Formation Of Cooperative Groups Research Articles

Determining rural farmers' income: A case of mushroom farming in North Central Nigeria

The study appraised the involvement of rural farmers in mushroom farming as a paradigm shift for economic development in North Central, Nigeria. The study used 389 respondents sampled through multi-stage sampling technique from three States and the Federal Capital Territory. Descriptive statistics and t-test were used to analyse the data collected. Results showed that the farming of mushroom in the study area was dominated by males, who were married and were well educated. They were young and active with an average household size of 5 persons. The farmers had high levels of involvement in mushroom production and the average income earned by the farmers before and after adding mushroom to their crops were N360,539.58 and N426,092.55, respectively. It was found that mushroom farming attracted a reasonable amount of income because about N65,552.97 was the difference in the average income earned by the farmers after adding mushroom to their crop production activities. Several coping strategies like formation of cooperative groups and engagement of extension agents in training farmers on input use were very important strategies that could help boost mushroom production and the respondents also acknowledged that income generated from mushroom production can help them to alleviate their poverty levels. The study recommended that farmers that are into mushroom production should be encouraged to form cooperative groups so that they can be able to pull their resources together and build a strong base for information sourcing and dissemination as well as getting financial support for their farming activities.

Extended parental care in the mass provisioning silk wasp, Microstigmus rosae

Abstract Insurance-based mechanisms, where surviving group-members can complete parental care after the death of a nestmate, are key to the origin of cooperative group formation in insects. Selection for group living via these models is proposed to be dependent on the life expectancy of adult carers relative to the duration of offspring dependency on parental care. Progressive provisioning, where adults feed offspring gradually as they grow, is thought to extend this period of dependency and is therefore suggested to be an important factor promoting the evolution of sociality. In contrast, mass-provisioning species provide offspring with all the food they need to reach maturity at the beginning of their development. Since offspring are then nutritionally independent, the applicability of insurance models is less clear. In this paper we experimentally demonstrate that adult presence on the nest, even after the end of provisioning, is critical for brood survival in the mass provisioning silk wasp Microstigmus rosae. After 10 days, experimentally orphaned nests contained 65% fewer healthy offspring than controls. Adult females were also recorded performing post-provisioning parental care behaviours including nest maintenance and repair, putative hygienic brood care and aggressive nest defence against both ants and parasitoid wasps. By demonstrating the potential applicability of insurance advantages our results highlight how, even in mass provisioners, insurance-based mechanisms may be part of what favours group living. Significance statement Extended parental care is an important precursor to the evolution of eusociality. In this context, group living can serve as a form of “life insurance”, ensuring that dependent offspring receive the care they need to reach maturity should the mother die. Such mechanisms are especially important to our understanding of social evolution as they are able to account for the origins of cooperative group formation, not just its maintenance. However, for mass-provisioning species, where all food items are provided upfront, the significance of insurance advantages remains unclear. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate that adult attendance is critical for brood survival in the mass provisioning wasp, Microstigmus rosae. Our results reveal the applicability of insurance advantages to M. rosae with important implications for our understanding of the potential adaptive value of group living in mass provisioning species.

Cooperative group formation control for multiple quadrotors system with finite- and fixed-time convergence

A multitude of quadrotors cooperatively executing complicated tasks in predefined geometric configurations has attracted arising attention. Accurate and effective formation control laws are essential for completing missions. Finite- and fixed-time group formation control problems for multiple quadrotors are researched in this paper. The quadrotors are first divided into M distinct and non-overlapping subgroups. In each subgroup, quadrotors are driven to form the predefined configuration, with the whole achieving M-group formation meanwhile. Two distributed algorithms for multiple quadrotors system are then designed to realize finite- and fixed-time group formation. Detailed and theoretical analysis of finite- and fixed-time group formation formability is conducted. Sufficient conditions are provided by utilizing the Lyapunov stability and bi-limit homogeneity theory. Two simulations are carried out to verify the effectiveness of proposed algorithms.

Two-Level Hierarchical-Interaction-Based Group Formation Control for MAV/UAVs

Cooperative group formation control of manned/unmanned aircraft vehicles (MAV/UAVs) using a hierarchical framework can be more efficient and flexible than centralized control strategies. In this paper, a two-level hierarchical-interaction-based cooperative control strategy is proposed for the MAV/UAVs group formation. At the upper level, combined with the nonlinear disturbance observer (NDO) and dynamic surface control (DSC) algorithm, a trajectory tracking problem with external disturbances for MAV is formulated. At the lower level, the leader-following formation controller is utilized to deal with the sub-formation keeping control problem for UAVs, based on the sliding mode disturbance observer and fast terminal sliding mode control law, and the robust performance and control accuracy are effectively improved. Moreover, the overall stability of the MAV/UAVs system is demonstrated using Lyapunov theory. The proposed approach is evaluated by simulation under the ground penetration combat mission for MAV/UAVs, and the performance is compared with that of other control strategies.

