C), as well as to the AECO Alberta natural gas market (for purposes of providing a comparison between storable and non-storable commodities). We show that price fluctuations in all studied markets are not efficient, with electricity prices exhibiting complex multiscale correlated behavior not captured by monofractal methods used in previous studies. (author)

The impact of inefficiency on diversification

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.; Stefanou, S.E.; Kapelko, M.

2015-01-01

Diversification is often seen as a risk management tool, but specialization allows operators to exploit scale economies in single outputs and offers specialized operators more opportunities to fine-tune their skills which can promote a greater degree of technical proficiency. Measuring economies of

Quantifying multiscale inefficiency in electricity markets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Uritskaya, Olga Y. [Department of Economics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, and Department of Economics and Management, St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Serletis, Apostolos [Department of Economics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta (Canada)

2008-11-15

One of the basic features of efficient markets is the absence of correlations between price increments over any time scale leading to random walk-type behavior of prices. In this paper, we propose a new approach for measuring deviations from the efficient market state based on an analysis of scale-dependent fractal exponent characterizing correlations at different time scales. The approach is applied to two electricity markets, Alberta and Mid Columbia (Mid-C), as well as to the AECO Alberta natural gas market (for purposes of providing a comparison between storable and non-storable commodities). We show that price fluctuations in all studied markets are not efficient, with electricity prices exhibiting complex multiscale correlated behavior not captured by monofractal methods used in previous studies. (author)

Efficiency and inefficiency of public administration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roman VAVREK

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Public administration and local government in particular, which also includes municipalities in individual countries, is in the context of the economic crisis a very topical and widely discussed issue. The management of municipalities is subject to increasing control by the public, the state and the municipalities themselves. The aim of the presented paper is to offer a comprehensive definition of efficiency and methods which allow to measure it. As results of our analysis  can be mentioned overview of TOPSIS technique application in a several studies.

All-Russian Scientific Research Amelioration Institute – the Leader of the Russian Agroforestry Science: the Modern Concept of Protective Afforestation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kulik K.N.

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The paper considers the activities of the All-Russian scientific-research agroforest reclamation institute and shows the importance of agroforestry as a science in control of extensive degradation processes: desertification, ravines formation, decrease in soil fertility. The paper gives the detail characteristics of main research of the institute: technology of landscape planning of adaptive forest ameliorative arrangement of eroded soils, ecological economical effectiveness of agrarian complexes on soils subjected to deflation, problems of forest amelioration of degraded pastures, and afforestation of sands, thematter of agrarian nature use on sloping soils, woody plants assortment for forest ameliorative complexes on degraded landscapes, system of integrated pest and disease control in agroforest ecosystems, and shows the importance of its introduction for protective afforestation development at the current period.

AMAZÔNIA MARANHENSE: campo de conflitos e interesses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Desni Lopes Almeida

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The text approaches the resulting impacts from the implementation of big projects in MaranhãoAmazon. Marks that MaranhãoAmazon, peripheral region of Brazil, has been space of numerous development projects, especially since the 1950s. Argues that, despite the promises of development , what has occurred is a growing process of exploitation of natural resources and an intensification of social conflicts, especially those related to land issues, which makes the Maranhão figure as one of the main points of conflict in the field of Brazil. Considers that marked by the strong presence of large estates, slave labor, violence against rural leadership and extreme poverty, the agrarian question in Maranhão is a synthesis of the agrarian reality in the country.

ENHANCEMENT OF THE CREDIT GRANTING SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuliya Evgenievna Klishina

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The credit granting system of agricultural enterprises which developed now doesn’t promote development of agricultural production in spite of the facts that are accepted and are financed by the state of the development program of agrarian and industrial complex in various directions. Financial credit relations in the sphere of agrarian and industrial complex are in a stage of formation and have no system nature, in them features of agricultural production are insufficiently considered.In article the directions of development of credit support of agricultural industry, participation of the state in system of agricultural crediting are considered, offers on forming of a three-level credit granting system of agricultural industry which is urged to provide availability of credit resources to all categories of agricultural producers are made.

