Global Biofuel Expansion and the Demand for Brazilian Land: Intensification versus Expansion

We use a spatially disaggregated model of Brazilian agriculture to assess the implications of global biofuel expansion on Brazilian land usage at the regional level. This Brazilian model is part of the FAPRI agricultural modeling system, a multimarket, multi-commodity international agricultural model, used to quantify the emergence of biofuels and to analyze the impact of biofuel expansion and policies on both Brazilian and world agriculture. We evaluate two scenarios in which we introduce a 25% exogenous increase in the global demand for ethanol and one scenario in which we increase global ethanol demand by 50%. We then analyze the impact of these increases in terms of land-use change and commodity price changes particularly in Brazil. In the first scenario, we assume that the enforcement of the land-use reserve in Brazil remains at historically observed levels, and that abundant additional land can be readily incorporated into production. The second scenario involves implementing the same exogenous biofuel demand shock but with a different responsiveness in area expansion to price signals in Brazil, reflecting varying plausible assumptions on land availability for agricultural expansion. The third scenario, which is similar to the first scenario but with a larger increase in global ethanol demand, is run to check whether increasing volume of ethanol requires the incorporation of additional quantities of land per unit of ethanol. We find that, within Brazil, the expansion occurs mostly in the Southeast region. Additionally, total sugarcane area expansion in Brazil is higher than the increase in overall area used for agriculture. This implies that part of the sugarcane expansion displaced other crops and pasture that is not replaced, which suggests some intensification in land use. The lower land expansion elasticities in the second scenario result in a smaller expansion of area used for agricultural activities. A higher proportion of the expansion in sugarcane area occurs at the expense of pasture area, which implied land intensification of beef production. This explains the small change in commodity prices observed between the first and second scenarios. These results suggest that reducing the overall responsiveness of Brazilian agriculture may limit the land-use changes brought about by biofuel expansion, which would in turn reduce its environmental impacts in terms of land expansion. Additionally, the impacts on food prices are limited because of the ability of local producers to increase the intensity of land use in both crop (by double cropping and raising yields) and livestock production (by increasing the number of heads of cattle per hectare of pasture or stocking rate) releases area that can be used for crops. In scenario three, we find that larger ethanol volumes did not require more land per unit of ethanol. Doubling the demand for ethanol does not change the results, which indicates that the limit for intensification is beyond the 50% expansion assumed in Scenario 3. In this range, the same amount of land is incorporated into production per additional unit of ethanol.Biofuels, Brazil, land use, Land Economics/Use,

Automatic Verification of Message-Based Device Drivers

We develop a practical solution to the problem of automatic verification of the interface between device drivers and the OS. Our solution relies on a combination of improved driver architecture and verification tools. It supports drivers written in C and can be implemented in any existing OS, which sets it apart from previous proposals for verification-friendly drivers. Our Linux-based evaluation shows that this methodology amplifies the power of existing verification tools in detecting driver bugs, making it possible to verify properties beyond the reach of traditional techniques.Comment: In Proceedings SSV 2012, arXiv:1211.587

Alat Ukur Kualitas Air Minum Dengan Parameter Ph, Suhu, Tingkat Kekeruhan, Dan Jumlah Padatan Terlarut

Water is a natural resource that plays an important role in human life, one of that is to be consumed. Water used for consumption should be clean, odorless, tasteless, colorless, and meet the Ministry of Health standards. This water quality instrument measures parameters such as temperature, turbidity, TDS, pH and uses Arduino as a microcontroller. LM35 sensor is used to measure temperature. PH sensor with pH sensor conditioning from Dfrobot is used to measures pH level, photodiode and infrared LED as the sensor is used to measure turbidity level, conductivity sensor is used to measure TDS level. The results show that the sensors have different error level. The temperature sensor has 5.4 % maximum error value with 1.145 average standard deviation, the measurement of pH has 0.848 % error value and 0.01 average standard deviation, the measurement of TDS has 0.97 % error value and 6.69 average standard deviation. Air merupakan sumber daya alam yang berperan penting dalam kehidupan manusia, salah satunya adalah untuk dikonsumsi. Air yang digunakan untuk dikonsumsi harus bersih, tidak berbau, berasa, berwarna dan sesuai standar yang telah ditetapkan oleh Kementerian Kesehatan. Alat ukur kualitas air ini menggunakan parameter suhu, kekeruhan, TDS, pH serta menggunakan Arduino sebagai mikrokontrolernya. Pengukuran suhu menggunakan sensor LM35, pengukuran pH menggunakan sensor pH dengan pengkondisian sensor pH dari Dfrobot, pengukuran kekeruhan dilakukan dengan sensor fotodiode dan LED infra merah dan pengukuran TDS menggunakan sensor konduktivitas. Hasil akhir dari pembuatan alat ini masing-masing sensor pengukuran memiliki variasi eror yaitu sensor suhu dengan nilai eror maksimal 5,4 % dengan standar deviasi rata-rata 1,145. PH dengan eror 0,848 % dan standar deviasi rata-rata 0,01. TDS dengan eror 0,97 % dan standar deviasi rata-rata 6,69