A two‐loop group formation tracking control scheme for networked tri‐rotor UAVs using an ARE‐based approach

AbstractCooperative control of networked unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has received significant research interest over the last decade due to its potential applications in military security and surveillance, search and rescue, planetary exploration, precision agriculture, and so on. Many of these practical activities can be formulated as a group formation tracking problem with multiple targets to track. This paper aims to address such problems via designing a cooperative control scheme for networked tri‐rotor UAVs connected with directed graph topology. The proposed methodology consists of a two‐loop control scheme—the inner loop applies a robust feedback linearization technique to linearize the coupled, nonlinear dynamics of the tri‐rotor UAVs; while the outer loop facilitates an ARE‐based cooperative group formation tracking scheme. Tri‐rotor UAVs are considered in this paper instead of quad‐rotor UAVs, which are more common in drone applications, to conquer a major limitation of the quad‐rotor UAVs that it cannot alter its attitude independently while hovering at a particular height. A rigorous theoretical proof is given to establish the two‐loop control scheme exploiting the Lyapunov stability approach and algebraic Riccati equation (ARE)‐based optimal control policy. An in‐depth case study on a multitarget surveillance mission has been performed in this paper using a virtual reality software simulation platform to demonstrate the usefulness and efficacy of the proposed scheme.

Collective response of microrobotic swarms to external threats

Many animal species organize within groups to achieve advantages compared to being isolated. Such advantages can be found e.g. in collective responses which are less prone to individual failures or noise and thus provide better group performance. Inspired by social animals, here we demonstrate with a swarm of microrobots made from programmable active colloidal particles (APs) that their escape from a hazardous area can originate from a cooperative group formation. As a consequence, the escape efficiency remains almost unchanged even when half of the APs are not responding to the threat. Our results not only confirm that incomplete or missing individual information in robotic swarms can be compensated by other group members but also suggest strategies to increase the responsiveness and fault-tolerance of robotic swarms when performing tasks in complex environments.

Marketing analysis of snails in selected snail markets in Ibadan, Nigeria

The study was carried out investigate marketing of snails in selected snail markets in Ibadan, Nigeria. Information was collected with the use of structured questionnaires and oral interview. Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage and regression were applied to analyze the socio-economic variables. For the regression analysis, linear function had F-ratio that was significant and highest co-efficient of multiple determination (R2) values of 0.971. The study revealed that more females (92.5%) than males (7.5%) were involved in snail marketing in the study area. Majority of the respondents (80.0%) were married while 46.2% were within age bracket of 50-59 years. The result further revealed that 82.5% sourced for capita through personal savings. Per annum profit of N 340,200.00/marketer indicates the profitability of sales. Marketing constraints facing the snail marketers in the study area are price fluctuation, inadequate credit facilities irregular supply and snail mortality. Enhancement of snail marketing can be through cooperative group formation to access credit facilities and good road network provision by government to convey product to market

Co-governance, Transregional Maritime Conventions, and Indigenous Customary Practices Among Subsistence Fishermen in Ende, Indonesia

This article presents a case study of a fishery in the port-town community of Ende, Flores, a former littoral hub located at the periphery of major commercial systems in the Indo-Pacific region. The article argues that more attention be paid to the role of transregional maritime networks, nautical conventions, and navigational practices embedded within local tenure systems to understand the apparent absence of formal control of marine and coastal resources. Through ethnographic and archival research, this study identifies the presence of indigenous institutions for fishing grounds regulation and documents the existence of broader transregional norms dictating proper fishing and navigation. Exploring the interactions between more pluralistic customary systems that exist in port-towns such as Ende and recent fishery development policies, the article discusses some of the obstacles to implementing sustainable co-management strategies. While the Indonesian central government is strongly promoting co-governance approaches for resource management, these institutional models are based on geographically narrow definitions of tradition and customary law which can lead to management failures, such as elite capture and local fishers’ disenfranchisement. In this case, policies emphasize the formation of cooperative groups without considering transregional beliefs about independence and pre-established systems of obligations. As a result, disputes among the fishermen, conflicts with local fishery officers, and the use of non-sustainable practices continue. For example, embodying predominant Southeast Asian beliefs, Endenese are known for their entrepreneurial nature and strong self-sufficiency ethos. Yet, these notions are ignored by local government agencies that view the fishermen as selfish and disorganized. In order to formulate true participatory solutions, a careful assessment of the role played by transregional perspectives that go beyond geographically localized understandings of customary practices is needed. The article concludes with a consideration of the role played by decentralization processes, subsidies, and aid programs in entrenching poverty and inequality among local communities.

