2,563 research outputs found
Agricultural extension for women farmers in Africa
Women are responsible for at least 70 percent of food staple production in Africa. They are also important in other agricultural activities, including food processing and marketing, cash cropping and animal husbandry. Women's involvement is significant not only in terms of their labor input, but also in terms of their decision-making authority. This paper proposes a series of operational guidelines on how to provide agricultural extension services in a cost-effective way to women farmers. All small-scale farmers, regardless of gender, face constraints, but the focus here is on women farmers in order to foster a better understanding of the particular gender-related barriers confronting women and the strategies needed to overcome them. Attention is concentrated on sub-Saharan Africa in view of the crucial role of women in agriculture throughout the sub-continent. This paper addresses the question of why women need help -- the role women have in agriculture and the particular constraints they face in terms of access to resources and information. It examines the information needed to modify extension systems to better reach women farmers, to modify the focus of research to address women's activities and to monitor and evaluate programs. The paper also deals with the transmission of the extension message to women farmers and the formulation of the message to be delivered, and the linkage between extension and agricultural research and technology.Agricultural Research,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Crops&Crop Management Systems,Primary Education,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems
Search For Oxygen in Cool DQ White Dwarf Atmospheres
We report new infrared spectroscopic observations of cool DQ white dwarfs by
using Coolspec on the 2.7m Harlan-Smith Telescope. DQs have helium-rich
atmospheres with traces of molecular carbon thought to be the result of
convective dredge-up from their C/O interiors. Recent model calculations
predict that oxygen should also be present in DQ atmospheres in detectable
amounts. Our synthetic spectra calculations for He-rich white dwarfs with
traces of C and O indicate that CO should be easily detected in the cool DQ
atmospheres if present in the expected amounts. Determination of the oxygen
abundance in the atmosphere will reveal the C/O ratio at the core/envelope
boundary, constraining the important and uncertain ^{12}C(alpha,gamma)^{16}O
reaction rate.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, to appear in proceedings of the 13th European
Workshop on White Dwarf
Plasma Lens Backgrounds at a Future Linear Collider
A 'plasma lens' might be used to enhance the luminosity of future linear
colliders. However, its utility for this purpose depends largely on the
potential backgrounds that may be induced by the insertion of such a device in
the interaction region of the detector. In this note we identify different
sources of such backgrounds, calculate their event rates from the elementary
interaction processes, and evaluate their effects on the major parts of a
hypothetical Next Linear Collider (NLC) detector. For plasma lens parameters
which give a factor of seven enhancement of the luminosity, and using the NLC
design for beam parameters as a reference, we find that the background yields
are fairly high, and require further study and improvements in detector
technology to avoid their impact.Comment: 14 pages incl. 3 figures; contributed to the 4th International
Workshop, Electron-Electron Interactions at TeV Energies, Santa Cruz,
California, Dec. 7 - 9, 2001. To be published in Int.Journ. Mod. Phys.
A Possible Explanation for the Size Difference of Red and Blue Globular Clusters
Most observations of the projected half-light radii of metal-rich globular
clusters in a variety of galaxies have shown them to be ~20% smaller than those
of their metal-poor counterparts. We show using multi-mass isotropic
Michie-King models that the combined effects of mass segregation and the
dependence of main sequence lifetimes on metallicity can account for this
difference, under the assumption that clusters with similar central potentials
have the same distribution of half mass radii. If confirmed, this would
represent a new constraint on theories of globular cluster formation and
evolution.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Calibration of White Dwarf cooling sequences: theoretical uncertainty
White Dwarf luminosities are powerful age indicators, whose calibration
should be based on reliable models. We discuss the uncertainty of some chemical
and physical parameters and their influence on the age estimated by means of
white dwarf cooling sequences. Models at the beginning of the white dwarf
sequence have been obtained on the base of progenitor evolutionary tracks
computed starting from the zero age horizontal branch and for a typical halo
chemical composition (Z=0.0001, Y=0.23). The uncertainties due to nuclear
reaction rates, convection, mass loss and initial chemical composition are
discussed. Then, various cooling sequences for a typical white dwarf mass
(M=0.6 Mo) have been calculated under different assumptions on some input
physics, namely: conductive opacity, contribution of the ion-electron
interaction to the free energy and microscopic diffusion. Finally we present
the evolution of white dwarfs having mass ranging between 0.5 and 0.9 Mo. Much
effort has been spent to extend the equation of state down to the low
temperature and high density regime. An analysis of the latest improvement in
the physics of white dwarf interiors is presented. We conclude that at the
faint end of the cooling sequence (log L/Lo=-5.5) the present overall
uncertainty on the age is of the order of 20%, which correspond to about 3 Gyr.
