text:
Assessing the Economic Viability of Bio-based Products for Missouri Value-added Crop Production
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Nicholas Kalaitzandonakes
While research and development on biobased products has continued strong over the years, parallel attention on the economics and management of such product innovation has been lacking. With the financial support of the Department of Energy, the Economics and Management of Agrobiotechnology Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia has launched a pilot graduate education program that seeks to fill the gap. Within this context, a multi-disciplinary research and teaching program has been structured with an emphasis on new product and innovation economics and management. More specifically, this pilot graduate education program has the following major objectives: (1) To provide students with a strong background in innovation economics, management, and strategy. (2) To diversify the students academic background with coursework in science and technology. (3) To familiarize the student with biobased policy initiatives through interaction with state and national level organizations and policymakers. (4) To facilitate active collaboration with industry involved in the development and production of biobased products. The pilot education program seeks to develop human capital and research output. Although the research is, initially, focused on issues related to the State of Missouri, the results are expected to have national implications for the economy, producers, consumers and environment.
Value added products from microalgae
CSIR Research Space (South Africa)
Naidoo, T
Full Text Available , feed, pharmaceutical and research industries (Pulz and Gross, 2004). The market for these applications is still emerging, but there have already been new areas of research in microalgal biotechnology to satisfy the new product demands of industry...
Interpolated Sounding Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Troyan, D [Brookhaven National Laboratory
The Interpolated Sounding (INTERPSONDE) value-added product (VAP) uses a combination of observations from radiosonde soundings, the microwave radiometer (MWR), and surface meteorological instruments in order to define profiles of the atmospheric thermodynamic state at one-minute temporal intervals and a total of at least 266 altitude levels. This VAP is part of the Merged Sounding (MERGESONDE) suite of VAPs. INTERPSONDE is the profile of the atmospheric thermodynamic state created using the algorithms of MERGESONDE without including the model data from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF). More specifically, INTERPSONDE VAP represents an intermediate step within the larger MERGESONDE process.
Test marketing for value-added root and tuber based products in ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
-market selected value-added root and tuber based products, developed at National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike. Its specific objectives were to assess acceptability of the products by the consumers; identify the marketing channels ...
Processing biogas planet digestates into value-added products -BIOVIRTA
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Paavola, T.; Rintala, J. (MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Jokioinen (Finland)), Email: email@example.com; Sahltroem, L.; Maunuksela, L.; Torniainen, M. (Finnish Food Safety Authority, EVIRA, Helsinki (Finland)), Email: email@example.com; Kaparaju, P.; Rintala, J. (Univ. of Jyvaeskylae (Finland)), Email: firstname.lastname@example.com; Vikman, M.; Kapanen, A. (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland)), Email: email@example.com
The objective of BIOVIRTA project is to develop technologies and practices with which digestates, originating from anaerobic digestion of different organic wastes and by-products, can be refined to value-added and safe products for various end-uses. It is expected that the operational preconditions for biogas plants will be significantly enhanced when the end-products are proven safe and applicable. Selection of the raw materials for anaerobic codigestion is the main operational strategy that could influence the nutrient content in the digestate. This has been clearly established in the laboratory and full-scale studies with various digestates originating from different raw materials, e.g. rendering and slaughterhouse byproducts. The nutrient content in the digestate also affects the opportunities to produce refined digestate products. In this project, the possibilities for several processing technologies, e.g. mechanical separation and stripping, have been intensively evaluated for the production of different digestate products. Their mass balances have also been estimated. The feasibility for the use of the digestate products has been assessed based on their chemical and hygienic quality and for various end-uses, including as organic fertiliser and/or soil improver in crop production. The preliminary results of these field-experiments showed that the yield of barley fertilised with digestate products was comparable to inorganic fertilisers. (orig.)
Engineering microbial factories for synthesis of value-added products.
Du, Jing; Shao, Zengyi; Zhao, Huimin
Microorganisms have become an increasingly important platform for the production of drugs, chemicals, and biofuels from renewable resources. Advances in protein engineering, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology enable redesigning microbial cellular networks and fine-tuning physiological capabilities, thus generating industrially viable strains for the production of natural and unnatural value-added compounds. In this review, we describe the recent progress on engineering microbial factories for synthesis of valued-added products including alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, polyketides, non-ribosomal peptides, biofuels, and chemicals. Related topics on lignocellulose degradation, sugar utilization, and microbial tolerance improvement will also be discussed.
Bioconversion of sago residue into value added products | Awg ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Bioconversion of the agro-residue offers the possibility of creating marketable value-added products. In this regard, sago residue which contains solid and liquid materials produced abundantly as a byproduct from the sago starch processing industry. Due to its organic nature and low ash content, attempts have been made ...
Gross Value Added and Total Factor Productivity In Czech Sectors
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tomáš Volek
Full Text Available The main purpose of this paper is to consider the development of total factor productivity in the development of gross value added in individual sectors of the economy of the Czech Republic in the period from 1996 - 2011. The National Account was the source of the data. The paper addresses the importance of extensive and intensive sources of economic growth in individual sectors. It was found that the development of total factor productivity does not match the growth of gross value added. The growth of gross value added was significantly influenced by extensive and intensive sources of growth in all of the economy and its sectors. The hypothesis stating that if the total factor productivity rises faster than the gross value added, then the extensive factor is negative was accepted for all sectors of the economy. The influence of intensive factors was primarily found in the manufacturing and commercial service sectors. The results of this study indicate differences in the sources of growth in individual sectors.
ARM Climate Research Facility Quarterly Value-Added Product Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Sivaraman, Chitra
The purpose of this report is to provide a concise status update for value-added products (VAP) implemented by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility. The report is divided into the following sections: (1) new VAPs for which development has begun, (2) progress on existing VAPs, (3) future VAPs that have been recently approved, (4) other work that leads to a VAP, and (5) top requested VAPs from the archive.
ARM Climate Research Facility Quarterly Value-Added Product Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Sivaraman, Chitra
The purpose of this report is to provide a concise status update for value-added products (VAP) implemented by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility. The report is divided into the following sections: (1) new VAPs for which development has begun, (2) progress on existing VAPs, (3) future VAPs that have been recently approved, (4) other work that leads to a VAP, and (5) top requested VAPs from the archive.
2D Gridded Surface Data Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Tang, Q [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Xie, S [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
This report describes the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Best Estimate (ARMBE) 2-dimensional (2D) gridded surface data (ARMBE2DGRID) value-added product. Spatial variability is critically important to many scientific studies, especially those that involve processes of great spatial variations at high temporal frequency (e.g., precipitation, clouds, radiation, etc.). High-density ARM sites deployed at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) allow us to observe the spatial patterns of variables of scientific interests. The upcoming megasite at SGP with its enhanced spatial density will facilitate the studies at even finer scales. Currently, however, data are reported only at individual site locations at different time resolutions for different datastreams. It is difficult for users to locate all the data they need and requires extra effort to synchronize the data. To address these problems, the ARMBE2DGRID value-added product merges key surface measurements at the ARM SGP sites and interpolates the data to a regular 2D grid to facilitate the data application.
ARM Climate Research Facility Quarterly Value-Added Product Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Sivaraman, C. [DOE ARM Climate Research Facility, Washington, DC (United States)
The purpose of this report is to provide a concise status update for Value-Added Products (VAPs) implemented by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility. The report is divided into the following sections: (1) new VAPs for which development has begun; (2) progress on existing VAPs; (3) future VAPs that have been recently approved; (4) other work that leads to a VAP; (5) top requested VAPs from the ARM Data Archive; and (6) a summary of VAP and data releases to production and evaluation. New information is highlighted in blue text. New information about processed data by the developer is highlighted in red text. The upcoming milestones and dates are highlighted in green.
Productivity and value added distribution in family-owned businesses
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jose Luis Gallizo Larraz
Full Text Available Objective: Identify similarities and/or differences in the distribution of Value Added characterizing family businesses as opposed to non-family held firms, and analyse productivity by linking the distribution of the wealth generated by the company to a variety of related agents or stakeholders (employees, providers of loan capital, and shareholders. Design/methodology: A data series consisting of VA distribution in a sample of 8,609 Spanish companies, of which 5,109 are family firms and another 3,500 companies which are not, for the period comprising 2008 to 2013 was employed for this study. The data from the financial statements pertaining to these companies was taken from the SABI system (a privately-funded database analysing the financials of Spanish and Portuguese firms, operated by INFORMA, SA, selecting only those companies that employ standardized financial reporting practices. Findings and results: The work shows the existence of significant differences between family and non-family businesses in the distribution of value added among the different stakeholders. Given that, although both types of company spend most of the value added to remunerate staff, the family company spends a higher proportion thereof on self-financing as compared to non-family businesses, which spend a higher percentage on the remuneration of firm ownership. On the other hand, the lower labour productivity of family businesses is apparent, a result that can be explained both by the lower staff monetary remuneration, as well as the use of production technologies that are also less capital-intensive. Limitations: The study included only medium and large companies. These are companies that report financial statements offering more disaggregated data (through use of the standard forms. This owes to the legal requirement of these companies to file a cash flow statement, a necessary source for deriving information on dividends paid by the company. Added value: This is
Sustaining Biodiesel Production via Value-Added Applications of Glycerol
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Omotola Babajide
Full Text Available The production of biofuels worldwide has been significant lately due to the shift from obtaining energy from nonrenewable energy (fossil fuels to renewable sources (biofuels. This energy shift arose as a result of the disturbing crude petroleum price fluctuations, uncertainties about fossil fuel reserves, and greenhouse gas (GHG concerns. With the production of biofuels increasing considerably and the current global biodiesel production from different feedstock, reaching about 6 billion liters per year, biodiesel production costs have been highly dependent on feedstock prices, ranging from 70 to 25; of total production costs, and in comparison with the conventional diesel fuel, the biodiesel is currently noncompetitive. An efficient production process is, therefore, crucial to lowering biodiesel production costs. The question of sustainability, however, arises, taking into account the African diverse conditions and how vital concerns need to be addressed. The major concern about biodiesel production costs can be reduced by finding value-added applications for its glycerol byproduct. This paper, thus, provides an overview of current research trends that could overcome the major hurdles towards profitable commercialization of biodiesel and also proposes areas of opportunity probable to capitalize the surplus glycerol obtained, for numerous applications.
Interpolated Sounding and Gridded Sounding Value-Added Products
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Jensen, M. P. [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Toto, T. [Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Standard Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility sounding files provide atmospheric state data in one dimension of increasing time and height per sonde launch. Many applications require a quick estimate of the atmospheric state at higher time resolution. The INTERPOLATEDSONDE (i.e., Interpolated Sounding) Value-Added Product (VAP) transforms sounding data into continuous daily files on a fixed time-height grid, at 1-minute time resolution, on 332 levels, from the surface up to a limit of approximately 40 km. The grid extends that high so the full height of soundings can be captured; however, most soundings terminate at an altitude between 25 and 30 km, above which no data is provided. Between soundings, the VAP linearly interpolates atmospheric state variables in time for each height level. In addition, INTERPOLATEDSONDE provides relative humidity scaled to microwave radiometer (MWR) observations.
Value added eco-friendly products from tannery solid wastes.
Sastry, T P; Sehgal, R K; Ramasami, T
Chrome shavings are the prominent solid wastes in tanning industry. Since chromium is known for its toxicity, the disposal of chrome shavings has been identified as a serious problem from the environmental point of view. At present, the popular utilization mode for chrome shavings is the manufacture of leather boards and related products. But this does not offer complete utilization of chrome shavings. Moreover, return per ton of chrome shavings is low if used for leather board production. In view of this, two processes have been developed to offer an alternative and better solution for the disposal of chrome shavings. The first process is preparation of parchment like membrane and the second process is related to development of leather like material. These products are analyzed for their mechanical behavior and other physicochemical properties. Parchment membrane can be used in the preparation of lampshades, chandeliers, wall hangers, table tops etc. and leather like material can be used in the preparation of chappal uppers, hand bags, purses, valets etc. The utilization of the chrome shavings in preparation of those two products not only reduces the environmental pollution but at the same time value added products can also be obtained.
Interpolated Sounding and Gridded Sounding Value-Added Products
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Toto, T. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Jensen, M. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Standard Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility sounding files provide atmospheric state data in one dimension of increasing time and height per sonde launch. Many applications require a quick estimate of the atmospheric state at higher time resolution. The INTERPOLATEDSONDE (i.e., Interpolated Sounding) Value-Added Product (VAP) transforms sounding data into continuous daily files on a fixed time-height grid, at 1-minute time resolution, on 332 levels, from the surface up to a limit of approximately 40 km. The grid extends that high so the full height of soundings can be captured; however, most soundings terminate at an altitude between 25 and 30 km, above which no data is provided. Between soundings, the VAP linearly interpolates atmospheric state variables in time for each height level. In addition, INTERPOLATEDSONDE provides relative humidity scaled to microwave radiometer (MWR) observations.The INTERPOLATEDSONDE VAP, a continuous time-height grid of relative humidity-corrected sounding data, is intended to provide input to higher-order products, such as the Merged Soundings (MERGESONDE; Troyan 2012) VAP, which extends INTERPOLATEDSONDE by incorporating model data. The INTERPOLATEDSONDE VAP also is used to correct gaseous attenuation of radar reflectivity in products such as the KAZRCOR VAP.
Value added liquid products from waste biomass pyrolysis using pretreatments.
Das, Oisik; Sarmah, Ajit K
Douglas fir wood, a forestry waste, was attempted to be converted into value added products by pretreatments followed by pyrolysis. Four different types of pretreatments were employed, namely, hot water treatment, torrefaction, sulphuric acid and ammonium phosphate doping. Subsequently, pyrolysis was done at 500°C and the resulting bio-oils were analysed for their chemical composition using Karl Fischer titration, thermogravimetry, ion exchange, and gas chromatography. Pretreatment with acid resulted in the highest yield of bio-oil (~60%). The acid and salt pretreatments were responsible for drastic reduction in the lignin oligomers and enhancement of water content in the pyrolytic liquid. The quantity of xylose/mannose reduced as a result of pretreatments. Although, the content of fermentable sugars remained similar across all the pretreatments, the yield of levoglucosan increased. Pretreatment of the biomass with acid yielded the highest amount of levoglucosan in the bio-oil (13.21%). The acid and salt pretreatments also elevated the amount of acetic acid in the bio-oils. Addition of acid and salt to the biomass altered the interaction of cellulose-lignin in the pyrolysis regime. Application of pretreatments should be based on the intended end use of the liquid product having a desired chemical composition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Cloud Type Classification (cldtype) Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Flynn, Donna [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Shi, Yan [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lim, K-S [Korean Atomic Energy Research Inst., Daejeon (South Korea); Riihimaki, Laura [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
The Cloud Type (cldtype) value-added product (VAP) provides an automated cloud type classification based on macrophysical quantities derived from vertically pointing lidar and radar. Up to 10 layers of clouds are classified into seven cloud types based on predetermined and site-specific thresholds of cloud top, base and thickness. Examples of thresholds for selected U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility sites are provided in Tables 1 and 2. Inputs for the cldtype VAP include lidar and radar cloud boundaries obtained from the Active Remotely Sensed Cloud Location (ARSCL) and Surface Meteorological Systems (MET) data. Rain rates from MET are used to determine when radar signal attenuation precludes accurate cloud detection. Temporal resolution and vertical resolution for cldtype are 1 minute and 30 m respectively and match the resolution of ARSCL. The cldtype classification is an initial step for further categorization of clouds. It was developed for use by the Shallow Cumulus VAP to identify potential periods of interest to the LASSO model and is intended to find clouds of interest for a variety of users.
Value-Added Products from Remote Natural Gas
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Lyle A. Johnson
In Wyoming and throughout the United States, there are natural gas fields that are not producing because of their remoteness from gas pipelines. Some of these fields are ideal candidates for a cogeneration scheme where components suitable for chemical feedstock or direct use, such as propane and butane, are separated. Resulting low- to medium-Btu gas is fired in a gas turbine system to provide power for the separation plant. Excess power is sold to the utility, making the integrated plant a true cogeneration facility. This project seeks to identify the appropriate technologies for various subsystems of an integrated plant to recover value-added products from wet gas and/or retrograde condensate reservoirs. Various vendors and equipment manufacturers will be contacted and a data base consisting of feedstock constraints and output specifications for various subsystems and components will be developed. Based on vendor specifications, gas reservoirs suited for value-added product recovery will be identified. A candidate reservoir will then be selected, and an optimum plant layout will be developed. A facility will then be constructed and operated. The project consists of eight subtasks: Compilation of Reservoir Data; Review of Treatment and Conditioning Technologies; Review of Product Recovery and Separation Technologies; Development of Power Generation System; Integrated Plant Design for Candidate Field; System Fabrication; System Operation and Monitoring; and Economic Evaluation and Reporting. The first five tasks have been completed and the sixth is nearly complete. Systems Operations and Monitoring will start next year. The Economic Evaluation and Reporting task will be a continuous effort for the entire project. The reservoir selected for the initial demonstration of the process is the Burnt Wagon Field, Natrona County, Wyoming. The field is in a remote location with no electric power to the area and no gas transmission line. The design for the gas processing
Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Shkurko, Konstantin [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Garrett, T. [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Gaustad, K [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
The Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera (MASC) addresses a need for high-resolution multi-angle imaging of hydrometeors in freefall with simultaneous measurement of fallspeed. As illustrated in Figure 1, the MASC consists of three cameras, separated by 36°, each pointing at an identical focal point approximately 10 cm away. Located immediately above each camera, a light aims directly at the center of depth of field for its corresponding camera. The focal point at which the cameras are aimed lies within a ring through which hydrometeors fall. The ring houses a system of near-infrared emitter-detector pairs, arranged in two arrays separated vertically by 32 mm. When hydrometeors pass through the lower array, they simultaneously trigger all cameras and lights. Fallspeed is calculated from the time it takes to traverse the distance between the upper and lower triggering arrays. The trigger electronics filter out ambient light fluctuations associated with varying sunlight and shadows. The microprocessor onboard the MASC controls the camera system and communicates with the personal computer (PC). The image data is sent via FireWire 800 line, and fallspeed (and camera control) is sent via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) line that relies on RS232-over-USB serial conversion. See Table 1 for specific details on the MASC located at the Oliktok Point Mobile Facility on the North Slope of Alaska. The value-added product (VAP) detailed in this documentation analyzes the raw data (Section 2.0) using Python: images rely on OpenCV image processing library and derived aggregated statistics rely on some clever averaging. See Sections 4.1 and 4.2 for more details on what variables are computed.
Value-added beef products (Productos Carnicos con Valor Agregado)
Mac Donaldson; Will Holder; Jan Holder
I'm speaking for Will and Jan Holder, who couldn't be here. I happen to be familiar with Will and Jan's company, Ervin's Natural Beef, and its program because I've sold them cattle. Will and Jan's value-added beef program is based on their family ranch in the area known as The Blue, in the mountains of eastern Arizona.
Value-Added Dairy Products from Grass-Based Dairy Farms: A Case Study in Vermont
Wang, Qingbin; Parsons, Robert; Colby, Jennifer; Castle, Jeffrey
On-farm processing of value-added dairy products can be a way for small dairy farms to diversify production and increase revenue. This article examines characteristics of three groups of Vermont farmers who have grass-based dairy farms--those producing value-added dairy products, those interested in such products, and those not interested in such…
Bioconversion of sago residue into value added products
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Apr 5, 2010 ... product from the sago starch processing industry. Due to its organic nature and low ... from the sago processing industries, but will also provide an economic solution for waste management system at sago processing mills. .... in clusters, which take about 24 months to mature. Sago produces both pollinated ...
Production of value added materials by subcritical water hydrolysis ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The aim of this study was the determination of the best experimental conditions for the production of useful materials such as amino acids by subcritical water hydrolysis from supercritical carbon dioxide extracted krill residues and to compare the results with raw krill. Subcritical water hydrolysis efficiency from raw and ...
Localized products in France: definition, protection and value-adding
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Laurence Bérard
Full Text Available La notion de production localisée recouvre une réalité particulièrement importante en France, à la fois sur le terrain, à travers la grande diversité des produits, et dans l'imaginaire des Français. Les dispositifs de valorisation dont ces produits peuvent bénéficier renforcent l'intérêt porté à certains d'entre eux. Dans un tel contexte, il importe de mieux comprendre ce qui fait leur spécificité, d'approfondir certaines notions, de mettre l'accent sur ce qui les différencie réellement. Ce sont les critères d'ordre culturel associant un lieu à une histoire et à un groupe social qui permettent d'organiser et de penser cette famille foisonnante et polymorphe.En marge des demandes formelles de protection de l'indication géographique, de nombreuses initiatives contribuent à valoriser les productions locales. Elles sont le fait d'acteurs issus d'horizon divers, dans le cadre d'actions coordonnées, sans être réellement formalisées.Tous les pays n'ont pas le même rapport au lieu. L'inscription d'un produit dans un territoire est le fruit d'un ensemble de critères au poids plus ou moins important selon l'histoire économique et sociale du pays, sa culture, les rapports de force locaux, le milieu naturel.The concept of local production is a particular reality in France, both in the field itself, home to a huge variety of such products, and in the imagination of the French people. Regional products, terroir products, local, traditional and free-range products... There are countless terms to define this uniquely varied family that is thought to add meaning and promote attachment and as such, much coveted. The protection measures now in place make some of these products seem particularly interesting. Within such a context, what matters is to understand what makes local products special, exploring certain concepts, emphasizing what really makes them different and trying to make sense of their profusion
Value-added products from chicken feather fiber and protein
Fan, Xiuling
Worldwide poultry consumption has generated a huge amount of feather "waste" annually. Currently, the feather has a low value-being used for animal feed in the world. The quality of fibrous air filters depend on their main component, fibers. The main physical structure of chicken feathers is barbs which can be used directly as fibers. They have small diameter, which makes them a good choice for air filtration. The main chemical structure of chicken feathers is structural fibrous protein, keratin. Therefore, chicken feathers could potentially be used for protein fiber production. To obtain chicken feather fibers, barbs were stripped from the quills by a stripping device and separated with a blender. Some feather fibers were entangled with polyester staple fibers, and needlepunched to form a nonwoven fabric. Some feather fibers were blended with CelBond(TM) bi-component polyester as binder fibers, and pressed between two hot plates to produce thermobonded nonwovens. Whole chicken feathers were ground into powder and their keratin was reduced in water. The reduced keratin was salt precipitated, dried and dissolved in ionic liquid with/without bleach cotton. The reduced chicken feather keratin ionic liquid solutions were spun into regenerated fibers through dry-jet wet spinning. The needlepunched and thermobonded nonwovens were tested for filtration and other properties. With an increase of areal density and feather fiber composition, the air permeability of the needlepunched nonwovens decreased, and their filtration efficiency and pressure drop both increased. The case can be made that feather fibers gave fabrics better filtration at the same fabric weight, but at the expense of air permeability and pressure drop. The scrim and needlepunching process improved the filtration efficiency. Their strength depended on scrim. The hot-press process was very simple. The thermobonded nonwovens had very high air permeability. In them, there was also an inverse relation between
Consumer preferences and willingness to pay for value-added chicken product attributes.
Martínez Michel, Lorelei; Anders, Sven; Wismer, Wendy V
A growing demand for convenient and ready-to-eat products has increased poultry processors' interest in developing consumer-oriented value-added chicken products. In this study, a conjoint analysis survey of 276 chicken consumers in Edmonton was conducted during the summer of 2009 to assess the importance of the chicken part, production method, processing method, storage method, the presence of added flavor, and cooking method on consumer preferences for different value-added chicken product attributes. Estimates of consumer willingness to pay (WTP) premium prices for different combinations of value-added chicken attributes were also determined. Participants'"ideal" chicken product was a refrigerated product made with free-range chicken breast, produced with no additives or preservatives and no added flavor, which could be oven heated or pan heated. Half of all participants on average were willing to pay 30% more for a value-added chicken product over the price of a conventional product. Overall, young consumers, individuals who shop at Farmers' Markets and those who prefer free-range or organic products were more likely to pay a premium for value-added chicken products. As expected, consumers' WTP was affected negatively by product price. Combined knowledge of consumer product attribute preferences and consumer WTP for value-added chicken products can help the poultry industry design innovative value-added chicken products. Practical Application: An optimum combination of product attributes desired by consumers for the development of a new value-added chicken product, as well as the WTP for this product, have been identified in this study. This information is relevant to the poultry industry to enhance consumer satisfaction of future value-added chicken products and provide the tools for future profit growth. © 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®
Nutritional composition of Chickpea (Cicerarietinum-L and value added products - a review
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Harsha Hirdyani
Full Text Available Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L. is an important pulse crop grown and consumed all over the world, especially in the Afro-Asian countries. It is a good source of carbohydrates and protein, and the protein quality is considered to be better than other pulses. Chickpea has significant amounts of all the essential amino acids. Starch is the major storage carbohydrate followed by dietary fibre, lipids are present in low amounts but chickpea is rich in nutritionally important unsaturated fatty acids like linoleic and oleic acid.It can be utilized to develop nutritious value added products and hence products can also be used as nutritious food for low income group in developing countries and for patients suffering with life style diseases.
Mapping value added positions in facilities management by using a product-process matrix
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Katchamart, Akarapong
Purpose – The purpose of this exploratory research paper is to present a product-process matrix that assists FM organizations and their stakeholders to map their value added position in their organizations. Using this matrix, FM practitioners are able to assess the existing value added delivering...
Value-Added Products From FGD Sulfite-Rich Scrubber Materials
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Vivak M. Malhotra
Massive quantities of sulfite-rich flue gas desulfurization (FGD) scrubber materials are produced every year in the USA. In fact, at present, the production of wet sulfite-rich scrubber cake outstrips the production of wet sulfate-rich scrubber cake by about 6 million tons per year. However, most of the utilization focus has centered on FGD gypsum. Therefore, we have recently initiated research on developing new strategies for the economical, but environmentally-sound, utilization of sulfite-rich scrubber material. In this exploratory project (Phase I), we attempted to ascertain whether it is feasible to develop reconstituted wood replacement products from sulfite-rich scrubber material. In pursuit of this goal, we characterized two different wet sulfite-rich scrubber materials, obtained from two power plants burning Midwestern coal, for their suitability for the development of value-added products. The overall strategy adopted was to fabricate composites where the largest ingredient was scrubber material with additional crop materials as additives. Our results suggested that it may be feasible to develop composites with flexural strength as high as 40 MPa (5800 psi) without the addition of external polymers. We also attempted to develop load-bearing composites from scrubber material, natural fibers, and phenolic polymer. The polymer-to-solid ratio was limited to {le} 0.4. The formulated composites showed flexural strengths as high as 73 MPa (10,585 psi). We plan to harness the research outcomes from Phase I to develop parameters required to upscale our value-added products in Phase II.
Microbial and physicochemical properties of sugarcane bagasse for potential conversion to value-added products
Sugarcane bagasse is a potential source for commercially-viable products such as animal feed, mulch, or fuel. The applications will be determined by the levels of moisture, ash and beneficial chemicals in the bagasse. Manufacturing value-added products will be impacted by microbes, and may require m...
Microbial Conversion of Waste Glycerol from Biodiesel Production into Value-Added Products
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hong Liu
Full Text Available Biodiesel has gained a significant amount of attention over the past decade as an environmentally friendly fuel that is capable of being utilized by a conventional diesel engine. However, the biodiesel production process generates glycerol-containing waste streams which have become a disposal issue for biodiesel plants and generated a surplus of glycerol. A value-added opportunity is needed in order to compensate for disposal-associated costs. Microbial conversions from glycerol to valuable chemicals performed by various bacteria, yeast, fungi, and microalgae are discussed in this review paper, as well as the possibility of extending these conversions to microbial electrochemical technologies.
Recycling of boiler and incinerator ash into value added glass products
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hnat, J.G.; Bartone, L.M. [Vortec Corp., Collegeville, PA (United States)
This paper discusses the recycling of coal-fired boiler and incinerator ashes into value added glass products via the use of a newly developed, fossil-fuel fired, high temperature melting process. The Vortec patented Cyclone Melting System (CMS{trademark}) has a number of significant advantages for recycling solid wastes including: the oxidation of organic and metal contaminants, formation of non-leachable glasses which can be sold as value added products, high melting efficiencies, multi-fuel capability, low operating and maintenance costs and low NO{sub x} emissions. This paper summarizes some of the challenges facing process industries and utilities in the recycling and reuse of industrial solid wastes. The results of laboratory and pilot scale testing with several pulverized coal-fired boiler ashes, several municipal solid waste incinerator ashes, and a sewage sludge incinerator ash are summarized. Information on ash properties, melting characteristics, system performance, toxicity characteristics leaching procedure (TCLP) testing results, flue gas emissions, recycled products, and economics are presented. The application of the CMS to the production of several value added glass and ceramic products is also discussed.
Method for conversion of carbohydrate polymers to value-added chemical products
Zhang, Zongchao C [Norwood, NJ; Brown, Heather M [Kennewick, WA; Su, Yu [Richland, WA
Methods are described for conversion of carbohydrate polymers in ionic liquids, including cellulose, that yield value-added chemicals including, e.g., glucose and 5-hydroxylmethylfurfural (HMF) at temperatures below 120.degree. C. Catalyst compositions that include various mixed metal halides are described that are selective for specified products with yields, e.g., of up to about 56% in a single step process.
Value-added lipid production from brown seaweed biomass by two-stage fermentation using acetic acid bacterium and thraustochytrid.
Arafiles, Kim Hazel V; Iwasaka, Hiroaki; Eramoto, Yuri; Okamura, Yoshiko; Tajima, Takahisa; Matsumura, Yukihiko; Nakashimada, Yutaka; Aki, Tsunehiro
Thraustochytrid production of polyunsaturated fatty acids and xanthophylls have been generally sourced from crop-derived substrates, making the exploration of alternative feedstocks attractive since they promise increased sustainability and lower production costs. In this study, a distinct two-stage fermentation system was conceptualized for the first time, using the brown seaweed sugar mannitol as substrate for the intermediary biocatalyst Gluconobacter oxydans, an acetic acid bacterium, along with the marine thraustochytrid Aurantiochytrium sp. to produce the value-added lipids and xanthophylls. Jar fermenter culture resulted in seaweed mannitol conversion to fructose with an efficiency of 83 % by G. oxydans and, after bacteriostasis with sea salts, production of astaxanthin and docosahexaenoic acid by Aurantiochytrium sp. KH105. Astaxanthin productivity was high at 3.60 mg/L/day. This new system, therefore, widens possibilities of obtaining more varieties of industrially valuable products including foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and biofuel precursor lipids from seaweed fermentation upon the use of suitable thraustochytrid strains.
A study on the preparation of value-added products from the nonmetallic minerals
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
This report consists of 4 subjects. (1) preparation of value-added products for limestone : The purpose of this study is to develop the process of grade up by economical processes with low and/or middle grade of domestic limestone and of powder coating by dry base. In this year, first of all, we investigated the status of application utilize and related industries with the domestic limestone, and then being consideration with condition selected the adequate sample from Taeback, Uljin, Andong, Jungsun and Kumsan area. (2) development of value added technology of pyrophyllite ore : Considering the value added technology for pyrophyllite ore, the study was carried out for development of manufacturing technology to produce paint's filler from pyrophyllite ore reserved at Bunam mine in Cheongsong, Kyungsangbuk-do. The objective of the study is to develop a technology for not only creating an added value of pyrophyllite but also substituting the imported pyrophyllite product. (3) manufacturing technology of materials for fine chemical and electronic industry use : For use high electrically conductive film and advanced high functional solid lubricant, add new and advanced high functional propertied to fine graphite powder through surface modification with gas and organic materials. In this year, scale up test(30 l/batch) were carried out to stand firm the process of graphite surface control and modification for mass produce and to appraise characteristics of surface modified graphite powders. To arrange in order the test sample for actual apply in related company. (4) manufacturing technology of materials for fine chemical industry use (sericite, muscovite) : During the past three years, we studied on the processing technology and treatment process for recovery of concentrated sericite and muscovite, fine grinding characterization and classification of purified sericite and muscovite and the basic study of surface modification which are used as a source material of
A review on bio-electrochemical systems (BESs) for the syngas and value added biochemicals production.
Kumar, Gopalakrishnan; Saratale, Rijuta Ganesh; Kadier, Abudukeremu; Sivagurunathan, Periyasamy; Zhen, Guangyin; Kim, Sang-Hyoun; Saratale, Ganesh Dattatraya
Bio-electrochemical systems (BESs) are the microbial systems which are employed to produce electricity directly from organic wastes along with some valuable chemicals production such as medium chain fatty acids; acetate, butyrate and alcohols. In this review, recent updates about value-added chemicals production concomitantly with the production of gaseous fuels like hydrogen and methane which are considered as cleaner for the environment have been addressed. Additionally, the bottlenecks associated with the conversion rates, lower yields and other aspects have been mentioned. In spite of its infant stage development, this would be the future trend of energy, biochemicals and electricity production in greener and cleaner pathway with the win-win situation of organic waste remediation. Henceforth, this review intends to summarise and foster the progress made in the BESs and discusses its challenges and outlook on future research advances. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Physisporinus vitreus: a versatile white rot fungus for engineering value-added wood products.
Schwarze, Francis W M R; Schubert, Mark
The credo of every scientist working in the field of applied science is to transfer knowledge "from science to market," a process that combines (1) science (fundamental discoveries and basic research) with (2) technology development (performance assessment and optimization) and (3) technology transfer (industrial application). Over the past 7 years, we have intensively investigated the potential of the white rot fungus, Physisporinus vitreus, for engineering value-added wood products. Because of its exceptional wood degradation pattern, i.e., selective lignification without significant wood strength losses and a preferential degradation of bordered pit membranes, it is possible to use this fungus under controlled conditions to improve the acoustic properties of tonewood (i.e., "mycowood") as well as to enhance the uptake of preservatives and wood modification substances in refractory wood species (e.g., Norway spruce), a process known as "bioincising." This minireview summarizes the research that we have performed with P. vitreus and critically discusses the challenges encountered during the development of two distinct processes for engineering value-added wood products. Finally, we peep into the future potential of the bioincising and mycowood processes for additional applications in the forest and wood industry.
ARM Climate Research Facility Spectral Surface Albedo Value-Added Product (VAP) Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
McFarlane, S; Gaustad, K; Long, C; Mlawer, E
This document describes the input requirements, output data products, and methodology for the Spectral Surface Albedo (SURFSPECALB) value-added product (VAP). The SURFSPECALB VAP produces a best-estimate near-continuous high spectral resolution albedo data product using measurements from multifilter radiometers (MFRs). The VAP first identifies best estimates for the MFR downwelling and upwelling shortwave irradiance values, and then calculates narrowband spectral albedo from these best-estimate irradiance values. The methodology for finding the best-estimate values is based on a simple process of screening suspect data and backfilling screened and missing data with estimated values when possible. The resulting best-estimate MFR narrowband spectral albedos are used to determine a daily surface type (snow, 100% vegetation, partial vegetation, or 0% vegetation). For non-snow surfaces, a piecewise continuous function is used to estimate a high spectral resolution albedo at 1 min temporal and 10 cm-1 spectral resolution.
Improved Correction of IR Loss in Diffuse Shortwave Measurements: An ARM Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Younkin, K; Long, CN
Simple single black detector pyranometers, such as the Eppley Precision Spectral Pyranometer (PSP) used by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program, are known to lose energy via infrared (IR) emission to the sky. This is especially a problem when making clear-sky diffuse shortwave (SW) measurements, which are inherently of low magnitude and suffer the greatest IR loss. Dutton et al. (2001) proposed a technique using information from collocated pyrgeometers to help compensate for this IR loss. The technique uses an empirically derived relationship between the pyrgeometer detector data (and alternatively the detector data plus the difference between the pyrgeometer case and dome temperatures) and the nighttime pyranometer IR loss data. This relationship is then used to apply a correction to the diffuse SW data during daylight hours. We developed an ARM value-added product (VAP) called the SW DIFF CORR 1DUTT VAP to apply the Dutton et al. correction technique to ARM PSP diffuse SW measurements.
Ka-Band ARM Zenith Radar Corrections Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Johnson, Karen [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Toto, Tami [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Giangrande, Scott [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
The KAZRCOR Value -added Product (VAP) performs several corrections to the ingested KAZR moments and also creates a significant detection mask for each radar mode. The VAP computes gaseous attenuation as a function of time and radial distance from the radar antenna, based on ambient meteorological observations, and corrects observed reflectivities for that effect. KAZRCOR also dealiases mean Doppler velocities to correct velocities whose magnitudes exceed the radar's Nyquist velocity. Input KAZR data fields are passed through into the KAZRCOR output files, in their native time and range coordinates. Complementary corrected reflectivity and velocity fields are provided, along with a mask of significant detections and a number of data quality flags. This report covers the KAZRCOR VAP as applied to the original KAZR radars and the upgraded KAZR2 radars. Currently there are two separate code bases for the different radar versions, but once KAZR and KAZR2 data formats are harmonized, only a single code base will be required.
AIP1OGREN: Aerosol Observing Station Intensive Properties Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Koontz, Annette [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Flynn, Connor [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
The aip1ogren value-added product (VAP) computes several aerosol intensive properties. It requires as input calibrated, corrected, aerosol extensive properties (scattering and absorption coefficients, primarily) from the Aerosol Observing Station (AOS). Aerosol extensive properties depend on both the nature of the aerosol and the amount of the aerosol. We compute several properties as relationships between the various extensive properties. These intensive properties are independent of aerosol amount and instead relate to intrinsic properties of the aerosol itself. Along with the original extensive properties we report aerosol single-scattering albedo, hemispheric backscatter fraction, asymmetry parameter, and Ångström exponent for scattering and absorption with one-minute averaging. An hourly averaged file is produced from the 1-minute files that includes all extensive and intensive properties as well as submicron scattering and submicron absorption fractions. Finally, in both the minutely and hourly files the aerosol radiative forcing efficiency is provided.
Process for Converting Waste Glass Fiber into Value Added Products, Final Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hemmings, Raymond T.
Nature of the Event: Technology demonstration. The project successfully met all of its technical objectives. Albacem has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Vitro Minerals Inc., a specialty minerals company, to commercialize the Albacem technology (website: www.vitrominerals.com). Location: The basic research for the project was conducted in Peoria, Illinois, and Atlanta, Georgia, with third-party laboratory verification carried out in Ontario, Canada. Pilot-scale trials (multi-ton) were conducted at a facility in South Carolina. Full-scale manufacturing facilities have been designed and are scheduled for construction by Vitro Minerals during 2006 at a location in the Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina tri-state area. The Technology: This technology consists of a process to eliminate solid wastes generated at glass fiber manufacturing facilities by converting them to value-added materials (VCAS Pozzolans) suitable for use in cement and concrete applications. This technology will help divert up to 250,000 tpy of discarded glass fiber manufacturing wastes into beneficial use applications in the concrete construction industry. This technology can also be used for processing glass fiber waste materials reclaimed from monofills at manufacturing facilities. The addition of take-back materials and reclamation from landfills can help supply over 500,000 tpy of glass fiber waste for processing into value added products. In the Albacem process, waste glass fiber is ground to a fine powder that effectively functions as a reactive pozzolanic admixture for use in portland ce¬ment-based building materials and products, such as concrete, mortars, terrazzo, tile, and grouts. Because the waste fiber from the glass manufacturing industry is vitreous, clean, and low in iron and alkalis, the resulting pozzolan is white in color and highly consistent in chemical composition. This white pozzolan, termed VCAS Pozzolan (for Vitreous Calcium-Alumino-Silicate). is
Studies on the preparation of value-added products for industrial minerals
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
This report consists of 2 subjects. 1) Studies on the preparation of value-added products for limestone: This study has investigated to raise to high grade by economical processes with low grade of domestic limestone. We investigated the status of application utilize and related industries with the domestic limestone, and then being consideration with condition selected the adequate sample from Andong, Jungsun and Kumsan area. Magnetic materials were involved in impurities of sample, so magnetic separation method was applied in elimination of the ferro- and para-magnetic materials, such as chlorite, muscovite, quartz, dolomite, magnetite, feldspar and so on. Investigation of flotation was undertaken to eliminate impurities from limestone crude ore and the tests were performed to get a optimum condition adding oleic acid as a promoter, sodium silicate and sodium carbonate as a conditioning agents and MIBC as a frother, while to float the sulfide minerals added amyl xanthate as a promoter, and sulfuric acid as a pH regulator. Selective crushing and classification methods were performed to eliminate impurities depends on the mineral properties and should be the selective crushing methods are very useful at the manufacturing factory of heavy calcium carbonate with the dry milling system. 2) A study on development of value added technology of pyrophyllite and dickite: Pyrophyllite and dickite have being utilized as refractories, ceramics, cement, fiber glass, paper, rubber, paints etc. However, there are not any domestic companies to produce fillers of pyrophyllite and dickite for plastic and rubber. Moreover, several kinds of fillers are imported every year with expensive price for plastic and rubber filler. This study has purpose to develop manufacturing technologies to produce fillers for plastic and rubber of pyrophyllite and dickite. The chemical and mineralogical properties of samples, the optimum grinding condition and device for producing plastic fillers and
Converting citrus wastes into value-added products: Economic and environmently friendly approaches.
Sharma, Kavita; Mahato, Neelima; Cho, Moo Hwan; Lee, Yong Rok
Citrus fruits, including oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes, tangerines, and mandarins, are among the most widely cultivated fruits around the globe. Its production is increasing every year due to rising consumer demand. Citrus-processing industries generate huge amounts of wastes every year, and citrus peel waste alone accounts for almost 50% of the wet fruit mass. Citrus waste is of immense economic value as it contains an abundance of various flavonoids, carotenoids, dietary fiber, sugars, polyphenols, essential oils, and ascorbic acid, as well as considerable amounts of some trace elements. Citrus waste also contains high levels of sugars suitable for fermentation for bioethanol production. However, compounds such as D-limonene must be removed for efficient bioethanol production. The aim of the present article was to review the latest advances in various popular methods of extraction for obtaining value-added products from citrus waste/byproducts and their potential utility as a source of various functional compounds. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Catalytic oxidation of biorefinery lignin to value-added chemicals to support sustainable biofuel production.
Ma, Ruoshui; Xu, Yan; Zhang, Xiao
Transforming plant biomass to biofuel is one of the few solutions that can truly sustain mankind's long-term needs for liquid transportation fuel with minimized environmental impact. However, despite decades of effort, commercial development of biomass-to-biofuel conversion processes is still not an economically viable proposition. Identifying value-added co-products along with the production of biofuel provides a key solution to overcoming this economic barrier. Lignin is the second most abundant component next to cellulose in almost all plant biomass; the emerging biomass refinery industry will inevitably generate an enormous amount of lignin. Development of selective biorefinery lignin-to-bioproducts conversion processes will play a pivotal role in significantly improving the economic feasibility and sustainability of biofuel production from renewable biomass. The urgency and importance of this endeavor has been increasingly recognized in the last few years. This paper reviews state-of-the-art oxidative lignin depolymerization chemistries employed in the papermaking process and oxidative catalysts that can be applied to biorefinery lignin to produce platform chemicals including phenolic compounds, dicarboxylic acids, and quinones in high selectivity and yield. The potential synergies of integrating new catalysts with commercial delignification chemistries are discussed. We hope the information will build on the existing body of knowledge to provide new insights towards developing practical and commercially viable lignin conversion technologies, enabling sustainable biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass to be competitive with fossil fuel. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
A novel bioconversion for value-added products from food waste using Musca domestica.
Niu, Yi; Zheng, Dong; Yao, Binghua; Cai, Zizhe; Zhao, Zhimin; Wu, Shengqing; Cong, Peiqing; Yang, Depo
Food waste, as a major part of the municipal solid waste has been generated increasingly worldwide. Efficient and feasible utilization of this waste material for productivity process is significant for both economical and environmental reasons. In the present study, Musca domestica larva was used as the carrier to conduct a bioconversion with food waste to get the value-added maggot protein, oil and organic fertilizers. Methods of adult flies rearing, culture medium adjuvant selection, maggot culture conditions, stocking density and the valorization of the waste have been explored. From the experimental results, every 1000g culture mediums (700g food waste and 300g adjuvant) could be disposed by 1.5g M. domestica eggs under proper culture conditions after emergence in just 4days, 42.95±0.25% of which had been consumed and the culture medium residues could be used as good organic fertilizers, accompanying with the food waste consumption, ∼53.08g dried maggots that contained 57.06±2.19% protein and 15.07±2.03% oil had been produced. The maggot protein for its outstanding pharmacological activities is regarded as a good raw material in the field of medicine and animal feeding. Meanwhile, the maggot oil represents a potential alternative feedstock for biodiesel production. In our study, the maggot biodiesel was obtained after the procedure of transesterification reaction with methanol and the productivity was 87.71%. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Lignocellulosic biorefinery as a model for sustainable development of biofuels and value added products.
De Bhowmick, Goldy; Sarmah, Ajit K; Sen, Ramkrishna
A constant shift of society's dependence from petroleum-based energy resources towards renewable biomass-based has been the key to tackle the greenhouse gas emissions. Effective use of biomass feedstock, particularly lignocellulosic, has gained worldwide attention lately. Lignocellulosic biomass as a potent bioresource, however, cannot be a sustainable alternative if the production cost is too high and/ or the availability is limited. Recycling the lignocellulosic biomass from various sources into value added products such as bio-oil, biochar or other biobased chemicals in a bio-refinery model is a sensible idea. Combination of integrated conversion techniques along with process integration is suggested as a sustainable approach. Introducing 'series concept' accompanying intermittent dark/photo fermentation with co-cultivation of microalgae is conceptualised. While the cost of downstream processing for a single type of feedstock would be high, combining different feedstocks and integrating them in a bio-refinery model would lessen the production cost and reduce CO2 emission. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
[Progress in engineering Escherichia coli for production of high-value added organic acids and alcohols].
Wang, Jiming; Liu, Wei; Xu, Xin; Zhang, Haibo; Xian, Mo
Confronted with the gradual exhaustion of the earth's fossil energy resources and the grimmer environmental deterioration, the bio-based process to produce high-value added platform chemicals from renewable biomass is attracting growing interest. Escherichia coli has been chosen as a workhouse for the production of many valuable chemicals due to various advantages, such as clear genetic background, convenient to be genetically modified and good growth properties with low nutrient requirements. Rational strain development of E. coli achieved by metabolic engineering strategies has provided new processes for efficiently biotechnological production of various high-value chemical building blocks. This review focuses on recent progresses in metabolic engineering of E. coli that lead to efficient recombinant biocatalysts for production of high-value organic acids such as succinic acid, 3-hydroxypropanoic acid and glucaric acid as well as alcohols like glycerol and xylitol. Besides, this review also discusses several other platform chemicals, including 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, itaconic acid, levulinic acid, 3-hydroxy-gamma-butyrolactone and sorbitol, which have not been produced by E. coli until now.
Recovery and Utilization of Palm Oil Mill Effluent Source as Value-Added Food Products.
Teh, Soek Sin; Hock Ong, Augustine Soon; Mah, Siau Hui
The environmental impacts of palm oil mill effluent (POME) have been a concern due to the water pollution and greenhouse gases emissions. Thus, this study was conducted to recover the value-added products from POME source before being discharged. The samples, before (X) and after (Y) the pre-recovery system in the clarification tank were sampled and analysed and proximate analysis indicated that both samples are energy rich source of food due to high contents of fats and carbohydrates. GCMS analysis showed that the oil extracts contain predominantly palmitic, oleic, linoleic and stearic acids. Regiospecific analysis of oil extracts by quantitative 13C-NMR spectroscopy demonstrated that both oil extracts contain similar degree of saturation of fatty acids at sn-2 and sn-1,3 positions. The samples are rich in various phytonutrients, pro-vitamin A, vitamin E, squalene and phytosterols, thus contributing to exceptionally high total flavonoid contents and moderate antioxidant activities. Overall, samples X and Y are good alternative food sources, besides reducing the environmental impact of POME.
