Productivity Growth in Food Crop Production in Imo State, Nigeria

The study examined the productivity growth in food crop production in Imo State with emphasis on the decomposition of total factor productivity into technical progress, changes in technical and allocative efficiency and scale effects. A panel data set comprising 210 observations drawn over 2001 – 2007 periods was used in the study. Using the translog stochastic frontier production function, the decomposition components were computed applying the appropriate formulae. The results showed that total factor productivity decreased through time while technical change was negative, implying downward shift of the production frontier. As a major component, technical change was the main constraint to the achievement of high levels of TFP during the study period. The scale effect, which is generally bigger than technical change component shows that the sampled farms on the average have not taken advantage of scale economies. The result further revealed that the allocative efficiency had an average magnitude closer to the scale effect and points towards decreases in the efficiency with which production factors are allocated. This is an indication of a decline in technical efficiency. On the basis of the results, the study suggested reforms of the ADPs with a bid to enhancing their capacity in extending novel technologies and innovations to farmers.Productivity decomposition; scale effect; allocative; efficiency

BeSpaceD: Towards a Tool Framework and Methodology for the Specification and Verification of Spatial Behavior of Distributed Software Component Systems

In this report, we present work towards a framework for modeling and checking behavior of spatially distributed component systems. Design goals of our framework are the ability to model spatial behavior in a component oriented, simple and intuitive way, the possibility to automatically analyse and verify systems and integration possibilities with other modeling and verification tools. We present examples and the verification steps necessary to prove properties such as range coverage or the absence of collisions between components and technical details

Entrepreneurs, Sticky Competition and the Schumpeterian Cobb-Douglas Production Function

In this paper, we institute the role of entrepreneurs in technical progress and the mechanism of tools multiplication into the Cobb Douglas Production Function. After the advancements, the technology component in the function has technical meaning and is potentially observable. Unlimited technical progress becomes possible and automatic under sticky competitive markets. The coexistence of sustained growth, decline and stagnation across countries and time becomes obvious and the target of public policies for achieving sustained growth is also clear and precise.Entrepreneur, Sticky Competition, Cobb-Douglas Production Function, Endogenous Growth, Technical Progress, Tools Variety

Return to Dollar, Generalized Distance Function and the Fisher Productivity Index

Exploring the duality between a return to dollar definition of profit and the generalized distance function we establish the relationship between the Laspeyres, Paasche and Fisher productivity indexes and their alternative Malmquist indexes counterparts. By proceeding this way, we propose a consistent decomposition of these productivity indexes into two mutually exclusive components. A technical component represented by the Malmquist index and an economical component which can be identified with the contribution that allocative criteria make to productivity change. With regard to the Fisher index, we indicate how researchers can further decompose the Malmquist technical component rendering explicit the sources of productivity change. We also show how the proposed model can be implemented by means of Data Envelopment Analysis techniques, and illustrate the empirical process with an example data set.Generalized Distance Function; Return to Dollar; Fisher and Malmquist Productivity Indexes

Change Management Approach In Enterprise Architecture Planning (EAP)

Enterprise Architecture Planning (EAP) is one of the methods used to build an information architecture. The most important thing in the EAP is a 'Planning'. EAP consists of four layers. Implementation plan on the EAP layer is the most important layer that aims to formulate and prepare a plan for implementation. Without the implementation plan will be architectural usually end up with only provide benefits that are not too meaningful to the business units. But unfortunately in the EAP layer implementation plan only highlight the technical factors and not too much to consider non-technical factors are also very important. Therefore need the additional consideration of non-technical factors using the concept of Change Management, which is a series of processes used to ensure that the significant changes made in a controlled and systematic. Keywords : component; EAP, implementation plan, change management

Viral Marketing On Configuration Model

We consider propagation of influence on a Configuration Model, where each vertex can be influenced by any of its neighbours but in its turn, it can only influence a random subset of its neighbours. Our (enhanced) model is described by the total degree of the typical vertex, representing the total number of its neighbours and the transmitter degree, representing the number of neighbours it is able to influence. We give a condition involving the joint distribution of these two degrees, which if satisfied would allow with high probability the influence to reach a non-negligible fraction of the vertices, called a big (influenced) component, provided that the source vertex is chosen from a set of good pioneers. We show that asymptotically the big component is essentially the same, regardless of the good pioneer we choose, and we explicitly evaluate the asymptotic relative size of this component. Finally, under some additional technical assumption we calculate the relative size of the set of good pioneers. The main technical tool employed is the "fluid limit" analysis of the joint exploration of the configuration model and the propagation of the influence up to the time when a big influenced component is completed. This method was introduced in Janson & Luczak (2008) to study the giant component of the configuration model. Using this approach we study also a reverse dynamic, which traces all the possible sources of influence of a given vertex, and which by a new "duality" relation allows to characterise the set of good pioneers

Analytical techniques and instrumentation: A compilation

Technical information is presented covering the areas of: (1) analytical instrumentation useful in the analysis of physical phenomena; (2) analytical techniques used to determine the performance of materials; and (3) systems and component analyses for design and quality control

The behaviour of a two-component backfilling grout used in a Tunnel-Boring Machine

The instantaneous filling of the annulus that is created behind the segment lining at the end of the tail during the TBM advance is an operation of paramount importance. Its main goal is to minimize the surface settlements due to any over-excavation generated by the passage of the TBM. To correctly achieve the goals, a simultaneous backfilling system and the injected material should satisfy the technical, operational and performance characteristics. A two-component system injection for the back-filling is progressively substituting the use of traditional mortars. In this paper different systems of back-filling grout and in particular the two-component system are analyzed and the results of laboratory tests are presented and discusse

Probing the order parameter symmetry in the cuprate high temperature superconductors by SQUID microscopy

The orbital component of the order parameter in the cuprate high-Tc cuprate superconductors is now well established, in large part because of phase sensitive tests. Although it would be desirable to use such tests on other unconventional superconductors, there are a number of favorable factors associated with the properties of the cuprates, and a number of technical advances, that were required for these tests to be successful. In this review I will describe the development of phase sensitive pairing symmetry tests using SQUID microscopy, underlining the factors favoring these experiments in the cuprates and the technical advances that had to be made.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure, invited review to be published in Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences (Comptes Rendus Physique

Regional differences and sources of organochlorine pesticides in soils surrounding chemical industrial parks

Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs; dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs), hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB)) were investigated in 105 soil samples collected in vicinity of the chemical industrial parks in Tianjin, China. OCP concentrations significantly varied in the study area, high HCH and DDT levels were found close to the chemical industrial parks. The intensity of agricultural activity and distance from the potential OCP emitters have important influences on the OCP residue distributions. Principal component analysis indicates that HCH pollution is a mix of historical technical HCH and current lindane pollution and DDT pollution input is only due to technical DDT sources. The significant correlations of OCP compounds reveal that HCHs, DDTs and HCB could have some similar sources of origin