The Limits of Discipline

This paper, based on a large sample of mid-sized manufacturing firms in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, examines differences in the behavior of state and private companies in short-term credit markets in transition economies. The study offers three main conclusions. First, we find that state enterprises represent a higher credit risk both because of their inferior economic performance and because of their lesser willingness or propensity to meet their payment obligations. Second, the brunt of the state firms' lower creditworthiness is borne by their state creditors, as state enterprises deflect the higher risk away from private creditors. Third, this transfer of risks from private to state creditors is possible because state creditors impose significantly "softer" financial discipline on state firms. Inasmuch as such softness may reflect unwillingness to accept a likely demise of a large number of state firms that are in principle capable of successful restructuring through ownership changes, we conclude that the imposition of financial discipline is not sufficient to remedy ownership and governance-related deficiencies of corporate performance.Ownership, Financial Discipline, Performance, Transition

Design of solar harvested semi active RFID transponder with supercapacitor storage

This paper presents the analysis, design and manufacture of a low cost, low maintenance and long-range prototype of RFID transponder with continuous operability. A prototype of semi-active RFID transponder is produced with a range that can be extended via a DC input to allow all of the readers signal power to be reflected via backscatter modulation. The transponder is powered via solar harvested power which is selected over other energy harvesting technologies as it provides a greater energy density and lower cost. Solar has one major drawback in terms of providing a steady DC voltage in it needed a constant supply of sunlight. A method of power storage is proposed, and the use of a supercapacitor over a rechargeable battery is used as it has a longer lifespan due to higher recharge rates. The prototype underwent a series of experiments in various working environments and proves an effective solution in providing long lasting operability. The paper concludes the use of solar harvesting with supercapacitor storage has potential for further uses in external remote sensors used in the Internet of Things

Decay of Massive Dirac Hair on a Brane-World Black Hole

We investigate the intermediate and late-time behaviour of the massive Dirac spinor field in the background of static spherically symmetric brane-world black hole solutions. The intermediate asymptotic behaviour of the massive spinor field exhibits a dependence on the field's parameter mass as well as the multiple number of the wave mode. On the other hand, the late-time behaviour power law decay has a rate which is independent of those factors.Comment: RevTex 8 pages, to be published in Phys.Rev.D1

The Justification for Guidelines When Implementing a Canine Program

Discusses implementation of a canine unit and the issues that should be considered prior to creation of the unit

The Decay of Dirac Hair around a Dilaton Black Hole

The intermediate and late-time behaviour of a massive Dirac field in the background of static spherically symmetric black hole solutions is investigated. The intermediate asymptotic behaviour of a massive Dirac field depends on the mass parameter as well as the wave number of the mode, while the late time behaviour has a power law decay rate independent of both.Comment: RevTex, 8 pages, to be published in Phys.Rev.D1

Simulating the Impacts of Irrigation Levels on Soybean Production in Texas High Plains to Manage Diminishing Groundwater Levels

There is an increasing need to strategize and plan irrigation systems under varied climatic conditions to support efficient irrigation practices while maintaining and improving the sustainability of groundwater systems. This study was undertaken to simulate the growth and production of soybean [Glycine max (L.)] under different irrigation scenarios. The objectives of this study were to calibrate and validate the CROPGRO-Soybean model under Texas High Plains’ (THP) climatic conditions and to apply the calibrated model to simulate the impacts of different irrigation levels and triggers on soybean production. The methodology involved combining short-term experimental data with long-term historical weather data (1951–2012), and use of mechanistic crop growth simulation algorithms to determine optimum irrigation management strategies. Irrigation was scheduled based on five different plant extractable water levels (irrigation threshold [ITHR]) set at 20%, 35%, 50%, 65%, and 80%. The calibrated model was able to satisfactorily reproduce measured leaf area index, biomass, and evapotranspiration for soybean, indicating it can be used for investigating different strategies for irrigating soybean in the THP. Calculations of crop water productivity for biomass and yield along with irrigation water use efficiency indicated soybean can be irrigated at ITHR set at 50% or 65% with minimal yield loss as compared to 80% ITHR, thus conserving water and contributing toward lower groundwater withdrawals