ARM Cloud Radar Simulator Package for Global Climate Models Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Zhang, Yuying [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States); Xie, Shaocheng [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
It has been challenging to directly compare U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility ground-based cloud radar measurements with climate model output because of limitations or features of the observing processes and the spatial gap between model and the single-point measurements. To facilitate the use of ARM radar data in numerical models, an ARM cloud radar simulator was developed to converts model data into pseudo-ARM cloud radar observations that mimic the instrument view of a narrow atmospheric column (as compared to a large global climate model [GCM] grid-cell), thus allowing meaningful comparison between model output and ARM cloud observations. The ARM cloud radar simulator value-added product (VAP) was developed based on the CloudSat simulator contained in the community satellite simulator package, the Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project (CFMIP) Observation Simulator Package (COSP) (Bodas-Salcedo et al., 2011), which has been widely used in climate model evaluation with satellite data (Klein et al., 2013, Zhang et al., 2010). The essential part of the CloudSat simulator is the QuickBeam radar simulator that is used to produce CloudSat-like radar reflectivity, but is capable of simulating reflectivity for other radars (Marchand et al., 2009; Haynes et al., 2007). Adapting QuickBeam to the ARM cloud radar simulator within COSP required two primary changes: one was to set the frequency to 35 GHz for the ARM Ka-band cloud radar, as opposed to 94 GHz used for the CloudSat W-band radar, and the second was to invert the view from the ground to space so as to attenuate the beam correctly. In addition, the ARM cloud radar simulator uses a finer vertical resolution (100 m compared to 500 m for CloudSat) to resolve the more detailed structure of clouds captured by the ARM radars. The ARM simulator has been developed following the COSP workflow (Figure 1) and using the capabilities available in COSP
Review on enzymatic synthesis of value added products of glycerol, a by-product derived from biodiesel production
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
J. Pradima
Full Text Available Crude glycerol is produced as a by-product from biodiesel production via trans-esterification with methanol and this process accounts for 10% (w/w of the total biodiesel produced worldwide. The glycerol glut created can be utilized to increase biodiesel profitability since disposal can pose a threat to the environment. The need is to transform this surplus crude glycerol into added-value products. Biological based conversions are efficient in providing products that are drop-in replacements for petro-chemicals and offer functionality advantage, commanding higher price with the potential to increase bio-refinery revenue. Glycerol is a stable and multifunctional compound used as a building block in fine chemical synthesis like bio-polymers, polyunsaturated fatty acids, ethanol, hydrogen, n-butanol, glycerol carbonate, glycerol acetyl esters etc. Bio-catalysts add higher value to bio based products by catalyzing not only their selective modification, but also their synthesis under controlled and mild conditions. This article focuses on different bioconversion technologies of crude-glycerol to value added industrial products â obtained as waste from current bio-diesel production. We abridge the recent relevant approach for the production of various platform chemicals from bio-glycerol over enzyme and chemical catalysts. Keywords: Enzyme catalysis, Bio-glycerol, Renewable chemicals, Green processes, Bio-refinery
Microbial biodegradation of proteinaceous tannery solid waste and production of a novel value added product - Metalloprotease.
Ravindran, Balasubramani; Wong, Jonathan W C; Selvam, Ammaiyappan; Thirunavukarasu, Kathirvel; Sekaran, Ganesan
In this study, animal fleshing (ANFL) was utilized as a substrate for the production of extracellular protease by Clostridium limosum through central composite rotatable design (CCRD) and response surface methodology (RSM). Optimum protease production of 433U/ml was achieved and the purified enzyme was identified as acidic metalloprotease, a monomeric protein. The molecular weight of the enzyme was 71kDa, whose activity was enhanced by bivalent metals such as Zn(2+) and Mg(2+). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination also revealed the hydrolysis/microbial degradation of ANFL through protease activity in the anaerobic fermentation process. Simultaneous hydrolysis of ANFL and production of an enzyme with the potential for different industrial applications provide an attractive methodology for the disposal of tannery solid waste. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Spatially Complete Surface Albedo Data Sets: Value-Added Products Derived from Terra MODIS Land Products
Moody, Eric G.; King, Michael D.; Platnick, Steven; Schaaf, Crystal B.; Gao, Feng
Spectral land surface albedo is an important parameter for describing the radiative properties of the Earth. Accordingly it reflects the consequences of natural and human interactions, such as anthropogenic, meteorological, and phenological effects, on global and local climatological trends. Consequently, albedos are integral parts in a variety of research areas, such as general circulation models (GCMs), energy balance studies, modeling of land use and land use change, and biophysical, oceanographic, and meteorological studies. Recent observations of diffuse bihemispherical (white-sky) and direct beam directional hemispherical (black-sky ) land surface albedo included in the MOD43B3 product from MODIS instruments aboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellite platforms have provided researchers with unprecedented spatial, spectral, and temporal characteristics. Cloud and seasonal snow cover, however, curtail retrievals to approximately half the global land surfaces on an annual equal-angle basis, precluding MOD43B3 albedo products from direct inclusion in some research projects and production environments.
Quotation for the Value Added Assessment during Product Development and Production Processes
Bernard, Alain; Delplace, Jean-Charles; Gabriel, Serge
This communication is based on an original approach linking economical factors to technical and methodological ones. This work is applied to the decision process for mix production. This approach is relevant for costing driving systems. The main interesting point is that the quotation factors (linked to time indicators for each step of the industrial process) allow the complete evaluation and control of, on the one hand, the global balance of the company for a six-month period and, on the other hand, the reference values for each step of the process cycle of the parts. This approach is based on a complete numerical traceability and control of the processes (design and manufacturing of the parts and tools, mass production). This is possible due to numerical models and to feedback loops for cost indicator analysis at design and production levels. Quotation is also the base for the design requirements and for the choice and the configuration of the production process. The reference values of the quotation genera...
Forest biorefinery: Potential of poplar phytochemicals as value-added co-products.
Devappa, Rakshit K; Rakshit, Sudip K; Dekker, Robert F H
The global forestry industry after experiencing a market downturn during the past decade has now aimed its vision towards the integrated biorefinery. New business models and strategies are constantly being explored to re-invent the global wood and pulp/paper industry through sustainable resource exploitation. The goal is to produce diversified, innovative and revenue generating product lines using on-site bioresources (wood and tree residues). The most popular product lines are generally produced from wood fibers (biofuels, pulp/paper, biomaterials, and bio/chemicals). However, the bark and other tree residues like foliage that constitute forest wastes, still remain largely an underexploited resource from which extractives and phytochemicals can be harnessed as by-products (biopharmaceuticals, food additives and nutraceuticals, biopesticides, cosmetics). Commercially, Populus (poplar) tree species including hybrid varieties are cultivated as a fast growing bioenergy crop, but can also be utilized to produce bio-based chemicals. This review identifies and underlines the potential of natural products (phytochemicals) from Populus species that could lead to new business ventures in biorefineries and contribute to the bioeconomy. In brief, this review highlights the importance of by-products/co-products in forest industries, methods that can be employed to extract and purify poplar phytochemicals, the potential pharmaceutical and other uses of >160 phytochemicals identified from poplar species - their chemical structures, properties and bioactivities, the challenges and limitations of utilizing poplar phytochemicals, and potential commercial opportunities. Finally, the overall discussion and conclusion are made considering the recent biotechnological advances in phytochemical research to indicate the areas for future commercial applications from poplar tree species. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
British and German manufacturing productivity compared : A new benchmark for 1935/36 based on double deflated value added
Fremdling, Rainer; de Jong, Herman; Timmer, Marcel P.
We present a new estimate of Anglo-German manufacturing productivity levels for 1935/36. It is based on archival data on German manufacturing and published British census data. We calculate comparative levels of value added, correcting for differences in prices for outputs and inputs. This so-called
ARM Climate Research Facility Quarterly Value-Added Product Report First Quarter: October 01-December 31, 2011
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Sivaraman, C
The purpose of this report is to provide a concise status update for value-added products (VAP) implemented by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility. The report is divided into the following sections: (1) new VAPs for which development has begun, (2) progress on existing VAPs, (3) future VAPs that have been recently approved, (4) other work that leads to a VAP, and (5) top requested VAPs from the archive.
ARM Climate Research Facility Quarterly Value-Added Product Report Fourth Quarter: July 1–September 30, 2012
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Sivaraman, C
The purpose of this report is to provide a concise status update for value-added products (VAP) implemented by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility. The report is divided into the following sections: (1) new VAPs for which development has begun, (2) progress on existing VAPs, (3) future VAPs that have been recently approved, (4) other work that leads to a VAP, and (5) top requested VAPs from the archive.
Recovery of value-added products from red mud and foundry bag-house dust
Hammond, Keegan
"Waste is wasted if you waste it, otherwise it is a resource. Resource is wasted if you ignore it and do not conserve it with holistic best practices and reduce societal costs. Resource is for the transformation of people and society." Red mud is a worldwide problem with reserves in the hundreds of millions of tons and tens of millions of tons being added annually. Currently there is not an effective way to deal with this byproduct of the Bayer Process, the primary means of refining bauxite ore in order to provide alumina. This alumina is then treated by electrolysis using the Hall-Heroult process to produce elemental aluminum. The resulting mud is a mixture of solid and metallic oxides, and has proven to be a great disposal problem. This disposal problem is compounded by the fact that the typical bauxite processing plant produces up to three times as much red mud as alumina. Current practice of disposal is to store red mud in retention ponds until an economical fix can be discovered. The danger associated with this current method of storage is immense to the surrounding communities and environment, thus the interest from the Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling (CR3). The purpose of this document is to explain one way to remove the value added materials, primarily iron, from the Jamaican red mud using both pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical approaches. In the beginning, soda ash and carbon roasting were completed simultaneously at 800°C. This type of roasting produced results that were unacceptable. After the soda ash roast was completed independently of carbon roasting, a water wash produced results that separations of alumina at 90%, Iron at 99%, calcium at 99%, titanium t 100%, and sodium by 74%. Smelting produced separations of 97% for alumina, 99% for iron, 87% for sodium, 94% for calcium and 72% for titanium.
Proceedings: linking healthy forests and communities through Alaska value-added forest products.
Theodore L. Laufenberg; Bridget K. Brady
The Alaska forest products industry is experiencing significant changes in its structure due to economic, ecological, and social pressures. Papers presented at this workshop brought together technical specialists and exhibitors from forest products industry, associations, universities, and private, state, and federal land management agencies. Topics included: policy...
Value added products with popular low grade rice varieties of Andhra Pradesh
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Anitha, G; Rajyalakshmi, P
...); rice semolina (instant kheer mix and instant upma mix), and flaked rice (nutritious bar). The products were evaluated for nutritional, cooking quality characteristics, consumer acceptability and shelf-life...
Development of Value-Added Products from Residual Algae to Biomass
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Behnke, Craig [Sapphire Energy, San Diego, CA (United States)
DOE Award # EE0000393 was awarded to fund research into the development of beneficial uses of surplus algal biomass and the byproducts of biofuel production. At the time of award, Sapphire's intended fuel production pathway was a fairly conventional extraction of lipids from biomass, resulting in a defatted residue which could be processed using anaerobic digestion. Over the lifetime of the award, we conducted extensive development work and arrived at the conclusion that anaerobic digestion presented significant technical challenges for this high-nitrogen, high-ash, and low carbon material. Over the same timeframe, Sapphire's fuel production efforts came to focus on hydrothermal liquefaction. As a result of this technology focus, the residue from fuel production became unsuitable for either anaerobic digestion (or animal feed uses). Finally, we came to appreciate the economic opportunity that the defatted biomass could represent in the animal feed space, as well as understanding the impact of seasonal production on a biofuels extraction plant, and sought to develop uses for surplus biomass produced in excess of the fuel production unit's capacity.
Creativity in ergonomic design: a supplemental value-adding source for product and service development.
Zeng, Liang; Proctor, Robert W; Salvendy, Gavriel
This article investigates the role of creativity in ergonomic design and the generic process of developing creative products and services. Creativity is gaining increased emphasis in both academia and industry. More than 50 years of research in creativity indicates that creativity is key to product and service innovation. Nevertheless, there is scarcely any comprehensive review dedicated to appraising the complex construct of creativity, the underlying cognitive process, and the role of creativity in product and service development. We review relevant literature regarding creativity, creative cognition, and the engineering design process to appraise the role of creativity in ergonomic design and to construct a conceptual model of creative product and service development. A framework of ergodesign creativity is advanced that highlights the central role of creativity in synergistically addressing the four dimensions of ergonomic design: functionality, safety, usability, and affectivity. A conceptual model of creative design process is then constructed that is goal oriented and is initiated by active problem finding and problem formulating. This process is carried out in a recursive and dynamic way, facilitated by creative thinking strategies. It is proposed that ergodesign creativity can add supplemental value to products and services, which subsequently affects consumer behavior and helps organizations gain competitive advantage. The proposed conceptual framework of ergodesign creativity and creative design process can serve as the ground for future theory development. Propositions advanced in this study should facilitate designers generating products and services that are creative and commercially competitive.
Lignocellulose: A sustainable material to produce value-added products with a zero waste approach-A review.
Arevalo-Gallegos, Alejandra; Ahmad, Zanib; Asgher, Muhammad; Parra-Saldivar, Roberto; Iqbal, Hafiz M N
A novel facility from the green technologies to integrate biomass-based carbohydrates, lignin, oils and other materials extraction and transformation into a wider spectrum of marketable and value-added products with a zero waste approach is reviewed. With ever-increasing scientific knowledge, worldwide economic and environmental consciousness, demands of legislative authorities and the manufacture, use, and removal of petrochemical-based by-products, from the last decade, there has been increasing research interests in the value or revalue of lignocellulose-based materials. The potential characteristics like natural abundance, renewability, recyclability, and ease of accessibility all around the year, around the globe, all makes residual biomass as an eco-attractive and petro-alternative candidate. In this context, many significant research efforts have been taken into account to change/replace petroleum-based economy into a bio-based economy, with an aim to develop a comprehensively sustainable, socially acceptable, and eco-friendly society. The present review work mainly focuses on various aspects of bio-refinery as a sustainable technology to process lignocellulose 'materials' into value-added products. Innovations in the bio-refinery world are providing, a portfolio of sustainable and eco-efficient products to compete in the market presently dominated by the petroleum-based products, and therefore, it is currently a subject of intensive research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Role Just in Time Method for Efforts to Eliminate Non-value Added Activity in Production Garment Company Voxi 73
Pandowo, Merinda; Kantjai, Silvana
The concept of cost effectiveness or known as the manufacturing cycle effectiveness (MCE) is the ratio between the processing time to the cycle time.This research is to identify the extent to which the benefits and role of Just In Time (JIT) Method for eliminating all activities or resources that are not value-added and to give an idea of the importance of the implementation of Just In Time for companies to improve efficiency and productivity. This research using a Garment Company "VOXI 7...
Value added product recovery from sludge generated during gum arabic refining process by vermicomposting.
Das, Veena; Satyanarayan, Sanjeev; Satyanarayan, Shanta
Gum arabic is multifunctional and used in food products, pharmaceutical, confectionery, cosmetic, printing and textile industry. Gum arabic has an excellent market and its production is being increased to meet the market demand. In the process, huge quantity of solid waste is generated during its refining process. An attempt has been made to vermicompost this organic waste using Eudrilus eugeniae. This research work is first of its kind. Literature on this substrate has not been reported anywhere else for vermicomposting. Results were excellent with volatile solid reduction of 51.34 %; C/N ratio reduced to 16.31 % indicating efficient loss of carbon as carbon dioxide during vermicomposting period. Manurial value, i.e. nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content in the range, required for the plants also increased. Porosity of 67.74 % and water holding capacity of 65.75 % were observed. The maturity of the vermicompost was evaluated through scanning electron microscopy wherein the complete conversion of large raw material particles into finer particles forming a uniform matrix with more surface area was observed indicating its efficient conversion. Microbial quality of vermicompost was also studied. The final vermicompost is free of fungal cells and pathogenic bacteria.
Recent advances in engineering propionyl-CoA metabolism for microbial production of value-added chemicals and biofuels.
Srirangan, Kajan; Bruder, Mark; Akawi, Lamees; Miscevic, Dragan; Kilpatrick, Shane; Moo-Young, Murray; Chou, C Perry
Diminishing fossil fuel reserves and mounting environmental concerns associated with petrochemical manufacturing practices have generated significant interests in developing whole-cell biocatalytic systems for the production of value-added chemicals and biofuels. Although acetyl-CoA is a common natural biogenic precursor for the biosynthesis of numerous metabolites, propionyl-CoA is unpopular and non-native to most organisms. Nevertheless, with its C3-acyl moiety as a discrete building block, propionyl-CoA can serve as another key biogenic precursor to several biological products of industrial importance. As a result, engineering propionyl-CoA metabolism, particularly in genetically tractable hosts with the use of inexpensive feedstocks, has paved an avenue for novel biomanufacturing. Herein, we present a systematic review on manipulation of propionyl-CoA metabolism as well as relevant genetic and metabolic engineering strategies for microbial production of value-added chemicals and biofuels, including odd-chain alcohols and organic acids, bio(co)polymers and polyketides. [Formula: see text].
Growth engineering of Propionibacterium freudenreichii shermanii for organic acids and other value-added products formation.
Pillai, Vijita V; Prakash, Gunjan; Lali, Arvind M
Propionic acid production from glucose was studied using Propionibacterium freudenreichii shermanii. Conditions were optimized for high yields of propionic acid and total organic acids by sequential optimization of parameters like pH, inoculum age, inoculum volume and substrate concentration. Near-theoretical yield (0.54 ± 0.023 g/g) was achieved for propionic acid with fermentation of 1% glucose using 20% (v/v) of 48 hr old P. shermanii at 30°C, pH maintained at 5.5. Total organic acid yield under these conditions was 0.74 ± 0.06 g/g. The study resulted in achieving 98% and 95% theoretical yields of propionic acid and total organic acids, respectively. Under optimized conditions, along with organic acids, P. shermanii also produced vitamin B12 and trehalose intracellularly, showing its potential to be used as a cell factory.
Studies on the preparation of value-added products for limestone
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Chae, Young Bae; Jeong, Soo Bok; Ko, Won Sik; Park, Je Shin; Oh, Jung Whan [Korea Institute of Geology Mining and Materials, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)
Most of limestone in our country was consumed by the cement and iron/steel making industries and the amount of that was up to 72 million ton in 1996. Recently, importation of high grade limestone that have properties of high whiteness and grade are increased with diversification of chemical products and powder as various qualified filler, because high grade limestone are limited and of few deposit in our country. Therefore, the purpose of this study has investigated to raise to high grade by economical processes with low grade of domestic limestone. In this year, first of all, we investigated the status of application utilize and related industries with the domestic limestone, and then being consideration with condition selected the adequate sample from Andong, Jungsun and Kumsan area. Magnetic materials were involved in impurities of sample, so magnetic separation method was applied in elimination of the ferro-magnetic materials and para-magnetic materials, such as chlorite, muscovite, quartz, dolomite, magnetite, feldspar and so on. The limestone sample has many kinds of impurity. Investigation of flotation was undertaken to eliminate impurities from limestone crude ore and the tests were performed to get a optimum condition adding oleic acid as a promoter, sodium silicate and sodium carbonate as a conditioning agents and MIBC as a frother, while to float the sulfide minerals added amyl xanthate as a promoter, and sulfuric acid as a pH regulator. And most of the impurities involving in flotation sink contained such as quartz, chlorite, muscovite, feldspar, dolomite and so on. Selective crushing and classification methods were performed to eliminate impurities depends on the mineral properties and should be the selective crushing methods are very useful at the manufacturing factory of heavy calcium carbonate with the dry milling system. (author). 36 refs., 46 tabs., 33 figs.
Solid phase bio-electrofermentation of food waste to harvest value-added products associated with waste remediation.
Chandrasekhar, K; Amulya, K; Mohan, S Venkata
A novel solid state bio-electrofermentation system (SBES), which can function on the self-driven bioelectrogenic activity was designed and fabricated in the laboratory. SBES was operated with food waste as substrate and evaluated for simultaneous production of electrofuels viz., bioelectricity, biohydrogen (H2) and bioethanol. The system illustrated maximum open circuit voltage and power density of 443 mV and 162.4 mW/m(2), respectively on 9 th day of operation while higher H2 production rate (21.9 ml/h) was observed on 19th day of operation. SBES system also documented 4.85% w/v bioethanol production on 20th day of operation. The analysis of end products confirmed that H2 production could be generally attributed to a mixed acetate/butyrate-type of fermentation. Nevertheless, the presence of additional metabolites in SBES, including formate, lactate, propionate and ethanol, also suggested that other metabolic pathways were active during the process, lowering the conversion of substrate into H2. SBES also documented 72% substrate (COD) removal efficiency along with value added product generation. Continuous evolution of volatile fatty acids as intermediary metabolites resulted in pH drop and depicted its negative influence on SBES performance. Bio-electrocatalytic analysis was carried out to evaluate the redox catalytic capabilities of the biocatalyst. Experimental data illustrated that solid-state fermentation can be effectively integrated in SBES for the production of value added products with the possibility of simultaneous solid waste remediation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Bioconversion of garden waste, kitchen waste and cow dung into value-added products using earthworm Eisenia fetida
Wani, K.A.; Mamta; Rao, R.J.
Solid waste management is a worldwide problem and it is becoming more and more complicated day by day due to rise in population, industrialization and changes in our life style. Transformation of industrial sludges into vermicompost is of double interest: on the one hand, a waste is converted into value added product, and, on the other, it controls a pollutant that is a consequence of increasing industrialization. Garden waste, kitchen waste and cow dung were subjected to recycle through vermicomposting by using the epigeic earthworm Eisenia fetida under field conditions. The pH, moisture content, total organic carbon, humus, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in vermicompost was analysed. It was found that moisture content, total organic carbon, humus, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium was high in cow dung, followed by kitchen waste and garden waste. This study clearly indicates that vermicomposting of garden waste, kitchen waste and cow dung can not only produce a value added produce (vermicomposting) but at the same time reduce the quantity of waste. PMID:23961230
Modules for in vitro metabolic engineering: Pathway assembly for bio-based production of value-added chemicals
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hironori Taniguchi
Full Text Available Bio-based chemical production has drawn attention regarding the realization of a sustainable society. In vitro metabolic engineering is one of the methods used for the bio-based production of value-added chemicals. This method involves the reconstitution of natural or artificial metabolic pathways by assembling purified/semi-purified enzymes in vitro. Enzymes from distinct sources can be combined to construct desired reaction cascades with fewer biological constraints in one vessel, enabling easier pathway design with high modularity. Multiple modules have been designed, built, tested, and improved by different groups for different purpose. In this review, we focus on these in vitro metabolic engineering modules, especially focusing on the carbon metabolism, and present an overview of input modules, output modules, and other modules related to cofactor management.
Simultaneous production of bioethanol and value-added d-psicose from Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) tubers.
Song, Younho; Oh, Chihoon; Bae, Hyeun-Jong
In this study, the production of bioethanol and value added d-psicose from Jerusalem artichoke (JA) was attempted by an enzymatic method. An enzyme mixture used for hydrolysis of 100mgmL-1 JA. The resulting concentrations of released d-fructose and d-glucose were measured at approximately 56mgmL-1 and 15mgmL-1, respectively. The d-psicose was epimerized from the JA hydrolyzate, and the conversion rate was calculated to be 32.1%. The residual fructose was further converted into ethanol at 18.0gL-1 and the yield was approximately 72%. Bioethanol and d-psicose were separated by pervaporation. This is the first study to report simultaneous d-psicose production and bioethanol fermentation from JA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Fermented and malted millet products in Africa: Expedition from traditional/ethnic foods to industrial value-added products.
Adebiyi, J A; Obadina, A O; Adebo, O A; Kayitesi, E
With the prevalent food insecurity in Africa, there is a growing need to utilize the available crops to develop nutritious, affordable and palatable food for the populace. Millet is critical in this role, relative to its abundance in the continent and good nutritional composition. For ages, fermentation and malting have been traditionally used to transform millet into variety of produce. A paradigm shift has however occurred over the years, giving birth to new commercially available products. This review thus appraises and gives an overview of traditional and modern fermented and malted products. Although, millet has been diversified to several products, its major food uses are still restrained to traditional consumers and largely remains underutilized. Considering the potential embedded in this grain, it is important to explore this crop through the application of appropriate modern fermentation and malting technologies. This will ensure the availability of ready to eat (RTE) and ready to use (RTU) food products and to a large extent address the incessant food security challenges plaguing Africa.
Chemical Composition of Date-Pits and Its Potential for Developing Value-Added Product - a Review
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hossain Mohammad Zakir
Full Text Available Moisture, protein, oil and carbohydrate contents of date-pits varied from 3.1-12.5, 2.3-6.9, 5.0-12.5 and 70.9-86.9 g/100 g date-pits, respectively. BET-monolayer (i.e. strongly bound moisture content, solids-melting peak (at moisture: 6.7 g/100 g date-pits, and melting point of oil were 4.3 g/100 g dry-solids, 106oC, and 1.8oC, respectively. The major fatty acids were lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids and polyphenol content varied from 21.0-62.0 mg/g date-pits depending on the varieties, types of solvent and temperature used for extraction. Date-pits showed effectives in animal and poultry feeds and it could be used as value added products, such as: dietary fibres, functional polysaccharides, caffeine-free drinks (similar to coffee, oil (biofuel or cooking oil, and other functional or medicinal products. Date-pits powder and activated carbon from date–pits showed effective in purifying water by removing different types of pollutants, such as heavy metals, boron, dyes, phenolic compounds, and pesticides. Date-pits also showed effective to be used as ingredient for composed, biomass, and fermentation processes.
Electroconversion of glycerol in alkaline medium: From generation of energy to formation of value-added products
Da Silva, Rodrigo Garcia; Aquino Neto, Sidney; Kokoh, Kouakou Boniface; De Andrade, Adalgisa Rodrigues
We have investigated the electroconversion of glycerol in alkaline medium using bimetallic M50@Pt50 nanocatalysts (where M = Ru, Sn or Ni) supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The electrocatalysts have been synthesized via an electrostatically oriented co-reduction method in which self-assembly of the positively charged metal species (Sn, Ni and Ru) into the internal catalyst level and of the negatively charged platinum species towards the outer layer afford nanocatalysts with the desired morphology. The physicochemical characterizations have confirmed the atomic ratios, the metal loadings, and the spherical shape of the nanoparticles with average diameter lying between 2 and 3 nm. In terms of electrochemical performance, the Ni@Pt composition displays the highest electrochemically active surface area, the best relation between the peak current and the onset oxidation potential in the presence of glycerol (275 mA mg-1Pt and -492 mV vs. Hg/HgO/OH-), and the most remarkable electrochemical stability in chronoamperometric tests. Long-term experiments to evaluate the oxidation of glycerol and analysis of the products indicate that the different electrocatalysts synthesized herein efficiently perform the electroconversion of glycerol at high rates and generate of value-added products.
Novel schemes for production of biodiesel and value-added co-products from microalgal oil using heterogeneous catalysts
Dong, Tao
Microalgae are promising sources of biofuels primarily because of their higher potential productivity compared to terrestrial biofuel crops. However, the production of liquid fuels from microalgae suffers from a lack of viable methods of extraction, conversion and fractionation of various components of the algal biomass. In this dissertation study, a rapid method was developed to accurately evaluate the biodiesel potential of microalgae biomass. The major advantage of this method is in situ fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) preparation directly from wet fresh microalgal and yeast biomass, without prior solvent extraction or dehydration. FAMEs were prepared by a sequential alkaline hydrolysis and acidic esterification process. This method can be used even with high amount of water in the biomass and is applicable to a vast range of microalgae and yeast species. A two-step in situ process was also investigated in this study to obtain a high FAME yield from microalgae biomass that had high free fatty acids (FFA) content. This process has the potential to reduce the production cost of microalgae-derived FAME and be more environmental compatible due to the higher FAME yield with reduced catalyst consumption. A cost-effective bio-char based catalyst was tested for the two-step biodiesel production. The results indicated that the bio-char catalyst was superior to commercial Amberly-15. A scalable chlorophyll remove process was also developed as a part of the system. The research resulted in a practical and cost-effective approach for producing biodiesel from crude microalgal oil. An integrated approach was explored in the fourth part of the study to produce biodiesel and fractionate high-value polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). Zeolites were employed as the catalyst for selective esterification of fatty acids according to their chain length and degree of saturation. Low-value short chain FFA could be largely converted into FAME, while PUFA would remain unreacted due to
Processing-bioprocessing of oilseed rape in bioenergy production and value added utilization of remaining seed components
Bagger, Christian; Bellostas, Natalia; Jensen, Søren K.; Sørensen, Jens C.; Sørensen, Hilmer; Sørensen, Susanne
Cruciferous oilseed crops accumulate relatively high concentrations of oil, proteins and dietary fibres (DF) in their seeds, in addition to bioactive components as glucosinolates and myrosinase isoenzymes (thioglucohydrolase; EC 184.108.40.206). When mixed in the presence of moisture, myrosinase isoenzymes and associated components transform glucosinolates into various types of products, which reduces the value of the extracted oil and the remaining seed components, as well as producing unwanted e...
Richards, Andrew
Two quantitative measures of school performance are currently used, the average points score (APS) at Key Stage 2 and value-added (VA), which measures the rate of academic improvement between Key Stage 1 and 2. These figures are used by parents and the Office for Standards in Education to make judgements and comparisons. However, simple…
Food waste collection and recycling for value-added products: potential applications and challenges in Hong Kong.
Lo, Irene M C; Woon, Kok Sin
About 3600 tonnes food waste are discarded in the landfills in Hong Kong daily. It is expected that the three strategic landfills in Hong Kong will be exhausted by 2020. In consideration of the food waste management environment and community needs in Hong Kong, as well as with reference to the food waste management systems in cities such as Linköping in Sweden and Oslo in Norway, a framework of food waste separation, collection, and recycling for food waste valorization is proposed in this paper. Food waste can be packed in an optic bag (i.e., a bag in green color), while the residual municipal solid waste (MSW) can be packed in a common plastic bag. All the wastes are then sent to the refuse transfer stations, in which food waste is separated from the residual MSW using an optic sensor. On the one hand, the sorted food waste can be converted into valuable materials (e.g., compost, swine feed, fish feed). On the other hand, the sorted food waste can be sent to the proposed Organic Waste Treatment Facilities and sewage treatment works for producing biogas. The biogas can be recovered to produce electricity and city gas (i.e., heating fuel for cooking purpose). Due to the challenges faced by the value-added products in Hong Kong, the biogas is recommended to be upgraded as a biogas fuel for vehicle use. Hopefully, the proposed framework will provide a simple and effective approach to food waste separation at source and promote sustainable use of waste to resource in Hong Kong.
Rice Husk Ash as a Renewable Source for the Production of Value Added Silica Gel and its Application: An Overview
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ram Prasad
properties assumes importance at this juncture. Copyright © 2012 by BCREC UNDIP. All rights reserved.Received: 23th November 2011, Revised: 09th January 2012, Accepted: 10th January 2012[How to Cite: R. Prasad, and M. Pandey. (2012. Rice Husk Ash as a Renewable Source for the Production of Value Added Silica Gel and its Application: An Overview. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, 7 (1: 1-25. doi:10.9767/bcrec.7.1.1216.1-25][How to Link / DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.7.1.1216.1-25 ] | View in
The TRIDEC Virtual Tsunami Atlas - customized value-added simulation data products for Tsunami Early Warning generated on compute clusters
Löwe, P.; Hammitzsch, M.; Babeyko, A.; Wächter, J.
The development of new Tsunami Early Warning Systems (TEWS) requires the modelling of spatio-temporal spreading of tsunami waves both recorded from past events and hypothetical future cases. The model results are maintained in digital repositories for use in TEWS command and control units for situation assessment once a real tsunami occurs. Thus the simulation results must be absolutely trustworthy, in a sense that the quality of these datasets is assured. This is a prerequisite as solid decision making during a crisis event and the dissemination of dependable warning messages to communities under risk will be based on them. This requires data format validity, but even more the integrity and information value of the content, being a derived value-added product derived from raw tsunami model output. Quality checking of simulation result products can be done in multiple ways, yet the visual verification of both temporal and spatial spreading characteristics for each simulation remains important. The eye of the human observer still remains an unmatched tool for the detection of irregularities. This requires the availability of convenient, human-accessible mappings of each simulation. The improvement of tsunami models necessitates the changes in many variables, including simulation end-parameters. Whenever new improved iterations of the general models or underlying spatial data are evaluated, hundreds to thousands of tsunami model results must be generated for each model iteration, each one having distinct initial parameter settings. The use of a Compute Cluster Environment (CCE) of sufficient size allows the automated generation of all tsunami-results within model iterations in little time. This is a significant improvement to linear processing on dedicated desktop machines or servers. This allows for accelerated/improved visual quality checking iterations, which in turn can provide a positive feedback into the overall model improvement iteratively. An approach to set
Potential treatments to reduce phorbol esters levels in jatropha seed cake for improving the value added product.
Sadubthummarak, Umapron; Parkpian, Preeda; Ruchirawat, Mathuros; Kongchum, Manoch; Delaune, R D
throughout the jatropha waste-handling process. However additional tests such as digestibility as well as acceptability of the treated jatropha seed cake should be conducted using both in vivo and in vitro studies before recommending the jatropha seed cake as a source of renewable animal feed and other value-added products.
Exploring green catalysts for production of biofuels and value added chemicals for renewable and sustainable energy future
Budhi, Sridhar
Porous silica have attracted significant attention in the past few decades due to their unique textural properties. They were extensively investigated for applications in catalysis, separation, environmental remediation and drug delivery. We have investigated the porous metal incorporated silica in the synthetic as well as catalytic perspectives. The synthesis of metal incorporated mesoporous silica via co-condensation such as SBA-15, KIT-5 are still challenging as it involves acidic synthetic route. Synthesis in high acidity conditions affects the incorporation of metal in silica due to high dissolution of metal precursors and breaking of metal oxygen and silica bond. The research presented here demonstrates an efficient way to incorporate metals by addition of diammonium hydrogen phosphate along with metal precursor during the synthesis. The incorporation efficiency has increased 2-3 times with this approach. Catalytic studies were performed to support our hypothesis. Such synthesized molybdenum incorporated mesoporous silica were investigated as catalyst for fast pyrolysis. When molydenum incorporated in silica was used as catalyst for fast pyrolysis of pine, it selectively produced furans (furan, methylfuran and dimethylfuran). Furans are considered value-added chemicals and can be used as a blendstock for diesel/jet grade fuel. The catalyst was very stable to harsh pyrolysis conditions and had a longer life before deactivation when compared with traditional zeolites. Further, this catalyst did not produce aromatic hydrocarbons in significant yields unlike zeolites. The origin of the furans was determined to be biopolymer cellulose and the selectivity for furans are attributed to low catalyst acidity. The effect of silica to alumina ratio (SAR) of beta-zeolite was investigated ranging to elucidate the relationship between the of number of acid sites on product speciation and catalyst deactivation on catalysts supplied by Johnson Matthey. The catalyst with low
Creating value-added cereal-based baked products: marketplace offer, laboratory-designed goods, and revisited local products
Conte, Paola
In recent years, the growing interest in well-being and healthy lifestyle, the increasing awareness of the relationship between non-communicable diseases and unhealthy diet, as well as the increasing prevalence of food intolerances have boosted the production of an increasing number of novel goods in both gluten-containing and gluten-free products market. The overall objective of this thesis was to create cereal-based baked products with added value with respect to those currently available o...
An Overview of Natural Gas Conversion Technologies for Co-Production of Hydrogen and Value-Added Solid Carbon Products
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Dagle, Robert A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Dagle, Vanessa [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Bearden, Mark D. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Holladay, Jamelyn D. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Krause, Theodore R. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Ahmed, Shabbir [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
This report was prepared in response to the U.S. Department of Energy Fuel Cell Technologies Office Congressional Appropriation language to support research on carbon-free production of hydrogen using new chemical processes that utilize natural gas to produce solid carbon and hydrogen. The U.S. produces 9-10 million tons of hydrogen annually with more than 95% of the hydrogen produced by steam-methane reforming (SMR) of natural gas. SMR is attractive because of its high hydrogen yield; but it also converts the carbon to carbon dioxide. Non-oxidative thermal decomposition of methane to carbon and hydrogen is an alternative to SMR and produces CO2-free hydrogen. The produced carbon can be sold as a co-product, thus providing economic credit that reduces the delivered net cost of hydrogen. The combination of producing hydrogen with potentially valuable carbon byproducts has market value in that this allows greater flexibility to match the market prices of hydrogen and carbon. That is, the higher value product can subsidize the other in pricing decisions. In this report we highlight the relevant technologies reported in the literature—primarily thermochemical and plasma conversion processes—and recent research progress and commercial activities. Longstanding technical challenges include the high energetic requirements (e.g., high temperatures and/or electricity requirements) necessary for methane activation and, for some catalytic processes, the separation of solid carbon product from the spent catalyst. We assess current and new carbon product markets that could be served given technological advances, and we discuss technical barriers and potential areas of research to address these needs. We provide preliminary economic analysis for these processes and compare to other emerging (e.g., electrolysis) and conventional (e.g., SMR) processes for hydrogen production. The overarching conclusion of this study is that the cost of hydrogen can be potentially
Rudolfs Bems; Robert C. Johnson
This paper updates the conceptual foundations for measuring real effective exchange rates (REERs) to allow for vertical specialization in trade. We derive a value-added REER describing how demand for the value added that a country produces changes as the price of its value added changes relative to competitors. We then compute this index for 42 countries from 1970-2009 using trade measured in value added terms and GDP deflators. There are substantial differences between value-added and conven...
Realizing "value-added" metrology
Bunday, Benjamin; Lipscomb, Pete; Allgair, John; Patel, Dilip; Caldwell, Mark; Solecky, Eric; Archie, Chas; Morningstar, Jennifer; Rice, Bryan J.; Singh, Bhanwar; Cain, Jason; Emami, Iraj; Banke, Bill, Jr.; Herrera, Alfredo; Ukraintsev, Vladamir; Schlessinger, Jerry; Ritchison, Jeff
The conventional premise that metrology is a "non-value-added necessary evil" is a misleading and dangerous assertion, which must be viewed as obsolete thinking. Many metrology applications are key enablers to traditionally labeled "value-added" processing steps in lithography and etch, such that they can be considered integral parts of the processes. Various key trends in modern, state-of-the-art processing such as optical proximity correction (OPC), design for manufacturability (DFM), and advanced process control (APC) are based, at their hearts, on the assumption of fine-tuned metrology, in terms of uncertainty and accuracy. These trends are vehicles where metrology thus has large opportunities to create value through the engineering of tight and targetable process distributions. Such distributions make possible predictability in speed-sorts and in other parameters, which results in high-end product. Additionally, significant reliance has also been placed on defect metrology to predict, improve, and reduce yield variability. The necessary quality metrology is strongly influenced by not only the choice of equipment, but also the quality application of these tools in a production environment. The ultimate value added by metrology is a result of quality tools run by a quality metrology team using quality practices. This paper will explore the relationships among present and future trends and challenges in metrology, including equipment, key applications, and metrology deployment in the manufacturing flow. Of key importance are metrology personnel, with their expertise, practices, and metrics in achieving and maintaining the required level of metrology performance, including where precision, matching, and accuracy fit into these considerations. The value of metrology will be demonstrated to have shifted to "key enabler of large revenues," debunking the out-of-date premise that metrology is "non-value-added." Examples used will be from critical dimension (CD
Integrated microbial processes for biofuels and high value-added products: the way to improve the cost effectiveness of biofuel production.
da Silva, Teresa Lopes; Gouveia, Luísa; Reis, Alberto
The production of microbial biofuels is currently under investigation, as they are alternative sources to fossil fuels, which are diminishing and their use has a negative impact on the environment. However, so far, biofuels derived from microbes are not economically competitive. One way to overcome this bottleneck is the use of microorganisms to transform substrates into biofuels and high value-added products, and simultaneously taking advantage of the various microbial biomass components to produce other products of interest, as an integrated process. In this way, it is possible to maximize the economic value of the whole process, with the desired reduction of the waste streams produced. It is expected that this integrated system makes the biofuel production economically sustainable and competitive in the near future. This review describes the investigation on integrated microbial processes (based on bacteria, yeast, and microalgal cultivations) that have been experimentally developed, highlighting the importance of this approach as a way to optimize microbial biofuel production process.
Studies on biotransformation of Calotropis procera latex - a renewable source of petroleum, value-added chemicals, and products
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Behera, B.K.; Arora, M.; Sharma, D.K.
Petroleum reserves of the world may not last forever. There is a need to develop alternative and renewable sources of petroleum. Petrocrops (wild and waste plants) are renewable sources of petroleum hydrocarbons. Calotropis procera is one of the potential candidates for petrofarming. The latex obtained from C. procera may be hydrocracked to obtain hydrocarbons. This involves severe thermochemical conditions. Biodegradation of latex may afford a milder and less energy-intensive technique of latex degradation. In the present work, the latex obtained from C. procera has been subjected to microbial treatment using different fungi and bacteria. The biotransformed and biodegraded latex showed enhancement in the heptane extraction in comparison to that of untreated latex. The biotransformed and biodegraded latex was subjected to {sup 1}H-NMR, {sup 13}C-NMR, and FTIR spectral analysis. The latex was found to have undergone demethylation, dehydrogenation, carboxylation, and aromatization during microbial treatment. Average molecular weight of the latex compounds was found to have decreased as a result of microbial treatment. The biotransformed and biodegraded latex may be hydrotreated to obtain petroleum and other value-added chemicals and cleaner fuels. (Author)
Value Added in English Schools
Andrew Ray; Tanya McCormack; Helen Evans
Value-added indicators are now a central part of school accountability in England, and value-added information is routinely used in school improvement at both the national and the local levels. This article describes the value-added models that are being used in the academic year 2007–8 by schools, parents, school inspectors, and other professionals in local and national governments. The article outlines the development of value-added models in England following the introduction of national t...
Value Added in English Schools
Ray, Andrew; McCormack, Tanya; Evans, Helen
Value-added indicators are now a central part of school accountability in England, and value-added information is routinely used in school improvement at both the national and the local levels. This article describes the value-added models that are being used in the academic year 2007-8 by schools, parents, school inspectors, and other…
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Reina Maylín, Hernández Oro
Full Text Available In this paper, we present the main results of research designed to improve key business processes, using a procedure designed for this purpose, and which includes among its main stages, the analysis of value added by activity, adapting to technology based companies' productions by one of the water sector project in Cuba. The procedure consistently combines different techniques such as multi-criteria decision analysis for selection of the key processes and analysis of value added by activity to identify key processes to improve and identify opportunities for improvement. The main results are able to identify, classify and relate the processes taking place in the organization, and represent them in a process map, and then determine the key processes for improvement, based on the analysis of value added at each process of each of the activities in it. Derived from the results obtained are proposed and implemented a set of organizational improvements had a positive economic impact for the company under study, allowing a positive conclusion on the feasibility of implementation, flexibility and robustness of the procedure developed in technology-based companies single project productions of the water sector in Cuba to support their business management.
Opportunities and challenges for the export of U.S. value-added wood products to China
Scott Bowe; Matt Bumgardner; Terry Mace
This report explores some of the opportunities for, and challenges associated with, exporting wood products to China. Five topics are examined: an overview of trends in forestry and forest products in China, export opportunities and challenges for U.S. primary wood producers (Study 1), export opportunities and challenges for U.S. secondary wood producers (Study 2),...
Pretreatment and Fractionation of Wheat Straw for Production of Fuel Ethanol and Value-added Co-products in a Biorefinery
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Xiu Zhang
Full Text Available An integrated process has been developed for a wheat straw biorefinery. In this process, wheat straw was pretreated by soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA, which extensively removed lignin but preserved high percentages of the carbohydrate fractions for subsequent bioconversion. The pretreatment conditions included 15 wt% NH4OH, 1:10 solid:liquid ratio, 65 oC and 15 hours. Under these conditions, 48% of the original lignin was removed, whereas 98%, 83% and 78% of the original glucan, xylan, and arabinan, respectively, were preserved. The pretreated material was subsequently hydrolyzed with a commercial hemicellulase to produce a solution rich in xylose and low in glucose plus a cellulose-enriched solid residue. The xylose-rich solution then was used for production of value-added products. Xylitol and astaxanthin were selected to demonstrate the fermentability of the xylose-rich hydrolysate. Candida mogii and Phaffia rhodozyma were used for xylitol and astaxanthin fermentation, respectively. The cellulose-enriched residue obtained after the enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated straw was used for ethanol production in a fed-batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF process. In this process, a commercial cellulase was used for hydrolysis of the glucan in the residue and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is the most efficient commercial ethanol-producing organism, was used for ethanol production. Final ethanol concentration of 57 g/l was obtained at 27 wt% total solid loading.
Utilization of tuna roe and using inulin as oil replacer for producing value added omega-3 mayonnaise product
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kanrawee Hunsakul
Full Text Available Background: The fishery industry has been important for Thailand's economy for more than 30 years. For example, Thailand isthe world's largest canned tuna producer and exporter. However, onlyordinary meat or white meatis usedfor raw materialin canned tuna products. Whileroe, viscera, head and dark meataresold at cheap prices,with theseby-products being usedto feed plant or local human food,its nutritive values withfat,protein and minerals arestill high. It is well known that tuna is a good source of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA, including Eicosapentaenoicacid (EPA and Docosahexanoic acid (DHA.People around the world pay more attention to eatingsaladsconsisting of fruits and vegetables, in addition todressing. Generally, mayonnaise, a kind of salad dressing, consists of chicken egg yolk(12-15% and soybean oil (30-65%. Both of these ingredients contain very high saturated fatty acid contents. Therefore, because normal mayonnaise is high in fat content and low in polyunsaturated fatty acid, this product is not ideal for people on a diet or those who are trying to control their weight. Objective: To increase omega-3 through tuna roe substitution and to replace fat content using inulin gel. Methods: Tuna roe was prepared by soaking in galangalsolutionextracted with 95% ethanol for removal fishy/rancidity odor. Inulin powder 45 g was suspended in 55 ml of water before being brought to heat at temperature 80oC for 30min to form a gel and stored at 4oC. Treatment ofmakingomega-3 mayonnaise product was started using 100% tuna roe substitution for egg yolk. Thereafter, inulin gel was added to replace vegetable oil at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%. Basic mayonnaise containing egg yolk and 0% inulin gel (100% soy bean oil was used asthecontrol sample. Color and emulsion stability testswere monitored for physical quality. pH value, peroxide value (PV and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS were used for chemical qualityanalyses. Total viable
Renewable sugars from oil palm frond juice as an alternative novel fermentation feedstock for value-added products.
Zahari, Mior Ahmad Khushairi Mohd; Zakaria, Mohd Rafein; Ariffin, Hidayah; Mokhtar, Mohd Noriznan; Salihon, Jailani; Shirai, Yoshihito; Hassan, Mohd Ali
In this paper, we report that pressed juice from oil palm frond (OPF) contained renewable sugars such as glucose, sucrose and fructose. By using a simple sugarcane press, 50% (wt/wt) of OPF juice was obtained from fresh OPF. The glucose content in the juice was 53.95±2.86g/l, which accounts for 70% of the total free sugars. We have examined the effect of various OPF juice concentrations on the production of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P(3HB) by Cupriavidus necator CCUG 52238(T). The cell dry mass in shake flask experiment reached 8.42g/l, with 32wt.% of P(3HB) at 30% (v/v) of OPF juice, comparable with using technical grade sugars. The biopolymer had a molecular mass, M(w) of 812kDa, with a low polydispersity index of 1.61. This result indicates that OPF juice can be used as an alternative renewable carbon source for P(3HB) production and has potential as a renewable carbon source. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The Quest for Value-Added Products from Carbon Dioxide and Water in a Dielectric Barrier Discharge: A Chemical Kinetics Study.
Snoeckx, Ramses; Ozkan, Alp; Reniers, Francois; Bogaerts, Annemie
Recycling of carbon dioxide by its conversion into value-added products has gained significant interest owing to the role it can play for use in an anthropogenic carbon cycle. The combined conversion with H2 O could even mimic the natural photosynthesis process. An interesting gas conversion technique currently being considered in the field of CO2 conversion is plasma technology. To investigate whether it is also promising for this combined conversion, we performed a series of experiments and developed a chemical kinetics plasma chemistry model for a deeper understanding of the process. The main products formed were the syngas components CO and H2 , as well as O2 and H2 O2 , whereas methanol formation was only observed in the parts-per-billion to parts-per-million range. The syngas ratio, on the other hand, could easily be controlled by varying both the water content and/or energy input. On the basis of the model, which was validated with experimental results, a chemical kinetics analysis was performed, which allowed the construction and investigation of the different pathways leading to the observed experimental results and which helped to clarify these results. This approach allowed us to evaluate this technology on the basis of its underlying chemistry and to propose solutions on how to further improve the formation of value-added products by using plasma technology. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Utilization of Stone Waste in the Development of Value Added Products: A State of the Art Review
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rajni Lakhani
Full Text Available The utilisation of stone waste, in the form of mineral admixture as a pozzolanic and non-pozzolanic material for mortar and concrete has received considerable attention in recent years. This interest is part of the widely spread attention directed towards the utilisation of wastes and industrial by-products in order to minimise Portland cement (PC and sand consumption, the utilisationof which being environmentally damaging. Another reason is that mortar and concrete, which contain pozzolanic as well as non-pozzolanic materials, exhibit considerable enhancement in durability properties. This paper reviews work carried out on the use of stone waste as a partial non-pozzolanic replacement for sand in mortar and concrete and in the containment of hazardous wastes. The literature demonstrates that different stone wastes is an effective inert filler which causes great improvement in the pore structure and hence the resistance of the concrete to the action of harmful solutions.
