The comparative advantage of dryland soybean production in Brits, North West

The effect of policy on the South African soybean industry is analysed, using the policy analysis matrix. The absence of effective protection from cheap imports of soy-cake and -oil, as well as the ineffectiveness of the processing industry, lead to relatively low farmgate prices of soybeans in South Africa. This could result in producers using their resources for more profitable crops, thus depriving the South African feed industry to benefit from more full fat soy in feed rations.Crop Production/Industries,

On modeling the variability of bedform dimensions

ABSTRACT: Bedforms are irregular features that cannot easily be described by mean values. The variations in the geometric dimensions affect the bed roughness, and they are important in the modeling of vertical sorting and in modeling the thickness of cross-strata sets. The authors analyze the variability of bedform dimensions for three sets of flume experiments, considering PDFs of bedform height, trough elevation and crest elevation divided by its mean value. It appears that the dimensionless standard deviation of the bedform height is within a narrow range for nearly all experiments. This appears to be valid for the trough elevation and crest elevation, as well. For some modeling purposes, it seems sufficient to assume that the standard deviation is a constant, so that the variation in bedform dimension can be modeled by only predicting the mean bedform dimension.

Stochastics of bedform dimensions

Often river dunes are considered as regular bed patterns, with a mean dune height and a mean dune length. In reality however, river dunes are threedimensional and irregular features that cannot be fully described by their mean values. In fact, dune dimensions can be considered as stochastic variables. Their probability distribution can be characterized by a mean value and variance. The stochastic properties of dune dimensions are relevant for (see e.g. Van der Mark et al., 2005):\ud • Shipping - highest crests\ud • Pipelines & cables - deepest troughs\ud • Modelling cross-strata sets - troughs, dune heights\ud • Modelling vertical sorting - troughs\ud • Modelling bed roughness - dune heights\ud In the present research the stochastics of crest elevation, trough elevation and dune height are investigated by analysing three sets of flume experiments

Evaluation of a Phosphate Management Protocol to Achieve Optimum Serum Phosphate Levels in Hemodialysis Patients

Original article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10512276 Copyright National Kidney Foundation, Inc. DOI: 10.1053/j.jrn.2008.05.003To evaluate the effectiveness of a protocol designed to optimize serum phosphate levels in patients undergoing regular hemodialysis (HD).Peer reviewe

4D, N = 1 Supersymmetry Genomics (I)

Presented in this paper the nature of the supersymmetrical representation theory behind 4D, N = 1 theories, as described by component fields, is investigated using the tools of Adinkras and Garden Algebras. A survey of familiar matter multiplets using these techniques reveals they are described by two fundamental valise Adinkras that are given the names of the cis-Valise (c-V) and the trans-Valise (t-V). A conjecture is made that all off-shell 4D, N = 1 component descriptions of supermultiplets are associated with two integers - the numbers of c-V and t-V Adinkras that occur in the representation.Comment: 53 pages, 19 figures, Report-II of SSTPRS 2008 Added another chapter for clarificatio

Precision spectroscopy with two correlated atoms

We discuss techniques that allow for long coherence times in laser spectroscopy experiments with two trapped ions. We show that for this purpose not only entangled ions prepared in decoherence-free subspaces can be used but also a pair of ions that are not entangled but subject to the same kind of phase noise. We apply this technique to a measurement of the electric quadrupole moment of the 3d D5/2 state of 40Ca+ and to a measurement of the linewidth of an ultrastable laser exciting a pair of 40Ca+ ions

Costs and cost-effectiveness of alternative tuberculosis management strategies in South Africa - Implications for policy

Objective. To conduct an economic analysis of the Hlabisa community-based directly observed therapy management strategy for tuberculosis and to project costs of three alternative strategies. Setting. Hlabisa health district, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Methods. An economic analysis comparing the current tuberculosis management strategy in Hlabisa with three alternative strategies (the Hlabisa strategy prior to 1991 based on hospitalisation, the national strategy and sanatorium care) in terms of costs to both health service and patient and of cost-effectiveness. Results. The current Hlabisa strategy was the most cost-effective (R3 799 per patient cured), compared with R98 307 for the strategy used prior to 1991, R9 940 for the national strategy, and R11 145 for sanatorium care, Between 71% and 88% of treatment costs lie with the health service, and hospitalisation (R119 per day) is the most expensive item. Prolonged hospitalisation is extremely expensive, but community care is cheaper (community clinic visit, R28; community health worker visit, R7). The total cost of supervising a patient in the community under the current Hlabisa strategy was R503, equivalent to 4.2 days in hospital, Drug costs (R157) are equivalent to just 1.3 days in hospital. Conclusion. Cost to both health service and patient can be substantially reduced by using community-based directly observed therapy for tuberculosis, a strategy that is cheap and cost-effective in Hlabisa, These findings have important national implications, supporting the goals of the new tuberculosis control programme.5 page(s

Insect pest and their control - The Mediterranean fruit fly

THE Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata Wied) is without doubt the most serious insect pest with which Western Australian orchardists have to contend. Its ravages can, however, be greatly reduced if control measures are applied correctly