Breeder aggression does not predict current or future cooperative group formation in a cooperatively breeding bird.

In cooperatively breeding species, subordinates forgo reproduction to assist breeders in raising offspring. When cooperative breeding is facultative, breeders from the same population may differ in whether they are assisted by non-breeding helpers. Predation risk is a major source of nest failure and assistance during nest defense is often an overlooked, yet important, way helpers assist breeders. A breeder's aggressive response to a nest predator could have important implications for whether they form cooperatively breeding groups. We investigated the hypothesis that breeder aggression towards a nest predator is related to current and future helper recruitment. We tested the prediction that less aggressive breeders were more likely to form cooperative groups, which could occur if these breeders benefit from helper assistance during nest defense. We also considered the possibility that more aggressive breeders were more likely to form cooperative groups. We assessed the effects of partnerships and tested whether aggression exhibited by breeding partners was correlated. We conducted this work in the facultative, cooperatively breeding brown-headed nuthatch (Sitta pusilla). We measured breeder aggression in response to a taxidermy model of a nest predator to determine whether breeders' aggression correlated with their current or future helper recruitment. We found no evidence of a sex difference in aggression among breeders and aggression scores of breeding partners were not significantly correlated. Aggression scores for both breeding males and breeding females were unrelated to whether they formed cooperative groups in the current year. We followed most of the breeding males, though not breeding females, across years and found that breeding males' aggression scores were unrelated to helper recruitment the following year. Our results suggest that breeders' responses to nest predators are not related to cooperative group formation in this species and that males and females showed comparable levels of aggression towards a nest predator.

Collaborative foundations of herding: The formation of cooperative groups among Tibetan pastoralists

The pastoral literature place little emphasis on the cooperative aspect of being a pastoralist. Part of the neglect stems from conflating the livestock owning unit, i.e. the household, with the herding group. Among Tibetan pastoralists, the herding group consist of people and animals from one or several households. They herd in groups because there is an optimal size of the herd concerning daily herding: too few animals and the animals disperse while too many negatively affect grazing efficiency and subsequently livestock survival during winter. The individual household also frees up members for e.g. selling or trading livestock products. Furthermore, group formation makes it possible to split herds into smaller sub-herds that consider differing needs for varying livestock species and age-categories. While herding groups can change both seasonally and annually, they are a fundamental unit for pastoral social organisation because they are concerned with daily cooperation.

Human group coordination in a sensorimotor task with neuron-like decision-making

The formation of cooperative groups of agents with limited information-processing capabilities to solve complex problems together is a fundamental building principle that cuts through multiple scales in biology from groups of cells to groups of humans. Here, we study an experimental paradigm where a group of humans is joined together to solve a common sensorimotor task that cannot be achieved by a single agent but relies on the cooperation of the group. In particular, each human acts as a neuron-like binary decision-maker that determines in each moment of time whether to be active or not. Inspired by the population vector method for movement decoding, each neuron-like decision-maker is assigned a preferred movement direction that the decision-maker is ignorant about. From the population vector reflecting the group activity, the movement of a cursor is determined, and the task for the group is to steer the cursor into a predefined target. As the preferred movement directions are unknown and players are not allowed to communicate, the group has to learn a control strategy on the fly from the shared visual feedback. Performance is analyzed by learning speed and accuracy, action synchronization, and group coherence. We study four different computational models of the observed behavior, including a perceptron model, a reinforcement learning model, a Bayesian inference model and a Thompson sampling model that efficiently approximates Bayes optimal behavior. The Bayes and especially the Thompson model excel in predicting the human group behavior compared to the other models, suggesting that internal models are crucial for adaptive coordination. We discuss benefits and limitations of our paradigm regarding a better understanding of distributed information processing.

Social‐Aware Cooperative Video Distribution via SVC Streaming Multicast

Scalable Video Coding (SVC) streaming multicast is considered as a promising solution to cope with video traffic overload and multicast channel differences. To solve the challenge of delivering high‐definition SVC streaming over burst‐loss prone channels, we propose a social‐aware cooperative SVC streaming multicast scheme. The proposed scheme is the first attempt to enable D2D cooperation for SVC streaming multicast to conquer the burst‐loss, and one salient feature of it is that it takes fully into account the hierarchical encoding structure of SVC in scheduling cooperation. By using our scheme, users form groups to share video packets among each other to restore incomplete enhancement layers. Specifically, a cooperative group formation method is designed to stimulate effective cooperation, based on coalitional game theory; and an optimal D2D links scheduling scheme is devised to maximize the total decoded enhancement layers, based on potential game theory. Extensive simulations using real video traces corroborate that the proposed scheme leads to a significant gain on the received video quality.