Modeling and optimization of proton-conducting solid oxide electrolysis cell: Conversion of CO2 into value-added products
Namwong, Lawit; Authayanun, Suthida; Saebea, Dang; Patcharavorachot, Yaneeporn; Arpornwichanop, Amornchai
Proton-conducting solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC-H+) are a promising technology that can utilize carbon dioxide to produce syngas. In this work, a detailed electrochemical model was developed to predict the behavior of SOEC-H+ and to prove the assumption that the syngas is produced through a reversible water gas-shift (RWGS) reaction. The simulation results obtained from the model, which took into account all of the cell voltage losses (i.e., ohmic, activation, and concentration losses), were validated using experimental data to evaluate the unknown parameters. The developed model was employed to examine the structural and operational parameters. It is found that the cathode-supported SOEC-H+ is the best configuration because it requires the lowest cell potential. SOEC-H+ operated favorably at high temperatures and low pressures. Furthermore, the simulation results revealed that the optimal S/C molar ratio for syngas production, which can be used for methanol synthesis, is approximately 3.9 (at a constant temperature and pressure). The SOEC-H+ was optimized using a response surface methodology, which was used to determine the optimal operating conditions to minimize the cell potential and maximize the carbon dioxide flow rate.
Value added meat marketing around the globe
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Grebitus, Carola; Mueller Loose, Simone
In highly competitive meat markets it is important to offer value added products to consumers. Thus, we need to understand which attributes are especially valued by consumers. This track session will contribute to a better understanding of consumer preferences for value added meats across different...... countries and simultaneously address different stages of the food chain by acknowledging factors such as breeding, forage (fat content), meat cuts as well as product labelling and packaging. Comparing consumers' choices for value added pork and beef across different countries is the main theme and focus...... practices will be examined and the economic and technological dimensions of meat packaging will be related to each other presenting work from the US and Germany. Lastly, we will uncover the competitive nature between different beef cuts for Italian consumers....
Extraction of squalene as value-added product from the residual biomass of Schizochytrium mangrovei PQ6 during biodiesel producing process.
Hoang, Minh Hien; Ha, Nguyen Cam; Thom, Le Thi; Tam, Luu Thi; Anh, Hoang Thi Lan; Thu, Ngo Thi Hoai; Hong, Dang Diem
Today microalgae represent a viable alternative source of squalene for commercial application. The species Schizochytrium mangrovei, a heterotrophic microalga, has been widely studied and provides a high amount of squalene, polyunsaturated fatty acids and has good profiles for biodiesel production. Our work was aimed at examining the squalene contents in Vietnam's heterotrophic marine microalga S. mangrovei PQ6 biomass and residues of the biodiesel process from this strain. Thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods were successfully applied to the determination of squalene in S. mangrovei PQ6. The squalene content and production of S. mangrovei PQ6 reached 33.00 ± 0.02 and 33.04 ± 0.03 mg g(-1) of dry cell weight; and 0.992 g L(-1) and 1.019 g L(-1) in 30 and 150 L bioreactors, respectively after 96 h of fermentation. In addition, squalene was also detected in spent biomass (approximately 80.10 ± 0.03 mg g(-1) of spent biomass) from the S. mangrovei PQ6 biodiesel production process. The structure of squalene in residues of the biodiesel process was confirmed from its nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. The results obtained from our work suggest that there is tremendous potential in the exploitation of squalene as a value-added by-product besides biodiesel from S. mangrovei PQ6 to reduce biodiesel price. Copyright © 2014 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Detoxification of Olive Mill Wastewater and Bioconversion of Olive Crop Residues into High-Value-Added Biomass by the Choice Edible Mushroom Hericium erinaceus.
Koutrotsios, Georgios; Larou, Evangelia; Mountzouris, Konstantinos C; Zervakis, Georgios I
Environmentally acceptable disposal of olive cultivation residues (e.g., olive prunings; olive pruning residues (OLPR)) and olive mill wastes is of paramount importance since they are generated in huge quantities within a short time. Moreover, olive mill wastewater (OMW) or sludge-like effluents ("alperujo"; two-phase olive mill waste (TPOMW)) are highly biotoxic. Hericium erinaceus is a white-rot fungus which produces choice edible mushrooms on substrates rich in lignocellulosics, and its suitability for the treatment of olive by-products was examined for the first time. Fungal growth resulted in a notable reduction of OMW's pollution parameters (i.e., 65 % decolorization, 47 % total phenolic reduction, and 52 % phytotoxicity decrease) and correlated with laccase and manganese peroxidase activities. Solid-state fermentation of various mixtures of OLPR, TPOMW, and beech sawdust (control) by H. erinaceus qualified OLPR in subsequent cultivation experiments, where it exhibited high mushroom yields and biological efficiency (31 %). Analyses of proximate composition and bioactive compound content revealed that mushrooms deriving from OLPR substrates showed significantly higher crude fat, total glucan, β-glucan, total phenolics, and ferric-reducing antioxidant potential values than the control. H. erinaceus demonstrated the potential to detoxify OMW and bioconvert OLPR into high-quality biomass, and hence, this fungus could be successfully exploited for the treatment of such by-products.
Conversion of finished leather waste incorporated with plant fibers into value added consumer products - An effort to minimize solid waste in Ethiopia.
Teklay, A; Gebeyehu, G; Getachew, T; Yaynshet, T; Sastry, T P
Presently, the leftovers from leather product industries are discarded as waste in Ethiopia. The objective of the present study was therefore, to prepare composite sheets by incorporating various plant fibers like enset (Ensete ventricosum), hibiscus (Hibiscus cannabinus), jute (Corchorus trilocularis L.), palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and sisal (Agave sisal) in various proportions into the leather waste. Resin binder (RB) and natural rubber latex (NRL) were used as binding agents for the preparation of the composite sheets. The composite sheets prepared were characterized for their physicochemical properties (tensile strength, elongation at break, stitch tear strength, water absorption, water desorption and flexing strength). Composite sheets prepared using RB having 10% hibiscus, 20% palm and 40% sisal fibers showed better mechanical properties than their respective controls. In composite sheets prepared using NRL having 30% jute fiber exhibited better mechanical properties than its control. Most of the plant fibers used in this study played a role in increasing the performance of the sheets. However, as seen from the results, the contribution of these plant fibers on performance of the composite sheets prepared is dependent on the ratio used and the nature of binder. The SEM studies have exhibited the composite nature of the sheets and FTIR studies have shown the functional groups of collagen protein, cellulose and binders. The prepared sheets were used as raw materials for preparation of items like stiff hand bags, ladies' purse, keychain, chappal upper, wallet, wall cover, mouse pad and other interior decorating products. By preparing such value added products, we can reduce solid waste; minimize environmental pollution and thereby securing environmental sustainability. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Waste cooking oil as substrate for biosynthesis of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate: Turning waste into a value-added product
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yang, T. A.
Full Text Available Aims: Improper disposal of domestic wastes, such as waste cooking oil (WCO, contributes to the deterioration of the environment and may lead to health problems. In this study, we evaluated the potential of plant-based WCO as a carbon source for the commercial biosynthesis of the bio-plastics, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate. The consumption of WCO for this purpose would mitigate their pollution of the environment at the same time.Methodology and Results: WCO collected from several cafeterias in USM was tested as the carbon source for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA production. A selection of suitable nitrogen source was first conducted in order to obtain an acceptable number of dry cell weight (DCW and PHA content. Urea was found to be a suitable nitrogen source for the two bacterial strains used in our study, Cupriavidus necator H16 and its transformed mutant, C. necator PHB¯4 harboring the PHA synthase gene of Aeromonas caviae (PHB¯4/pBBREE32d13. With WCO as the sole carbon source, C. necator H16 yielded a relatively good dry cell weight (DCW=25.4 g/L, with 71 wt% poly(3-hydroxybutyrate P(3HBcontent. In comparison, the DCW obtained with fresh cooking oil (FCO was 24.8 g/L. The production of poly(3 hydroxybutyrate-co-3- hydroxyhexanoate [P(3HB-co-3HHx] from WCO by the transformant C. necator PHB¯4 was comparable, yielding a DCW of 22.3 g/L and P(3HB-co-3HHx content of 85 wt%. Lipase activities for both bacterial strains reached a maximum after 72 h of cultivation when time profile was conducted. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: The use of WCO as a carbon source in the biosynthesis of the bioplastic, PHA, turns a polluting domestic waste into a value-added biodegradable product. This renewable source material can thus be exploited for the low cost production of PHA.
Fermentation of barley by using Saccharomyces cerevisiae: examination of barley as a feedstock for bioethanol production and value-added products.
Gibreel, Amera; Sandercock, James R; Lan, Jingui; Goonewardene, Laksiri A; Zijlstra, Ruurd T; Curtis, Jonathan M; Bressler, David C
The objective of this study was to examine the ethanol yield potential of three barley varieties (Xena, Bold, and Fibar) in comparison to two benchmarks, corn and wheat. Very high gravity (VHG; 30% solids) fermentations using both conventional and Stargen 001 enzymes for starch hydrolysis were carried out as simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. The grains and their corresponding dried distiller's grain with solubles (DDGS) were also analyzed for nutritional and value-added characteristics. A VHG traditional fermentation approach utilizing jet-cooking fermentation revealed that both dehulled Bold and Xena barley produced ethanol concentrations higher than that produced by wheat (12.3, 12.2, and 11.9%, respectively) but lower than that produced by corn (13.8%). VHG-modified Stargen-based fermentation of dehulled Bold barley demonstrated comparable performance (14.3% ethanol) relative to that of corn (14.5%) and wheat (13.3%). Several important components were found to survive fermentation and were concentrated in DDGS. The highest yield of phenolics was detected in the DDGS (modified Stargen 001, 20% solids) of Xena (14.6 mg of gallic acid/g) and Bold (15.0 mg of gallic acid/g) when the hull was not removed before fermentation. The highest concentration of sterols in DDGS from barley was found in Xena (3.9 mg/g) when the hull was included. The DDGS recovered from corn had the highest concentration of fatty acids (72.6 and 77.5 mg/g). The DDGS recovered from VHG jet-cooking fermentations of Fibar, dehulled Bold, and corn demonstrated similar levels of tocopherols and tocotrienols. Corn DDGS was highest in crude fat but was lowest in crude protein and in vitro energy digestibility. Wheat DDGS was highest in crude protein content, similar to previous studies. The barley DDGS was the highest in in vitro energy digestibility.
Manipulating environmental stresses and stress tolerance of microalgae for enhanced production of lipids and value-added products-A review.
Chen, Bailing; Wan, Chun; Mehmood, Muhammad Aamer; Chang, Jo-Shu; Bai, Fengwu; Zhao, Xinqing
Microalgae have promising potential to produce lipids and a variety of high-value chemicals. Suitable stress conditions such as nitrogen starvation and high salinity could stimulate synthesis and accumulation of lipids and high-value products by microalgae, therefore, various stress-modification strategies were developed to manipulate and optimize cultivation processes to enhance bioproduction efficiency. On the other hand, advancements in omics-based technologies have boosted the research to globally understand microalgal gene regulation under stress conditions, which enable further improvement of production efficiency via genetic engineering. Moreover, integration of multi-omics data, synthetic biology design, and genetic engineering manipulations exhibits a tremendous potential in the betterment of microalgal biorefinery. This review discusses the process manipulation strategies and omics studies on understanding the regulation of metabolite biosynthesis under various stressful conditions, and proposes genetic engineering of microalgae to improve bioproduction via manipulating stress tolerance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Molinuevo-Salces, Beatriz; Larsen, Søren U.; Ahring, Birgitte Kiær
Catch crop cultivation combined with its use for biogas production would increase renewable energy production in the form of methane, without interfering with the production of food and fodder crops. The low biomass yield of catch crops is the main limiting factor for using these crops as co......-substrate in manure-based biogas plants and the profit obtained from the sale of biogas barely compensates for the harvest costs. A new agricultural strategy to harvest catch crops together with the residual straw of the main crop was investigated to increase the biomass and thereby the methane yield per hectare...... biomass. Leaving the straw on the field until harvest of the catch crop in the autumn could benefit biogas production due to the organic matter degradation of the straw taking place on the field during the autumn months. This new agricultural strategy may be a good alternative to achieve economically...
Scrutiny Heightens for "Value Added" Research Methods
Viadero, Debra
As value-added research designs gain in popularity and undergo increasing scrutiny, experts are beginning to wave cautionary flags about how best to make use of them in education. Value-added techniques for measuring student achievement appeal to administrators and policymakers at all levels of education because they quantify the gains that…
Fragmentation and Trade in Value Added over Four Decades
Robert C. Johnson; Guillermo Noguera
We combine data on trade, production, and input use to compute the value added content of trade for forty-two countries from 1970 to 2009. For the world, the ratio of value added to gross trade falls by ten to fifteen percentage points, with two-thirds of this decline in the last two decades. Across countries, declines range from zero to twenty-five percentage points, with large declines concentrated among countries undergoing structural transformation. Across bilateral trade partners, declin...
PEMANFAATAN HASIL PERIKANAN SEBAGAI PRODUK BERNILAI TAMBAH (VALUE-ADDED DALAM UPAYA PENGANEKARAGAMAN PANGAN [Utilization of Fishery Products with Added Value to Support Food Diversification
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tri Winarni Agustini
Full Text Available Utilization of fishery products efficiently and cooperatively is important to improve esthetical value of the products. Diversification of fishery products is possible to be implemented, both vertically and horizontally. Understanding of their processing technology is very important for fish processors in order to produce healthy products and highly accepted by consumers.In accordance to the government policy about National Food Safety Programs, one of which is to improve the production of processed food, the diversification of fishery processing should be pointed to very focus condition. The consumption of fish is still low in Indonesia ( 21.69 kg per capita per year, while the fishery resources are abundance. Therefore, efforts in increasing consumption of fish by the consumer to reach the target of the national program i.e. 26.5 kg/capita/year are needed. Production of "Value-added" by diversification method is aimed not only to improve consumption but also to create appetizing products for the consumers. Some examples of "Value Added" product that are becoming popular nowadays include: fish ball, milk fish pressed-cooked, fish nuggets, fish sausage, ekado fish, aji furai, etc. Some products had been sold by home industries but is still possible to produce in industrial scale. The raw material used can be from marine or cultured fish and also frozen surimi, that are potential to be implemented in Indonesia.
Analysis of rose crop production.
Kool, M.T.N.; Koning, de J.C.M.
Measured and simulated dry-matter production of two rose crops different in cultivar and growing conditions were compared. Differences in dry-matter production between the two crops could be explained to a large extend by differences in harvest index, leaf area index, supplementary lighting and
Genetic Engineering and Crop Production.
Jones, Helen C.; Frost, S.
With a spotlight upon current agricultural difficulties and environmental dilemmas, this paper considers both the extant and potential applications of genetic engineering with respect to crop production. The nonagricultural factors most likely to sway the impact of this emergent technology upon future crop production are illustrated. (JJK)
Economic Radar of the Sustainable Energy Sector in the Netherlands. Employment, production, investments, innovation, value added, trade. Trends and references 2009/2010
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Vuik, J.; Zult, D.; Van Rossum, M.
This monitor of the sustainable energy sector published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) in 2012 is a follow-up to the study conducted in 2011. This 2012 study was commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation (ELI). Detailed economic indicators for the sustainable energy sector are presented for 2008 and 2009. Efforts for the compilation of more recent economic indicators are discussed, and the results for these more up-to-date figures are presented. The relevance of monitoring the sustainable energy sector lies in evaluating economic opportunities of the Netherlands in the global transformation towards a renewable energy supply and demand system and more attention for energy conservation. Several geopolitical, economic and environmental developments motivate policies focused on promoting the energy transformation in the Netherlands. Renewable energy contributes to securing supplies, diversification of energy supply, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and creation of green jobs. The sustainable energy sector - which cuts across all industries of the Standard Industrial Classification (NACE) - consists of companies and institutions that physically produce renewable energy, as well as those active in the value chains that precede this physical production. Apart from renewable energy, the sustainable energy sector also includes companies and institutions that focus on energy conservation activities. As this monitor contains only figures on the recent past, it is not a tool for identifying future opportunities. It is more a tool for evaluating policies aimed at promoting economic opportunities in the sustainable energy sector. The physical data on the production of renewable energy (Protocol monitoring renewable energy) and the data derived from the 'Economic radar for the sustainable energy sector' can be very valuable in supplementing each other. Between 1990 and 2011, the share of renewable energy in total energy
Plant senescence and crop productivity
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Gregersen, Per L.; Culetic, Andrea; Boschian, Luca
Senescence is a developmental process which in annual crop plants overlaps with the reproductive phase. Senescence might reduce crop yield when it is induced prematurely under adverse environmental conditions. This review covers the role of senescence for the productivity of crop plants...... plants, the expression of the IPT gene under control of senescence-associated promoters has been the most successful. The promoters employed for senescence-regulated expression contain cis-elements for binding of WRKY transcription factors and factors controlled by abscisic acid. In most crops...
Mycorrhiza and crop production
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hayman, D.S.
This article describes recent research with vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza, a symbiotic fungus-root association. The suggestion that the symbiotic association may be harnessed to achieve more economical use of phosphate fertilizers is discussed and the results from various test crops are given.
Value Added Products from Renewable Biofuels
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Blum, Paul [Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)
Cellulosic ethanol is an emerging biofuel that will make strong contributions to American domestic energy needs. In the US midwest the standard method for pretreatment of biomass uses hot acid to deconstruct lignocellulose. While other methods work, they are not in common use. Therefore it is necessary to work within this context to achieve process improvements and reductions in biofuel cost. Technology underlying this process could supplement and even replace commodity enzymes with engineered microbes to convert biomass-derived lignocellulose feedstocks into biofuels and valueadded chemicals. The approach that was used here was based on consolidated bioprocessing. Thermoacidophilic microbes belonging to the Domain Archaea were evaluated and modfied to promote deconvolution and saccharification of lignocellulose. Biomass pretreatment (hot acid) was combined with fermentation using an extremely thermoacidophilic microbial platform. The identity and fate of released sugars was controlled using metabolic blocks combined with added biochemical traits where needed. LC/MS analysis supported through the newly established Nebraska Bioenergy Facility provided general support for bioenergy researchers at the University of Nebraska. The primary project strategy was to use microbes that naturally flourish in hot acid (thermoacidophiles) with conventional biomass pretreatment that uses hot acid. The specific objectives were: to screen thermoacidophilic taxa for the ability to deconvolute lignocellulose and depolymerize associated carbohydrates; evaluate and respond to formation of "inhibitors" that arose during incubation of lignocellulose under heated acidic conditions; identify and engineer "sugar flux channeling and catabolic blocks" that redirect metabolic pathways to maximize sugar concentrations; expand the hydrolytic capacity of extremely thermoacidophilic microbes through the addition of deconvolution traits; and establish the Nebraska Bioenergy Facility (NBF) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Doppler Lidar Wind Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Newsom, R. K. [DOE ARM Climate Research Facility, Washington, DC (United States); Sivaraman, C. [DOE ARM Climate Research Facility, Washington, DC (United States); Shippert, T. R. [DOE ARM Climate Research Facility, Washington, DC (United States); Riihimaki, L. D. [DOE ARM Climate Research Facility, Washington, DC (United States)
Wind speed and direction, together with pressure, temperature, and relative humidity, are the most fundamental atmospheric state parameters. Accurate measurement of these parameters is crucial for numerical weather prediction. Vertically resolved wind measurements in the atmospheric boundary layer are particularly important for modeling pollutant and aerosol transport. Raw data from a scanning coherent Doppler lidar system can be processed to generate accurate height-resolved measurements of wind speed and direction in the atmospheric boundary layer.
Raman Lidar MERGE Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Newsom, Rob [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Goldsmith, John [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Sivaraman, Chitra [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility Raman lidars (RLs) are semi-autonomous, land-based, laser remote sensing systems that provide height- and time-resolved measurements of water vapor mixing ratio, temperature, aerosol backscatter, extinction, and linear depolarization ratio from about 200 m to greater than 10 km AGL. These systems transmit at a wavelength of 355 nm with 300 mJ, ~5 ns pulses, and a pulse repetition frequency of 30 Hz. The receiver incorporates nine detection channels, including two water vapor channels at 408 nm, two nitrogen channels at 387 nm, three elastic channels, and two rotational Raman channels for temperature profiling at 354 and 353 nm. Figure 1 illustrates the layout of the ARM RL receiver system. Backscattered light from the atmosphere enters the telescope and is directed into the receiver system (i.e., aft optics). This signal is then split between a narrow-field-of-view radiometer (NFOV) path (blue) and a wide-field-of-view zenith radiometer (WFOV) path (red). The WFOV (2 mrad) path contains three channels (water vapor, nitrogen, and unpolarized elastic), and the NFOV (0.3 mrad) path contains six channels (water vapor, nitrogen, parallel and perpendicular elastic, and two rotational Raman). All nine detection channels use Electron Tubes 9954B photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The signals from each of the nine PMTs are acquired using transient data recorders from Licel GbR (Berlin, Germany). The Licel data recorders provide simultaneous measurements of both analog photomultiplier current and photon counts at height resolution of 7.5 m and a time resolution of 10 s. The analog signal provides good linearity in the strong signal regime, but poor sensitivity at low signal levels. Conversely, the photo counting signal provides good sensitivity in the weak signal regime, but is strongly nonlinear at higher signal levels. The advantage in recording both signals is that they can be combined (or merged) into a single signal with improved dynamic range. The process of combining the analog and photon counting data has become known as "gluing" (Whiteman et al., 2006).
Pengukuran Kinerja Keuangan dengan Pendekatan Egonomic Value Added dan Financial Value Added
Performance measurement has become an important indicator not only for companies but also for investors. It indicates the capability of companies in managing their capital. Performance measurement can be divided into financial and non-financial performance measurement. This article will discuss further about financial performance measurement using Economic Value Added (EVA) and Financial Value Added (FVA) Economic Value Added was developed by Stern, Stewart & Company, while Financial Value...
"Value Added" Gauge of Teaching Probed
Viadero, Debra
A new study by a public and labor economist suggests that "value added" methods for determining the effectiveness of classroom teachers are built on some shaky assumptions and may be misleading. The study, due to be published in February in the "Quarterly Journal of Economics," is the first of a handful of papers now in the…
Value-Added Analysis in Instruction
Nicholson, Michael R.; Brown, Jeffrey R.
Value-added data provide a viable alternative for gauging school effectiveness--one virtually free of the confounding effects of student demographics and other factors relating to student learning. How is it different from other measuring methods? It concentrates on growth, rather than attainment. This strengthens the concept and measurement of…
Value Added School Review Field Guide
Alberta Education, 2009
The "Value-Added School Review (VSR)" is an analytical model designed to assist schools in identifying and addressing opportunities for school improvement. The model works best when it is focused purposefully on students and the student learning outcomes as defined in the "Guide to Education". It complements the processes…
Value-Added Modeling in Physical Education
Hushman, Glenn; Hushman, Carolyn
The educational reform movement in the United States has resulted in a variety of states moving toward a system of value-added modeling (VAM) to measure a teacher's contribution to student achievement. Recently, many states have begun using VAM scores as part of a larger system to evaluate teacher performance. In the past decade, only "core…
Value Added to What? How a Ceiling in the Testing Instrument Influences Value-Added Estimation
Koedel, Cory; Betts, Julian
Value-added measures of teacher quality may be sensitive to the quantitative properties of the student tests upon which they are based. This article focuses on the sensitivity of value added to test score ceiling effects. Test score ceilings are increasingly common in testing instruments across the country as education policy continues to…
Development of value added tea bags and capsules of Artemisia ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Propagation to budding/harvesting took 4 months and fresh leaves were processed to dark green dried leaves which was developed to value added products of tea bags and powdered capsules following the Noble Icon NAFDAC approved procedures and equipment; and Now Food University in USA procedures and ...
La Medicion de la Productividad del Valor Agregado: una aplicación empírica en una cooperativa agroalimentaria de Costa Rica (Measuring value added productivity: an empirical aplication in an agroalimentary cooperative in Costa Rica
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cristina Morales Sandoval
Full Text Available La medición de la productividad a nivel de las empresas, así como de las cadenas productivas, resulta ser una condición necesaria para la evaluación de su desempeño, la innovación y la definición de sus estrategias empresariales. La productividad se ha vuelto un tema fundamental en las empresas, ya que una alta productividad y una adecuada estrategia permiten el aumento de la competitividad e innovación en las empresas, debido a que su incremento representa un elemento diferenciador para alcanzar el éxito a nivel nacional e internacional. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo aportar evidencia empírica acerca de la aplicación de un modelo que da respuesta sobre la evaluación del desempeño, la innovación y la estrategia, el cual es denominado "Medición de la productividad del valor agregado" (MPVA, que fue aplicado en una cooperativa agroalimentaria costarricense COOPEBRISAS R.L. como prueba empírica en el análisis del cálculo del valor agregado, cálculo de indicadores de productividad y el análisis de los índices, evaluando los periodos entre el año 2008 y el 2012. Dentro de los resultados de la investigación se destaca que el MPVA permitió cuantificar el desempeño de la cooperativa, al identificar áreas problemáticas y prioritarias para aumentar su posición en el mercado y su productividad. Abstract A necessary requirement for evaluating the performance, innovation and the definition of company strategy is the measuring of productivity of companies and productive chains. Productivity has become fundamental for companies since high productivity and adequate strategies favors an increase in company competitiveness and innovation that in turn creates a distinguishing element for attaining success at national and international levels. This research aims to provide empirical evidence about the application of a model that evaluates performance, innovation and strategy, called "Value Added Productivity Measurement�
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Suripto Suripto
Full Text Available This research was to explain and analyze the different variable of Inflation Rate,Exchange Rate, Interest Rate, Ratio Plant Asset, Size Measure Company, Profitability, Growth ,LD / E, TD / TA, Stock of Return, Book To Market between company having Economic ValueAdded ( Positive and company having Economic Value Added ( Negative . Analysis which wasused in this research was multivariate analysis of variant (MANOVA. There was different variableof Inflation Rate, Exchange Rate, Interest Rate, Ratio Plant Asset, Size Measure Company,Profitability, Growth , LD / E, TD / TA, Stock of Return, Book To Market between companyhaving Economic Value Added ( Positive and negative EVA. However, by partial, only differentsale size was significant
76 FR 37774 - Announcement of Value-Added Producer Grant Application Deadlines
... sustainable. As with all value-added efforts, generating new products, creating expanded marketing... an agriculture-related field (e.g. farming, marketing, consulting, university professor, research...
Comparative Advantage of Value-Added Services: The Case of South Africa
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sonja Grater
Full Text Available Global supply chains have changed the way in which products are produced internationally. The inputs into a final product include both intermediate goods and services, which adds value to the final product. Gross trade data is misleading and includes some double counting. This study questions whether traditional revealed comparative advantage (RCA calculations for gross exports of services would offer different results from value-added services. RCA calculation was done for South Africa and the bric countries for both gross exports and value added services. The analysis showed that some countries performed stronger in terms of gross exports than in value added terms for some sectors, but others showed higher comparative advantage in value added terms. For South Africa, most services had a higher comparative advantage in terms of value added than for gross exports. The results indicated the importance of including value added data in international trade data analysis.
Alternative Crops and Biofuel Production
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kenkel, Philip [Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OK (United States); Holcomb, Rodney B. [Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OK (United States)
In order for the biofuel industry to meet the RFS benchmarks for biofuels, new feedstock sources and production systems will have to be identified and evaluated. The Southern Plains has the potential to produce over a billion gallons of biofuels from regionally produced alternative crops, agricultural residues, and animal fats. While information on biofuel conversion processes is available, it is difficult for entrepreneurs, community planners and other interested individuals to determine the feasibility of biofuel processes or to match production alternatives with feed stock availability and community infrastructure. This project facilitates the development of biofuel production from these regionally available feed stocks. Project activities are concentrated in five major areas. The first component focused on demonstrating the supply of biofuel feedstocks. This involves modeling the yield and cost of production of dedicated energy crops at the county level. In 1991 the DOE selected switchgrass as a renewable source to produce transportation fuel after extensive evaluations of many plant species in multiple location (Caddel et al,. 2010). However, data on the yield and cost of production of switchgrass are limited. This deficiency in demonstrating the supply of biofuel feedstocks was addressed by modeling the potential supply and geographic variability of switchgrass yields based on relationship of available switchgrass yields to the yields of other forage crops. This model made it possible to create a database of projected switchgrass yields for five different soil types at the county level. A major advantage of this methodology is that the supply projections can be easily updated as improved varieties of switchgrass are developed and additional yield data becomes available. The modeling techniques are illustrated using the geographic area of Oklahoma. A summary of the regional supply is then provided.
Biogas production from catch crops
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Molinuevo-Salces, Beatriz; Larsen, Søren U.; Ahring, Birgitte Kiær
Manure-based biogas plants in Denmark are dependent on high yielding biomass feedstock in order to secure economically feasible operation. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of ten different catch crop species or mixtures as feedstock for biogas production in co......, being in the ranges of 1.4–3.0 t ha−1 and 0.3–1.7 t ha−1 for Holstebro and Aabenraa, respectively. Specific methane yields were in the range of 229–450 m3 t−1 of VS. Methane yields per hectare of up to 800 m3 ha−1 were obtained, making catch crops a promising source of feedstock for manure-based biogas...
Implementation of Economic Value Added and Market Value Added Analysis as Valuation Tools of Invest Feasibility
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Achmad Daengs GS
Full Text Available For the investors, financial statement is a benchmark of investors in assessing the company's performance. In fact, investors are not always receiving the accurate company's financial statements information and its levels of fairness are in doubt. The financial statement analysis with using financial ratios is not enough. The investors may need to use alternatives financial statement analyses techniques that reflect the actual company's performance. Therefore, both of the investors and the prospective can use Economic Value Added (EVA and Market Value Added (MVA analysis. With these technical analyses, the investors may know the company's performance where they are invested or to be used as a place to invest whether it has value added or not. With the results of these analyses, it is the expected for the investors to be more confident in making decision whether to buy, sell or hold the ownership in the company.
Value-added Chemicals from Biomass by Heterogeneous Catalysis
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Voss, Bodil
been implemented. The subject on chemical production has received less attention. This thesis describes and evaluates the quest for an alternative conversion route, based on a biomass feedstock and employing a heterogeneous catalyst capable of converting the feedstock, to a value-added chemical...... feedstock, having retained one C-C bond originating from the biomass precursor, the aspects of utilising heterogeneous catalysis for its conversion to value added chemicals is investigated. Through a simple analysis of known, but not industrialised catalytic routes, the direct conversion of ethanol...... deactivation of the Cu spinel catalyst may be concluded to be attributed to the formation of high molecular carbonaceous compounds covering the catalytic surface, being catalysed by acidic alumina sites present during and after catalyst activation. This theory explains several phenomena observed...
Extreme weather events and global crop production
Ray, D. K.; Gerber, J. S.; West, P. C.
Extreme weather events can lead to significant loss in crop production and even trigger global price spikes. However it is still not clear where exactly and what types of extreme events have resulted in sharp declines in crop production. Neither is it clear how frequently such extreme events have resulted in extreme crop production losses. Using extreme event metrics with a newly developed high resolution and long time series of crop statistics database we identify the frequency and type of extreme event driven crop production losses globally at high resolutions. In this presentation we will present our results as global maps identifying the frequency and type of extreme weather events that resulted in extreme crop production losses and quantify the losses. Understanding how extreme events affects crop production is critical for managing risk in the global food system
Recycling crop residues for use in recirculating hydroponic crop production
Mackowiak, C. L.; Garland, J. L.; Sager, J. C.
As part of bioregenerative life support feasibility testing by NASA, crop residues are being used to resupply elemental nutrients to recirculating hydroponic crop production systems. Methods for recovering nutrients from crop residues have evolved from water soaking (leaching) to rapid aerobic bioreactor processing. Leaching residues recovered the majority of elements but it also recovered significant amounts of soluble organics. The high organic content of leachates was detrimental to plant growth. Aerobic bioreactor processing reduced the organic content ten-fold, which reduced or eliminated phytotoxic effects. Wheat and potato production studies were successful using effluents from reactors having with 8- to 1-day retention times. Aerobic bioreactor effluents supplied at least half of the crops elemental mass needs in these studies. Descriptions of leachate and effluent mineral content, biomass productivity, microbial activity, and nutrient budgets for potato and wheat are presented.
High value added lipids produced by microorganisms: a potential use of sugarcane vinasse.
Fernandes, Bruna Soares; Vieira, João Paulo Fernandes; Contesini, Fabiano Jares; Mantelatto, Paulo Eduardo; Zaiat, Marcelo; Pradella, José Geraldo da Cruz
This review aims to present an innovative concept of high value added lipids produced by heterotrophic microorganisms, bacteria and fungi, using carbon sources, such as sugars, acids and alcohols that could come from sugarcane vinasse, which is the main byproduct from ethanol production that is released in the distillation step. Vinasse is a rich carbon source and low-cost feedstock produced in large amounts from ethanol production. In 2019, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply estimates that growth of ethanol domestic consumption will be 58.8 billion liters, more than double the amount in 2008. This represents the annual production of more than 588 billion liters of vinasse, which is currently used as a fertilizer in the sugarcane crop, due to its high concentration of minerals, mainly potassium. However, studies indicate some disadvantages such as the generation of Greenhouse Gas emission during vinasse distribution in the crop, as well as the possibility of contaminating the groundwater and soil. Therefore, the development of programs for sustainable use of vinasse is a priority. One profitable alternative is the fermentation of vinasse, followed by an anaerobic digester, in order to obtain biomaterials such as lipids, other byproducts, and methane. Promising high value added lipids, for instance carotenoids and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAS), with a predicted market of millions of US$, could be produced using vinasse as carbon source, to guide an innovative concept for sustainable production. Example of lipids obtained from the fermentation of compounds present in vinasse are vitamin D, which comes from yeast sucrose fermentation and Omega 3, which can be obtained by bacteria and fungi fermentation. Additionally, several other compounds present in vinasse can be used for this purpose, including sucrose, ethanol, lactate, pyruvate, acetate and other carbon sources. Finally, this paper illustrates the potential market and
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Full Text Available The financial theory developed different categories of indicators - traditional and modern - in order to evaluate the firm's value creation. The shareholders are directly interested by the value added in the company. The value creation is a complex process that implies correct decisions, common responsibility (managers and shareholders and actions towards an efficient and profitable activity. The traditional indicators of performance are not teoritically correlated with the the value creation and in these circumstances, should be used appropriate financial indicators in order to reflect the value of the company. Therefore, the modern indicators used in the value based management framework offer a greater flexibility and efficiency and represent a good alternative for companies. Such performance indicators used to measure the financial results correlated with shareholder wealth are the Economic Value Added (EVA, as a measure of internal performance and the Market Value Added (MVA as a measure of external performance of the company. Starting from the main deficiencies of the accounting indicators, the objective of this this study is to present the relationship between EVA and MVA and their implications on firms'valuation. Thus, the presentation and analysis of these indicators – EVA and MVA - will underline the main features, their correlations, and influence factors but also the main advantage and disadvantage of each indicator, which will enable the managers to make the correct choice and subsequently the best decision regarding the performance measures.
Annual cropped area expansion and agricultural production ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
This paper assesses the relationship between annual cropped area expansion and crop output and discusses the implication of such a relationship for environmental management in Benue State, Nigeria. The study was carried out using agricultural production survey (APS) data of five selected crops, namely: rice, sorghum, ...
Crop succession requirements in agricultural production planning
Klein Haneveld, W.K.; Stegeman, A.
A method is proposed to write crop succession requirements as linear constraints in an LP-based model for agricultural production planning. Crop succession information is given in the form of a set of inadmissible successions of crops. The decision variables represent the areas where a certain
Amendments to the Law on Value Added Tax in Kosovo
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Simeana Beshi
Full Text Available Main purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze the objectives and effects of amendments in the Law on Value Added Tax (VAT as part of the new fiscal package in Kosovo. This paper is based on a quantitative analysis. Some of the methods used in this paperwork are: historical- , descriptive-, and comparative method. It relies on facts and researches conducted by international organizations, based on productive forces and on the development of economic capacities in general, also a comparative overview of the fiscal policies applied in different states. This paper presents also the challenges of Kosovo, towards EU, by harmonizing tax legislation, fiscal policy and combating tax evasion.
Comparative economic value added on Southeast Asian banking industry
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lintang Dewanti
Full Text Available This study analyses the bank's performance comparison across countries in some ASEAN members which are listed in the stock exchange, as well as to analyse the influence of Economic Value Added (EVA and some financial ratios on the company stock return. Analysis suggests some results. In Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, the movement of EVA follows the movement of Gross Domestic Product (GDP. This study also finds that Earning per Share (EPS, only in Singapore, and Return on Equity (ROE and Return on Assets (ROA, only in the Philippines, have an influence on stock return. Only in the Philippines where EVA together with ROA has an effect on stock return.
Use of Cover Crops in Hardwood Production
Randy Rentz
Cover crops are as essential a practice in hardwood production as in pine production or any other nursery operation. Without proper cover crop rotation in a nursery plan, we open ourselves up to an array of problems: more diseases, wrong pH, more weeds, reduced fertility, and less downward percolation of soil moisture due, in part, to compaction....
Embodied crop calories in animal products
Pradhan, Prajal; Lüdeke, Matthias K. B.; Reusser, Dominik E.; Kropp, Jürgen P.
Increases in animal products consumption and the associated environmental consequences have been a matter of scientific debate for decades. Consequences of such increases include rises in greenhouse gas emissions, growth of consumptive water use, and perturbation of global nutrients cycles. These consequences vary spatially depending on livestock types, their densities and their production system. In this letter, we investigate the spatial distribution of embodied crop calories in animal products. On a global scale, about 40% of the global crop calories are used as livestock feed (we refer to this ratio as crop balance for livestock) and about 4 kcal of crop products are used to generate 1 kcal of animal products (embodied crop calories of around 4). However, these values vary greatly around the world. In some regions, more than 100% of the crops produced is required to feed livestock requiring national or international trade to meet the deficit in livestock feed. Embodied crop calories vary between less than 1 for 20% of the livestock raising areas worldwide and greater than 10 for another 20% of the regions. Low values of embodied crop calories are related to production systems for ruminants based on fodder and forage, while large values are usually associated with production systems for non-ruminants fed on crop products. Additionally, we project the future feed demand considering three scenarios: (a) population growth, (b) population growth and changes in human dietary patterns and (c) changes in population, dietary patterns and feed conversion efficiency. When considering dietary changes, we project the global feed demand to be almost doubled (1.8-2.3 times) by 2050 compared to 2000, which would force us to produce almost equal or even more crops to raise our livestock than to directly nourish ourselves in the future. Feed demand is expected to increase over proportionally in Africa, South-Eastern Asia and Southern Asia, putting additional stress on these
Value added telecommunication services for health care.
Danelli-Mylonas, Vassiliki
The successful implementation and operation of health care networks and the efficient and effective provision of health care services is dependent upon a number of different factors: Telecommunications infrastructure and technology, medical applications and services, user acceptance, education and training, product and applications/services development and service provision aspects. The business model and market development regarding policy and legal issues also must be considered in the development and deployment of telemedicine services to become an everyday practice. This chapter presents the initiatives, role and contribution of the Greek Telecommunications Company in the health care services area and also refers to specific case-studies focusing upon the key factors and issues of applications related to the telecommunications, informatics, and health care sectors, which can also be the drivers to create opportunities for Citizens, Society and the Industry.
Does Distance to Subsidiaries affect Headquarters Value Added?
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Nell, Phillip Christopher; Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd; Ambos, Björn
How does distance between MNC headquarters and their subsidiaries affect the value added generated by headquarters? Integrating theories on spatial transaction costs with the headquarter view of the MNC, we link two types of distances, geographic distance and contextual distance, with headquarters...... value added. We test our hypotheses on an original dataset of 124 manufacturing subsidiaries in Europe. We find that the relation between distance and headquarters value added is conditional on the degree of subsidiaries' external embeddedness. We find no direct effect of distance. The value added......-subsidiaries relations and distance research....
Woods, Timothy A.; Hoagland, Heath
An increasing number of farmers in the United States are finding more opportunity to participate in value-added activities beyond their commodity production. Issues' such as low farm income, increasing marketing margins, and a desire to enhance demand for local commodities-generate more interest in identifying suitable value-added activities. Many states are providing programs to help promote and support farmers interested in leading the development of new food products. This paper examines t...
Alcohol co-production from tree crops
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Seibert, M.; Folger, G.; Milne, T.
A concept for the sustainable production of alcohol from fermentable substrates produced on an annual basis by the reproductive organs (pods, fruits, nuts, berries, etc.) of tree crops is presented. The advantages of tree-crop systems include suitability for use on marginal land, potential productivity equivalent to row crops, minimal maintenance and energy-input requirements, environmental compatibility, and the possibility of co-product production. Honeylocust, mesquite, and persimmon are examined as potential US tree-crop species. Other species not previously considered, including osage orange and breadfruit, are suggested as tree-crop candidates for North America and the tropical developing world, respectively. Fermentation of tree-crop organs and the economics of tree-crop systems are also discussed. Currently the greatest area of uncertainty lies in actual pod or fruit yields one can expect from large tree farms under real life conditions. However, ballpark ethanol yield estimates of from 880 to 3470 l hectare/sup -1/ (94 to 400 gal acre/sup -1/) justify further consideration of tree crop systems.
Value added assessment toolkit in the bakery industry of the region
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Zhanna Anatol'evna Ermakova
Full Text Available This paper analyzes content, structure and importance of value added of enterprises — participants of the value chain of the product in the food industry. The analysis of the value added is made on the example of bakeries in Orenburg region. A new concept of «quality value» is presented and indicators for its evaluation are developed. Quality is understood as value-added content and structure of the value added nature of its formation, modification and distribution between the main actors in the value chain of the product under the influence of various factors. The conducted research confirmed the hypothesis that the implementation of a larger number of activities to create the final product in a controlled set of economic agents improves their performance. It is established that the structure of the value depends not only on the performance of individual enterprises, but also on the industry in general.
Enterprise's performance evaluation on the basis of value added
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Doina Pacurari
Full Text Available Important indicator, used in performance analysis, value added expresses enterprise's contribution to national gross domestic product. The value added through economic activity developed by enterprise should assure the remuneration of all its life participants: employees, investors, state and enterprise itself. Information referring to enterprise capacity of generatingvalue added should be based on decisions concerning future enterprise decisions. The present article presents, by means of a case study, value added calculation (by subtractive and additivemethod and their analysis.
Measuring Teacher Quality with Value-Added Modeling
Marder, Michael
Using computers to evaluate teachers based on student test scores is more difficult than it seems. Value-added modeling is a genuinely serious attempt to grapple with the difficulties. Value-added modeling carries the promise of measuring teacher quality automatically and objectively, and improving school systems at minimal cost. The essence of…
Value-Added Models for the Pittsburgh Public Schools
Johnson, Matthew; Lipscomb, Stephen; Gill, Brian; Booker, Kevin; Bruch, Julie
At the request of Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers (PFT), Mathematica has developed value-added models (VAMs) that aim to estimate the contributions of individual teachers, teams of teachers, and schools to the achievement growth of their students. The authors' work in estimating value-added in Pittsburgh…
Exploring Value-Added Options - Opportunities in Mouldings and Millwork
Bob Smith; Philip A. Araman
The millwork industry, which includes manufacture of doors, windows, stair parts, blinds, mouldings, picture frame material, and assorted trim, can be a lucrative value-added opportunity for sawmills. Those entering the value-added millwork market often find that it is a great opportunity to generate greater profits from upper grades and utility species, such as yellow...
Using School Lotteries to Evaluate the Value-Added Model
Deutsch, Jonah
There has been an active debate in the literature over the validity of value-added models. In this study, the author tests the central assumption of value-added models that school assignment is random relative to expected test scores conditional on prior test scores, demographic variables, and other controls. He uses a Chicago charter school's…
Biogas production from mediterranean crop silages
Carvalho, L.; Di Berardino, Santino; Duarte, E.
Anaerobic digestion has proven to be an efficient way for the production of a renewable fuel. The aim of this work was to study the potential use of two crop silages, yellow lupine (Lupinus luteus L.) and oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus var. oleifera cv. Pegletta), for the production of biogas through the process of anaerobic digestion. The use of yellow lupine was due to its capacity for nitrogen fixation, reducing the fertilization needs for the succeeding crop cycle and reducing also the ...
Effect of Mixed Systems on Crop Productivity
Senturklu, Songul; Landblom, Douglas; Cihacek, Larry; Brevik, Eric
The goals of this non-irrigated research has been to determine the effect of mixed systems integration on crop, soil, and beef cattle production in the northern Great Plains region of the United States. Over a 5-year period, growing spring wheat (HRSW-C) continuously year after year was compared to a 5-year crop rotation that included spring wheat (HRSW-R), cover crop (dual crop consisting of winter triticale/hairy vetch seeded in the fall and harvested for hay followed by a 7-species cover crop that was seeded in June after hay harvest), forage corn, field pea/barley, and sunflower. Control 5-year HRSW yield was 2690 kg/ha compared to 2757 kg/ha for HRSW grown in rotation. Available soil nitrogen (N) is often the most important limitation for crop production. Expensive fertilizer inputs were reduced in this study due to the mixed system's complementarity in which the rotation system that included beef cattle grazing sustained N availability and increased nutrient cycling, which had a positive effect on all crops grown in the rotation. Growing HRSW continuously requires less intensive management and in this research was 14.5% less profitable. Whereas, when crop management increased and complementing crops were grown in rotation to produce crops and provide feed for grazing livestock, soil nutrient cycling improved. Increased nutrient cycling increased crop rotation yields and yearling beef cattle steers that grazing annual forages in the rotation gain more body weight than similar steers grazing NGP native range. Results of this long-term research will be presented in a PICO format for participant discussion.
Crop rotations for grain production
Olesen, Jørgen E.; Rasmussen, Ilse Ankær; Askegaard, Margrethe
There is an increasing demand for organically grown cereal grains in Denmark, which is expected to cause a change in the typical organic farm structure away from dairy farming and towards arable farming. Such a change may reduce the stability of the farming systems, because of decreasing soil fertility and problems with weed control. There have only been a limited number of studies under temperate conditions in Europe and North America, where different crop rotations have been compared under ...
Environmental and Quality Improvement Practices: Their Analysis as Components of the Value Added in Horticultural Firms
Gomez, Emilio Galdeano; Lorente, Jose Cespedes; Rodriguez, Manuel Rodriguez
This paper analyses the effect of environmental and quality improvement practices on the value added of the fruit and vegetable sector. These practices form part of the incentive-based programmes established by the Common Agricultural Policy. Taking the investment in quality-environmental activities as knowledge capital, we propose a specific analysis that evaluates the effect of the factors of the production function and of the current subsidies over the value added. In general, the share of...
PETRO: Higher Productivity Crops for Biofuels
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
PETRO Project: The 10 projects that comprise ARPA-E's PETRO Project, short for "Plants Engineered to Replace Oil," aim to develop non-food crops that directly produce transportation fuel. These crops can help supply the transportation sector with agriculturally derived fuels that are cost-competitive with petroleum and do not affect U.S. food supply. PETRO aims to redirect the processes for energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) capture in plants toward fuel production. This would create dedicated energy crops that serve as a domestic alternative to petroleum-based fuels and deliver more energy per acre with less processing prior to the pump.
Green Net Value Added as a Sustainability Metric Based on ...
Sustainability measurement in economics involves evaluation of environmental and economic impact in an integrated manner. In this study, system level economic data are combined with environmental impact from a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a common product. We are exploring a costing approach that captures traditional costs but also incorporates externality costs to provide a convenient, easily interpretable metric. Green Net Value Added (GNVA) is a type of full cost accounting that incorporates total revenue, the cost of materials and services, depreciation, and environmental externalities. Two, but not all, of the potential environmental impacts calculated by the standard LCIA method (TRACI) could be converted to externality cost values. We compute externality costs disaggregated by upstream sectors, full cost, and GNVA to evaluate the relative sustainability of Bounty® paper towels manufactured at two production facilities. We found that the longer running, more established line had a higher GNVA than the newer line. The dominant factors contributing to externality costs are calculated to come from the stationary sources in the supply chain: electricity generation (27-35%), refineries (20-21%), pulp and paper making (15-23%). Health related externalities from Particulate Matter (PM2.5) and Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions appear largely driven by electricity usage and emissions by the facilities, followed by pulp processing and transport. Supply
7 CFR 457.117 - Forage production crop insurance provisions.
... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Forage production crop insurance provisions. 457.117... production crop insurance provisions. The Forage Production Crop Insurance Provisions for the 2001 and... Forage Production Crop Insurance Provisions If a conflict exists among the policy provisions, the order...
