4,076 research outputs found
Economic Viability of G.M. Crops in India: A Comparative Study between G. M. Cotton and Non-G.M. Cotton in Punjab
No full textGenetically modified crops brought a huge controversy in India after its introduction in the form of G.M. Cotton. Debates are continuously going on amongst the scientists, economists, social workers and other stakeholders of the society. The aim of this study is to determine the economic viability of genetically modified (G.M.) cotton and compare its cost-benefit analysis with non-G.M. cotton. It is a type of ex-post facto research. This investigation depends on both primary and secondary data and covered 200 cotton producers out of which 100 were G.M. cotton producers and 100 were non-G.M. cotton producers. A survey was conducted in summer season of June, in the different areas of Punjab like Bhatinda, Faridkot, Kotkapura, Fazilka, Muktasar relatingto the agricultural year 2016. The analysis of the survey demonstrated that G.M. cotton provide higher yield and more profit. This study is very useful for policymakers to prepare the most favourable policy for different stakeholders of G.M. crop
The synthesis of monodisperse alkanes with long chains
No full textThis thesis discusses reasons for the interest in monodisperse long chain alkanes and describes attempts, past and present, to synthesise such molecules. Chapter 1 discusses why the synthesis of such molecules are important and the objectives of this project. Chapter 2 reviews the methods previous groups have devised to prepare pure samples of long chain alkanes. In particular, work carried out by Whiting et al. at Bristol, whose scheme formed the basis of the early work in Durham. Chapter 3 describes the work in Durham and improvements which were made to Whiting's method, allowing the synthesis of longer chain lengths and greater quantities of materials to be achieved. Chapter 4 provides a summary of the practical work carried out by the author. Chapter 5 gives experimental details of the work described in Chapter 4
Khan⇔s decree on the appointment of the mufti: muslims under the rule of the Volga Kalmyks
No full textResearch objectives: This article is dedicated to preliminarily research and the publication of the decree of the Kalmyk ruler, Donduk-Dashi Khan (r. 1741–1761), assigning to Mustafa Hajji the position of the mufti of the Muslims – people which were dependent on Donduk-Dashi Khan – as well as the position of the qadi and zaisang of the Nogays. Research materials: The decree (dated to 1750) reached us as a copy from the nineteenth century which was kept in the private archives of Abd al-Rahman Umerov – the Tatar religious leader and enlightener who was active at the end of nineteenth and beginning of twentieth century. Cartographic and lexicographic sources were used as well as works on Turkic and Mongolian diplomacy. Results and novelty of the research: The legal status of the representatives of Turkic-Muslim subjects of the Kalmyk rulers and the methods of their administration were not studied sufficiently up to the present. This is a result of the small number of the documentary sources which have been thus far introduced into scholarly circles. The publication of this decree of Donduk-Dashi Khan will fill the gaps in our knowledge of this problem
Towards the Theatre: Opasnyi Povorot (Dangerous Corner). The 1939 Production by G.M. Kozintsev at the Leningrad Comedy Theater
No full textThe subject of this research is the first production in a series of theatrical works by G.M. Kozintsev (1905–1973) of the late 1930s — early 1950s, which are fundamentally important both in his creative biography and in the history of Soviet theatre of that era. The author suggests that the entry of the famous film director into theatre was caused by the desire to find a way out of a creative impasse.
