Snap Forensics: A Tradeoff between Ephemeral Intelligence and Persistent Evidence Collection

Digital evidence needs to be made persistent so that it can be used later. For citizen forensics, sometimes intelligence cannot or should not be made persistent forever. In this position paper, we propose a form of snap forensics by defining an elastic duration of evidence/intelligence validity. Explicitly declaring such a duration could unify the treatment of both ephemeral intelligence and persistent evidence towards more flexible storage to satisfy privacy requirements

Economic Analysis of Production and Marketing Activities of Mung Bean (Green gram) Farmers in Selected Areas in Yangon Region, Myanmar

Pulses in Myanmar are not only high value for daily diet but also significant crop for commercialization in farming. Mung bean is one of the main commercial crops in the selected survey areas in Yangon region. Therefore, this study was conducted to know the profitability and market performance of mung bean producers in the study area. The sampled farmers were categorized into three groups based on their mung bean cultivated area. The BCR results showed 1.92, 2.12 and 1.95 for small, medium, and high sown acre groups indicating the highest BCR obtained by the medium size (group II) farmers. All the sampled farmers were found in profitable conditions of mung bean production. In the cost share analysis, the results showed the highest share of production cost was material cost and followed by hired labor cost share all the groups. As one of the exports produces of mung bean faced price instability among farmers pointed that there should have steady export markets and encouraging the value-added products of mung bean. To produce the quality mung bean, the government should increase the extension facilities and improved techniques for mung bean production. Finally, the results of marketing activities indicated the requirement of systematic and advance marketing system for mung bean production is essential in Myanmar. Keywords: Mung bean, farmers, production, marketing, profitability DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-22-01 Publication date: November 30th 202

Miki: a wiki for synchronous modeling of software requirements

Eliciting a high quality requirements model that can be traced down to implementations is a challenge. Keeping models updated for evolving software systems is a further challenge. Formal modelling methods are one approach - but one that is too rigid and costly for many small software engineering companies [1]. We propose a light-weight alternative, using a wiki as the synchronous bridge between requirements capture and more formal modeling features of the IDE such as Eclipse

The benefits and costs of transporting an identity preserved product from Iowa to Taiwan

High oil corn (HOC) is a genetically improved corn variety that has recently gained importance as an animal feed ingredient in the U.S. This study evaluates the economics of exporting HOC from the U.S. to Taiwan. It focuses attention on two types of HOC: HOC[Subscript a] and HOC[Subscript b]. A linear programming model was used to obtain the potential added value of the two types of HOC. The additional cost of exporting HOC includes additional production, identity preservation and seed costs to U.S. grain suppliers. These costs were obtained from data released by U.S. firms which develop and distribute HOC. The decision-making rule for a grower in Taiwan is based on the difference between the potential added value and the premium he has to pay. The feed targets are broilers and swine. The prices of feed ingredients, the nutritional requirements of the animals and the stevedoring and cargo handling data were gathered from The Taiwan Livestock Research Institute and Taiwan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Forestry.;The results indicate that the potential added values of both types of HOC are significantly higher when added to the diets of broilers and swine weighing 6-10 kilograms than when used in the feed of swine weighing 11-100 kilograms. The findings of the paper also indicate that at prices of 50.7 cents per bushel importing HOC[Subscript a] is non-profitable for the Taiwanese livestock grower. This study takes a look at some of the non-measurable benefits of importing HOC[Subscript a] such as its ability to alleviate problems of heat stress and nutritionally inconsistent diets to explain why Taiwan does in fact import HOC[Subscript a]. The study concludes that the benefits of importing HOC are realized only in certain circumstances that include the quality of the differentiated grain, the animal for which HOC is intended to be used and the premium charged to the importers

Impact of Biofuel Industry Expansion on Grain Utilization and Distribution: Preliminary Results of Iowa Grain and Biofuel Survey

This paper examines the impact of biofuel expansion on grain utilization and distribution at the state and cropping district level as most of grain producers and handlers are directly influenced by the local changes. We conducted a survey to understand the utilization and flows of corn, ethanol and its co-products, such as dried distillers grains (DDG) in Iowa. Results suggest that the rapidly expanding ethanol industry has a significant impact on corn utilization in Iowa. Comparing to the earlier survey results, ethanol plants drew a considerable amount of corn away from traditional destination markets, such as feeders or export markets. A major portion of corn supplies came from in-state sources, while the sales of Iowa ethanol and DDG were dominated by out-of-state buyers.biofuel, grain, utilization, Marketing,

Dynamic Interaction between Economic Indicators and SO2 Emission in U.S.

Environmental Kuznets Curve, Energy Use, Vector Autoregression, Historical Decomposition, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q43, Q52, Q56,

Mitigating Land Use Changes From Biofuel Expansion: An Assessment of Biofuel Feedstock Yield Potential in APEC Economies