Comparative advantage in Bangladesh crop production
Shahabuddin, Quazi; Dorosh, Paul A.
"This study uses data from 1996/97 through 1998/99 to examine the relative efficiency of production of crops in Bangladesh and their comparative advantage in international trade as measured by net economic profitability (the profitability using economic, rather than financial costs and prices), and the domestic resource cost ratio, (the amount of value of non-tradable domestic resources used in production divided by the value of tradable products). The economic profitability analysis demonstr...
Introduction to Crop Production. Unit A-7.
Luft, Vernon D.; Backlund, Paul
This document is a teacher's guide for a unit in vocational agriculture for college freshmen. It is intended to be used for 20 hours of instruction as an introductory course on the crop industry. It provides a broad background of the industry, including production, marketing, processing, and transportation, with emphasis on identifying major crops…
GENDER ROLES m SUBSISTENCE CROP PRODUCTION m ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
the emphasis on market economy that features very prominently in Nationallncome accounting, the erroneous belief that most rural women do not make an appreciable centribution to crop production is over-turned in this study. Most women take part in' plantingijweeding, harvesting and post-harvest activities of ...
Value Adding Management: A New Facilities Management Concept
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Jensen, Per Anker; Katchamart, Akarapong
the relevance of the basic concept and provides an important example of how Value Adding Management can be implemented and added value measured. Originality/value: The study develops a concept of Value Adding Management, which is new in FM literature. It is expected to increase the awareness of the impacts......Purpose: To investigate how Facilities Management (FM) can add value and develop a management concept that can assist facilities managers in implementing value adding strategies and practices. Theory: The study is based on the management model for FM included in the European FM standards, recent...... theories on added value of FM and real estate and the related concept of Value Management from building projects. The study is related to the EuroFM research group on The Added Value of FM. Design/methodology/approach: The study outlines a preliminary theoretical based management concept, which...
Facilities Management and Value Adding - The LEGO case
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Jensen, Per Anker; Katchamart, Akarapong
Purpose: To investigate how Facilities Management (FM) can add value and develop a management concept that can assist facilities managers in implementing value adding strategies and practices. Background: Earlier research has shown an increased focus on added value of FM and a FM Value Map has been...... developed to analyse and demonstrate the different ways FM can add value. However, there is a need to develop management tools that can be used more directly and proactively by facilities managers to implement adding value strategies and practices. Approach: The development of the concept is based...... example of how Value Adding Management can be implemented and added value measured. Practical Implications: The concept of Value Adding Management is expected to increase the awareness of the impacts and strategic importance of FM for organisations and can be a practical tool for facilities managers...
Measuring Gross Output, Value Added, Employment and Labor Productivity of the Chinese Economy at Industry Level, 1987-2008 — An Introduction to the CIP Database (Round 1.0)
Wu, Harry
This paper introduces the preliminary version of the China Industrial Productivity Database (CIP Round 1.0), a first of its kind covering the period 1987-2008, including data problems and the construction procedures to deal with the problems. It also discusses the outstanding methodological and data issues aiming to invite constructive comments and suggestions for further improvement of the database. Finally, using the CIP data, this paper provides a preliminary measure of China's labor produ...
Agricultural innovations for sustainable crop production intensification
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Michele Pisante
Full Text Available Sustainable crop production intensification should be the first strategic objective of innovative agronomic research for the next 40 years. A range of options exist (often very location specific for farming practices, approaches and technologies that ensure sustainability, while at the same time improving crop production. The main challenge is to encourage farmers in the use of appropriate technologies, and to ensure that knowledge about sound production practices is increasingly accepted and applied by farmers. There is a huge, but underutilized potential to link farmers' local knowledge with science-based innovations, through favourable institutional arrangements. The same holds for the design, implementation and monitoring of improved natural resource management that links community initiatives to external expertise. It is also suggested that a comprehensive effort be undertaken to measure different stages of the innovation system, including technological adoption and diffusion at the farm level, and to investigate the impact of agricultural policies on technological change and technical efficiency. This paper provides a brief review of agronomic management practices that support sustainable crop production system and evidence on developments in the selection of crops and cultivars; describes farming systems for crop which take a predominantly ecosystem approach; discusses the scientific application of ecosystem principles for the management of pest and weed populations; reviews the improvements in fertilizer and nutrient management that explain productivity growth; describes the benefits and constraints of irrigation technologies; and suggests a way forward. Seven changes in the context for agricultural development are proposed that heighten the need to examine how innovation occurs in the agricultural sector.
Evaluation of pest vulnerability of 'Benning' soybean value added and insect resistant near isogenic lines.
Samuel-Foo, Michelle; All, John N; Boerma, H Roger
Crop enhancement with value added traits may affect vulnerability to insects, and evaluating the susceptibility levels of the various value added traits in elite germplasm would aid in developing integrated pest management strategies. During 2007-2008, five 'Benning' soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) lines with different value added nutritional traits and four insect resistant quantitative trait loci (QTL) lines were evaluated in an effort to determine their pest vulnerability under artificial and natural insect pest populations. The lines showed variable susceptibility to lepidopterous insect pests classified as defoliators and stem feeders in replicated greenhouse and field tests. The study was carried out in Athens and Midville, GA. The green cloverworm (Hypena scabra (F.)) was the most common lepidopteran defoliator occurring in the fields. Other caterpillar pests found included the soybean looper (Pseudoplusia includens (Walker)), the bollworm (Helicoverpa zea (Boddie)), and the velvetbean caterpillar (Anticarsia gemmatalis (Hübner)). Data indicated that there was no significantly increased pest susceptibility among the value added cultivars with improved nutritional qualities, with the insect resistant quantitative trait loci lines Benning M and Benning MGH consistently being less susceptible to lepidopterous (Noctuidae) leaf injury.
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service overview for operational monitoring of current crop conditions and production forecasts.
Crutchfield, J.
The presentation will discuss the current status of the International Production Assessment Division of the USDA ForeignAgricultural Service for operational monitoring and forecasting of current crop conditions, and anticipated productionchanges to produce monthly, multi-source consensus reports on global crop conditions including the use of Earthobservations (EO) from satellite and in situ sources.United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) International Production AssessmentDivision (IPAD) deals exclusively with global crop production forecasting and agricultural analysis in support of the USDAWorld Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) lockup process and contributions to the World Agricultural Supply DemandEstimates (WASE) report. Analysts are responsible for discrete regions or countries and conduct in-depth long-termresearch into national agricultural statistics, farming systems, climatic, environmental, and economic factors affectingcrop production. IPAD analysts become highly valued cross-commodity specialists over time, and are routinely soughtout for specialized analyses to support governmental studies. IPAD is responsible for grain, oilseed, and cotton analysison a global basis. IPAD is unique in the tools it uses to analyze crop conditions around the world, including customweather analysis software and databases, satellite imagery and value-added image interpretation products. It alsoincorporates all traditional agricultural intelligence resources into its forecasting program, to make the fullest use ofavailable information in its operational commodity forecasts and analysis. International travel and training play animportant role in learning about foreign agricultural production systems and in developing analyst knowledge andcapabilities.
Whole-crop cereals in dairy production
Wallsten, Johanna
The four studies summarised and discussed in this thesis evaluate the use of whole-crop cereal silage (WCCS) for cattle in dairy production. The dry matter (DM) yield, chemical composition, digestibility, feed intake and milk production for WCCS were evaluated for different cereal species and maturity stages at harvest. The DM yield increased from milk to dough stages of maturity and was higher in winter triticale and rye than in spring barley and oats. Delayed harvest until early dough stage...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Full Text Available Value Added Tax (VAT is a tax imposed on the value added to a product at each stage of the production and distribution process. Value added is never taxed twice under VAT and thus cascading (tax on tax effects do not occur. It is a single tax on goods and services but the tax is collected multiple stages. At each of these stages, the amount of tax payable is computed by subtracting the tax previously paid on purchases from the tax charged on sales by the traders for each taxation period. In last three decades, VAT, a relatively new and better commodity taxation, has been introduced in many countries. It has replaced different types of sales taxes in such countries. This article attempts to evaluate VAT by comparing with other sales taxes.
Agroecology of Novel Annual and Perennial Crops for Biomass Production
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Manevski, Kiril; Jørgensen, Uffe; Lærke, Poul Erik
The agroecological potential of many crops under sustainable intensification has not been investigated. This study investigates such potential for novel annual and perennial crops grown for biomass production.......The agroecological potential of many crops under sustainable intensification has not been investigated. This study investigates such potential for novel annual and perennial crops grown for biomass production....
Perceptions Towards Non-Value-Adding Activities During The Construction Process
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ismail Haryati
Full Text Available Non-value-adding activities are pure waste during the construction process. However, most of the construction practitioner does not realise that most of the activities performed during the construction process add no value to their project. A total of 375 numbers of questionnaires distributed to the Developer, Jabatan Kerja Raya, Consultants and Contractors. The study found that awareness by construction participants in Malaysia to take actions against non-value-adding activities during the construction process is relatively low. Through analysed by using the Pareto Chart, it has been found that defects and waiting time are two categories of non-value-adding activities that need to be prioritised by the industry. It is also found that non-value-adding activities most frequently occurred during structural and architectural work. This paper also reviewed on the causes of non-value-adding activities and discussed its effect towards time, cost, quality and productivity of the construction project. This paper is also important to give clearness and broader understandings on this form of waste other than material waste.
Requirements for Logical Models for Value-Added Tax Legislation
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Nielsen, Morten Ib; Simonsen, Jakob Grue; Larsen, Ken Friis
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are ubiquitous in commercial enterprises of all sizes and invariably need to account for the notion of value-added tax (VAT). The legal and technical difficulties in handling VAT are exacerbated by spanning a broad and chaotic spectrum of intricate country...
Introducing the Value-Added Tax : Considerations for Implementation
Tadros, Farid
Successfully implementing a value-added tax (VAT) system is complex and must be approached strategically and realistically in order to maximize company participation, create an efficient filing and audit administration, and encourage private sector growth. The active involvement of both the government and the private sector is essential to delivering sustainable results. This note presents...
The Student Mathematics Portfolio: Value Added to Student Preparation?
Burks, Robert
This article describes key elements for educators to successfully implement a student mathematics portfolio in an undergraduate mathematics course. This article offers practical advice for implementing a student mathematics portfolio in a freshman precalculus course. We look at the potential value added to student class preparation and compare our…
Cost-savings accruable to removing value added tax from ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Background: Despite the important and essential role that medicines play in any society, all medicines, including those identified as essential, are uniformly subjected to 14% value added tax (VAT), regardless of their therapeutic value in the private healthcare sector of South Africa. The aim of this article is to demonstrate ...
Can Value-Added Measures of Teacher Performance Be Trusted?
Guarino, Cassandra M.; Reckase, Mark D.; Wooldridge, Jeffrey M.
We investigate whether commonly used value-added estimation strategies produce accurate estimates of teacher effects under a variety of scenarios. We estimate teacher effects in simulated student achievement data sets that mimic plausible types of student grouping and teacher assignment scenarios. We find that no one method accurately captures…
Can Value Added Add Value to Teacher Evaluation?
Darling-Hammond, Linda
The five thoughtful papers included in this issue of "Educational Researcher" ("ER") raise new questions about the use of value-added methods (VAMs) to estimate teachers' contributions to students' learning as part of personnel evaluation. The papers address both technical and implementation concerns, considering potential…
Value-added tax fraud in the European Union
Aronowitz, A.A.; Laagland, D.C.G.; Paulides, G.
Questions addressed in this project included:What are the existing control mechanisms and how do they operate? What public bodies are responsible for the fight against Value Added Tax (VAT) fraud and what are their competencies? What are the possibilities to exchange information between member
Does Distance to Subsidiaries affect Headquarters Value Added?
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Nell, Phillip C.; Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd; Ambos, Björn
How does distance between MNC headquarters and their subsidiaries affect the value added generated by headquarters? Integrating theories on spatial transaction costs with the headquarter view of the MNC, we link two types of distances, geographic distance and contextual distance, with headquarters...
Creating value added to customers: Marketing and sales role
Damnjanović Vesna; Filipović Vinka
This paper presents the new trends in sales and marketing areas which reshaping markets and changing the way business is done. Marketing and sales management need a well-defined strategy for added value exploration, creation and delivery. The holistic marketing process involves all stakeholders and required them to participate in the value added creation process.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lisa Linawati Utomo
Full Text Available The company's performance is mostly measured by analysis based on the financial ratio for a specific period. This type of measurement is highly dependent upon the accounting methods used in preparing the financial statement. Therefore a company's performance often looks good and improving overtime, but in reality its performance is deteriorating. The unreliable accounting measure needs an improved performance measure that will recognize and encourage management actions and strategies to increase the overall value of the company and ultimately to punish any activity that reduce value. The introduction of Economic Value Added (EVA has been very relevant recently because based on its definition, EVA measures the amount of value added created by specific action or strategy taken in a company. EVA is also used in the process of goal setting, capital budgeting, performance assessment, and most importantly, incentive compensation within a company. Its implication to the overall being of a company is so important these days that it should not be overlooked when companies plan their strategies. Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia : Kinerja sebuah perusahaan lebih banyak diukur berdasarkan rasio-rasio keuangan selama satu periode tertentu. Pengukuran berdasarkan rasio keuangan ini sangatlah bergantung pada metode atau perlakuan akuntansi yang digunakan dalam menyusun laporan keuangan perusahaan. Sehingga seringkali kinerja perusahaan terlihat baik dan meningkat, yang mana sebenarnya kinerja tidak mengalami peningkatan dan bahkan menurun. Diperlukannya suatu alat ukur kinerja yang menunjukkan prestasi manajemen sebenarnya dengan tujuan untuk mendorong aktivitas atau strategi yang menambah nilai ekonomis (value added activities dan menghapuskan aktivitas yang merusak nilai (non-value added activities. Economic Value Added (EVA sangat relevan dalam hal ini karena EVA dapat mengukur kinerja (prestasi manajemen berdasarkan besar kecilnya nilai tambah yang diciptakan
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
İrfan ÖZEN
Full Text Available Abstract Diagnosis, treatment or other services in hospitals must be delivered to the patients as soon as possible and properly. However, as in other sectors, due to the non value adding activities to the service process in health sector, there have been delays, disruptions and the results that doesn't meet the patients' expectations. Identification of which processes and procedures that don't contribute to the service production in hospitals will provide significant benefits in the prevention of waste of recources. This study includes non value adding activities in a public hospital and determinations and sugges- tions respecting eliminations of these activities.
77 FR 48951 - Inviting Applications for Value-Added Producer Grants
...) Connecticut (see Massachusetts) Delaware-Maryland USDA Rural Development State Office, 1221 College Park Drive..., (208) 378-5600/TDD (208) 378-5644. Illinois USDA Rural Development State Office, 2118 West Park Court... majority of the raw agricultural commodity that will be transformed into the proposed value-added product...
78 FR 70260 - Inviting Applications for Value-Added Producer Grants
... defined in 7 CFR 4284.902. II. Award Information Type of Instrument: Grant. Minimum Award Amount: Not... used for the value-added product, expressed in an appropriate unit of measure (acres, pounds, bushels.... Qualifications of Project Personnel (Graduated Score 0-20 Points) You must identify all individuals who will be...
The Role of Value Added Tax on Economic Growth of Ethiopia ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The achievement of economic growth is crucial for countries sustainable development. Recently, Value Added Tax (VAT) becomes a major worldwide tax instrument which enhances economic growth. Being a tax levied on the final consumption of goods and services, VAT is collected at each stage of production and ...
Sustainability evaluation of high value-added products
Bos, H.L.; Meesters, K.P.H.
In this report the authors present a brief overview of the methods that are presently in use for evaluating sustainability. They discuss more deeply the pros and cons of the various methods, with a strong focus on the LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) method. Given is an overview of the available literature
Aerosol Optical Depth Value-Added Product Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Koontz, A; Hodges, G; Barnard, J; Flynn, C; Michalsky, J
This document describes the process applied to retrieve aerosol optical depth (AOD) from multifilter rotating shadowband radiometers (MFRSR) and normal incidence multifilter radiometers (NIMFR) operated at the ARM Climate Research Facility's ground-based facilities.
Water Footprint of crop productions: A review.
Lovarelli, Daniela; Bacenetti, Jacopo; Fiala, Marco
Water Footprint is an indicator recently developed with the goal of quantifying the virtual content of water in products and/or services. It can also be used to identify the worldwide virtual water trade. Water Footprint is composed of three parts (green, blue and grey waters) that make the assessment complete in accordance with the Water Footprint Network and with the recent ISO14046. The importance of Water Footprint is linked to the need of taking consciousness about water content in products and services and of the achievable changes in productions, diets and market trades. In this study, a literature review has been completed on Water Footprint of agricultural productions. In particular, the focus was paid on crops for the production of food and bioenergy. From the review, the development of the Water Footprint concept emerged: in early studies the main goal was to assess products' water trade on a global scale, while in the subsequent years, the goal was the rigorous quantification of the three components for specific crops and in specific geographical areas. In the most recent assessments, similarities about the methodology and the employed tools emerged. For 96 scientific articles on Water Footprint indicator of agricultural productions, this literature review reports the main results and analyses weaknesses and strengths. Seventy-eight percent of studies aimed to quantify Water Footprint, while the remaining 22% analysed methodology, uncertainty, future trends and comparisons with other footprints. It emerged that most studies that quantified Water Footprint concerned cereals (33%), among which maize and wheat were the most investigated crops. In 46% of studies all the three components were assessed, while in 18% no indication about the subdivision was given; in the remaining 37%, only blue or green and blue components were quantified. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Herbicide hormesis-can it be useful in crop production
The yield-enhancing effects of some pesticides may change the focus in their use in crop production, from crop protection to crop enhancement. While such beneficial uses of pesticides are specifically en vogue for fungicides and seed treatments, the use of herbicides for crop enhancement has not yet...
Adoption of Agri-environmental Programmes in Swiss Crop Production
Finger, R.; Lehmann, B.
We analyse the adoption of agri-environmental programmes, i.e. extensive and organic crop production, in Switzerland for the years 2008 and 2009. While extensive crop production is adopted by about 60 per cent of all eligible farms, the adoption of organic crop production is very limited. Using
Value adding management: A concept and a case
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Jensen, Per Anker; Katchamart, Akarapong
Purpose: To develop a management concept that can assist facilities managers in implementing value adding strategies and practices. The FM Value Map has been developed to analyse and demonstrate the different ways FM can add value. However, there is a need to develop management tools that can...... be used more directly and proactively by facilities managers to implement adding value strategies and practices. Methodology: The development of the concept of Value Adding Management is based on the management model for FM included in the European FM standards, recent theories on added value of FM...... and real estate and the related concept of Value Management from building projects. The chapter outlines a preliminary theoretical based management concept, which is investigated, tested and discussed based on a case study of LEGO. Findings: The case study provides a clear example of a company that actual...
Tax expenditures and the efficiency of Croatian value added tax
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Petar Sopek
Full Text Available The main aim of this paper is to provide a systematic overview of value added taxation in Croatia along with main changes in relevant legislation and to estimate total amount of tax expenditures. Results show that the proportion of tax expenditures in GDP in Croatia in 2010 amounted to less than 4%, a proportion lower than in any of the EU new member states, as well as almost twice as low as the EU-27 average. It can be concluded that the Croatian value added taxation system is efficient in this way, as was additionally shown by an analysis according to which Croatia in 2010 had better efficiency indicators than all the observed EU member states. The Croatian VAT system is mainly harmonized with EU directives, but abolition of the zero rate is still expected; this will increase government revenue by approximately 0.4-0.8% of GDP, depending on a chosen scenario. It has been suggested that a detailed analysis of the overall value added taxation system should be initiated, with the aim of optimizing cost-benefits. The main focus should be placed on the determination of the optimal VAT registration threshold, the costs and benefits of the introduced reliefs and exemptions in the tax system and the potential effects of the repeal of the zero rate.
Productivity growth in food crop production in Imo State, Nigeria ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Agriculture plays pivotal roles in Nigeria including food security, employment, foreign exchange earnings and poverty reduction. This study examined the growth in food crop productivity in Imo State in Nigeria with emphasis on the decomposition of total factor productivity (TFP) into technical progress, changes in technical ...
productivity growth in food crop production in imo state, nigeria ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Prof. Adipala Ekwamu
Agriculture plays pivotal roles in Nigeria including food security, employment, foreign exchange earnings and poverty reduction. This study examined the growth in food crop productivity in Imo State in Nigeria with emphasis on the decomposition of total factor productivity (TFP) into technical progress, changes in technical.
Raising Crop Productivity in Africa through Intensification
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Zerihun Tadele
Full Text Available The population of Africa will double in the next 33 years to reach 2.5 billion by 2050. Although roughly 60% of the continent's population is engaged in agriculture, the produce from this sector cannot feed its citizens. Hence, in 2013 alone, Africa imported 56.5 million tons of wheat, maize, and soybean at the cost of 18.8 billion USD. Although crops cultivated in Africa play a vital role in their contribution to Food Security, they produce inferior yields compared to those in other parts of the world. For instance, the average cereal yield in Africa is only 1.6 t·ha−1 compared to the global 3.9 t·ha−1. Low productivity in Africa is also related to poor soil fertility and scarce moisture, as well as a variety of insect pests, diseases, and weeds. While moisture scarcity is responsible for up to 60% of yield losses in some African staple cereals, insect pests inflict annually substantial crop losses. In order to devise a strategy towards boosting crop productivity on the continent where food insecurity is most prevalent, these production constraints should be investigated and properly addressed. This review focuses on conventional (also known as genetic intensification in which crop productivity is raised through breeding for cultivars with high yield-potential and those that thrive well under diverse and extreme environmental conditions. Improved crop varieties alone do not boost crop productivity unless supplemented with optimum soil, water, and plant management practices as well as the promotion of policies pertaining to inputs, credit, extension, and marketing. Studies in Kenya and Uganda have shown that the yield of cassava can be increased by 140% in farmers' fields using improved varieties and management practices. In addition to traditional organic and inorganic fertilizers, biochar and African Dark Earths have been found to improve soil properties and to enhance productivity, although their availability and affordability to
Sesame ( Sesame indicum L .) Crop Production in Ethiopia: Trends ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
.) oil crop, production status in Ethiopia, constraints, potentials and future opportunities. Sesame is one of the most important high value oil crops in Ethiopia contributing high foreign currency. Sesame oil is useful edible oil and has wide ...
Determinants of Economic Value Added. Empirical Evidence from Romanian Market
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Neculai Tabara
Full Text Available Maximize enterprise value as a fundamental objective of the management of the enterprise acquired new interpretations given the economic climate changes. In this respect firstly shall be identified procedures for creating value for shareholders. Once achieved this aim we will create value for all parts interested. This objective can be reached only by integrating the concept of performance in enterprise valuation and through a properly applied methodology, taking into account all factors that may arise. The present research is oriented towards performance analysis using the indicator economic value added EVA-more precisely by its determinants. For analysis were selected 65 companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange Market.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mara Cristian
Full Text Available This article tries to present the major aspects concerning the value added tax in the context of economic crisis in European Union countries and Romania. The paper realizes an analysis of the impact of economic crises on VAT in the European space underlining the current situation when the revenues from VAT represent a valuable source of financing the public expenditures. In Romania the economic crises has led to increasing o f VAT rate from 19% to 24%. This measure is an important fiscal measure for the state budget and this study tries to reflect the impact of this VAT rate increase on the public revenues and consumption.
Economic value added model upon conditions of banking company
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Vlasta Kašparovská
Full Text Available The content of this article is the application of the economic value added model (EVA upon the conditions of a banking company. Due to the character of banking business, which is in a different structure of financial sheet, it is not possible to use the standard model EVA for this banking company. The base of this article is the outlined of basic principles of the EVA mode in a non-banking company. Basic specified banking activity dissimilarities are analysed and a directed methodology adjustment of a model such as this, so that it is possible to use it for a banking company.
Relay cropping as a sustainable approach: problems and opportunities for sustainable crop production.
Tanveer, Mohsin; Anjum, Shakeel Ahmad; Hussain, Saddam; Cerdà, Artemi; Ashraf, Umair
Climate change, soil degradation, and depletion of natural resources are becoming the most prominent challenges for crop productivity and environmental sustainability in modern agriculture. In the scenario of conventional farming system, limited chances are available to cope with these issues. Relay cropping is a method of multiple cropping where one crop is seeded into standing second crop well before harvesting of second crop. Relay cropping may solve a number of conflicts such as inefficient use of available resources, controversies in sowing time, fertilizer application, and soil degradation. Relay cropping is a complex suite of different resource-efficient technologies, which possesses the capability to improve soil quality, to increase net return, to increase land equivalent ratio, and to control the weeds and pest infestation. The current review emphasized relay cropping as a tool for crop diversification and environmental sustainability with special focus on soil. Briefly, benefits, constraints, and opportunities of relay cropping keeping the goals of higher crop productivity and sustainability have also been discussed in this review. The research and knowledge gap in relay cropping was also highlighted in order to guide the further studies in future.
University Business Incubators: An Institutional Demand Side Perspective on Value Adding Features
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sven Dahms
Contribution & Value Added: The study addresses a research gap, identifying crosscountry differences in the demand of potential entrepreneurs for value adding features provided in University Business Incubators (UBI.
Privacy of Value-Added Context-Aware Service Cloud
Huang, Xin; He, Yin; Hou, Yifan; Li, Lisi; Sun, Lan; Zhang, Sina; Jiang, Yang; Zhang, Tingting
In the cloud computing era, service provider cloud and context service cloud store all your personal context data. This is a positive aspect for value-added context-aware service cloud as it makes that context information collection are easier than was the case previously. However, this computing environment does add a series of threats in relation to privacy protection. Whoever receives the context information is able to deduce the status of the owners and, generally owners are not happy to share this information. In this paper, we propose a privacy preserved framework which can be utilized by value-added context-aware service cloud. Context data and related services access privileges are determined by context-aware role-based access control (CRAC) extended from role-based access control (RAC). Privacy preserved context service protocol (PPCS) is designed to protect user privacy from exposed context information. Additionally, user network and information diffusion is combined to evaluate the privacy protection effect.
Use of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi for improved crop production in ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Soil fertility depletion through crop removal, soil erosion and leaching is a major challenge to increased crop productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Whereas nitrogen can be replenished using Rhizobium inoculants and growing leguminous crops, P is difficult to replenish. This is due to the high fixing capacity of most soils in ...
Determinants of seasonal arable crop production among selected ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The study, was conducted with a view to identify factors influencing the choice of crop production and seasonal cropping activities of the farm households. A multistage random sampling procedure was used to select 200 arable crop farmers across the four operational zones, comprising Abeokuta, Ilaro, Ikenne and Ijebu, ...
Economic Value Added (EVA and Market Value Added (MVA in the function of creating value for shareholders
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ilić-Pupovac Maja
Full Text Available Increase in the value for the key stakeholders, i.e. shareholders, is one of the most important goals of a modern corporation. A new concept based on the value, so-called, Economic Value Added - EVA is a derived internal measure of value creation that helps managers in their decision-making processes which incorporate two basic principles of finance: the maximization of shareholders' wealth and that the value of the company depends on investor expectations that the future profits will exceed the cost of the capital. EVA is directly related to the external performance of the company in the capital market, i.e. Market Value Added - MVA. MVA is the assessment of the capital markets, within a specified period of time and reflects the success with which the company invested capital in the past and expectations of the success of performance of investing capital in the future, which affects the value of the company, and thus a shareholder value, as well.
Hydroponic Crop Production using Recycled Nutrients from Inedible Crop Residues
Garland, Jay L.; Mackowiak, Cheryl L.; Sager, John C.
The coupling of plant growth and waste recycling systems is an important step toward the development of bioregenerative life support systems. This research examined the effectiveness of two alternative methods for recycling nutrients from the inedible fraction (residue) of candidate crops in a bioregenerative system as follows: (1) extraction in water, or leaching, and (2) combustion at 550 C, with subsequent reconstitution of the ash in acid. The effectiveness of the different methods was evaluated by (1) comparing the percent recovery of nutrients, and (2) measuring short- and long-term plant growth in hydroponic solutions, based on recycled nutrients.
Future energy crop production costs in the EU
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Ericsson, K.; Rosenqvist, H.; Nilsson, L.J.
This paper presents an analysis of energy crop production costs from the perspective of the farmer. The objective of the study presented in this paper was to calculate indicative cost ranges on a regional level for a number of promising energy crops and to analyse the structure of production costs. The analysis was made for three cases, two of which refer to the knowledge and technical level in 2005, and one of which refers to that in 2020.The production cost consists of three main components: the costs of cultivation, land and risk. The cost of land was estimated using the opportunity cost based on the net gross margin for grain production. The energy crop production costs were estimated to be consistently lowest for the SRC crops and highest for annual straw crops. The production cost of the SRC crops was estimated to about 4-5/GJ under present conditions and 3-4/GJ for the 2020 scenario.
Value Added Services and Adoption of Mobile Payments
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Augsburg, Christel; Hedman, Jonas
In this paper, we investigate the role of Value Added Services (VAS) in consumers' adoption of mobile payments. VAS are supplementary digital services offered in connection with mobile payments; in this study exemplified by receipts, loyalty cards, and coupons. A research model is derived from...... existing literature and empirically tested through an experimental design survey, in which the experimental group is exposed to a mobile payment solution with VAS, including receipts, loyalty cards, and coupons, and the control group is exposed to a mobile payment solution without VAS. Our findings show...... that intention to adopt mobile payments increases as VAS are introduced and that this increase comes from a positive change in Perceived Usefulness, compatibility, and Convenience....
Non-value-added time: the million dollar nursing opportunity.
Storfjell, Judith Lloyd; Ohlson, Susan; Omoike, Osei; Fitzpatrick, Therese; Wetasin, Kanokwan
The dual crises of high healthcare costs and the nursing shortage require a better understanding of inpatient nursing unit activities and, more specifically, their costs and the drivers of inefficiencies. This includes knowing not only how staff spend their time but also how much of this time is non-value-added (NVA) because wasted time leads to both high costs and nurse dissatisfaction. The authors discuss a study that determined the NVA time and costs of acute care nursing unit staff, identified drivers of high-cost NVA time, and compared activities and costs by type of nursing unit. These data have considerable implications for developing efficient and effective nursing care delivery models and for implementing process improvement and staff satisfaction initiatives.
Production of renewable polymers from crop plants.
van Beilen, Jan B; Poirier, Yves
Plants produce a range of biopolymers for purposes such as maintenance of structural integrity, carbon storage, and defense against pathogens and desiccation. Several of these natural polymers are used by humans as food and materials, and increasingly as an energy carrier. In this review, we focus on plant biopolymers that are used as materials in bulk applications, such as plastics and elastomers, in the context of depleting resources and climate change, and consider technical and scientific bottlenecks in the production of novel or improved materials in transgenic or alternative crop plants. The biopolymers discussed are natural rubber and several polymers that are not naturally produced in plants, such as polyhydroxyalkanoates, fibrous proteins and poly-amino acids. In addition, monomers or precursors for the chemical synthesis of biopolymers, such as 4-hydroxybenzoate, itaconic acid, fructose and sorbitol, are discussed briefly.
Value added medicines: what value repurposed medicines might bring to society?
Toumi, Mondher; Rémuzat, Cécile
ABSTRACT Background & objectives: Despite the wide interest surrounding drug repurposing, no common terminology has been yet agreed for these products and their full potential value is not always recognised and rewarded, creating a disincentive for further development. The objectives of the present study were to assess from a wide perspective which value drug repurposing might bring to society, but also to identify key obstacles for adoption of these medicines and to discuss policy recommendations. Methods: A preliminary comprehensive search was conducted to assess how the concept of drug repurposing was described in the literature. Following completion of the literature review, a primary research was conducted to get perspective of various stakeholders across EU member states on drug repurposing (healthcare professionals, regulatory authorities and Health Technology Assessment (HTA) bodies/payers, patients, and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry developing medicines in this field). Ad hoc literature review was performed to illustrate, when appropriate, statements of the various stakeholders. Results: Various nomenclatures have been used to describe the concept of drug repurposing in the literature, with more or less broad definitions either based on outcomes, processes, or being a mix of both. In this context, Medicines for Europe (http://www.medicinesforeurope.com/value-added-medicines/) established one single terminology for these medicines, known as value added medicines, defined as 'medicines based on known molecules that address healthcare needs and deliver relevant improvements for patients, healthcare professionals and/or payers'. Stakeholder interviews highlighted three main potential benefits for value added medicines: (1) to address a number of medicine-related healthcare inefficiencies related to irrational use of medicines, non-availability of appropriate treatment options, shortage of mature products, geographical inequity in medicine
Effect of weather data aggregation on regional crop simulation for different crops, production conditions, and response variables
Zhao, Gang; Hoffmann, Holger; Bussel, Van L.G.J.; Enders, Andreas; Specka, Xenia; Sosa, Carmen; Yeluripati, Jagadeesh; Tao, Fulu; Constantin, Julie; Raynal, Helene; Teixeira, Edmar; Grosz, Balázs; Doro, Luca; Zhao, Zhigan; Nendel, Claas; Kiese, Ralf; Eckersten, Henrik; Haas, Edwin; Vanuytrecht, Eline; Wang, Enli; Kuhnert, Matthias; Trombi, Giacomo; Moriondo, Marco; Bindi, Marco; Lewan, Elisabet; Bach, Michaela; Kersebaum, Kurt Christian; Rötter, Reimund; Roggero, Pier Paolo; Wallach, Daniel; Cammarano, Davide; Asseng, Senthold; Krauss, Gunther; Siebert, Stefan
We assessed the weather data aggregation effect (DAE) on the simulation of cropping systems for different crops, response variables, and production conditions. Using 13 processbased crop models and the ensemble mean, we simulated 30 yr continuous cropping systems for 2 crops (winter wheat and
Value Added Tax Gap in the Czech Republic
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jana Stavjaňová
Full Text Available The paper deals with an estimation of tax evasion of value added tax in the Czech Republic during 2006–2012. For the estimation I have used the concept of tax gap which is based on a comparison of the theoretical tax liability in the economy with the actual tax receipts. According to my results the VAT gap in the Czech Republic gradually increased during the observed period and it is more than CZK 100 billion in the last three years. The most significant growth of VAT gap occurred between the years 2007 and 2008 and between 2011 and 2012 when the reduced VAT rate was increased by 4 percentage points. The second part of the paper focuses on impact of my estimates on tax policy of the Czech Republic. I discuss two different possibilities how the additional revenue gained from VAT gap reduction could be used – either to decrease the government deficit and therefore to meet the Maastricht criteria or to decrease tax burden on labour which influences particularly low income workers.
New Value-Added Services for Electronic Journals in Classics
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Matteo Romanello
Full Text Available E-journals are undoubtedly less widespread in the Humanities than in the Scientific, Technical and Medical (STM field. This is not just because of a lag in Humanities journals' development, but also because of the different extent at what electronic publishing technologies fit respectively the different nature and requirements of disciplines. The wide range of functionalities and services that can be offered online in addition to the print copy of a journal is one of the most important differences between paper-based and electronic publishing. Value Added Services (VAS represent also a key aspect to be leveraged in the development of a sustainable business model for open access journals. VAS need to be though carefully. To provide them comes at a cost and it is a process that can just partly be automated. The paper aims at designing a new model for Classics e-journals specifically tailored on classicists' needs, identifying a set of functionalities that may be provided by e-journals on the basis of a deep understanding of the field and of recent user studies. The implementation of such functionalities and the automatisation of the process needed to enable them are then discussed in detail.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Andrija Sabol
Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is to present a cornucopia of approaches and ways of defining, measuring and using the concept of Economic Value Added (EVA. EVA is a financial performance measure that emphasizes the maximization of shareholder value, as opposed to mere maximization of net profit. The authors familiarize the readers with important ideas and research that have contributed to the development of the concept of EVA. The nature of this paper is exclusive to the review of secondary sources, such as theoretical insights as well as the results of numerous empirical research of EVA. Furthermore, the paper will show various adjustments to financial statements before accounting profits can be used to calculate EVA. The results of the aforementioned research will unequivocally present EVA as one of the most widely used and accepted measures of overall firm performance, gaining more popularity when coupled with the notions of strategic (financial management. The paper concludes by determining the role and place of the concept of EVA in the process of value and performance management, as well as strategic management.
Statement of value added (dva: wealth distribution to staff and entities capital of sectors autoind
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Eduardo Wink
Full Text Available This article aimed to analyze the distribution of benefit produced by companies belonging to sectors of Autoindústria and capital goods to the production of agents and working capital in the period between 2008 and 2012, through the Statement of Value Added (DVA. Methodologically we carried out a survey of descriptive purpose, documentary and bibliographic procedure and qualitative approach to the problem. The chosen population was formed by the group of entities named by Exame Magazine - Biggest and Best, 2012 edition, classified in the sectors of Autoindústria and Capital Goods. Being given sample for data accessibility and non-probabilistic, consisting of a Autoindústria the sector, by Embraer, Marcopolo and Mahle companies and in the Capital Goods sector, by companies Romi SA, Kepler-Weber SA and Bardella SA The results revealed Embraer was the entity with higher revenue figures of the group surveyed. Regarding the ability of benefit generation, the entity that became more revenues in value added was Romi on average 51% of the realized revenue. The Companies generally distributed more value added to personal than to capital.
Value-added care: a paradigm shift in patient care delivery.
Upenieks, Valda V; Akhavan, Jaleh; Kotlerman, Jenny
Spiraling costs in health care have placed hospitals in a constant state of transition. As a result, nursing practice is now influenced by numerous factors and has remained in a continuous state of flux. Multiple changes within the last 2 decades in nurse/patient ratio and blend of front-line nurses are examples of this transition. To reframe the nursing practice into an economic equation that captures the cost, quality, and service, a paradigm shift in thinking is needed in order to assess work redesign. Nursing productivity must be evaluated in terms of value-added care, a vision that goes beyond direct care activities and includes team collaboration, physician rounding, increased RN-to-aide communication, and patient centeredness; all of which are crucial to the nurse's role and the patient's well-being. The science of appropriating staffing depends on assessment and implementation of systematic changes best illustrated through a "systems theory" framework. A throughput transformation is required to create process changes with input elements (number of front-line nurses) in order to increase time spent in value-added care and to decrease waste activities with an improvement in efficiency, quality, and service. The purpose of this pilot study was two-fold: (a) to gain an understanding of how much time RNs spent in value-added care, and (b) whether increasing the combined level of RNs and unlicensed assistive personnel increased the amount of time spent in value-added care compared to time spent in necessary tasks and waste.
Putting mechanisms into crop production models.
Boote, Kenneth J; Jones, James W; White, Jeffrey W; Asseng, Senthold; Lizaso, Jon I
Crop growth models dynamically simulate processes of C, N and water balance on daily or hourly time-steps to predict crop growth and development and at season-end, final yield. Their ability to integrate effects of genetics, environment and crop management have led to applications ranging from understanding gene function to predicting potential impacts of climate change. The history of crop models is reviewed briefly, and their level of mechanistic detail for assimilation and respiration, ranging from hourly leaf-to-canopy assimilation to daily radiation-use efficiency is discussed. Crop models have improved steadily over the past 30-40 years, but much work remains. Improvements are needed for the prediction of transpiration response to elevated CO₂ and high temperature effects on phenology and reproductive fertility, and simulation of root growth and nutrient uptake under stressful edaphic conditions. Mechanistic improvements are needed to better connect crop growth to genetics and to soil fertility, soil waterlogging and pest damage. Because crop models integrate multiple processes and consider impacts of environment and management, they have excellent potential for linking research from genomics and allied disciplines to crop responses at the field scale, thus providing a valuable tool for deciphering genotype by environment by management effects. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Effects of temporal changes in climate variables on crop production ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Key words: Climate variability, crop yield and production, regional climate projections, South-western Nigeria. INTRODUCTION. The variability of the ... continuously facing an immediate risk of increased crop failure and loss of livestock. ... ral productivity may assist in proffering management strategies for a sustainable and ...
Production function analysis of Cassava-based cropping systems in ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Production function analysis of Cassava-based cropping systems in River state, Nigeria. ... An analysis of production function of cassava-based cropping systems in Rivers State is the main focus of this paper. A total of 180 ... Multiple regression model was the main tool of data analysis where different functions were tried.
Crop production management practices as a cause for low water ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Generally, smallholder irrigation schemes (SIS) in South Africa have performed poorly and have not delivered on their development objectives of increasing crop production and improving rural livelihoods. Limited knowledge of irrigated crop production among farmers has been identified as one of the constraints to ...
Economic Analysis of Crop Production under Jibiya Irrigation Project ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
ABSTRACT: The study examined costs and returns of crop production under Jibiya Irrigation Project as well as problems that were ... crop production were N 94,513.61, N 90,969.20 and N 3,544.41 per hectare of total, variable and fixed cost, respectively. ..... education in carrying out business activities. According to Okafor ...
The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crops products
Mekonnen, Mesfin; Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert
This study quantifies the green, blue and grey water footprint of global crop production in a spatially-explicit way for the period 1996-2005. The assessment is global and improves upon earlier research by taking a highresolution approach, estimating the water footprint of 126 crops at a 5 by 5 arc
The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products
Mekonnen, Mesfin; Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert
This study quantifies the green, blue and grey water footprint of global crop production in a spatially-explicit way for the period 1996–2005. The assessment improves upon earlier research by taking a high-resolution approach, estimating the water footprint of 126 crops at a 5 by 5 arc minute grid.
State and trends of oil crops production in China
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yang Tiankui
Full Text Available This paper attempts to present a full picture of current situation and future trends of Chinese oil crop production. The total oil crop production remained broadly constant during 2011–2014. The top three oil crops are soybean, peanut and rapeseed, together accounting for more than 70% of total oil crop production. The area under cultivation and the production of peanuts will keep steadily increasing because most Chinese like its pleasant roasted flavor. Because of their high content in polyunsaturated fatty acids and the natural minor functional components in their oils, more attention is being paid to sunflower seed and rice bran. The diminishing availability of arable land and concern over the security of edible oil supplies is driving both a change in cultivation structure of crops and improvements in the efficiency of oilseed production in China.
Quantifying the Impact of Tropospheric Ozone on Crops Productivity at regional scale using JULES-crop
Leung, F.
Tropospheric ozone (O3) is the third most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas. It is causing significant crop production losses. Currently, O3 concentrations are projected to increase globally, which could have a significant impact on food security. The Joint UK Land Environment Simulator modified to include crops (JULES-crop) is used here to quantify the impacts of tropospheric O3 on crop production at the regional scale until 2100. We evaluate JULES-crop against the Soybean Free-Air-Concentration-Enrichment (SoyFACE) experiment in Illinois, USA. Experimental data from SoyFACE and various literature sources is used to calibrate the parameters for soybean and ozone damage parameters in soybean in JULES-crop. The calibrated model is then applied for a transient factorial set of JULES-crop simulations over 1960-2005. Simulated yield changes are attributed to individual environmental drivers, CO2, O3 and climate change, across regions and for different crops. A mixed scenario of RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5 climatology and ozone are simulated to explore the implication of policy. The overall findings are that regions with high ozone concentration such as China and India suffer the most from ozone damage, soybean is more sensitive to O3 than other crops. JULES-crop predicts CO2 fertilisation would increase the productivity of vegetation. This effect, however, is masked by the negative impacts of tropospheric O3. Using data from FAO and JULES-crop estimated that ozone damage cost around 55.4 Billion USD per year on soybean. Irrigation improves the simulation of rice only, and it increases the relative ozone damage because drought can reduce the ozone from entering the plant stomata. RCP 8.5 scenario results in a high yield for all crops mainly due to the CO2 fertilisation effect. Mixed climate scenarios simulations suggest that RCP 8.5 CO2 concentration and RCP 2.6 O3 concentration result in the highest yield. Further works such as more crop FACE-O3 experiments and more Crop
Projected climate change threatens pollinators and crop production in Brazil.
Giannini, Tereza Cristina; Costa, Wilian França; Cordeiro, Guaraci Duran; Imperatriz-Fonseca, Vera Lucia; Saraiva, Antonio Mauro; Biesmeijer, Jacobus; Garibaldi, Lucas Alejandro
Animal pollination can impact food security since many crops depend on pollinators to produce fruits and seeds. However, the effects of projected climate change on crop pollinators and therefore on crop production are still unclear, especially for wild pollinators and aggregate community responses. Using species distributional modeling, we assessed the effects of climate change on the geographic distribution of 95 pollinator species of 13 Brazilian crops, and we estimated their relative impacts on crop production. We described these effects at the municipality level, and we assessed the crops that were grown, the gross production volume of these crops, the total crop production value, and the number of inhabitants. Overall, considering all crop species, we found that the projected climate change will reduce the probability of pollinator occurrence by almost 0.13 by 2050. Our models predict that almost 90% of the municipalities analyzed will face species loss. Decreases in the pollinator occurrence probability varied from 0.08 (persimmon) to 0.25 (tomato) and will potentially affect 9% (mandarin) to 100% (sunflower) of the municipalities that produce each crop. Municipalities in central and southern Brazil will potentially face relatively large impacts on crop production due to pollinator loss. In contrast, some municipalities in northern Brazil, particularly in the northwestern Amazon, could potentially benefit from climate change because pollinators of some crops may increase. The decline in the probability of pollinator occurrence is found in a large number of municipalities with the lowest GDP and will also likely affect some places where crop production is high (20% to 90% of the GDP) and where the number of inhabitants is also high (more than 6 million people). Our study highlights key municipalities where crops are economically important and where pollinators will potentially face the worst conditions due to climate change. However, pollinators may be able to
Projected climate change threatens pollinators and crop production in Brazil.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tereza Cristina Giannini
Full Text Available Animal pollination can impact food security since many crops depend on pollinators to produce fruits and seeds. However, the effects of projected climate change on crop pollinators and therefore on crop production are still unclear, especially for wild pollinators and aggregate community responses. Using species distributional modeling, we assessed the effects of climate change on the geographic distribution of 95 pollinator species of 13 Brazilian crops, and we estimated their relative impacts on crop production. We described these effects at the municipality level, and we assessed the crops that were grown, the gross production volume of these crops, the total crop production value, and the number of inhabitants. Overall, considering all crop species, we found that the projected climate change will reduce the probability of pollinator occurrence by almost 0.13 by 2050. Our models predict that almost 90% of the municipalities analyzed will face species loss. Decreases in the pollinator occurrence probability varied from 0.08 (persimmon to 0.25 (tomato and will potentially affect 9% (mandarin to 100% (sunflower of the municipalities that produce each crop. Municipalities in central and southern Brazil will potentially face relatively large impacts on crop production due to pollinator loss. In contrast, some municipalities in northern Brazil, particularly in the northwestern Amazon, could potentially benefit from climate change because pollinators of some crops may increase. The decline in the probability of pollinator occurrence is found in a large number of municipalities with the lowest GDP and will also likely affect some places where crop production is high (20% to 90% of the GDP and where the number of inhabitants is also high (more than 6 million people. Our study highlights key municipalities where crops are economically important and where pollinators will potentially face the worst conditions due to climate change. However, pollinators
Does the Market Value Value-Added? Evidence from Housing Prices After a Public Release of School and Teacher Value-Added
Scott A. Imberman; Michael F. Lovenheim
Value-added data are an increasingly common evaluation tool for schools and teachers. Many school districts have adopted these methods and released the results publicly. In this paper, we study the release of value-added data in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Times newspaper to identify how measured value-added is capitalized into housing prices. This analysis is the first in the school valuation literature to examine property value responses to a value-added information shock, which is of in...
Allelopathic potential of oil seed crops in production of crops: a review.
Shah, Adnan Noor; Iqbal, Javaid; Ullah, Abid; Yang, Guozheng; Yousaf, Muhammad; Fahad, Shah; Tanveer, Mohsin; Hassan, Waseem; Tung, Shahbaz Atta; Wang, Leishan; Khan, Aziz; Wu, Yingying
Agricultural production enhancement has been realized by more consumption of fossil energy such as fertilizer and agrochemicals. However, the production provides the present human with sufficient and diversified commodities, but at the same time, deprives in some extent the resources from the future human as well. In the other hand, it is known that synthetic herbicides face worldwide threats to human's health and environment as well. Therefore, it is a great challenge for agricultural sustainable development. The current review has been focussed on various oilseed crop species which launch efficient allelopathic intervention, either with weeds or other crops. Crop allelopathic properties can make one species more persistent to a native species. Therefore, these crops are potentially harmful to both naturalized as well as agricultural settings. On the other side, allelopathic crops provide strong potential for the development of cultivars that are more highly weed suppressive in managed settings. It is possible to utilize companion plants that have no deleterious effect on neighbor crops and can be included in intercropping system, thus, a mean of contributing to agricultural sustainable development. In mixed culture, replacement method, wherein differing densities of a neighbor species are planted, has been used to study phytotoxic/competitive effects. So, to use alternative ways for weed suppression has become very crucial. Allelochemicals have the ability to create eco-friendly products for weed management, which is beneficial for agricultural sustainable development. Our present study assessed the potential of four oilseed crops for allelopathy on other crops and associated weeds.
