News from the Net: Reviews of books, software, and other instructional materials

2000 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Sarah Irvine

Thirsty? Then visit the Lemonade Stand at www.littlejason.com/lemonade. At this site, you will find the famous Web edition of the popular board game Lemonade Stand. Using the game, students learn about supply and demand, as well as how to manipulate production on the basis of geography, weather forecasts, advertising, and overhead, including such fixed costs as rent and the cost of ingredients. Students select a city and use their life savings of $5 to decide how much to advertise, how much lemonade to make, and how much to charge per glass. Once they have completed the form provided for these decisions, they receive instant feedback on how successful they were. Students have twenty-five days to make as much money as they can. The site also includes a high-score page and definitions of vocabulary used.

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-40
Author(s):  
Souad Adnane

The District of Columbia (DC) Office of the Superintendent of Education (OSSE) issued in December 2016 new educational requirements for childcare workers, according to which, all childcare center directors in the District must earn a bachelor’s degree by December 2022 and all lead teachers an associate’s degree by December 2020 (Institute for Justice, 2018). Moreover, DC has one of the lowest staff-child ratios in the country. How are regulations pertaining to childcare workers’ qualifications and staff-child ratio affecting the childcare market in DC? The present paper is an attempt to answer this question first by analyzing the effects of more stringent regulations on the cost and availability of childcare in the U.S based on existing studies. It also uses the basic supply and demand model to examine the possible impact of the new DC policy on the cost, quality and supply of childcare in the District and how it will affect working parents, especially mothers. Next, the paper discusses the impact of deregulation based on simulations and regressions conducted by studies covering the U.S., and implications for quality. It concludes that more stringent childcare regulations, regarding educational requirements and staff-child ratios, are associated with a reduced number of childcare centers and a higher cost, and eventually affects women’s labor force participation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Zou Xiaohong ◽  
Chen Jinlong ◽  
Gao Shuanping

The shared supply chain model has provided new ideas for solving contradictions between supply and demand for large-scale standardized production by manufacturers and personalized demands of consumers. On the basis of a platform network effect perspective, this study constructs an evolutionary game model of value co-creation behavior for a shared supply chain platform and manufacturers, analyzes their evolutionary stable strategies, and uses numerical simulation analysis to further verify the model. The results revealed that the boundary condition for manufacturers to participate in value co-creation on a shared supply chain platform is that the net production cost of the manufacturers’ participation in the platform value co-creation must be less than that of nonparticipation. In addition, the boundary condition for the shared supply chain platform to actively participate in value co-creation is that the cost of the shared supply chain platform for active participation in value co-creation must be less than that of passive participation. Moreover, value co-creation behavior on the shared supply chain platform is a dynamic game interaction process between players with different benefit perceptions. Finally, the costs and benefits generated by the network effect can affect value co-creation on shared supply chain platforms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarker Masud Parvez ◽  
Musarrat Jabeen Rahman ◽  
Rashidul Azad ◽  
Mahbubur Rahman ◽  
Leanne Unicomb ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Supply driven programs that are not closely connected to community demand and demand-driven programs that fail to ensure supply both risk worsening inequity. Understanding patterns of uptake of behaviors among the poorest under ideal experimental conditions, such as those of an efficacy trial, can help identify strategies that could be strengthened in routine programmatic conditions for more equitable uptake. WASH Benefits Bangladesh was a randomized controlled efficacy trial that provided free-of cost WASH hardware along with behavior change promotion. The current paper aimed to determine the impact of the removal of supply and demand constraints on the uptake of handwashing and sanitation behaviors across wealth and education levels. Methods The current analysis selected 4 indicators from the WASH Benefits trial— presence of water and soap in household handwashing stations, observed mother’s hand cleanliness, observed visible feces on latrine slab or floor and reported last child defecation in potty or toilet. A baseline assessment was conducted immediately after enrolment and endline assessment was conducted approximately 2 years later. We compared change in uptake of these indicators including wealth quintiles (Q) between intervention and control groups from baseline to endline. Results For hand cleanliness, the poorest mothers improved more [Q1 difference in difference, DID: 16% (7, 25%)] than the wealthiest mothers [Q5 DID: 7% (− 4, 17%)]. The poorest households had largest improvements for observed presence of water and soap in handwashing station [Q1 DID: 82% (75, 90%)] compared to the wealthiest households [Q5 DID: 39% (30, 50%)]. Similarly, poorer household demonstrated greater reductions in visible feces on latrine slab or floor [Q1DID, − 25% (− 35, − 15) Q2: − 34% (− 44, − 23%)] than the wealthiest household [Q5 DID: − 1% (− 11, 8%). For reported last child defecation in potty or toilet, the poorest mothers showed greater improvement [Q1–4 DID: 50–54% (44, 60%)] than the wealthier mothers [Q5 DID: 39% (31, 46%). Conclusion By simultaneously addressing supply and demand-constraints among the poorest, we observed substantial overall improvements in equity. Within scaled-up programs, a separate targeted strategy that relaxes constraints for the poorest can improve the equity of a program. Trial registration WASH Benefits Bangladesh: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT01590095. Date of registration: April 30, 2012 ‘Retrospectively registered’.


