Spinoza

"Spinoza", second edition. Encyclopedia entry for the Springer Encyclopedia of EM Phil and the Sciences, ed. D. Jalobeanu and C. T. Wolfe

Technical Efficiency Among Women Farmers in Kwara State: Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

There is food crisis in the country. Food supply can no longer meet up with food demand. This study explored the potential for improving food productivity through Technical Efficiency (TE) of Women Food Crops Farmers in Kwara State. Primary data were collected from these women using multi-stage random sampling technique. Two ADP geopolitical Zones were randomly selected from the four in the state. Following this was a random selection of four extension blocks, two from each zone from whichfour groups of women in Agriculture (WIA) were selected per block. In the final stage 100 respondents were randomly selected from the selected groups on the basis of probability proportionate to size. Data were analysed using Descriptive statistics, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), and Ordinary least squares regression (OLS) method. The mean age and farming experience of the women farmers were 47.6 ± 9.5 and 20.4± 12.3years respectively. Their mean farm size and number of plots cultivated were 1.8 ± 1.18 acres and 2.0 ± 0.84 respectively. Factors found contributing to technical efficiency of women farmers include; years of education, membership of farmers association, years of farming and extension visits. One percent increase in years of education and membership of farmers association would increase TE by 8.8%(p<0.01) and 1.0% (p<0.1) respectively, while one percent increase in years of farming and extension visits would reduce TE by 0.69% and 4.0% at (p<0.05) respectively. Technical inefficiency among women food crop farmers leads to low food productivity. Therefore, education and awareness (extension and farmers associations) are the vital variables to be considered by the policy makers to increase food productivity in Kwara state

Crystal-Size Effects on Carbon Dioxide Capture of a Covalently Alkylamine-Tethered Metal-Organic Framework Constructed by a One-Step Self-Assembly

To enhance the carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), amine functionalization of their pore surfaces has been studied extensively. In general, amine-functionalized MOFs have been synthesized via post-synthetic modifications. Herein, we introduce a one-step construction of a MOF ([(NiLethylamine)(BPDC)]=MOFNH2; [NiLethylamine]2+=[Ni(C12H32N8)]2+; BPDC2-=4,4???-biphenyldicarboxylate) possessing covalently tethered alkylamine groups without post-synthetic modification. Two-amine groups per metal centre were introduced by this method. MOFNH2 showed enhanced CO2 uptake at elevated temperatures, attributed to active chemical interactions between the amine groups and the CO2 molecules. Due to the narrow channels of MOFNH2, the accessibility to the channel of CO2 is the limiting factor in its sorption behaviour. In this context, only crystal size reduction of MOFNH2 led to much faster and greater CO2 uptake at low pressures.open

Design and testing of hydrophobic core/hydrophilic shell nano/micro particles for drug-eluting stent coating

In this study, we designed a novel drug-eluting coating for vascular implants consisting of a core coating of the anti-proliferative drug docetaxel (DTX) and a shell coating of the platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor monoclonal antibody SZ-21. The core/shell structure was sprayed onto the surface of 316L stainless steel stents using a coaxial electrospray process with the aim of creating a coating that exhibited a differential release of the two drugs. The prepared stents displayed a uniform coating consisting of nano/micro particles. In vitro drug release experiments were performed, and we demonstrated that a biphasic mathematical model was capable of capturing the data, indicating that the release of the two drugs conformed to a diffusion-controlled release system. We demonstrated that our coating was capable of inhibiting the adhesion and activation of platelets, as well as the proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells (SMCs), indicating its good biocompatibility and anti-proliferation qualities. In an in vivo porcine coronary artery model, the SZ-21/DTX drug-loaded hydrophobic core/hydrophilic shell particle coating stents were observed to promote re-endothelialization and inhibit neointimal hyperplasia. This core/shell particle-coated stent may serve as part of a new strategy for the differential release of different functional drugs to sequentially target thrombosis and in-stent restenosis during the vascular repair process and ensure rapid re-endothelialization in the field of cardiovascular disease

Search for Second-Generation Scalar Leptoquarks in ppˉ\bm{p \bar{p}} Collisions at s\sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

Results on a search for pair production of second generation scalar leptoquark in $p \bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=1.96 TeV are reported. The data analyzed were collected by the CDF detector during the 2002-2003 Tevatron Run II and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 198 pb$^{-1}$. Leptoquarks (LQ) are sought through their decay into (charged) leptons and quarks, with final state signatures represented by two muons and jets and one muon, large transverse missing energy and jets. We observe no evidence for $LQ$ production and derive 95% C.L. upper limits on the $LQ$ production cross sections as well as lower limits on their mass as a function of $\beta$, where $\beta$ is the branching fraction for $LQ \to \mu q$.Comment: 9 pages (3 author list) 5 figure

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Heritability Estimation of Reliable Connectomic Features*

Brain imaging genetics is an emerging research field to explore the underlying genetic architecture of brain structure and function measured by different imaging modalities. However, not all the changes in the brain are a consequential result of genetic effect and it is usually unknown which imaging phenotypes are promising for genetic analyses. In this paper, we focus on identifying highly heritable measures of structural brain networks derived from diffusion weighted imaging data. Using the twin data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP), we evaluated the reliability of fractional anisotropy measure, fiber length and fiber number of each edge in the structural connectome and seven network level measures using intraclass correlation coefficients. We then estimated the heritability of those reliable network measures using SOLAR-Eclipse software. Across all 64,620 network edges between 360 brain regions in the Glasser parcellation, we observed ~5% of them with significantly high heritability in fractional anisotropy, fiber length or fiber number. All the tested network level measures, capturing the network integrality, segregation or resilience, are highly heritable, with variance explained by the additive genetic effect ranging from 59% to 77%