Biogas crops grown in energy crop rotations: Linking chemical composition and methane production characteristics.
Herrmann, Christiane; Idler, Christine; Heiermann, Monika
Methane production characteristics and chemical composition of 405 silages from 43 different crop species were examined using uniform laboratory methods, with the aim to characterise a wide range of crop feedstocks from energy crop rotations and to identify main parameters that influence biomass quality for biogas production. Methane formation was analysed from chopped and over 90 days ensiled crop biomass in batch anaerobic digestion tests without further pre-treatment. Lignin content of crop biomass was found to be the most significant explanatory variable for specific methane yields while the methane content and methane production rates were mainly affected by the content of nitrogen-free extracts and neutral detergent fibre, respectively. The accumulation of butyric acid and alcohols during the ensiling process had significant impact on specific methane yields and methane contents of crop silages. It is proposed that products of silage fermentation should be considered when evaluating crop silages for biogas production. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Análise Financeira pelo Método: Economic Value Added - EVA e Market Value Added
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Valdenir Menegat
Full Text Available O presente artigo se propõe se propõe a apresentar a ferramenta de análise denominada Economic Value Added - EVA, fazer um breve relato de seu surgimento, evolução e evidenciar através de exemplos didáticos o porque de seu sucesso como instrumento de análise empresarial, tornando-se para algumas empresas uma filosofia de gestão norteadora das decisões. Toda sua base teórica está embasada no valor econômico agregado ou adicionado para o acionista, deixando de lado a idéia de gestão com base apenas no resultado, mas no resultado com valor agregado para aquele que investiu seu capital na empresa e dela espera o retorno capaz de suprir sua expectativa que o motivou a empregar seu dinheiro na empresa e não em outra opção do mercado.
Preliminary process engineering evaluation of ethanol production from vegetative crops
Moreira, A. R.; Linden, J. C.; Smith, D. H.; Villet, R. H.
Vegetative crops show good potential as feedstock for ethanol production via cellulose hydrolysis and yeast fermentation. The low levels of lignin encountered in young plant tissues show an inverse relationship with the high cellulose digestibility during hydrolysis with cellulose enzymes. Ensiled sorghum species and brown midrib mutants of sorghum exhibit high glucose yields after enzyme hydrolysis as well. Vegetative crop materials as candidate feedstocks for ethanol manufacture should continue to be studied. The species studied so far are high value cash crops and result in relatively high costs for the final ethanol product. Unconventional crops, such as pigweed, kochia, and Russian thistle, which can use water efficiently and grow on relatively arid land under conditions not ideal for food production, should be carefully evaluated with regard to their cultivation requirements, photosynthesis rates, and cellulose digestibility. Such crops should result in more favorable process economics for alcohol production.
Trade in Value Added (TiVA in EU New Member States (EU NMS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ines Kersan-Škabić
Full Text Available Contemporary trade analysis indicates the necessity of calculating trade in value added (TiVA which is created through global value chains (GVCs. This paper aims to determine the characteristics and importance of GVC trade in the EU new member states (EU NMS with special emphasis placed on the industry level. The results demonstrate different levels of GVC participation of the EU NMS, where Hungary is the most integrated country and Croatia the least integrated. Regional GVCs exist because a huge part of value added (VA comes from EU member states, as in gross export as well as in final demand (Europe as a hub. The most important source countries are Germany and Italy and there is also evidence of geographical and historical relations between the countries. The domination of backward participation has been found in the analysis made on the industrial level, i.e. the EU NMS are highly dependent on the import of intermediates for the production and export of final products. Strong interconnections between imports of intermediate products and exports of final products have been found in the manufacture of computers, electronics and optical products; manufacture of wood, paper, printing and reproduction. This research has contributed to the scarce literature concerning GVC (TiVA in EU NMS and has opened up new possibilities for further research and analysis.
Value-Added to What? How a Ceiling in the Testing Instrumental Influences Value-Added Estimation. Working Paper 2008-21
Koedel, Cory; Betts, Julian
Value-added measures of teacher quality may be sensitive to the quantitative properties of the testing instruments upon which they are based. This paper focuses on the sensitivity of value-added to test-score-ceiling effects. Test-score ceilings are increasingly common in testing instruments across the country as education policy continues to…
Value-Added to What? How a Ceiling in the Testing Instrument Influences Value-Added Estimation. NBER Working Paper No. 14778
Koedel, Cory; Betts, Julian
Value-added measures of teacher quality may be sensitive to the quantitative properties of the student tests upon which they are based. This paper focuses on the sensitivity of value- added to test-score-ceiling effects. Test-score ceilings are increasingly common in testing instruments across the country as education policy continues to emphasize…
How Can Value-Added Measures Be Used for Teacher Improvement? What We Know Series: Value-Added Methods and Applications. Knowledge Brief 13
Loeb, Susanna
The question for this brief is whether education leaders can use value-added measures as tools for improving schooling and, if so, how to do this. Districts, states, and schools can, at least in theory, generate gains in educational outcomes for students using value-added measures in three ways: creating information on effective programs, making…
Does the Market Value Value-Added? Evidence from Housing Prices after a Public Release of School and Teacher Value-Added. Working Paper #47
Imberman, Scott; Lovenheim, Michael F.
Value-added data have become an increasingly common evaluation tool for schools and teachers. Many school districts have begun to adopt these methods and have released results publicly. In this paper, we use the unique public release of value-added data in Los Angeles to identify how this measure of school quality is capitalized into housing…
Fuel and chemical co-production from tree crops
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Seibert, M; Williams, G,; Folger, G; Milne, T.
A concept for the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals from fermentable and oleaginous substrates produced on an annual basis by the reproductive organs (pods, fruits, nuts, berries, etc.) of tree crops is presented. The advantages of tree-crop systems include suitability for use on marginal land, potential productivity equivalent to row crops, minimal maintenance and energy input requirements, environmental compatibility, and the possibility of coproduct production. Disadvantages are possible high establishment costs, a long growth period until production commences, and difficulties in harvesting or storage; however, these provide opportunities for potential research impact. Honeylocust, mesquite, persimmon, osage orange, and Chinese tallow are examined as potential US tree-crop species. Other species, including breadfruit and African oil palm, are suggested as tree-crop candidates for the tropical developing world. Fermentation or extraction of tree-crop organs and the economics of tree-crop systems are also discussed. Currently, the greatest area of uncertainty lies in the actual pod or fruit yields that can be expected from large tree farms under real life condititons. However, ballpark ethanol yield estimates of 650 to 3470 litres/ha (69-371 gallons/acre) and oil yields up to 3900 kg/ha (4227 litres/ha) justify further consideration of tree-crop systems.
Effects of mineral and organic fertilizers on crop productivity and ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Effects of mineral and organic fertilizers on crop productivity and nutrient use efficiency in smallholder farms of Southern Rwanda. ... served as control treatment. In addition, a greenhouse experiment was run to assess crop response in semi-controlled environment. Soils were the most fertile in Simbi and in wealthier farms.
Impact of perennial cash croppin on food crop productivity. | Debela ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The argument for promoting cash crops in developing countries has generally been based on their contribution to small farmer incomes and their impact on other household activities such as household crop production through interlinked markets. While these arguments are supported by some empirical results, there is little ...
Effects of temporal changes in climate variables on crop production ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Climate variability and change have been implicated to have significant impacts on global and regional food production particularly the common stable food crops performance in tropical sub-humid climatic zone. However, the extent and nature of these impacts still remain uncertain. In this study, records of crop yields and ...
Impact of perennial cash croppin on food crop productivity. | Debela ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
... production through cash income and its impact on food crops, coffee and enset can be produced to bring additional income to the household at no significant cost to food crops. The real impact of chat on the welfare of households should be viewed in terms of its opportunity costs and its contribution to household income.
gender and relative production efficiency in food crop farming in ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
In this study, food crop farmers in Abia State of Nigeria were disaggregated based on sex, their production efficiencies and returns to scale derived and compared. Primary data generated from a random sample of 87 food crop farmers consisting of 40 females and 47 males were used. The additive multiplicative dummy ...
Commercial production of crops irrigated with gypsiferous mine water
African Journals Online (AJOL)
... indicating the presence of a buffer zone between the cropped soil profile and groundwater, but this should be monitored over a longer period. Commercial production of crops under irrigation with gypsiferous mine water is feasible and the resulting environmental impact is limited, but further research is required to confirm ...
Coastal eutrophication in Europe caused by production of energy crops
Wijnen, van J.; Ivens, W.P.M.F.; Kroeze, C.; Löhr, A.J.
In Europe, the use of biodiesel may increase rapidly in the coming decades as a result of policies aiming to increase the use of renewable fuels. Therefore, the production of biofuels from energy crops is expected to increase as well as the use of fertilisers to grow these crops. Since fertilisers
Availability Of Improved Crop Production Practices In Aguata Area ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Findings of the study revealed that that the following improved crop production practices were available to the respondents: adequate crop spacing, optimum plant population, seed dressing, use of fertilizer, use of insecticides, regular weeding, adequate disease control measures, timeliness of planting, yam minisett ...
Modelling of soil salinity and halophyte crop production
Vermue, E.; Metselaar, K.; Zee, van der S.E.A.T.M.
In crop modelling the soil, plant and atmosphere system is regarded as a continuum with regard to root water uptake and transpiration. Crop production, often assumed to be linearly related with transpiration, depends on several factors, including water and nutrient availability and salinity. The
Innovations in crop production: a matter of physiology and technology
Marcelis, L.F.M.; Buwalda, F.; Dieleman, J.A.; Dueck, T.A.; Elings, A.; Gelder, de A.; Hemming, S.; Kempkes, F.; Li, T.; Noort, van F.R.; Visser, de P.H.B.
Crop production per unit greenhouse area has doubled during the last 25 years in The Netherlands, while the energy use has been drastically reduced. The growth conditions for plants have been improved significantly through understanding crop physiology in combination with new technologies. In this
Techniques for detecting genetically modified crops and products ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The cultivation of genetically modified crops is becoming increasingly important; more traits are emerging and more acres than ever before are being planted with GM varieties. The release of GM crops and products in the markets worldwide has increased the regulatory need to monitor and verify the presence and the ...
How One School Implements and Experiences Ohio's Value-Added Model: A Case Study
Quattrochi, David
Ohio made value-added law in 2003 and incorporated value-added assessment to its operating standards for teachers and administrators in 2006. Value-added data is used to determine if students are making a year's growth at the end of each school year. Schools and districts receive a rating of "Below Growth, Met Growth, or Above Growth" on…
The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products
Mekonnen, M. M.; Hoekstra, A. Y.
This study quantifies the green, blue and grey water footprint of global crop production in a spatially-explicit way for the period 1996-2005. The assessment improves upon earlier research by taking a high-resolution approach, estimating the water footprint of 126 crops at a 5 by 5 arc minute grid. We have used a grid-based dynamic water balance model to calculate crop water use over time, with a time step of one day. The model takes into account the daily soil water balance and climatic conditions for each grid cell. In addition, the water pollution associated with the use of nitrogen fertilizer in crop production is estimated for each grid cell. The crop evapotranspiration of additional 20 minor crops is calculated with the CROPWAT model. In addition, we have calculated the water footprint of more than two hundred derived crop products, including various flours, beverages, fibres and biofuels. We have used the water footprint assessment framework as in the guideline of the Water Footprint Network. Considering the water footprints of primary crops, we see that the global average water footprint per ton of crop increases from sugar crops (roughly 200 m3 ton-1), vegetables (300 m3 ton-1), roots and tubers (400 m3 ton-1), fruits (1000 m3 ton-1), cereals (1600 m3 ton-1), oil crops (2400 m3 ton-1) to pulses (4000 m3 ton-1). The water footprint varies, however, across different crops per crop category and per production region as well. Besides, if one considers the water footprint per kcal, the picture changes as well. When considered per ton of product, commodities with relatively large water footprints are: coffee, tea, cocoa, tobacco, spices, nuts, rubber and fibres. The analysis of water footprints of different biofuels shows that bio-ethanol has a lower water footprint (in m3 GJ-1) than biodiesel, which supports earlier analyses. The crop used matters significantly as well: the global average water footprint of bio-ethanol based on sugar beet amounts to 51 m3 GJ-1
Glycerol conversion into value added chemicals over bimetallic catalysts in supercritical carbon dioxide
Hidayati, Luthfiana N.; Sudiyarmanto, Adilina, Indri B.
Development of alternative energy from biomass encourage the experiments and production of biodiesel lately. Biodiesel industries widely expand because biodiesel as substitute of fossil fuel recognized as promising renewable energy. Glycerol is a byproduct of biodiesel production, which is resulted 10% wt average every production. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide is a gas that is very abundant amount in the atmosphere. Glycerol and carbon dioxide can be regarded as waste, possibly will produce value-added chemical compounds through chemically treated. In this preliminary study, conversion of glycerol and carbon dioxide using bimetallic catalyst Ni-Sn with various catalyst supports : MgO, γ-Al2O3, and hydrotalcite. Catalysts which have been prepared, then physically characterized by XRD, surface area and porosity analysis, and thermal gravity analysis. Catalytic test performance using supercritical carbon dioxide conditions. Furthermore, the products were analyzed by GC. The final product mostly contained of propylene glycol and glycerol carbonate.
Evaluation of value-added components of dried distiller's grain with solubles from triticale and wheat.
Gibreel, Amera; Sandercock, James R; Lan, Jingui; Goonewardene, Laksiri A; Scott, Angela C; Zijlstra, Ruurd T; Curtis, Jonathan M; Bressler, David C
This study focused on the detection of value-added co-products in dried distiller's grain plus soluble (DDGS), a possibility that could open new avenues for further processing and marketing of DDGS and improving economic sustainability of ethanol industry. Varieties of triticale, wheat and two benchmarks, CPS wheat and Pioneer Hi-Bred corn, were fermented using two very high gravity (VHG) fermentation approaches: jet-cooking and raw starch processing (STARGEN fermentation). DDGS from STARGEN fermentation could be promising sources of value-added co-products. Pronghorn triticale DDGS (STARGEN fermentation) had the highest concentration of sterols (3.7 mg/g), phenolic compounds (13.61 mg GAE/g), and β-glucan (2.07%). CDC Ptarmigan DDGS (STARGEN fermentation) had the highest concentration of tocopherols and tocotrienols (107.0 μg/g), 1.93% of β-glucan, and 53.0mg/g of fatty acids. AC Reed DDGS (STARGEN method) showed 1.97% of β-glucan. This study shows that proper choice of fermentation approach and feedstock for ethanol production could improve commercial quality of DDGS. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Ecosystem services of woody crop production systems
The use of fast growing forest tree species to produce biomass for fuel, fodder, and building materials has a long history. Research programs on short rotation wood crops began in the 1960s; 50 years ago, the concept of silage sycamore (Platanus sp.) was conceived in Georgia. The basic premise was t...
Crop ecology: productivity and management in agricultural systems
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Connor, D. J; Loomis, R. S; Cassman, Kenneth G
.... This updated and thoroughly revised second edition provides in-depth coverage of the impact of environmental conditions and management on crops, resource requirements for productivity and effects on soil resources...
The crop assessment subsystem: System implementation and approaches used for the generation of crop production reports
Mcallum, W. E.; Hatch, R. E.; Boatwright, S. M.; Liszcz, C. J.; Evans, S. M. (Principal Investigator)
The primary responsibility of the crop assessment subsystem (CAS) during the three phases of LACIE was to produce crop reports that included estimates of wheat area, yield, and production, as well as a specified set of associated statistical descriptors. The operations of CAS are described with emphasis on sampling strategy, input/output data, evolution of aggregation/reporting system capabilities, and CAS aggregation procedures.
Water footprint of crop production for different crop structures in the Hebei southern plain, North China
Chu, Yingmin; Shen, Yanjun; Yuan, Zaijian
The North China Plain (NCP) has a serious shortage of freshwater resources, and crop production consumes approximately 75 % of the region's water. To estimate water consumption of different crops and crop structures in the NCP, the Hebei southern plain (HSP) was selected as a study area, as it is a typical region of groundwater overdraft in the NCP. In this study, the water footprint (WF) of crop production, comprised of green, blue and grey water footprints, and its annual variation were analyzed. The results demonstrated the following: (1) the WF from the production of main crops was 41.8 km3 in 2012. Winter wheat, summer maize and vegetables were the top water-consuming crops in the HSP. The water footprint intensity (WFI) of cotton was the largest, and for vegetables, it was the smallest; (2) the total WF, WFblue, WFgreen and WFgrey for 13 years (2000-2012) of crop production were 604.8, 288.5, 141.3 and 175.0 km3, respectively, with an annual downtrend from 2000 to 2012; (3) winter wheat, summer maize and vegetables consumed the most groundwater, and their blue water footprint (WFblue) accounted for 74.2 % of the total WFblue in the HSP; (4) the crop structure scenarios analysis indicated that, with approximately 20 % of arable land cultivated with winter wheat-summer maize in rotation, 38.99 % spring maize, 10 % vegetables and 10 % fruiters, a sustainable utilization of groundwater resources can be promoted, and a sufficient supply of food, including vegetables and fruits, can be ensured in the HSP.
Water footprint of crop production for different crop structures in the Hebei southern plain, North China
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Y. Chu
Full Text Available The North China Plain (NCP has a serious shortage of freshwater resources, and crop production consumes approximately 75 % of the region's water. To estimate water consumption of different crops and crop structures in the NCP, the Hebei southern plain (HSP was selected as a study area, as it is a typical region of groundwater overdraft in the NCP. In this study, the water footprint (WF of crop production, comprised of green, blue and grey water footprints, and its annual variation were analyzed. The results demonstrated the following: (1 the WF from the production of main crops was 41.8 km3 in 2012. Winter wheat, summer maize and vegetables were the top water-consuming crops in the HSP. The water footprint intensity (WFI of cotton was the largest, and for vegetables, it was the smallest; (2 the total WF, WFblue, WFgreen and WFgrey for 13 years (2000–2012 of crop production were 604.8, 288.5, 141.3 and 175.0 km3, respectively, with an annual downtrend from 2000 to 2012; (3 winter wheat, summer maize and vegetables consumed the most groundwater, and their blue water footprint (WFblue accounted for 74.2 % of the total WFblue in the HSP; (4 the crop structure scenarios analysis indicated that, with approximately 20 % of arable land cultivated with winter wheat–summer maize in rotation, 38.99 % spring maize, 10 % vegetables and 10 % fruiters, a sustainable utilization of groundwater resources can be promoted, and a sufficient supply of food, including vegetables and fruits, can be ensured in the HSP.
Value Added Elements According to Buyer Companies in a B2B Context
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Daniel Battaglia
Full Text Available This paper analyses how buyer companies perceive the value added to products and services offered by their suppliers and identifies the predominant elements that affect purchasing decisions and establishment of relationships between companies in a B2B context. A multiple case study was developed in 12 buyer companies from three industrial segments in southern Brazil: metal-mechanics, furniture and foods. The findings show that for supplier companies in the metal-mechanics industry to add value, they must identify buyers' needs, develop technology/innovation, be focused on competitive aspects, keep control of the supply chain, provide different purchasing channels, develop partnerships, and adapt to cultural aspects. Companies in the food industry consider the model for creating value to adapt to meet customer needs, the effective use of purchasing channels, functionality of products, and technical knowledge. The companies in the furniture industry value the methods that suppliers use to capture and implement required changes, effective control of the supply chain, and the representativeness of the suppliers' brand in the market. This study captures the perception of buyer companies in relation to predominant value-adding elements and could guide decisions for the adoption of managerial actions by supplier companies focused on adding value.
Ecosystem services of woody crop production systems
Ronald S. Zalesny Jr.; John A. Stanturf; Emile S. Gardiner; James H. Perdue; Timothy M. Young; David R. Coyle; William L. Headlee; Gary S. Ba??uelos; Amir Hass
Short-rotation woody crops are an integral component of regional and national energy portfolios, as well as providing essential ecosystem services such as biomass supplies, carbon sinks, clean water, and healthy soils. We review recent USDA Forest Service Research and Development efforts from the USDA Biomass Research Centers on the provisioning of these ecosystem...
Combined production of free-range pigs and energy crops – animal behaviour and crop damages
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Horsted, Klaus; Kongsted, Anne Grete; Jørgensen, Uffe
Intensive free-range pig production on open grasslands has disadvantages in that it creates nutrient hotspots and little opportunity for pigs to seek shelter from the sun. Combining a perennial energy crop and pig production might benefit the environment and animal welfare because perennial energy...
Biogas Production from Energy Crops and Agriculture Residues
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Wang, Guangtao
In this thesis, the feasibility of utilizing energy crops (willow and miscanthus) and agriculture residues (wheat straw and corn stalker) in an anaerobic digestion process for biogas production was evaluated. Potential energy crops and agriculture residues were screened according to their suitabi...... in term of ml CH4 produced per g of VS-added and (b) the amount of methane produced per m3 of reactor volume.......In this thesis, the feasibility of utilizing energy crops (willow and miscanthus) and agriculture residues (wheat straw and corn stalker) in an anaerobic digestion process for biogas production was evaluated. Potential energy crops and agriculture residues were screened according...... to their suitability for biogas production. Moreover, pretreatment of these biomasses by using wet explosion method was studied and the effect of the wet explosion process was evaluated based on the increase of (a) sugar release and (b) methane potential when comparing the pretreated biomass and raw biomass. Ensiling...
Value-added processing of crude glycerol into chemicals and polymers.
Luo, Xiaolan; Ge, Xumeng; Cui, Shaoqing; Li, Yebo
Crude glycerol is a low-value byproduct which is primarily obtained from the biodiesel production process. Its composition is significantly different from that of pure glycerol. Crude glycerol usually contains various impurities, such as water, methanol, soap, fatty acids, and fatty acid methyl esters. Considerable efforts have been devoted to finding applications for converting crude glycerol into high-value products, such as biofuels, chemicals, polymers, and animal feed, to improve the economic viability of the biodiesel industry and overcome environmental challenges associated with crude glycerol disposal. This article reviews recent advances of biological and chemical technologies for value-added processing of crude glycerol into chemicals and polymers, and provides strategies for addressing production challenges. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Climate Change Impacts on Crop Production in Nigeria
Mereu, V.; Gallo, A.; Carboni, G.; Spano, D.
The agricultural sector in Nigeria is particularly important for the country's food security, natural resources, and growth agenda. The cultivable areas comprise more than 70% of the total area; however, the cultivated area is about the 35% of the total area. The most important components in the food basket of the nation are cereals and tubers, which include rice, maize, corn, millet, sorghum, yam, and cassava. These crops represent about 80% of the total agricultural product in Nigeria (from NPAFS). The major crops grown in the country can be divided into food crops (produced for consumption) and export products. Despite the importance of the export crops, the primary policy of agriculture is to make Nigeria self-sufficient in its food and fiber requirements. The projected impacts of future climate change on agriculture and water resources are expected to be adverse and extensive in these area. This implies the need for actions and measures to adapt to climate change impacts, and especially as they affect agriculture, the primary sector for Nigerian economy. In the framework of the Project Climate Risk Analysis in Nigeria (founded by World Bank Contract n.7157826), a study was made to assess the potential impact of climate change on the main crops that characterize Nigerian agriculture. The DSSAT-CSM (Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer - Cropping System Model) software, version 4.5 was used for the analysis. Crop simulation models included in DSSAT are tools that simulate physiological processes of crop growth, development and production by combining genetic crop characteristics and environmental (soil and weather) conditions. For each selected crop, the models were calibrated to evaluate climate change impacts on crop production. The climate data used for the analysis are derived by the Regional Circulation Model COSMO-CLM, from 1971 to 2065, at 8 km of spatial resolution. The RCM model output was "perturbed" with 10 Global Climate Models to have
Crop Productivity as Influenced by Commercial Orientation of ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Smallholder farmers in Ethiopia are characterized by low crop production and productivity. As a result, production is primarily for self-consumption with a possibility of supplying only a small part of total output to the local markets. Despite their undisputed importance, most studies in Ethiopia focused on smallholder farmers' ...
Sustainable bioenergy and bioproducts value added engineering applications
Leeuwen, J; Brown, Robert
Sustainable Bioenergy and Bioproducts considers the recent technological innovations and emerging concepts in biobased energy production and coproducts utilization. Each chapter in this book has been carefully selected and contributed by experts in the field to provide a good understanding of the various challenges and opportunities associated with sustainable production of biofuel. Sustainable Bioenergy and Bioproducts covers a broad and detailed range of topics including: · production capacity of hydrocarbons in the plant kingdom, algae, and microbes; · biomass pretreatment for biofuel production; · microbial fuel cells; · sustainable use of biofuel co-products; · bioeconomy and transportation infrastructure impacts and · assessment of environmental risks and the life cycle of biofuels. Researchers, practitioners, undergraduate and graduate students engaged in the study of biorenewables, and members of th...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sabina Hodzic
Full Text Available This paper analyses value-added tax (VAT, with special emphasis on efficiency in the EU-28 Member States and Turkey, over the period from 2009 to 2013. From the results of the analysis, we concluded that, the highest efficiency ratio (50.8 was recorded in Croatia in 2013. This indicates that Croatia's value-added tax revenues as percentage of gross domestic product in the state budget were very high (12.7 in comparison to Turkey's (9.0 in 2013. As such, VAT is one of the most important taxes in the EU-28 Member States and many countries worldwide, like Turkey. The current VAT system in EU-28 Member States and Turkey is quite complex for the growing number of businesses operating cross-border. To increase investment, competitiveness and growth, an action plan on VAT is proposed for the creation of a single VAT area. The VAT system needs to be more efficient and simpler for businesses to use.
Impact of the Sugar Import Reduction on Iran Economic Value Added (Input- Output Approach
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Fateme Hayatgheibi
Full Text Available The present study aimed at understanding interactions and linkages between the sugar sector with other economic sectors, and the influence of sugar import reduction on the economic value added. To achieve the purpose, the Input-Output table of Iran for the year 2006, Leontief inverse matrix and hypothetical extraction method were used. Based on the results, sugar industry has the most forward linkages with "Manufacture of food products and beverages,…", "husbandry, aviculture,…", "cultivation, horticulture", "bakery products" and "restaurants". This sector has also strong backward linkages with "cultivation, horticulture", "chemicals and chemical products", "other services", "transport and telecommunication" and "financial services, insurance and bank". Furthermore, either one unit increase in the final demand of sugar or one unit decrease in the sugar import increases the output of whole economic, agricultural and fishing, industry and mining, and services sectors by 2.3060, 0.6019, 1.4331, and 0.2710 unit, respectively. The increasing coefficients of the value added for the above sectors are 0.4308, 0.3700, and 0.1992 unit, respectively.
Minimisasi Waktu Produksi Dengan Mengeliminasi Kegiatan Non-Value Added Menggunakan Metode Gert (Graphical Evaluation And Review Technique) Dan Vsm (Value Stream Mapping) Pada Pt Morawa Electric Transbuana
Izet Mustakim
Production process performance has a direct effect to the quality product. Time needed to complete the process is one of the indicator explain the performance measurement of the process. This research is done by the combination of GERT (Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique) method and VSM. In order to minimise and to identify non value added activities and to design the new production line pattern. Based of preliminary condition (current state map), the value added percentage of 21% (4,...
Value added effects of motivation in corporate administration of ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Motivation has always been touted as the tonic to engender increased productivity in order to achieve higher output towards the attainment of projected turnover. It is also seen as an inevitable aspect of corporate sacrifice directed at the human capital resources of any organization hence many organizational managements ...
Sustainable innovation : In Search for the Value Added Configuration
Weijs, R.; Faber, N.
The concept of sustainable innovation goes beyond realizing technical solutions. For innovation to be effective, knowledge that is developed during the innovating activity requires to be dispersed to assure benefit of the innovation in production, use, maintenance and disposal. Actually doing so
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Ifedotun Aina
Artemisia Annua Anamed (A-3) cultivar seeds were obtained from REAP in Kenya and propagated in Ilorin, Nigeria; ... afford costly pharmaceutical ACT in the growing and development of the dried A-3 leaves as herb tea for ..... of Moringa Products for Nutraceutical Benefits in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. Agrosearch 13.
Production of Pharmaceutical Proteins in Solanaceae Food Crops
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Giorgio De Guzman
Full Text Available The benefits of increased safety and cost-effectiveness make vegetable crops appropriate systems for the production and delivery of pharmaceutical proteins. In particular, Solanaceae edible crops could be inexpensive biofactories for oral vaccines and other pharmaceutical proteins that can be ingested as minimally processed extracts or as partially purified products. The field of crop plant biotechnology is advancing rapidly due to novel developments in genetic and genomic tools being made available today for the scientific community. In this review, we briefly summarize data now available regarding genomic resources for the Solanaceae family. In addition, we describe novel strategies developed for the expression of foreign proteins in vegetable crops and the utilization of these techniques to manufacture pharmaceutical proteins.
Biomass and multi-product crops for agricultural and energy production - an AGE analysis
Ignaciuk, A.; Dellink, R.B.
By-products from agriculture and forestry can contribute to production of clean and cheap (bio)electricity. To assess the role of such multi-product crops in the response to climate policies, we present an applied general equilibrium model with special attention to biomass and multi-product crops.
Productivity and nutrient cycling in bioenergy cropping systems
Heggenstaller, Andrew Howard
One of the greatest obstacles confronting large-scale biomass production for energy applications is the development of cropping systems that balance the need for increased productive capacity with the maintenance of other critical ecosystem functions including nutrient cycling and retention. To address questions of productivity and nutrient dynamics in bioenergy cropping systems, we conducted two sets of field experiments during 2005-2007, investigating annual and perennial cropping systems designed to generate biomass energy feedstocks. In the first experiment we evaluated productivity and crop and soil nutrient dynamics in three prototypical bioenergy double-crop systems, and in a conventionally managed sole-crop corn system. Double-cropping systems included fall-seeded forage triticale (x Triticosecale Wittmack), succeeded by one of three summer-adapted crops: corn (Zea mays L.), sorghum-sudangrass [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], or sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.). Total dry matter production was greater for triticale/corn and triticale/sorghum-sudangrass compared to sole-crop corn. Functional growth analysis revealed that photosynthetic duration was more important than photosynthetic efficiency in determining biomass productivity of sole-crop corn and double-crop triticale/corn, and that greater yield in the tiritcale/corn system was the outcome of photosynthesis occurring over an extended duration. Increased growth duration in double-crop systems was also associated with reductions in potentially leachable soil nitrogen relative to sole-crop corn. However, nutrient removal in harvested biomass was also greater in the double-crop systems, indicating that over the long-term, double-cropping would mandate increased fertilizer inputs. In a second experiment we assessed the effects of N fertilization on biomass and nutrient partitioning between aboveground and belowground crop components, and on carbon storage by four perennial, warm-season grasses: big bluestem
Travinfor Evaluation: Value Added Reseller (var) Study Phase 1 Results
Loukakos, D.; Hall, R.; Weissenberger, S.; Yim, Y. B.
TravInfo is a Field Operational Test (FOT) in advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) for the San Francisco Bay Area sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The project involves a public/private partnership which seeks to compile, integrate and broadly disseminate timely and accurate multi-modal traveler information through commercial products and services. This working paper is part of the Technology Element of the TravInfo evaluation. It presents the results of the "bef...
Geosensors to Support Crop Production: Current Applications and User Requirements
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lammert Kooistra
Full Text Available Sensor technology, which benefits from high temporal measuring resolution, real-time data transfer and high spatial resolution of sensor data that shows in-field variations, has the potential to provide added value for crop production. The present paper explores how sensors and sensor networks have been utilised in the crop production process and what their added-value and the main bottlenecks are from the perspective of users. The focus is on sensor based applications and on requirements that users pose for them. Literature and two use cases were reviewed and applications were classified according to the crop production process: sensing of growth conditions, fertilising, irrigation, plant protection, harvesting and fleet control. The potential of sensor technology was widely acknowledged along the crop production chain. Users of the sensors require easy-to-use and reliable applications that are actionable in crop production at reasonable costs. The challenges are to develop sensor technology, data interoperability and management tools as well as data and measurement services in a way that requirements can be met, and potential benefits and added value can be realized in the farms in terms of higher yields, improved quality of yields, decreased input costs and production risks, and less work time and load.
Geosensors to support crop production: current applications and user requirements.
Thessler, Sirpa; Kooistra, Lammert; Teye, Frederick; Huitu, Hanna; Bregt, Arnold K
Sensor technology, which benefits from high temporal measuring resolution, real-time data transfer and high spatial resolution of sensor data that shows in-field variations, has the potential to provide added value for crop production. The present paper explores how sensors and sensor networks have been utilised in the crop production process and what their added-value and the main bottlenecks are from the perspective of users. The focus is on sensor based applications and on requirements that users pose for them. Literature and two use cases were reviewed and applications were classified according to the crop production process: sensing of growth conditions, fertilising, irrigation, plant protection, harvesting and fleet control. The potential of sensor technology was widely acknowledged along the crop production chain. Users of the sensors require easy-to-use and reliable applications that are actionable in crop production at reasonable costs. The challenges are to develop sensor technology, data interoperability and management tools as well as data and measurement services in a way that requirements can be met, and potential benefits and added value can be realized in the farms in terms of higher yields, improved quality of yields, decreased input costs and production risks, and less work time and load.
Amazon basin soils: management for continuous crop production.
Sanchez, P A; Bandy, D E; Villachica, J H; Nicholaides, J J
Technology has been developed which permits continuous production of annual crops in some of the acid, infertile soils of the Amazon Basin. Studies in Yurimaguas, Peru, show that three grain crops can be produced annually with appropriate fertilizer inputs. Twenty-one crops have been harvested during the past 8(1/2) years in the same field, with an average annual production of 7.8 tons of grain per hectare. Soil properties are improving with continuous cultivation. The technology has been validated by local farmers, who normally practice shifting cultivation. Economic interpretations indicate large increases in annual family farm income and a high return on the investment of chemical inputs. Other promising land use alternatives include low-input crop production systems, paddy rice production in fertile alluvial soils, and pastures or agroforestry in rolling areas. Stable, continuous food crop production is an attractive alternative to shifting cultivation in humid tropical regions experiencing severe demographic pressures. For each hectare of land managed in a highly productive manner, there may be less need for clearing additional tropical forests to meet food demands.
From maturity to value-added innovation: lessons from the pharmaceutical and agro-biotechnology industries.
Mittra, James; Tait, Joyce; Wield, David
The pharmaceutical and agro-biotechnology industries have been confronted by dwindling product pipelines and rapid developments in life sciences, thus demanding a strategic rethink of conventional research and development. Despite offering both industries a solution to the pipeline problem, the life sciences have also brought complex regulatory challenges for firms. In this paper, we comment on the response of these industries to the life science trajectory, in the context of maturing conventional small-molecule product pipelines and routes to market. The challenges of managing transition from maturity to new high-value-added innovation models are addressed. Furthermore, we argue that regulation plays a crucial role in shaping the innovation systems of both industries, and as such, we suggest potentially useful changes to the current regulatory system. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Veggies in Space: Salad Crop Production on the ISS
Massa, Gioia
NASA is currently testing Veggie, a low mass, low energy, salad crop production system on the International Space Station (ISS). Veggie grows crops with LED lights using ISS cabin air and passive watering that has presented challenges in microgravity. Initial tests included red romaine lettuce and zinnia, with testing of Chinese cabbage, and tomatoes planned. A goal is to add supplemental salad foods to the astronaut diet as we prepare for a future journey to Mars.
Estimating Major Crop Water Productivity at Neyshabour Basin and Optimize Crop Area
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yavar Pourmohamad
Full Text Available Introductionin current situation when world is facing massive population, producing enough food and adequate income for people is a big challenge specifically for governors. This challenge gets even harder in recent decades, due to global population growth which was projected to increase to 7.8 billion in 2025. Agriculture as the only industry that has ability to produce food is consuming 90 percent of fresh water globally. Despite of increasing for food demand, appropriate agricultural land and fresh water resources are restricted. To solve this problem, one is to increase water productivity which can be obtain by irrigation. Iran is not only exempted from this situation but also has more critical situation due to its dry climate and inappropriate precipitation distribution spatially and temporally, also uneven distribution of population which is concentrate in small area. The only reasonable solution by considering water resources limitation and also restricted crop area is changing crop pattern to reach maximum or at least same amount of income by using same or less amount of water. The purpose of this study is to assess financial water productivity and optimize farmer's income by changing in each crop acreage at basin and sub-basin level with no extra groundwater withdrawals, also in order to repair the damages which has enforce to groundwater resources during last decades a scenario of using only 80percent of renewable water were applied and crop area were optimize to provide maximum or same income for farmers. Materials and methodsThe Neyshabour basin is located in northeast of Iran, the total geographical area of basin is 73,000 km2 consisting of 41,000 km2 plain and the rest of basin is mountains. This Basin is a part of Kalshoor catchment that is located in southern part of Binaloud heights and northeast of KavirMarkazi. In this study whole Neyshabour basin were divided into 199 sub-basins based on pervious study.Based on official
Two-way communication promote value-added services
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
This article reviews a number of developments in the efforts of electric utilities to establish two-way communications with their customers in order to develop products and services to fit each customer`s needs. In their efforts, utilities are facing an array of technology, including broadband, radio frequency, cellular, satellite, dial inbound, and power line carrier current. Individual efforts with each technology are noted. In many cases, the utilities are finding that existing cable and telephone companies are powerful allies in their efforts. Finding that their technology is marketable, the electric utilities are also diversifying horizontally and marketing their communications tools to other, both inside and outside of the utility industry.
Deriving vulnerability indicators for crop production regions in Indonesia
Perdinan; Atmaja, Tri; Sehabuddin, Ujang; Sugiarto, Yon; Febrianti, Lina; Farysca Adi, Ryco
Food supply is considered as one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Higher temperature and changes in rainfall patterns and intensity may adversely impact crop production, which will eventually affect the food supply. Consequently, adaptation strategies should be devised to minimize the potential adverse impacts and maximize its potential benefits. The adaptation strategies should be devised by considering factors contributed to causing vulnerability following the concept of food supply chain, starting from production to consumption. This study focuses on identifying the contributed factors to vulnerability of crop production regions in Indonesia. The contributed factors were identified by defining indicators for each component of the food supply chain using an example of crop production centers in Indonesia, the West Java Province. The identification considers existing issues of the food supply chain, covering aspects of production, post-harvest and storage, distribution, and consumption, based on the field surveys conducted in Indramayu district of the West Java, the main grower of paddy production, and Garut district of the West Java, the main grower of corn production. The selection of the vulnerability indicators was also considered the data availability for the study area. The analysis proposed a list of indicators classified into production, post-harvest and storage, distribution and consumption that are proposed to assess the regional vulnerability of crop production regions in Indonesia. This result is expected to contribute in understanding the process of devising climate change adaptation intended for enhancing food supply resilience to climate change.
Global crop production forecasting data system analysis
Castruccio, P. A. (Principal Investigator); Loats, H. L.; Lloyd, D. G.
The author has identified the following significant results. Findings led to the development of a theory of radiometric discrimination employing the mathematical framework of the theory of discrimination between scintillating radar targets. The theory indicated that the functions which drive accuracy of discrimination are the contrast ratio between targets, and the number of samples, or pixels, observed. Theoretical results led to three primary consequences, as regards the data system: (1) agricultural targets must be imaged at correctly chosen times, when the relative evolution of the crop's development is such as to maximize their contrast; (2) under these favorable conditions, the number of observed pixels can be significantly reduced with respect to wall-to-wall measurements; and (3) remotely sensed radiometric data must be suitably mixed with other auxiliary data, derived from external sources.
Crop residue management in arable cropping systems under a temperate climate. Part 2: Soil physical properties and crop production. A review
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hiel, MP.
Full Text Available Introduction. Residues of previous crops provide a valuable amount of organic matter that can be used either to restore soil fertility or for external use. A better understanding of the impact of crop residue management on the soil-water-plant system is needed in order to manage agricultural land sustainably. This review focuses on soil physical aspects related to crop residue management, and specifically on the link between soil structure and hydraulic properties and its impact on crop production. Literature. Conservation practices, including crop residue retention and non-conventional tillage, can enhance soil health by improving aggregate stability. In this case, water infiltration is facilitated, resulting in an increase in plant water availability. Conservation practices, however, do not systematically lead to higher water availability for the plant. The influence of crop residue management on crop production is still unclear; in some cases, crop production is enhanced by residue retention, but in others crop residues can reduce crop yield. Conclusions. In this review we discuss the diverse and contrasting effects of crop residue management on soil physical properties and crop production under a temperate climate. The review highlights the importance of environmental factors such as soil type and local climatic conditions, highlighting the need to perform field studies on crop residue management and relate them to specific pedo-climatic contexts.
Effects of crop commercial orientation on productivity of smallholder ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
This paper examines the tradeoff between commercial orientation and crop productivity among smallholder farm households living in drought risk-prone areas of the central rift valley of Ethiopia. The study was built on the hypothesis that there is a one-way causation between commercial orientation and productivity.
British colonial rule and food crops production in Esan, Benin ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
After the conquest and imposition of colonial rule, the British authorities imposed new demands on the people; the production of raw materials such as rubber, palm oil and kernels among others. The production of these raw materials impeded the cultivation of food crop in Esan. This paper therefore, examines the factors ...
Methods Used for Teaching Psychomotor Skills in Crop Production.
Osborne, Edward W.
The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of psychomotor skill instruction in crop production provided by agricultural production teachers in Illinois and the methods used for this teaching. Responses from 79 of 100 teachers indicated that most do not have students observe or practice a procedure for skill improvement. More experienced…
Increasing cropping system diversity balances productivity, profitability and environmental health
Balancing productivity, profitability, and environmental health is a key challenge for agricultural sustainability. Most crop production systems in the United States are characterized by low species and management diversity, high use of fossil energy and agrichemicals, and can have large negative im...
Farm size - productivity relationships among arable crops farmers ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The study was designed to analyze the relationship between farm size and resource productivity among arable crop farmers in Imo state, and isolate the major determinants of agricultural productivity. Data used for the study were collected from a sample of 120 farmers randomly selected from Okigwe and Orlu agricultural ...
Resources Use Efficiency In Food Crop Production In Ekiti State ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Result of regression analysis indicates that farm size, fertilizer and purchased inputs were significant inputs that accounted for variation in the output of food crops. The Marginal Value Product (MVP) of all the resources were positive but land was more productive than others inputs. The use of operating credit and fertilizer ...
Water footprint benchmarks for crop production: A first global assessment
Mekonnen, Mesfin; Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert
In the coming few decades, global freshwater demand will increase to meet the growing demand for food, fibre and biofuel crops. Raising water productivity in agriculture, that is reducing the water footprint (WF) per unit of production, will contribute to reducing the pressure on the limited global
Effects of Crop Commercial Orientation on Productivity of ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
This paper examines the tradeoff between commercial orientation and crop productivity among smallholder farm ... Agricultural productivity has the key role of assisting farmers to link themselves to the global trading system. ..... incentive generated from self-esteem to commercialize, working capital and natural endowment.
Maximizing Utilization of Energy from Crop By-products
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Budi Haryanto
Full Text Available The availability of crop by-products is huge during harvesting times as related to the vast agricultural land area; however, their utilization is still limited due to lack of knowledge and handling problem. Seasonal effect is obvious especially during wet season when high rainfall hinders proper management of crop by-products. Crop by-products are energy rich feedstuffs in the form of chemical substance such as cellulose and hemicellulose. The utilization of cellulose and hemicellulose as sources of energy can be maximized by the application of technologies to increase the digestibility. Cellulose is polymer of glucose while hemicellulose is polymer of xylose which both can be converted to volatile fatty acids by rumen microbial enzyme activities and subsequently used by the host animal as source of energy. In addition, cellulose and hemicellulose can also be used as substrates for bioethanol production leaving behind residual matter with higher concentration of protein which is also appropriate for ruminant feeds. The fat content of crop by-products such as those in rice bran and corn germ can be extracted for oil production that can be used for human consumption with concomitant production of high nutritive value of residues for ruminant feeds. The oil extraction technologies are available; however the high cost of ethanol and oil production should obtain high attention to make the technologies more applicable at farmers' level.
Modeling perceptions of climatic risk in crop production.
Reinmuth, Evelyn; Parker, Phillip; Aurbacher, Joachim; Högy, Petra; Dabbert, Stephan
In agricultural production, land-use decisions are components of economic planning that result in the strategic allocation of fields. Climate variability represents an uncertainty factor in crop production. Considering yield impact, climatic influence is perceived during and evaluated at the end of crop production cycles. In practice, this information is then incorporated into planning for the upcoming season. This process contributes to attitudes toward climate-induced risk in crop production. In the literature, however, the subjective valuation of risk is modeled as a risk attitude toward variations in (monetary) outcomes. Consequently, climatic influence may be obscured by political and market influences so that risk perceptions during the production process are neglected. We present a utility concept that allows the inclusion of annual risk scores based on mid-season risk perceptions that are incorporated into field-planning decisions. This approach is exemplified and implemented for winter wheat production in the Kraichgau, a region in Southwest Germany, using the integrated bio-economic simulation model FarmActor and empirical data from the region. Survey results indicate that a profitability threshold for this crop, the level of "still-good yield" (sgy), is 69 dt ha-1 (regional mean Kraichgau sample) for a given season. This threshold governs the monitoring process and risk estimators. We tested the modeled estimators against simulation results using ten projected future weather time series for winter wheat production. The mid-season estimators generally proved to be effective. This approach can be used to improve the modeling of planning decisions by providing a more comprehensive evaluation of field-crop response to climatic changes from an economic risk point of view. The methodology further provides economic insight in an agrometeorological context where prices for crops or inputs are lacking, but farmer attitudes toward risk should still be included in
Analysis of Production-Water-Salinity of Index Crops in
Sharifan, H.; Ghahreman, B.
One method to investigate the advantages of irrigation in cultivation is to evaluate the amount of increase in productions as a result of irrigation. Such relations which usually characterized by mathematics formulas or curves are called production to water function. In the agricultural analysis like pattern optimization and culture accumulation, we need some function like agricultural crops production, water and salinity. The amount of water used and salinity has influence on crops function, so that by increase in both components in various stages of plant growth, crop function decreases. Many researches have been performed on production-water and production-salinity function, therefore less researches on production-water-salinity components. The equation provided by Letey and Dinar (1986) is a sample of these researches. Their model is a quadratics equation from independent variables of water salinity in irrigation (ECi) and dimensionless proportion of the amount of water used to evaporation in class A (AW/EP) in plant growth stage. Therefore, by using this model and parameters like evaporation, rainfall and also quantity and quality water potential in Golestan farmlands, we obtained production-water-salinity components for each product in three different areas across Golestan province (moisture to dry areas). These products include sunflower, cotton, wheat, barely, potato, tomato, corn, sorgom, water melon, soybean and rice. Finally, these equations were compared by results of previous experiments, some results correspond and others were different. Key Word: production-water, production-salinity and production-water-salinity function, Letey and Dinar, Golestan.
Biogas production from energy crops and agriculture residues
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wang, G.
In this thesis, the feasibility of utilizing energy crops (willow and miscanthus) and agriculture residues (wheat straw and corn stalker) in an anaerobic digestion process for biogas production was evaluated. Potential energy crops and agriculture residues were screened according to their suitability for biogas production. Moreover, pretreatment of these biomasses by using wet explosion method was studied and the effect of the wet explosion process was evaluated based on the increase of (a) sugar release and (b) methane potential when comparing the pretreated biomass and raw biomass. Ensiling of perennial crops was tested as a storage method and pretreatment method for enhancement of the biodegradability of the crops. The efficiency of the silage process was evaluated based on (a) the amount of biomass loss during storage and (b) the effect of the silage on methane potential. Co-digestion of raw and wet explosion pretreated energy crops and agriculture residues with swine manure at various volatile solids (VS) ratio between crop and manure was carried out by batch tests and continuous experiments. The efficiency of the co-digestion experiment was evaluated based on (a) the methane potential in term of ml CH4 produced per g of VS-added and (b) the amount of methane produced per m3 of reactor volume. (Author)
Soil microbiology and sustainable crop production
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Dixon, Geoffrey R; Tilston, Emma L
... population and diminishing land supply. Increasing food production in parallel with conserving and protecting our environment while allowing producers adequate financial returns are the primary challenges facing agricultural science research in the twenty-first century. These factors of food production, environmental protection and producers' profit form a t...
