AgEcon Search: An International Disciplinary Repository

4th International Conference on Open RepositoriesThis presentation was part of the session : Conference PresentationsDate: 2009-06-04 08:30 AM – 10:00 AMAgEcon Search, http://ageconsearch.umn.edu, is a discipline-oriented repository, started in 1995, which includes working papers, conference papers and journal articles in the field of applied economics. Running on DSpace, it is housed at the University of Minnesota and coordinated by two librarians. Involvement of professional associations has been critical in its success, and other contributors include academic departments, government agencies and NGOs. Over 32,000 documents are included, from 170 groups in 35 countries.Farm Foundation; Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Foundation; USDA Economic Research Servic

FROM A SASAKAWA GLOBAL 2000 PILOT PROGRAM TO SUSTAINED INCREASES IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY: THE CRITICAL ROLE OF GOVERNMENT POLICY IN FOSTERING THE ETHIOPIAN TRANSITION

Drawing from the experience in Ethiopia, this paper examines the role that public policy must play in building public/private partnerships to develop the extension programs, input markets, and credit services necessary to turn a pilot Sasakawa-Global 2000 program into economically sustainable national policies and programs.Sasakawa-Global 2000, Ethiopia, government regulation, agricultural input markets, Agricultural and Food Policy, Productivity Analysis,

Engaged learning in MOOCs: a study using the UK Engagement Survey

This study sets out to answer the question: how can we know what learning is taking place in MOOCs? From this starting point, the study then looks to identify MOOCs’ potential for future use in HE? Using a specially-adapted version of the HEA’s UK Engagement Survey (UKES) 2014, the research team at the University of Southampton asked participants who had completed one of two MOOCs delivered through the FutureLearn platform and designed and run at the university about their experiences as learners and their engagement with their respective MOOC. The results also show that both of the MOOCs were successful in enabling many participants to feel engaged in intellectual endeavours such as forming new understandings, making connections with previous knowledge and experience, and exploring knowledge actively, creatively and critically. In response to the open access approach – in which no one taking part in a MOOC is required to have a minimum level of previous educational achievement - the report shows that persistent learners engaged, regardless of prior educational attainment

Liberating the Publications of a Distinguished Scholar: A Pilot Project

This article discusses the process librarians at the University of Minnesota took to regain copyright permission for older works from publishers

Can The Momentum be Sustained? An Economic Analysis of the Ministry of Agriculture/Sasakawa Global 2000's Experiment with Improved Cereals Technology in Ethiopia

A Joint Research Activity of: Grain Marketing Research Project/Michigan State University, Sasakawa Global 2000, Ministry of Agriculture Department of Extension and Cooperatives, Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organizationfood security, food policy, Ethiopia, SG2000, Crop Production/Industries, Q18,

PROGRESS AND PROBLEMS IN PROMOTING HIGH EXTERNAL-INPUT TECHNOLOGIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: THE SASAKAWA GLOBAL 2000 EXPERIENCE IN ETHIOPIA AND MOZAMBIQUE

Critics argue that high external input technologies are too costly for African farmers, and that pilot programs to promote them are economically unsustainable. This paper assesses Sasakawa-Global 2000 programs in Ethiopia and Mozambique; budgets, yield models and subsector analysis help explain the radically different country results and prognoses for sustainable adoption.technology adoption, sub-Saharan Africa, Sasakawa-Global 2000, maize, fertilizer, International Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, O002, O003,

FINANCIAL AND RISK ANALYSIS OF MAIZE TECHNOLOGY IN ETHIOPIA, BASED ON CERES-MAIZE MODEL RESULTS

This paper presents a financial and risk analysis of improved versus traditional maize production technology in Ethiopia, based on yields simulated with the CERES-Maize crop growth model (Schulthess and Ward, 2000). The purpose is to analyze the potential performance of the SG2000/Ministry of Agriculture program technology under less favorable meteorological conditions (rainfall level and distribution), and in areas with lower agroecological potential than those covered by the SG2000/MOA program through 1998. At the time of this study, expansion of the MOA program into lower potential zones seemed likely. Results show that use of fertilizer and improved seed is highly profitable under a variety of assumptions about crop growth conditions, maize prices, and fertilizer costs. Risk is examined using simple sensitivity and breakeven analysis, and stochastic dominance analysis.Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Analgesia and Addiction in Emergency Department Patients with Acute Pain Exacerbations

Introduction: There is ongoing controversy regarding the appropriate use of narcotic analgesia for patients presenting frequently to the emergency department (ED) with subjective acute exacerbations of pain. "Are we treating pain or enabling addiction?”Objectives: To determine whether the presence o f specific factors could be used to identify adults complaining of acute exacerbations of pain for suspected drug addiction, to estimate the percentage of drug addicted patients, to assess the physicians’ ability to detect drug addiction and to evaluate interrater reliability.Methods: A Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-20) was administered to 76 ED patients who presented with acute exacerbations of pain and either multiple ED visits for similar pain complaints, specific narcotic requests, or “allergies to non-narcotics. The DAST-20 was also administered to 74 age-matched controls. Treating ED physicians rated their suspicion for drug addiction using a visual analog scale (VAS). Results: The overall estimation of drug addiction based on the DAST-20 survey was 17.3% (26/150). Twenty-one percent (16/76) of the analgesia subjects and 13.5% (10/74) of the control subjects scored positive for drug addiction as measured by the DAST-20. Of the analgesia subjects with positive DAST-20 scores for drug addiction, 43.8% (7/16) had multiple ED visits, 43. 8% (7/16) requested specific narcotics and 6.3% (1/16) reported “allergies” to non-narcotics. There was no correlation between the VAS scores and the DAST-20 scores. There was a significant correlation between resident and attending VAS scores for their suspicion for drug addiction

Green Revolution Technology Takes Root in Africa The Promise and Challenge of the Ministry of Agriculture/SG2000 Experiment with Improved Cereals Technology in Ethiopia

In 1993, the Sasakawa/Global 2000 Program (SG) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) began a joint program to demonstrate that substantial productivity increases could be achieved when farmers were given appropriate extension messages and agricultural inputs were delivered on time at reasonable prices. The program provided credit, inputs and extension assistance to participants willing to establish half-hectare demonstration plots on their own land. In 1995, the MOA/SG demonstration program reached more than 3,500 farmers. During the same year MOA launched the New Extension Program (NEP) based on SG principles but managed independently. By 1997, NEP was managing the bulk of the demonstration plots. Although the MOA/SG program is widely considered to be a success, no formal analysis had been carried out to determine its profitability. In September 1997 MOA/SG agreed to collaborate with MSU to answer the following questions: (1) Is improved technology financially profitable for farmers? (2) Is it economically profitable from a national perspective? (3) What factors limit crop response to improved technologies? and (4) What challenges does the government face as it scales up the NEP program?food security, food policy, agricultural inputs, Ethiopia, Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Downloads July 2008 - June 2009: 15, O33,