Agricultural Prices and Income Distribution among Farmers: A Whole-Household, Multi-Country, Multi-Year Analysis

Recent studies have emphasized that the poorest farmers are often net buyers of key commodities and therefore harmed by rising prices. We use LSMS data from Tanzania, Vietnam and Guatemala to test the degree of net purchases or sales by income level. We find that poorer farmers may be net buyers of individual crops, but only the poorest are net buyers of all crops. More generally, net sales among poor farmers are low. We conclude that agricultural price changes have a diverse but limited influence on poor farmers’ welfare, because their farm sales tend to be offset by food purchases.market participation, poverty, inequality, multi-continent multicountry, Agricultural Finance,

Linkages between Market Participation and Productivity: Results from a Multi-Country Farm Household Sample

We build upon international trade literature to analyze the direction of causality between market participation and productivity. Cross-country household data from Tanzania, Vietnam and Guatemala are used in a 2SLS approach with market participation and productivity as endogenous variables. Results indicate that households with higher productivity tend to participate in agricultural markets regardless of market access factors. In contrast, having better market access does not necessarily lead to higher productivity. This finding suggests that investments in market access infrastructure provide minimal, if any, improvements in agricultural productivity; whereas programs targeted at enhancements in farm structure and capital have the potential to increase both productivity and market participation.International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Productivity Analysis,

Advanced engine study program

A design and analysis study was conducted to provide advanced engine descriptions and parametric data for space transfer vehicles. The study was based on an advanced oxygen/hydrogen engine in the 7,500 to 50,000 lbf thrust range. Emphasis was placed on defining requirements for high-performance engines capable of achieving reliable and versatile operation in a space environment. Four variations on the expander cycle were compared, and the advantages and disadvantages of each were assessed. Parametric weight, envelope, and performance data were generated over a range of 7,500 to 50,000 lb thrust and a wide range of chamber pressure and nozzle expansion ratio

Conscious monitoring and control (reinvestment) in surgical performance under pressure.

Research on intraoperative stressors has focused on external factors without considering individual differences in the ability to cope with stress. One individual difference that is implicated in adverse effects of stress on performance is "reinvestment," the propensity for conscious monitoring and control of movements. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of reinvestment on laparoscopic performance under time pressure

Robust thermal stability for batch process intensification with model predictive control

Thermal runaways in exothermic batch reactors present major safety and economic issues for industry. Control systems currently used are not capable of detecting thermal runaway behaviour and achieve nominally safe operation by carrying out the reaction at a low temperature. Recently, improvements in safety and process intensity have been achieved by using Model Predictive Control (MPC) with embedded stability criteria. The reliance of this approach on accurate model predictions makes plantmodel mismatch a crucial issue. The most common source of plant-model mismatch is uncertainty of model parameters. Scenario-based MPC and worst case MPC are used with stability criterion K and Lyapunov exponents in this work. The effect of all uncertain parameters on thermal runaway potential can be identified easily for simulations in this work. Hence, worst case MPC results in a computationally more efficient control scheme than scenario-based MPC, whilst ensuring the same extent of safety and process intensification

Defining end user requirements for a field-based molecular detection system for wildlife forensic investigations

The increasing use of non-laboratory-based DNA and protein detection methods promise to provide rapid investigative intelligence and support sample prioritisation. Primarily developed for human forensic or medical applications, current systems may also show utility in the field of wildlife forensic science. However, it is currently unknown whether the requirements of the wildlife forensic community can be met by current non-laboratory based tools. Given the diverse array of stakeholders and sample types commonly encountered, it is necessary to first identify the needs of the community and then try and map their needs to current instrumentation. By using a market research style questionnaire, this study identified key requirements for a non-laboratory-based system following feedback from the wildlife forensic community. Data showed that there is strong support for field-based detection methods while highlighting concerns including contamination risks and reduced quality assurance associated with non-laboratory testing. Key species and applications were identified alongside hurdles to implementation and adoption. Broadly, the requirements align with many of the developmental drivers that have led to the rise of in-field portable detection instrumentation, specifically rapid detection within one hour, ease-of-use, and ≥95% accuracy. Several existing platforms exist that met some of the identified requirements but not all. With further collaboration between industry partners and the wildlife forensic community it is possible that new field-based systems can be developed and applied routinely

Diversity and Variation in Nutritive Value of Plants Growing on 2 Saline Sites in Southwestern Australia

In south-western Australia 10% or 1.8 million ha of the farmed area is affected by dryland salinity and a further 6 million ha are at risk of salinity (NLWRA, 2001). Animal production from saltbush (Atriplex spp.)-based pasture systems represents the most likely large-scale opportunity for productive use of saline land in the short to medium term. Feeding saltbush-based pastures as a maintenance feed during the prolonged autumn feed gap typical in Mediterranean-type climates maximises their economic value. The aim of this study was to explore the diversity and nutritive value of plants that typically persist in saltbush-based saltland pastures