Why Do People Stay Poor?

Author(s):  
Clare Balboni ◽  
Oriana Bandiera ◽  
Robin Burgess ◽  
Maitreesh Ghatak ◽  
Anton Heil

Abstract There are two broad views as to why people stay poor. One emphasizes differences in fundamentals, such as ability, talent, or motivation. The other, the poverty traps view, emphasizes differences in opportunities which stem from access to wealth. To test between these two views, we exploit a large-scale, randomized asset transfer and an 11-year panel of 6,000 households who begin in extreme poverty. The setting is rural Bangladesh and the assets are cows. The data supports the poverty traps view—we identify a threshold level of initial assets above which households accumulate assets, take on better occupations (from casual labor in agriculture or domestic services to running small livestock businesses), and grow out of poverty. The reverse happens for those below the threshold. Structural estimation of an occupational choice model reveals that almost all beneficiaries are misallocated in the work they do at baseline and that the gains arising from eliminating misallocation would far exceed the program costs. Our findings imply that large transfers which create better jobs for the poor are an effective means of getting people out of poverty traps and reducing global poverty.

2010 ◽  
Vol 163-167 ◽  
pp. 4492-4500
Author(s):  
Yong Li Ren

The segregation of gradation is believed to be one of the main causes of the premature pavement deteriorations. Much of unqualified aggregates used in asphalt pavement construction result in the segregation of gradation. The traditional aggregate handling method has the defects of poor quality in processing and low rate of qualified aggregate in result in highway construction in china. The beginning of the study is from more than 30 sections of the asphalt pavement construction, in which the sieve sizes for aggregate processing and the variation of aggregate gradation is under investigation. Found and used a set of standardized screens for aggregate processing on a large scale processing. The key of the gradation segregation control in asphalt pavement construction is the quality control of the aggregate processing, is pointed out. The relationship between the sieve sizes for aggregate handling and the standard sieve sizes which should be controlled; the relationship between the aggregate specifications and the screens for aggregate processing; and the relationship between the sort of mix and the aggregate specifications, is put forward. With application of the new aggregate processing method, almost all variation factor percent passing key controlled sieves is smaller than 2.6%. The mean surface texture depth measured from 229 inspection sites is 1.03 mm and the maximum variation factor of the texture depth is only 2.7%. The authors believe that the standardized aggregate processing technique reported in this paper is the most effective means to reduce asphalt pavement segregation and may open a new era in the realm of aggregate processing for highway constructions in China.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 390
Author(s):  
Frank Kowalzik ◽  
Daniel Schreiner ◽  
Christian Jensen ◽  
Daniel Teschner ◽  
Stephan Gehring ◽  
...  

Increases in the world’s population and population density promote the spread of emerging pathogens. Vaccines are the most cost-effective means of preventing this spread. Traditional methods used to identify and produce new vaccines are not adequate, in most instances, to ensure global protection. New technologies are urgently needed to expedite large scale vaccine development. mRNA-based vaccines promise to meet this need. mRNA-based vaccines exhibit a number of potential advantages relative to conventional vaccines, namely they (1) involve neither infectious elements nor a risk of stable integration into the host cell genome; (2) generate humoral and cell-mediated immunity; (3) are well-tolerated by healthy individuals; and (4) are less expensive and produced more rapidly by processes that are readily standardized and scaled-up, improving responsiveness to large emerging outbreaks. Multiple mRNA vaccine platforms have demonstrated efficacy in preventing infectious diseases and treating several types of cancers in humans as well as animal models. This review describes the factors that contribute to maximizing the production of effective mRNA vaccine transcripts and delivery systems, and the clinical applications are discussed in detail.