The emerging biofuel sector has drawn great interest as an alternative source of fuel for transportation. The expansion of biofuels greatly impacts world agricultural markets, since currently, the primary feedstocks for ethanol and biodiesel production are field crops and their derived products. There is great interest in the potential of countries to expand their biofuel sectors through increased production of feedstocks. The long-term potential for developing first-generation biofuels in many countries depends on a large and constant supply of feedstocks. This may be achieved in two ways: land extensification and/or land intensification. However, expansion of land area comes with a number of environmental challenges highlighted by the recent debate on indirect land use change brought about by biofuel expansion (Searchinger et al., 2008; Fargione et al., 2008). Therefore, land intensification through yield growth, and production of second-generation biofuel feedstocks, such as crop residues and perennial grass on marginal land, are generally seen as critical factors for sustainable development of biofuels as well as mitigation of land use changes. In this context, it is essential to gain a better understanding of the yield trends and the future yield potential of biofuel feedstocks to help determine the impact of biofuel expansion on agricultural markets. Therefore, the aim of this analysis is to review and analyze historical and projected trends of crop yields, particularly for crops used in biofuel production. One of our major interests is the impact of crop prices on yields in the long run, given that the increased production of biofuels from crops has created a perceived permanent increase in crop prices. Based on this analysis, we draw conclusions regarding the yield potential of biofuel feedstocks. We focus our analysis on APEC economies because of their rapidly growing interest in biofuel development and the diversified agricultural production among member countries. Comparing average annual growth in crop yields across APEC economies and across crops, we find that the crop yield growth rates vary significantly. Corn ranks among the crops with the largest yield improvement in a significant number of the APEC economies, mostly due to increased fertilizer use and biotechnology. The analysis also reveals that sugarcane yields have been fairly stable with the exception of significant growth in China, Philippines and Thailand. One of the highest soybean yields is seen in the United States, which is a major producer. Soybean yields in China and Indonesia are lower relative to the United States, but show much lower variability over time. In the past decade, palm oil yields have increased dramatically in Indonesia. Further analysis reveals that an economy, like the United States, which already has high yield levels for the majority of crops, experiences relatively lower yield growth rates relative to other economies. On the other hand, economies like Philippines and Malaysia have relatively lower corn yields but high yield growth rates, which indicate a higher potential for increasing crop production through yield increases rather than land expansion. Yield growth rates for most crops in most APEC economies fall in the lower to medium range although there is significant variance in yields among the economies. This variation could be due to the fact that some economies have adopted mechanization and new technologies in their crop production, whereas other economies rely heavily on labor and basic inputs. Hence, economies with high technical advantage have the potential to improve crop yields by continuous development in biotechnology. In contrast, economies with less technological resources may enhance crop yields through increasing input utilization including more capital intensive inputs. We also compute yield elasticities with respect to a time trend variable for the major crops in APEC economies. For most but not all APEC economies, the coefficient estimates are statistically significant. There is wide variation in the magnitude of the elasticities among economies and crops, some even with a negative elasticity. When comparing among crops, we see that corn yields show relatively higher elasticities with respect to time trend. Across APEC economies, China shows consistent yield response over time for all crops. Across crops, sorghum has the highest elasticity in China, corn in the Philippines, sugar beet in Canada, wheat in New Zealand, rice in Indonesia, and sugarcane in Malaysia. In addition to the increased production in primary crops, yield growth would also translate to an increase in available crop residues. According to Milbrandt and Overend (2008), ethanol from currently available crop residues could potentially displace about 33% of gasoline consumption in the APEC region, assuming that cost-competitive technologies for production of ethanol from second-generation lignocellulosic feedstocks can be deployed. Thus, given average yield growth projections for certain crops in APEC economies, our calculations show that the United States could potentially displace an additional 2% of gasoline from corn residue, Australia an additional 9% of gasoline from wheat residue, and Thailand an additional 3.5% from sugarcane residue, without increasing land for biofuel production. The analysis concludes that in terms of first-generation biofuels, yield growth is imperative for the long-term potential of biofuel expansion if land extensification is to be minimized. Biofuel expansion may imply increased land use for feedstock production in the medium term, but growth in feedstock yields will tend to mitigate the impact on crop prices and land use over the longer term. Additionally, long-term expansion of biofuels may have to rely on the economic viability of production from lignocellulosic feedstocks. Based on the data analysis, APEC economies have the capability and the capacity to increase feedstock yields for biofuel production, particularly the economies that have relatively lower yield levels and are further away from their yield plateau levels. However, this requires targeting yield-enhancing activities including investments in agricultural R&D, better farm practices, and increased input use. Some of the practices that already have resulted in yield improvements in some countries, such as extension services and fertilizer subsidies, could be transferred to other economies. Countries could also provide incentives, such as tax reductions or government payments, which have proven to be successful in inducing farmers to invest in yield-improving technologies. However, it is crucial that each economy should identify its own advantage in terms of productivity improvements for its agricultural commodities. To achieve yield growth, countries should create an environment conducive to technological change and diffusion of new technology through public R&D and incentives for private R&D investments. References: Fargione, J., J. Hill, D. Tilman, S. Polasky, and P. Hawthorne. 2008. “Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt”, Science, February 29: 1235-1238. Milbrandt, A. and R.P. Overend. 2008. “Survey of Biomass Resource Assessments and Assessment Capabilities in APEC Economies.” Energy Working Group, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC# 208-RE-01.9. Searchinger, T., R. Heimlich, R. Houghton, F. Dong, A. Elobeid, J. F. Fabiosa, S. Tokgoz, D. J. Hayes, T. Yu. 2008. “Factoring Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Land Use Change into Biofuel Calculations”, Science, February 29:1238-1240.biofuels, yield growth, APEC, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis,

Briefing Paper on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers Transportation Corridors: Grain Transportation Rates and Associated Market Area

This paper discusses the grain transportation rates and associated market areas of the upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers transportation corridors

Measuring Interactions among Agricultural Productivity, Trade Openness, Agricultural GDP, and Income in Korea (1972- 2007)

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Informative Query Answering by Using RDQL for E-Commerce

Information Retrieval Related Pape