Project management in the Apollo program Interim report

Project management in Apollo progra

Manned space flight in transition

A study was conducted to analyze the reorientation of NASA programs in the post-Apollo period. The study is an external view of NASA by unbiased observers as an input to and aid in the decision making process concerning near and long term planning. The subjects discussed are: (1) the near-term NASA scenario; (2) organization of field centers; (3) planning activities; and (4) operational activities. A summary of the recommendations arising as a result of the study is presented

The economics of managing crop diversity on-farm: Case studies from the genetic resources policy initiative

The purpose of this book is to assess a variety of economic issues as they relate to agro-biodiversity and show how addressing these issues can assist in agro-biodiversity policy-making. This is illustrated using empirical data from some of the countries (Ethiopia, Nepal and Zambia) which are part of the Genetic Resources Policy Initiative. The empirical chapters apply the relevant economic methods, including regression analysis, choice experiments, hedonic pricing, contingent valuation and farm business income analysis. The authors discuss the economics of managing crop diversity on-farm in the context of crop variety attribute preferences, farmers' perception of agro-biodiversity loss, and value addition and marketing of the products of traditional crop varieties. The case studies include detailed analysis of traditional varieties of groundnut, maize, rice, sorghum, and teff. The results are relevant not only to GRPI countries but also to other countries concerned with the sustainable utilization of these resources. Overall, the studies illustrate how genetic resources issues can be integrated into rural development interventions

Venture Capital and Business Angels and the Creation of Innovative Firms in Poland

The article also points out that conditions fostering further development of the described types of entrepreneurship and innovation financing and a dynamic environment generating innovative capacity should be created.W artykule zasygnalizowano również potrzebę kreowania uwarunkowań sprzyjających rozwojowi opisanych form finansowania przedsiębiorczości, innowacyjności i dynamicznego otoczenia generującego zdolności innowacyjne

Preservação e organização da geoinformação em instituições: o caso da construção da Infraestrutura de Dados Espaciais da Embrapa.

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar a estratégia da Embrapa para construir sua Infraestrutura de Dados Espaciais de forma a contribuir com o debate sobre a organização, preservação e integração de dados geoespaciais heterogêneos de acordo com as diretrizes federais estabelecidas pela INDE. Para esse fim, apresentaremos as etapas do processo interno realizado na Embrapa para elaboração o plano de adesão à INDE, o qual contou com a formação de um grupo de trabalho e, em seguida, descreveremos a estratégia elaborada

Valuing indigenous cattle breeds in Kenya: An empirical comparison of stated and revealed preference value estimates

In this study we compare revealed and stated-preference approaches to value live-stock traits of cattle in Kenya. The premise is that much can be learnt about non-market values of indigenous animal genetic resources (AnGRs) from the use of multi-attribute stated-preference methods, if these compare well with revealed-preference results. The objective is to investigate the performance of choice experiments (CEs) in Maasai cattle trading, by conducting an external test of preference consistency. This involves comparing value estimates for cattle attributes derived from CEs data with those obtained using a hedonic analysis of actual transactions by the same population of traders, in the same markets and over the same period. If CEs perform well, they can be used to investigate values of those genetically-determined livestock traits currently not prominent in pastoralists' populations, but desirable candidates for breeding or conservation programmes (e.g. disease resistance). It is argued that these methods are important in developing countries where livestock are kept for economic reasons and for cultural and risk management functions which are critical to livelihood strategies, but not valued by markets. The results indicate that CEs estimates pass the external test and appear to be adequately precise in estimating values for cattle traits that are relevant in market transactions for Maasai traders. They may be, therefore, a promising tool for valuing phenotypic traits expressed by indigenous AnGRs

Domestication of payments for ecosystem services: new evidence from the Andes.

The current project has sought to assess i) the potential of agricultural biodiversity-focused PES to serve as a cost-effective and socially equitable domesticated diversity conservation incentive scheme, as well as ii) how economic incentive mechanisms such as PES can be designed to build on and complement local institutions of collective action. Results are presented from pilot Payment for Agrobiodiversity Conservation (PACS) schemes and framed field experiments implemented in the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes aimed at sustaining diversity within quinoa, a traditional Andean grain. Findings indicate that opportunity costs of conservation vary widely not only between the two study sites, but also between community-based groups within each site. This creates opportunities to minimize intervention costs by selecting least-cost conserving farmers. However, as shown with respect to the role of wealth and cooperation in determining opportunity costs, this also has implications for the type of farmer to be included in the conservation programme. Promisingly, depending on the fairness principle deemed most important in the local context, there does not necessarily have to be a significant trade-off between the schemes’ potential cost-effectiveness and equity outcomes. The observed behavior in the farmer experimental games further supports such findings and suggests that understanding farmer perceptions of fairness can have important implications for the design of conservation incentive mechanisms, particularly given the important influence of such perceptions on the pro-social behavior that underlies much de facto conservation. Incentive mechanisms, such as PACS, that can support socially valued ends not only by harnessing selfish preferences to public ends but also by evoking public-spirited motives are also more likely to be sustainable over the long-term. The use of PACS incentives for the maintenance of traditional crop varieties and the improvement of smallholder farmer livelihoods thus appears promising for further development and up-scaling

Economic analysis of crossbreeding programmes in sub-Saharan Africa: A conceptual framework and Kenyan case study

Conventional economic evaluations of crossbreeding programmes have overestimated their benefits by ignoring subsidies, the increased costs of management such as veterinary support services, and the higher levels of risk and socio-environmental costs associated with the loss of the indigenous genotypes. A conceptual evaluation framework is developed and applied to Kenyan dairy farmers. Results suggest that at the national level crossbreeding has had a positive impact on Kenyan society's welfare, although taking into account important social cost components substantially lowers the net benefits. Farm-level performance is, however, little improved under certain production systems by replacing the indigenous zebu with exotic breeds

Combination of linear classifiers using score function -- analysis of possible combination strategies

In this work, we addressed the issue of combining linear classifiers using their score functions. The value of the scoring function depends on the distance from the decision boundary. Two score functions have been tested and four different combination strategies were investigated. During the experimental study, the proposed approach was applied to the heterogeneous ensemble and it was compared to two reference methods -- majority voting and model averaging respectively. The comparison was made in terms of seven different quality criteria. The result shows that combination strategies based on simple average, and trimmed average are the best combination strategies of the geometrical combination