Microbial chemical factories: recent advances in pathway engineering for synthesis of value added chemicals.
Dhamankar, Himanshu; Prather, Kristala L J
The dwindling nature of petroleum and other fossil reserves has provided impetus towards microbial synthesis of fuels and value added chemicals from biomass-derived sugars as a renewable resource. Microbes have naturally evolved enzymes and pathways that can convert biomass into hundreds of unique chemical structures, a property that can be effectively exploited for their engineering into Microbial Chemical Factories (MCFs). De novo pathway engineering facilitates expansion of the repertoire of microbially synthesized compounds beyond natural products. In this review, we visit some recent successes in such novel pathway engineering and optimization, with particular emphasis on the selection and engineering of pathway enzymes and balancing of their accessory cofactors. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Analysis of value added services on GDP Growth Rate using Data Mining Techniques
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Douglas KUNDA
Full Text Available The growth of Information Technology has spawned large amount of databases and huge data in numerous areas. The research in databases and information technology has given rise to an approach to store and manipulate this data for further decision making. In this paper certain data mining techniques were adopted to analyze the data that shows relevance with desired attributes. Regression technique was adopted to help us find out the influence of Agriculture, Service and Manufacturing on the performance of gross domestic product (GDP. Trend and time series technique was applied to the data to help us find out what trend of GDP with respect to service, agriculture and manufacturing sector for the past decade has been. Finally Correlation was also used to help us analyze the relationship among the variables (service, agriculture and manufacturing sector. From the three techniques analyzed, service value added variable was the most prominent variable which showed the strong influence on GDP growth rate.
Value-Added Business Based On Small Scale Of Fisheries A Case Study On Nortern And Shouthern Coasts Of Java Lamongan And Pelabuhanratu Regency Indonesia
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Budi Wardono
Full Text Available The development of fisheries sector is intended to improve the role of creating a strong linkage with other sectors by increasing the value added absorbing labor forces and increasing peoples income so that this can make the economy grow well. The value added is a value that increases due to a commodity that has been processed transported or stored in a production. Lamongan and Pelabuhanratu regencies are one of fisheries centers on the north and the south coast of Java Island. The aim of this research was to know the value added and the business margin of fisheries from the processing and marketing aspects. The research was carried out in two locations Northern coast Lamongan regencies and Shouther coasts Pelabuhanratu regencies Indoneisa. The data used were primary data the people involved in the business including fishing marketing and processing product. The results showed that the process of fisheries product yielded the value added and margin that were created from the incorporation of business benefit added input contribution other input and direct reward for the labor forces. The value added and the business margin of product processing can reach 2 to 3 fold from the main input value. The value added and the business margin of fisheries product processing were very big. This was the source of economy growth there. The effort to develop the business of fisheries product processing in the small scale need to be supported with various programs especially in the market access and funding.
The Value Added Tax Implications of Illegal Transactions
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
SP van Zyl
Full Text Available In the case of MP Finance Group CC (In Liquidation v CSARS the High Court of Appeal ruled that income "received by" a taxpayer from illegal gains will be taxable in the hands of the taxpayer. This article explores whether or not the decision in the MP Finance-case (and preceding cases on the taxation of illegal receipts can be applied to determine if illegal transactions are subject to VAT and moreover if a trader in illegal goods and services should register as a VAT vendor. Although strictly speaking no analogy can be drawn between the charging provisions for income tax and VAT, it is clear that in the determination of the taxability of illegal income, the courts applied the principle of tax neutrality. In terms of the principle of tax neutrality, taxes are not concerned with the legality or illegality of a transaction, but rather with whether the transaction complies with the requirements for it to be taxed or not. That said, the European Court of Justice has a different approach in applying this principle. According to the European Court of Justice where the intrinsic nature of the goods excludes it from the commercial arena (like narcotic drugs it should not be subject to VAT, but where the goods compete with a legal market it must be subject to VAT. Charging VAT on illegal transactions might give the impression that government benefits from criminal activities. However, if illegal transactions are not subject to VAT the trader in illegal goods will benefit as his products will be 14% cheaper than his rival's. Is this necessarily a moral dilemma? In conclusion three arguments can be deduced on the question if illegal transactions should be subject to VAT:1. Illegal transactions should not be taxed at all. Illegal goods or services fall outside the sphere of the application of the charging provision in section 7(1 of the VAT Act. Moreover, taxing illegal transactions lends a quasi-validity to the contract and gives the impression that
The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M. M. Mekonnen
Full Text Available This study quantifies the green, blue and grey water footprint of global crop production in a spatially-explicit way for the period 1996–2005. The assessment improves upon earlier research by taking a high-resolution approach, estimating the water footprint of 126 crops at a 5 by 5 arc minute grid. We have used a grid-based dynamic water balance model to calculate crop water use over time, with a time step of one day. The model takes into account the daily soil water balance and climatic conditions for each grid cell. In addition, the water pollution associated with the use of nitrogen fertilizer in crop production is estimated for each grid cell. The crop evapotranspiration of additional 20 minor crops is calculated with the CROPWAT model. In addition, we have calculated the water footprint of more than two hundred derived crop products, including various flours, beverages, fibres and biofuels. We have used the water footprint assessment framework as in the guideline of the Water Footprint Network.
Considering the water footprints of primary crops, we see that the global average water footprint per ton of crop increases from sugar crops (roughly 200 m3 ton−1, vegetables (300 m3 ton−1, roots and tubers (400 m3 ton−1, fruits (1000 m3 ton−1, cereals (1600 m3 ton−1, oil crops (2400 m3 ton−1 to pulses (4000 m3 ton−1. The water footprint varies, however, across different crops per crop category and per production region as well. Besides, if one considers the water footprint per kcal, the picture changes as well. When considered per ton of product, commodities with relatively large water footprints are: coffee, tea, cocoa, tobacco, spices, nuts, rubber and fibres. The analysis of water footprints of different biofuels shows that bio-ethanol has a lower water footprint (in m
Value-Added Models of Assessment: Implications for Motivation and Accountability
Anderman, Eric M.; Anderman, Lynley H.; Yough, Michael S.; Gimbert, Belinda G.
In this article, we examine the relations of value-added models of measuring academic achievement to student motivation. Using an achievement goal orientation theory perspective, we argue that value-added models, which focus on the progress of individual students over time, are more closely aligned with research on student motivation than are more…
The Reliability, Impact, and Cost-Effectiveness of Value-Added Teacher Assessment Methods
Yeh, Stuart S.
This article reviews evidence regarding the intertemporal reliability of teacher rankings based on value-added methods. Value-added methods exhibit low reliability, yet are broadly supported by prominent educational researchers and are increasingly being used to evaluate and fire teachers. The article then presents a cost-effectiveness analysis…
English Value-Added Measures: Examining the Limitations of School Performance Measurement
Perry, Thomas
Value-added "Progress" measures are to be introduced for all English schools in 2016 as "headline" measures of school performance. This move comes despite research highlighting high levels of instability in value-added measures and concerns about the omission of contextual variables in the planned measure. This article studies…
Tracking microbial impact on crop production
One of the benefits of no-till systems is that activity of the soil microbial community increases. Producers gain an array of improvements in their production systems due to enhanced microbial functioning. For example, corn yield can increase approximately 25% with the same inputs with more microb...
Value Added Service and Service Quality from the Customer's Perspective: An Empirical Investigation in Thai Telecommunication Industry
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Saowanee Srikanjanarak
Full Text Available Increasing global competition has led to an intensively competitive market among service providers. Several organizations have created and developed a variety of products or services; in particular the telecommunications industry has developed mobile phone services. Various value-added services linked to mobile phone services, such as communication, entertainment, information services and money transfer services have been intensively incorporated to sustain and serve the customer's need, which in turn demands performance maximization. In service marketing literature, SERVQUAL and SERVPERF have been reported as failing to measure service quality in new industries such as the retail industry's B2B service. Therefore, service quality models for the mobile phone service industry need to be further developed.Service quality models have placed little focus on value-added services and no research has yet operationalized the concept of value-added services in a service quality model from the customer's perspective of the service industry. Hence, this paper aims to conceptualize a service quality model based on Gronroos' Model, other exploratory research and the current market situation in the service context. A total of 998 structured questionnaires were distributed to pre-paid mobile phones users in nine provinces around Thailand. The results indicate four dimensions of service quality. The value-added services have shown a particularly high level of measurements of satisfaction. These findings reveal a meaningful insight into how customers perceive the value-added services offered by service providers. This will help managers to design an appropriate variety of service options that suit their customers and in turn may lead to the development of a long-term relationship with their organizations.
Value added statement (VAS of mining and metallurgical companies in Poland
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
A. Kijewska
Full Text Available The article presents the concept of value added and value added statement. That report may provide an additional source of information for the company's stakeholders such as employees, capital donors, State Budget and the company itself. According to the theory of stakeholders and corporate social responsibility the objective of the company is to deliver value to all stakeholders, not just shareholders. Hence the need for disclosure of information about the value added generated for all stakeholders. For internal analysis and for comparison purposes, several indicators based on value added should be elaborated. Calculations were carried out on the example of two Polish companies of the metallurgical and mining sectors for the years 2011-2013. This allowed for the evaluation of these two companies, to show the differences in the distribution of value added for stakeholders and evaluation of selected indicators.
7 CFR 457.128 - Guaranteed production plan of fresh market tomato crop insurance provisions.
... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Guaranteed production plan of fresh market tomato crop... § 457.128 Guaranteed production plan of fresh market tomato crop insurance provisions. The Guaranteed Production Plan of Fresh Market Tomato Crop Insurance FCIC Policies Department of Agriculture Federal Crop...
Increasing Cropping System Diversity Balances Productivity, Profitability and Environmental Health
Davis, Adam S.; Hill, Jason D.; Chase, Craig A.; Johanns, Ann M.; Liebman, Matt
Balancing productivity, profitability, and environmental health is a key challenge for agricultural sustainability. Most crop production systems in the United States are characterized by low species and management diversity, high use of fossil energy and agrichemicals, and large negative impacts on the environment. We hypothesized that cropping system diversification would promote ecosystem services that would supplement, and eventually displace, synthetic external inputs used to maintain crop productivity. To test this, we conducted a field study from 2003–2011 in Iowa that included three contrasting systems varying in length of crop sequence and inputs. We compared a conventionally managed 2-yr rotation (maize-soybean) that received fertilizers and herbicides at rates comparable to those used on nearby farms with two more diverse cropping systems: a 3-yr rotation (maize-soybean-small grain + red clover) and a 4-yr rotation (maize-soybean-small grain + alfalfa-alfalfa) managed with lower synthetic N fertilizer and herbicide inputs and periodic applications of cattle manure. Grain yields, mass of harvested products, and profit in the more diverse systems were similar to, or greater than, those in the conventional system, despite reductions of agrichemical inputs. Weeds were suppressed effectively in all systems, but freshwater toxicity of the more diverse systems was two orders of magnitude lower than in the conventional system. Results of our study indicate that more diverse cropping systems can use small amounts of synthetic agrichemical inputs as powerful tools with which to tune, rather than drive, agroecosystem performance, while meeting or exceeding the performance of less diverse systems. PMID:23071739
Environmental technologies of woody crop production systems
Ronald S. Zalesny Jr.; John A. Stanturf; Emile S. Gardiner; Gary S. Ba??uelos; Richard A. Hallett; Amir Hass; Craig M. Stange; James H. Perdue; Timothy M. Young; David R. Coyle; William L. Headlee
Soil erosion, loss of productivity potential, biodiversity loss, water shortage, and soil and water pollution are ongoing processes that decrease or degrade provisioning (e.g., biomass, freshwater) and regulating (e.g., carbon sequestration, soil quality) ecosystem services. Therefore, developing environmental technologies that maximize these services is essential for...
Increasing Food Production in Africa by Boosting the Productivity of Understudied Crops
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kebebew Assefa
Full Text Available The Green Revolution has enabled Asian countries to boost their crop production enormously. However, Africa has not benefitted from this agricultural revolution since it did not consider local, but important crops grown in the continent. In addition to their versatile adaptation to extreme environmental conditions, African indigenous crops provide income for subsistence farmers and serve as staple food for the vast majority of low-income consumers. These crops, which are composed of cereals, legumes, vegetables and root crops, are commonly known as underutilized or orphan crops. Recently, some of these under-researched crops have received the attention of the national and international research community, and modern improvement techniques including diverse genetic and genomic tools have been applied in order to boost their productivity. The major bottlenecks affecting the productivity of these crops are unimproved genetic traits such as low yield and poor nutritional status and environmental factors such as drought, weeds and pests. Hence, an agricultural revolution is needed to increase food production of these under-researched crops in order to feed the ever-increasing population in Africa. Here, we present both the benefits and drawbacks of major African crops, the efforts being made to improve them, and suggestions for some future directions.
A Method for Proposing Valued-Adding Attributes in Customized Housing
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cynthia S. Hentschke
Full Text Available In most emerging economies, there has been many incentives and high availability of funding for low-cost housing projects. This has encouraged product standardization and the application of mass production ideas, based on the assumption that this is the most effective strategy for reducing costs. However, the delivery of highly standardized housing units to customers with different needs, without considering their lifestyle and perception of value, often results in inadequate products. Mass customization has been pointed out as an effective strategy to improve value generation in low-cost housing projects, and to avoid waste caused by renovations done in dwellings soon after occupancy. However, one of the main challenges for the implementation of mass customization is the definition of a set of relevant options based on users' perceived value. The aim of this paper is to propose a method for defining value adding attributes in customized housing projects, which can support decision-making in product development. The means-end chain theory was used as theoretical framework to connect product attributes and costumers' values, through the application of the laddering technique. The method was tested in two house-building projects delivered by a company from Brazil. The main contribution of this method is to indicate the customization units that are most important for users along with the explanation of why those units are the most relevant ones.
Crop and non-crop productivity in a traditional maize agroecosystem of the highland of Mexico
Background In Mexico, the traditional maize cultivation system has resisted intensification attempts for many decades in some areas, even in some well-connected regions of the temperate highlands. We suggest that this is due to economics. Methods The total useful biomass of several fields in Nanacamilpa, Tlaxcala, are evaluated for productivity and costs. Results Maize grain production is low (1.5 t ha-1) and does not cover costs. However, maize stover demands a relatively high price. If it included, a profit is possible (about 110 US $ ha-1). We show that non-crop production (weeds for food and forage) potentially has a higher value than the crop. It is only partially used, as there are constraints on animal husbandry, but it diversifies production and plays a role as a back-up system in case of crop failure. Conclusion The diversified system described is economically rational under current conditions and labor costs. It is also stable, low-input and ecologically benign, and should be recognized as an important example of integrated agriculture, though some improvements could be investigated. PMID:19943939
Crop and non-crop productivity in a traditional maize agroecosystem of the highland of Mexico.
González-Amaro, Rosa M; Martínez-Bernal, Angélica; Basurto-Peña, Francisco; Vibrans, Heike
In Mexico, the traditional maize cultivation system has resisted intensification attempts for many decades in some areas, even in some well-connected regions of the temperate highlands. We suggest that this is due to economics. The total useful biomass of several fields in Nanacamilpa, Tlaxcala, are evaluated for productivity and costs. Maize grain production is low (1.5 t ha(-1)) and does not cover costs. However, maize stover demands a relatively high price. If it included, a profit is possible (about 110 US $ ha(-1)). We show that non-crop production (weeds for food and forage) potentially has a higher value than the crop. It is only partially used, as there are constraints on animal husbandry, but it diversifies production and plays a role as a back-up system in case of crop failure. The diversified system described is economically rational under current conditions and labor costs. It is also stable, low-input and ecologically benign, and should be recognized as an important example of integrated agriculture, though some improvements could be investigated.
Feasibility of winter cover crop production under rainfed conditions ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Low winter rainfall poses a challenge to production of high biomass from cover crops, which is necessary for the success of conservation agriculture systems in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the adaptability of white oats (Avena sativa), grazing vetch (Vicia dasycarpa), ...
Geosensors to support crop production: current applications and user requirements
Thessler, S.; Kooistra, L.; Teye, F.; Huitu, H.; Bregt, A.K.
Sensor technology, which benefits from high temporal measuring resolution, real-time data transfer and high spatial resolution of sensor data that shows in-field variations, has the potential to provide added value for crop production. The present paper explores how sensors and sensor networks have
Investigation of ethanol productivity of cassava crop as a sustainable ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The ethanol productivity of cassava crop was investigated in a laboratory experiment by correlating volumes and masses of ethanol produced to the masses of samples used. Cassava tubers (variety TMS 30555) were peeled, cut and washed. 5, 15, 25 and 35 kg samples of the tubers were weighed in three replicates, ...
Modelling climate change impacts on crop production for food security
Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database
Bindi, M.; Palosuo, T.; Trnka, Miroslav; Semenov, M. A.
Roč. 65, SEP (2015), s. 3-5 ISSN 0936-577X Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : Crop production Upscaling * Climate change impact and adaptation assessments * Upscaling * Model ensembles Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 1.690, year: 2015
Ethanol production from crop residues and soil organic carbon
Reijnders, L.
In decision making about the use of residues from annual crops for ethanol production, alternative applications of these residues should be considered. Especially important is the use of such residues for stabilizing and increasing levels of soil organic carbon. Such alternative use leads to a
Plastid biotechnology for crop production: present status and future perspectives.
Clarke, Jihong Liu; Daniell, Henry
The world population is expected to reach an estimated 9.2 billion by 2050. Therefore, food production globally has to increase by 70% in order to feed the world, while total arable land, which has reached its maximal utilization, may even decrease. Moreover, climate change adds yet another challenge to global food security. In order to feed the world in 2050, biotechnological advances in modern agriculture are essential. Plant genetic engineering, which has created a new wave of global crop production after the first green revolution, will continue to play an important role in modern agriculture to meet these challenges. Plastid genetic engineering, with several unique advantages including transgene containment, has made significant progress in the last two decades in various biotechnology applications including development of crops with high levels of resistance to insects, bacterial, fungal and viral diseases, different types of herbicides, drought, salt and cold tolerance, cytoplasmic male sterility, metabolic engineering, phytoremediation of toxic metals and production of many vaccine antigens, biopharmaceuticals and biofuels. However, useful traits should be engineered via chloroplast genomes of several major crops. This review provides insight into the current state of the art of plastid engineering in relation to agricultural production, especially for engineering agronomic traits. Understanding the bottleneck of this technology and challenges for improvement of major crops in a changing climate are discussed. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
Indigenous knowledge practices of organic crop production among ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
A participatory survey was conducted in Afaraukwu Community in Umuahia North Local Government Area (LGA), Abia State to assess indigenous knowledge practices of 100 women in organic crop production. Results showed that the women used assorted types of organic manure (farm yard, compost, poultry droppings ...
Micro-Credit Access and Profitability on Crop Production in ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
This study focused on the effect of micro-credit on the profitability of crop production in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. A sample size of 166 small-scale farmers was randomly selected from the farming communities in Orhionmwon Local Government Area. Ninety two (92) beneficiaries and 74 ...
Perception and Impact of Climatic Variations on Crop Production in ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The study examined the perception and impact of climatic variations and associated extreme events such as flood, storms and wind on crop production in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. One hundred and twenty farmers randomly selected from twelve villages in the Local Government Area were used ...
Utilization Of Improved Root And Tuber Crops Production ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The utilization of improved Root and Tuber Crops Production Technologies among Extension Agents in Kogi State was assessed in 2007. The data were collected sing structured questionnaire and analyzed using simple descriptive statistics (frequency and percentages) and linear regression analysis. Results showed that ...
Resource allocation in food crop production and farming household ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
This study was designed to identify the optimal combination of enterprises in food crop production in order to improve the food security status of farming household in Kwara State. Data was collected from 74 farming households by means of a three - stage random sampling technique. Analytical tools used include food ...
Rural Women\\'s Response To Selected Crop Production ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The study centered on rural women's response to selected crop production technologies in Imo State with a view to making policy recommendations. Structured questionnaire and interview schedule were administered through the assistance of extension agents to 258 randomly sampled rural women farmers from the three ...
Women participation in arable crop production in central ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
This study assessed the level of women participation in arable crop production in Okigwe Agricultural Zone of Imo State, Nigeria. Data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaires administered to 60 randomly selected respondents from the six Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the zone. Results showed that ...
Illinois Occupational Skill Standards: Row Crop Production Cluster.
Illinois Occupational Skill Standards and Credentialing Council, Carbondale.
This document, which is intended as a guide for work force preparation program providers, details the Illinois occupational skill standards for programs preparing students for employment in occupations in the row crop production cluster. The document begins with a brief overview of the Illinois perspective on occupational skill standards and…
Strategies and tools to improve crop productivity by targeting photosynthesis.
Nuccio, Michael L; Potter, Laura; Stiegelmeyer, Suzy M; Curley, Joseph; Cohn, Jonathan; Wittich, Peter E; Tan, Xiaoping; Davis, Jimena; Ni, Junjian; Trullinger, Jon; Hall, Rick; Bate, Nicholas J
Crop productivity needs to substantially increase to meet global food and feed demand for a rapidly growing world population. Agricultural technology developers are pursuing a variety of approaches based on both traditional technologies such as genetic improvement, pest control and mechanization as well as new technologies such as genomics, gene manipulation and environmental modelling to develop crops that are capable of meeting growing demand. Photosynthesis is a key biochemical process that, many suggest, is not yet optimized for industrial agriculture or the modern global environment. We are interested in identifying control points in maize photoassimilation that are amenable to gene manipulation to improve overall productivity. Our approach encompasses: developing and using novel gene discovery techniques, translating our discoveries into traits and evaluating each trait in a stepwise manner that reflects a modern production environment. Our aim is to provide step change advancement in overall crop productivity and deliver this new technology into the hands of growers.This article is part of the themed issue 'Enhancing photosynthesis in crop plants: targets for improvement'. © 2017 The Author(s).
Acceptability of improved crop production practices among rural ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Feb 4, 2009 ... The acceptance of improved crop production practices by rural women in Aguata Agricultural Zone of .... their multiple roles. Again, FAO (1985) observed that in. Nigeria, about 45 percent of rural population is made up of women farmers. In effect, women are the ..... role in the overall disaster management.
Contributions of leguminous cover crops in yam production systems ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
A study was conducted from 2003 to 2005 at Umudike, South-eastern Nigeria, to evaluate ten legume cover crops for biomass production and weed suppression. There were eleven treatments which consisted of ten legume species (Mucuna pruriens utilis, Mucuna pruriens IRZ, Mucuna georgia, Mucuna veracruz, ...
Contributions of leguminous cover crops in yam production systems ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Field experiments were conducted between 2003 and 2006 at Umudike, Southeastern Nigeria, to evaluate ten legume cover crops for soil fertility improvement and yam production. There were twelve treatments and consisted of ten legume species (Mucuna pruriens utilis, Mucuna pruriens IRZ, Mucuna georgia, Mucuna ...
Enhancing crop productivity through community-based seed ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Enhancing crop productivity through community-based seed multiplication system. ... to purchase household items, and part invested in transport businesses and rearing of small ruminants as well as in human capital such as paying children's school fees and family hospital bills and meeting other social responsibilities.
Global Rice Atlas: Disaggregated seasonal crop calendar and production
Balanza, Jane Girly; Gutierrez, Mary Anne; Villano, Lorena; Nelson, A.D.; Zwart, S.J.; Boschetti, Mirco; Koo, Jawoo; Reinke, Russell; Murty, M. V.R.; Laborte, Alice G.
Purpose: Rice is an important staple crop cultivated in more than 163 million ha globally. Although information on the distribution of global rice production is available by country and, at times, at subnational level, information on its distribution within a year is often lacking in different rice
Evaluation of selected legume cover crops for biomass production ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Evaluation of selected legume cover crops for biomass production, dry season survival and soil fertility improvement in a moist savanna location in Nigeria. ... The results show that field establishment was generally poor (<30%) for most of the legume species, particularly the small seeded species. This resulted in a ...
Reinventing new systems of crop production in time of agro ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology ... the maintenance or restoration of the soil fertility, rotational practice (combining or mixing food and cash crops in the same field), shifting cultivation as well as the fragmentation of households in order to optimize the productivity of manpower in nuclear families.
Effect of information sources on production of improved crop ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Effect of information sources on production of improved crop varieties among farmers in River State. DO Onu. Abstract. The importance of information to agricultural development cannot be overemphasized. Without the right information there cannot be meaningful agricultural development. This study investigated the effect of ...
Economic Analysis of Crop Production under Jibiya Irrigation Project ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The study examined costs and returns of crop production under Jibiya Irrigation Project as well as problems that were militating against the achievement of the Project objectives. 120 farmers were randomly sampled and interviewed. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and farm budgeting model.
Agricultural field reclamation utilizing native grass crop production
J. Cure
Developing a method of agricultural field reclamation to native grasses in the Lower San Pedro Watershed could prove to be a valuable tool for educational and practical purposes. Agricultural field reclamation utilizing native grass crop production will address water table depletion, soil degradation and the economic viability of the communities within the watershed....
Value Added Service and Service Quality from the Customer's Perspective: An Empirical Investigation in Thai Telecommunication Industry
Saowanee Srikanjanarak; Azizah Omar; T. Ramayah
Increasing global competition has led to an intensively competitive market among service providers. Several organizations have created and developed a variety of products or services; in particular the telecommunications industry has developed mobile phone services. Various value-added services linked to mobile phone services, such as communication, entertainment, information services and money transfer services have been intensively incorporated to sustain and serve the customer's need, whic...
How Stable Are Value-Added Estimates across Years, Subjects and Student Groups? What We Know Series: Value-Added Methods and Applications. Knowledge Brief 3
Loeb, Susanna; Candelaria, Christopher A.
Value-added models measure teacher performance by the test score gains of their students, adjusted for a variety of factors such as the performance of students when they enter the class. The measures are based on desired student outcomes such as math and reading scores, but they have a number of potential drawbacks. One of them is the…
Evaluating the uncertainty in optimal crop management placements for bioenergy crop production
Sudheer, K. P.; Krishnan, N.; Chaubey, I.; Raj, C.
Watershed scale simulation models are used to evaluate various `what if' questions and to make informed decisions. These mathematical models include many empirical and/or non-empirical parameters to represent various eco-hydrological processes. Parameter uncertainty is a major issue in mathematical model simulations, as often the actual parameter values are not available or are measurable. The model parameter uncertainty can affect simulation results and consequent decisions. The objective of the study was to evaluate parameter uncertainty of Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), and to evaluate potential impacts of uncertainty in model simulations on the decisions suggested for land use planning. An optimization based land use planning case study was developed to identify optimal cropping pattern including bioenergy crops in the St Joseph River watershed, IN, USA. The objective function for land use optimization included biomass production of 3,581 metric tons per day (under thermochemical conversion) minimum feasible production for a biomass processing plant, with minimum biomass production cost and maximum environmental benefits. Parameter uncertainty of the SWAT model is assessed using Shuffled Complex Evolutionary Metropolis Algorithm (SCEM). Five representative parameter sets were selected from the prediction uncertainty interval to represent the parameter uncertainty. The SWAT model was linked with AMALGAM optimizer to derive at an optimal cropping pattern for the watershed. Five sets of land use optimizations were conducted considering the five sets of parameter values, and the effects of parameter uncertainty on optimization results were quantified. The preliminary results showed that the simulation optimization results had some level of uncertainty that needed to be included in making land use decisions for bioenergy crop production.
Distributions of positive correlations in sectoral value added growth in the global economic network*
Maluck, Julian; Donner, Reik V.
International trade has grown considerably during the process of globalization. Complex supply chains for the production of goods have resulted in an increasingly connected International Trade Network (ITN). Traditionally, direct trade relations between industries have been regarded as mediators of supply and demand spillovers. With increasing network connectivity the question arises if higher-order relations become more important in explaining a national sector's susceptibility to supply and demand changes of its trading partner. In this study we address this question by investigating empirically to what extent the topological properties of the ITN provide information about positive correlations in the production of two industry sectors. We observe that although direct trade relations between industries serve as important indicators for correlations in the industries' value added growth, opportunities of substitution for required production inputs as well as second-order trade relations cannot be neglected. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the relation between trade and economic productivity and can serve as a basis for the improvement of crisis spreading models that evaluate contagion threats in the case of a node's failure in the ITN.
Criteria for evaluating experiments on crop production in space
Berry, W. L.; Koontz, H.; Wheeler, R.; Prince, R.
Consideration is given to the development of criteria for successful CELSS experiments on crop production in space. Also, the development of a standard procedure to produce a given expected yield is examined. Factors influencing the success of CELSS experiments are discussed, including environmental limits to growth, efficient use of resources, data collection sensitivity, stress, and the space in which the experiment is performed. The implications of the study for designing CELSS food production systems are noted.
Diverse effects of crop distribution and climate change on crop production in the agro-pastoral transitional zone of China
Qiao, Jianmin; Yu, Deyong; Wang, Qianfeng; Liu, Yupeng
Both crop distribution and climate change are important drivers for crop production and can affect food security, which is an important requirement for sustainable development. However, their effects on crop production are confounded and warrant detailed investigation. As a key area for food production that is sensitive to climate change, the agro-pastoral transitional zone (APTZ) plays a significant role in regional food security. To investigate the respective effects of crop distribution and climate change on crop production, the well-established GIS-based Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model was adopted with different scenario designs in this study. From 1980 to 2010, the crop distribution for wheat, maize, and rice witnessed a dramatic change due to agricultural policy adjustments and ecological engineering-related construction in the APTZ. At the same time, notable climate change was observed. The simulation results indicated that the climate change had a positive impact on the crop production of wheat, maize, and rice, while the crop distribution change led to an increase in the production of maize and rice, but a decrease in the wheat production. Comparatively, crop distribution change had a larger impact on wheat (-1.71 × 106 t) and maize (8.53 × 106 t) production, whereas climate change exerted a greater effect on rice production (0.58 × 106 t), during the period from 1980 to 2010 in the APTZ. This study is helpful to understand the mechanism of the effects of crop distribution and climate change on crop production, and aid policy makers in reducing the threat of future food insecurity.
Polymicrobial Multi-functional Approach for Enhancement of Crop Productivity.
Reddy, Chilekampalli A; Saravanan, Ramu S
There is an increasing global need for enhancing the food production to meet the needs of the fast-growing human population. Traditional approach to increasing agricultural productivity through high inputs of chemical nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers and pesticides is not sustainable because of high costs and concerns about global warming, environmental pollution, and safety concerns. Therefore, the use of naturally occurring soil microbes for increasing productivity of food crops is an attractive eco-friendly, cost-effective, and sustainable alternative to the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. There is a vast body of published literature on microbial symbiotic and nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixation, multiple beneficial mechanisms used by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), the nature and significance of mycorrhiza-plant symbiosis, and the growing technology on production of efficacious microbial inoculants. These areas are briefly reviewed here. The construction of an inoculant with a consortium of microbes with multiple beneficial functions such as N(2) fixation, biocontrol, phosphate solubilization, and other plant growth-promoting properties is a positive new development in this area in that a single inoculant can be used effectively for increasing the productivity of a broad spectrum of crops including legumes, cereals, vegetables, and grasses. Such a polymicrobial inoculant containing several microorganisms for each major function involved in promoting the plant growth and productivity gives it greater stability and wider applications for a range of major crops. Intensifying research in this area leading to further advances in our understanding of biochemical/molecular mechanisms involved in plant-microbe-soil interactions coupled with rapid advances in the genomics-proteomics of beneficial microbes should lead to the design and development of inoculants with greater efficacy for increasing the productivity of a wide range of crops. Copyright
Accounting for soil biotic effects on soil health and crop productivity in the design of crop rotations.
Dias, Teresa; Dukes, Angela; Antunes, Pedro M
There is an urgent need for novel agronomic improvements capable of boosting crop yields while alleviating environmental impacts. One such approach is the use of optimized crop rotations. However, a set of measurements that can serve as guiding principles for the design of crop rotations is lacking. Crop rotations take advantage of niche complementarity, enabling the optimization of nutrient use and the reduction of pests and specialist pathogen loads. However, despite the recognized importance of plant-soil microbial interactions and feedbacks for crop yield and soil health, this is ignored in the selection and management of crops for rotation systems. We review the literature and propose criteria for the design of crop rotations focusing on the roles of soil biota and feedback on crop productivity and soil health. We consider that identifying specific key organisms or consortia capable of influencing plant productivity is more important as a predictor of soil health and crop productivity than assessing the overall soil microbial diversity per se. As such, we propose that setting up soil feedback studies and applying genetic sequencing tools towards the development of soil biotic community databases has a strong potential to enable the establishment of improved soil health indicators for optimized crop rotations. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.
The Promise and Peril of Using Value-Added Modeling to Measure Teacher Effectiveness
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Value-added modeling (VAM), a collection of statistical techniques that uses multiple years of student test score data to estimate the effects of individual schools or teachers, has recently garnered a great deal of attention...
"Indirect Domestic Value Added in Mexico's Manufacturing Exports, by Origin and Destination Sector"
Fujii-Gambero, Gerardo; Cervantes-Martínez, Rosario
As domestic exports usually require imported inputs, the value of exports differs from the domestic value added contained in exports. The higher the domestic value added contained in exports, the higher the domestic national income created by exports will be. In this case, exports will expand the domestic market. Therefore, exports will push economic growth in two ways: through their direct effect on aggregate demand, and through their effect on the domestic market. For these reasons, the est...
Origin and Destination Sectors of Indirect Domestic Value Added Embodied in Mexico's Manufacturing Exports
Fujii-Gambero, Gerardo; Cervantes-Martínez, Rosario
As domestic exports usually require imported inputs, the value of exports differs from the domestic value added contained in exports. The higher the domestic value added contained in exports, the higher domestic national income created by exports will be. In this case, exports will expand the domestic market. Therefore, exports will stimulate economic growth in two ways: through their direct effect on aggregate demand and through their effect on the domestic market. For these reasons, the est...
Measuring the Impacts of Teachers I: Evaluating Bias in Teacher Value-Added Estimates
Chetty, Nadarajan; Friedman, John; Rockoff, Jonah E.
Are teachers' impacts on students' test scores ("value-added") a good measure of their quality? One reason this question has sparked debate is disagreement about whether value-added (VA) measures provide unbiased estimates of teachers' causal impacts on student achievement. We test for bias in VA using previously unobserved parent characteristics and a quasi-experimental design based on changes in teaching staff. Using school district and tax records for more than one million children, we fin...
The development trend of adjusted value added in selected transport companies in the Czech Republic
Šenec, Alexandr; Pazderková, Ivana
The article deals with the development of the value added per employee in a public transport. The value added is adjusted by the reimbursement for demonstrable loss from state, region or municipality that guarantee transport services on the particular areas. The economy of transport companies combines the basic business target - a profit - and the possibility of the financial support from state, region or municipality in a form of a reimbursement for demonstrable loss. The article analyzes th...
Changes of the value added tax in the tax-harmonization process with EC directives
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Andrea Votavová
Full Text Available The aim of this article is to bring near the topical process of the assimilation the Czech law of value added tax to the EC-directives. The attention will be paid to the development of the harmonization this law in 1993 – 2003 and I will describe and analyse the choice sections of the value added tax law (with the effective date from 1. 5. 2004. I will explain the changes by tax rates.
Modular Architecture of Value-Added Applications for German Healthcare Telematics
Dünnebeil, Sebastian; Sunyaev, Ali; Leimeister, Jan Marco; Krcmar, Helmut
Value-added applications of the German healthcare telematics aim at patient orientation as well as quality and efficiency improvements in the healthcare sector. Telematics services can be utilized in many ways, e.g., to guarantee security standards and interoperability. The electronic health card is merely one example. The design science oriented article presents the development and evaluation of a software architecture for value-added applications. In order to achieve better user acceptance,...
Conversion of lignin into value-added materials and chemicals via laccase-assisted copolymerization.
Cannatelli, Mark D; Ragauskas, Arthur J
With today's environmental concerns and the diminishing supply of the world's petroleum-based chemicals and materials, much focus has been directed toward alternative sources. Woody biomass presents a promising option due to its sheer abundance, renewability, and biodegradability. Lignin, a highly irregular polyphenolic compound, is one of the major chemical constituents of woody biomass and is the second most abundant biopolymer on Earth, surpassed only by cellulose. The pulp and paper and cellulosic ethanol industries produce lignin on the scale of millions of tons each year as a by-product. Traditionally, lignin has been viewed as a waste material and burned as an inefficient fuel. However, in recent decades, research has focused on more economical ways to convert lignin into value-added commodities, such as biofuels, biomaterials, and biochemicals, thus developing and strengthening the concept of fully integrated biorefineries. Owing to the phenolic structure of lignin, it is possible to enzymatically graft molecules onto its surface using laccases (benzenediol:oxygen oxidoreductases, EC 22.214.171.124) to create exciting novel biomaterials. These environmentally friendly enzymes use oxygen as their only co-substrate and produce water as their sole by-product, and have thus found great industrial application. This mini-review highlights recent advances in the field of laccase-facilitated functionalization of lignin as well as promising future directions for lignin-based polymers.
Value-added materials from the hydrometallurgical processing of jarosite waste
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Wilson Benjamin P.
Full Text Available Jarosite is a leach residue that can be produced by industrial bulk metal treatment processes and typically has the chemical formula MxFe3(SO42(OH6, where M normally represents a metal cation. The largest source of jarosite is electrolytic zinc processing [1], which worldwide has an annual production of 11-12 Mt and an associated jarosite waste of 5-6 Mt that can cause important challenges due to its classification as a problem waste. Moreover, as zinc ore typically contains many other commercial/critical metals, the content of valuable materials in this material is significant. An analysis of jarosite from Kokkola, Finland shows that it contained as much metal as many present day commercial ores: ~15% iron, 2% zinc, 3 % lead, 150 g/t silver, 0.5 g/t gold, 100 g/t indium and 40 g/t gallium. Until now, jarosite related research has concentrated on its use in landfill and construction purposes [2], though there is increasing interest in finding methods to efficiently reprocess/recycle jarosite into valuable products [3, 4]. The hydrometallurgical process currently under development by VTT and Aalto University exploits jarosite powdery nature to undertake wet chemical processing. This low cost and energy efficient operation is targeted at the recovery of concentrates which contain the major value-added metals.
7 CFR 205.602 - Nonsynthetic substances prohibited for use in organic crop production.
... crop production. 205.602 Section 205.602 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture... organic crop production. The following nonsynthetic substances may not be used in organic crop production... AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) ORGANIC FOODS PRODUCTION ACT PROVISIONS NATIONAL ORGANIC PROGRAM Administrative The...
Measuring Corporate Sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Value Added
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Alena Kocmanová
Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to propose a model for measuring sustainable value which would complexly assess environmental, social, and corporate governance contribution to value creation. In the paper the concept of the Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added is presented. The Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added is based on the Sustainable Value Added model and combines weighted environmental, social, and corporate governance indicators with their benchmarks determined by Data Envelopment Analysis. Benchmark values of indicators were set for each company separately and determine the optimal combination of environmental, social, and corporate governance inputs to economic outcomes. The Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added methodology is applied on real-life corporate data and presented through a case study. The value added of most of the selected companies was negative, even though economic indicators of all of them are positive. The Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added is intended to help owners, investors, and other stakeholders in their decision-making and sustainability assessment. The use of environmental, social, and corporate governance factors helps identify the company's strengths and weaknesses, and provides a more sophisticated insight into it than the one-dimensional methods based on economic performance alone.
The risk of drought in crop production insurance
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Žarković Nebojša
Full Text Available The goal of this paper was to study the risk of drought as one of perils which can extremely harm the crop production, and also its coverage by insurance on the insurance market. In that purpose, first the forms of drought in agriculture and its effect on crops and yields were analysed. After that, this weather disaster was put in the spotlight from the insurance risk point of view. Special emphasis was placed on insurance against drought in our country. In implementing the process of risk management from drought, a common approach of insurance companies is that they simply do not offer this type of protection due to often huge potential damage. Such approach is common in insurance companies in high-developed west countries. It is obvious that there should involve government in the resolution of this issue, in order to protect food production as one of the basic preconditions for human survival.
Biomass production on marginal lands - catalogue of bioenergy crops
Baumgarten, Wibke; Ivanina, Vadym; Hanzhenko, Oleksandr
Marginal lands are the poorest type of land, with various limitations for traditional agriculture. However, they can be used for biomass production for bioenergy based on perennial plants or trees. The main advantage of biomass as an energy source compared to fossil fuels is the positive influence on the global carbon dioxide balance in the atmosphere. During combustion of biofuels, less carbon dioxide is emitted than is absorbed by plants during photosynthesis. Besides, 20 to 30 times less sulphur oxide and 3 to 4 times less ash is formed as compared with coal. Growing bioenergy crops creates additional workplaces in rural areas. Soil and climatic conditions of most European regions are suitable for growing perennial energy crops that are capable of rapid transforming solar energy into energy-intensive biomass. Selcted plants are not demanding for soil fertility, do not require a significant amount of fertilizers and pesticides and can be cultivated, therefore, also on unproductive lands of Europe. They prevent soil erosion, contribute to the preservation and improvement of agroecosystems and provide low-cost biomass. A catalogue of potential bioenergy plants was developed within the EU H2020 project SEEMLA including woody and perennial crops that are allowed to be grown in the territory of the EU and Ukraine. The catalogue lists high-productive woody and perennial crops that are not demanding to the conditions of growing and can guarantee stable high yields of high-energy-capacity biomass on marginal lands of various categories of marginality. Biomass of perennials plants and trees is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, which are directly used to produce solid biofuels. Thanks to the well-developed root system of trees and perennial plants, they are better adapted to poor soils and do not require careful maintenance. Therefore, they can be grown on marginal lands. Particular C4 bioenergy crops are well adapted to a lack of moisture and high
Effect of pre-treatments on methane production potential of energy crops and crop residues
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Lehtomaki, A.; Ronkainen; Rintala, J.A. [Jyvaskla Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Biological and Environmental Sciences; Viinikainen, T.A. [Jyvaskla Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Chemistry
Energy crops, that is, crops grown specifically for energy purposes are an alternative to food production in areas with sufficient agricultural land. Crop residues are also a potential source of energy. The anaerobic digestion of solid materials is limited by hydrolysis of complex polymeric substances such as lignocellulose. The methane producing potential of ligno cellulosic material is to pretreat the substrate in order to break up the polymer chains to more easily accessible soluble compounds. In this study, three different substrates were used: sugar beet tops, grass hay, and straw of oats. Biological pretreatments were the following: enzyme treatment, composting, white-rot fungi treatment. Also, pretreatment in water was tried. Chemical pretreatments included peracetic acid treatment, and treatment with two different alkalis. Alkaline pretreatments of hay and sugar beet tops have the potential to improve the methane yield. For instance, the yield of grass hay was increased 15 per cent by one particular alkaline treatment. Straw did not respond to any of the treatments tried. 18 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs.
Coastal eutrophication in Europe caused by production of energy crops.
van Wijnen, Jikke; Ivens, Wilfried P M F; Kroeze, Carolien; Löhr, Ansje J
In Europe, the use of biodiesel may increase rapidly in the coming decades as a result of policies aiming to increase the use of renewable fuels. Therefore, the production of biofuels from energy crops is expected to increase as well as the use of fertilisers to grow these crops. Since fertilisers are an important cause of eutrophication, the use of biodiesel may have an effect on the water quality in rivers and coastal seas. In this study we explored the possible effects of increased biodiesel use on coastal eutrophication in European seas in the year 2050. To this end, we defined a number of illustrative scenarios in which the biodiesel production increases to about 10-30% of the current diesel use. The scenarios differ with respect to the assumptions on where the energy crops are cultivated: either on land that is currently used for agriculture, or on land used for other purposes. We analysed these scenarios with the Global NEWS (Nutrient Export from WaterSheds) model. We used an existing Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Scenario for 2050, Global Orchestration (GO2050), as a baseline. In this baseline scenario the amount of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) exported by European rivers to coastal seas decreases between 2000 and 2050 as a result of environmental and agricultural policies. In our scenarios with increased biodiesel production the river export of N and P increases between 2000 and 2050, indicating that energy crop production may more than counterbalance this decrease. Largest increases in nutrient export were calculated for the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. Differences in nutrient export among river basins are large. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Using membrane transporters to improve crops for sustainable food production.
Schroeder, Julian I; Delhaize, Emmanuel; Frommer, Wolf B; Guerinot, Mary Lou; Harrison, Maria J; Herrera-Estrella, Luis; Horie, Tomoaki; Kochian, Leon V; Munns, Rana; Nishizawa, Naoko K; Tsay, Yi-Fang; Sanders, Dale
With the global population predicted to grow by at least 25 per cent by 2050, the need for sustainable production of nutritious foods is critical for human and environmental health. Recent advances show that specialized plant membrane transporters can be used to enhance yields of staple crops, increase nutrient content and increase resistance to key stresses, including salinity, pathogens and aluminium toxicity, which in turn could expand available arable land.
Effect of climate change on crop production patterns with implications to transport flows and inland waterways.
This project analyzed the demand for transportation capacity and changes in transportation flows on : inland waterways due to shifts in crop production patterns induced by climate change. Shifts in the crop : production mix have been observed in rece...
Influence of extreme weather disasters on global crop production
Lesk, Corey; Rowhani, Pedram; Ramankutty, Navin
In recent years, several extreme weather disasters have partially or completely damaged regional crop production. While detailed regional accounts of the effects of extreme weather disasters exist, the global scale effects of droughts, floods and extreme temperature on crop production are yet to be quantified. Here we estimate for the first time, to our knowledge, national cereal production losses across the globe resulting from reported extreme weather disasters during 1964-2007. We show that droughts and extreme heat significantly reduced national cereal production by 9-10%, whereas our analysis could not identify an effect from floods and extreme cold in the national data. Analysing the underlying processes, we find that production losses due to droughts were associated with a reduction in both harvested area and yields, whereas extreme heat mainly decreased cereal yields. Furthermore, the results highlight ~7% greater production damage from more recent droughts and 8-11% more damage in developed countries than in developing ones. Our findings may help to guide agricultural priorities in international disaster risk reduction and adaptation efforts.
Influence of extreme weather disasters on global crop production.
Lesk, Corey; Rowhani, Pedram; Ramankutty, Navin
In recent years, several extreme weather disasters have partially or completely damaged regional crop production. While detailed regional accounts of the effects of extreme weather disasters exist, the global scale effects of droughts, floods and extreme temperature on crop production are yet to be quantified. Here we estimate for the first time, to our knowledge, national cereal production losses across the globe resulting from reported extreme weather disasters during 1964-2007. We show that droughts and extreme heat significantly reduced national cereal production by 9-10%, whereas our analysis could not identify an effect from floods and extreme cold in the national data. Analysing the underlying processes, we find that production losses due to droughts were associated with a reduction in both harvested area and yields, whereas extreme heat mainly decreased cereal yields. Furthermore, the results highlight ~7% greater production damage from more recent droughts and 8-11% more damage in developed countries than in developing ones. Our findings may help to guide agricultural priorities in international disaster risk reduction and adaptation efforts.
Agricultural sectoral demand and crop productivity response across the world
Johnston, M.; Ray, D. K.; Cassidy, E. S.; Foley, J. A.
