Production Efficiency in Peasant Agriculture: An Application of LISREL Model

The study examined a simplified conceptual model which incorporates variables that influence the processes and consequences of household decision-making in the Ada and Selale districts of the Ethiopian highlands. Linear structural relations (LISREL) analysis was performed on three conceptual models. The results of LISREL analysis indicate that the magnitude of contribution of factors to production efficiency in descending order as: skill variables (e.g., experience, secular education and production knowledge), consequences of access to resources or institutions (e.g., wealth), technologies adopted, physical factors (e.g., land and labour) and extension education. The impact of inputs on production efficiency was greater among farmers who have adopted one or two technologies (Ada) and two or more technologies (Selale). Successful adoption can be attained if, given appropriate socioeconomic environment, skills of producers are matched to the requirements of technologies, and when the choice of technologies are compatible with the goals of households, experience, region and enterprise specific comparative advantages.Linear structural relations (LISREL); production efficiency; knowledge; technology adoption; Ethiopia; peasant

Production efficiency in Peasant Agriculture: The Case of Mixed Farming System in the Ethiopian Highlands

An aggregate measure of production efficiency involving crop and livestock enterprises is examined in the Selale and Ada regions of Ethiopia using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). In general, farmers in regions more suitable to crop production (Ada) tend to attain higher production efficiency compared to farmers in regions suitable to livestock production (Selale). This implies that Ada farmers produce agricultural outputs with a minimal outlay of inputs. DEA results also reveal that farmers who adopted cross-bred cows (refrred as test farmers) are more efficient than those who have not adopted ( referred as control farmers) in both study sites. Analysis of the contribution of socioeconomic variables to measures of production efficiency indicated that the magnitude of knowledge-related variables (i.e. production knowledge and schooling) are relatively higher compared to physical or other non-physical variables. This finding implies that sustainable increases in production efficiency and attainment of food self-sufficiency could be attained if development strategies design methods of incorporating indigenous production knowledge of peasants in the planning process.Production efficiency; Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); agriculture; knowledge Ethiopia. technologies; peasants

Ectopic pregnancy: reappraisal of risk factors and management strategies

Background: The incidence of ectopic pregnancy is increasing. The objective of this study was to analyze the risk factors, clinical characteristics, and management strategies in patients with ectopic pregnancy at a tertiary care referral centre in South India.  Methods: Retrospective observational study was done for a period of seven years from April 2006 to March 2014 where in case files of 87 cases of ectopic pregnancies were analyzed for clinical profile, sonological data, management strategies and outcome.Results: The incidence of ectopic pregnancy has increased from 8.3 in 2006 to 18.92/1000 live births in 2014. Risk factors associated were prior tubal ligation 21 (24.14%), history of pelvic inflammatory disease 11 (12.64%), prior ectopic 5 (5.75%), prior tubal surgery 4 (4.60%), infertility 13 (14.94%), prior pelvic surgery 22 (25.29%) and current use of Copper T - 3 (3.45%) cases. Common symptoms were lower abdominal pain in 80 (91.95%) and amenorrhea in 76 (87.35) cases. 9 cases presented in shock. Gray scale ultrasound showed complex adnexal mass in 42 (48.28%), tubal ring 19 (21.84%) and live fetus in 11 (12.64%). 72 cases were managed surgically, 11 medically and 4 by expectant management. Tubal rupture occurred in 30(41.67%). Among those managed surgically, laparotomy was done in 55 (76.39%), laparoscopy in 17 (23.61%) cases. Salpingectomy was done in 52 (72.22%), salpingostomy 9 (12.5%), salpingotomy 5 (6.94%), segmental resection 3 (4.17%), scar excision and repair 1 (1.39%), abdominal hysterectomy 1 (1.39%), and laparotomy for abdominal pregnancy in 1 (1.39%) case. There was no maternal death.  Conclusions: The incidence of ectopic has been increasing. Prior sterilization particularly done along with caesarean is the most common risk factor in our region. Surgical management by laparotomy and salpingectomy continues to be the preferred mode of management of ectopic pregnancy in our institution since two third of patients are referred from periphery and present with considerable intraperitoneal hemorrhage.

