Credit Constraints and Financial Efficiency in Peruvian Agriculture

Agricultural Finance,

An Overview of Animal Facilitated Therapy

An 81 year old woman sat in her wheelchair in front of a window at a nursing home surrounded by her family whom she no longer recognized. She had been in the home for two years, her mental and physical health steadily deteriorating. She spoke a language all her own, no longer could anyone decipher any English or Norwegian from it. The old woman plucked invisible entities from the air and placed them in her lap. The only glimmer of recognition or reality for her was aroused when she was asked about her cat, Munse. Grandma, how\u27s Munse? Where\u27s Munse, Grandma? The only understandable words she speaks: Munse? Here kitty. Meeow. She calls for her companion of eight years. A gray stuffed-toy cat is placed in her lap instead, she strokes it once or twice and then falls still and silent. What might it have meant to this elderly woman to have kept her companion with her? Could it have helped her hold on to reality longer, maintained her health and improved the general quality of her life

From Skew-Cyclic Codes to Asymmetric Quantum Codes

We introduce an additive but not $\mathbb{F}_4$-linear map $S$ from $\mathbb{F}_4^{n}$ to $\mathbb{F}_4^{2n}$ and exhibit some of its interesting structural properties. If $C$ is a linear $[n,k,d]_4$-code, then $S(C)$ is an additive $(2n,2^{2k},2d)_4$-code. If $C$ is an additive cyclic code then $S(C)$ is an additive quasi-cyclic code of index $2$. Moreover, if $C$ is a module $\theta$-cyclic code, a recently introduced type of code which will be explained below, then $S(C)$ is equivalent to an additive cyclic code if $n$ is odd and to an additive quasi-cyclic code of index $2$ if $n$ is even. Given any $(n,M,d)_4$-code $C$, the code $S(C)$ is self-orthogonal under the trace Hermitian inner product. Since the mapping $S$ preserves nestedness, it can be used as a tool in constructing additive asymmetric quantum codes.Comment: 16 pages, 3 tables, submitted to Advances in Mathematics of Communication

Quantum internal modes of solitons in 1d easy-plane antiferromagnet in strong magnetic field

In presence of a strong external magnetic field the dynamics of solitons in a one-dimensional easy-plane Heisenberg antiferromagnet exhibits a number of peculiarities. Dynamics of internal soliton degrees of freedom is essentially quantum, and they are strongly coupled to the "translational" mode of soliton movement. These peculiarities lead to considerable changes in the response functions of the system which can be detected experimentally.Comment: 8 pages, RevTeX, 6 figures, uses psfig.sty, submitted to PR

Could health information systems enhance the quality of Aboriginal health promotion? A retrospective audit of Aboriginal health programs in the Northern Territory of Australia.

BACKGROUND:In Australia, health services are seeking innovative ways to utilize data stored in health information systems to report on, and improve, health care quality and health system performance for Aboriginal Australians. However, there is little research about the use of health information systems in the context of Aboriginal health promotion. In 2008, the Northern Territory's publicly funded healthcare system introduced the quality improvement program planning system (QIPPS) as the centralized online system for recording information about health promotion programs. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential for utilizing data stored in QIPPS to report on quality of Aboriginal health promotion, using chronic disease prevention programs as exemplars. We identify the potential benefits and limitations of health information systems for enhancing Aboriginal health promotion. METHODS:A retrospective audit was undertaken on a sample of health promotion projects delivered between 2013 and 2016. A validated, paper-based audit tool was used to extract information stored in the QIPPS online system and report on Aboriginal health promotion quality. Simple frequency counts were calculated for dichotomous and categorical items. Text was extracted and thematically analyzed to describe community participation processes and strategies used in Aboriginal health promotion. RESULTS:39 Aboriginal health promotion projects were included in the analysis. 34/39 projects recorded information pertaining to the health promotion planning phases, such as statements of project goals, 'needs assessment' findings, and processes for consulting Aboriginal people in the community. Evaluation findings were reported in approximately one third of projects and mostly limited to a recording of numbers of participants. For almost half of the projects analyzed, community participation strategies were not recorded. CONCLUSION:This is the first Australian study to shed light on the feasibility of utilizing data stored in a purposefully designed health promotion information system. Data availability and quality were limiting factors for reporting on Aboriginal health promotion quality. Based on our learnings of QIPPS, strategies to improve the quality and accuracy of data entry together with the use of quality improvement approaches are needed to reap the potential benefits of future health promotion information systems

Continuous cardiac autonomic and haemodynamic responses to isometric exercise in females

