Views of Primary Producers in the Taupo and Rotorua catchments: implications for water quality policy

Lakes Taupo and Rotorua are important to New Zealand, but declining lake water quality is increasingly becoming a problem. Primary producers are said to be impacting heavily on the lakes' water quality through discharges that reach them through streams and ground water. The paper discusses the results of ongoing social research in the lakes' catchments. Data gathering was through literature reviews, interviews and workshops. The views, farming goals and perceived mediocre to poor adoptability of new environmental practices and technologies by primary producers in the lakes' catchments indicate that policy instruments encouraging voluntary change are unlikely to positively impact on water quality.Adoptability, policy instrument, farming goals, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Pricing an Extension Service for Organic Farmers and Growers

The organics sector is expanding rapidly and the Board of Organics Aotearoa New Zealand considers that the future provision of an extension service is needed to underpin the ability of producers to efficiently convert to organic systems and then to further develop the sustainability of their systems. This project commissioned by Organics Aotearoa New Zealand in 2008 considers four possible organisational structures for delivering such a service. The first possible structure is a complete extension service for organic producers that combines national coordination, standard setting and information management with a local problem-solving and sector development service. Option 2 is a more centralised option, especially useful for producers at the beginning of their system conversions to organics when advice to them can be more prescriptive. Option 3 provides decentralised learning opportunities for producers out in the regions and so is more of a “bottom-up” approach to extension. Option 4 is a user-pays option where only those people directly involved in a project need make any contribution to the costs of the extension service. Option 1 requires funding for each producer of more than $250 per annum and needs over$2 million gross income before the full service could be provided. Option 2 requires 2000 producers to be financially viable and funding of less than the equivalent of $250 per annum per grower. Option 3 requires 7000 producers involved before the costs are reduced to the equivalent of less than$250 per annum per grower. Option 4 would be viable with funding equivalent to less than $250 per annum per grower. The Board wanted an extension service that minimised central overheads, provided a variety of learning styles, and served the needs of both organic start-ups and established producers. It was recommended to the Board of Organics Aotearoa that they proceed with Option 3. The Board decided that Option 2 better fitted the resources that they had available, and this approach has been working well.Organic, extension, governance, funding, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy,

Differential rotation and angular momentum

Differential rotation not only occurs in astrophysical plasmas like accretion disks, it is also measured in laboratory plasmas as manifested in the toroidal rotation of tokamak plasmas. A re-examination of the Lagrangian of the system shows that the inclusion of the angular momentum’s radial variation in the derivation of the equations of motion produces a force term that couples the angular velocity gradient with the angular momentum. This force term is a property of the angular velocity field, so that the results are valid wherever differential rotation is present

A South African review of harmonic emission level assessment as per IEC61000-3-6

Large-scale renewable power producing plants are being integrated into South African networks. Network operators need to ensure that Renewable Power Plants (RPP) do not negatively affect the power quality levels of their networks, as harmonics amongst others could become a concern. IEC 61000-3-6 details a method for allocating voltage harmonic emission limits for distorting loads. This method works well for the allocation of emission limits; however it does not address the management of harmonic emissions once a plant is connected to the network. The management of harmonic emissions requires that network operators measure or quantify the emissions from loads and generators to determine compliance. Post-connection quantification of harmonic levels and compliance is a challenge for network operators. The question asked is “How should a network operator measure/quantify the harmonic emissions of a load/generator to establish compliance with the calculated limits as per IEC 61000-3-6”. This paper reviews within a South African context methods of assessing harmonic emission levels and then evaluates these methods by means of field data. Opportunities for improvement are identified and operational requirements discussed

The effect of sheared diamagnetic flow on turbulent structures generated by the Charney–Hasegawa–Mima equation