The director’s appeal to the play of the modern English novelist and playwright J.B. Priestley and its controversial interpretation were driven by the dramatic atmosphere of the late 1930s. The eccentric grotesque of the play and its pamphlet character, which was insisted on by the director, are considered as a parody of tragedy by the author of the research. This reveals a fundamental connection between the production under consideration and the subsequent successful experiments of G.M. Kozintsev in the field of theatrical Shakespeareana. The article draws attention to the fundamental connection between the style of the production and the general style of the Leningrad State Comedy Theatre developed by its director — the outstanding theatre director and set designer, G.M. Kozintsev and E.L. Schwartz’s friend and associate, N.P. Akimov. The research is based on the performance reviews, testimonies of the participants of the performance, contemporaries close to the director (especially the playwright and screenwriter E.L. Schwartz and the long-term G.M. Kozintsev’s co-author L.Z. Trauberg), as well as the surviving radio version of the play
Stevin Outlet Sluices: Wave impact under a beam
No full textThe Dutch department of Public Works had a problem regarding wave impacts on a beam in the Stevin outlet sluices, located in the Afsluitdijk. Wave impacts on this beam could also cause a peak pressure on the barrier gate, just behind the beam. The numerical program ComFLOW and physical scale experiments were used to predict the wave impacts for different hydraulic conditions (i.e. wave height, wave period and water level). The research questions were: 1. How is the wave load on the northern gates depending on the presence of the military beam? 2. How large is a wave impact load on the bottom of the military beam in the Stevin outlet sluices? 3. How well can the numerical model ComFLOW and physical modelling be used to determine the wave impact on the bottom of the military beam in the Stevin outlet sluices? 2D scaled experiments were performed making use of a model with the (simplified) geometry of the Stevin outlet sluices and regular waves. It was found that the largest wave impacts occurred for water levels equal to the bottom plane of the beam or slightly under it. This happened for the shortest waves in the test domain. The largest pressure measured on the beam was approximately 50 kPa or 35H, with H representing the incident wave height in front of the model. It was also found that the spread in the peak pressures for one single experiment was large. The results of the measured impulse per peak showed far less spread. The effect of wave impacts under the beam was also found on the vertical wall under the beam. The actual pressures however were less and they were decreasing with increasing depth. Besides physical wave impact testing, a few experiments were performed with the beam removed from the model. This resulted in wave simply running up the vertical wall of the model. They did not cause a wave impact. The measurements of both type of experiments, with and without a beam, were compared. This revealed that the total wave impulse on the gate was not affected by the presence of the beam. However the distribution of the pressure within a single wave period was significantly different. In case of a beam, a large impact peak was observed, whereas the other wave only showed a small hump caused by the deflected flow against the vertical wall. When the calculated and measured wave impact results were compared it became clear that ComFLOW underestimated the peak pressures by a factor 2 to 20 for the pressures on the impact plane. The same was done for the peak impulse. This showed that the impulse of the peak on the impact plane were underestimated by a factor 2 at most. These results confirmed that the used grid was too coarse for the program to model the physics correctly. The main conclusions to the research questions were: 1. The presence of the military beam causes a different distribution of the force on the gate within a wave period. The total amount of impulse is more or less the same as for the situation without a beam. With the military beam, a wave impact results in a peak force on the gate. Without the beam, there will be no peak force. 2. The largest measured wave impact pressure is 35H. 3. Both ComFLOW and physical modelling can be used to predict wave impacts for the geometry of Stevin outlet sluices. Much care should be taken when modelling and much attention should go to the input parameters of the program.Hydraulic StructuresHydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience
The relationship between South Asian stock returns and macroeconomic variables
