bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The impact of agricultural extension on farmers’ technical efficiencies in Ethiopia: A stochastic production frontier approach
Authors: Gebrehiwot Kidanemariam G. 
Published: June 2017

Background: To address the structural food deficit and top down extension system that persisted for decades, the government of Ethiopia has introduced a new extension system, called Participatory Demonstration and Training Extension Systems, which serves more than 80% of the total population. As the program was streamlined to fit the different agro-climatic condition of the country, the extension approach practiced in the Tigray region (research area) was called Integrated Household Extension Program.Aim: This article reports on research aimed at measuring the technical efficiency levels of extension participants and non-participants; measuring the impact extension service on technical efficiency.Setting: The research was conducted in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is the main sources of livelihoods. Moisture is the most critical factor in the production system. The land holding size averages 0.5 ha per household compared to above three ha 30 years ago; indicating the high population pressure in the area.Methods: A sample of 362 agricultural extension service participants and 369 non-participant farm households from the northern part of Ethiopia, participated in the study. The stochastic production frontier technique was used to analyse the survey data and to compute farm-level technical efficiency.Results: The results showed an average level of technical efficiency of 48%. It is suggested that substantial gains in output and/or decrease in cost can be attained with the existing technology. All the variables included in the model to explain efficiency were found significant and with the expected sign, except education and number of dependants.Conclusion: The research tried to assess the impact of a new extension service (participatory in nature) on farmers’ productivity in a semi-arid zone, as compared with the conventional extension service and found in the literature areas with relatively better climatic conditions. Hence, if extension administrators could work to uplift the average and below average farmers into better performing farmers level, the overall production and living condition could improve substantially in the research area, and more or less in the rest part of the country.
Evasion of CO2 and dissolved carbon in river waters of three small catchments in an area occupied by small family farms in the eastern Amazon
Authors: Rosa Maria Beatriz Silva da , Figueiredo Ricardo De Oliveira , Markewitz Daniel , Krusche Alex Vladimir , Costa Fabíola Fernandes , Gerhard Pedro 
Published: June 2017

CO2 effluxes from streams and rivers has been hypothesized to be a critical pathway of carbon flow from the biosphere back to the atmosphere. This study was conducted in three Amazonian small catchments to evaluate carbon evasion and dynamics, where land-use change has occurred on small family-farms. Monthly field campaigns were conducted from June 2006 to May 2007 in the Cumaru (CM), Pachibá (PB) and São João (SJ) streams. Electrical conductivity, pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen measurements were done in situ, while water samples were collected to determine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentrations, as well as carbon dioxide partial pressures (pCO2) and CO2 evasion fluxes. Instantaneous discharge measured by a current meter was used to calculate DOC fluxes. The sites’ DOC, DIC, pCO2, and CO2 flux measurements ranged as follows, respectively: 0.27 - 12.13 mg L-1; 3.5 - 38.9 mg L-1; 2,265 - 26,974 ppm; and 3.39 - 75.35 μmol m-2 s-1. DOC annual flux estimates for CM, SJ and PB were, respectively, 281, 245, and 169 kg C ha-1. CO2 evasion fluxes ranged from 3.39 to 75.35 μmol m-2 s-1, with an average of 22.70 ± 1.67 μmol m-2 s-1. These CO2 evasion fluxes per unit area were similar to those measured for major Amazonian rivers, thus confirming our hypothesis that small streams can evade substantial quantities of CO2. As secondary vegetation is abundant as a result of family farming management in the region, we conclude that this vegetation can be a major driver of an abundant carbon cycle.
Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Oncorhynchus mykiss for export at production centers in the Peruvian Central Highlands
Authors: Zapata Fernán Cosme Chanamé , Villanueva María Custodio , Esquivel Rafael Antonio Pantoja , Payano Ide Gelmore Unchupaico 
Published: June 2017