Author(s):  
V. Solovej ◽  
K. Gorbunov ◽  
V. Vereshchak ◽  
O. Gorbunova

A study has been mode of transport-controlled mass transfer-controlled to particles suspended in a stirred vessel. The motion of particle in a fluid was examined and a method of predicting relative velocities in terms of Kolmogoroff’s theory of local isotropic turbulence for mass transfer was outlined. To provide a more concrete visualization of complex wave form of turbulence, the concepts of eddies, of eddy velocity, scale (or wave number) and energy spectrum, have proved convenient. Large scale motions of scale contain almost all of the energy and they are directly responsible for energy diffusion throughout the stirring vessel by kinetic and pressure energies. However, almost no energy is dissipated by the large-scale energy-containing eddies. A scale of motion less than is responsible for convective energy transfer to even smaller eddy sires. At still smaller eddy scales, close to a characteristic microscale, both viscous energy dissipation and convection are the rule. The last range of eddies has been termed the universal equilibrium range. It has been further divided into a low eddy size region, the viscous dissipation subrange, and a larger eddy size region, the inertial convection subrange. Measurements of energy spectrum in mixing vessel are shown that there is a range, where the so called -(5/3) power law is effective. Accordingly, the theory of local isotropy of Kolmogoroff can be applied because existence of the internal subrange. As the integrated value of local energy dissipation rate agrees with the power per unit mass of liquid from the impeller, almost all energy from the impeller is viscous dissipated in eddies of microscale. The correlation for mass transfer to particles suspended in a stirred vessel is recommended. The results of experimental study are approximately 12 % above the predicted values.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Pasiecznik

Abstract O. ficus-indica is highly valued as a fruit-producing cactus, also yielding 'leaves' that are used as a vegetable and browsed by livestock. It has been introduced widely from its native Mexico to almost all countries where the climate is suitable. The fruit is very rich in vitamin C and is exploited commercially in many areas. Many countries, especially in Asia, have recently established large-scale commercial plantations. However, O. ficus-indica, like several other species of Opuntia, have been known to spread and become invasive weeds. Historical records, however, appear to indicate a time-lag of about 100 years between introduction and the beginnings of invasive spread thus the actual risk may be low.


Author(s):  
Tore Butlin ◽  
Jim Woodhouse

Predictive models of friction-induced vibration have proved elusive despite decades of research. There are many mechanisms that can cause brake squeal; friction coupled systems can be highly sensitive to small perturbations; and the dynamic properties of friction at the contact zone seem to be poorly understood. This paper describes experimental and theoretical work aimed at identifying the key ingredients of a predictive model. A large-scale experiment was carried out to identify squeal initiations using a pin-on-disc test rig: approximately 30,000 squeal initiations were recorded, covering a very wide range of frequencies. The theoretical model allows for completely general linear systems coupled at a single sliding point by friction: squeal is predicted using a linearised stability analysis. Results will be presented that show that almost all observed squeal events can be predicted within this model framework, but that some subsets require innovative friction modelling: predictions are highly dependent on the particular choice of friction model and its associated parameters.


2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1891) ◽  
pp. 20182280 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. B. Crofts ◽  
P. S. L. Anderson

Spines are common morphological features found in almost all major biological groups offering an opportunity to explore large-scale evolutionary convergence across disparate clades. As an example, opuntioid cacti have spines with barbed ornamentation that is remarkably similar in form and scale to that found on porcupine quills, suggesting specific biomechanical convergence across the animal and plant kingdoms. While the mechanics of porcupine quills as defensive mechanisms has been previously tested, the mechanics of cactus spines (which have evolved to fill a number of functions including defence, climbing and dispersal) has not been characterized. Here we study the puncturing and anchoring ability of six species of cactus, including both barbed and non-barbed spines. We found that barbed spines require less work to puncture a variety of targets than non-barbed spines. Barbed spines also require more work than non-barbed spines to withdraw from biological materials, owing to their barbs engaging with tissue fibres. These results closely match those found previously for barbed versus non-barbed porcupine quills, implying biomechanical convergence. The variation in performance of barbed versus non-barbed spines, as well as between barbed spines from different species, is probably tied to the diversity of ecological functions of cactus spines.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijiao Fang ◽  
Jiangwei Zhong

Abstract A novel dual-band conformal surface plasmons (CSPs) waveguide is designed and well studied in this paper. In earlier researches, we have recognized that electromagnetic field of CSPs waveguide are always confined to a sub-wavelength area and have a strong potential to be applied in devices designing. However, almost all of the earlier CSP structures is mainly focus on the fundamental mode characteristics with only single resonance frequency. Here we propose a innovative dual inverted-L structure with excellent performance not only on the fundamental mode but also on a new upper mode. This structure operates in microwave frequencies regime and shows outstanding frequency tunability characteristic. Being different from frequency characteristics in the earlier CSP waveguides which always used to be designed single-frequency device, dual-frequency tunability can be obtained via the dual L-type bending branch of the periodical CSP structure. In present paper, we also realize a tunable dual-frequency filter by changing the scaling factor of inverted-L stubs.


PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e4142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Yang ◽  
Shu Li ◽  
Xiaoshuai Liu ◽  
Weixiong Gan ◽  
Longjun Deng ◽  
...  