We suggest that this uncertainty could be substantially reduced by improving
our knowledge of the conductive opacity (especially in the partially degenerate
regime) and by fixing the internal stratification of C and O.Comment: 14 figures, accepted by Ap
Low Luminosity Companions to White Dwarfs
This paper presents results of a near-infrared imaging survey for low mass
stellar and substellar companions to white dwarfs. A wide field proper motion
survey of 261 white dwarfs was capable of directly detecting companions at
orbital separations between and 5000 AU with masses as low as 0.05
, while a deep near field search of 86 white dwarfs was capable of
directly detecting companions at separations between and 1100 AU with
masses as low as 0.02 . Additionally, all white dwarf targets were
examined for near-infrared excess emission, a technique capable of detecting
companions at arbitrarily close separations down to masses of 0.05 .
No brown dwarf candidates were detected, which implies a brown dwarf
companion fraction of % for white dwarfs. In contrast, the stellar
companion fraction of white dwarfs as measured by this survey is 22%,
uncorrected for bias. Moreover, most of the known and suspected stellar
companions to white dwarfs are low mass stars whose masses are only slightly
greater than the masses of brown dwarfs. Twenty previously unknown stellar
companions were detected, five of which are confirmed or likely white dwarfs
themselves, while fifteen are confirmed or likely low mass stars.
Similar to the distribution of cool field dwarfs as a function of spectral
type, the number of cool unevolved dwarf companions peaks at mid-M type. Based
on the present work, relative to this peak, field L dwarfs appear to be roughly
2-3 times more abundant than companion L dwarfs. Additionally, there is no
evidence that the initial companion masses have been altered by post main
sequence binary interactions.Comment: 149 pages, 59 figures, 11 tables, accepted to ApJ Supplement
Neuronal Activity in the Human Subthalamic Nucleus Encodes Decision Conflict during Action Selection
The subthalamic nucleus (STN), which receives excitatory inputs from the cortex and has direct connections with the inhibitory pathways\ud
of the basal ganglia, is well positioned to efficiently mediate action selection. Here, we use microelectrode recordings captured during\ud
deep brain stimulation surgery as participants engage in a decision task to examine the role of the human STN in action selection. We\ud
demonstrate that spiking activity in the STN increases when participants engage in a decision and that the level of spiking activity\ud
increases with the degree of decision conflict. These data implicate the STN as an important mediator of action selection during decision\ud
processes.\u
From Young and Hot to Old and Cold: Comparing White Dwarf Cooling Theory to Main Sequence Stellar Evolution in Open Clusters
I explore the current ability of both white dwarf cooling theory and main
sequence stellar evolution theory to accurately determine stellar population
ages by comparing ages derived using both techniques for open clusters ranging
from 0.1 to 4 Gyr. I find good agreement between white dwarf and main sequence
evolutionary ages over the entire age range currently available for study. I
also find that directly comparing main sequence turn-off ages to white dwarf
ages is only weakly sensitive to realistic levels of errors in cluster
distance, metallicity, and reddening. Additional detailed comparisons between
white dwarf and main sequence ages have tremendous potential to refine and
calibrate both of these important clocks, and I present new simulations of
promising open cluster targets. The most demanding requirement for these white
dwarf studies are very deep (V > 25-28) cluster observations made necessary by
the faintness of the oldest white dwarfs.Comment: 25 pages, incl. 10 figures, ApJ accepted for April, 200
C/O white dwarfs of very low mass: 0.33-0.5 Mo
The standard lower limit for the mass of white dwarfs (WDs) with a C/O core
is roughly 0.5 Mo. In the present work we investigated the possibility to form
C/O WDs with mass as low as 0.33 Mo. Both the pre-WD and the cooling evolution
of such nonstandard models will be described.Comment: Submitted to the "Proceedings of the 16th European White Dwarf
Workshop" (to be published JPCS). 7 pages including 13 figure
Multi-stage emplacement of the Götemar Pluton, SE Sweden: new evidence inferred from field observations and microfabric analysis, including cathodoluminescence microscopy
The emplacement of the Mesoproterozoic Götemar Pluton into Paleoproterozoic granitoid host rocks of the Transscandinavian Igneous Belt is re-examined by microfabric analysis, including cathodoluminescence microscopy. Field data on the pluton-host rock system are used to strengthen the model. The Götemar Pluton, situated on the Baltic Shield of SE Sweden, is a horizontally zoned tabular structure that was constructed by the intrusion of successive pulses of magma with different crystal/melt ratios, at an estimated crustal depth of 4–8 km. Initial pluton formation involved magma ascent along a vertical dike, which was arrested at a mechanical discontinuity within the granitoid host rocks; this led to the formation of an initial sill. Subsequent sill stacking and their constant inflation resulted in deformation and reheating of existing magma bodies, which also raised the pluton roof. This multi-stage emplacement scenario is indicated by complex dike relationships and the occurrence of several generations of quartz (Si-metasomatism). The sills were charged by different domains of a heterogeneous magma chamber with varying crystal/melt ratios. Ascent or emplacement of magma with a high crystal/melt ratio is indicated by syn-magmatic deformation of phenocrysts. Complex crystallization fabrics (e.g. oscillatory growth zoning caused by high crystal defect density, overgrowth and replacement features, resorbed and corroded crystal cores, rapakivi structure) are mostly related to processes within the main chamber, that is repeated magma mixing or water influx
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