Dynamics of vortices with magnetic impurities

We investigate the dynamics of BPS vortices in the presence of magnetic impurities taking the form of axially-symmetric localised lumps and delta-functions. We present numerical results for vortices on flat space, as well as exact results for vortices on hyperbolic space in the presence of delta-function impurities. In fact, delta-function impurities of appropriate strength can be captured within the moduli space approximation by keeping one or more of the vortices fixed. We also show that previous work on vortices on the 2-sphere extends naturally to the inclusion of delta-function impurities

Optimization of Tekniikka elämää palvelemaan (TEP) ry's box-type solar cooker : Insulation Improvement

The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the cooking performance of an existing, field tested box-type solar cooker by studying computer plotted rates of temperature change in the cooking chamber and to suggest improvement ideas. The solar cooker was originally designed by Maria Telkes, a Hungarian-American scientist and inventor who worked on solar technologies, and its design was modified by Kari Silfverberg, an architect doing volunteer work for a Finnish non-governmental association called Technology For Life, Finland (Tekniikka elämää palvelemaan or TEP in short), which distributes free solar cookers to countries in the developing world. Thermal simulations in Solidworks software, researches on different types of solar cookers and the results of actual performance tests on kari Silvferberg’s box-type solar cooker and its modified version named Metropolia 1 made in Metropolia’s Environmental Engineering Laboratory were used to devise design modifications for the different parts of the solar cooker that can improve the cooking performance. An improved version of the conventional box-type solar cooker incorporating the design modifications was made and experimentally investigated for its insulation. The results obtained suggest that the improved version has a better insulation than TEP ry’s box-type solar cooker. The experimental and thermal simulation results showed that, the insulation of TEP ry’s box-type solar cooker can be improved by adding an additional insulation layer of polyurethane to its existing stone wool insulation and by using double-paned glazing in place of the existing single pane glazing. Thermal simulations in SolidWorks software and computer plots of the temperature versus time for the inside of a solar cooker that is heated to 100°C and left at room temperature for 5 hours were made for the TEP and Metropolia version-1 solar cookers and compared. It was observed from these plots and thermal simulations that the rate of temperature change for Metropolia 1 was lesser, which suggests that the design of Metropolia 1 can be taken as one improvement option to that of the TEP solar cooker

Legal Knowledge and Economic Development: The Case of Land Rights in Uganda

Mixed evidence on the impact of formal title in much of Africa is often used to question the relevance of dealing with land policy issues in this continent. We use data from Uganda to assess the impact of a disaggregated set of rights on investment, productivity, and land values and to test the hypothesis that individuals' lack of knowledge of the new law reduces their tenure security. Results point towards strong and positive effects of greater tenure security and transferability. Use of exogenous knowledge of its provisions as a proxy for the value of the land law suggests that this piece of legislation had major economic benefits that remain to be fully realized.International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use,

Property rights in a very poor country : tenure insecurity and investment in Ethiopia

This paper provides evidence from one of the poorest countries of the world that the property rights matter for efficiency, investment, and growth. With all land state-owned, the threat of land redistribution never appears far off the agenda. Land rental and leasing have been made legal, but transfer rights remain restricted and the perception of continuing tenure insecurity remains quite strong. Using a unique panel data set, this study investigates whether transfer rights and tenure insecurity affect household investment decisions, focusing on trees and shrubs. The panel data estimates suggest that limited perceived transfer rights, and the threat of expropriation, negatively affect long-term investment in Ethiopian agriculture, contributing to the low returns from land and perpetuating low growth and poverty.Common Property Resource Development,Forestry,Municipal Housing and Land,Rural Development Knowledge&Information Systems,Urban Housing

Land Rental in Ethiopia: Marshallian Inefficiency or Factor Market Imperfections and Tenure Insecurity as Binding Constraints?

Although a large theoretical literature discusses the possible inefficiency of sharecropping contracts, empirical evidence on this phenomenon has been ambiguous at best. Household level fixed-effect estimates from about 8,500 plots operated by households who own and sharecrop land in the Ethiopian highlands provide support for the hypothesis of Marshallian inefficiency. At the same time, a factor adjustment model suggests that the extent to which rental markets allow households to attain their desired operational holding size is extremely limited. Our analysis points towards factor market imperfections (no rental for oxen), lack of alternative employment opportunities, and tenure insecurity as possible reasons underlying such behavior, suggesting that, rather than worrying almost exclusively about Marshallian inefficiency, it is equally warranted to give due attention to the policy framework within which land rental markets operate.Land Economics/Use,

Inflation Dynamics and Food Prices in an Agricultural Economy: The Case of Ethiopia

Ethiopia has experienced a historically unprecedented increase in inflation, mainly driven by cereal price inflation, which is among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using monthly data over the past decade, we estimate error correction models to identify the relative importance of several factors contributing to overall inflation and its three major components, cereal prices, food prices and non-food prices. Our main finding is that, in the long run, domestic food and non-food prices are determined by the exchange rate and international food and goods prices. In the short to medium run, agricultural supply shocks and inflation inertia strongly affect domestic inflation, causing large deviations from long-run price trends. Money supply growth affects food price inflation in the short run, though excess money supply does not seem to drive inflation in the long run. Our results suggest a challenging time ahead for Ethiopia, with the need for a multipronged approach to fight inflation. Forecast scenarios suggest monetary and exchange rate policies need to take into account the cereal sector, as food staple growth is among the key determinants of inflation, assuming a decline in global commodity prices. Implementation of successful policies will be contingent on the availability of foreign exchange and the performance of agriculture.Agriculture; Cointegration analysis; Ethiopia; Exchange rate; Money demand; Food prices; Forecast; Inertia; Inflation

Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services

IMPACT. 1: In 2015 we served over 3,500 individuals through programs and services that encourage sustained employment, education, wellness, community integration, and family support services. -- 2. Serves over 1,100 youth ages 5 through 24 -- 3. Adult employment: 459.OSU PARTNERS: College of Education and Human EcologyCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: New American Community; Impact CollaborativePRIMARY CONTACT: Seleshi Ayalew Asfaw ([email protected])To help facilitate new Americans integrate to central Ohio through after school tutoring, summer camp, summer employment, leadership and mentoring, employment, ESOL, civic forums and domestic violence

Effects of Dietary Fatty Acids on Insulin Resistance, Tissue Lipid Profile and Adipose Tissue Cellularity in Sprague-Dawley Rat

Insulin resistance describes a dysfunctional state of glucose metabolism which often occurs in advance of any metabolic diseases in human population. Dietary fatty acids are closely linked to insulin resistance as they are known to modulate fatty acid and glucose metabolism in mammals. In this study, fatty acids from butter, soybean and menhaden oil were separately incorporated into rat chow diet to assess the differential effect of dietary fatty acids on the various indicators and risk factors of insulin resistance. These include glucose clearance functions, plasma insulin, body composition, tissue and plasma fatty acid profiles, blood lipids, adipose cellularity and leptin level. A total of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats of 9 weeks age, randomly allocated to four treatment groups of ten animals each, were employed in this study. The treatment groups consisted of rats fed with chow diet (CD), rats fed chow diet fortified with 10% w/w butter (BCD), rats fed chow diet added with 6.67 % w/w menhaden oil and 3.33% w/w soybean oil (MCD), and rats fed chow diet added with 3.33 % w/w menhaden oil and 6.67 % w/w soybean oil (SCD). The rats were subjected to their respective treatment diets for 22 weeks and body weight was measured weekly. Intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (IPGTT) and intraperitoneal insulin tolerance test (IPITT) were carried out on day 0, and then later in the 12th and 20th weeks of dietary intervention to assess changes as a result of insulin resistance. Serial plasma insulin levels were also quantified on day 0 and in the 20th week. Upon termination of the trial at the end of the 22nd week, post mortem body composition and inguinal fat cellularity were performed on the rats. Plasma leptin and blood lipids in all treatment groups were measured. Determination of fatty acid profile of selected tissues (plasma, red blood cell membrane, liver and skeletal muscle) were also carried out. Generally, tissue and plasma fatty acid profiles were reflective of the dietary fatty acid composition. Results showed that glucose clearance in all treatment groups was not compromised as a result of dietary intervention. However, the BCD group consistently showed higher blood glucose spike 15 minutes after initial glucose loading, and higher blood glucose readings even after insulin challenge during IPITT compared to the other groups. The glucose clearance capacities of MCD and SCD fed animals remained similar to that of their initial baseline values even after 20 weeks of treatment. Unlike glucose concentration, plasma insulin level was significantly (P<0.05) higher in a majority of time points in the BCD rats compared to the MCD and SCD rats in the 20th week. The corresponding total amount of plasma insulin by time as indicated by the area under the plasma insulin curve, (AUC) for the BCD rats was 456.7±27.7 ng/L min. This was significantly higher (P<0.05) than those of the CD (335.5±38.5 ng/L min), MCD (273.7±37.6 ng/L min) and SCD (265.9±21.7 ng/L min) rats. Area under the curve (AUC) values also showed that all treatment groups, (CD, MCD and SCD) had much higher (P<0.05) plasma insulin values after 20 weeks of treatment, compared to their baseline concentration of 200.3±21.6 ng/L min. Apart from being hyperinsulinaemic, the insulin sensitivity index of BCD rats was found to be significantly (P<0.05) compromised unlike those of the MCD and SCD rats. Risk factors associated with insulin resistance such as excessive body fat accumulation and adipocyte cellularity were altered by dietary fatty acids. Inguinal fat cellularity results showed large and hypertrophied adipocytes in the BCD rats, while adipocytes in the MCD and SCD rats became hyperplastic but significantly smaller (P<0.05) than those of BCD rats. Plasma leptin was elevated significantly (P<0.05) in the BCD rat (3.22±0.32 ng/mL) compared to MCD (2.37±3.2 ng/mL), SCD (2.29±0.35 ng/mL) and CD (2.16±0.11 ng/mL) groups. Blood lipid picture was found to be healthier in the MCD and SCD supplemented groups. These two groups had significantly (P<0.05) lower total cholesterol and triacylglycerol (TAG) contents than the BCDfed rats. This was accompanied by significantly reduced high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in the MCD (0.15±0.05 mmol/L) and SCD (0.19±0.05 mmol/L) rats, compared to a value of 0.34±0.07 mmol/L observed for the BCD rats. Therefore, it was concluded that 10% dietary fat supplementation from menhaden and soybean oil could delay the onset of hyperinsulinaemia, and possibly insulin resistance in the rat model. Furthermore, PUFA was also shown to have an effect on the risk factors and other indicators for insulin resistance such as adipocyte cellularity, blood lipids and leptin