No full textThis article investigates whether economic variables have explanatory power for share returns in South Asian stock markets. In particular, using data for four South Asian emerging stock markets over the period 1998 – 2012, the article examines the influence of a selection of local, regional and global economic variables in explaining equity returns; most previous studies that have examined this issue have tended to focus on only local and/or global factors. Important factors are identified by distilling the macroeconomic variables into principal components. Economic activities, real interest rates, real exchange rates and the trade balance represent local factors. Regional factors are represented by inter-regional trade and regional economic activity while global factors are represented by world financial asset returns and world economic activity. The Vector Autoregression results suggest that the South Asian markets examined are not efficient. Both local and regional factors can directly and indirectly explain Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Sri Lankan stock returns while the lagged returns of the Pakistani stock market and world economic activity can explain Indian stock returns
A Professional Author-How G.M. Glaskin Earned a Living
No full textWestern Australian author Gerald Marcus Glaskin (GMG; 16 December 1923-11 March 2000) wrote from life, using his experiences to continually expand his creative repertoire. In one sense, this was to be his downfall, as his life was unconventional for his time. Because he mined own experiences so much in his creative writing, his works eventually moved out of mainstream markets. However, this paper focuses on his financial success as a writer, details of which can be documented through study of the meticulous records kept by both GMG and his publisher, Barrie & Rockliff of London. Other scholarly analysis of the income received by authors is limited. Katherine Bode (2012) does not deal with the subject in her otherwise comprehensive quantitative analysis of Australian publishing. What little is known about the income of professional authors from this or other periods, and whether they were able to survive on the proceeds of their writing, is incidental to other research
Systems approach to climatic variability and nutrient management in rice based cropping sequence
No full textThe present investigation was undertaken at Shalimar Campus of S.K. University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology during the years 1995 to 1997 with the objective to obtain comprehensive information on growth and yield of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under normal and late transplanting with different levels of organic manure and nitrogen, their residual effect on subsequent crop of brown sarson (Brassica compestris L.) and to simulate trends of rice yield. The experiment was laid out in factorial split-plot design assigning combination of transplanting dates (15 and 30 June) and three levels of organic manure (No organic manure, rice straw litter and FYM @ 10 t ha-1) to main-plots and four levels of nitrogen (0,50,100 and 150 kg ha-1) to sub-plots with three replications. Genetic constants evaluated from 15 June transplanting of 1995 were used for calibration and validation of simulation model ORYZA 1-N.
Late transplanting (30 June) adversely affected the grain and straw yield by increasing spikelet sterility and reducing development phases, growth and yield attributing characters and nutrient uptake.
Application of organic manure did not exhibit significant difference in grain yield during the year 1995. However, during second year FYM and rice straw litter recorded increase in grain yield compared to control through improvement in growth and yield attributes and nutrient uptake. Organic manure also improved apparent N-use efficiency, agronomic efficiency and physiological N-use efficiency.
Various growth characters, yield and yield attributes and straw yield, increased significantly by application of nitrogen up to 100 kg N ha-1 during 1995 and up to 150 kg N ha-1 during 1996.
Economic dose of N worked out to be 152.6 and 110.9 kg ha-1 for 15 June and 30 June transplanting, respectively, whereas, with FYM, rice straw litter and no organic manure economic dose was 129.9, 133.3 and 172.4 kg ha-1, respectively.
Organic carbon and available soil nitrogen increased by applying organic manure, except during Ist year, where available N decreased during crop growth with application of rice straw litter.
Residual effect of various treatments of preceding rice crop was observed on brown sarson. Late transplanting of rice during second year and organic manure application improved seed yield, yield attributes and nutrient of brown sarson.
Nitrogen balance sheet of soil from rice-brown sarson sequences over two years showed positive and high N gain at 150 kg N ha-1 with FYM and 15 June transplanting and negative balance with 30 June transplanting without use of organic manure and nitrogen.
Simulation studies indicated that 10 June transplanting recorded highest grain yield of rice followed by 30 May and 20 June transplanting. Grain yield with three transplanting dates i.e., 30th May (early), 15th June (normal) 30 June (late) in combination with nitrogen levels of 0,100 and 200 kg ha-1 was simulated for four years. Transplanting on 15 June with nitrogen level of 200 kg ha-1 recorded highest grain yield of 92.2 q ha-1 whereas, 30 June transplanting without nitrogen application gave the lowest grain yield. However, highest doses of N in late transplanted crop decreased grain yield compared to normal transplanting. Further, simulation studies indicated that 35 day old seedling recorded highest grain yield for early (30 May) and normal (15 June) transplanting date, whereas, for late transplanting 65 day old seedling recorded higher yield compared to 50 and 35 day old seedling.