Pengembangan Aplikasi Pembentukan Kelompok Cooperative Learning Menggunakan Visual Basic

This study aim to develop an application using visual basic programming to facilitate the formation of cooperative groups and to investigate the validity, effectiveness, and practicality of the development of this application. This research method including R&D performed with 6 stage, consists of: the potential and problems, data collection, product design, design validation, improved of design, and test products. The results showed that the yield of the IT media expert validation amounted to 82.5% and validation of learning experts is 92.86%. In addition, the results of the questionnaire responses test of subjects each amounted 83.33% for the first test subjects and 91.67% for the second test subjects. Seeing these findings, it can be concluded that the application of cooperative learning group formation using visual basic can be said to be very feasible to be used as a tool for the establishment of cooperative learning groups.

Multiple Vehicles Collaborative Data Download Protocol via Network Coding

Data services (i.e., office on wheels and entertainment on wheels) are expected to become a primary driver in the development of future connected cars. However, the sparse spatial distribution of roadside stationary units (RSUs) along the road renders the downloading of data via roadside-to-vehicle (R2V) connections intermittent. As a result, data services, particularly for those dealing with large volumes of data, may not achieve a good quality of service. In this paper, we propose a multiple-vehicle protocol for collaborative data downloading by using network coding (NC). When multiple vehicles that are approaching each other have a common interest in certain data, they can collaboratively download the data from an RSU to significantly reduce their download time. We first derive the probability mass functions (PMFs) of the downloading completion time for three downloading methods, i.e., random, feedback, and NC based, to quantify the benefits of the proposed scheme. Our analytical derivations show that, compared with random- and feedback-based methods, the proposed approach can significantly improve the download time and will remove any need for uplink communications from vehicles to the infrastructure. Moreover, we discuss the cooperative group formation issues and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) data sharing in detail. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol has a more robust performance compared with random- and feedback-based schemes. In addition, we constitute simulations to show that the proposed scheme can apply to the scenarios with dynamic network topology and imperfect V2V data sharing.

An Analysis of the Technical Efficiency of Non Motorized Small Scale Shrimp Fishers in the Coastal Areas of Delta State, Nigeria

The study examined the technical efficiency of small scale shrimp fishers, the socio-economic characteristics and specific factors that affect the efficiency level, and the costs, revenues and profit structures of non motorized small scale shrimp fishers in the coastal areas of Delta State. The study was based on primary data obtained in a cross section survey that involved 220 shrimp fishers selected using a multistage random sampling procedure in four Local Government Areas of Delta State between July and October, 2010. Applying a Cobb Douglas stochastic production frontier function analysis to the data sets, the results showed that the mean technical efficiency (TE) was 73% for non motorized shrimp fishers in the study area. The result also showed that boat capacity, nets and labour impacted positively on output of shrimps with nets being significant at 5% while the technical efficiency of these fishers were positively and significantly related with age, education, access to credit, distance covered and membership of local cooperative groups. Results from the analysis showed that the average gross margin and net margin of non motorized small scale shrimp producer per year are N709, 636.67 and N619, 086.33 respectively while the return on sale was 0.37, return on investment was 265% and operating ratio was 0.39 indicating high profitability of shrimp fishing enterprise in the study area. In order to improve the technical efficiency, profitability and income of artisanal shrimp producers, Government needs to initiate and implement policies aimed at the provision of subsidized inputs (nets boats, and outboard engines), improve access to credit, encourage local cooperative group formation and regulate and enforce relevant laws to control water bodies pollution and environmental degradation. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1p285

Constraints on Farmers Access to Agricultural Information Delivery: A Survey of Rural Farmers in Yobe state, Nigeria

