1,985 research outputs found
Author Lili Mendoza discusses intellectual freedom in her work
No full textHear Lili Mendoza describe how intellectual freedom motivates her creative endeavors. Lili Mendoza is a fiction writer, poet, translator and was born in Panama. She is the author of the short story collection Corazón de charol a-go-gó (2009). Her stories and poetry have been anthologized in Panama, Costa Rica, Spain, Peru, and the U.S., and showcased at literary events in Europe. An active member of the Theater Guild of Ancon, Mendoza also collaborates in musical and dance performances.
Interviewer Brian JK Mille
A Review of Sea Cucumber Aquaculture, Ranching, and Stock Enhancement in China
No full textSea cucumber aquaculture has flourished as a result of increasing demand coupled with declining wild fisheries and has been facilitated by technical progress in the production and grow-out phase of larvae and small juvenile sea cucumbers. China has developed a large and successful sea cucumber aquaculture industry based on the temperate species Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka, 1867). China consumes most of its domestic sea cucumber production (193, 705 tons: 2013), exporting only a few dozen tons. Much of the success of sea cucumber aquaculture in China came from advances in culture methods, especially for the early stages of broodstock conditioning, larval production and settlement, and the critical early juvenile development stage. These artificial approaches to production are a precondition for all aquaculture models, and the scientific procedures and management protocols must be strictly adhered to for success. Similarly, the grow-out phase of sea cucumber production in China has evolved from attempts using disused fish and shrimp ponds to new, dedicated ponds developed to meet the more sensitive requirements of sea cucumbers for water quality and substrate type and to the use of ocean ranching. Various diseases have affected this industry and become barriers to its sustainable development. To achieve higher survival rates and better production quality, the trend has been toward ocean ranching of sea cucumbers and stock enhancement, and production levels have increased significantly in recent years. While cost-effective methods for sea cucumber aquaculture close to their point of consumption is good news for wild stocks of sea cucumbers in different parts of the world, there is a potential downside in the environmental impact of such extensive production methods. The influence of sea cucumber aquaculture on the environment and the influence of the environment on sea cucumber aquaculture are important issues relating to ecological security and sustainability
CAPM Beta, Size, Book-to-Market, and Momentum in Realized Stock Returns
No full textMeasuring risk in the stock market context is one of the key challenges of modern finance. Despite the substantial significance of the topic to investors and market regulators, there is a controversy over what risk factors should be used to price assets or to determine the cost of capital. We empirically investigate the ability of several commonly proposed risk factors to predict Swedish stock returns. We consider the sensitivity of asset returns to the variation in market returns (beta), the market value of equity (size), the ratio of the market value of equity to the book value of equity, and short-term historical stock returns (momentum). We conclude that none of these factors is clearly significant for explaining stock returns on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, which casts doubt on their use as universal risk factors in various corporate governance contexts. It seems that the previously documented relationship is contingent on the data sample used and on the time period.stock returns, asset pricing, risk, multifactor models, CAPM, size, book-to-market, momentum, Sweden
Profitability of milk production and its impact factors at JK Otsa Talu Ltd in 2009 - 2011
No full textKäesoleva bakalaureusetöö eesmärgiks oli välja selgitada OÜ JK Otsa Talu piimatootmise kulud ja analüüsida piimatootmise tasuvust mõjutavaid tegureid aastatel 2009 - 2011 ning esitada autoripoolseid ettepanekuid piima tootmise tasuvuse tõstmiseks uuritavas ettevõttes.
Tasuvuse analüüsimiseks on teostatud Osaühingu JK Otsa Talu piimakarjakulude struktuuri ja -dünaamika analüüs, piima kokkuostuhinna analüüs ning piimatootmise tootlikkuse analüüs. Aastate 2009 – 2011 kohta on teostatud analüüs, kus käsitletakse ettevõtte koondnäitajaid: kogukulusid ja –tulusid, käibe- ja kulurentaablust ning ühe haru st piimatootmise osanäitajaid nagu piima tootmisomahind, lehma produktiivsus ja kattetulu looma kohta.The aim of the current bachelors thesis was to find out what the milk production costs of JK Otsa Talu Ltd. were and to analyse milk production profitability impact factors in 2009 – 2011 and to search for opportunities to increase the profitability of milk production.
