Spatial analyses for policy evaluation of the rural world: Portuguese agriculture in the last decade

This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of structural land use changes that are occurring in rural environments, by using novel methodologies related to Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The land use change analysis developed in this study is associated with a pre-selected set of policy issues, that is, it offers a retrospective view of the application of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the Portuguese situation. The evaluation of the respective impacts from a spatial perspective raises questions such as: 1) What are the trade-offs of rural activity in different sectors and regions? 2) How do such trade-offs cope with urban proximity?, and 3) Which activities or strategies are best able to balance the needs of rural and urban communities. Methodologically, our work identifies the land use change for the period 1990 – 2000 by comparing the databases CORINE Land Cover 90 and CORINE Land Cover 2000. Further, in order to detect those sectors that, at national or regional level, have taken more advantage of the CAP support, we present a new model, which also takes into account as a major assumption the proximity of rural areas to the nearest towns. The scope of this paper is twofold: addressing a specific problem concerning the effectiveness of the CAP, it develops an extensive empirical and methodological framework able to serve as a model-policy lesson for the rural/agricultural European future

PERILAKU EKONOMI RUMAH TANGGA NELAYAN SEROK DI NEGERI HATIVE BESAR KOTA AMBON

Potential of small pelagic fishery is abundant in Ambon City waters can be seen as an opportunity to improve the welfare of fisherman community, especially traditional fisherman such as serok fisherman in Hative Besar. Economic behavior or pattern of household decision making is needed to understand various efforts in improving the welfare of fishermen household. This study aims to (1) identify productive activities in fisheries sector and non-fishery sector by serok fisherman household in Hative Besar, (2) to describe the behavior of serok fisherman household decision making that acts as a producer, distributor and consumers, and (3) to describe the involvement of serok fisherman household in an effort to reduce poverty. The research method used is survey research method. The sample is determined by using purposive sampling technique. Data analysis was done descriptively qualitative. The results showed that serok fisherman household have productive activities within and outside the fishery sector as an attempt to generate family income. The economic behavior of serok fisherman household as producers, distributors and consumers is done in order to generate income and meet household needs. The involvement of serok fisherman household in reducing poverty is seen from some actions through the role of family members, job diversification and social networking

Exactly Solvable Models of Interacting Spin-s Particles in one-dimension

We consider the exact solution of a many-body problem of spin-$s$ particles interacting through an arbitrary U(1) invariant factorizable $S$-matrix. The solution is based on a unified formulation of the quantum inverse scattering method for an arbitrary $(2s+1)$-dimensional monodromy matrix. The respective eigenstates are shown to be given in terms of $2s$ creation fields by a general new recurrence relation. This allows us to derive the spectrum and the respective Bethe ansatz equations.Comment: 10 pages, plain late

SIKAP DAN PERILAKU KONSUMEN IKAN ASAR DI KOTA AMBON

Potensi sumber daya perikanan yang tinggi di Kota Ambon turut membentuk kebiasaan masyarakatmengonsumsi ikan, baik dalam bentuk segar maupun olahan. Ikan olahan yang sangat terkenal di KotaAmbon adalah ikan asap (dalam bahasa lokal disebut ikan asar) yang sentra produksinya terletak diNegeri Hative Kecil. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi karakteristik konsumen ikan asap,mengkaji sikap dan perilaku konsumen ikan asap serta menganalisis faktor-faktor yang memengaruhitingkat konsumsi ikan asap. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah survei dan sebanyak100 (seratus) responden diambil secara accidental sampling. Data yang diperoleh di analisis dengananalisis deskriptif kualitatif, analisis sikap dan perilaku konsumen dan analisis regresi linier berganda.Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa konsumen yang membeli ikan asap di Negeri Hative Kecildidominasi oleh perempuan berusia separuh baya yang memiliki tingkat pendidikan tergolong baik(sarjana), pekerjaan dan pendapatan tergolong dalam kalangan menengah ke atas serta jumlah anggotakeluarga satu hingga empat orang. Sikap dan perilaku konsumen yang membeli ikan asap di NegeriHative Kecil tergolong baik karena terletak di antara skor positif. Variabel yang memengaruhi respondenmengonsumsi ikan asap adalah harga (X1), pendapatan (X2) dan jumlah anggota keluarga (X3).Title: Attitudes and Behavior of Consumers of Smoked Fish in AmbonHigh potency of fishery resources in Ambon performs the community’s habit in eating fish, bothin fresh and processed forms. Processed fish which very famous in Ambon is smoked fish (in locallanguage called ikan asar) and its central of production is in Hative Kecil village. This study aims toidentify characteristics of consumers of smoked fish, to analyse the attitudes and behaviour of them andto analyse the factors influence the level of consumption. Method used in this research is survey and100 respondents were taken by accidental sampling. Data obtained were analysed by using qualitativedescriptive analysis, consumer’s attitude and behaviour analysis and multiple linear regression analysis.The results show that consumers who buy smoked fish in Hative Kecil village dominated by middleaged women who have good level of education (undergraduate), good jobs, upper middle income leveland small family (number of family members from one to four person). Attitudes and behaviour of theconsumers are quite good and variables that influence the consumption of smoked fish are price (X1),income (X2) and number of family members (X3).