The bioaccumulation of the heavy metals Cu, Zn, Fe and Pb was determined in the livers, kidneys and muscles of Oncorhynchus mykiss trout at seven production centers in the province of Yauli, Junín-Peru. The determination and quantification of total heavy metals in water samples collected monthly from the production sites and in 28 trout that averaged 250 g and 27 cm was performed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, according to the methodology recommended by FAO. Levels of Zn, Fe and Pb were found to exceed the environmental quality standards established by the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment for the rivers of the coast and highlands, as well as the quality standards of the European Union for the cultivation of trout, while levels of Cu conformed with those standards. Concentration of Cu, Zn, Fe and Pb in the livers, kidneys and muscles exceeded the maximum permissible limits established by the European Union for fish meat and by the Mexican official standard, NOM-027-SSA1-1993, for fresh, refrigerated and frozen fishery products, in the case of Pb. The correlation between the concentrations of copper, zinc, iron and lead in the water and the concentrations of these metals in the livers, kidneys and muscles is low and not significant, except for copper, which had a significant correlation.
Foreword
Authors: GOLOB Nina 
Published: June 2017

The first, summer issue of the seventh volume of the ALA journal comprises six academic articles, of which the first three share pragmatic concepts in discourse analysis in Japanese and Bangla, while the latter three deploy different language varieties of Japanese and Chinese to provide overviews of their linguistic characteristics.Shinichi SHOJI is the author of the first article “Understanding Reference: Morphological Marking in Japanese”, which investigated the anaphor-antecedent relationship in Japanese, particularly in cases with repeated-name anaphors. He has come to the conclusion that the topic postposition wa after an anaphora determines the anaphors’ topic-hood and as such plays an important role in facilitates the realization of antecedents.Another conversational discourse was used by Soumya Sankar GHOSH, Samir KARMAKAR and Arka BANERJEE to explore the occurance and role of indeclinable ar in Bangla. Authors point out that multiple interpretations of ar, which in addition have a large semantic and pragmatic scope, can be systematized by the use of phonological context.Hironori NISHI in his article was interested in the use of the Japanese past form n deshita/n datta in a discourse. His results, based on the analyses of a large corpus, show that approximately two-thirds of the n deshita/n datta cases are not grammatically constrained, and that those cases exhibit either the speaker’s recollection of previously held knowledge, or confirmation-seeking utterances for their previously held knowledge.Andrei A. AVRAM explored phonological, morphological, syntactic and lexical aspects of Yokohama Pidgin Japanese and Japanese Pidgin English to find out that the bi-directional approach detected several common features typical of pre-pidgins though the two languages differ considerably in the circumstances of their emergence and the context of use.Yet another language variety, namely the legal Chinese sociolect, was analyzed quantitatively by Ľuboš GAJDOŠ. Referring to the Chinese monolingual corpus Hanku, the author touched several statistical parameters, including the length of sentences and the proportion of parts of speech, and additionally discussed the issues on statistical data processing. Last but not least, Tereza SLAMĚNÍKOVÁ turned to Czech speakers of Chinese to search on and discuss the L1 influences on the L2 perception at the early stages of the learning process. The author focused on segmental and suprasegmental features, and found out that while some perceptional mistakes are language-independent, others are language-specific, and stressed the importance of the latter. Editors and Editorial Board thank all the contributors to this volume, and wish the regular and new readers of the ALA journal a pleasant read full of inspiration.
¿Un neologismo a la moda?: Repensar la interseccionalidad como herramienta para la articulación política feminista
Authors: Gandarias Goikoetxea Itziar 
Published: June 2017

