330 research outputs found
Knowledgeable bankers ? the demand for research in World Bank operations
No full textDevelopment impact calls for knowledgeable development practitioners. How then do the operational staff of the largest development agency value and use its research? Is there an incentive to learn and does it translate into useful knowledge? A new survey reveals that the bulk of the World Bank's senior staff value the Bank's research for their work, and most come to know it well, although a sizable minority have difficulty accessing research to serve their needs. Another group sees little value to research for their work and does not bother to find out about it. Higher perceived value is reflected in greater knowledge about research, though there are frictions in this process. Staff working on poverty, human development and economic policy tend to value and use research more than staff in the more traditional sectors of Bank lending -- agriculture and rural development, energy and mining, transport and urban development; the latter sectors account for 45 percent of lending but only 15 percent of staff highly familiar with Bank research. Without stronger incentives for learning and more relevant and accessible research products, it appears likely that this lag in demand for research by the traditional sectors will persist.Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Banks&Banking Reform,Information Security&Privacy,Rural Development Knowledge&Information Systems,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis
Indian students at QUT : expectations and experiences
No full textIndia currently ranks among the top source countries for the Australian education industry and therefore, a better understanding of the concerns and challenges confronted by Indian students is essential. This study was undertaken to assess the needs and expectations of Indian students enrolled at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) that would inform the formulation of strategies to provide superior service to the current and future cohorts of students coming from India. Data collection was undertaken through surveys and focus group meetings. The findings reveal the acute need for more effective dissemination of information prior to the students commencing their programs on both academic and non-academic aspects of university life as well as the resources and support available at QUT. Usage of English in an academic setting, career related services, accommodation, and networking opportunities were identified as some of the key areas of concern by the participants
How perception of status differences affects our decision making
No full textAs human beings, we aspire higher to achieve greater security in our lives. We assess our standing in society in relative terms. Past studies have shown that our subjective social status relative to society can determine health consequences (Operario et al, 2004). Yet, we have a limited understanding of how to measure our subjective status and how that affects our decision making and behavior. Understanding these may reveal important information about how perception of status differences affects behavior. Therefore, the primary goal of this dissertation is to closely examine perception of status in order to evaluate its subsequent effect on decision making. Four studies were conducted to examine the relationship between status perceptions and decision making. In the first study, we established a laboratory manipulation of status, designed and validated appropriate questionnaires, and probed its effects on decision making via an economic game called the Ultimatum Game. In study 2, we examined how perception of status affected choice of an experimental status symbol. Both of these studies showed a negative relationship with decision making. In study 1, the low status subjects, who felt inferior to their partner, shared more with their high status partners. And in study 2, we observed that in certain contexts, the low status subjects, who felt inferior to their partner, chose the experimental status symbol more. However, in study 3, when we made the experimental situation riskier, subjects who perceived themselves to be inferior to their partner chose the status symbol less than their high status counterparts. In addition, low status subjects showed more affinity for risk at specific levels. In study 4, we examined if these effects were due to self-esteem and found no effect of self-esteem. Together, these studies showed that laboratory manipulations of status can capture psychological aspects of the status experience and may induce a compensatory tendency. These compensatory tendencies may vary depending on both status of the subject and riskiness of the situation. Studying status in a laboratory setting allows researchers to understand these behaviors more closely and speculate on how to best address status concerns for the betterment of society.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Swati Bhattachary
Child labor : cause, consequence, and cure, with remarks on International Labor Standards