Schizothorax wangchiachii is a key fish species in the stock enhancement program of the Yalong River hydropower project, China. Alizarin red S (ARS) was used to mark large numbers of juvenile S. wangchiachii in the Jinping Hatchery and later used to evaluate stock enhancement in the Jinping area of the Yalong River. In a small-scale pilot study, 7,000 juveniles of the 2014 cohort were successfully marked by immersion in ARS solution, and no mortality was recorded during the marking process. The ARS mark in the fish otoliths remained visible 20 months later. In the large-scale marking study, approximately 600,000 juveniles of the 2015 cohort were successfully marked. Mortalities of both marked and unmarked juveniles were very low and did not differ significantly. Total length, wet mass and condition factor did not differ significantly between unmarked and marked individuals after three months. On 24 July 2015, about 840,000 Jinping Hatchery-produced young S. wangchiachii, including 400,000 marked individuals, were released at two sites in the Jinping area. Recapture surveys showed that (1) marked and unmarked S. wangchiachii did not differ significantly in total length, wet mass and condition factor; (2) stocked individuals became an important part of recruitment of the 2015 cohort; (3) instantaneous growth rate of marked individuals tended to slightly increase; and (4) most stocked individuals were distributed along a 10–15 km stretch near the release sites. These results suggest that the ARS method is a cost-efficient way to mass mark juvenile S. wangchiachii and that releasing juveniles is an effective means of stock recruitment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-12
Author(s):  
Charvia Ismi Zahrani ◽  
Setia Pramana

AbstractCOVID-19 is a serious problem that faced by almost all countries in the world. Since announced as a pandemic by WHO on March, the number of positive COVID-19 cases in Indonesia has reached 287,008 patients until the end of September 2020. COVID-19 cases dispersion depends on the local government policies and the awareness of the public to obey. About 60 percent of positive cases and 65 percent of death cases were in Java. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the growth of the COVID-19 case in Java from March to September 2020 in relation to the local government policies. The results showed that six provinces in Java had the same pattern. The large-scale social restriction (PSBB), which was implemented since April 10 2020, seen to be able to contain the dispersion of cases because from April to June the positive cases did not increase significantly. A very high increase occurred in August and September, this was probably due to the easing of the PSBB become new-normal where various public places and facilities have been reopened. Meanwhile, death cases, the number is very high in mid-April and June and late July to September 2020. For cured cases, there was a significant increase in late August to September 2020. The importance of information about the growth of the COVID-19 cases can help government to formulate strategies and policies to prevent the dispersion of COVID-19.Keyword: COVID-19, Pandemic, Java, cases growth AbstrakCOVID-19 merupakan suatu masalah serius yang sedang dihadapi oleh hampir seluruh negara. Sejak diumumkan sebagai pandemi oleh WHO pada Maret lalu, jumlah kasus positif COVID-19 di Indonesia mencapai 287.008 pasien hingga akhir September. Penyebaran kasus COVID-19 sangat bergantung pada kebijakan yang ditetapkan oleh pemerintah serta kesadaran masyarakat untuk mematuhinya. Sebesar 60 persen kasus positif dan 65 persen kasus meninggal berada di Pulau Jawa. Oleh karena itu, tujuan penelitian ini adalah menganalisis perkembangan kasus COVID-19 di Pulau Jawa sejak Bulan Maret-September 2020 dikaitkan dengan kebijakan pemerintah setempat. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa keenam provinsi memiliki pola yang sama. Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar (PSBB) yang dilakukan sejak 10 April 2020 terlihat dapat menahan penyebaran kasus karena pada bulan April-Juni 2020 kasus positif tidak mengalami kenaikan yang signifikan. Kenaikan yang sangat tinggi terjadi pada bulan Agustus dan September 2020, hal ini mungkin disebabkan oleh dilonggarkannya kebijakan PSBB menjadi PSBB Transisi dimana berbagai tempat dan fasilitas umum telah dibuka kembali. Sementara untuk kasus meninggal, angka tertinggi terjadi pada pertengahan April dan Juni serta akhir Juli hingga September 2020. Untuk kasus sembuh, terjadi peningkatan yang signifikan pada akhir Agustus hingga September 2020. Pentingnya informasi tentang perkembangan kasus COVID-19 ini dapat membantu pemerintah daerah untuk membuat strategi dan kebijakan untuk mencegah penyebaran rantai virus COVID-19.Kata Kunci: COVID-19, Pandemi, Jawa, perkembangan kasus 


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document