With an increasing and increasingly affluent population, humans will need to roughly double agricultural production by 2050. Continued yield growth forms the foundation of all future strategies aiming to increase agricultural production while slowing or eliminating cropland expansion. However, a recent analysis by one of our co-authors has shown that yield trends in many important maize, wheat and rice growing regions have begun stagnating or declining from the highs seen during the green revolution (Ray et al. 2013). Additional research by our group has shown that nearly 50% of new agricultural production since the 1960s has gone not to direct human consumption, but instead to animal feed and other industrial uses. Our analysis for GLP looks at the convergence of these two trends by examining time series utilization data for 16 of the biggest crops to determine how demand from different sectors has shaped our land-use and intensification strategies around the world. Before rushing headlong into the next agricultural doubling, it would be prudent to first consult our recent agricultural history to better understand what was driving past changes in production. Using newly developed time series dataset - a fusion of cropland maps with historic agricultural census data gathered from around the world - we can examine yield and harvested area trends over the last half century for 16 top crops. We combine this data with utilization rates from the FAO Food Balance Sheet to see how demand from different sectors - food, feed, and other - has influenced long-term growth trends from the green revolution forward. We will show how intensification trends over time and across regions have grown or contracted depending on what is driving the change in production capacity. Ray DK, Mueller ND, West PC, Foley JA (2013) Yield Trends Are Insufficient to Double Global Crop Production by 2050. PLoS ONE 8(6): e66428. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0066428
De Deyn, G B
Sustainable production of food, feed and fiberwarrants sustainable soil management and crop protection. The tools available to achieve this are both in the realm of the plants and of the soil, with a key role for plant-soil interactions. At the plant level we have vast knowledge of variation within plant species with respect to pests and diseases, based on which we can breed for resistance. However, given that systems evolve this resistance is bound to be temporarily, hence also other strategies are needed. Here I plea for an integrative approach for sustainable production using ecological principles. Ecology, the study of how organisms interact with their environment, teaches us that diversity promotes productivity and yield stability. These effects are thought to be governed through resource use complementarity and reduced build-up of pests and diseases both above- and belowground. In recent years especially the role of soil biotic interactions has revealed new insights in how plant diversity and productivity are related to soil biodiversity and the functions soil biota govern. In our grassland biodiversity studies we found that root feeders can promote plant diversity and succession without reducing plant community productivity, this illustrates the role of diversity to maintain productivity. Also diversity within species offers scope for sustainable production, for example through awareness of differences between plant genotypes in chemical defense compounds that can attract natural enemies of pests aboveground- and belowground thereby providing plant protection. Plant breeding can also benefit from using complementarity between plant species in the selection for new varieties, as our work demonstrated that when growing in species mixtures plant species adapt to each other over time such that their resource acquisition traits become more complementing. Finally, in a recent meta-analysis we show that earthworms can stimulate crop yield with on average 25%, but
Sustainable crop models for fruit, vegetable and flower quality productions.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Inglese Paolo
Full Text Available Sustainable development is a paradigm that has evolved over the time, since the ideas of socially acceptable and compatible development, on which it was originally based, are now supported by the more recent notions of ecological equilibria and production process economy, both of which need to be also preserved. Environmental and health safety, rational use of the natural resources and technological tools, upkeep of high social growth rates and respect of a social equity are the basis of the sustainability for any production process, including the agriculture. The new globalization framework has penalized small farms and, at the same time, has put serious constraints to the development of stronger economic systems (medium/large farms, as well. As consequence, the EU has outlined several strategic programs to support small agricultural systems in marginal areas by: 1 strengthening all the quality- related aspects of agricultural production, including nutritional and cultural traits associated to local, typical and in some cases to neglected crops; 2 improving traditional cultural practices by adapting the cropping cycles and fomenting new partnerships between the different parts of the production chain, as for example; promotion of small horticultural chains. Specific political actions for the horticultural production sector have also been developed. Some of these policies are specifically addressed to preserve the biodiversity and to create quality labels certifying typical and/or organic products. All of these are possible strategies that may counteract and cope with the globalization process and increase the competitiveness of many production systems especially those performed by local and small entrepreneurs. New sustainable development models are required by both the market and the implicit requirements of the production system, inside a context on which Europe must face with new emerging economies with lower production costs, by increasing
Exploring the potential uses of value-added metrics in the context of postgraduate medical education.
Gregory, Simon; Patterson, Fiona; Baron, Helen; Knight, Alec; Walsh, Kieran; Irish, Bill; Thomas, Sally
Increasing pressure is being placed on external accountability and cost efficiency in medical education and training internationally. We present an illustrative data analysis of the value-added of postgraduate medical education. We analysed historical selection (entry) and licensure (exit) examination results for trainees sitting the UK Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP) licensing examination (N = 2291). Selection data comprised: a clinical problem solving test (CPST); a situational judgement test (SJT); and a selection centre (SC). Exit data was an applied knowledge test (AKT) from MRCGP. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses were used to model differences in attainment in the AKT based on performance at selection (the value-added score). Results were aggregated to the regional level for comparisons. We discovered significant differences in the value-added score between regional training providers. Whilst three training providers confer significant value-added, one training provider was significantly lower than would be predicted based on the attainment of trainees at selection. Value-added analysis in postgraduate medical education potentially offers useful information, although the methodology is complex, controversial, and has significant limitations. Developing models further could offer important insights to support continuous improvement in medical education in future.
Intellectual Capital Approach to Modern Management through the Perspective of a Company's Value Added
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Simona Survilaitė
Full Text Available The importance of value creation in small and medium-sized business companies has always been in focus. The changing environment makes a strong impact on all companies all over the world. Nowadays, the value added, which is created by the company, not only depends on tangible but also on intangible assets. It is not enough just to manage internal resources to be efficient or generate high value added. Knowledge and information as an important tool for the management of the external environment have become a new factor of a company. Since elements of the intellectual capital system are intangible and hardly measurable in company's value added, this paper aims to create a model for the analysis of the creation of a company's value added through intellectual capital. Subsequent to the review of literature on value creation and management, the authors proposed a model for value creation through intermediate, which presented three main elements of value added creation.
Crop Sequence Influences on Sustainable Spring Wheat Production in the Northern Great Plains
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Joseph M. Krupinsky
Full Text Available Cropping systems in American agriculture are highly successful since World War II, but have become highly specialized, standardized, and simplified to meet the demands of an industrialized food system. Minimal attention has been given to the efficient exploitation of crop diversity and the synergistic and/or antagonistic relationships of crops in crop sequences. Objectives of our research were to determine if previous crop sequences have long-term benefits and/or drawbacks on spring wheat seed yield, seed N concentration, and seed precipitation-use efficiency in the semiarid northern Great Plains, USA. Research was conducted 6 km southwest of Mandan, ND using a 10 × 10 crop matrix technique as a research tool to evaluate multiple crop sequence effects on spring wheat (triticum aestivum L. production in 2004 and 2005. Spring wheat production risks can be mitigated when second year crop residue was dry pea (Pisium sativum L. averaged over all first year crop residues. When compared to spring wheat as second year crop residue in the dry year of 2004, dry pea as the second year residue crop resulted in a 30% spring wheat seed yield increase. Sustainable cropping systems need to use precipitation efficiently for crop production, especially during below average precipitation years like 2004. Precipitation use efficiency average over all treatments, during the below average precipitation year was 23% greater than the above average precipitation year of 2005. Diversifying crops in cropping systems improves production efficiencies and resilience of agricultural systems.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
rosalia budi ratnasari
Full Text Available Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menguji pengaruh Value Added Intellectual Capital Good Corporate Governance, dan Struktur Kepemilikan terhadap kinerja keuangan. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah perusahaan manufaktur yang listing di BEI tahun 2012-2014. Pengambilan sampel menggunakan metode purposive sampling sebanyak 21 perusahaan manufaktur sektor industri dasar dan kimia tahun 2012-2014. Variabel yang digunakan adalah value added intellectual capital, dewan direksi, dewan komisaris, kepemilikan manajerial, dan kepemilikan institusional sebagai variabel independen, sedangkan kinerja keuangan perusahaan sebagai variabel dependen. Alat analisis yang digunakan adalah analisis regresi berganda untuk menguji pengaruh variabel independen terhadap variabel dependen. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa dewan direksi, kepemlikan manajerial berpengaruh terhadap kinerja perusahaan, dan value added intellectual capital, dewan komisaris, kepemilikan institusional, tidak berpengaruh terhadap kinerja perusahaan.
Practical aspects of value added tax in the agricultural enterprises in the EU
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Danuše Nerudová
Full Text Available Tax policy represents one of the EU integration policies. The aim of the tax policy is to remove the national differences in taxation systems by withdrawing the obstacles to the competition and free movement of goods, services, people and capital on the internal market. Tax harmonization has the greatest development in the area of value added taxation, but differences still can be found. Those differences influence not only the farming business. The paper is aimed on five EU member states – Czech Republic, Poland, Rumania, Slovak Republic and Hungary. Based on the EU regulations in the area of value added tax and the practical experience during its application, it is possible to identify the critical areas and to contribute to its correction and to provide the value added tax neutrality and efficiency on the EU territory.
Crop and varietal diversification of rainfed rice based cropping systems for higher productivity and profitability in Eastern India.
Lal, B; Gautam, Priyanka; Panda, B B; Raja, R; Singh, Teekam; Tripathi, R; Shahid, M; Nayak, A K
Rice-rice system and rice fallows are no longer productive in Southeast Asia. Crop and varietal diversification of the rice based cropping systems may improve the productivity and profitability of the systems. Diversification is also a viable option to mitigate the risk of climate change. In Eastern India, farmers cultivate rice during rainy season (June-September) and land leftovers fallow after rice harvest in the post-rainy season (November-May) due to lack of sufficient rainfall or irrigation amenities. However, in lowland areas, sufficient residual soil moistures are available in rice fallow in the post-rainy season (November-March), which can be utilized for raising second crops in the region. Implementation of suitable crop/varietal diversification is thus very much vital to achieve this objective. To assess the yield performance of rice varieties under timely and late sown conditions and to evaluate the performance of dry season crops following them, three different duration rice cultivars were transplanted in July and August. In dry season several non-rice crops were sown in rice fallow to constitute a cropping system. The results revealed that tiller occurrence, biomass accumulation, dry matter remobilization, crop growth rate, and ultimately yield were significantly decreased under late transplanting. On an average, around 30% yield reduction obtained under late sowing may be due to low temperature stress and high rainfall at reproductive stages of the crop. Dry season crops following short duration rice cultivars performed better in terms of grain yield. In the dry season, toria was profitable when sown earlier and if sowing was delayed greengram was suitable. Highest system productivity and profitability under timely sown rice may be due to higher dry matter remobilization from source to sink. A significant correlation was observed between biomass production and grain yield. We infer that late transplanting decrease the tiller occurrence and assimilate
Soil and water quality implications of production of herbaceous and woody energy crops
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Tolbert, V.R. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Lindberg, J.E. [Oak Ridge Inst. of Science and Education, TN (United States); Green, T.H. [Alabama A and M Univ., Normal, AL (United States). Dept. of Plant and Soil Science] [and others
Field-scale studies in three physiographic regions of the Tennessee Valley in the Southeastern US are being used to address the environmental effects of producing biomass energy crops on former agricultural lands. Comparison of erosion, surface water quality and quantity, and subsurface movement of water and nutrients from woody crops, switchgrass and agricultural crops began with crop establishment in 1994. Nutrient cycling, soil physical changes, and productivity of the different crops are also being monitored at the three sites.
Titanium as a Beneficial Element for Crop Production.
Lyu, Shiheng; Wei, Xiangying; Chen, Jianjun; Wang, Cun; Wang, Xiaoming; Pan, Dongming
Titanium (Ti) is considered a beneficial element for plant growth. Ti applied via roots or leaves at low concentrations has been documented to improve crop performance through stimulating the activity of certain enzymes, enhancing chlorophyll content and photosynthesis, promoting nutrient uptake, strengthening stress tolerance, and improving crop yield and quality. Commercial fertilizers containing Ti, such as Tytanit and Mg-Titanit, have been used as biostimulants for improving crop production; however, mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects still remain unclear. In this article, we propose that the beneficial roles Ti plays in plants lie in its interaction with other nutrient elements primarily iron (Fe). Fe and Ti have synergistic and antagonistic relationships. When plants experience Fe deficiency, Ti helps induce the expression of genes related to Fe acquisition, thereby enhancing Fe uptake and utilization and subsequently improving plant growth. Plants may have proteins that either specifically or nonspecifically bind with Ti. When Ti concentration is high in plants, Ti competes with Fe for ligands or proteins. The competition could be severe, resulting in Ti phytotoxicity. As a result, the beneficial effects of Ti become more pronounced during the time when plants experience low or deficient Fe supply.
Cost Effectiveness of Paying Value Added Tax from the Viewpoint of Businesses
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sopková, Eva
Full Text Available Value added tax has been part of the economic reality in the business environment of theSlovak Republic for more than 16 years. It is a tool of general indirect taxation of thefinal consumption. The aim of this paper is to present partial results of the value addedtax complex analysis in terms of cost ratio. The object of this research involves the shareof incurred cost of businesses and the amount of tax liability in case of value added tax.The classification of questionnaire research respondents is done according to thedivision of businesses into small, medium-sized and large businesses in Slovakia.
Klasinc, Anton-Jan
The aim of this paper is to assess the possibilities of increasing domestic value added created by exports by investments in green economy. It can be argued that a large portion of "green economy" is knowledge intensive with respect to regular sectors of economy, and if knowledge based economy (KBC) plays a significant role in determining the domestic value added created by exports, economies with a larger stock of KBC should have a larger difference in VAX between knowledge-intensive industr...
The Long-Term Impacts of Teachers: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood
Raj Chetty; John N. Friedman; Jonah E. Rockoff
Are teachers' impacts on students' test scores ("value-added") a good measure of their quality? This question has sparked debate largely because of disagreement about (1) whether value-added (VA) provides unbiased estimates of teachers' impacts on student achievement and (2) whether high-VA teachers improve students' long-term outcomes. We address these two issues by analyzing school district data from grades 3-8 for 2.5 million children linked to tax records on parent characteristics and adu...
Value-added Applications of Libraries' E-resources: A Case Study of Citation Analysis System
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
黃明居、吳東陽 Ming-Jiu Hwang,Tung-Yang Wu
Full Text Available The libraries now still play as the role of information provider without effectively aggregate inforrmations to knowledge based on users' requirement, though the budget of electronic resources increasing yearly. For example, the aggregative search of library resources just shorten the timeusers attach the electronic resources without providing real knowledge. This research proposed ageneral value-added model of electronic resources during the process building the citation analysissystem. With the model, the library would be offer some value-added enhancement, even knowledgeprovider furthermore, based on the typical knowledge from aggregation of electronic resources inthe library. pp. 66-81
Application of water footprint combined with a unified virtual crop pattern to evaluate crop water productivity in grain production in China.
Wang, Y B; Wu, P T; Engel, B A; Sun, S K
Water shortages are detrimental to China's grain production while food production consumes a great deal of water causing water crises and ecological impacts. Increasing crop water productivity (CWP) is critical, so China is devoting significant resources to develop water-saving agricultural systems based on crop planning and agricultural water conservation planning. A comprehensive CWP index is necessary for such planning. Existing indices such as water use efficiency (WUE) and irrigation efficiency (IE) have limitations and are not suitable for the comprehensive evaluation of CWP. The water footprint (WF) index, calculated using effective precipitation and local water use, has advantages for CWP evaluation. Due to regional differences in crop patterns making the CWP difficult to compare directly across different regions, a unified virtual crop pattern is needed to calculate the WF. This project calculated and compared the WF of each grain crop and the integrated WFs of grain products with actual and virtual crop patterns in different regions of China for 2010. The results showed that there were significant differences for the WF among different crops in the same area or among different areas for the same crop. Rice had the highest WF at 1.39 m(3)/kg, while corn had the lowest at 0.91 m(3)/kg among the main grain crops. The WF of grain products was 1.25 m(3)/kg in China. Crop patterns had an important impact on WF of grain products because significant differences in WF were found between actual and virtual crop patterns in each region. The CWP level can be determined based on the WF of a virtual crop pattern, thereby helping optimize spatial distribution of crops and develop agricultural water savings to increase CWP. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Value-added conversion of waste cooking oil and post-consumer PET bottles into biodiesel and polyurethane foams.
Dang, Yu; Luo, Xiaolan; Wang, Feng; Li, Yebo
A sustainable process of value-added utilization of wastes including waste cooking oil (WCO) and post-consumer PET bottles for the production of biodiesel and polyurethane (PU) foams was developed. WCO collected from campus cafeteria was firstly converted into biodiesel, which can be used as vehicle fuel. Then crude glycerol (CG), a byproduct of the above biodiesel process, was incorporated into the glycolysis process of post-consumer PET bottles collected from campus to produce polyols. Thirdly, PU foams were synthesized through the reaction of the above produced polyols with isocyanate in the presence of catalysts and other additives. The characterization of the produced biodiesel demonstrated that its properties meet the specification of biodiesel standard. The effect of crude glycerol loading on the properties of polyols and PU foams were investigated. All the polyols showed satisfactory properties for the production of rigid PU foams which had performance comparable to those of some petroleum-based analogs. A mass balance and a cost analysis for the conversion of WCO and waste PET into biodiesel and PU foams were also discussed. This study demonstrated the potential of WCO and PET waste for the production of value-added products. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Metagenome-wide association study and machine learning prediction of bulk soil microbiome and crop productivity
Areas within an agricultural field in the same season often differ in crop productivity despite having the same cropping history, crop genotype, and management practices. One hypothesis is that abiotic or biotic factors in the soils differ between areas resulting in these productivity differences. I...
Availability and estimation of crop by-product yields for small ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
A study was carried out in some Local Government Areas of Cross River State of Nigeria to identify and ascertain the availability, level of production and the yields of crop by-products derived from commonly cultivated crops that can serve as feed for small ruminants. The results show that the various staple crops commonly ...
76 FR 9329 - Efficiency Initiative Effort To Reduce Non-Value-Added Costs Imposed on Industry by Department of...
... Efficiency Initiative Effort To Reduce Non-Value-Added Costs Imposed on Industry by Department of Defense... information about some additional areas of non-value- added cost. Submissions should specifically identify policies and practices that increase industry's non-value-added costs. They should draw on a reasonable...
Analysis of cost efficiency in food crop production among small ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Eleven cropping systems were identified with mixed cropping accounting for about 53% of the cropping systems and about 54% of the total hectarage allocations. The maximum likelihood estimates of the stochastic cost function revealed that the explanatory variables; extension contact, crop diversification and credit ...
Recent progress in the development of solid catalysts for biomass conversion into high value-added chemicals
Hara, Michikazu; Nakajima, Kiyotaka; Kamata, Keigo
In recent decades, the substitution of non-renewable fossil resources by renewable biomass as a sustainable feedstock has been extensively investigated for the manufacture of high value-added products such as biofuels, commodity chemicals, and new bio-based materials such as bioplastics. Numerous solid catalyst systems for the effective conversion of biomass feedstocks into value-added chemicals and fuels have been developed. Solid catalysts are classified into four main groups with respect to their structures and substrate activation properties: (a) micro- and mesoporous materials, (b) metal oxides, (c) supported metal catalysts, and (d) sulfonated polymers. This review article focuses on the activation of substrates and/or reagents on the basis of groups (a)-(d), and the corresponding reaction mechanisms. In addition, recent progress in chemocatalytic processes for the production of five industrially important products (5-hydroxymethylfurfural, lactic acid, glyceraldehyde, 1,3-dihydroxyacetone, and furan-2,5-dicarboxylic acid) as bio-based plastic monomers and their intermediates is comprehensively summarized.
Small-diameter log evaluation for value-added structural applications
Ronald. Wolfe; Cassandra. Moseley
Three species of small-diameter logs from the Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains and the Cascade Range in southwest Oregon were tested for their potential for value-added structural applications. The logs were tested in bending and compression parallel to the grain. Strength and stiffness values were correlated to possible nondestructive evaluation grading parameters and...
The Effect of Summer on Value-Added Assessments of Teacher and School Performance
Palardy, Gregory J.; Peng, Luyao
This study examines the effects of including the summer period on value-added assessments (VAA) of teacher and school performance at the early grades. The results indicate that 40-62% of the variance in VAA estimates originates from the summer period, depending on the outcome (i.e., reading or math achievement gains). Furthermore, when summer is…
The value-added tax implications of the temporary change in use ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Dec 9, 2014 ... changes in the use of residential property have value-added tax (VAT) consequences that result in a negative cash flow. In the 2010 Budget. Speech ... 1In his Budget Speech on 17 February 2010, the then Minister of Finance, Mr Pravin .... abode, except if the supply is commercial accommodation.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bogeanu Alexandru
Full Text Available This paper is intended to study the connection between the Economic Value Added (EVA and the price of shares listed with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE. The study covers 635 listed companies, the period studied for the EVA is June 2012, and the quotation of the shares is for August 2012.
Is Value-Added and Opportunistic Real Estate Investing Beneficial? If So, Why?
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
James D Shilling; Charles H Wurtzebach
...) and market conditions. Results demonstrate that while value-added and opportunistic private equity real estate investments have higher returns than core investments, their superior returns are driven primarily by market conditions and the use of cheap debt rather than by risk exposure. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Value added analysis and its distribution: a study on BOVESPA-listed banks using ANOVA
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Leonardo José Seixas Pinto
Full Text Available The value added generated by the financial institutions listed on BOVESPA and its distribution in the years between 2007 to 2011 are the subject of this research which shows how banks divided his wealth with the people, government, third parties and shareholders. Through the use of ANOVA test average in the companies that took part in this research concluded that: (a the average value added of foreign banks differs from national banks. (b The remuneration policy of equity foreign banks differs from national banks. (c The policy of distribution of value added to employees of foreign banks Santander and HSBC differs from the other banks. (d Taxes paid to the government have equal means with the exception of Santander. (e Although curious, Banco Itau and Banco do Brazil is equal in all analyzes in the distribution of value added since it is a private and one public. It appears this way a policy unequal distribution of wealth generation and foreign banks compared with the national public and private banks.
Taxable capacity and effort of Ghana's value-added tax | Andoh ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Value-added tax (VAT) has not only brought dynamism in Ghana's revenue mobilisation landscape but also occupies a centre stage in the country's fiscal consolidation efforts. Interestingly, the VAT regime has undergone a number of discretionary reforms in a bid to generate as much revenue as possible for its fiscal ...
Value-Added Modeling of Teacher Effectiveness: An Exploration of Stability across Models and Contexts
Newton, Xiaoxia A.; Darling-Hammond, Linda; Haertel, Edward; Thomas, Ewart
Recent policy interest in tying student learning to teacher evaluation has led to growing use of value-added methods for assessing student learning gains linked to individual teachers. VAM analyses rely on complex assumptions about the roles of schools, multiple teachers, student aptitudes and efforts, homes and families in producing measured…
Evaluation of Value Added Tax Application Problems in Terms of Taxation of Electronic Commerce
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Güneş ÇETİN GERGER
Full Text Available Nowadays electronic taxation is being one of the important issues for revenue administrations. Tax administrations try to organize their tax system fairly and give attention on equity. Value added tax is most preferable taxes among the consumption taxes. Because it's application is easy and taxpayers don't show resistance to the value added tax. On electronic commerce value added taxes are using commonly. To provide equity in taxation, some taxation principles are adapted for value added taxes too. In this paper, we are trying to analyze the development of e-commerce in the world and e-taxation regulations and problems in the European Union (EU and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD countries. The EU and OECD countries are making regulations in this issue. The last regulation is Base Erosion and Profit Shifting 15 point action plan in 2014. Taxation of the digital economy is the first action plan. In addition this, some regulations about taxation of digital economy are being done in Turkey in the case of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting action plan.
An Evaluation of Empirical Bayes's Estimation of Value-Added Teacher Performance Measures
Guarino, Cassandra M.; Maxfield, Michelle; Reckase, Mark D.; Thompson, Paul N.; Wooldridge, Jeffrey M.
Empirical Bayes's (EB) estimation has become a popular procedure used to calculate teacher value added, often as a way to make imprecise estimates more reliable. In this article, we review the theory of EB estimation and use simulated and real student achievement data to study the ability of EB estimators to properly rank teachers. We compare the…
Evaluating Specification Tests in the Context of Value-Added Estimation. Working Paper #38
Guarino, Cassandra M.; Reckase, Mark D.; Stacy, Brian W.; Wooldridge, Jeffrey M.
We study the properties of two specification tests that have been applied to a variety of estimators in the context of value-added measures (VAMs) of teacher and school quality: the Hausman test for choosing between random and fixed effects and a test for feedback (sometimes called a "falsification test"). We discuss theoretical…
Evaluating Specification Tests in the Context of Value-Added Estimation
Guarino, Cassandra M.; Reckase, Mark D.; Stacy, Brian W.; Wooldridge, Jeffrey M.
We study the properties of two specification tests that have been applied to a variety of estimators in the context of value-added measures (VAMs) of teacher and school quality: the Hausman test for choosing between student-level random and fixed effects, and a test for feedback (sometimes called a "falsification test"). We discuss…
An Evaluation of Empirical Bayes' Estimation of Value- Added Teacher Performance Measures. Working Paper #31. Revised
Guarino, Cassandra M.; Maxfield, Michelle; Reckase, Mark D.; Thompson, Paul; Wooldridge, Jeffrey M.
Empirical Bayes' (EB) estimation is a widely used procedure to calculate teacher value-added. It is primarily viewed as a way to make imprecise estimates more reliable. In this paper we review the theory of EB estimation and use simulated data to study its ability to properly rank teachers. We compare the performance of EB estimators with that of…
The Disaggregation of Value-Added Test Scores to Assess Learning Outcomes in Economics Courses
Walstad, William B.; Wagner, Jamie
This study disaggregates posttest, pretest, and value-added or difference scores in economics into four types of economic learning: positive, retained, negative, and zero. The types are derived from patterns of student responses to individual items on a multiple-choice test. The micro and macro data from the "Test of Understanding in College…
On the Practices and Challenges of Measuring Higher Education Value Added: The Case of Colombia
Shavelson, Richard J.; Domingue, Benjamin W.; Mariño, Julián P.; Molina Mantilla, Adriana; Morales Forero, Andrés; Wiley, Edward E.
Changes in the nature of higher education are leading towards increased interest in the assessment of student learning. This study considers an attempt to apply value-added models for the purposes of comparing student learning across institutions, taking care to discuss special considerations inherent to the application of these models to higher…
Value Adding Management (VAM) of buildings and facility services in four steps
van der Voordt, Theo; Jensen, Per Anker; Hoendervanger, Jan Gerard; Bergsma, Feike
This paper presents a new Value Adding Management (VAM) model that aims to support decision makers in identifying appropriate interventions in buildings, other facilities and services that add value to the organisation, to manage its implementation, and to measure the output and outcomes. The paper
Accounting for Co-Teaching: A Guide for Policymakers and Developers of Value-Added Models
Isenberg, Eric; Walsh, Elias
We outline the options available to policymakers for addressing co-teaching in a value-added model. Building on earlier work, we propose an improvement to a method of accounting for co-teaching that treats co-teachers as teams, with each teacher receiving equal credit for co-taught students. Hock and Isenberg (2012) described a method known as the…
Conceptual and Empirical Differences among Various Value-Added Models for Accountability
Timmermans, Anneke C.; Doolaard, Simone; de Wolf, Inge
Accountability systems in education generally include indicators of student performance. However, these indicators often differ considerably among the various systems. More and more countries try to include value-added measures, mainly because they do not want to hold schools accountable for differences in their initial intake of students. This…
Getting Value out of Value-Added: Report of a Workshop
Braun, Henry, Ed.; Chudowsky, Naomi, Ed.; Koenig, Judith, Ed.
Value-added methods refer to efforts to estimate the relative contributions of specific teachers, schools, or programs to student test performance. In recent years, these methods have attracted considerable attention because of their potential applicability for educational accountability, teacher pay-for-performance systems, school and teacher…
Conceptual and empirical differences among various value-added models for accountability
Timmermans, A.C.; Doolaard, S.; de Wolf, I.
Accountability systems in education generally include indicators of student performance. However, these indicators often differ considerably among the various systems. More and more countries try to include value-added measures, mainly because they do not want to hold schools accountable for
Misreporting in the Value-Added Tax and the Optimal Enforcement
Hoseini, M.
A common fraud by registered traders in the value-added tax system is under-reporting sales and over-reporting purchases. This paper models this problem by linking the level of misreporting to the risk-aversion of taxpayers and the level of transactions with final consumers. In addition, it analyses
Can Value-Added Measures of Teacher Performance Be Trusted? Working Paper #18
Guarino, Cassandra M.; Reckase, Mark D.; Woolridge, Jeffrey M.
We investigate whether commonly used value-added estimation strategies can produce accurate estimates of teacher effects. We estimate teacher effects in simulated student achievement data sets that mimic plausible types of student grouping and teacher assignment scenarios. No one method accurately captures true teacher effects in all scenarios,…
Value Added Teacher Preparation Assessment: Overview of 2007-08 Study
Noell, George; Burns, Jeanne M.
The Louisiana Board of Regents is the first in the nation to publicly use a performance model based upon the achievement of students in grades 4-9 as one of several measures to examine the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs. The State has supported the development and implementation of a Value Added Teacher Preparation Assessment Model…
Measuring School and Teacher Value Added in DC, 2011-2012 School Year: Final Report
Isenberg, Eric; Hock, Heinrich
This report describes the value-added models used as part of teacher evaluation systems in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and in eligible DC charter schools participating in "Race to the Top." The authors estimated: (1) teacher effectiveness in DCPS and eligible DC charter schools during the 2011-2012 school year; and (2)…
Measuring School and Teacher Value Added in DC, 2011-2012 School Year. Final Report
Isenberg, Eric; Hock, Heinrich
In this report, the authors describe the value-added models used as part of teacher evaluation systems in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and in eligible DC charter schools participating in Race to the Top. They estimated (1) teacher effectiveness in DCPS and eligible DC charter schools during the 2011-2012 school year; and (2)…
Value Added Models and the Implementation of the National Standards of K-12 Physical Education
Seymour, Clancy M.; Garrison, Mark J.
The implementation of value-added models of teacher evaluation continue to expand in public education, but the effects of using student test scores to evaluate K-12 physical educators necessitates further discussion. Using the five National Standards for K-12 Physical Education from the Society of Health and Physical Educators America (SHAPE),…
Sentinels Guarding the Grail: Value-Added Measurement and the Quest for Education Reform
Gabriel, Rachael; Lester, Jessica Nina
Since the beginning of the federal Race To The Top grant competition, Value-Added Measurement (VAM) has captured the attention of the American public through high-profile media representations of the tool and the controversy that surrounds it. In this paper, we build upon investigations of constructions of VAM in the media and present a discourse…
Do Value-Added Estimates Add Value? Accounting for Learning Dynamics
Tahir Andrabi; Jishnu Das; Asim Ijaz Khwaja; Tristan Zajonc
Evaluations of educational programs commonly assume that what children learn persists over time. The authors compare learning in Pakistani public and private schools using dynamic panel methods that account for three key empirical challenges to widely used value-added models: imperfect persistence, unobserved student heterogeneity, and measurement error. Their estimates suggest that only a fifth ...
How to Enforce Value-Added Tax? The Role of Inter-Sectoral Linkages
Hoseini, M.
Abstract: This paper models and empirically tests a self-enforcing feature of the value added tax (VAT) which is absent in the theory: An incentive that makes formal traders buy from suppliers who pay VAT too. In addition, it explores how the government can deploy this feature to enforce VAT more
Make Room Value Added: Principals' Human Capital Decisions and the Emergence of Teacher Observation Data
Goldring, Ellen; Grissom, Jason A.; Rubin, Mollie; Neumerski, Christine M.; Cannata, Marisa; Drake, Timothy; Schuermann, Patrick
Increasingly, states and districts are combining student growth measures with rigorous, rubric-aligned teacher observations in constructing teacher evaluation measures. Although the student growth or value-added components of these measures have received much research and policy attention, the results of this study suggest that the data generated…
Development, test-retest reliability and validity of the Pharmacy Value-Added Services Questionnaire (PVASQ
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tan CL
Full Text Available Objective: (i To develop the Pharmacy Value-Added Services Questionnaire (PVASQ using emerging themes generated from interviews. (ii To establish reliability and validity of questionnaire instrument. Methods: Using an extended Theory of Planned Behavior as the theoretical model, face-to-face interviews generated salient beliefs of pharmacy value-added services. The PVASQ was constructed initially in English incorporating important themes and later translated into the Malay language with forward and backward translation. Intention (INT to adopt pharmacy value-added services is predicted by attitudes (ATT, subjective norms (SN, perceived behavioral control (PBC, knowledge and expectations. Using a 7-point Likert-type scale and a dichotomous scale, test-retest reliability (N=25 was assessed by administrating the questionnaire instrument twice at an interval of one week apart. Internal consistency was measured by Cronbach's alpha and construct validity between two administrations was assessed using the kappa statistic and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC. Confirmatory Factor Analysis, CFA (N=410 was conducted to assess construct validity of the PVASQ. Results: The kappa coefficients indicate a moderate to almost perfect strength of agreement between test and retest. The ICC for all scales tested for intra-rater (test-retest reliability was good. The overall Cronbach' s alpha (N=25 is 0.912 and 0.908 for the two time points. The result of CFA (N=410 showed most items loaded strongly and correctly into corresponding factors. Only one item was eliminated. Conclusions: This study is the first to develop and establish the reliability and validity of the Pharmacy Value-Added Services Questionnaire instrument using the Theory of Planned Behavior as the theoretical model. The translated Malay language version of PVASQ is reliable and valid to predict Malaysian patients' intention to adopt pharmacy value-added services to collect partial
Livelihood implications of biofuel crop production: Implications for governance
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hunsberger, Carol; Bolwig, Simon; Corbera, Esteve
While much attention has focused on the climate change mitigation potential of biofuels, research from the social sciences increasingly highlights the social and livelihood impacts of their expanded production. Policy and governance measures aimed at improving the social effects of biofuels have...... proliferated but questions remain about their effectiveness across the value chain. This paper performs three tasks building on emerging insights from social science research on the deployment of biofuel crops. First, we identify livelihood dimensions that are particularly likely to be affected...... by their cultivation in the global South – income, food security, access to land-based resources, and social assets – revealing that distributional effects are crucial to evaluating the outcomes of biofuel production across these dimensions. Second, we ask how well selected biofuel governance mechanisms address...
Effect of pretreatment and drying methods on quality of value-added dried aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn) shreds.
Prajapati, V K; Nema, Prabhat K; Rathore, S S
Value added dried Indian gooseberry (aonla) shreds were prepared using aonla fruits of cv. 'NA-7'. Two blanching methods (hot water and potassium metabisulphite (KMS) at 0.1%) and two drying methods (solar and hot air oven drying) were tried for the production of aonla shreds. Common salt, black salt and ginger juice were mixed for enhancing sensory quality of the product. The best product was obtained with KMS blanching and drying in solar dryer with added common salt at 3%. The most acceptable product had ascorbic acid content 298.3 mg/100 g, tannin 2.4%, acidity 2.6%, reducing sugar 3.0%, non-reducing sugar 21.0% and total sugar 24.0%. The recovery was 8.0-8.5%.
Value-Added-Based Accounting of CO2 Emissions: A Multi-Regional Input-Output Approach
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hongguang Liu
Full Text Available In the era of globalization and international trade, the production-based CO2 emissions accounting system, proposed by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, can easily lead to a "carbon leakage" issue. Thus, the accounting of consumption-based carbon emissions and carbon emissions embodied in international trade has received considerable research attention. Nevertheless, researchers also indicated that the consumption-based principle has some weaknesses, for example, it leads the producers inert on reducing carbon emissions while gaining economic benefits. To share carbon emissions responsibilities between producers and consumers is widely recognized. So, setting an income-based emissions accounting method as to producer is a necessary complement for accounting national carbon emissions. This study promoted a model, called the value-added-based accounting of CO2 emissions method, to account for anthropogenic CO2 emissions within the context of the economic benefit principle. Based on the global multi-regional input-output table and national carbon emissions database, we calculated the national/regional carbon emissions based on the value-added accounting approach as well as the amount of global carbon emissions embodied in value-added chains. If the results are served as a supplement for calculating the amount of CO2 emissions reduction that a country is responsible for, problems such as carbon leakage and resistance to improving the energy efficiency of exporting sector may be solved, because all the supply chains emissions associated with the economic growth of a country would be considered.
Protein crop production at the northern margin of farming: to boost or not to boost
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Pirjo Peltonen-Sainio
Full Text Available Global changes in food demand resulting from population growth and more meat-intensive diets require an increase in global protein crop production, not least as climate change and increasing scarcity of fresh water could restrict future production. In contrast to many other regions, in Finland climate change could open new opportunities through enabling more diverse cropping systems. It is justified to re-enquire whether the extent and intensity of protein crop production are optimized, resources are used efficiently and sustainably, cropping systems are built to be resilient and whether ecological services that protein crops provide are utilized appropriately. This paper aims to analyze in a descriptive manner the biological grounds for sustainable intensification of protein crop production in Finland. Production security is considered by evaluating the effects of and likelihood for constraints typical for northern conditions, examining historical and recent crop failures and estimating ecosystem services that more extensive introduction of protein crops potentially provide for northern cropping systems now and in a changing climate. There is an evident potential to expand protein crop production sustainably to a couple of times its current area. In general, variability in protein yields tends to be higher for protein crops than spring cereals. Nevertheless, protein yield variability was not necessarily systematically higher for Finland, when compared with other European regions, as it was for cereals. Protein crops provide significant ecological services that further support their expanded production. By this means protein self-sufficiency remains unrealistic, but increased production of protein crops can be achieved. The expansion of rapeseed and legumes areas also seems to be economically feasible. From the economic viewpoint, an increase in domestic protein supply requires that farmers have economic incentives to a cultivate protein
Impact of consumer-driven changes to crop production practices on lettuce drop caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and S. minor.
Wu, B M; Koike, S T; Subbarao, K V
Increasing demands for value-added salad products have triggered revolutionary changes in the production practices of vegetable salad crops in recent years. One of the pivotal changes is the adaptation of 2-m-wide beds for increased vegetable biomass per unit area. The move away from the traditional 1-m-wide raised beds in cool-season vegetable production and the associated irrigation practices potentially can have a major influence on diseases affecting cool-season vegetables. To assess the potential impacts of this shift on lettuce drop caused by Sclerotinia minor and S. sclerotiorum, the two bed widths and different irrigation frequencies within each were compared in two separate field experiments over four lettuce crops in 2 years. Treatments included 1- and 2-m bed widths with twice-weekly, weekly and biweekly drip irrigation serving as subplot treatments that were begun immediately following thinning. Incidence of lettuce drop was evaluated weekly thereafter until maturity. For S. sclerotiorum, 36 half-liter soil samples were also collected once each season and assayed for the number of sclerotia, and apothecia were counted weekly in a 10-m(2) area for each plot. Regardless of the species, the effects of bed width and irrigation frequency were both significant. Twice-weekly irrigation and 2-m bed width resulted in higher lettuce drop incidence than other treatments. For S. sclerotiorum, twice-weekly irrigation and 2-m bed width also significantly increased the number of apothecia per unit area and the accumulation of soilborne sclerotia over multiple cropping seasons. Results demonstrated that the 2-m bed width combined with the practiced frequency of irrigations can result in higher lettuce drop caused by S. minor and increased incidence of airborne infection by S. sclerotiorum in the Salinas Valley where, historically, it has not been a serious threat. Increased incidence of S. sclerotiorum infection in commercial lettuce fields in the Salinas Valley
Biomass valorisation by staged degasification A new pyrolysis-based thermochemical conversion option to produce value-added chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass
de Wild, P. J.; den Uil, H.; Reith, J. H.; Kiel, J. H. A.; Heeres, H. J.
Pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass leads to an array Of useful solid, liquid and gaseous products. Staged degasification is a pyrolysis-based conversion route to generate value-added chemicals from biomass. Because of different thermal stabilities of the main biomass constituents hemicellulose.
Microbial Diversity-Based Novel Crop Protection Products
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.; DuPont Experimental Station; Yalpani, Ronald Flannagan, Rafael Herrmann, James Presnail, Tamas Torok, and Nasser; Herrmann, Rafael; Presnail, James; Torok, Tamas; Yalpani, Nasser
Extremophilic microorganisms are adapted to survive in ecological niches with high temperatures, extremes of pH, high salt concentrations, high pressure, radiation, etc. Extremophiles produce unique biocatalysts and natural products that function under extreme conditions comparab le to those prevailing in various industrial processes. Therefore, there is burgeoning interest in bioprospecting for extremophiles with potential immediate use in agriculture, the food, chemical, and pharm aceutical industries, and environmental biotechnology. Over the years, several thousand extremophilic bacteria, archaea, and filamentous fungi were collected at extreme environmental sites in the USA, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone surrounding the faeild nuclear power plant in Ukraine, in and around Lake Baikal in Siberia, and at geothermal sites on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia. These organisms were cultured under proprietary conditions, and the cell- free supernatants were screened for biological activities against plant pathogenic fungi and major crop damaging insects. Promising peptide lead molecules were isolated, characterized, and sequenced. Relatively high hit rates characterized the tested fermentation broths. Of the 26,000 samples screened, over thousand contained biological activity of interest. A fair number of microorganisms expressed broad- spectrum antifungal or insecticidal activity. Two- dozen broadly antifungal peptides (AFPs) are alr eady patent protected, and many more tens are under further investigation. Tapping the gene pool of extremophilic microorganisms to provide novel ways of crop protection proved a successful strategy.
GPP estimates in a biodiesel crop using MERIS products
Sánchez, M. L.; Pardo, N.; Pérez, I.; García, M. A.; Paredes, V.
Greenhouse gas emissions in Spain in 2008-2009 were 34.3 % higher than the base-year level, significantly above the burden-sharing target of 15 % for the period 2008-2012. Based on this result, our country will need to make a major effort to meet the committed target on time using domestic measures as well as others foreseen in the Kyoto Protocol, such as LULUFC activities. In this framework, agrofuels, in other words biofuels produced by crops that contain high amounts of vegetable oil such as sorghum, sunflower, rape seed and jatropha, appear to be an interesting mitigation alternative. Bearing in mind the meteorological conditions in Spain, sunflower and rape seed in particular are considered the most viable crops. Sunflower cultivated surface in Spain has remained fairly constant in recent years, in contrast to rapeseed crop surface which, although still scarce, has followed an increasing trend. In order to assess rape seed ability as a CO2 sink as well as to describe GPP dynamic evolution, we installed an eddy correlation station in an agricultural plot of the Spanish plateau. Measurements at the plot consisted of 30-min NEE flux measurements (using a LI-7500 and a METEK USA-1 sonic anemometer) as well as other common meteorological variables. Measurements were performed from March to October. This paper presents the results of the GPP 8-d estimated values using a Light Use Efficiency Model, LUE. Input data for the LUE model were the FPAR 8-d products supplied by MERIS, the PAR in situ measurements, and a scalar f varying, between 0 and 1, to take into account the reduction of the maximum PAR conversion efficiency, ɛ0, under limiting environmental conditions. The f values were assumed to be dependent on air temperature and the evaporative fraction, EF, which was considered as a proxy of soil moisture. ɛ0, a key parameter, which depends on biome types, was derived through the results of a linear regression fit between the GPP 8-d eddy covariance composites
Environmental assessment of two different crop systems in terms of biomethane potential production.
Bacenetti, Jacopo; Fusi, Alessandra; Negri, Marco; Guidetti, Riccardo; Fiala, Marco
The interest in renewable energy sources has gained great importance in Europe due to the need to reduce fossil energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, as required by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) of the European Parliament. The production of energy from energy crops appears to be consistent with RED. The environmental impact related to this kind of energy primarily originates from crop cultivation. This research aimed to evaluate the environmental impact of different crop systems for biomass production: single and double crop. The environmental performances of maize and maize plus wheat were assessed from a life cycle perspective. Two alternative scenarios considering different yields, crop management, and climatic conditions, were also addressed. One normal cubic metre of potential methane was chosen as a functional unit. Methane potential production data were obtained through lab experimental tests. For both of the crop systems, the factors that have the greatest influence on the overall environmental burden are: fertilizer emissions, diesel fuel emissions, diesel fuel production, and pesticide production. Notwithstanding the greater level of methane potential production, the double crop system appears to have the worse environmental performance with respect to its single crop counterpart. This result is due to the bigger quantity of inputs needed for the double crop system. Therefore, the greater amount of biomass (silage) obtained through the double crop system is less than proportional to the environmental burden that results from the bigger quantity of inputs requested for double crop. © 2013.
Promoting production and marketing of root crops in Southern Africa ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
However, despite numerous extension efforts and repeated past maize crop failures, smallholder farmers in southern Africa continue to show preference to maize over other drought resistant crops. The low rate of adoption of drought resistant crops in response to the changing climate has been blamed on the linear ...
Feasibility of winter cover crop production under rainfed conditions
African Journals Online (AJOL)
release and uptake by the follow-on crop. Improved synchrony, as observed by Murungu et al. (2010), with ... particularly timely planting and weed control. Relaying cover crops, particularly after late vegetative stage ..... appropriate fertilizer management on winter cover crops in a conservation agriculture system. PhD Thesis ...
Impacts and adaptation of European crop production systems to climate change
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Olesen, Jørgen E; Trnka, M; Kersebaum, K C
on the: (1) main vulnerabilities of crops and cropping systems under present climate; (2) estimates of climate change impacts on the production of nine selected crops; (3) possible adaptation options as well as (4) adaptation observed so far. In addition we focused on the overall awareness and presence...
Crop residues and agro-industrial by-products used in traditional ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
A study of crop residues and agro-industrial by-products in Makurdi was conducted in June, 2008. Interview schedule was administered to farmers in five communities in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Fourteen (14) crop residues and eleven (11) agro-industrial byproducts were identified. The crop ...
Key factors influencing the potential of catch crops for methane production
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Molinuevo-Salces, Beatriz; Fernandez-Varela, Raquel; Uellendahl, Hinrich
studied for 14 different catch crops species, with 19 samples harvested in 2010 and 36 harvested in 2011. Principal component analysis was applied to the data to identify the variables characterizing the potential for the different catch crops species for methane production. Two principal components......Catch crops are grown in crop rotation primarily for soil stabilization. The excess biomass of catch crops was investigated for its potential as feedstock for biogas production. Ten variables affecting catch crop growth and methane potential were evaluated. Field trials and methane potential were...... explained up to 84.6% and 71.6% of the total variation for 2010 and 2011 samples, respectively. Specific methane yield, climate conditions (rainfall and temperature) and total nitrogen in the biomass were the variables classifying the different catch crops. Catch crops in the Brassicaceae and Graminaceae...
The California Biomass Crop Adoption Model estimates biofuel feedstock crop production across diverse agro-ecological zones within the state, under different future climates
Kaffka, S.; Jenner, M.; Bucaram, S.; George, N.
Both regulators and businesses need realistic estimates for the potential production of biomass feedstocks for biofuels and bioproducts. This includes the need to understand how climate change will affect mid-tem and longer-term crop performance and relative advantage. The California Biomass Crop Adoption Model is a partial mathematical programming optimization model that estimates the profit level needed for new crop adoption, and the crop(s) displaced when a biomass feedstock crop is added to the state's diverse set of cropping systems, in diverse regions of the state. Both yield and crop price, as elements of profit, can be varied. Crop adoption is tested against current farmer preferences derived from analysis of 10 years crop production data for all crops produced in California, collected by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Analysis of this extensive data set resulted in 45 distinctive, representative farming systems distributed across the state's diverse agro-ecological regions. Estimated yields and water use are derived from field trials combined with crop simulation, reported elsewhere. Crop simulation is carried out under different weather and climate assumptions. Besides crop adoption and displacement, crop resource use is also accounted, derived from partial budgets used for each crop's cost of production. Systematically increasing biofuel crop price identified areas of the state where different types of crops were most likely to be adopted. Oilseed crops like canola that can be used for biodiesel production had the greatest potential to be grown in the Sacramento Valley and other northern regions, while sugar beets (for ethanol) had the greatest potential in the northern San Joaquin Valley region, and sweet sorghum in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Up to approximately 10% of existing annual cropland in California was available for new crop adoption. New crops are adopted if the entire cropping system becomes more profitable. In
Tillage and cover cropping effects on soil properties and crop production in Illinois
Cover crops (CCs) have been heralded for their potential to improve soil properties, retain nutrients in the field, and increase subsequent crop yields yet support for these claims within the state of Illinois remains limited. We assessed the effects of integrating five sets of CCs into a corn-soybe...
Forecasting wheat and barley crop production in arid and semi-arid regions using remotely sensed primary productivity and crop phenology: A case study in Iraq.
Qader, Sarchil Hama; Dash, Jadunandan; Atkinson, Peter M
Crop production and yield estimation using remotely sensed data have been studied widely, but such information is generally scarce in arid and semi-arid regions. In these regions, inter-annual variation in climatic factors (such as rainfall) combined with anthropogenic factors (such as civil war) pose major risks to food security. Thus, an operational crop production estimation and forecasting system is required to help decision-makers to make early estimates of potential food availability. Data from NASA's MODIS with official crop statistics were combined to develop an empirical regression-based model to forecast winter wheat and barley production in Iraq. The study explores remotely sensed indices representing crop productivity over the crop growing season to find the optimal correlation with crop production. The potential of three different remotely sensed indices, and information related to the phenology of crops, for forecasting crop production at the governorate level was tested and their results were validated using the leave-one-year-out approach. Despite testing several methodological approaches, and extensive spatio-temporal analysis, this paper depicts the difficulty in estimating crop yield on an annual base using current satellite low-resolution data. However, more precise estimates of crop production were possible. The result of the current research implies that the date of the maximum vegetation index (VI) offered the most accurate forecast of crop production with an average R2=0.70 compared to the date of MODIS EVI (Avg R2=0.68) and a NPP (Avg R2=0.66). When winter wheat and barley production were forecasted using NDVI, EVI and NPP and compared to official statistics, the relative error ranged from -20 to 20%, -45 to 28% and -48 to 22%, respectively. The research indicated that remotely sensed indices could characterize and forecast crop production more accurately than simple cropping area, which was treated as a null model against which to evaluate
Value Adding Management of buildings and facility services in four steps
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
van der Voordt, Theo; Jensen, Per Anker; Hoendervanger, Jan Gerard
builds on value adding management theories and models that use the triplet input-throughput-output, a distinction between output, outcome and added value, and concepts, theories and data on the impact of interventions in corporate real estate and facility services, change management and performance...... to be able to select appropriate interventions in the Plan-phase, this paper includes a typology of typical interventions in corporate real estate and facility services that may add value to the organisation. The Check-phase is supported by an overview of ways to measure the 12 value parameters and related...... Key Performance Indicators. The new Value Adding Management model connects Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) and Facilities Management (FM) with general business management in order to align CREM/FM interventions to the organizational context and organizational objectives. The VAM model opens...