Adnexal torsion: clinical, radiological and pathological characteristics in a tertiary care centre in Southern India

Background: Adnexal torsion accounts for 2.7% of gynecological emergencies. Early diagnosis can help prevent irreversible damage to ovary. Objective of this study was to analyze the clinical, radiological and pathological characteristics of surgically proven cases of ovarian torsion.Methods: Observational study was carried out from January 2006 to June 2014. Medical records of 38 cases of adnexal torsion were selected and analyzed retrospectively for age, parity, risk factors, clinical presentation, presence of leukocytosis, gray scale ultrasound and colour Doppler features, management, pathological results and post-operative outcome.Results: Adnexal torsion occurred most commonly in reproductive age group (mean 27.89 years) of whom 3 were pregnant. 42% had known risk factors commonly prior pelvic surgery (52.63%) and prior tubal ligation (31.58%). Symptoms include sudden abdominal or pelvic pain (94.74%), vomiting (60.53%) and fever (21.05%). Gray scale USG showed mixed echogenic mass (36.84%), homogenously echogenic cyst (34.21%) anechoic cyst (26.32%) and free fluid (23.68%). Doppler showed absent arterial and venous flow in 52.63%. Cases were managed by detorsion & cystectomy (42.11%), unilateral salpingooophorectomy (47.37%), bilateral salpingooophorectomy (5.26%) and TAH with BSO (5.26%). Histopathology revealed benign serous epithelial tumors (31.58%), mucinous tumors (21.05%), mature teratoma (10.53%), corpus luteal cyst (5.26%), follicular cyst (2.63%) paraovarian cyst (13.16%), endometriotic cyst (2.63%) and ovarian hemangioma (2.63%).Conclusions: High index of suspicion &prompt surgical intervention is necessary to preserve ovarian function even if Doppler shows vascularity. Though detorsion and cystectomy is the choice, salpingooophorectomy may be needed in infracted ovaries and older women. Higher incidence of serous & mucinous tumors in our study suggests reappraisal of ovary sparing surgery for all patients as advocated by few

Fast Timing for High-Rate Environments with Micromegas

The current state of the art in fast timing resolution for existing experiments is of the order of 100 ps on the time of arrival of both charged particles and electromagnetic showers. Current R&D on charged particle timing is approaching the level of 10 ps but is not primarily directed at sustained performance at high rates and under high radiation (as would be needed for HL-LHC pileup mitigation). We demonstrate a Micromegas based solution to reach this level of performance. The Micromegas acts as a photomultiplier coupled to a Cerenkov-radiator front window, which produces sufficient UV photons to convert the ~100 ps single-photoelectron jitter into a timing response of the order of 10-20 ps per incident charged particle. A prototype has been built in order to demonstrate this performance. The first laboratory tests with a pico-second laser have shown a time resolution of the order of 27 ps for ~50 primary photoelectrons, using a bulk Micromegas readout.Comment: MPGD2015 (4th Conference on Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors, Trieste, Italy, 12 - 15 October, 2015). 5 pages, 8 figure

Differential effects of sustained and transient effort triggered by reward : a combined EEG and pupillometry study

In instrumental task contexts, incentive manipulations such as posting reward on successful performance usually trigger increased effort, which is signified by effort markers like increased pupil size. Yet, it is not fully clear under which circumstances incentives really promote performance, and which role effort plays therein. In the present study, we compared two schemes of associating reward with a Flanker task, while simultaneously acquiring electroencephalography (EEG) and pupillometry data in order to explore the contribution of effort-related processes. In Experiment 1, reward was administered in a block-based fashion, with series of targets in pure reward and no-reward blocks. The results imply increased sustained effort in the reward blocks, as reflected in particular in sustained increased pupil size. Yet, this was not accompanied by a behavioral benefit, suggesting a failure of translating increased effort into a behavioral pay-off. In Experiment 2, we introduced trial-based cues in order to also promote transient preparatory effort application, which indeed led to a behavioral benefit. Again, we observed a sustained pupil-size increase, but also transient ones. Consistent with this, the EEG data of Experiment 2 indicated increased transient preparatory effort preceding target onset, as well as reward modulations of target processing that arose earlier than in Experiment 1. Jointly, our results indicate that incentive-triggered effort can operate on different time-scales, and that, at least for the current task, its transient (and largely preparatory) form is critical for achieving a behavioral benefit, which may relate to the temporal dynamics of the catecholaminergic systems

