Contractualisation agricole comme modalites d’acces aux facteurs de commercialisation du riz autour des amenagements hydro agricoles dans la Vallee du Niger au Benin

L’émergence de la contractualisation agricole autour des aménagements hydro agricoles de la Vallée du Niger au Bénin devient de plus en plus une évidence. Pour mieux appréhender cette réalité sociale, la présente recherche s’est donnée comme objectif de comprendre les motivations réelles des riziculteurs à s’orienter progressivement vers l’agriculture contractuelle. Quatre-vingt (80) informateurs clés obtenus par boule de neige et par saturation dont 26 % de femmes de l’échantillon ont été impliqués dans l’étude. Les entretiens non structurés et individuels ont été privilégiés pour comprendre leurs motivations à s’orienter vers la contractualisation. Il est demandé aux riziculteurs de relater les stratégies qu’ils développent pour la commercialisation de leurs produits d’une part et d’expliquer les raisons qui motivent les stratégies énumérées d’autre part. Les entretiens sont enregistrés avec l’accord des interviewés. L’analyse des données a consisté à traduire et à transcrire les enregistrements à l’aide du logiciel Atlas.ti version 7 ; à mettre en évidence les verbatims et les motivations liés à la contractualisation agricole. L’étude a permis d’examiner la nature des facteurs de commercialisation qui sont garantis par des accords non formels et ceux qui sont assurés par les contrats formels. Il ressort que le besoin de garantir l’accès aux facteurs de production est la principale motivation à l’adoption de la contractualisation agricole comme alternative. La présente recherche a mis en évidence la fonction stratégique de l’agriculture contractuelle dans un contexte de difficile accès aux facteurs de production par les petits producteurs. English title: agricultural contracting as a strategy for accessing rice marketing factors around hydroagricultural systems in the Niger Valley in Benin The emergence of contract farming around hydro-agricultural developments in the Niger Valley in Benin is becoming increasingly evident. In order to better understand this social reality, the research aims to understand the real motivations of rice farmers to progressively move into contract farming. Eighty (80) informants obtained by saturation, including twenty-six women representing 26% of the purposive sample, were involved in the study. Unstructured and mostly individual interviews were favored to understand their motivations for moving into contract farming. Farmers were asked to describe the strategies they were developing for marketing their products, and to explain the motivations behind the strategies listed. The interviews were recorded with the permission of the interviewees. The data analysis consisted of the translation and transcription of the recordings using Atlas.ti version 7 software; the highlighting of the characteristics and motivations of the agricultural contractualization in marketing. The study examined the types of marketing factors that are guaranteed by non-formal agreements and those that are guaranteed by formal contracts. It also revealed the explanatory factors that motivate rice farmers in agricultural contracting around hydro-agricultural schemes in Benin. Keywords: marketing factors, agricultural contracting, hydro-agricultural schemes, Niger Valley, Benin

Pengembangan Universal Audio Scrambler Menggunakan Teknik Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)

AbstrakTelah didesain sebuah alat universal audio scrambler menggunakan teknik OFDM yaitu suatu teknik modulasi yang menggunakan banyak frekuensi (multicarrier) yang saling tegak lurus (orthogonal). Teknik ini dilakukan dengan menggunakan transformasi Fourier balik (Invers Fast Fourier Transform/IFFT) yang mengubah domain frekuensi menjadi domain waktu pada bagian pemancar (transmitter) sedangkan pada penerima menggunakan tranformasi Fourier (Fast Fourier Transform/FFT) untuk mendapatkan kembali sinyal dalam domain frekuensi. Frekuensi output dari transmitter  didesain berada pada daerah frekuensi audio dengan bandwith 2,4 kHz sehingga dapat diterapkan pada berbagai jenis alat komunikasi. Alat ini menggunakan kompresi suara CVSD dengan ratio 1:8 dan mapping 16PSK untuk memperkecil jumlah bit data.  Kecepatan transfer data (data rate) alat ini adalah 8 kbps. Desain juga diuji performanya terhadap variasi noise pada kanal transmisi dan terhadap frekuensi offset akibat efek doppler. Hasilnya, desain bekerja baik pada SNR di atas 60 dengan toleransi frekuensi offset sebesar 5 Hz.       Kata kunci: audio scrambler, OFDM, IFFT/FFT, 16PSK, CVSD.AbstractUniversal audio scrambler has been designed using OFDM technique, a modulation technique which uses multi-frequency (multi-carrier) that is orthogonal to each other. This technique is performed using Invers Fast Fourier Transformation (IFFT), which changes the frequency domain into time domain at the transmitter, while the receiver using Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) to get the signal back in the frequency domain. The output frequency of the transmitter is designed to be in the audio frequency area (2.4 kHz bandwidth), so that it can be applied to various types of communication tools. This tool uses CVSD voice compression with 1:8 ratios and 16PSK mapping to minimize the number of data bits. Data transfer speed (data rate) for this tool is 8 kbps. The design was also tested its performance against the variation of noise in transmission channels and the frequency offset due to Doppler effect. As a result, the design works well at SNR above 60 with a tolerance offset frequency of 5 Hz.      Keywords: audio scrambler, OFDM, IFFT/FFT, 16PSK, CVSD