Towards an Integrated Value Adding Management Model for FM and CREM
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Jensen, Per Anker; van der Voordt, Theo
Purpose : To present an integrated process model of adding value by Facilities Management (FM) and Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) that is a generalisation of existing conceptual frameworks and aims to be a basis for management of added value in practice. Background : The growing research...... frameworks are too complex and lack of common terminology and clear operationalisations of intervention-impact relationships. Approach (Theory/Methodology) :A generalised Value Adding Management process model is developed based on a common cause-effect model identified in existing conceptual frameworks...... combined with the basic process model of input → throughput → output. The proposed model consists of interventions as input, management of implementation as throughput and added value as output/outcome. Results and practical implications : The Value Adding Management model provides a simple framework which...
Value-Added Electricity Services: New Roles for Utilities and Third-Party Providers
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Blansfield, J. [Inst. for Electric Innovations, Washington, DC (United States); Wood, L. [Inst. for Electric Innovations, Washington, DC (United States); Katofsky, R. [Advanced Energy Economy, Washington, DC (United States); Stafford, B. [Advanced Energy Economy, Washington, DC (United States); Waggoner, D. [Advanced Energy Economy, Washington, DC (United States); Schwartz, L. C. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
New energy generation, storage, delivery, and end-use technologies support a broad range of value-added electricity services for retail electricity customers. Sophisticated energy management services, distributed generation coupled with storage, and electric vehicle charging are just a few examples of emerging offerings. Who should provide value-added services — utilities or third parties, or both, and under what conditions? What policy and regulatory changes may be needed to promote competition and innovation, to account for utility costs to enable these services, and to protect consumers? The report approaches the issues from three perspectives: utilities, third-party service providers, and consumers: -Jonathan Blansfield and Lisa Wood, Institute for Electric Innovation -Ryan Katofsky, Benjamin Stafford and Danny Waggoner, Advanced Energy Economy -National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates
Value added tax evasion and excise duty fraud on fuel market in the Czech Republic
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Pavel Semerád
Full Text Available This paper deals with analysis of current problems in the motor fuel market. It analyzes bottlenecks in setting the legislative changes in value added tax, excise tax and the legislation concerning fuels. The biggest problem is tax evasions that favor one group of business entities at the expense of another, and also cause that the state loses revenues mainly from indirect taxes. Therefore, attention is directed to quality control of fuels as a means of consumer protection and prevention of tax evasion and ways to combat tax evasion in import, distribution and storage of mineral oils. The examples are the most common errors found in fraudulent companies. Based on the data collected the possible ultimate evasion was estimated. Therefore, I propose that value added tax law should be amended and some other measures to improve supervision by public authorities like tax authorities and customs administration offices should be taken.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sonja Cindori
Full Text Available Frauds that occur in the area of value added tax damage not only financial interests of the state, but also the financial interests of the European Union. The phenomenon of fraud in the scope of the value added tax system appeared in 1993 upon the abolition of customs controls. Due to the application of the cross-border taxation system for transactions within the European Union based on the destination principle, tax frauds occur in transactions in goods, and later in connection with transactions in services, as well. The paper deals with reasons for the occurrence of these types of frauds, with markets that are subject to illegal activity and with an analysis of possible solutions for their prevention. Since certain prevention solutions are already in use, the paper analyses their effectiveness and presents the possibility of their combination.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Fathia Ahya Nur Iman
Full Text Available The purpose of this study to determine the financial performance with the use of the EVA method to the assessment of the performance of PT Bank Mualamat Indonesia Tbk in the period 2010 - 2014. The research method used is quantitative descriptive method using Economic Value Added (EVA, which is an analytical method for evaluating the performance a company to take measurements of the profits (value economically produced by the company during the period (period of time specific. The results show the value of Bank Muamalat EVA is negative, meaning that Bank Muamalat in the year 2010- 2014 can not create value-added enterprise or net operating profit after taxes (NOPAT produced by the company is not able to finance or cover all capital costs or expenses incurred. In 2014 the value of EVA Bank Muamalat increasing, although still negative.
Applying value stream mapping techniques to eliminate non-value-added waste for the procurement of endovascular stents.
Teichgräber, Ulf K; de Bucourt, Maximilian
OJECTIVES: To eliminate non-value-adding (NVA) waste for the procurement of endovascular stents in interventional radiology services by applying value stream mapping (VSM). The Lean manufacturing technique was used to analyze the process of material and information flow currently required to direct endovascular stents from external suppliers to patients. Based on a decision point analysis for the procurement of stents in the hospital, a present state VSM was drawn. After assessment of the current status VSM and progressive elimination of unnecessary NVA waste, a future state VSM was drawn. The current state VSM demonstrated that out of 13 processes for the procurement of stents only 2 processes were value-adding. Out of the NVA processes 5 processes were unnecessary NVA activities, which could be eliminated. The decision point analysis demonstrated that the procurement of stents was mainly a forecast driven push system. The future state VSM applies a pull inventory control system to trigger the movement of a unit after withdrawal by using a consignment stock. VSM is a visualization tool for the supply chain and value stream, based on the Toyota Production System and greatly assists in successfully implementing a Lean system. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Conservation agriculture increases soil organic carbon and residual water content in upland crop production systems
Ella, Victor B.; Reyes, Manuel R.; Mercado, Jr., Agustin; Adrian, Ares; Padre, Rafael
Conservation agriculture involves minimum soil disturbance, continuous ground cover, and diversified crop rotations or mixtures. Conservation agriculture production systems (CAPS) have the potential to improve soil quality if appropriate cropping systems are developed. In this study, five CAPS including different cropping patterns and cover crops under two fertility levels, and a plow-based system as control, were studied in a typical upland agricultural area in northern Mindanao in the Phil...
Wardani, Alwiyanti Kusuma; Utomo, Supri Wahyudi; Widhianningrum, Purweni
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memberikan bukti empiris mengenai penerapan Manufacturing Cycle Effectiveness (MCE) sebagai alat ukur dalam mengurangi aktivitas tidak bernilai tambah (non-value-added activities) pada produksi gula kristal putih Pabrik Gula (PG) Kanigoro Madiun tahun 2013 dan 2014. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif dengan data primer berupa informasi-informasi aktivitas dan waktu produksi yang dikumpulkan melalui metode wawancara dan observasi. Sedangkan data sekun...
A Comparison of Growth Percentile and Value-Added Models of Teacher Performance
Guarino, Cassandra M.; Reckase, Mark D.; Stacy, Brian; Wooldridge, Jeffrey M.
School districts and state departments of education frequently must choose between a variety of methods to estimating teacher quality. This paper examines under what circumstances the decision between estimators of teacher quality is important. We examine estimates derived from growth percentile measures and estimates derived from commonly used value-added estimators. Using simulated data, we examine how well the estimators can rank teachers and avoid misclassification errors under a variety ...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Monika Bolek
Full Text Available Economic Value Added (EVA a profitability measure and a Cash Conversion Cycle a liquidity and profitability measure are presented in this article. These ratios represent the dynamic approach to management of companies. The relationship between them may be considered as an advanced approach to management in a current economy based on intangible assets and know- how and capital allocated fast and efficient according to information common access.
Methods for conversion of carbohydrates in ionic liquids to value-added chemicals
Zhao, Haibo [The Woodlands, TX; Holladay, Johnathan E [Kennewick, WA; Zhang, Zongchao C [Norwood, NJ
Methods are described for converting carbohydrates including, e.g., monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides in ionic liquids to value-added chemicals including furans, useful as chemical intermediates and/or feedstocks. Fructose is converted to 5-hydroxylmethylfurfural (HMF) in the presence of metal halide and acid catalysts. Glucose is effectively converted to HMF in the presence of chromium chloride catalysts. Yields of up to about 70% are achieved with low levels of impurities such as levulinic acid.
Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Perusahaan Dengan Menggunakan Metode Market Value Added (MVA)
Winarto, Jacinta
Since traditional accounting method could lead to misleading conclusion, Stern, Stewart & Co created a new method named Market Value Added (MVA). MVA assists managers to focus on valuable activities and to evaluate performance based on company performance evaluation maximizer. MVA is an absolute substraction between company market value with invested capital. MVA reflects public shares times substraction of share price and shares economic book value of each shares. The MVA could be a bett...
Modular Architecture of Value-Added Applications for German Healthcare Telematics
Dünnebeil, Sebastian;Sunyaev, Ali;Leimeister, Jan Marco;Krcmar, Helmut
The electronic health card and the telematics infrastructure are widely discussed in the German public. However, the applications which aim at improving the healthcare system by utilizing the capabilities of the service oriented healthcare telematics have hardly been addressed so far. The article discusses the potential of such value-added applications that are not subject to the limitations of current information systems in medical institutions and open up new potentials. To this end, overal...
Metagenome-Wide Association Study and Machine Learning Prediction of Bulk Soil Microbiome and Crop Productivity
Chang, Hao-Xun; Haudenshield, James S.; Bowen, Charles R.; Hartman, Glen L.
Areas within an agricultural field in the same season often differ in crop productivity despite having the same cropping history, crop genotype, and management practices. One hypothesis is that abiotic or biotic factors in the soils differ between areas resulting in these productivity differences. In this study, bulk soil samples collected from a high and a low productivity area from within six agronomic fields in Illinois were quantified for abiotic and biotic characteristics. Extracted DNA ...
Determination of the contributions of the waste management sector to increasing resource productivity and of the share recycling takes in the value-added chain displaying the paths of recovery of relevant waste; Ermittlung des Beitrages der Abfallwirtschaft zur Steigerung der Ressourcenproduktivitaet sowie des Anteils des Recyclings an der Wertschoepfung unter Darstellung der Verwertungs- und Beseitigungspfade des ressourcenrelevanten Abfallaufkommens
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wagner, Joerg; Heidrich, Kerstin; Baumann, Janett; Kuegler, Thomas; Reichenbach, Jan [INTECUS GmbH Abfallwirtschaft und umweltintegratives Management, Dresden (Germany)
The degree of substitution of primary raw materials by secondary raw materials cannot explicitly be seen in the resource productivity indicator of the national sustainability strategy. To incorporate the effects of substitution of primary raw materials, secondary raw materials should be considered in addition as a separate category. In the present study a reproducible and continuously adaptable presentation of material flows of recyclable wastes has been developed and the contributions of the waste management sector to resource productivity have been described on that basis. The material flows of metal, plastics, construction and demolition waste as well as for the biodegradable waste were mapped at a low level of detail using German waste statistics. With the help of in-depth studies the material flows of iron and steel, copper, gold, polyethylene (HD- /LDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) could be displayed in more detail. The amounts of waste and secondary raw materials determined in this way led to a quantification of the feedstock, energy and economic savings from recycling by means of a comparison with the primary commodities substituted. Without considering preceding steps of processing and production abroad the raw material and energetic substitution was set into relation with the consumption of primary materials by the German economy to establish the socalled DERec parameter (Direct Effect of Recovery). The total DERec, determined for all material flows considered in the study amounts to 49.525 million tons, which, in the absence of recycling and energy recovery, would additionally be necessary to generate the substituted raw materials and energy. This would mean a significant increase in material inputs to the economy. Only this amount already corresponds to 3.7% of DMI (Direct Material Input), which in 2007 made up a total of 1.35 billion tons of domestic and imported abiotic resources. This underlines the importance of
The effects of audit value added on audit survival: Evidence from CPAs of Thailand
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Seerungrat Sudsomboon
Full Text Available The purposes of this study are to investigate the relationship between antecedents and consequences of audit value added (AVA. AVA is performance of the auditors who work with dedication and commitment to quality work and usefulness for user. AVA composes three dimensions as well as audit best practice, audit continuous learning, and professional ethic awareness. The results from the questionnaire survey of 135 CPAs in Thailand. The findings identified that only two dimensions of AVA has positive relationship with all consequences as well as audit continuous learning and professional ethic awareness. Which the consequences of this study are financial information transparency, stakeholder acceptance, and audit survival. In addition, the finding shows the relationship between antecedence and audit value added are positive significant. Which the antecedence of this study are Stakeholder pressure, audit regulation change, and business environment climate. Surprisingly, have not significant the relationship between audit best practice that dimensions of audit value added and consequences. The summary of this paper not only provides theoretical and managerial contributions but also suggestions and directions of the future research are elaborate.
Implementation of whole slide imaging in surgical pathology: A value added approach
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mike Isaacs
Full Text Available Background: Whole slide imaging (WSI makes it possible to capture images of an entire histological slide. WSI has established roles in surgical pathology, including support of off-site frozen section interpretation, primary diagnosis, educational activities, and laboratory quality assurance (QA activities. Analyses of the cost of WSI have traditionally been based solely on direct costs and diagnostic accuracy; however, these types of analyses largely ignore workflow and cost issues that arise as a result of redundancy, the need for additional staffing, and customized software development when WSI is integrated into routine diagnostic surgical pathology. The pre-scan, scan, and post-scan costs; quality control and QA costs; and IT process costs can be significant, and consequently, pathology groups can find it difficult to perform a realistic cost-benefit analysis of adding WSI to their practice. Materials and Methods: In this paper, we report a "value added" approach developed to guide our decisions regarding integration of WSI into surgical pathology practice. The approach focuses on specific operational measures (cost, time, and enhanced patient care and practice settings (clinical, education, and research to identify routine activities in which the addition of WSI can provide improvements. Results: When applied to our academic pathology group practice, the value added approach resulted in expanded and improved operations, as demonstrated by outcome based measures. Conclusion: A value added can be used to perform a realistic cost-benefit analysis of integrating WSI into routine surgical pathology practice.
Increasing value-adding patient care by applying a modified TCAB program.
Antinaho, Tuula; Kivinen, Tuula; Turunen, Hannele; Partanen, Pirjo
Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate a development process aimed at increasing registered nurses' (RNs) working time use in value-adding patient care by applying a modified Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB) program at inpatient units of two tertiary hospitals. Design/methodology/approach Basic data for the development process were collected on RNs' working time use via external observation in 2011 (RNs = 113). Nursing work was redesigned and implemented by 12 multi-professional teams during 2012-2013. The development process was evaluated by repeating the collection of RNs' working time use data in 2013 (RNs = 95) and by analyzing the memos of the development teams via deductive content analysis ( N = 64). Findings RNs' working time use showed statistically significant increases in value-adding care and direct patient care but decreases in non-value-added work and miscellaneous work. Changes in the nursing work model, division of labor and the nursing work environment all affected RNs' working time use. Practical implications The development process progressed distinctively in each unit, as shown by the results of the development work. Clinical RNs had key roles as innovators and change agents, yet the engagement of nursing managers was most essential for the success of the development work. Originality/value Even minor changes in nurses' daily work profile can have considerable effects on RNs' work. The TCAB program was shown to be a useful method in developing RNs' work also in psychiatric units.
Value-added care: a new way of assessing nursing staffing ratios and workload variability.
Upenieks, Valda V; Akhavan, Jaleh; Kotlerman, Jenny; Esser, Jennifer; Ngo, Myha J
To thoroughly understand the implications of California regulatory staffing ratios on nursing units, the present study examines the relative amounts of time allocated to workload activities among registered nurses. Nursing is a synergistic, intuitive process and may not be capable of being translated into minimum patient-to-nurse ratios that work across an entire region or state. A fundamental step in evaluating the appropriateness of prescribed ratios lies in assessing how registered nurses spend their time while caring for patients. Once workload intensity is assessed, additional factors can be identified to design mandated staffing levels for acute care settings. Variability in workload intensity was assessed using the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation "Transforming Care at the Bedside" work flow methodology approach in evaluating value-added care and assessing the amount of time nurses spent on direct care and other categorical activities. The results revealed a marked variation in the medical-surgical unit compared with the 2 telemetry units regarding the amount of time spent by registered nurses on value-added, necessary, and non-value-added activities, as well as variability in the amount of time that registered nurses spent on direct care, indirect care, documentation, waste, and other activities. By evaluating patient quality of care in acute care settings, we can return to a basic aspect of how nurses spend their time caring for patients-the activities that not only involve direct care but also benefit the patient.
7 CFR 1412.35 - Incorrect or false production evidence of oilseeds and pulse crops.
... false production evidence of oilseeds and pulse crops. (a) If production evidence submitted in... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Incorrect or false production evidence of oilseeds and pulse crops. 1412.35 Section 1412.35 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture...
Comparing annual and perennial crops for bioenergy production - influence on nitrate leaching and energy balance
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Pugesgaard, Siri; Schelde, Kirsten; Ugilt Larsen, Søren
Production of energy crops is promoted as a means to mitigate global warming by decreasing dependency on fossil energy. However, agricultural production of bioenergy can have various environmental effects depending on the crop and production system. In a field trial initiated in 2008, nitrate...
Value-added Synthesis of Graphene: Recycling Industrial Carbon Waste into Electrodes for High-Performance Electronic Devices.
Seo, Hong-Kyu; Kim, Tae-Sik; Park, Chibeom; Xu, Wentao; Baek, Kangkyun; Bae, Sang-Hoon; Ahn, Jong-Hyun; Kim, Kimoon; Choi, Hee Cheul; Lee, Tae-Woo
We have developed a simple, scalable, transfer-free, ecologically sustainable, value-added method to convert inexpensive coal tar pitch to patterned graphene films directly on device substrates. The method, which does not require an additional transfer process, enables direct growth of graphene films on device substrates in large area. To demonstrate the practical applications of the graphene films, we used the patterned graphene grown on a dielectric substrate directly as electrodes of bottom-contact pentacene field-effect transistors (max. field effect mobility ~0.36 cm(2)·V(-1)·s(-1)), without using any physical transfer process. This use of a chemical waste product as a solid carbon source instead of commonly used explosive hydrocarbon gas sources for graphene synthesis has the dual benefits of converting the waste to a valuable product, and reducing pollution.
Projective analysis of staple food crop productivity in adaptation to future climate change in China
Zhang, Qing; Zhang, Wen; Li, Tingting; Sun, Wenjuan; Yu, Yongqiang; Wang, Guocheng
Climate change continually affects our capabilities to feed the increasing population. Rising temperatures have the potential to shorten the crop growth duration and therefore reduce crop yields. In the past decades, China has successfully improved crop cultivars to stabilize, and even lengthen, the crop growth duration to make use of increasing heat resources. However, because of the complex cropping systems in the different regions of China, the possibility and the effectiveness of regulating crop growth duration to reduce the negative impacts of future climate change remain questionable. Here, we performed a projective analysis of the staple food crop productivity in double-rice, wheat-rice, wheat-maize, single-rice, and single-maize cropping systems in China using modeling approaches. The results indicated that from the present to the 2040s, the warming climate would shorten the growth duration of the current rice, wheat, and maize cultivars by 2-24, 11-13, and 9-29 days, respectively. The most significant shortening of the crop growth duration would be in Northeast China, where single-rice and single-maize cropping dominates the croplands. The shortened crop growth duration would consequently reduce crop productivity. The most significant decreases would be 27-31, 6-20, and 7-22% for the late crop in the double-rice rotation, wheat in the winter wheat-rice rotation, and single maize, respectively. However, our projection analysis also showed that the negative effects of the warming climate could be compensated for by stabilizing the growth duration of the crops via improvement in crop cultivars. In this case, the productivity of rice, wheat, and maize in the 2040s would increase by 4-16, 31-38, and 11-12%, respectively. Our modeling results implied that the possibility of securing future food production exists by adopting proper adaptation options in China.
Methodology for calculation of carbon balances for biofuel crops production
Gerlfand, I.; Hamilton, S. K.; Snapp, S. S.; Robertson, G. P.
Understanding the carbon balance implications for different biofuel crop production systems is important for the development of decision making tools and policies. We present here a detailed methodology for assessing carbon balances in agricultural and natural ecosystems. We use 20 years of data from Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) experiments at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS), combined with models to produce farm level CO2 balances for different management practices. We compared four grain and one forage systems in the U.S. Midwest: corn (Zea mays) - soybean (Glycine max) - wheat (Triticum aestivum) rotations managed with (1) conventional tillage, (2) no till, (3) low chemical input, and (4) biologically-based (organic) practices; and (5) continuous alfalfa (Medicago sativa). In addition we use an abandoned agricultural field (successionnal ecosystem) as reference system. Measurements include fluxes of N2O and CH4, soil organic carbon change, agricultural yields, and agricultural inputs (e.g. fertilization and farm fuel use). In addition to measurements, we model carbon offsets associated with the use of bioenergy from agriculturally produced crops. Our analysis shows the importance of establishing appropriate system boundaries for carbon balance calculations. We explore how different assumptions regarding production methods and emission factors affect overall conclusions on carbon balances of different agricultural systems. Our results show management practices that have major the most important effects on carbon balances. Overall, agricultural management with conventional tillage was found to be a net CO2 source to the atmosphere, while agricultural management under reduced tillage, low input, or organic management sequestered carbon at rates of 93, -23, -51, and -14 g CO2e m-2 yr-1, respectively for conventionally tilled, no-till, low-input, and organically managed ecosystems. Perennial systems (alfalfa and the successionnal fields) showed net carbon
Increased productivity of a cover crop mixture is not associated with enhanced agroecosystem services.
Smith, Richard G; Atwood, Lesley W; Warren, Nicholas D
Cover crops provide a variety of important agroecological services within cropping systems. Typically these crops are grown as monocultures or simple graminoid-legume bicultures; however, ecological theory and empirical evidence suggest that agroecosystem services could be enhanced by growing cover crops in species-rich mixtures. We examined cover crop productivity, weed suppression, stability, and carryover effects to a subsequent cash crop in an experiment involving a five-species annual cover crop mixture and the component species grown as monocultures in SE New Hampshire, USA in 2011 and 2012. The mean land equivalent ratio (LER) for the mixture exceeded 1.0 in both years, indicating that the mixture over-yielded relative to the monocultures. Despite the apparent over-yielding in the mixture, we observed no enhancement in weed suppression, biomass stability, or productivity of a subsequent oat (Avena sativa L.) cash crop when compared to the best monoculture component crop. These data are some of the first to include application of the LER to an analysis of a cover crop mixture and contribute to the growing literature on the agroecological effects of cover crop diversity in cropping systems.
Weed management in short rotation poplar and herbaceous perennial crops grown for biofuel production
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Buhler, D.D. [USDA-Agricultural Research Service National Soil Tilth Lab., Ames, IA (United States); Netzer, D.A.; Riemenschneider, D.E. [USDA-Forest Service, Forestry Sciences Lab., Rhinelander, WI (United States); Hartzler, R.G. [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Dept. of Agrimony
Weed management is a key element of any crop production system. Weeds are a particular problem in the production of short rotation woody and perennial herbaceous biomass crops due to the shortage of registered herbicides and integrated weed management systems. Herbicides will be an important component of weed management of biomass crops. However, producers should take a broader view of weeds and incorporate all available weed management tactics in these production systems. In both short rotation poplar and herbaceous perennial crops, weed control during the establishment period is most critical. New plantings of these species grow very slowly and do not compete well with weeds until a canopy develops. Effective weed control can double the growth of short rotation poplar crops and affect the variability of the resulting stand. In crops like switchgrass, uncontrolled weeds during establishment can result in stand failure. Cultural practices such as site preparation, using weed-free seed, fallowing, selecting the proper planting dates, companion crops and controlling weeds in previous crops must be combined with herbicides to develop integrated management systems. Weeds may also cause problems in established stands through competition with the biomass crop and by contaminating the product. Effective and economical weed management systems will be essential for the development of short rotation woody and herbaceous perennial biomass crop production systems. (Author)
Potential for production of hydrocarbon fuels from crops in Australia
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Stewart, G.A.; Hawker, J.S.; Nix, H.A.; Rawlins, W.H.M.; Williams, L.R.
Four species are examined in some detail by extensive literature searches and travel in Australia and the USA. These are Euphorbia lathyris (gopher plant), Asclepias rotundifolia (cotton bush), Calotropis procera (rubber bush) and Parthenium argentatum (guayule). The immediate conclusion is that, except for guayule, the cost of extracted resins from the three species would be 3 to 10 times the cost of oil under Australian conditions. The byproduct lignocellulosic residues have a value dependent on conversion to methanol - but the scale of resin extraction would be too small to be economic for methonol production. The analysis of guayule as a potential economic crop is much more optimistic: The production of resin from guayule appears very favourable, primarily because guayule produces twice as much rubber as resin and the rubber is five times as valuable as crude oil. Included in the booklet is a short survey of resin-containing plants, farming and environmental limitations, and processing technologies. A more extensive analysis of growing Euphorbia lathyris in Western Australia is given.
Remedial processing of oil shale fly ash (OSFA) and its value-added conversion into glass-ceramics.
Zhang, Zhikun; Zhang, Lei; Li, Aimin
Recently, various solid wastes such as sewage sludge, coal fly ash and slag have been recycled into various products such as sintered bricks, ceramics and cement concrete. Application of these recycling approaches is much better and greener than conventional landfills since it can solve the problems of storage of industrial wastes and reduce exploration of natural resources for construction materials to protect the environment. Therefore, in this study, an attempt was made to recycle oil shale fly ash (OSFA), a by-product obtained from the extracting of shale oil in the oil shale industry, into a value-added glass-ceramic material via melting and sintering method. The influence of basicity (CaO/SiO2 ratio) by adding calcium oxide on the performance of glass-ceramics was studied in terms of phase transformation, mechanical properties, chemical resistances and heavy metals leaching tests. Crystallization kinetics results showed that the increase of basicity reduced the activation energies of crystallization but did not change the crystallization mechanism. When increasing the basicity from 0.2 to 0.5, the densification of sintering body was enhanced due to the promotion of viscous flow of glass powders, and therefore the compression strength and bending strength of glass-ceramics were increased. Heavy metals leaching results indicated that the produced OSFA-based glass-ceramics could be taken as non-hazardous materials. The maximum mechanical properties of compression strength of 186 ± 3 MPa, bending strength of 78 ± 6 MPa, good chemical resistances and low heavy metals leaching concentrations showed that it could be used as a substitute material for construction applications. The proposed approach will be one of the potential sustainable solutions in reducing the storage of oil shale fly ash as well as converting it into a value-added product. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Reducing N2O and NO emissions while sustaining crop productivity in a Chinese vegetable-cereal double cropping system.
Yao, Zhisheng; Yan, Guangxuan; Zheng, Xunhua; Wang, Rui; Liu, Chunyan; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus
High nitrogen (N) inputs in Chinese vegetable and cereal productions played key roles in increasing crop yields. However, emissions of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) and atmospheric pollutant nitric oxide (NO) increased too. For lowering the environmental costs of crop production, it is essential to optimize N strategies to maintain high crop productivity, while reducing the associated N losses. We performed a 2 year-round field study regarding the effect of different combinations of poultry manure and chemical N fertilizers on crop yields, N use efficiency (NUE) and N2O and NO fluxes from a Welsh onion-winter wheat system in the North China Plain. Annual N2O and NO emissions averaged 1.14-3.82 kg N ha-1 yr-1 (or 5.54-13.06 g N kg-1 N uptake) and 0.57-1.87 kg N ha-1 yr-1 (or 2.78-6.38 g N kg-1 N uptake) over all treatments, respectively. Both N2O and NO emissions increased linearly with increasing total N inputs, and the mean annual direct emission factors (EFd) were 0.39% for N2O and 0.19% for NO. Interestingly, the EFd for chemical N fertilizers (N2O: 0.42-0.48%; NO: 0.07-0.11%) was significantly lower than for manure N (N2O: 1.35%; NO: 0.76%). Besides, a negative power relationship between yield-scaled N2O, NO or N2O + NO emissions and NUE was observed, suggesting that improving NUE in crop production is crucial for increasing crop yields while decreasing nitrogenous gas release. Compared to the current farmers' fertilization rate, alternative practices with reduced chemical N fertilizers increased NUE and decreased annual N2O + NO emissions substantially, while crop yields remained unaffected. As a result, annual yield-scaled N2O + NO emissions were reduced by > 20%. Our study shows that a reduction of current application rates of chemical N fertilizers by 30-50% does not affect crop productivity, while at the same time N2O and NO emissions would be reduced significantly. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Catalytic hydrothermal conversion of carboxymethyl cellulose to value-added chemicals over metal-organic framework MIL-53(Al).
Zi, Guoli; Yan, Zhiying; Wang, Yangxia; Chen, Yongjuan; Guo, Yunlong; Yuan, Fagui; Gao, Wenyu; Wang, Yanmei; Wang, Jiaqiang
Catalytic hydrolysis of biomass over solid catalysts can be one of the most efficient pathways for a future sustainable society dependent on cellulose biomass. In this work metal-organic framework MIL-53(Al) without any functionalization was directly employed as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the hydrolysis of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to 5-hydroxymethyl-furaldehyde (5-HMF) in aqueous phase. A 5-HMF molar yield of 40.3% and total reducing sugar (TRS) molar yield of 54.2% were obtained with water as single solvent at 473 K for 4 h. The catalyst could be reused three times without losing activity to a greater extent. With the remarkable advantages such as the use of water as single solvent and MIL-53(Al) as a novel heterogeneous green catalyst, the work provides a new platform for the production of value added chemicals and liquid fuels from biomass. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Land Suitability Characterization for Crop and Fruit Production in ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The focus was on food crops and fruits those can be used to alleviate poverty and improve nutrition in farm households, with the highest priority assigned to crops and fruits already well established in the area. Remote sensing (ILWIS3.3) and GIS (ArcView3.2) softwares were used to establish the land unit maps of the area.
Black oat cover crop management in watermelon production systems
Black oats (Avena strigosa Schreb.) were sown as a cover crop near Weslaco, Texas (Lat. 26 deg N) in Fall 2010. The cover crop was allowed to senesce naturally and was planted to watermelons in both the spring and in the fall of 2011. Watermelon transplants planted in the spring into mowed black o...
Crop production management practices as a cause for low water ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
May 15, 2009 ... In this regard, it is expected that farmers could benefit from 'back to basics' training programmes in the areas of crop and .... Irrigation distribution tests were done by setting up catch cans in a 3 m × 3 m grid between the .... Weed-crop competition caused by inadequate weed con- trol was among the major ...
Photochemical and chemical transformation of Calotropis procera latex towards obtaining value added chemicals and fuels
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Sharma, D.K.; Arora, M.; Behera, B.K. [Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (India). Centre for Energy Studies
Photothermal degradation of the latex obtained from Calotropis procera showed enhanced extraction in heptane up to 50%. Treatment of the latex with different concentrations of NaOH resulted in the reduction in heptane extraction of the latex. Treatment of latex with aqueous HCl coagulated it, resulting in an increase in extraction yield. The {sup 1}HNMR, {sup 13}CNMR and FTIR spectral analyses of treated latex showed an increase in the olefinic and carbonyl groups in the latex. This showed that photothermal treatments rendered the latex more amenable to hydrocracking for obtaining value added chemicals and fuels from the latex. 13 refs., 2 tabs.
The determination of value added tax in the financial services industry
M.Comm. VAT is a tax that is based on taxing the value added on successive transactions in the supply chain, accordingly it is a tax designed for the retail or manufacturing industries. South Africa introduced VAT that is similar to that introduced across the world and later refined it. The revisions included the introduction of VAT on banking services. The introduction of VAT to banking is a first in the VAT world but still does not find a cure for the principle dilemma of taxing a bank's...
A Research on Performance Measurement Based on Economic Valued-Added Comprehensive Scorecard
Chen, Qin; Zhang, Xiaomei
With the development of economic, the traditional performance mainly rely on financial indicators could not satisfy the need of work. In order to make the performance measurement taking the best services for business goals, this paper proposed Economic Valued-Added Comprehensive Scorecard based on research of shortages and advantages of EVA and BSC .We used Analytic Hierarchy Process to build matrix to solve the weighting of EVA Comprehensive Scorecard. At last we could find the most influence factors for enterprise value forming the weighting.
Exploring the impact of a spatial data infrastructure on value-added resellers and vice versa
CSIR Research Space (South Africa)
Cooper, Antony K
Full Text Available stream_source_info Cooper_2013_ABSTRACT ONLY.pdf.txt stream_content_type text/plain stream_size 1359 Content-Encoding UTF-8 stream_name Cooper_2013_ABSTRACT ONLY.pdf.txt Content-Type text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Cartography... from Pole to Pole Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography 2014, pp 395-404 Exploring the Impact of a Spatial Data Infrastructure on Value- Added Resellers and Vice Versa Antony K. Cooper, Serena Coetzee, Petr Rapant, Dominique Laurent...
Crop Production Handbook for Peace Corps Volunteers. Appropriate Technologies for Development. Reprint R-6.
This manual, prepared for use by Peace Corps volunteers, provides background information and practical knowledge about crop production. The manual is designed to convey insights into basic crop production, principles, and practices. Primary emphasis is given to providing explanations and illustrations of soil, plant, and water relationships as…
Exploring options for improving water and nitrogen use efficiency in crop production systems
Qin, W.
Water and nitrogen (N) are two key limiting factors in global crop production. However, the optimization of water and N use is often studied separately, and the interactions between water and N use in crop production are often neglected. Lack of systematic
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Data Release One with emission-line physics value-added products
Green, Andrew W.; Croom, Scott M.; Scott, Nicholas; Cortese, Luca; Medling, Anne M.; D'Eugenio, Francesco; Bryant, Julia J.; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Allen, J. T.; Sharp, Rob; Ho, I.-Ting; Groves, Brent; Drinkwater, Michael J.; Mannering, Elizabeth; Harischandra, Lloyd; van de Sande, Jesse; Thomas, Adam D.; O'Toole, Simon; McDermid, Richard M.; Vuong, Minh; Sealey, Katrina; Bauer, Amanda E.; Brough, S.; Catinella, Barbara; Cecil, Gerald; Colless, Matthew; Couch, Warrick J.; Driver, Simon P.; Federrath, Christoph; Foster, Caroline; Goodwin, Michael; Hampton, Elise J.; Hopkins, A. M.; Jones, D. Heath; Konstantopoulos, Iraklis S.; Lawrence, J. S.; Leon-Saval, Sergio G.; Liske, Jochen; López-Sánchez, Ángel R.; Lorente, Nuria P. F.; Mould, Jeremy; Obreschkow, Danail; Owers, Matt S.; Richards, Samuel N.; Robotham, Aaron S. G.; Schaefer, Adam L.; Sweet, Sarah M.; Taranu, Dan S.; Tescari, Edoardo; Tonini, Chiara; Zafar, T.
We present the first major release of data from the SAMI Galaxy Survey. This data release focuses on the emission-line physics of galaxies. Data Release One includes data for 772 galaxies, about 20 per cent of the full survey. Galaxies included have the redshift range 0.004 < z < 0.092, a large mass range (7.6 < log M*/ M⊙ < 11.6), and star formation rates of ˜10-4 to ˜101M⊙ yr-1. For each galaxy, we include two spectral cubes and a set of spatially resolved 2D maps: single- and multi-component emission-line fits (with dust-extinction corrections for strong lines), local dust extinction, and star formation rate. Calibration of the fibre throughputs, fluxes, and differential atmospheric refraction has been improved over the Early Data Release. The data have average spatial resolution of 2.16 arcsec (full width at half-maximum) over the 15 arcsec diameter field of view and spectral (kinematic) resolution of R = 4263 (σ = 30 km s-1) around H α. The relative flux calibration is better than 5 per cent, and absolute flux calibration has an rms of 10 per cent. The data are presented online through the Australian Astronomical Observatory's Data Central.
Production of value-added chars and activated carbons from animal manure
The United States has a strong agricultural foundation that leaves behind large quantities of animal wastes. In the United States, an estimated 9 billion broilers, 256 million turkeys, 62 million pigs and 97 million dairy cows were produced in 2006 producing 5 times the waste of the U.S. human popu...
Reducing non value adding aluminium alloy in production of parts through high pressure die casting
CSIR Research Space (South Africa)
Pereira, MFVT
Full Text Available temperature alloy, in the runner area. The die design was of a modular approach which makes provision for replaceable inserts in the runner and biscuit area. These inserts were manufactured from standard hot work steels and special heat resistant materials... temperature was raised to above 400°C, which was required to minimize the mean temperature difference (∆T) between the aluminium melt and the surface of the inserts containing the biscuit and runner. Processing aluminium with tungsten inserts should be kept...
Evaluation of GCM Column Radiation Models Under Cloudy Conditions with The Arm BBHRP Value Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Oreopoulos, Lazaros; Norris, Peter M.
The overarching goal of the project was to improve the transfer of solar and thermal radiation in the most sophisticated computer tools that are currently available for climate studies, namely Global Climate Models (GCMs). This transfer can be conceptually separated into propagation of radiation under cloudy and under cloudless conditions. For cloudless conditions, the factors that affect radiation propagation are gaseous absorption and scattering, aerosol particle absorption and scattering and surface albedo and emissivity. For cloudy atmospheres the factors are the various cloud properties such as cloud fraction, amount of cloud condensate, the size of the cloud particles, and morphological cloud features such as cloud vertical location, cloud horizontal and vertical inhomogeneity and cloud shape and size. The project addressed various aspects of the influence of the above contributors to atmospheric radiative transfer variability. In particular, it examined: (a) the quality of radiative transfer for cloudless and non-complex cloudy conditions for a substantial number of radiation algorithms used in current GCMs; (b) the errors in radiative fluxes from neglecting the horizontal variabiity of cloud extinction; (c) the statistical properties of cloud horizontal and vertical cloud inhomogeneity that can be incorporated into radiative transfer codes; (d) the potential albedo effects of changes in the particle size of liquid clouds; (e) the gaseous radiative forcing in the presence of clouds; and (f) the relative contribution of clouds of different sizes to the reflectance of a cloud field. To conduct the research in the various facets of the project, data from both the DOE ARM project and other sources were used. The outcomes of the project will have tangible effects on how the calculation of radiative energy will be approached in future editions of GCMs. With better calculations of radiative energy in GCMs more reliable predictions of future climate states will be attainable, thus affecting public policy decisions with great impact to public life.
Development of the phosphorus and nitrogen containing flame retardant for value added cotton product
It is our desire to develop new crosslinking agents for cotton textiles that afford useful flame protection regardless of fabric construction. Herein we present the synthesis and the application of the triazine and piperazine derivatives as flame retardant on cotton. Novel phosphorus-nitrogen contai...
Radiatively Important Parameters Best Estimate (RIPBE): An ARM Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
McFarlane, S; Shippert, T; Mather, J
The Radiatively Important Parameters Best Estimate (RIPBE) VAP was developed to create a complete set of clearly identified set of parameters on a uniform vertical and temporal grid to use as input to a radiative transfer model. One of the main drivers for RIPBE was as input to the Broadband Heating Rate Profile (BBHRP) VAP, but we also envision using RIPBE files for user-run radiative transfer codes, as part of cloud/aerosol retrieval testbeds, and as input to averaged datastreams for model evaluation.
Aerosol Optical Depth Value-Added Product for the SAS-He Instrument
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Ermold, B [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Flynn, CJ [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Barnard, J [University of Nevada Reno
The Shortwave Array Spectroradiometer – Hemispheric (SAS-He) is a ground-based, shadowband instrument that measures the direct and diffuse solar irradiance. In this regard, the instrument is similar to the Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (MFRSR) – an instrument that has been in the ARM suite of instruments for more than 15 years. However, the two instruments differ significantly in wavelength resolution and range. In particular, the MFRSR only observes the spectrum in six discrete wavelength channels of about 10 nm width from 415 to 940 nm. The SAS-He, in contrast, incorporates two fiber-coupled grating spectrometers: a Si CCD spectrometer with over 2000 pixels covering the range from 325-1040 nm with ~ 2.5 nm resolution ,and an InGaAs array spectrometer with 256 pixels covering the wavelength range from 960-1700 nm with ~ 6 nm resolution.
ARM Data-Oriented Metrics and Diagnostics Package for Climate Model Evaluation Value-Added Product
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Zhang, Chengzhu [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Xie, Shaocheng [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
A Python-based metrics and diagnostics package is currently being developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Infrastructure Team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to facilitate the use of long-term, high-frequency measurements from the ARM Facility in evaluating the regional climate simulation of clouds, radiation, and precipitation. This metrics and diagnostics package computes climatological means of targeted climate model simulation and generates tables and plots for comparing the model simulation with ARM observational data. The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) model data sets are also included in the package to enable model intercomparison as demonstrated in Zhang et al. (2017). The mean of the CMIP model can serve as a reference for individual models. Basic performance metrics are computed to measure the accuracy of mean state and variability of climate models. The evaluated physical quantities include cloud fraction, temperature, relative humidity, cloud liquid water path, total column water vapor, precipitation, sensible and latent heat fluxes, and radiative fluxes, with plan to extend to more fields, such as aerosol and microphysics properties. Process-oriented diagnostics focusing on individual cloud- and precipitation-related phenomena are also being developed for the evaluation and development of specific model physical parameterizations. The version 1.0 package is designed based on data collected at ARM's Southern Great Plains (SGP) Research Facility, with the plan to extend to other ARM sites. The metrics and diagnostics package is currently built upon standard Python libraries and additional Python packages developed by DOE (such as CDMS and CDAT). The ARM metrics and diagnostic package is available publicly with the hope that it can serve as an easy entry point for climate modelers to compare their models with ARM data. In this report, we first present the input data, which constitutes the core content of the metrics and diagnostics package in section 2, and a user's guide documenting the workflow/structure of the version 1.0 codes, and including step-by-step instruction for running the package in section 3.
A Computational Tool for Comparative Energy Cost Analysis of Multiple-Crop Production Systems
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Efthymios Rodias
Full Text Available Various crops can be considered as potential bioenergy and biofuel production feedstocks. The selection of the crops to be cultivated for that purpose is based on several factors. For an objective comparison between different crops, a common framework is required to assess their economic or energetic performance. In this paper, a computational tool for the energy cost evaluation of multiple-crop production systems is presented. All the in-field and transport operations are considered, providing a detailed analysis of the energy requirements of the components that contribute to the overall energy consumption. A demonstration scenario is also described. The scenario is based on three selected energy crops, namely Miscanthus, Arundo donax and Switchgrass. The tool can be used as a decision support system for the evaluation of different agronomical practices (such as fertilization and agrochemicals application, machinery systems, and management practices that can be applied in each one of the individual crops within the production system.
Soil properties, crop production and greenhouse gas emissions in organic and conventional cropping systems
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Chirinda, Ngonidzashe; Olesen, Jørgen E; Porter, John Roy
: total soil organic carbon (SOC), total N, microbial biomass N (MBN), potentially mineralizable N (PMN), and levels of potential ammonium oxidation (PAO) and denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA). In situ measurements of soil heterotrophic carbon dioxide (CO2) respiration and nitrous oxide emissions were...... crops, respectively. Nevertheless, SOC levels in 2008 were similar across systems. The cumulative soil respiration for the period February to August 2008 ranged between 2 and 3 t CO2–C ha−1 and was correlated (r = 0.95) with average C inputs. In the organic cropping systems, pig slurry application...... and inclusion of catch crops generally increased soil respiration, PMN and PAO. At field capacity, relative gas diffusivity at 0–5 cm depth was >50% higher in the organic than the inorganic fertilizer-based system (P
Controlled environment crop production - Hydroponic vs. lunar regolith
Bugbee, Bruce G.; Salisbury, Frank B.
The potential of controlled environment crop production in a lunar colony is discussed. Findings on the effects of optimal root-zone and aerial environments derived as part of the NASA CELSS project at Utah State are presented. The concept of growing wheat in optimal environment is discussed. It is suggested that genetic engineering might produce the ideal wheat cultivar for CELSS (about 100 mm in height with fewer leaves). The Utah State University hydroponic system is outlined and diagrams of the system and plant container construction are provided. Ratio of plant mass to solution mass, minimum root-zone volume, maintenance, and pH control are discussed. A comparison of liquid hydrophonic systems and lunar regoliths as substrates for plant growth is provided. The physiological processes that are affected by the root-zone environment are discussed including carbon partitioning, nutrient availability, nutrient absorption zones, root-zone oxygen, plant water potential, root-produced hormones, and rhizosphere pH control.
GM crops, the environment and sustainable food production.
Raven, Peter H
Today, over 7.1 billion people rely on the earth's resources for sustenance, and nearly a billion people are malnourished, their minds and bodies unable to develop properly. Globally, population is expected to rise to more than 9 billion by 2050. Given the combined pressures of human population growth, the rapidly growing desire for increased levels of consumption, and the continued use of inappropriate technologies, it is not surprising that humans are driving organisms to extinction at an unprecedented rate. Many aspects of the sustainable functioning of the natural world are breaking down in the face of human-induced pressures including our individual and collective levels of consumption and our widespread and stubborn use of destructive technologies. Clearly, agriculture must undergo a redesign and be better and more effectively managed so as to contribute as well as possible to feeding people, while at the same time we strive to lessen the tragic loss of biodiversity and damage to all of its productive systems that the world is experiencing. For GM crops to be part of the solution, biosafety assessments should not be overly politically-driven or a burdensome impedance to delivering this technology broadly. Biosafety scientists and policy makers need to recognize the undeniable truth that inappropriate actions resulting in indecision also have negative consequences. It is no longer acceptable to delay the use of any strategy that is safe and will help us achieve the ability to feed the world's people.
Assessing State Models of Value-Added Teacher Evaluations: Alignment of Policy, Instruments, and Literature-Based Concepts
Hutchison-Lupardus, Tammy R.; Hatfield, Timothy E.; Snyder, Jennifer E.
This problem-based learning project addressed the need to improve the construction and implementation of value-added teacher evaluation policies and instruments. State officials are constructing value-added teacher evaluation models due to accountability initiatives, while ignoring the holes and problems in its implementation. The team's…
A Web-Based Tool for Energy Balance Estimation in Multiple-Crops Production Systems
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Patrizia Busato; Alessandro Sopegno; Remigio Berruto; Dionysis Bochtis; Angela Calvo
...., for a whole farm in terms of energy and cost requirements. This paper is the continuation of previous work, which presents a web-based tool for cost estimation of biomass production and transportation of multiple-crop production...
Metrix Matrix: A Cloud-Based System for Tracking Non-Relative Value Unit Value-Added Work Metrics.
Kovacs, Mark D; Sheafor, Douglas H; Thacker, Paul G; Hardie, Andrew D; Costello, Philip
In the era of value-based medicine, it will become increasingly important for radiologists to provide metrics that demonstrate their value beyond clinical productivity. In this article the authors describe their institution's development of an easy-to-use system for tracking value-added but non-relative value unit (RVU)-based activities. Metrix Matrix is an efficient cloud-based system for tracking value-added work. A password-protected home page contains links to web-based forms created using Google Forms, with collected data populating Google Sheets spreadsheets. Value-added work metrics selected for tracking included interdisciplinary conferences, hospital committee meetings, consulting on nonbilled outside studies, and practice-based quality improvement. Over a period of 4 months, value-added work data were collected for all clinical attending faculty members in a university-based radiology department (n = 39). Time required for data entry was analyzed for 2 faculty members over the same time period. Thirty-nine faculty members (equivalent to 36.4 full-time equivalents) reported a total of 1,223.5 hours of value-added work time (VAWT). A formula was used to calculate "value-added RVUs" (vRVUs) from VAWT. VAWT amounted to 5,793.6 vRVUs or 6.0% of total work performed (vRVUs plus work RVUs [wRVUs]). Were vRVUs considered equivalent to wRVUs for staffing purposes, this would require an additional 2.3 full-time equivalents, on the basis of average wRVU calculations. Mean data entry time was 56.1 seconds per day per faculty member. As health care reimbursement evolves with an emphasis on value-based medicine, it is imperative that radiologists demonstrate the value they add to patient care beyond wRVUs. This free and easy-to-use cloud-based system allows the efficient quantification of value-added work activities. Copyright © 2017 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.