Preferred therapist characteristics of Muslim college women in the United Arab Emirates: implications for psychotherapy

© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Therapeutic alliance and psychotherapeutic outcomes can be influenced by therapist characteristics. While research has explored preferred therapist characteristics in Western secular contexts, few studies have examined this question among Muslim populations in the Arab world. This study explores Arab, Muslim women\u27s expressed preferences concerning therapist characteristics. Two hundred and twenty college women attending a tertiary educational institution in the United Arab Emirates were presented with a list of twenty-two therapist characteristics derived from previous research and included attributes such as empathy, compassion and honesty. Participants performed a discrete choice task, expressing a preference for either male or female therapists, and for therapists of the same (Emirati) or different nationality. The most frequently endorsed characteristic among the present population was confidentiality. Implications are discussed with reference to psychotherapy practice with Muslim clients in the UAE and the need for an empirical approach to the identification of preferred therapist characteristics

Synchrotron PXRD deconvolutes nickel particle and support changes in Ni/ZrO2_{2} methanation catalysts

Understanding catalyst deactivation is important for future knowledge-based design of catalysts with improved stability. Deactivation by thermal aging is particularly relevant for exothermic reactions, here demonstrated with CO$_{2}$ methanation using nickel-based catalysts. A series of five Ni/ZrO$_{2}$ catalysts is studied which differ by calcination temperature of the ZrO$_{2}$ support prior to Ni deposition, leading to different textural properties of the support. Artificial thermal aging of the Ni/ZrO$_{2}$ series is then performed and monitored by operando synchrotron-based powder X-ray diffraction (SPXRD). This reveals the dependence of catalyst stability on the support properties and shows that different deactivation mechanisms take place. Catalyst deactivation is mainly correlated either to changes of the support or to changes in nickel crystallite size, depending on the calcination temperature of the support before nickel deposition. By preparing a targeted series of supports with different textural properties, it is possible to deconvolute these effects. Operando SPXRD is shown as a powerful tool to follow both textural and structural changes during thermal catalyst deactivation, which is mostly only performed by post mortem ex situ analysis

CARBAMAZEPINE-INDUCED TOXIC EPIDERMAL NECROLYSIS: A CASE REPORT

Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a life-threatening dermatological disorder characterized by erythematous lesions, necrosis, exfoliation, sepsis, and death. This may be due to different reasons such as chemical exposure, systemic infections, or some reactions of drugs such as carbamazepine, phenytoin, allopurinol, lamotrigine, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In this case, the patient was on carbamazepine for the management of alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Moreover, this might be the reason for the occurrence of TEN. For his condition, he had given corticosteroids, antibiotics for sepsis, and other supportive measures

Micromegas at low pressure for beam tracking

New facilities like FAIR at GSI or SPIRAL2 at GANIL, will provide radioactive ion beams at low energies (less than 10 MeV/n). Such beams have generally a large emittance, which requires the use of beam tracking detectors to reconstruct the exact trajectories of the nuclei. To avoid the angular and energy straggling that classical beam tracking detectors would generate in the beam due to their thickness, we propose the use of SED (Secondary Electron Detectors). It consists of a low pressure gaseous detector placed outside the beam coupled to an emissive foil in the beam. Since 2008, different low pressure gaseous detectors (wire chambers and micromegas) have been constructed and tested. The performances achievable at low pressure are similar to or even better than the ones at atmospheric pressure. The fast charge collection leads to excellent timing properties as well as high counting rate capabilities. Several micromegas at low pressure were tested in the laboratory demonstrating a good time resolution, 13030 ps, which is compatible with the results obtained with wire chambers.Gobierno de España FPA2009-0884