2,999 research outputs found
FACTORS INFLUENCING INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CREDIT RATIONING AMONG SMALL-SCALE FARM HOUSEHOLDS IN KWAZULU-NATAL
The Heckman two-stage procedure is used to identify and rank the determinants of internal and external credit rationing in rural households using data sourced from two districts in the former KwaZulu homeland. The results confirm international findings that high transaction costs faced by rural households limit their access to formal credit markets. Income and savings levels are significant determinants of the level of credit obtained, with savings acting as a substitute for credit. Better access to financial markets will require public investment in rural infrastructure, literacy and vocational training, and legal reform in order to lower transaction costs, improve income levels, and facilitate the efficient use of collateral. Savings lose their value as a source of information when lending institutions are distinct from savings institutions, and moveable assets carry high collateral-specific risk in the absence of an efficient judicial system.Agricultural Finance,
POGO Instabilities Suppression Evaluation
A dynamic (frequency response) analysis was made of a liquid oxygen feed system consisting of a low-speed inducer, a high-speed main pump and a positive displacement pulser utilized for simulating pogo induced pressure oscillations. Based on the results of the analysis, an active control system for suppression of pulser generated pressure oscillations was designed, fabricated and tested. The test results verified that the suppressor was effective in attenuating the generated pressure oscillations over the frequency range from 10 to 30 Hz
Identifying the water poor: an indicator approach to assessing water poverty in rural Mexico
Water scarcity is the focus of considerable research emphasizing the vulnerability of
communities to physical water supply. Recent approaches to the determination of water
scarcity that incorporate social, economic and political factors with physical measures of
water availability include the Water Poverty Index (WPI). Through a rigorous analysis that
aims to analyze and contrast the results of the WPI with those determined through
extensive fieldwork and community consultation, this research aims to fulfil the
following core objectives:
1. to determine the impact of scale on water poverty assessments;
2. to test the robustness of the WPI and validate its accuracy as a measurement
of water poverty;
3. to assess the ability of the WPI to accurately reflect local perceptions of water
poverty.
Mexico has an astounding array of water challenges where even areas with a natural
abundance of water face difficulties in the provision of water supply. Particularly
compelling is the region of Los Altos. Situated within Mexico's most water-rich state,
access to water is exceptionally constrained. This contrast of scale was the incentive for
selecting the rural communities of Pozuelos and El Mash to examine water poverty in
detail.
A careful examination of water poverty was first undertaken at the state level. Next,
water poverty was assessed in the community through an extensive field study,
comprising a thorough assessment of infrastructure, water quality analyses, researcher
observations, informal interviews and participatory focus groups. These data provided
the basis for calculating the WPI at the community scale. Analyses were then
undertaken focusing on statistical correlations using Pearson's product moment
correlation coefficient informed by researcher observations, regression analyses and
community perceptions.
As the only indicator to assess the multiple dimensions of water poverty, the WPI, by
definition, is the best tool available. However, the issue of scale continues to be
challenging whilst predictions of water poverty are complex and marred by subjectivity.
A lack of consensus surrounding appropriate variables is problematic and inhibits comparisons across localities. Community perceptions of water poverty at the
community level differ from results obtained using the WPI further questioning its
reliability. Notwithstanding, the WPI highlights the need for a multi-dimensional
approach to the determination of water poverty by demonstrating the lack of
relationship between water resources availability and overall water poverty across scales.