La interseccionalidad se considera una de las mayores contribuciones a los estudios de género y feministas de las últimas décadas. A pesar de ello, algunas teóricas son suspicaces al actual uso acrítico y fetichización de la interseccionalidad y otras la contemplan como un neologismo a la moda. En base a la experiencia de articulación de la Plataforma de la Marcha Mundial de Mujeres del País Vasco, este texto explora alguna de las tensiones que surgen a la hora de poner en práctica la interseccionalidad. Con el fin de recuperar su carácter radical y transformador originario de los feminismos negros, se presentan tres retos de la interseccionalidad como herramienta de articulación política: (i) atender la interrelación entre subjetividad e interseccionalidad (ii) su repolitización y radicalización y (iii) la apuesta por una interseccionalidad situada y contingente. Más que una noción caduca, la interseccionalidad es presentada como una herramienta con un potencial político y teórico aún por explorar
Aging of beef rumpsteak on sensory quality, color appereance and texture properties
Authors: Šulcerová Hana , Sýkora Vladimí­r , Nedomova Sarka , Mihok Michal 
Published: June 2017

The aim of the work was to optimize the time of aging of beef - rumpsteak for culinary processing in relation to color, texture and sensory changes.The 8 weeks of dry-aging had an influence on color change by 18% and there was darkening of samples, darker meat linearly, without any variations. During dry-aging decreased softness and increased strength steaks. There was no significant effect of maturation and softness, it has only been affected by less than 5% (p <0.05). The best evaluation was obtained after 7 weeks of aging in descriptors. The main point was in intensity and pleasantness of flavor and intensity and pleasantness and taste. On the other hand, juiciness and texture to bite was evaluated after 4 weeks of aging the best. As the softest sample in descriptor texture in bites it was four-week aging; as the hardest sample was observed in 8 week of dry-aging. Dry-aging affected (p <0.05) the L* value, the trend during dry-aging period had decreasing tendencies. On the other hand, in the course of decreasing lightness fluctuations was observed in lightness value L*. Chromaticity value a* displayed a negative significant (p <0.05) correlation to weeks of dry-aging. Dry aging had a significant negative effect (p <0.05) on the chromatic value b*. The length of the dry-aging had significant statistical impact on the ligthness and both chromatic coordinates. The length of dry-aging had paramount influence on the textural properties of rump steaks evaluated by instrument.
Reviewer Acknowledgements for Vol. 5, No. 2, June 2017
Authors: Williams Richard 
Published: June 2017

Journal of Agricultural Studies would like to acknowledge the following reviewers for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Many authors, regardless of whether JAS publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review for this issueReviewers for Volume 5, Number 2 Abhishek A. Cukkemane, Bijasu Agri Research Laboratory LLP, IndiaAshit Kumar Paul, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, BangladeshChenlin Hu, The Ohio State University, USA,Eliana Mariela Werbin, National University of Cordoba, ArgentinianErnest Baafi, CSIR-Crops Research Institute, GhanaGerardo Ojeda , Universidad Nacional de Colombia, ColombiaGulzar Ahmad Nayik, SLIET Punjab, IndiaJiban Shrestha, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, NepalMing-Chi Wei, Department and Graduate Institute of Pharmacology, TaiwanReham Ibrahim Abo-Shnaf, Agricultural Research Center, EgyptSahar Bahmani, University of Wisconsin at Parkside, USASait Engindeniz, Ege University Faculty of Agriculture, TurkeySelmi Houc, University of Jandouba, TunisiaSoto Caro Ariel Reinaldo, Universidad de Concepción, ChileZakaria Fouad Abdallah, National Research Centre, EgyptZhao Chen, Clemson University, US Richard Williams,EditorJournal of Agricultural Studies-------------------------------------------Macrothink Institute5348 Vegas Dr.#825Las Vegas, Nevada 89108United StatesPhone: 1-702-953-1852 ext.521Fax: 1-702-420-2900Email: jas@macrothink.orgURL: http://jas.macrothink.org
Ultrasonic monitoring of spontaneous imbibition experiments: Acoustic signature of fluid migration
Authors: David Christian , Barnes Christophe , Desrues Mathilde , Pimienta Lucas , Sarout Joël , Dautriat Jérémie 
Published: June 2017