No full textAt least 120 million of the world's children aged 5 to 14 worked full-time in 1995, most of them under hazardous, unhygienic conditions, for more than 10 hours a day. This is an old problem worldwide but particularly so in Third World countries in recent decades. What has changed, with globalization, is our awareness of these child laborers. (The International Labor Organization distinguishes between"child work,"which could include light household chores and could have some learning value, and"child labor,"a pejorative phrase.) By bringing together the main theoretical ideas, the author hopes to encourage both more theoretical research and empirical work with a better theoretical foundation. Among other things, the author observes that: a) The problem is most serious in Africa, where the child-labor participation rate is 26.2 percent. The rate is 12.8 percent in Asia. But since 1950, the trend is a decline in that participation rate worldwide. For most Latin American countries, the decline is notable but less marked than in Asia. In large parts of Africa, including Ethiopia, the problem has been extremely persistent, but even there the trend is downward. b) Child labor has not always been considered evil, and there is no consensus on why it began to decline. In some (not all) countries legislative acts declared it illegal, in some there were rules about compulsory education, and increasing prosperity generally made families less likely to experience poverty if their children weren't working. c) Mandating compulsory education is regarded as more effective than outlawing child labor, because attendance at school is easier to monitor, but some experts believe economic progress is the answer to the problem. The justification for many interventions is that the state is more concerned about the well-being of children than parents are; the author believes such an assumption to be wrong when child labor occurs as a mass phenomenon rather than as isolated abuse. The author argues that, in some economies, the market for labor may exhibit multiple equilibria, with one equilibrium having low adult wage and a high incidence of child labor and another equilibrium exhibiting high adult wage and no child labor. The model is used to provide a framework for analyzing the role of international labor standards.Labor Standards,Children and Youth,Street Children,Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Street Children,Children and Youth,Youth and Governance,Labor Standards,Educational Policy and Planning
Money Market Liquidity under Currency Board – Empirical Investigations for Bulgaria
No full textOver the last years the efficiency and existence of an automatic adjustment mechanism of currency boards are in the centre of economic discussions. This study is intended to provide an empirical analysis of the volume and interest rate of unsecured overnight deposits at Bulgarian interbank market. Three empirical models are developed in order to explain the behaviour of demand, supply and interest rates. The impact of reserve requirements, operations connected with government budget, transactions in reserve currency (Euro) and some seasonal factors is discussed. The developments of interest rates and volumes are well captured by the employed variables and their statistically significant signs coincide with the theoretical literature.money market, currency board, Bulgaria
An Analysis of Gender Wage Differentials in Russia from 1996-2002
No full textThis paper examined the male-female differentials in hourly earnings in Russia from 1996 to 2002. The gender wage gap did not alter significantly in the earlier years, a period characterized by economic instability, but as the economy recovered, the differential in earnings increased initially. This trend reversed in 2002 and while the gender wage gap in mean earnings fell to its previous level the differential increased at the lower percentiles. Throughout all years, most of the gender wage differential is accounted for by differences in rewards rather than differences in observable characteristics. Occupational segregation continues to be a salient feature of the labor market with women clustered in professional, clerical and service occupations while men are more predominantly employed in blue-collar jobs.Russia, economic transition, gender wage gap, occupational segregation
Structural studies on the plant plasma membrane calcium-ATPase
No full textThe plasma membrane Ca\sp{2+}-ATPase is a ubiquitous membrane protein that mediates the active transport of calcium out of the cytoplasm into the cell exterior. In plant cells it is believed to play a major regulatory role in signal transduction by helping to maintain a large gradient of calcium across the plasma membrane, thereby keeping the cell poised for response to environmental and hormonal cues. Research using isolated membrane vesicles has resulted in the study of the plasma membrane Ca\sp{2+}-ATPase, most of which has focused on characterization of its calcium transport properties. In this study a biochemical approach was taken to examine the essential amino acid residues which may be involved in the mechanism of the enzyme. For this, chemical modification reagents were used. In addition radiation inactivation analysis was used to examine the quaternary structure of the enzyme. The study of the plant plasma membrane Ca\sp{2+}-ATPase was conducted using vesicles isolated from red beet (Beta vulgaris L.) storage tissue which provided a means to examine the protein in its native state in the membrane. This work was conducted in order to have a better understanding