Colonization and environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia Gutierrez, E.

1999-01-01

A recount is made of the politics and actions of agrarian reformation and the rural migrations as a result of the political violence of century half with emphasis in the Oriental Plains of Colombia, as well as the increase of the agrarian and social conflict in the region. The evolution of the use of the earth is described in the period 1960 -1995 and in the department of the Meta, the guerrilla's emergence and the paramilitary groups, its growth and expansion. The origins of the illicit cultivations of coca, their development and administration are analyzed, as well as the annexed activities of commercialization and taxes to the subversion. Statistics are presented on the current situation of illicit cultivations in the country and their impact on the ecosystem, the holding and the use of the earth

Altered brain structural networks in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder children revealed by cortical thickness.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tian; Chen, Yanni; Li, Chenxi; Li, Youjun; Wang, Jue

2017-07-04

This study investigated the cortical thickness and topological features of human brain anatomical networks related to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Data were collected from 40 attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder children and 40 normal control children. Interregional correlation matrices were established by calculating the correlations of cortical thickness between all pairs of cortical regions (68 regions) of the whole brain. Further thresholds were applied to create binary matrices to construct a series of undirected and unweighted graphs, and global, local, and nodal efficiencies were computed as a function of the network cost. These experimental results revealed abnormal cortical thickness and correlations in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and showed that the brain structural networks of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder subjects had inefficient small-world topological features. Furthermore, their topological properties were altered abnormally. In particular, decreased global efficiency combined with increased local efficiency in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder children led to a disorder-related shift of the network topological structure toward regular networks. In addition, nodal efficiency, cortical thickness, and correlation analyses revealed that several brain regions were altered in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients. These findings are in accordance with a hypothesis of dysfunctional integration and segregation of the brain in patients with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and provide further evidence of brain dysfunction in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients by observing cortical thickness on magnetic resonance imaging.

Was a lease effective as a weapon of lordship? The use of documents in the principality of Salerno (10th-11th Century

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoshiya Nishimura

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to examine the strategic use of the agrarian contracts by the landlords of the principality of Salerno in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The appearance and the structuralization of the lease would reflect the landlords’ will both to strengthen control over tenants and to increase revenue from their estates, imposing new conditions different from customary practices, such as terraticum. Here the case of the church of San Massimo in Salerno is examined. The church failed in increasing their portion of rent in kind, whereas they were to some extent successful in urging their tenants to improve the productivity of their land by forceful use of written contracts.

Farming fit? Dispelling the Australian agrarian myth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McCoombe Scott

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rural Australians face a higher mental health and lifestyle disease burden (obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease than their urban counterparts. Our ongoing research reveals that the Australian farming community has even poorer physical and mental health outcomes than rural averages. In particular, farm men and women have high rates of overweightness, obesity, abdominal adiposity, high blood pressure and psychological distress when compared against Australian averages. Within our farming cohort we observed a significant association between psychological distress and obesity, abdominal adiposity and body fat percentage in the farming population. Presentation of hypothesis This paper presents a hypothesis based on preliminary data obtained from an ongoing study that could potentially explain the complex correlation between obesity, psychological distress and physical activity among a farming population. We posit that spasmodic physical activity, changing farm practices and climate variability induce prolonged stress in farmers. This increases systemic cortisol that, in turn, promotes abdominal adiposity and weight gain. Testing the hypothesis The hypothesis will be tested by anthropometric, biochemical and psychological analysis matched against systemic cortisol levels and the physical activity of the subjects. Implications of the hypothesis tested Previous studies indicate that farming populations have elevated rates of psychological distress and high rates of suicide. Australian farmers have recently experienced challenging climatic conditions including prolonged drought, floods and cyclones. Through our interactions and through the media it is not uncommon for farmers to describe the effect of this long-term stress with feelings of 'defeat'. By gaining a greater understanding of the role cortisol and physical activity have on mental and physical health we may positively impact the current rates of psychological distress in farmers. Trial registration ACTRN12610000827033

Advanced exergetic analysis of five natural gas liquefaction processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vatani, Ali; Mehrpooya, Mehdi; Palizdar, Ali

