Cosmology on Compact and Stable Supergravity Background

We propose a cosmological model of D3-brane universe on compact and stable supergravity background of wrapped D7-branes in type IIB string theory previously argued to be dual to pure N=1 SU(N) gauge theory in four dimensions. A model universe of order Planck size near the UV boundary dynamically flows toward the IR with constant total energy density and accelerating expansion followed by smooth transition to decelerating expansion and collides with the wrapped D7-branes at the IR boundary. The model addresses the horizon and flatness problems with most of the expansion produced during the decelerating expansion phase. The inflationary scenario is used to generate sources of inhomogeneities in the cosmic microwave background radiation and seeds for large scale structure formation from quantum fluctuations which exit the Hubble radius early during the accelerating expansion phase and the model addresses the inhomogeneity problem with red tilt in the power spectrum. We propose that the kinetic energy of the model universe is converted to matter and radiation by the collision followed by formation of baryons that stabilizes the model universe against gravitational force from the background at a finite distance from the IR boundary with the wrapped D7-branes serving as sources of color. Friedmann evolution then takes over with a positive cosmological constant term coming from the remaining potential energy density which is interpreted as dark energy. The magnitude of dark energy density is smaller than the total energy density during the flow by a ratio of the scale factor when the model universe appears in the UV to the scale factor at the moment of collision and stays constant while the matter-radiation density falls during Friedmann expansion.Comment: 30 page

Glueball Masses from Linearly Confining Supergravity

Mass spectrum of 0++ glueballs is produced using a dual supergravity theory we proposed for pure N=1 SU(N) gauge theory in four dimensions in the large N limit in the IR. The glueball states are expressed in terms of Whittaker functions. The spectrum is discrete and a function whose roots give the masses is written. The ratios of the masses are independent of the parameters of the theory and comparison to recent non-supersymmetric large N lattice QCD data available for the lowest three states shows agreement to within five percent.Comment: 11 page

Quantum Moduli Spaces of Linear and Ring Mooses

Quantum moduli spaces of four dimensional $SU(2)^{r}$ linear and ring moose theories with $\mathcal{N}=1$ supersymmetry and link chiral superfields in the fundamental representation are produced starting from simple pure gauge theories of disconnected nodes.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure

Understanding Factors Affecting the Performance of Agricultural Extension System in Ethiopia