This study examines the constraints on farmers' access to Agricultural information delivery: a Survey of rural farmers in Yobe state, Nigeria. The socio-economic characteristics of farmers were described, major sources of information to farmers were determined and various constraints faced by farmers on information delivery in the study area. In order to examine the constraints of farmers on their access to agricultural information delivery in Yobe state, all the three senatorial zones of the State were selected; taking one Local Government Area from each zone. Data were collected using well structured questionnaire and analysed through the use of descriptive statistics'. From the findings of the research, out of the 160 respondents 51% were male while 49 % were female with ages ranging from 20 to 65 with an average of 40 years. While 97% of the respondents were married, majority (80%) having household size of less than 10 members, whereas, 68% had formal education. Majority of the respondents has spent 4-6 years as members of cooperative societies. While (63%) of the respondents had between 10 and 20 years of experience on farming and 56% had no access to credit facilities. The result further showed that rural farmers in the study area obtained their sources of information through; television, radio, extension workers and ward heads. The results on sources of information to farmers have clearly indicated that extension agents had the highest percentage with 62 % over others. It was further revealed that, irrelevant information; delay on information delivery, extension workers' personalities, and lack of feedback mechanism were identified as constraints facing farmers in the study area. It thus, recommended that, rural farmers in the study area need to make use of electronic media as their major sources of information and government should provide relevant infrastructure available particularly; sources of power to enhance the usage of the media recommended. The extension agents in the study area should be more committed to their duties, more approachable and also improves their feedback mechanism promptly. More so, farmers should also be encouraged in the formation of co-operative groups so as to pull their resources together to improve their financial capability vis-a-vis improve their innovative skills in the course of group interaction

Preferential phenotypic association linked with cooperation in paper wasps

Animals can influence their social environment by preferentially associating with certain conspecifics. Such preferential association has gained increasing theoretical attention, as it may influence social evolution and population dynamics. However, relatively little empirical work has examined the occurrence of preferential association and its effects on cooperative group formation. Here, we test the factors associated with cooperative group formation in Polistes dominulus nest-founding queen wasps. P.dominulus are a good system to study preferential association, as foundresses can nest alone or in groups and group membership is flexible. We found that both social and environmental factors were associated with partner choice. First, facial patterns were associated with cooperation. Wasps with more similar facial patterns were more likely to cooperate than wasps with less similar facial patterns. This preferential phenotypic association fits the theoretical criteria for the evolution of tag-based cooperation. Season was also associated with cooperation; wasps on early-season nests were more likely to cooperate than wasps on late-season nests. High levels of aggression by nest owners during initial interactions were also correlated with lower probabilities of subsequent cooperation, suggesting that nest owners have some control over group membership. Other factors including body weight, weight similarity and nest productivity were not linked with cooperation. Overall, multiple factors influence cooperation in paper wasps, including facial pattern similarity. The occurrence of preferential phenotypic association in paper wasps is quite interesting and may influence the evolution of cooperation and population divergence in this group.

Breeding ecology of ground tits in northeastern Tibetan plateau, with special reference to cooperative breeding system

Abstract Data on breeding ecology of a color-band marked population of the ground tit Parus humilis were collected in north Qinghai on the Tibetan plateau, during 2008 and 2009. In spring the birds excavated 0.8-3.2 m long nesting burrows under the ground. First-egg laying occurred between late April and late June during which a pair produced one brood. Incubation was done by female alone for 15-16 days and nestling-feeding by both sexes and helpers in any for 23-25 days. Average brood size at fledging was 5.8 (± 1.4 SD, 3-8) and all the 27 observed nesting attempts fledged at least one young. At the population level, brood sex ratio did not differ from 1:1. The birds are a territory-living resident, with annual resight rates being 48% (22 of 46) in adult breeders and 10% (7 of 67) in yearlings. Pairs were socially monogamous, of which 23% (9 of 40) contained one and sometimes two male helpers, most likely being philopatric sons of the breeders. The formation of cooperative groups is similar to the population in central Tibet but differs from that in south Guansu where breeding ground tits exhibit a high level of annual turnover.

Lining Up for Star-Wars Tickets: Some Ruminations On Ethics and Economics Based on An Internet Study of Behavior in Queues

Queues may represent business ethics in microcosm: they provide an opportunity to study in a smaller package the fundamental ethical tension in economic activity between self-interest and civility in the context of uncertainty and stress. In May 1999 people began forming lines to purchase tickets to the new Star Wars movie "The Phantom Menace." This paper reviews responses to a questionnaire on the internet regarding experiences in those lines. It focuses on two behaviors threatening queue discipline – the formation of cooperative groups and "pre-scalping." It concludes that although queues are complex phenomena, exhibiting important ethical, economic, social, and psychological elements, the general organizing principle of "first-come-first-served" still provides the foundation for queues while at the same time making room for a variety of legitimate modifications. Second, this paper concludes that, as with queues, the thought that self-interest is the exclusive guiding principle for business behavior is likewise too narrow, inducing participants to neglect opportunities for personal enrichment and satisfaction.

Research Note on the Negative Value of Sociometric Tests in Cooperative Group Formation

Research Note on the Negative Value of Sociometric Tests in Cooperative Group Formation