AbstractCapillary rise experiments (spontaneous imbibition tests) were conducted in the laboratory with ultrasonic and X‐ray monitoring on the Sherwood sandstone and the Majella grainstone. The aim was to provide a direct comparison between the variation in seismic attributes (amplitude, velocity, spectral content, and energy) and the actual fluid distribution in the rock. Two pairs of ultrasonic P wave sensors located at different heights on a cylindrical rock specimen recorded every 5 s the waveforms when capillary forces make water rise up into the rock from the bottom in contact with a water tank. Simultaneously, computerized tomography scan images of a vertical cross section were also recorded. Two important results were found. (i) The amplitude of the first P wave arrival is impacted by the upward moving fluid front before the P wave velocity is, while the fluid front has not yet reached the sensors level. In contrast, the P wave velocity decreases when the fluid front reaches the Fresnel clearance zone. The spectral analysis of the waveforms shows that the peak frequency amplitude is continuously decreasing without noticeable frequency shift. (ii) A methodology based on the calculation of the analytical signal and instantaneous phase was designed to decompose each waveform into discrete wavelets associated with direct or reflected waves. The energy carried by the wavelets is very sensitive to the fluid substitution process: the coda wavelets related to reflections on the bottom end face of the specimen are impacted as soon as imbibition starts and can be used as a precursor for the arriving fluid.
Textures of eclogites and blueschists from Syros island, Greece: Inferences for elastic anisotropy of subducted oceanic crust
Authors: Keppler Ruth , Behrmann Jan H. , Stipp Michael 
Published: June 2017

AbstractMany blueschists and eclogites are inferred to have formed from oceanic basalts in subducted slabs. Knowledge of their elastic behavior is essential for reconstructing the internal structure of subduction zones. The Cycladic blueschist unit, exposed on Syros Island (Greece), contains rocks belonging to an exhumed Tertiary subduction complex. They were possibly part of a subduction channel, a shear zone above the subducting slab in which exhumation is possible during subduction. Intense plastic deformation, forming crystallographic preferred orientations (CPO), accompanied blueschist and eclogite metamorphism. CPO of the constituent minerals in the collected samples was determined by time‐of‐flight neutron diffraction. Two samples are foliated fine‐grained blueschists with strong CPO, rich in glaucophane, zoisite, and phengite. Two coarser‐grained eclogite samples rich in omphacite and clinozoisite, or glaucophane, have weaker CPO. Vp and Vs anisotropies were computed from the orientation distribution function and single‐crystal elastic constants. All samples show velocity maxima parallel to the mineral lineation, and minima normal to the foliation, providing important constraints on orientations of seismic anisotropy in subduction channels. Vp anisotropies are up to 3 times higher (6.5–12%) in the blueschists than in the eclogites (3–4%), pointing to a potentially important lithological control of elastic anisotropy in subducted oceanic crust.
Avowing ofArthur, The
Authors: Dahood Roger 
Published: June 2017

AbstractThe Avowing, which survives in only the Ireland Blackburne manuscript, is a tail‐rhyme romance composed in a northern dialect sometime between the late fourteenth and late fifteenth century. It is a Gawain romance, but Baldwin of Britain is the main character. Individual plot features have antecedents and analogues in literary and folk tradition, but no direct source for the poem is known. The most extensive literary analyses to date viewThe Avowingas structurally bipartite, a diptych, and seek meaning in the relationship between the parts. The diptych model, though widely accepted, is not entirely satisfactory. The poem implicitly raises unsettling moral questions.
Audelay,John
Authors: Fein Susanna 
Published: June 2017

AbstractJohn Audelay was an early‐fifteenth‐century English poet (fl. 1417–?1432) whose known works appear in a single manuscript copied at Haughmond Abbey, Shropshire, now housed in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (MS Douce 302). Audelay's religious verse includes moral instruction, carols to be sung, and salutations in honor of holy women. His book is particularly distinctive as an early author‐anthology. The poet's name appears in it 18 times, and its ordering evinces a planned arrangement. Audelay is also notable for his avowed stance as blind poet‐seer and for his range of metrical styles. The most well‐known poems in his wide‐ranging book areMarcolf and Solomon(which is perhaps indebted toPiers Plowman), the densely alliterativeThree Dead KingsandPaternoster, the collection of 25 carols, and a delicate English rendering of the Latin Annunciation hymnAngelus ad virginem.
Æthelwulf
Authors: Thornbury Emily V. 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

