Ionospheric estimates of atomic oxygen concentration from charged particle measurements

Estimates of atomic concentration ionosphere from radar backscatter and rocket probe measurements of electron and ion temperatures and electron concentratio

On the Seasonal and Day to Day Variations in the F2 Region

Thermoelectric scatter measurements on seasonal and daily variations in F region electron concentratio

Combining extension services with agricultural credit

India has nearly 90 million farm households. More than 80 percent of these farmers operate on a small or marginal scale, farming less than two hectares of land. They also usually have one or two buffaloes or cows, reared for milk and dung. Most of these small and marginal farmers fall below the poverty line. To reduce overall poverty in India, it is important to enhance the incomes of small and marginal farmers. One way to do that is to provide credit so they can get access to yield-enhancing inputs like seed, fertilizer, and cattle feed, as well as acquire irrigation pumps and crossbred cattle. But these kinds of investments alone will not raise farmers’ incomes. Agricultural and livestock development services are also crucial to give farmers knowledge of improved practices and strengthen their links to markets. BASIX is an Indian livelihood promotion institution working with more than a million poor households. Its mission is to promote sustainable livelihoods for a large number of rural poor people and women. When it started in 1996, BASIX’s primary focus was delivering microcredit to its customers. In 2001, however, BASIX asked the Indian Market Research Bureau to carry out an impact assessment, and the results were rather disappointing. Only 52 percent of the customers, who had received at least three rounds of microcredit from BASIX, showed a significant increase in their income (compared with a control group); 25 percent reported no change in income level; and 23 percent reported a decline in their income level. BASIX then carried out a detailed study of those who had experienced no increase or a decline in income and found that the reasons for these results could be grouped into three factors: 1. unmanaged risk; 2. low productivity; and 3. unfavorable terms in input and output market transactions.agricultural extension, BASIX, Rural poverty, Sustainable livelihoods,

The bottomside parameters <i>B0</i>, <i>B1</i> obtained from incoherent scatter measurements during a solar maximum and their comparisons with the IRI-2001 model

International audienceHigh resolution electron density profiles (Ne) measured with the Arecibo (18.4 N, 66.7 W), Incoherent Scatter radar (I. S.) are used to obtain the bottomside shape parameters B0, B1 for a solar maximum period (1989?90). Median values of these parameters are compared with those obtained from the IRI-2001 model. It is observed that during summer, the IRI values agree fairly well with the Arecibo values, though the numbers are somewhat larger during the daytime. Discrepancies occur during winter and equinox, when the IRI underestimates B0 for the local times from about 12:00 LT to about 20:00 LT. Furthermore, the IRI model tends to generally overestimate B1 at all local times. At Arecibo, B0 increases by about 50%, and B1 decreases by about 30% from solar minimum to solar maximum

Synthesis and photonic sintering of bioresorbable zinc nanoparticle ink for transient electronics manufacturing

Zinc is an essential \u27trace element\u27 that supports immune systems, and is required for DNA synthesis, cell division, and protein synthesis. Zinc nanoparticles (Zn NP) has antibacterial properties and potential to be used in biodegradable printed electronics devices. The research presented here is about the synthesis of Zn NP and their potential use in transient electronics devices. In Paper 1, a technique of room temperature synthesis of Zn NP is reported using ball milling. Controlled amount of PVP was mixed in the solvent to stabilize the Zn particles and minimize cold welding during milling. The size of the produced Zn NPs was found to be heavily dependent on the amount of PVP used in the solvent. The analyses reveals a crystal size of ~34.834 ± 1.76 nm and very low oxidation in the Zn NPs. The obtained Zn NPs were directly used to print bioresorbable patterns on Na-CMC and PVA substrates which forms conductive patterns upon subjecting to photonic sintering. In paper 2, a new method of manufacturing transient electronics devices is reported. An aerosol printer has been used to print patterns using Zn NPs based bioresorbable ink. Lower concentration of PVP used results in the formation of surface oxide, while higher concentration of PVP hinders the coalescence of Zn NPs. Conductivity of about 0.1% to that of bulk has been found when 0.1 wt % PVP is used. Analytical simulations has been accompanied with experimental verifications in the study of sintering mechanism of Zn NPs. XPS analysis indicates Zn NP surface protection by PVP. The ink was used to print patterns which can potentially be used as RFID tags, on a biodegradable Na-CMC substrate. The whole substrate dissolves in water --Abstract, page iv

Significance and analysis of milia-like cysts in dermoscopy skin lesion images

“Milia-like cysts (MLCs) are dermoscopic structures frequently observed in seborrheic keratoses(SKs), which are the most common type of skin lesions. Diverse appearances of these skin lesions make them difficult to differentiate from melanoma, a deadly type of skin cancer. Classified by size into two main groups, starry MLCs and cloudy MLCs, the presence of these structures in a skin lesion has been known to help differentiate benign lesions from melanoma. Though the presence of cloudy MLCs is not exclusively associated with SKs, they can be a useful tool to differentiate SKs from melanoma. This research study determines the statistical occurrence of MLCs in benign vs. malignant lesions and presents models to differentiate them from the mimics. Various distinct features of these structures such as size, brightness relative to surrounding area, color and shape were used to mark them among the lesions in a training set. A logistic regression model was then used to verify the significant features differentiating these structures from the MLCs and resulted in an area under the receiver operating curve (ROC) of 92.4% for cloudy MLCs and 88.2% for starry MLCs. These models were validated by using a test set”--Abstract, page iv

Solar Cycle variations of ƒoF2 from IGY to 1990

Noontime monthly median values of F2-layer critical frequency ƒoF2 (m) for some ionospheric stations representing low- and mid-latitudes are examined for their dependence on solar activity for the years 1957 (IGY) to 1990. This is the period for which ionospheric data in digital form is available in two CD-ROMs at the World Data Center, Boulder. It is observed that at mid-latitudes, foF2 (m) shows nearly a linear relationship with R12 (the 12-month running average of the Zurich sunspot number), though this relation is nonlinear for low-latitudes. These results indicate some departures from the existing information often used in theoretical and applied areas of space research

Statistical investigation through stratified random sampling for apple production in Himachal Pradesh

The present study focuses on standardization of sampling technique and comparison of different types of sample allocation methods in combination with various stratification tools (optimum strata boundaries, number of strata and optimum sample size etc.) for obtaining efficient estimators of area and production of apple in Himachal Pradesh. Forth is purpose, various aspects involved in optimum stratification with reference todata collected from the selected or chardists in district Shimla, during the year 2011-12 have been analyzed. The variable "Area under Apple" was chosen as the stratification variable as it had high correlation(r=0.96) with the estimation variable "Production of Apple". Four methods of construction of strata viz., equalization of strata total, equalization of cumulative of ?f(y) , equalization of cumulative of ½{r(y)+f(y)} and equalization of cumulative of were used and their relative efficiencies for estimating total production of apple in the study district of the state have been analyzed. The critical examination of the result revealed that with the increase in number of strata from 2 to 4 and sample size from 10 to 40, equalization of cumulative of method along with Neyman allocation resulted in least variance (0.89) and maximum percentage gain in efficiency (20418.16). Thus, equalization of cumulative of method with L&gt;2 can profitably be applied for the estimation of apple production in the study district of the state Himachal Pradesh, India