The generation of electrostatic drift wave turbulence is modelled by the Charney–Hasegawa–Mima equation. The equilibrium density gradient n0=n0(x) is chosen so that dn0 /dx is nonzero and spatially variable (i.e., v*e is sheared). It is shown that this sheared diamagnetic flow leads to localized turbulence which is concentrated at max(grad n0), with a large dv*e/dx inhibiting the spread of the turbulence in the x direction. Coherent structures form which propagate with the local v*e in the y direction. Movement in the x direction is accompanied by a change in their amplitudes. When the numerical code is initialized with a single wave, the plasma behaviour is dominated by the initial mode and its harmonics

Numerical simulations of sunspots

The origin, structure and evolution of sunspots are investigated using a numerical model. The compressible MHD equations are solved with physical parameter values that approximate the top layer of the solar convection zone. A three dimensional (3D) numerical code is used to solve the set of equations in cylindrical geometry, with the numerical domain in the form of a wedge. The linear evolution of the 3D solution is studied by perturbing an axisymmetric solution in the azimuthal direction. Steady and oscillating linear modes are obtained

Determinants of private equity investments across BRICS countries

Abstract: The determinants of private equity investments (particularly venture capital investments) have been studied extensively across developed economies. This is however not the case among emerging markets. Hence, this study primarily focuses on the determinants of private equity (inclusive of all sub-classes) among the BRICS countries. Six macroeconomic and market related explanatory variables, including the corruption perception index are studied. Private equity funds raised across BRICS are used as the proxy for private equity investments. These variables are studied using panel data analysis predicated on the fixed effects model over an eight-year observation period. The study reveals that GDP growth and real interest rate are both statistically significant and positively related to private equity investments across the BRICS countries. Furthermore, market capitalization growth and corporate tax rates are statistically significant and are both found to be negatively related to the dependent variable

Framework for a sustainable ERP license model in an increasingly competitive software market

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering, under the supervision of Prof. I. Botef. Johannesburg, July 2015Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have notoriously complex license models. Whilst the ERP market has been dominated since the 1980‟s by SAP AG and Oracle Corp., this picture is changing with these software giants slowly losing market share to the more than 100 proprietary ERP systems available today. Many of these new entrants wield simpler, more transparent licensing models. This research aims to understand how the current ERP license models behave under varying market conditions with the goal of developing a “framework for a sustainable ERP license model in an increasingly competitive software market”. The research issues are addressed by modelling an actual economic firm with the aid of a software simulation. The aim of this simulation is to model how closely ERP license models link the benefit of the ERP to the cost of the license model. Simpler license models (employed by the new ERP entrants) demonstrated a comparable level of cost/benefit. The research concludes with a proposed framework for a sustainable ERP license model. Potential future research includes investigating the use of gain-share or profit-share models for future software license models

The Use of Social Media in Public Relations at Non-Governmental Organisations in South Africa

Social media can be a useful tool in public relations in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), but do NGOs make use of social media in their quest for service delivery in South Africa? Social networking sites, blogging, email, instant messaging, and online journals are some of the technological changes that changed the way interaction between people and how they gather information. Although social media is mainly used for interactive dialogue and social interaction, the private sector soon realised that the web-based technologies (especially Facebook and Twitter) could also be a competitive business tool. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) soon followed suit however at a slower pace than the general communication growth rate of social media in South Africa. This article examines if social networking sites have any impact on public relations practices of NGOs in South Africa – an environment where both customers and employees still struggle to take full advantage of social media. The critical literature findings increase the understanding of the current and future challenges of social media use in public relations at NGOs in South Africa. The study explores the main differences between traditional and social media, how social media is redefining public relations role, and shed some light on defining public relations practices, identify the uses, limitations and benefits of social media by public relations practitioners in NGOs. Recommendations for future communication research are given. Based on the literature, a qualitative research design collected data using semi-structured, individual interviews. The results revealed that social media platforms such as Facebook do have an effect, and even changed the way in which NGOs communicate. The study also revealed that social media certainly has an impact on public relations relationships. This means that it has become crucial that public relations practitioners at NOGs embrace and take advantage of social media, and that they should also invest in proper electronic platforms to reap the benefits of improved communication internally and externally