Æthelwulf was the author of
De abbatibus
, a ninth‐century poem relating the history of the small Northumbrian monastery to which he belonged. In addition to providing intriguing glimpses into the connections between aristocratic families and ecclesiastical governance, Æthelwulf's work demonstrates significant connections between English and Continental art even in the early years of the Viking invasions.
C
amlann
Authors: Hughes Ian 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
The battle of Camlann has often been thought to be Arthur's final battle. During the battle, he is mortally wounded by Mordred, his nephew (or some other close relation), who has usurped the crown of Britain and who has defiled the institution of marriage by sleeping with Guinevere, Arthur's wife. After the battle, which according to Geoffrey took place in Cornwall, Arthur was borne away by maidens to Avalon to be healed of his wounds. Various traditional elements then refer to Arthur's return sometime in the future to aid the Britons in their attempts to regain sovereignty over the Island of Britain. This is how Geoffrey of Monmouth portrays Arthur's downfall and has been followed by various writers and poets ever since. However, Welsh tradition seems to have viewed the battle of Camlann in a slightly different way; it is likely that the earliest Welsh records do not regard Mordred (Medrawd in Welsh) in any negative light whatsoever, since the earliest poets in Wales praise his heroic nature and his comeliness and compare their patrons to him. Only later in Wales is Medrawd changed into the Mordred of Geoffreyan and post‐Geoffreyan tradition.
Æthelwold
Authors: Stephenson Rebecca 
Published: June 2017

Abstract
Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester, was a leader of the tenth‐century Benedictine Reform and an author of works in both English and Latin. He founded a school at Winchester that produced several famous authors of the late Anglo‐Saxon period including Ælfric of Eynsham and Wulfstan Cantor. Winchester under his tenure was also a major site for musical and artistic innovation.
C
roxton

P
lay of the
S
acrament
Authors: Hill‐Vásquez Heather 
Published: June 2017

Abstract

The Croxton
Play of the Sacrament
is a late‐fifteenth century dramatization of a Host desecration perpetrated by a group of Jews. The Jews' abuse of the Host results in a series of miracles – including a reenactment of Christ's Passion – and, in response, the abusers' conversion to Christianity. Scholarly approaches to the
Play of the Sacrament
tend to focus on the Jewish characters as representatives of heretical beliefs which challenged fundamental tenets of the Catholic Church (including the transubstantiation and priestly efficacy) – beliefs which are confuted by the conversion of the Jews and the accompanying reassertion of clerical authority with which the play ends.
Anglo‐SaxonChronicle
Authors: Jorgensen Alice 
Published: June 2017

AbstractThe Anglo‐Saxon Chronicle is a set of closely related annalistic texts in five main manuscripts, conventionally labelled A–E. These preserve textual blocks compiled at different times, the earliest, or Common Stock, dates from the late ninth century, the latest is the Peterborough Continuations of the twelfth century. The record is heavily selective, and early sections in particular give a view of events centered on the West Saxon kings. The Chronicle is read as an important document for emerging Anglo‐Saxon identity. From 937 it intermittently incorporates poetry.
Statistics of Earthquakes
Authors: Özel Gamze 
Published: June 2017

AbstractEarthquake statistics is important in understanding the impacts and costs of earthquakes. They concern seismologists, geologists, engineers, government officials, insurers, and statisticians among others. Developing reliable statistics on earthquakes is important because local, state, and federal spending is prioritized and allocated according to these numbers and because life‐and‐death decisions are based on this information. The accurate identification of earthquake statistics is also valuable to international agencies in their attempt to determine the security of their investments in developing countries.