Unravelling technology-acceptance factors influencing farmer use of banana tissue culture planting materials in Central Uganda

Effective management of plant health is fundamental for food and income security to meet the growing demands of local and global markets. This however requires farmers’ adequate access to quality planting materials under the prevailing contextual and psycho-social factors. This study, anchored in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technologies, unravels technology-acceptance factors that influence farmers’ intentions to use banana tissue culture planting materials in the control of Banana Xanthomonas Wilt. Data were collected from 248 randomly sampled banana farmers using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modelling to examine hypothesized paths in the uptake of banana tissue culture planting materials. Results show that farmer intentions to use tissue culture planting materials are dependent on two constructs: social influence and farmer innovativeness. However, social influence is the main predictor of intentions to use tissue culture planting materials. In particular, farmer innovativeness mediates facilitating conditions and social influence in predicting intentions to use tissue culture planting materials. Thus, this study reveals two factors that influence farmer intentions to use tissue culture planting materials: social influence and farmer innovativeness. The findings imply that social influence and farmer innovativeness are critical in disseminating novel agricultural technologies in Uganda and elsewhere

Editor\u27s Note

Globalization and the Law: The Next Twenty Years. Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana, April 5-6, 2012

Model Penjadwalan Perawat di Rumah Sakit

Dalam penelitian ini dibahas model penjadwalan perawat di rumah sakit yang meminimumkan total deviasi (penyimpangan) hari kerja setiap perawat dengan mempertimbangkan kebutuhan jumlah perawat, shift malam, dan kebutuhan day off dari tiap-tiap perawat serta beberapa kendala teknis lain yang perlu diperhatikan oleh pihak manajemen rumah sakit. Model penjadwalan perawat ini diformulasikan dalam bentuk Integer Linear Programming dan diproses dengan menggunakan software LINGO 8.0

Model Penjadwalan Keberangkatan Bus dengan Strategi Alternating Deadheading: Studi Kasus di Po Raya

Penjadwalan keberangkatan bus merupakan salah satu hal yang penting dalam pengelolaan Perusahaan otobus untuk menekan biaya operasional. Masalah penjadwalan ini diformulasikan sebagai suatu model linear integer programming. Model ini bertujuan untuk mengatur banyaknya bus yang akan diberangkatkan dari masing-masing kota untuk memenuhi permintaan transportasi. Strategi yang digunakan untuk mengatur penjadwalan bus yaitu strategi deadheading. Strategi deadheading merupakan strategi penjadwalan bus yang dilakukan apabila terjadi ketidakseimbangan akan banyaknya penumpang di suatu kota dan adanya keterbatasan bus yang beroperasi. Model penjadwalan dengan deadheading ini merupakan salah satu upaya untuk menurunkan frekuensi keberangkatan bus sehingga dapat meningkatkan efisiensi biaya operasional

Ultralong-Range Rydberg Molecules in a Divalent-Atomic System

We report the creation of ultralong-range Sr$_2$ molecules comprising one ground-state $5s^2$ $^1S_0$ atom and one atom in a $5sns$ $^3S_1$ Rydberg state for $n$ ranging from 29 to 36. Molecules are created in a trapped ultracold atomic gas using two-photon excitation near resonant with the $5s5p$ $^3P_1$ intermediate state, and their formation is detected through ground-state atom loss from the trap. The observed molecular binding energies are fit with the aid of first-order perturbation theory that utilizes a Fermi pseudopotential with effective $s$-wave and $p$-wave scattering lengths to describe the interaction between an excited Rydberg electron and a ground-state Sr atom.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Developments in Longwall Ventilation

Rapid development in longwall mining technology has brought significant changes in panel layout and geometry. These changes require adaptations in the ventilation system to provide sufficient air quantities in longwall face and bleeder areas. At CONSOL, various longwall bleeder systems in the Pittsburgh No. 8 Seam have been studied with detailed ventilation surveys. Computer model network simulations were conducted from these surveys to study the effects of different bleeder configurations and ventilation adjustments. This paper examines the relationships between the longwall face air quantity and the convergence in the tailgate-to-bleeder entries, number of development entries, bleeder fan pressure and the tailgate ventilation scheme. It shows that, using conventional ventilation patterns, the face air quantity may be limited if the gob caves tightly. In such cases, modification of the ventilation pattern to an internal bleeder system, combined with appropriate tailgate ventilation and higher bleeder fan pressure may be required. Experience in CONSOL\u27s operations has proven this method successful especially in mines that changed from four-entry to three-entry longwall development

Rechargeable Batteries Including High-Voltage Cathode and Redox Shuttle Conferring Overcharge Protection

Compounds for use as photoredox catalysts and as redox shuttles in a rechargeable battery having a high-voltage cathode providing overcharge protection capabilities are provided, including a compound according to the formula: (see patent for formula) wherein R is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, aryl, alkylaryl, alkoxyaryl, alkylcarboxyl, aryl carbonyl, haloalkyl, perfluoroalkyl, glycols, haloaryl, a negative electrolyte, and a polymer

CirdoX: an On/Off-line Multisource Speech and Sound Analysis Software

International audienceVocal User Interfaces in domestic environments recently gained interest in the speech processing community. This interest is due to the opportunity of using it in the framework of Ambient Assisted Living both for home automation (vocal command) and for call for help in case of distress situations, i.e. after a fall. CIRDOX, which is a modular software, is able to analyse online the audio environment in a home, to extract the uttered sentences and then to process them thanks to an ASR module. Moreover, this system perfoms non-speech audio event classification; in this case, specific models must be trained. The software is designed to be modular and to process on-line the audio multichannel stream. Some exemples of studies in which CIRDOX was involved are described. They were operated in real environment, namely a Living lab environment. Keywords: audio and speech processing, natural language and multimodal interactions, Ambient Assisted Living (AAL)