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Advanced exergetic analysis was investigated for five LNG processes. • Avoidable/unavoidable and endogenous/exogenous irreversibilities were calculated. • Advanced exergetic analysis identifies the potentials for improving the system. - Abstract: Conventional exergy analysis cannot identify portion of inefficiencies which can be avoided. Also this analysis does not have ability to calculate a portion of exergy destruction which has been produced through performance of a component alone. In this study advanced exergetic analysis was performed for five mixed refrigerant LNG processes and four parts of irreversibility (avoidable/unavoidable) and (endogenous/exogenous) were calculated for the components with high inefficiencies. The results showed that portion of endogenous exergy destruction in the components is higher than the exogenous one. In fact interactions among the components do not affect the inefficiencies significantly. Also this analysis showed that structural optimization cannot be useful to decrease the overall process irreversibilities. In compressors high portion of the exergy destruction is related to the avoidable one, thus they have high potential to improve. But in multi stream heat exchangers and air coolers, unavoidable inefficiencies were higher than the other parts. Advanced exergetic analysis can identify the potentials and strategies to improve thermodynamic performance of energy intensive processes

Coexistence and community structure in a consumer resource model with implicit stoichiometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Orlando, Paul A; Brown, Joel S; Wise, David H

2012-09-01

We combine stoichiometry theory and optimal foraging theory into the MacArthur consumer-resource model. This generates predictions for diet choice, coexistence, and community structure of heterotroph communities. Tradeoffs in consumer resource-garnering traits influence community outcomes. With scarce resources, consumers forage opportunistically for complementary resources and may coexist via tradeoffs in resource encounter rates. In contrast to single currency models, stoichiometry permits multiple equilibria. These alternative stable states occur when tradeoffs in resource encounter rates are stronger than tradeoffs in elemental conversion efficiencies. With abundant resources consumers exhibit partially selective diets for essential resources and may coexist via tradeoffs in elemental conversion efficiencies. These results differ from single currency models, where adaptive diet selection is either opportunistic or selective. Interestingly, communities composed of efficient consumers share many of the same properties as communities based on substitutable resources. However, communities composed of relatively inefficient consumers behave similarly to plant communities as characterized by Tilman's consumer resource theory. The results of our model indicate that the effects of stoichiometry theory on community ecology are dependent upon both consumer foraging behavior and the nature of resource garnering tradeoffs. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Are Public-Private Partnerships an Appropriate Governance Structure for Power Plants? A Transaction Cost Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, S. Ping; Hsu, Yaowen

2015-04-01

In order to meet the requirements of the rapid economic growth, many countries demand an increasing number of power plants to meet the increasing electricity usage. Since high capital requirements of power plants present a big issue for these countries, PPPs have been considered an alternative to provide power plant infrastructure. In particular, in emerging or developing countries, PPPs may be the fastest way to provide the infrastructure needed. However, while PPPs are a promising alternative to providing various types of infrastructure, many failed power plant PPP projects have made it evident that PPPs, under certain situations, can be very costly or even a wrong choice of governance structure. While the higher efficiency due to better pooling of resources is greatly emphasized in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), the embedded transaction inefficiencies are often understated or even ignored. Through the lens of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), this paper aims to answer why and when PPPs may become a costly governance structure for power plants. Specifically, we develop a TCE-based theory of PPPs as a governance structure. This theory suggests that three major opportunism problems embedded in infrastructure PPPs are possible to cause substantial transaction costs and render PPPs a costly governance structure. The three main opportunism problems are principal-principal problem, firm's hold-up problem, and government-led hold-up problem. Moreover, project and institutional characteristics that may lead to opportunism problems are identified. Based on these characteristics, an opportunism-focused transaction cost analysis (OTCA) for PPPs as a governance structure is proposed to supplement the current practice of PPP feasibility analysis. As a part of theory development, a case study of PPP power plants is performed to evaluate the proposed theory and to illustrate how the proposed OTCA can be applied in practice. Policies and administration strategies for power

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short-temporal variation of soil organic carbon in different land use

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

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