Purpose: Hypertension is associated with impaired haemodynamic control mechanisms and autonomic dysfunction. Isometric exercise (IE) interventions have been shown to improve autonomic modulation and reduce blood pressure (BP) in predominantly male participants. The physiological responses to IE are under explored in female populations; therefore, this study investigated the continuous cardiac autonomic and haemodynamic response to a single bout of IE in a large female population. Methods: Forty physically inactive females performed a single, individually prescribed isometric wall squat training session. Total power spectral density of heart rate variability (HRV) and associated low frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) power spectral components, were recorded in absolute (ms2) and normalised units (nu) pre, during and post an IE session. Heart rate (HR) was recorded via electrocardiography and baroreceptor reflex sensitivity (BRS) via the sequence method. Continuous blood pressure was recorded via the vascular unloading technique and stroke volume via impedance cardiography. Total peripheral resistance (TPR) was calculated according to Ohm’s Law. Results: During IE, there were significant reductions in HRV (p<0.001) and BRS (p<0.001), and significant increases in heart rate (p<0.001), systolic, mean and diastolic BP (p<0.001 for all). In recovery following the IE session, cardiac autonomic parameters returned to baseline (p=0.974); however, total peripheral vascular resistance significantly reduced below baseline (p<0.001). This peripheral vascular response was associated with significant reductions in systolic (-17.3±16.5 mmHg, p<0.001), mean (-18.8±17.4 mmHg, p<0.001) and diastolic BP (-17.3±16.2 mmHg, p<0.001), below baseline. Conclusion: A single IE session is associated with improved haemodynamic cardiovascular responses in females. Cardiac autonomic responses return to baseline values, which suggests alternative mechanisms are responsible for the post exercise haemodynamic improvements in females. Future mechanistic research is required to investigate the acute and chronic effects of IE in female populations with different resting BP profiles

Anomalous magnetization process in frustrated spin ladders

We study, at T=0, the anomalies in the magnetization curve of the S=1 two-leg ladder with frustrated interactions. We focus mainly on the existence of the M=\Ms/2 plateau, where \Ms is the saturation magnetization. We use analytical methods (degenerate perturbation theory and non-Abelian bosonization) as well as numerical methods (level spectroscopy and density matrix renormalization group), which lead to the consistent conclusion with each other. We also touch on the M=\Ms/4 and M=(3/4)\Ms plateaux and cusps.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures (embedded), Conference paper (Highly Frustrated Magnetism 2003, 26-30th August 2003, Grenoble, France

Idealized model for changes in equilibrium temperature, mixed layer depth, and boundary layer cloud over land in a doubled CO2 climate

An idealized equilibrium model for the undisturbed partly cloudy boundary layer (BL) is used as a framework to explore the coupling of the energy, water, and carbon cycles over land in midlatitudes and show the sensitivity to the clear‐sky shortwave flux, the midtropospheric temperature, moisture, CO2, and subsidence. The changes in the surface fluxes, the BL equilibrium, and cloud cover are shown for a warmer, doubled CO2 climate. Reduced stomatal conductance in a simple vegetation model amplifies the background 2 K ocean temperature rise to an (unrealistically large) 6 K increase in near‐surface temperature over land, with a corresponding drop of near‐surface relative humidity of about 19%, and a rise of cloud base of about 70 hPa. Cloud changes depend strongly on changes of mean subsidence; but evaporative fraction (EF) decreases. EF is almost uniquely related to mixed layer (ML) depth, independent of background forcing climate. This suggests that it might be possible to infer EF for heterogeneous landscapes from ML depth. The asymmetry of increased evaporation over the oceans and reduced transpiration over land increases in a warmer doubled CO2 climate

Causes of irregularities in trends of global mean surface temperature since the late 19th century

The time series of monthly global mean surface temperature (GST) since 1891 is successfully reconstructed from known natural and anthropogenic forcing factors, including internal climate variability, using a multiple regression technique. Comparisons are made with the performance of 40 CMIP5 models in predicting GST. The relative contributions of the various forcing factors to GST changes vary in time, but most of the warming since 1891 is found to be attributable to the net influence of increasing greenhouse gases and anthropogenic aerosols. Separate statistically independent analyses are also carried out for three periods of GST slowdown (1896–1910, 1941–1975, and 1998–2013 and subperiods); two periods of strong warming (1911–1940 and 1976–1997) are also analyzed. A reduction in total incident solar radiation forcing played a significant cooling role over 2001–2010. The only serious disagreements between the reconstructions and observations occur during the Second World War, especially in the period 1944–1945, when observed near-worldwide sea surface temperatures (SSTs) may be significantly warm-biased. In contrast, reconstructions of near-worldwide SSTs were rather warmer than those observed between about 1907 and 1910. However, the generally high reconstruction accuracy shows that known external and internal forcing factors explain all the main variations in GST between 1891 and 2015, allowing for our current understanding of their uncertainties. Accordingly, no important additional factors are needed to explain the two main warming and three main slowdown periods during this epoch