Author(s):  
Д.К. Тунеголовец

В настоящее время информация о состоянии атмосферы широко используется как при составлении прогнозов погоды, так и при решении многих экономических задач. Существенная особенность метеорологических явлений - их пространственно-временная изменчивость. Это вызывает необходимость такой организации наблюдений, которая позволит своевременно отметить возникновение явления и проследить за ходом его развития. Статистика показывает, что в период с 1997 по 2000 годы произошло порядка 193 авиационных инцидентoв, которые обусловлены недостатками метеорологического обеспечения полетов. Поэтому задача повышения качества метеорологического обеспечения является актуальной. На основе модельных и практических экспериментов показано, что беспроводной канал связи LoRaWaN способен объединить весь поток данных, поступающих с удаленных метеорологических датчиков, которые используют разные протоколы для взаимодействия друг с другом. В ходе выполнения эксперимента получены положительные результаты, доказывающие возможность организации таких каналов связи для задач метеообеспечения аэродромов. Также приводится структурная схема для организации канала связи. При этом не требуется прокладка кабельных коммуникаций связи, когда стоимость такого вида работ, включая согласование, зачастую значительно превышает стоимость самого метеорологического оборудования At present, information on the state of the atmosphere is widely used both in the preparation of weather forecasts and in solving many economic problems. An essential feature of meteorological phenomena is their spatial and temporal variability. This makes it necessary to organize observations in such a way that will allow timely noting the occurrence of the phenomenon and monitoring the progress of its development. Statistics show that in the period from 1997 to 2000 there were about 193 aviation incidents, which were caused by shortcomings in the meteorological support of flights. Therefore, the task of improving the quality of meteorological support is urgent. This article shows, based on model and practical experiments, that the LaRaWAN wireless communication channel is able to combine the entire data stream coming from remote meteorological sensors using various communication protocols among themselves. During the experiment, I obtained positive results, proving the possibility of organizing such communication channels for the tasks of meteorological support of airfields. A block diagram for the organization of a communication channel is also provided. At the same time, the laying of cable communications is not required, when the cost of this type of work, including coordination, often significantly exceeds the cost of the meteorological equipment itself


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byeong-Il Ahn ◽  
Jeong-Bin Im

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop an equilibrium displacement model (EDM) that is able to evaluate the impacts of a free trade agreement (FTA) on the profits of farmers. Empirical applications of the developed EDM are performed for evaluating the influences of Korea-Chile FTA on the grape industry in Korea. Design/methodology/approach Supply and demand equations together with profit function of individual farmers are converted into log-differential forms that compose the EDM. The cost function of grape producers is estimated for deriving the parameters that are required in applying the developed EDM. Findings The share of profit within revenue and the elasticity of cost with respect to quantity in the cost function play key roles in assessing the change in farmers’ profit. The empirical assessment of the effects of Korea-Chile FTA indicates that this FTA has little impact on the Korean grape market and grape producers in Korea. Originality/value Usefulness of the existing EDM has been limited in evaluating the impacts of exogenous shocks on the individual farmer level. This paper fills this gap by developing an EDM that assesses the impacts of tariff reduction on farm-level profit.