However, this research has demonstrated the complex nature of the WPI rendering its
application in practice quite difficult
Early Islamic North Africa: A New Perspective
This volume proposes a new approach to the Arab conquests and the spread of Islam in North Africa. In recent years, those studying the Islamic world have shown that the coming of Islam was not marked by devastation or decline, but rather by considerable cultural and economic continuity. In North Africa, with continuity came significant change. Corisande Fenwick argues that the establishment of Muslim rule also coincided with a phase of intense urbanization, the appearance of new architectural forms (mosques, housing, hammams), the spread of Muslim social and cultural practices, the introduction of new crops and manufacturing techniques and the establishment of new trading links with sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
This concise and accessible book offers the first assessment of the archaeology of early Islamic North Africa (7th–9th centuries), drawing on a wide range of new evidence from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It lays out current debates about its interpretation and suggests new ways of thinking about this crucial period in world history. Essential reading for those interested in understanding the impact of the Arab conquests and the spread of Islam on daily life, it will also challenge students of archaeology and history to think in new ways about North Africa, the earliest Islamic empires and states and the transition from the Roman to the medieval Mediterranean
Linear force and moment equations for an annular smooth shaft seal perturbed both angularly and laterally
Coefficients are derived for equations expressing the lateral force and pitching moments associated with both planar translation and angular perturbations from a nominally centered rotating shaft with respect to a stationary seal. The coefficients for the lowest order and first derivative terms emerge as being significant and are of approximately the same order of magnitude as the fundamental coefficients derived by means of Black's equations. Second derivative, shear perturbation, and entrance coefficient variation effects are adjudged to be small
Line-of-sight effects on observability of kink and sausage modes in coronal structures with imaging telescopes
Kink modes of solar coronal structures, perturbing the loop in the direction along the line-of-sight (LOS), can be observed as emission intensity disturbances propagating along the loop provided the angle between the LOS and the structure is not ninety degrees. The effect is based upon the change of the column depth of the loop (along the LOS) by the wave. The observed amplitude of the emission intensity variations can be larger than the actual amplitude of the wave by a factor of two and there is an optimal angle maximizing the observed amplitude. For other angles this effect can also attenuate the observed wave amplitude. The observed amplitude depends upon the ratio of the wave length of kink perturbations to the width of the structure and on the angle between the LOS and the axis of the structure. Sausage modes are always affected negatively from the observational point of view, as the observed amplitude is always less than the actual one. This effect should be taken into account in the interpretation of wave phenomena observed in the corona with space-borne and ground-based imaging telescopes
Transverse waves in a post-flare supra-arcade
Observations of propagating transverse waves in an open magnetic field structure with the Transition Region And
Coronal Explorer (TRACE) are presented. Waves associated with dark tadpole-like sunward moving structures in the post-flare supra-arcade of NOAA active region 9906 on the 21st of April 2002 are analysed. They are seen as quasi-periodic transverse displacements of the dark tadpole tails, with periods in the range of 90–220 s. Their phase speeds and displacement amplitudes decrease as they propagate sunwards. At heights of 90 and 60 Mm above the post-flare loop footpoints the phase speeds are in
the ranges 200–700 km s −1 and 90–200 km s
−1 respectively. Furthermore, for consecutive tadpoles the phase speeds decrease and periods increase as a function of time. The waves are interpreted as propagating fast magnetoacoustic kink waves guided by a vertical, evolving, open structure
National counter-terrorism (C-T) policies and challenges to human rights and civil liberties: Case study of United Kingdom
In the UK the rise post-2005 in “home-grown” terrorism, relying to a significant extent on strikes on soft targets by “self-starters,” means that the search for effective preventive measures remains a continuing concern. Below a number of the preventive counter-terror measures adopted post-9/11, and incrementally strengthened in response to the current threat, are found to fall into three categories and represent interventions at the stages in the path toward attacks. This chapter focuses on selected examples of these preventive measures. In terms of three key stages, firstly, there is the attempt to prevent radicalization, under the “Prevent” strategy. A second strategy relies on taking certain measures to control the activities of those considered likely – on the balance of probabilities – to engage in terrorist-related activity. A third preventive strategy relies on the special terrorism offences under the Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006, as amended, intended to allow for intervention at a very early stage in terrorist plots and in preparing or instigating terrorist acts (“precursor” offences)
Physical and Unphysical Causes of Nonstationarity in the Relationship Between Barents‐Kara Sea Ice and the North Atlantic Oscillation
The role of internal variability in generating an apparent link between autumn Barents‐Kara sea (BKS) ice and the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has been intensely debated. In particular, the robustness and causality of the link has been questioned by showing that BKS‐NAO correlations exhibit nonstationarity in both reanalysis and climate model simulations. We show that the lack of ice observations means nonstationarity cannot be confidently assessed using reanalysis prior to 1961. Model simulations are used to corroborate an argument that forced nonstationarity could result from ice edge changes due to global warming. Consequently, the observed change in BKS‐NAO correlations since 1960 might not be purely a result of internal variability and may also reflect that the ice edge has moved. The change could also reflect the availability of more accurate ice observations. We discuss potential implications for analysis based on coupled climate models, which exhibit large ice edge biases
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