Comparison of Manual and Manual-cum-Mechanical Energy Uses in Groundnut Production in a Semi-arid Environment

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a Technical Paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 5 (2003): B. Umar. Comparison of Manual and Manual-cum-Mechanical Energy Uses in Groundnut Production in a Semi-arid Environment. Vol. V. May 2003

Consensus as a Nash Equilibrium of a Dynamic Game

Consensus formation in a social network is modeled by a dynamic game of a prescribed duration played by members of the network. Each member independently minimizes a cost function that represents his/her motive. An integral cost function penalizes a member's differences of opinion from the others as well as from his/her own initial opinion, weighted by influence and stubbornness parameters. Each member uses its rate of change of opinion as a control input. This defines a dynamic non-cooperative game that turns out to have a unique Nash equilibrium. Analytic explicit expressions are derived for the opinion trajectory of each member for two representative cases obtained by suitable assumptions on the graph topology of the network. These trajectories are then examined under different assumptions on the relative sizes of the influence and stubbornness parameters that appear in the cost functions.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure, Pre-print from the Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Signal Image Technology and Internet-based Systems (SITIS), 201

THE COST EFFECTIVENESS OF RECYCLING OF ASPHALT PAVEMENT

The purpose of this study was to compare the cost effectiveness of recycled asphalt pavement with the roads constructed by conventional method in the State of Kansas. Data was collected from nineteen area engineers, eleven city engineers, seven county engineers, and twelve contractors in the asphalt recycling business. An analysis was made to compare the experiences of engineers and contractors. There was a general lack of experience of asphalt recycling among the county and city engineers. There was no apparent differences of experiences of asphalt recycling between the area engineers and contractors. An apparent difference was found between engineers and contractors on the number of projects they worked with during the last two years using different methods. Apparently there was no difference between engineers and contractors on the most often used method of asphalt recycling. Recycling of asphalt pavement has been widely accepted as an alternative means of restoring deteriorated roads. Among the different techniques of asphalt recycling, hot off-site plant recycling appeared to be cost effective as compared to conventional hot-mix. Hot off-site was most often used by contractors and engineers on projects. Cold in-place recycling was the most energy efficient method and produced less air pollution. Weather and heavy traffic conditions, however, made it deteriorate faster. Recycled asphalt pavement bases, whether hot in-place, hot off-site, cold in-place, or cold planing could be superior to conventional aggregate bases. The researcher believed that additional engineering effort would be required in connection with mix design and construction control. The selection of materials, techniques and equipment should be evaluated for the project before commencement. The availability of contractors with experience and equipment for recycling business should be identified within the locality of the proposed projects. The conditions of the pavement to be recycled should be evaluated before any recycling technique could be applied to that pavement. The researcher also believed there should be more intensive laboratory research on the performance and possible application of asphalt recycling methods or mixtures. More technical literature is needed on asphalt pavement recycling

Sustaining the Multi-Functionality of the Zamfara Reserve in Semi-Arid Nigeria: What is the Role of Co-Management?

Unhealthy competition and conflicts among the diverse users (herders, farmers, fishermen, etc.) of the natural resources (pasture, water, land, etc.) in the Zamfara reserve, Nigeria have undermined the reserve\u27s capacity to serve its intended multi-functional roles. The reserve (3, 650 km2), which was established in 1919 with 4 enclave villages where farmers live and cultivate crops, was meant also to provide pasture and water for Fulani herdsmen. Vast numbers of people are, however, becoming landless or near landless in the reserve. Powerful non-local actors are forcing their way into the reserve area and are extracting resources with no respect to traditional customs and rules. Umar (2004), for example, has shown how politicians and traditional rulers, with the support of the Zamfara state government, have converted over 100 ha of common grazing land in the reserve to private farms. This paper offers a model for co-management of the shrinking natural resources in the reserve, which the paper assumes, may help in maintaining the reserve\u27s multi-functional nature. Co- management is a pluralist approach to managing natural resources, incorporating a variety of partners in a variety of roles, generally to the end goals of environmental conservation, sustainable use of natural resources and the equitable sharing of resource-related benefits and responsibilities (Viswanathan, undated)

Toxicity study and effect of the leaf extract of Acacia nilotica on some biochemical parameters of Wistar albino rats

Plants are the primary source of human medications and knowledge on its toxicity is vital; this work evaluates the acute toxicity and effect of Acacia nilotica leaf crude extract on the liver and kidney functions. The mean lethal dose (LD50) was determined by Lorke’s method, while the crude extract effect was evaluated by biochemical and histo-pathological assessments. The LD50 value was 3807.89 mg/kg for both oral and intra-peritoneal route of administrations. An elevated serum urea above the normal reference value in both control and treated group upon administration of 1000 mg/kg of the extract with mean values of 7.92 ± 1.19 and 7.86 ± 1.14 mmol/l respectively was observed. The results of ALAT, ASAT, ALP, T.protein, Albumin, and bilirubin in all cases were within the normal values. The kidney and liver function parameters at higher extract concentrations of 500 and 1000 mg/kg/day and relative organ weight were statistically significant (p< 0.05) and correlates with mild effect indicted on the histopathology of the organs. This study showed that administration of A. nilotica extract at 500 and 1000 mg/kg/day for an extended period could prompt hepatic and nephron toxicity

Quantal description of nucleon exchange in stochastic mean-field approach

Nucleon exchange mechanism is investigated in central collisions of symmetric heavy-ions in the basis of the stochastic mean-field approach. Quantal diffusion coefficients for nucleon exchange are calculated by including non-Markovian effects and shell structure. Variances of fragment mass distributions are calculated in central collisions of ${}^{40}$Ca + ${}^{40}$Ca, ${}^{48}$Ca + ${}^{48}$Ca and ${}^{56}$Ni + ${}^{56}$Ni systems

Penerapan Algoritma Viral System Pada Single-Machine Total Weighted Tardiness Problem

Single Machine Total Weighted Tardiness Problem (SMTWTP) merupakan permasalahan klasik kombinatorial yang dikenal np-hard. Pada penelitian ini, suatu algoritma yang relatif baru yang terinspirasi dari sistem replikasi virus yang disebut sebagai Viral Systems digunakan untuk menyelesaikan permasalahan tersebut. Algoritma dengan proses pencarian terdiri dari Neighborhood dan mutasi tersebut memiliki delapan parameter. Penelitian ini menerapkan algoritma Viral Systems pada SMTWTP. Pengujian dilakukan untuk menganalisa parameter dan performansi algoritma dalam penyelesaian permasalahan. Hasil eksperimen menunjukkan bahwa setiap parameter memberikan pengaruh masing-masing terhadap algoritma dalam sisi hasil dan waktu komputasi. Eksperimen terhadap set data 40 pekerjaan, 50 pekerjaan, dan 100 pekerjaan menampilkan hasil bahwa algoritma dapat menyelesaikan 235 solusi optimal dari 275 permasalaha

Fluctuation-induced forces between inclusions in a fluid membrane under tension

We discuss the fluctuation-induced force, a finite-temperature analog of the Casimir force, between two inclusions embedded in a fluid membrane under tension. We suggest a method to calculate this Casimir interaction in the most general case, where membrane fluctuations are governed by the combined action of surface tension, bending modulus, and the Gaussian rigidity. We find that the surface tension strongly modifies the power law in the separation dependence of the Casimir interaction. This results in a strong suppression of the Casimir force at separations beyond a characteristic length, which could affect protein aggregation dynamics in cell membranes.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur