Farming under constrained budgets: Practices of agricultural credit users in central Lombok, Indonesia

There has been a long dependency on credit by Indonesian farmers as a result of the lack of capital to apply proper farming practices. This paper describes the farming activities applied by agricultural credit users in Central Lombok, Indonesia. A survey was conducted during July 2001- March 2002 of 65 farmers making use of government or private credit in three villages within the Regency. Data from the farmers were collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Survey results indicated that on average, farmers had some 20 years experience of farming, were aged 40 years, but lacked of formal education. Their main asset was cropping land with average landholding of 0.69 ha. As a consequence of their capital constraints, farmers were commonly making use of credit to finance their farming activities, including both production of rice as the main crop and secondary crops. Farmers generally applied less than recommended amount of inputs in their farming practices, since the amount of credit they obtained was limited. As a result, their farms become less productive and their repayment capability of loans diminished. Of 65 farmers interviewed, 54 could earn extra income by engaging in a variety of non-farm activities, which contributed on average some 36% to family incomes of over Rp 5 million (A$ 1 thousand). The average credit repayment rate made by agricultural producers was 60%. The repayment made did not always reflect farm production capacity, being sometimes supported by other borrowings. The greater role of credit is not in increasing agricultural production or improving farmers’ income, but in helping them to sustain farm production and their living. Farmers need a bigger amount of credit to make an impact on their livelihood. This should be accompanied by extension services for farmers to enable better use of credit and to change their attitude towards it. As well, farmers require to be equipped with technical and market skills to run a business. Interdisciplinarity, holistic analysis, and an expansion of traditional ‘agricultural’ interests to embrace the span of interests included in rural livelihood, are each critical features of revision of the existing system.

Religião, redes sociais e capital social no Município de Rio Grande da Serra na Região do Grande ABC Paulista. Estudo das trocas materiais e simbólicas em contexto de periferia urbana

O município de Rio Grande da Serra está situado em uma região Grande ABC paulista reconhecida nacionalmente por seu desenvolvimento econômico e industrial e pelas lutas políticas e sindicais. Paradoxalmente, se configura, social e territorialmente falando, por uma região de periferia urbana. Resultado da forma como a urbanização, na sociedade moderna, conforma o espaço em regiões centrais e periféricas. Localizado no caminho que ligava Santos à Mogi das Cruzes (século XIX) povoado de Geribatiba decorrente das transformações urbanas ocorridas em toda a região, conquistaria, nos anos 1960, sua autonomia político-administrativa. Nas décadas seguintes testemunhou intenso crescimento populacional, resultado do processo migratório, principalmente de mineiros e nordestinos que tinham as cidades, e indústrias, de São Paulo e Grande ABC como destino. Esse deslocamento de pessoas, e as redes formadas em seu em torno, contribuiu para o desenvolvimento de seu campo religioso. Atualmente, com uma população, em torno, de 46 mil habitantes, possui aproximadamente 180 locais de cerimônias religiosas. Nesse contexto, a tese analisa a inserção regional socioeconômica e religiosa de Rio Grande da Serra, a partir de dados comparativos com os demais municípios, e discute como o regionalismo tem contribuído para seu desenvolvimento econômico. Realiza a caracterização das periferias urbanas, discutindo aspectos que lhes são inerentes, como segregação e vulnerabilidade social. Nesse sentido, a investigação possibilitou a identificação do perfil socioeconômico (renda e escolaridade) dos participantes dos grupos religiosos (católicos, evangélicos, kardecistas e umbandistas), permitindo, também, identificar desigualdades sociais no interior de seu território, constatando que determinados bairros são mais vulneráveis do que outros. Considerando que esse estudo examina a capacidade das redes sociais e religiosas, de aumentar o capital social de seus participantes, foi realizado o mapeamento e etnografia das diversas práticas associativas, mais ou menos formais e estruturadas, de forma a analisar os elementos materiais e simbólicos por elas produzidos. Constatou-se, apoiado na aplicação de questionários, entrevistas e observação participativa, que, a partir do habitus religioso de cada grupo, as redes possibilitam no âmbito econômico questões como emprego e renda ou auxílio em necessidades básicas de sobrevivência, através de campanhas e trabalhos sociais. No âmbito simbólico, as redes propiciam questões importantes à existência humana, como a crença na salvação ou evolução da alma, socialização, autoestima, prestígio ou ainda a expectativa de cura ou tratamento de dependência química. Pôde-se aferir que, a despeito das diferentes formas como cada grupo, e seus participantes, se apropriam do capital social, as redes sociais e religiosas, no município, funcionam como redes de proteção, especialmente à população em situação alta de vulnerabilidade social.

