The economic sustainability of cropping systems in Indian Punjab: A farmers' perspective

Food for all continues to be a key issue, especially in the developing world where every fifth person is chronically undernourished. India, a fast growing developing country has also experienced serious food shortages for example in the mid 1960s. Punjab, a small northern Indian state has developed, particularly since the Green Revolution in the mid 1960s, to be a key agricultural area producing 13% of the food grains of India. Increased productivity brought economic benefits to farmers and led to the establishment of Wheat-Rice Cropping Pattern (WRCP) as the main agricultural system of Punjab which more recently has become reliant on underground water resources, agricultural machinery, chemical fertilisers and pesticides. More recently stagnating yields and increased cost of cultivation of WRCP have squeezed the net farm profitability. However, the WRCP has been, and remains the first choice of farmers, because of its comparative economic advantage, assured marketing and stable productivity level. This paper compares the economic sustainability of WRCP to that of other alternative cropping patterns in Punjab and answers the question “Why farmers continue with the WRCP despite various crop diversification efforts in the past”. Interviews with 120 farmers across Punjab illustrated the economic and risk advantages of WRCP over other potential cropping patterns and concludes that if cropping systems in Punjab are to become more environmentally sustainable then policy makers will need to put mechanisms in place which either encourage a more sustainable WRCP or provide the basis for the growth of alternative, less environmentally damaging cropping systems.agriculture, cropping systems, Punjab, sustainability, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management,

Behavioural simulation of biological neuron systems using VHDL and VHDL-AMS

The investigation of neuron structures is an incredibly difficult and complex task that yields relatively low rewards in terms of information from biological forms (either animals or tissue). The structures and connectivity of even the simplest invertebrates are almost impossible to establish with standard laboratory techniques, and even when this is possible it is generally time consuming, complex and expensive. Recent work has shown how a simplified behavioural approach to modelling neurons can allow “virtual” experiments to be carried out that map the behaviour of a simulated structure onto a hypothetical biological one, with correlation of behaviour rather than underlying connectivity. The problems with such approaches are numerous. The first is the difficulty of simulating realistic aggregates efficiently, the second is making sense of the results and finally, it would be helpful to have an implementation that could be synthesised to hardware for acceleration. In this paper we present a VHDL implementation of Neuron models that allow large aggregates to be simulated. The models are demonstrated using a system level VHDL and VHDL-AMS model of the C. Elegans locomotory system

A possible cosmological application of some thermodynamic properties of the black body radiation in n−n-dimensional Euclidean spaces

In this work we present the generalization of some thermodynamic properties of the black body radiation (BBR) towards an $n-$dimensional Euclidean space. For this case the Planck function and the Stefan-Boltzmann law have already been given by Landsberg and de Vos and some adjustments by Menon and Agrawal. However, since then no much more has been done on this subject and we believe there are some relevant aspects yet to explore. In addition to the results previously found we calculate the thermodynamic potentials, the efficiency of the Carnot engine, the law for adiabatic processes and the heat capacity at constant volume. There is a region at which an interesting behavior of the thermodynamic potentials arise, maxima and minima appear for the $n-d$ BBR system at very high temperatures and low dimensionality, suggesting a possible application to cosmology. Finally we propose that an optimality criterion in a thermodynamic framework could have to do with the $3-d$ nature of the universe.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Perspectives on the 'preparedness' of teaching assistants: what gets in the way?

The number of teaching assistants (TAs) in English schools has grown significantly over the past two decades (DfE, 2012) due to a national emphasis on inclusion and workload reform agreements (DfES, 2003). Recently, the effectiveness of TAs to support pupils’ academic progress has been questioned (Blatchford et al, 2009) suggesting that TAs ‘preparedness’ (Webster et al, 2011) lies at the heart of effective support. Consequently, there is a need to focus on how TAs are ‘prepared’ for the multiple roles and responsibilities they carry out. Although the term preparedness can be criticised for being still a vague concept, positive links have been made between TAs’ training and its effectiveness on outcomes for pupils’ academic achievement have been more evident (Farrell et al, 2010). In researching the nature and impact of training TAs, research has applied a simplistic input-output model focused on TAs alone rather than taking into account the context in which TAs work. Brown and Devecchi (awaiting publication) and Devecchi et al. (2012) suggest that this approach limits our understanding because it does not account for the reasons behind the ad hoc approach to TAs’ training. Therefore this paper answers the following questions: What are the barriers to TAs in taking up training as perceived by their managers and themselves? Does training form part of the performance review process for a TA? Their findings are drawn on questionnaires (N=238) and interviews (N=23) with TAs and those responsible for the training of TAs, including headteachers, SENCos and other senior managers from one English Local Authority. Findings suggest that TAs still face many barriers in gaining effective training and professional development. One major outcome of the study presented in this paper, is the lack of reciprocal understanding between TAs and their managers. Barriers perceived by managers e.g. family circumstances, preparedness for study are not perceived as barriers by TAs. Instead TAs suggest that finance, lack of communication, support from the school and leadership, and inequity between teachers and TAs’ training opportunities are more important barriers. Performance reviews, on the whole, were not systematic and therefore did not outline for TAs how to develop further. As a result, these findings suggest in order to support the preparedness of TAs, managers should consider training for TAs as part of a whole school plan in parallel with teachers and that this cannot occur without a financial or staffing investment

The field of ancient Cham art in France: a 20th century creation: a study of museological and colonial contexts from the late 19th century to the present

This thesis takes a new look at the art of ancient Champa. Breaking away from traditional studies, it looks at the art not in its ancient Cham context, but rather through its present and recent past contexts. The study asks “What exactly is Cham art?” To answer this, I examine not only the artworks, but also the museums and exhibitions, the display and classification. After an introduction explaining the background to the research, Chapter 2 contrasts two statues of Ganesh in French museums, tracing their biographies and questioning what constitutes Cham art. In Chapter 3, I examine the architectural line-drawings of Henri Parmentier, which have represented Ancient Champa visually for over a century, revealing the complex temporality within which they mediate between the present and multiple pasts. Chapter 4 looks at the history of the Danang Cham Sculpture Museum through the choices and decisions of the men who have shaped Cham art into what it is today. In Chapter 5 I investigate how Cham art was displayed in a series of exhibitions in museums and a department store basement in the United States, Paris and Brussels, while Chapter 6 is a study of a major Cham exhibition at the Musée Guimet, examining its narrative threads and historical and colonial interconnections and its implications for Cham art history. I conclude that Cham art is much more than just the physical traces of the Cham past. It is the preserving, displacing, labelling, copying, interpreting and displaying of the art that makes it what it is just as much as its original functions. I suggest, therefore, that the field of Cham art studies as we understand and view it today is actually something of our own invention, a largely 20th century construct. We do not yet know, therefore, what the Ancient Cham art of the future will be