2013 ◽  
Vol 141 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 214-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dejan Konstantinovic ◽  
Vesna Lazarevic ◽  
Valentina Milovanovic ◽  
Mirjana Lapcevic ◽  
Vladan Konstantinovic ◽  
...  

Introduction. Over the last several years, during the economic crisis, the Ministry of Health and the Republican Health Insurance Fund (RHIF) have been faced with new challenges in the sphere of healthcare services financing both in the primary as well as other types of health insurance in the Republic of Serbia (RS). Objective. Analysis of cost?effectiveness of two models of organization of home treatment and healthcare in the primary insurance, with evaluation of the cost sustainability of a single visit by the in?home therapy team. Methods. Economic evaluation of the cost of home treatment and healthcare provision in 2011 was performed. In statistical analysis, the methods of descriptive statistics were employed. The structure of fixed costs of home healthcare was developed according to the RS official norms, as well as fixed costs of providing services of home therapy by the Healthcare Centre "New Belgrade". The statement of account for provided home therapy services was made utilizing the RHIF price list. Results. The results showed that the cost of home healthcare and therapy of the heterogeneous population of patients in the Healthcare Centre "New Belgrade" was more cost?effective in relation to the cost of providing home therapy services according to the RS official norms. Conclusion. Approved costs utilized when making a contract for services of home therapy and healthcare with the RHIF are not financially sustainable. It was shown that the price of 10 EUR for each home visit by the in?home therapy team enables sustainability of this form of providing healthcare services in RS.


2019 ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Nadiia HRYSHCHUK

The article investigates financial stability as a qualitative characteristic of functioning of agricultural enterprises in modern conditions, the analysis of indicators of financial stability of the enterprise and determination of its type, as well as the effectiveness of forecasting the financial stability of agricultural enterprises. A number of measures is proposed, which is to reduce the cost of production (cost-saving strategy), which will allow agribusinesses to increase competitiveness in the market due to the introduction of new technology, technologies, more rational the use of both material and labor resources, reducing the proportion of fixed costs in the cost of production, in proportion to the increase in profits and competitive development of agricultural enterprises. The basic condition for ensuring the financial stability of the company is the formation of sufficient amounts of funds that enable them to fully fulfill their obligations to the budget, pay employees, creditors, suppliers.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruben Chazarra-Gil ◽  
Stijn van Dongen ◽  
Vladimir Yu Kiselev ◽  
Martin Hemberg

AbstractAs the cost of single-cell RNA-seq experiments has decreased, an increasing number of datasets are now available. Combining newly generated and publicly accessible datasets is challenging due to non-biological signals, commonly known as batch effects. Although there are several computational methods available that can remove batch effects, evaluating which method performs best is not straightforward. Here we present BatchBench (https://github.com/cellgeni/batchbench), a modular and flexible pipeline for comparing batch correction methods for single-cell RNA-seq data. We apply BatchBench to eight methods, highlighting their methodological differences and assess their performance and computational requirements through a compendium of well-studied datasets. This systematic comparison guides users in the choice of batch correction tool, and the pipeline makes it easy to evaluate other datasets.


2015 ◽  
pp. 2135-2148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Etro

This chapter examines the economic impact of the diffusion of a new technology as cloud computing. This will allow firms to rent computing power and storage from service providers, and to pay on demand, with a profound impact on the cost structure of all the industries, turning some of the fixed costs in marginal costs of production. Such a change will have a substantial impact on the incentives to create new business, and through this, on: investments and macroeconomic growth, job creation in all industries and job reallocation in the ICT sector, and public finance accounts, through the direct impact on the public sector spending and the indirect one on the tax revenues. In this study, the author investigates the consequences of the diffusion of cloud computing on market structures and competition and tries to disentangle the above mentioned aspects with a particular focus on a simulation run for the European economy.


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