CONSOLIDAÇÃO OU MUDANÇA? UMA ANÁLISE FEMINISTA DA PASTORAL DA CRIANÇA

O objetivo central desta tese é investigar o potencial de transformação social da organização não-governamental, ligada a CNBB(Confederação Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil).- Pastoral da Criança - para a libertação de mulheres que lá atuam, das relações de dominação e opressões inerentes ao contexto kyriarchal. Esta pesquisa procura considerar o espaço religioso subjacente à organização em decorrência das influências das CEBs (Comunidades Eclesiais de Base) e do MRCC (Movimento de Renovação Católica Carismática). É feita pesquisa de campo na região de Curitiba com observações e entrevistas semi-estruturadas com doze mulheres atuando na Pastoral da Criança, valorizando-se a relação intersubjetiva entre pesquisadora e pessoas envolvidas na pesquisa. A análise qualitativa de dados em relação ao marco teórico feminista desenvolvido em Ciências Sociais pela sociologia, psicanálise e também a teologia, mostra o discurso das representações sociais das mulheres envolvidas, a percepção de suas próprias identidades e a importância da organização na construção de suas vidas. Nos traz a conclusão que a organização reproduz o perfil tradicional de mulheres na função materna e facilita a formação de redes comunitárias. Averigua-se que a Pastoral da Criança está vinculada ao sistema neoliberal de pensamento que reproduz os discursos de dominação do sistema kyriarchal da hierarquia da Igreja Católica e da medicina higienista. Essas instituições de apropriam da vida e dos corpos das mulheres e os reduzem às suas funções meramente biológicas, reprodutivas e de cuidados. A Pastoral da Criança é caracterizada por atividades que não consideram as causas estruturais da pobreza, mas apenas tentam amenizar os seus efeitos e conseqüências. Em suas capacitações, a organização usa a forma bancária de educação que reproduz as relações de dominação e dependência de mulheres pobres. A organização, mesmo com a estrutura da ideologia religiosa analisada, não está vinculada sistematicamente em um espaço religioso. Sugere-se em relação à situação da organização, a abertura das idéias e valores feministas nos campos da saúde e religião a fim de promover a libertação e empoderamento reais de mulheres pobres. Esta recomendação está ligada com a abertura, a necessidade de reflexão e de conhecimento, mostradas pelas mulheres entrevistadas durante a pesquisa de campo. Considera-se como limitação aos resultados da pesquisa, o local pesquisado por não ter influências de movimentos sociais.(AU)

Equiangular spiral micro-structured waveguides in lithium niobate

Buried, micro-structured waveguides with an equiangular spiral geometry, which can be formed in a lithium niobate crystal by direct femtosecond laser writing, are analysed with the full-vectorial finite element method. The guiding properties of such waveguides are presented.

Structured neural network modelling of multi-valued functions for wind retrieval from scatterometer measurements

A conventional neural network approach to regression problems approximates the conditional mean of the output vector. For mappings which are multi-valued this approach breaks down, since the average of two solutions is not necessarily a valid solution. In this article mixture density networks, a principled method to model conditional probability density functions, are applied to retrieving Cartesian wind vector components from satellite scatterometer data. A hybrid mixture density network is implemented to incorporate prior knowledge of the predominantly bimodal function branches. An advantage of a fully probabilistic model is that more sophisticated and principled methods can be used to resolve ambiguities.