Effects of acupressure at the hugo point (LI4) on labor pain and duration of delivery in nulliparous women

Introduction: Most women have experienced child birth and its pain, which is inevitable. If this pain is not controlled it leads to prolonged labor and injury to the mother and fetus. This study was conducted to identify the effect of acupressure on sanyinjiao and hugo points on delivery pain in nulliparous women. Methods:This was a randomized controlled clinical trial on 84 nulliparous women in hospitals of Ardebil, Iran. The participants were divided by randomized blocks of 4 and 6 into two groups. The intervention was in the form of applying pressure at sanyinjiao and hugo points based on different dilatations. The intensity of the pain before and after the intervention was recorded by visual scale of pain assessment. To determine the effect of pressure on the intensity of labor pain, analytical descriptive test was conducted in SPSS (version 13). Results:There was a significant decrease in mean intensity of pain after each intervention in the experimental group with different dilatations (4, 6, 8, and 10 cm). Moreover, the Student’s independent t-test results indicated that the mean intensity of pain in the experimental group after the intervention in all four dilatations was significantly lower than the control group. Repeated measures ANOVA test indicated that in both experimental and control groups in four time periods, there was a statistically significant difference. Conclusion:Acupressure on sanyinjiao and hugo points decreases the labor pain. Therefore, this method can be used effectively in the labor process

Pengaruh Ukuran Perusahaan, Profitabilitas, Opini Audit, dan Umur Perusahaan terhadap Audit Delay (Studi Empiris pada Perusahaan Property dan Real Estate yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia pada Tahun 2012-2014)

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh Ukuran Perusahaan, Profitabilitas, Opini Audit, dan Umur Perusahaan terhadap Audit Delay pada Perusahaan property dan real estate yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia pada tahun 2012-2014. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian kausal komparatif dengan pendekatan ex post facto. Sampel diambil dengan menggunakan teknik purposive sampling berjumlah 41 Perusahaan. Teknik analisis data yang digunakan adalah statistik deskriptif, uji asumsi klasik, analisis regresi linier sederhana, dan analisis regresi linier berganda. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, menunjukkan bahwa (1) Ukuran Perusahaan berpengaruh signifikan terhadap Audit Delay, hal ini dibuktikan dengan koefisien regresi=-3,118, nilai signifikansi t sebesar 0,010 < 0,05. (2) Profitabilitas berpengaruh signifikan terhadap Audit Delay, hal ini dibuktikan dengan koefisien regresi=-22,386, nilai signifikansi t sebesar 0,026 < 0,05. (3) Opini Audit berpengaruh signifikan terhadap Audit Delay, hal ini dibuktikan dengan koefisien regresi=3,407, nilai signifikansi t sebesar 0,013 < 0,05. (4) Umur Perusahaan berpengaruh signifikan terhadap Audit Delay, hal ini dibuktikan dengan koefisien regresi=-0,231, nilai signifikansi t sebesar 0,030 < 0,05. (5) Ukuran Perusahaan, Profitabilitas, Opini Audit, dan Umur Perusahaan berpengaruh secara simultan terhadap Audit Delay, hal ini dibuktikan dengan nilai signifikansi F sebesar 0,002 < 0,05. Besarnya pengaruh secara simultan ditunjukkan dengan nilai R square sebesar 12,9%

Frequency comb vernier spectroscopy in the near infrared

We perform femtosecond frequency comb vernier spectroscopy in the near infrared with a femtosecond Er doped fiber laser, a scanning high-finesse cavity and an InGaAs camera. By utilizing the properties of a frequency comb and a scanning high-finesse cavity such spectroscopy provides broad spectral bandwidth, high spectral resolution, and high detection sensitivity on a short time scale. We achieved an absorption sensitivity of ~8E-8 cm-1Hz-1/2 corresponding to a detection limit of ~70 ppbv for acetylene, with a resolution of ~1.1 GHz in single images taken in 0.5 seconds and covering a frequency range of ~5 THz. These measurements have broad applications for sensing other greenhouse gases in this fingerprint near IR region with a simple apparatus.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Land Allocation Effects of the Global Ethanol Surge: Predictions from the International FAPRI Model

