Agricultural Cooperatives and Unions of Cooperatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Opportunities for Improvement

Given the breakup of Yugoslavia and the ensuing war, there has been massive changes in the agricultural structure in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In particular, the remade cooperatives and the unions of cooperatives that are supposed to serve them are struggling. This paper examines the needs of the agricultural cooperatives to be more successful and identifies what support will likely come from the unions of cooperatives and what must come from other sources. Data was obtained in three ways: 1) questionnaires to a large group of cooperatives, 2) focus groups with a smaller number of cooperatives, and 3) personal interviews with union of cooperatives representatives. The findings indicated that the unions of cooperatives are working on institutional issues such as registering and auditing cooperatives, and resolving land ownership conflicts. However, since the cooperatives are not familiar with the market economy, they also need help in business management, marketing, legal services, and organizational effectiveness. It is not likely that the unions will be able to help the cooperatives with these issues. New partners such as the Ministry of Agriculture, colleges of agriculture, or non-governmental organizations should be tasked with providing this educational support.Bosnia and Herzegovina, agricultural cooperatives, union of agricultural cooperatives, agricultural development, Agribusiness,

PLASMA NEAR THE HELIOSHEATH: OBSERVATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS

Voyager 2 (V2) has observed heliosheath plasma since 2007 August. The plasma flux decreases by 25% before the termination shock (TS), then, as V2 moved into the heliosheath, the plasma density, temperature, and flux all decreased by an additional factor of 2. We suggest three effects combine to cause these decreases. (1) V2 moved into the lower-flux transition region between the low- and high-speed solar wind. This hypothesis is consistent with Ulysses observations of the transition location, explains the 25% decrease in solar wind flux observed before the TS crossing, and can reconcile discrepancies between the V2 and Voyager 1 heliosheath speeds and between the V2 speeds and model results. (2) The weaker source at the Sun. (3) The heliosheath plasma turning and flowing toward the heliotail.United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.). Contract 959203)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NAG5-8947)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NNX08AE49G

Characterization of a thermally imidized soluble polyimide film

A soluble aromatic poly(amic acid) film was converted to a soluble polyimide by staging at 25 deg intervals to 325 C and characterized at each interval by several analytical methods. The behavior observed was consistent with an interpretation that a reduction occurred in molecular weight of the poly(amic acid) during the initial stages of cure before the ultimate molecular weight was achieved as a polyimide. This interpretation was supported by the results of solution viscosity, gel permeation chromatography, low angle laser light scattering photometry and infrared spectroscopy analysis. The results serve to increase the fundamental understanding of how polyimides are thermally formed from poly(amic acids)

Voyager 2 Observations of Plasma and Pressure Pulses

This paper provides the latest data from Voyager 2 on plasma characteristics in the heliosheath including the observations of pressure waves in the plasma and particle data. Models and observations show that solar transients drive pressure waves through the heliosphere. Pressure pulses that could drive heliosheath waves are observed near the previous solar maximum upstream of the termination shock. We show that the most recent data is consistent with the presence of pressure waves and compare the heliosheath waves with the pressure increases in the heliosheath. The magnetic field is better correlated with density and galactic cosmic ray intensities in the supersonic solar wind than in the heliosheath. The galactic cosmic rays are correlated with the plasma and particles with a ~30-day lag in both the supersonic wind and heliosheath

Laser-plasma source parameters for Kr, Gd, and Tb ions at 6.6 nm

There is increasing interest in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) laser-based lamps for sub-10-nm lithography operating in the region of 6.6 nm. A collisional-radiative model is developed as a post-processor of a hydrodynamic code to investigate emission from resonance lines in Kr, Gd, and Tb ions under conditions typical for mass-limited EUV sources. The analysis reveals that maximum conversion efficiencies of Kr occur at 5 x 10(10) W/cm(2), while for Gd and Tb it was similar or equal to 0.9%/2 pi sr for laser intensities of (2-5) x 10(12) W/cm(2)

Banning the Practice of Government Shutdowns: An Analysis of the End Government Shutdowns Act

When the United States government undergoes a partial shutdown, millions of Americans are forced to go without pay. In addition to the obvious undue stress this causes American families, the ripple effects of shutdowns include delayed government proceedings and massive economic losses. Partially in response to these losses, sitting politicians often lose credibility and support from the voting public. In wake of the 2018-19 partial government shutdown – the longest in United States history - a plethora of proposals to end government shutdowns emerged. One such proposal is The End Government Shutdowns Act, which was introduced by Republican Ohio Senator Rob Portman. This act proposes to end partial government shutdowns by implementing an automatic continuing resolution to ensure that a failure to enact appropriations cannot be the impetus for such a shutdown. The resolution would create a 120-day grace period where all programs, projects, and activities were funded at the rate of the previous fiscal year. After the 120 days, there would sweeping 1% cuts to all appropriations provided for by the resolution. Additional 1% cuts would be implemented every succeeding 90-day period until all necessary appropriation legislation was passed for the new fiscal year. After explaining the causes of government shutdowns and the need for legislation to ban them, this capstone analyzes the potential of The End Government Shutdown Act as a proposed solution. The policy and its political impacts are considered. Ultimately, the 1% budget cuts are deemed to be a fatal flaw of the legislation and it is recommended to not support or pursue the act further

Efficiency of the Missouri School of Mines power plant and cost of operation

These tests were made for the purpose of getting the efficiency of the electric power plant as it was being run and the cost of operating it. Tests were first made on the boilers separately. The load at the time of the test was too heavy for one boiler and too light for tow, part of the steam being used for heating the buildings and for the air-compressor. This made it so that no combined test of the boilers and generating couple could be made until the warm weather came and the laboratories using compressed air were closed, which was too late in the year for the complete test on a medium load. The load varied somewhat so that the tests were not as good as could be made on a full constant load. These tests therefore represent what the plant is doing, not what it could do. This should be born in mind while comparing these results with others as they represent the efficiency and cost of operating the plant as it is run --page 1