አህፅሮት ይህ የምርምር ጽሁፍ የአገራችንን የግብርና ስርፀት አሁን ያለበትን ብቃትና አፈጻጸም እንዲሁም ለግብርና ስርፀቱ ዋና ዋና ማነቆ የሆኑ ምክንያቶችን በመለየት ይተነትናል፡፡ ምንጃር ሸንኮራና አደአ ወረዳ የጥናቱ መነሻ በማድረግ በግብርና ስርፀቱ ዋና ፈጻሜ የሆኑትን 143 የልማት ጣቢያ ሰራተኞችንና ሱፐርቫይዘሮችን በወካይነት አካቷል፡፡ በተጨማሪም ይህ ጥናት በግብርና ስርጸት ውስጥ በቂ ልምድ ካካበቱ ተመራማሪዎች፣ የልማት ጣቢያ ሰራተኞችና አርሶ አደሮች መረጃ አካቷል፡፡ ይህ ጥናት እንደሚያሳየው ምንም እንኳን መንግስት የግብርና ስርጸቱ ለሁሉም ተጠቃሚዎች በበቂ ሁኔታ እንዲደርስ በከፍተኛ ቁርጠኝነት እየሰራ ያለ ከመሆንም በተጨማሪ ከፍተኛ የሆነ የልማት ጣቢያ ሰራተኞችን ያሰለጠነና በማሰልጠን ላይ ቢሆንም፤ የግብርና ልማቱ በሚፈለገው ደረጃ ሊያድግ አልቻለም፡፡ ስለሆነም የግብርና ስርጸቱን አንቆ የያዙትን ማነቆዎች መፍታት ተገቢ እንደሆነ ይታመናል፡፡ የጥናት ውጤቱ እንደሚያሳየው በልማቱ ውስጥ ያሉ ዋና ዋና አካላትና አጋሮች ግንኙነትና ጥምረት ደካማ መሆን፣ የገበሬ ማሰልጠኛ ማዕከላት አስፈላጊ የሆኑ ግብዓቶች አለመሟላት፣ የልማት ጣቢያ ሰራተኞች በቅርበት ለገበሬው ተደራሽ ለመሆን የትራንስፖርት ችግር፣ የልማት ጣቢያ ሰራተኞች የስራ ተነሳሽነት በሚፈለገው ደረጃ አለማደግና የአቅም ውስንነት፣ የልማት ጣቢያ ሰራተኞች ከዕቅድ እስከ ግምገማ ባለው ሂደት ተሳትፎ ውስን መሆን እና ጠንካራ ክትትልና ድጋፍ አለመኖር ዋና ዋና ማነቆዎች መሆናቸው ተለይቷል፡፡ ከዚህ በተጨማሪ ይህ ጥናት ከመንግስት ቁርጠኝነትና ከሰው ሃይል ልማቱ ጎን ለጎን የልማት ጣቢያ ሰራተኞች የስራ ከባቢ ምቹ ማድረግና ለስራው የሚያስፈልጉ ግብዓቶችን በሚፈለገው ጊዜና መጠን መቅረብ እንደሚገባው ይጠቁማል፡፡ በመሆኑም የግብርና ስርጸት ማነቆዎችን በመፍታት የወደፊቱን ልማት ማፋጠን እንደሚቻል ጥናቱ ጠቁሟል፡፡  Abstract  This study is assessing the performance of the agricultural extension system and identifying factors explaining it. The paper used both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Quantitative data gathered based on a questionnaire survey of 143 development agents (DAs) in Minjar Shenkora and Ada’a districts. Qualitative data were collected from 25 key informants and eight separate focus group discussants. Quantitative data was analyzed by both descriptive statistics and econometric model while qualitative data were analyzed through categorization, narration and interpretation. Results show that, despite huge government investments and having one of the highest DA-to farmers’ ratio, Ethiopia has not been able to achieve the desired goals of agricultural advancement. This is mainly because of weak and limited interactions, synergies and partnership among actors, lack of adequate facilities of FTCs, lack of physical resources for mobility, DAs lack of work motivation, lack of strong supervision, lack of technical competence of DAs, and lack of involvement of DAs in the decision making process. The Econometric model results reveal that systems of rewards and sanctions, enforcement of performance targets, interaction and partnership among relevant actors, supervision, donor funding, number of motorbikes, and DAs capacity building trainings are most significantly influenced the performance of agricultural extension service. This research showed that number of DAs is not a sufficient condition of enhancing extension performance, but an effective extension system needs to focus on the enabling environment for DAs to be motivated to work as mandated

Exploration of Systemic Barriers to Tef Research and Development in Central Ethiopia: A Coupled Structural-Functional Innovation Systems Analysis

Over the years, there has been a continuous increase in the demand for tef (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter) due to population growth, average incomes and urbanization in Ethiopia, but its innovation system has not been fully explored. This research aims to determine the supportive effect of tef innovation system on its investigation and development as well as the systemic constraints in the process. A coupled structural-functional innovation system analysis was used to explore the barriers faced in Central Ethiopia. The results revealed the constraints affecting the innovation system, namely limited capacity of existing actors, weak interactions and partnerships among actors, weak enforcement of institutions as well as inadequate/poor infrastructure. They also showed that technology development, technology diffusion, entrepreneurial activities, market development, resource mobilization and legitimacy creation have been the weak functions of tef innovation. Furthermore, a failure in one of the functions has a knock-on effect on others, which causes an overall dysfunctional innovation system. Based on the results, failures of the structural elements along with weaknesses of functions have constrained the development of tef innovation systems sector. A combination of technological, institutional and technical intervention must be implemented to overcome this problem