We quantify the emergence of biofuel markets and its impact on U.S. and world agriculture for the coming decade using the multi-market multi-commodity international FAPRI model. The model incorporates the tradeoffs between biofuel, feed, and food production and consumption and international feedback effects of the emergence through world commodity prices and trade. We examine land allocation by type of crop, and pasture use for countries growing feedstock for ethanol (corn, sorghum, wheat, sugarcane, and other grains) and major crops competing with feedstock for land resources such as oilseeds. We shock the model with exogenous changes in ethanol demand, first in the United States, then in Brazil, China, EU, and India, and compute shock multipliers for land allocation decisions for crops and countries of interest. The multipliers show at the margin how sensitive land allocation is to the growing demand for ethanol. Land moves away from major crops and pasture competing for resources with feedstock crops. Because of the high U.S. tariff on ethanol, higher U.S. demand for ethanol translates into a U.S. ethanol production expansion. The latter has global effects on land allocation as higher coarse grains prices transmit worldwide. Changes in U.S. coarse grain prices also affect U.S. wheat and oilseeds prices, which are all transmitted to world markets. In contrast, expansion in Brazil ethanol use and production chiefly affects land used for sugarcane production in Brazil and to a lesser extent in other sugar-producing countries, but with small impact on other land uses in most countries. Keywords: Acreage, area, biofuel, corn, crops, ethanol, FAPRI model, feedstock, land, sugar, sugarcane. JEL Code: Q42 Q17 Q15ethanol; acreage; area; biofuel; corn; crops; FAPRI model; feedstock; land; sugar; sugarcane

The Global Bioenergy Expansion: How Large Are the Food−Fuel Trade-Offs?

We summarize a large set of recent simulations and policy analyses based on FAPRI’s world multimarket, partial-equilibrium models. We first quantify and project the emergence of biofuel markets in US and world agriculture for the coming decade. Then, we perturb the models with incremental shocks in US and world ethanol consumption in deviation from this projected emergence to assess their effects on world agricultural and food markets. Various food-biofuel trade-offs are quantified and examined. Increases in food prices are moderate for the US ethanol expansion and even smaller for the ethanol expansion outside the United States, which is based on sugarcane feedstock, which has little feedback on other markets. With the US expansion, the high protection in the US ethanol market limits potential adjustments in the world ethanol markets and increases the demand for feedstock within the United States. Changes in US grain and oilseed market prices propagate to world markets, as the United States is a large exporter in these markets. With changes in world prices, land allocation in the rest of the world responds to the new relative prices as in the United States but with smaller magnitudes because price transmission to local markets is less than full.ethanol; biofuel; land effects; food prices; trade-offs

Land Allocation Effects of the Global Ethanol Surge: Predictions from the International FAPRI Model

We quantify the emergence of biofuel markets and its impact on U.S. and world agriculture for the coming decade using the multi-market, multi-commodity international FAPRI (Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute) model. The model incorporates the trade-offs between biofuel, feed, and food production and consumption and international feedback effects of the emergence through world commodity prices and trade. We examine land allocation by type of crop, and pasture use for countries growing feedstock for ethanol (corn, sorghum, wheat, sugarcane, and other grains) and major crops competing with feedstock for land resources such as oilseeds. We shock the model with exogenous changes in ethanol demand, first in the United States, then in Brazil, China, the European Union-25, and India, and compute shock multipliers for land allocation decisions for crops and countries of interest. The multipliers show at the margin how sensitive land allocation is to the growing demand for ethanol. Land moves away from major crops and pasture competing for resources with feedstock crops. Because of the high U.S. tariff on ethanol, higher U.S. demand for ethanol translates into a U.S. ethanol production expansion. The latter has global effects on land allocation as higher coarse grain prices transmit worldwide. Changes in U.S. coarse grain prices also affect U.S. wheat and oilseed prices, which are all transmitted to world markets. In contrast, expansion in Brazil ethanol use and production chiefly affects land used for sugarcane production in Brazil and to a lesser extent in other sugar-producing countries, but with small impacts on other land uses in most countries.acreage; area; biofuel; corn; crops; ethanol; FAPRI model; feedstock; land; sugar; sugarcane