Low-temperture electrostatic silicon-to-silicon seals using sputtered borosilicate glass

Silicon members are hermetically sealed to each other. Process produces no measurable deformation of silicon surfaces and is compatible with package designs of tight tolerance. Seals have been made with glass coatings in 10-mm to 20-mm thickness range without any prior annealing of coated silicon substrates

Smallholder value chains as complex adaptive systems: a conceptual framework

Conventional analyses of value chains involving smallholders and the design of interventions that seek to strengthen their role in them often fail to account for important features of value chain performance. Markets, institutional frameworks and business relationships are dynamic, and value chain performance varies accordingly. Shocks and sudden changes occur frequently and require successful adaptation. This paper develops an expanded conceptual framework to understand value chain performance based on the theory of complex adaptive systems. The framework combines seven common properties of complex systems: time, uncertainty, sensitivity to initial conditions, endogenous shocks, sudden change, interacting agents and adaptation. We outline how the framework can be used to ask new research questions, analyse case studies, and develop new tools to increase the ability for enhanced risk management and adaptation

Fairtrade cocoa in Ghana: taking stock and looking ahead

Some of the global chocolate industry's biggest players, such as Ferrero, Mars, and Hershey, have expressed their commitment to achieve a sustainable cocoa sector by the year 2020. As the world's second largest producer of cocoa, Ghana is also interested in moving towards sustainable cocoa production. Voluntary standards systems, such as Fairtrade, play an important role in providing independent third-party evidence of progress towards sustainability. Fairtrade does so by offering a framework for producers and buyers to engage in more equitable business relations, with reduced price risks for farmers and opportunities for cooperative and community development through investments enabled by the Fairtrade premium. Over the past years, Fairtrade has significantly advanced in Ghana's cocoa sector. Between 2009 and 2014, annual volumes of Fairtrade cocoa produced in the country increased from 481 MT to 54,600 MT. This impressive growth is linked to the evolution of Kuapa Kokoo as leading cocoa cooperative, and to the creation of numerous new cooperatives that obtained Fairtrade certification over the past few years. Founded in 1993 and Fairtrade certified since 1995, Kuapa Kokoo has grown into the world's largest Fairtrade certified cocoa cooperative. With about 100,000 members, organized into 57 independently registered Societies across 1,280 communities, Kuapa Kokoo offers technical services to its members, purchases cocoa as a Licensed Buying Company (LBC), and provides credit (through an associated credit union with more than 8,000 members). While Kuapa Kokoo continues to produce the lion share (77 percent in the season 2012-13) of Ghana's cocoa sold under Fairtrade terms, the newly founded cooperatives are increasingly contributing relevant volumes of Fairtrade certified cocoa. From 2009 to 2014, the number of Fairtrade cooperatives rose from one (Kuapa Kokoo) to 11, and the share of cocoa with the Fairtrade label increased from less than 1 percent to 6.1 percent of national production. In 2014, Ghana was the world's largest producer of cocoa sold under Fairtrade terms with a market share of 38 percent (followed by Côte d'Ivoire with a share of 30 percent). As Fairtrade expands in Ghana, important questions arise in relation to the capacity of cocoa cooperatives and farmers to benefit from Fairtrade certification; and with respect to impactful ways for Fairtrade and partners to engage with these resource-poor stakeholders in response to the constraints they face at the beginning of the value chain. Here we offer insights into these questions by exploring the overall context in which Fairtrade operates in Ghana, as well as the capacities of four recently established Fairtrade-certified cocoa cooperatives and their members. The latter's organization into cooperatives was facilitated by NGOs and cocoa buyers with the explicit goal of linking them to Fairtrade markets. Data are derived from a baseline study commissioned by Fairtrade Africa, including a household survey among 322 randomly selected members from four Fairtrade-certified cocoa cooperatives with a total membership of roughly 5,000

Correlation between X-ray Lightcurve Shape and Radio Arrival Time in the Vela Pulsar

We report the results of simultaneous observations of the Vela pulsar in X-rays and radio from the RXTE satellite and the Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory in Tasmania. We sought correlations between the Vela's X-ray emission and radio arrival times on a pulse by pulse basis. At a confidence level of 99.8% we have found significantly higher flux density in Vela's main X-ray peak during radio pulses that arrived early. This excess flux shifts to the 'trough' following the 2nd X-ray peak during radio pulses that arrive later. Our results suggest that the mechanism producing the radio pulses is intimately connected to the mechanism producing X-rays. Current models using resonant absorption of radio emission in the outer magnetosphere as a cause of the X-ray emission are explored as a possible explanation for the correlation.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Ap

Particulate and aerosol detector

A device is described for counting aerosols and sorting them according to either size, mass or energy. The component parts are an accelerator, a capacitor sensor and a readout. The accelerator is a means for accelerating the aerosols toward the face of the capacitor sensor with such force that they partially penetrate the capacitor sensor, momentarily discharging it. The readout device is a means for counting the number of discharges of the capacitor sensor and measuring the amplitudes of these different discharges. The aerosols are accelerated by the accelerator in the direction of the metal layer with such force that they penetrate the metal and damage the oxide layers, thereby allowing the electrical charge on the capacitor to discharge through the damaged region. Each incident aerosol initiates a discharge path through the capacitor in such a fashion as to vaporize the conducting path. Once the discharge action is complete, the low resistance path no longer exists between the two capacitor plates and the capacitor is again able to accept a charge. The active area of the capacitor is reduced in size by the damaged area each time a discharge occurs

Baseline for assessing the impact of fairtrade certification on cocoa farmers and cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire

Report commissioned by Fairtrade Africa and Fairtrade International. World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi, Kenya. Farms-Forests-LandscapesIn 2014, Fairtrade International, Fairtrade Africa, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and Bioversity International initiated a collaboration for the development of a multidimensional baseline on small-scale cocoa farmers and their cooperatives in West Africa. The baseline is expected to provide a fuller understanding of the current situation for Fairtrade cocoa production and marketing as well as provide the foundation for rigorous assessment of outcomes and impacts of Fairtrade certification on cocoa cooperatives and smallholder households in West Africa in the future. Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the two largest Fairtrade cocoa producers in West Africa, provide about 68 percent of the cocoa that is sold under Fairtrade terms in global markets. In 2013, the year this study was commissioned, the volume of Fairtrade cocoa sold from West Africa reached 133 400 tonnes, involving 71 cooperatives and producer associations and 138 800 farmers. Most of this cocoa originated from Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. The rapid growth in the number of cocoa-producing organizations joining the Fairtrade system in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana provides a unique opportunity to build a baseline on Fairtrade cocoa producers in West Africa for future monitoring and impact assessment. This report focuses on the Fairtrade cocoa baseline for Côte d’Ivoire (a similar report is available for Ghana). It describes the conceptual framework and methods used in the design of the baseline, followed by an assessment of the context in Côte d’Ivoire. Key features of the baseline data at the cooperative and household levels are covered in detail. The report concludes with some recommendations to Fairtrade for expanding Fairtrade International in Côte d’Ivoire and for follow-up actions for future baseline work

An ecosystem characterisation of the Bay of Bengal

This study summarises the high level drivers on ecological systems of the BOBLME. The ecological characterisation resulted in the identification of 29 subsystems. The report recommends the development of fully integrated approaches that considers human needs and the ecological system, involving stakeholders in a transparent way