of the function of the plasma membrane Ca\sp{2+}-ATPase and thereby establish structure-function relationships. In this investigation, chemical modification reagents such as phenylglyoxal and 2,3-butanedione were used to determine whether arginine residues are involved in the mechanism of the plasma membrane Ca\sp{2+}-ATPase. In addition, the reagents diethylpyrocarbonate, n-ethylmaleimide and erythrosin isothiocyanate were used to determine whether histidine, cysteine and lysine residues are involved in the mechanism of the enzyme respectively. All reagents inhibited both transport and hydrolytic properties of the enzyme. Therefore the results indicate that the above residues are involved in the activity of the enzyme, of which arginine residues derivitized by the reagents indicated, are probably located at or near the active site. Radiation inactivation analysis studies on the red beet plasma membrane Ca\sp{2+}-ATPase resulted in the determination of the target molecular size of the enzyme to be 245 kDa, and that the enzyme may function as a dimer in its native state. Results from this study provide information for further research on the structure of the plant plasma membrane Ca\sp{2+}-ATPase and the establishment of its role in signal transduction in plants.Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-07T13:16:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
license.txt: 4922 bytes, checksum: 910b249b4beec47e7ab768910c8f966f (MD5)
9416338.pdf: 6505647 bytes, checksum: ae50e1262e1f493a86678e4fe9c00cda (MD5)
Previous issue date: 1994Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by Howard Ding ([email protected]) on 2011-05-07T14:52:42Z
Item is restricted indefinitely.Restriction data tranferred 2014-07-01T11:24:18-05:00
Original Data
Group with Access UIUC Users [automated]
Release Date: none
Reason: ETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissionETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissionU of I Onl
Addressing the education puzzle : the distribution of education and economic reform
No full textNo country has achieved sustained economic development without substantially investing in human capital. Previous studies have shown the handsome returns to various forms of basic education, research, training, learning-by-doing, and capacity-building. But education by itself does not guarantee successful development, as history has shown in the former Soviet bloc, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the Indian states of Kerala and West Bengal. The question is, when and how does education bring high payoffs? Although theory has suggested a strong causal link between education and growth, the empirical evidence has not been unanimous and conclusive. The authors examine two explanatory factors. First, who gets educated matters a good deal, but the distribution of education is complex and not much has been written about it. They construct an asset allocation model that elucidates the importance of the distribution of education to economic development. Second, how education affects growth is greatly affected by the economic policy environment. Policies determine what people can do with their education. Reform of trade, investment, and labor policies can increase the returns from education. Using panel data from 12 Asian and Latin American countries for 1970-94, they investigate the relationship between education, policy reform, and economic growth. Their empirical results are promising. First, the distribution of education matters. Unequal distribution of education tends to have a negative impact on per capita income in most countries. Moreover, controlling for human capital distribution and the use of appropriate functional form specifications consistent with the asset allocation model makes a difference for the effect of average schooling on per capita income. Controlling for education distribution leads to positive and significant effects of average schooling on per capita income, while failure to do so leads to insignificant, even negative effects, of average education. Second, the policy environment matters a great deal. Our results indicate that economic policies that suppress market forces tend to dramatically reduce the impact of human capital on economic growth. Investment in human capital can have little impact on growth unless people can use education in competitive and open markets. The larger and more competitive these markets are, the greater are the prospects for using education and skills.Curriculum&Instruction,Economic Theory&Research,Decentralization,Public Health Promotion,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Teaching and Learning,Curriculum&Instruction,Economic Theory&Research,Gender and Education
Development of multifunctional polydimethylsiloxane-based polyurethanes as an ‘off-the-shelf’ alloplastic platform for urological reconstruction
No full textOver 400 million patients suffer from urinary bladder-associated physiological disorders
globally, which often necessitate surgical intervention for a reconstructive procedure. The
current gold standard for bladder reconstruction, an autologous graft, is proven not to be an
ideal substitute in clinics. Such unmet clinical needs drive the continuous surge for structural
and functional substitutes of urinary tissues, including ureters, bladder-wall, and urethra.