UTILIZING SAR AND MULTISPECTRAL INTEGRATED DATA FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Satellite images are used widely in the risk cycle to understand the exposure, refine hazard maps and quickly provide an assessment after a natural or man-made disaster. Though there are different types of satellite images (e.g. optical, radar) these have not been combined for risk assessments. The characteristics of different remote sensing data type may be extremely valuable for monitoring and evaluating the impacts of disaster events, to extract additional information thus making it available for emergency situations. To base this approach, two different change detection methods, for two different sensor's data were used: Coherence Change Detection (CCD) for SAR data and Covariance Equalization (CE) for multispectral imagery. The CCD provides an identification of the stability of an area, and shows where changes have occurred. CCD shows subtle changes with an accuracy of several millimetres to centimetres. The CE method overcomes the atmospheric effects differences between two multispectral images, taken at different times. Therefore, areas that had undergone a major change can be detected. To achieve our goals, we focused on the urban areas affected by the tsunami event in Sendai, Japan that occurred on March 11, 2011 which affected the surrounding area, coastline and inland. High resolution TerraSAR-X (TSX) and Landsat 7 images, covering the research area, were acquired for the period before and after the event. All pre-processed and processed according to each sensor. Both results, of the optical and SAR algorithms, were combined by resampling the spatial resolution of the Multispectral data to the SAR resolution. This was applied by spatial linear interpolation. A score representing the damage level in both products was assigned. The results of both algorithms, high level of damage is shown in the areas closer to the sea and shoreline. Our approach, combining SAR and multispectral images, leads to more reliable information and provides a complete scene for the emergency response following an event

Studies on Functional Bacteria of Indonesian Tropical Forest Plants for Biorehabilitation of Degraded Lands

Forest degradations have left vast amount of damaged and abandoned lands in Indonesia. In this paper, we present our approaches in rehabilitation of adverse soils using functional bacteria isolated from plant species of Indonesian tropical rain forests. For these purposes, we collected bacteria from various bio-geo-climatically different forests and conducted bioassays to test these bacterial abilities in improving plant growth. Repeated seedling-based studies on Shorea spp., Alstonia scholaris, Acacia crassicarpa, and Agathis lorantifolia have revealed that many bacteria were able to promote plant growth at early stage in the nursery. Various plant responses towards inoculations suggested that although forest soils maintain highly diverse and potent bacteria, it is necessary to select appropriate approaches to obtain optimum benefits from these plant-bacteria interactions. Our ideas and futures studies for further management of these plant- bacteria interactions for biorehabilitation are also discussed

A Scalable Parallel Approach for High-Fidelity Aerostructural Analysis and Optimization

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97076/1/AIAA2012-1922.pd

Measuring Men’s Gender Norms and Gender Role Conflict/Stress in a High HIV-Prevalence South African Setting

Gender norms and gender role conflict/stress may influence HIV risk behaviors among men; however scales measuring these constructs need further development and evaluation in African settings. We conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to evaluate the Gender Equitable Men’s Scale (GEMS) and the Gender Role Conflict/Stress (GRC/S) scale among 581 men in rural northeast South Africa. The final 17-item GEMS was unidimensional, with adequate model fit and reliability (alpha = 0.79). Factor loadings were low (0.2–0.3) for items related to violence and sexual relationships. The final 24-item GRC/S scale was multidimensional with four factors: Success, power, competition; Subordination to women; Restrictive emotionality; and Sexual prowess. The scale had adequate model fit and good reliability (alpha = 0.83). While GEMS is a good measure of inequitable gender norms, new or revised scale items may need to be explored in the South African context. Adding the GRC/S scale to capture men’s strain related to gender roles could provide important insights into men’s risk behaviors

Predictors of linkage to care following community-based HIV counseling and testing in rural Kenya

Despite innovations in HIV counseling and testing (HCT), important gaps remain in understanding linkage to care. We followed a cohort diagnosed with HIV through a community-based HCT campaign that trained persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) as navigators. Individual, interpersonal, and institutional predictors of linkage were assessed using survival analysis of self-reported time to enrollment. Of 483 persons consenting to follow-up, 305 (63.2%) enrolled in HIV care within 3 months. Proportions linking to care were similar across sexes, barring a sub-sample of men aged 18–25 years who were highly unlikely to enroll. Men were more likely to enroll if they had disclosed to their spouse, and women if they had disclosed to family. Women who anticipated violence or relationship breakup were less likely to link to care. Enrolment rates were significantly higher among participants receiving a PLHA visit, suggesting that a navigator approach may improve linkage from community-based HCT campaigns.Vestergaard Frandse