Under temperate conditions of Kashmir, rice transplanting should be completed between 30 May to 15 June for higher yield with 35 day old seedling and 150 kg N ha-1. Application of organic manure saves about 40 kg N ha-1 with significant residual effect on succeeding brown sarson crop
A more comprehensive and commanding delineation: Mary Shelley's narrative strategy in Frankenstein
No full textThis thesis argues that the first edition of Frankenstein challenges conventional reading by employing what Simpson in Irony and Authority in Romantic Poetry calls Romantic irony, where the absence of a stable 'metacomment' precludes an authoritative reading. The novel hints at such readings but prevents them. The insights offered by Tropp's Mary Shelley's Monster, Baldick's In Frankenstein's Shadow, Poovey's The Proper Lady and the woman writer and Swingle's, 'Frankenstein's Monster and its Relatives: Problems of Knowledge in English Romanticism' are considered, but none recognises the full implications of the instability deriving from multiple first- person narratives. Clemit's The Godwinian Navel acknowledges the novel's indeterminacy, but reads a specific ideological purpose in it. Paradise Last provides a language to describe the relationship between the monster and Frankenstein, but proves too unstable to fix identity or establish moral value. Similarly, Necessity ultimately fails to provide a stable explanation in terms of cause and effect. The status of nature shifts between foreground and background, never allowing final definition. These uncertainties destabilise knowledge which is compromised by its provisional nature: no authoritative reading is possible, yet the novel has narrative coherence. The reader is encouraged to try to develop a reading the structure prevents. The radical nature of the first edition is highlighted by comparison with the 1831 edition, which removes much of the ambivalence and gives the novel a clearer morality. The novel challenges conventional methods of deriving authority by disturbing the reader's orthodox orientation in the world around him' (Simpson) in order to afford 'a point of view to the imagination for the delineation of human passions more comprehensive and commanding than any which the ordinary relations of existing events can yield' (Mary Shelley)
THE effects of ageing on driving related performance
No full textAccording to one estimate, about 40 percent of the driving population will be over the age of 60by the year 2020 in the UK and currently, several hundred thousand drivers with dementia holddriving licenses. The number of motor vehicle crashes per unit distance of automobile travel is“U”-shaped, with risk increasing slightly between the ages of 55 and 60, but risk increasing witheach successive five-year interval. Some individuals who have mild dementia possess sufficientdriving skills to be designated as fit drivers. The most challenging assessment and decision for thephysician/licensing authority as regards fitness to drive lies in drivers who are questionablydemented or are in a state of very mild dementia.In the absence of a reliable standard protocol, some clinicians make judgment based on selfreporting,which has risks associated with it as lack of insight and judgment are potential commontraits of the population experiencing cognitive decline. Seldom is recourse made by healthprofessionals to on-road assessment as a first alternative as it requires a fee and such testingcenters are not readily available everywhere. This research addresses this issue of theidentification of cognitive tests that can be used to assess an individual’s ability to drive andespecially of those individuals that are questionably demented and are the most difficult toidentify. A younger and an older group consisting of 56 drivers in total were administered ninedifferent cognitive tests and two drives (Drive-I and Drive-II) on the STISIM driving simulator.The cognitive test ufov3 (involving the identification of a central target and simultaneously theradial localization of a peripheral target embedded in distracter triangles), which is the thirdsubtest of the UFOV (Useful Field of View) test showed the highest discriminating ability inseparating “poor-drivers” from “not-poor-drivers”, with 92.86 % of the drivers correctlyclassified. The next best discriminating ability in decreasing order of strength was that of dichoticlistening test, trail making test, rey-copy test and paper folding test. Also, age was found to be anexcellent discriminator of “poor-drivers” and “not-poor-drivers” with 91.07 % of the driverscorrectly classified. A composite cognitive measure consisting of the sum of all nine cognitivetests was not a better predictor than the ufov3 test alone; overall it was still an excellentdiscriminator, classifying 89.29 % of drivers correctly. The commonly recommended ClockDrawing test and the Trail Making test did not emerge as significant predictors of driving ability.A general driving skills linear model for prediction purposes was derived that explained 59 % ofthe variation in a general driving performance index with the ufov3 test, the dichotic listening testand the rey-recall test as significant predictors. Recommendations are made as to how this testshould be used to screen potentially at risk drivers
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