Against this backdrop, the present dissertation explores a biomaterial-based, functionalised
alloplastic platform for urological reconstruction. This strategy for an alloplastic urinary tissue
encompasses a biostable, 'off-the-shelf' available therapeutic option that simplifies and shortens
surgical treatment. Furthermore, it presents the potential to evade the challenges and
complications of autografts and scaffold-based regenerative techniques.
Considering the prerequisites of a urological alloplast, the combination of
polydimethylsiloxane and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU/PDMS) is deemed most
advantageous. The synergistic integration of varying contents of PDMS within the molten TPU
matrix is realised through a processing methodology of dynamic vulcanisation (DV). The
experimental outcomes are evaluated and correlated with different phenomenological models
to understand DV induced strengthening of structure. The theoretical predictions, in
conjunction with material property characterisation, allow a better understanding of the
improved interfacial behaviour and superior performance of the crosslinked polymer system.
The in situ compatibilised blends are further investigated for clinically relevant viscoelastic
properties to sustain high pressure, large distensions, and surgical handling/manipulation.
Moreover, non-exhaustive chemical strategies are harnessed to counter urinary tract infections
through the covalent incorporation of polycationic moieties. The new generation alloplasts,
endowed with contact killing surfaces, are assessed for their efficacy in pathogenically infected
artificial urine. In addition, the adhesion and proliferation of murine fibroblasts on different
polymeric compositions to establish their cytocompatibility.
Building further upon the knowledge of the antibacterial and antifouling activity of
polycationic modifications, layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled multifunctional surface grafting
are conceived to sustain long-term stability in a urinary environment, to suppress encrustation
and biofilm formation. The performance of the single-step and LbL-grafted blends is
benchmarked against the conventional urological alloplasts, using a customised lab-scale
bioreactor set-up. Post-six weeks of incubation in the dynamic assembly simulating ureasepositive microbial infection, the contact-active blends exhibited a remarkable ability to resist
calcium and magnesium encrustation, while retaining adequate grafting integrity. As high as
4-fold log reduction in the planktonic growth of bacterial strains associated with bladder stones
and renal calculi is recorded. In vitro cellular assessment is carried out with human
keratinocytes and human embryonic kidney cells to evaluate the cytocompatibility of the
surface grafted blends against the medical-grade control polymer. Finally, the optimum LbL
grafted formulations are investigated for their performance in a phase-I pre-clinical study
utilising human urine samples collected from 129 patients. The newly developed blends meet
the clinically desirable attributes and present a strong potential as a stable, contact-active, antiencrustation biomaterial platform for urinary implantation.
Summarising, this dissertation contemplates the new-generation, infection and encrustationresistant alloplasts. In pursuit of this vision, multifunctional polymeric biomaterials are
designed to sustain desirable performance in a urinary environment. These next-gen
biomaterials pave the way for an alloplastic platform that can integrate into clinical practice to
improve the quality of modern urological treatment
Analyzing Advancement in Crowdfunding Research and Envisioning its Future: A Bibliometric Approach
No full textPublished online 24 July 2023. Published in print 1 August 2023.Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings includes abstracts of all papers and symposia presented at the annual conference, plus 6-page abridged versions of the “Best Papers” accepted for inclusion in the program (approximately 10%). Papers published in the Proceedings are abridged because presenting papers at their full length could preclude subsequent journal publication. Please contact the author(s) directly for the full papers.Crowdfunding represents an emerging alternative means of marshaling resources which may prove to be a game-changer in the entrepreneurial finance landscape. Although the rapid growth in this field has yielded a multidisciplinary body of work, the scaffolding of this vast body of work is still largely unknown in the scholarly domain. We conduct a bibliometric analysis of 534 crowdfunding articles to uncover the intellectual landscape of crowdfunding research. Our comprehensive co-citation analysis reveals two generations of crowdfunding research, identifies the most researched themes in area, and highlights its theoretical and disciplinary anchors. In addition, our bibliographic cartography traces the shifts in areas of interest of scholars within the heterogeneous field. Overall, our critical analysis of the most influential conversations in crowdfunding research helps reveals gaps in the extant literature which act as fertile directions for its future inquiry
- …