Assessment of Alternative Agricultural Land Use Options for Extending the Availability of the Ogallala Aquifer in the Northern High Plains of Texas

The Ogallala Aquifer has experienced a continuous decline in water levels due to decades of irrigation pumping with minimal recharge. Corn is one of the major irrigated crops in the semi-arid Northern High Plains (NHP) of Texas. Selection of less water-intensive crops may provide opportunities for groundwater conservation. Modeling the long-term hydrologic impacts of alternative crops can be a time-saving and cost-effective alternative to field-based experiments. A newly developed management allowed depletion (MAD) irrigation scheduling algorithm for Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used in this study. The impacts of irrigated farming, dryland farming, and continuous fallow on water conservation were evaluated. Results indicated that simulated irrigation, evapotranspiration, and crop yield were representative of the measured data. Approximately 19%, 21%, and 32% reductions in annual groundwater uses were associated with irrigated soybean, sunflower, and sorghum, respectively, as compared to irrigated corn. On average, annual soil water depletion was more than 52 mm for dryland farming scenarios. In contrast, only 18 mm of soil water was lost to evaporation annually, for the long-term continuous fallow simulation. The fallow scenario also showed 31 mm of percolation for aquifer recharge

A Decade of Unmanned Aerial Systems in Irrigated Agriculture in the Western U.S.

Several research institutes, laboratories, academic programs, and service companies around the United States have been developing programs to utilize small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) as an instrument to improve the efficiency of in-field water and agronomical management. This article describes a decade of efforts on research and development efforts focused on UAS technologies and methodologies developed for irrigation management, including the evolution of aircraft and sensors in contrast to data from satellites. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations for UAS operation in agriculture have been synthesized along with proposed modifications to enhance UAS contributions to irrigated agriculture. Although it is feasible to use sUAS technology to produce maps of actual crop coefficients, actual crop evapotranspiration, and soil water deficits, for irrigation management, the technology and regulations need to evolve further to facilitate a successful wide adoption and application. Improvements and standards are needed in terms of cameras’ spectral (bands) ranges, radiometric resolutions and associated calibrations, fuel/power technology for longer missions, better imagery processing software, and easier FAA approval of higher altitudes flight missions among other issues. Furthermore, the sUAS technology would play a larger role in irrigated agriculture when integrating multi-scale data (sUAS, groundbased or proximal, satellite) and soil water sensors is addressed, including the need for advances on processing large amounts of data from multiple and different sources, and integration into scientific irrigation scheduling (SIS) systems for convenience of decision making. Desirable technological innovations, and features of the next generation of UAS platforms, sensors, software, and methods for irrigated agriculture, are discussed

Evidence for the existence of powder sub-populations in micronized materials : Aerodynamic size-fractions of aerosolized powders possess distinct physicochemical properties

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.Purpose: To investigate the agglomeration behaviour of the fine ( 12.8 µm) particle fractions of salmeterol xinafoate (SX) and fluticasone propionate (FP) by isolating aerodynamic size fractions and characterising their physicochemical and re-dispersal properties. Methods: Aerodynamic fractionation was conducted using the Next Generation Impactor (NGI). Re-crystallized control particles, unfractionated and fractionated materials were characterized for particle size, morphology, crystallinity and surface energy. Re-dispersal of the particles was assessed using dry dispersion laser diffraction and NGI analysis. Results: Aerosolized SX and FP particles deposited in the NGI as agglomerates of consistent particle/agglomerate morphology. SX particles depositing on Stages 3 and 5 had higher total surface energy than unfractionated SX, with Stage 5 particles showing the greatest surface energy heterogeneity. FP fractions had comparable surface energy distributions and bulk crystallinity but differences in surface chemistry. SX fractions demonstrated higher bulk disorder than unfractionated and re-crystallized particles. Upon aerosolization, the fractions differed in their intrinsic emission and dispersion into a fine particle fraction (< 5.0 µm). Conclusions: Micronized powders consisted of sub-populations of particles displaying distinct physicochemical and powder dispersal properties compared to the unfractionated bulk material. This may have implications for the efficiency of inhaled drug deliveryPeer reviewe