Structured codebooks for SCS watermarking

Digital watermarking aims at embedding information in digital data. The watermark is usually required to be imperceptible, unremovable and to have a high information content. Unfortunately, these three requirements are contradicting. For example, having a more robust watermark makes it either more perceptible or/and less informative. For Gaussian data and additive white Gaussian noise, an optimal but also impractical scheme has already be devised. Since then, many practical schemes have tried to approach the theoretical limits. This paper investigate improvements to current state-of-the-art embedding schemes.

Structured neural network modelling of multi-valued functions for wind retrieval from scatterometer measurements

A conventional neural network approach to regression problems approximates the conditional mean of the output vector. For mappings which are multi-valued this approach breaks down, since the average of two solutions is not necessarily a valid solution. In this article mixture density networks, a principled method to model conditional probability density functions, are applied to retrieving Cartesian wind vector components from satellite scatterometer data. A hybrid mixture density network is implemented to incorporate prior knowledge of the predominantly bimodal function branches. An advantage of a fully probabilistic model is that more sophisticated and principled methods can be used to resolve ambiguities.

Structured engagement in the extended enterprise

Discusses the necessity for the conscious recognition of the phenomenon known as the extended enterprise; this demands that product, process and supply chain design are all considered simultaneously. Structure must be given to the extended enterprise in order to understand and manage it efficaciously. The authors discuss multiple perspectives for doing this, and employ the notions of “3-dimensional concurrent engineering” and “holonic thinking” for conceiving what the structure may look like. Describes a current “action research” project that is investigating potential lead-time reductions within an extended enterprise’s product introduction process. This aims to produce process visualisations, a framework for structuring and sychronising phases and stage-gates within the extended enterprise, and a new simulation tool which will provide a synthetic distributed hypermedia network. These deliverables will be used to play strategic “games” to explore problem issues within the product introduction process that belongs to the extended enterprise, develop teamwork across autonomous companies, and ultimately, contribute to the design of future extended enterprise supply chains.

On the search for spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) with spatial dependency

This paper examines various specifications that are used within the literature to test for spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI). Analysis provides significant evidence of externalities from inward FDI, but it shows that these externalities are more localized than has previously been believed. Further, the results demonstrate that the econometric treatment of issues such as agglomeration, contiguity and spatial dependence significantly changes the conclusions regarding local and national spillovers from FDI, and productivity growth more generally.

Practices and views on fetal heart monitoring:A structured observation and interview study

Objective: To assess and explain deviations from recommended practice in National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines in relation to fetal heart monitoring. Design: Qualitative study. Setting: Large teaching hospital in the UK. Sample: Sixty-six hours of observation of 25 labours and interviews with 20 midwives of varying grades. Methods: Structured observations of labour and semistructured interviews with midwives. Interviews were undertaken using a prompt guide, audiotaped, and transcribed verbatim. Analysis was based on the constant comparative method, assisted by QSR N5 software. Main outcome measures: Deviations from recommended practice in relation to fetal monitoring and insights into why these occur. Results: All babies involved in the study were safely delivered, but 243 deviations from recommended practice in relation to NICE guidelines on fetal monitoring were identified, with the majority (80%) of these occurring in relation to documentation. Other deviations from recommended practice included indications for use of electronic fetal heart monitoring and conduct of fetal heart monitoring. There is evidence of difficulties with availability and maintenance of equipment, and some deficits in staff knowledge and skill. Differing orientations towards fetal monitoring were reported by midwives, which were likely to have impacts on practice. The initiation, management, and interpretation of fetal heart monitoring is complex and distributed across time, space, and professional boundaries, and practices in relation to fetal heart monitoring need to be understood within an organisational and social context. Conclusion: Some deviations from best practice guidelines may be rectified through straightforward interventions including improved systems for managing equipment and training. Other deviations from recommended practice need to be understood as the outcomes of complex processes that are likely to defy easy resolution. © RCOG 2006.

Control of the properties of micro-structured waveguides in lithium niobate crystal

We study numerically depressed-index cladding, buried, micro-structured optical waveguides that can be formed in a lithium niobate crystal by femtosecond laser writing. We demonstrate to which extent the waveguiding properties can be controlled by the waveguide geometry at the relatively moderate induced refractive index contrasts that are typical of the direct femtosecond inscription.