A Parameterization Invariant Approach to the Statistical Estimation of the CKM Phase alpha

In contrast to previous analyses, we demonstrate a Bayesian approach to the estimation of the CKM phase {alpha} that is invariant to parameterization. We also show that in addition to computing the marginal posterior in a Bayesian manner, the distribution must also be interpreted from a subjective Bayesian viewpoint. Doing so gives a very natural interpretation to the distribution. We also comment on the effect of removing information about {beta}{sup 00}

Pregnant and breastfeeding women's prospective acceptability of two biomedical HIV prevention approaches in Sub Saharan Africa : a multisite qualitative analysis using the theoretical framework of acceptability

HIV infection during pregnancy and breastfeeding has implications for maternal health. Between May- November 2018, we explored prospective acceptability of two novel HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) products, oral pills and vaginal rings, through focus group discussions with 65 pregnant and breastfeeding women in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe. Qualitative analysis was completed, guided by the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA). First, a deductive thematic analysis was applied to relevant coded data, into the seven TFA constructs (Affective Attitude; Burden; Ethicality, Intervention Coherence; Opportunity Costs; Perceived Effectiveness; Self-efficacy). Next, an iterative analysis was completed to generate themes within each of the TFA constructs. Women’s positive attitudes towards daily oral PrEP highlighted the familiarity of taking pills, understanding the purpose of taking pills, and the perception that it is an effective method to protect mothers and babies from HIV during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Women emphasized the ease of using the ring given its monthly duration that lowers burden on the user, its discreetness and invisibility once in place. The TFA analysis highlighted how acceptability of both methods could be enhanced by focusing on perceptions of the end users (i.e. the women) and not just the products themselves. This approach provided insights into how to refine the intervention materials and plans for implementation

Market Structure, Conduct and Performance of Scad (Decapterus russeli) in Kota Ambon

This research is aimed to analyze the marketing system of Scad (Decapterus russeli) by analyzing the market structure, behavior, and performance. It was conducted in traditional markets: Mardika and Transit Passo, Ambon from September to December 2014. The method used was survey for 40 of 45 fish traders in these markets, selected in simple random sampling. The analyses used included: 1). Integration of vertical market, 2). Elasticity of price transmission, and 3). Pricing efficiency. The results show: (1) market structure of scad in Ambon is not integrated and leads to oligopoly; (2) change of 1% at the consumers’ price level leads to less than 1 % of price change in the fishermen’s price level, indicating that scad marketing system is inefficient; and (3) the marketing system of scad in channel 3 is inefficient. The smallest share (89%) was also showed in this channel. Scad market structure was not perfectly integrated for the oligopoly practice by traders. Therefore, dependence of fishermen on traders should be reduced i.e. by giving assistance such as loans with low interest rates especially in no fish season. Communication network should also be expanded so that market information can be transmitted perfectly to all marketing agencies in Ambon. The government should control the price fluctuations by setting the minimum price (floor price) and maximum price (ceiling price) in order to create price stability.Keywords: conduct market, oligopoly market, performance market, scad structure, fish trader

Modern Statistical Methods for GLAST Event Analysis

We describe a statistical reconstruction methodology for the GLAST LAT. The methodology incorporates in detail the statistics of the interactions of photons and charged particles with the tungsten layers in the LAT, and uses the scattering distributions to compute the full probability distribution over the energy and direction of the incident photons. It uses model selection methods to estimate the probabilities of the possible geometrical configurations of the particles produced in the detector, and numerical marginalization over the energy loss and scattering angles at each layer. Preliminary results show that it can improve on the tracker-only energy estimates for muons and electrons incident on the LAT

Conserved Regulation of p53 Network Dosage by MicroRNA–125b Occurs through Evolving miRNA–Target Gene Pairs

MicroRNAs regulate networks of genes to orchestrate cellular functions. MiR-125b, the vertebrate homologue of the Caenorhabditis elegans microRNA lin-4, has been implicated in the regulation of neural and hematopoietic stem cell homeostasis, analogous to how lin-4 regulates stem cells in C. elegans. Depending on the cell context, miR-125b has been proposed to regulate both apoptosis and proliferation. Because the p53 network is a central regulator of both apoptosis and proliferation, the dual roles of miR-125b raise the question of what genes in the p53 network might be regulated by miR-125b. By using a gain- and loss-of-function screen for miR-125b targets in humans, mice, and zebrafish and by validating these targets with the luciferase assay and a novel miRNA pull-down assay, we demonstrate that miR-125b directly represses 20 novel targets in the p53 network. These targets include both apoptosis regulators like Bak1, Igfbp3, Itch, Puma, Prkra, Tp53inp1, Tp53, Zac1, and also cell-cycle regulators like cyclin C, Cdc25c, Cdkn2c, Edn1, Ppp1ca, Sel1l, in the p53 network. We found that, although each miRNA–target pair was seldom conserved, miR-125b regulation of the p53 pathway is conserved at the network level. Our results lead us to propose that miR-125b buffers and fine-tunes p53 network activity by regulating the dose of both proliferative and apoptotic regulators, with implications for tissue stem cell homeostasis and oncogenesis