To analyse the profitability in JK Otsa Talu Ltd. the author has carried out an analysis of livestock costs structure and dynamics, milk prices, productivity and gross margin, comparisons have been made between enterprise production costs, dairy cows productivity, enterprise total costs and revenue, profit margin and cost margin analysis in 2009 – 2011. Also a comparison has been made between the data of JK Otsa Talu Ltd. and the data of other mixed producers type and milk producers belonging to the same group based on the FADN database
The challenge to avoid anti-malarial medicine stock-outs in an era of funding partners : the case of Tanzania
No full textBetween 2007 and 2013, the Tanzanian public sector received 93.1 million doses of first-line anti-malarial artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in the form of artemether-lumefantrine entirely supplied by funding partners. The introduction of a health facility ACT stock monitoring system using SMS technology by the National Malaria Control Programme in mid 2011 revealed a high frequency of stock-outs of ACT in primary care public health facilities. The objective of this study was to determine the pattern of availability of ACT and possible causes of observed stock-outs across public health facilities in Tanzania since mid-2011.; Data were collected weekly by the mobile phone reporting tool SMS for Life on ACT availability from over 5,000 public health facilities in Tanzania starting from September 2011 to December 2012. Stock data for all four age-dose levels of ACT across health facilities were summarized and supply of ACT at the national level was also documented.; Over the period of 15 months, on average 29% of health facilities in Tanzania were completely stocked out of all four-age dose levels of the first-line anti-malarial with a median duration of total stock-out of six weeks. Patterns of total stock-out by region ranged from a low of 9% to a high of 52%. The ACT stock-outs were most likely caused by: a) insufficient ACT supplies entering Tanzania (e.g. in 2012 Tanzania received 10.9 million ACT doses compared with a forecast demand of 14.4 million doses); and b) irregular pattern of ACT supply (several months with no ACT stock). The reduced ACT availability and irregular pattern of supply were due to cumbersome bureaucratic processes and delays both within the country and from the main donor, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Tanzania should invest in strengthening both the supply system and the health information system using mHealth solutions such as SMS for Life. This will continue to assist in tracking ACT availabili across the country where all partners work towards more streamlined, demand driven and accountable procurement and supply chain systems
Taking stock: provider prescribing practices in the presence and absence of ACT stock.
No full textBACKGROUND: Globally, the monitoring of prompt and effective treatment for malaria with artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) is conducted largely through household surveys. This measure; however, provides no information on case management processes at the health facility level. The aim of this review was to assess evidence from health facility surveys on malaria prescribing practices using ACT, in the presence and absence of ACT stock, at time and place where treatment was sought. METHODS: A systematic search of published literature was conducted. Findings were collated and data extracted on proportion of patients prescribed ACT and alternative anti-malarials in the presence and absence of ACT stock. RESULTS: Of the 14 studies identified in which ACT prescription for uncomplicated malaria in the public sector was evaluated, just six, from three countries (Kenya, Uganda and Zambia), reported this in the context of ACT stock. Comparing facilities with ACT stock to facilities without stock (i) ACT prescribing was significantly higher in all six studies, increasing by a range of 21.3% in children < 5 yrs weighing ≥ 5 kg (p < 0.001; Kenya 2006) to 51.7% in children ≥ 10 kg (p < 0.001; Zambia 2006); (ii) SP prescribing decreased significantly in five studies, by a range of 14.4% (p < 0.001; Kenya 2006), to 46.3% (p < 0.001; Zambia 2006); (iii) Where quinine was a reported alternative, prescriptions decreased in five of the six studies by 0.1% (p = 1.0, Kenya 2010) to 10.2% (p < 0.001; Zambia 2006). At facilities with no ACT stock on the survey day, the proportion of febrile patients prescribed ACT was < 10% in five of the nine target groups included in the six studies, with the proportion prescribed ACT ranging from 0 to 28.4% (Uganda 2007). CONCLUSIONS: Prescriber practices vary based on ACT availability. Although ACT prescriptions increased and alternative anti-malarials prescriptions decreased in the presence of ACT stock, ACT was prescribed in the absence, and alternative anti-malarials were prescribed in the presence of, ACT. Presence of stock alone does not ensure that treatment guidelines are followed. More health facility surveys, together with qualitative research, are needed to understand the role of ACT stock-outs on provider prescribing behaviours and preferences
Modulation of hole-injection in GaInN-light emitting triodes and its effect on carrier recombination behavior
No full textThe effects of the hole injection modulated by using a three-terminal GaInN-based light emitter, light-emitting triode (LET), on carrier recombination behavior and efficiency droop are investigated. It was found that the lateral electric field created by applying voltage bias between the two anodes effectively reduces efficiency droop as well as dynamic conductance of LETs. Detailed analyses of LETs under various operation conditions by APSYS simulations reveal that the asymmetry in carrier transport between electrons and holes is alleviated by promoted injection of hot holes over the potential barrier, increasing the hole concentration as well as the radiative recombination rate in the multiple quantum well active region. (C) 2015 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.110Ysciescopu
Hierarchically Self-Organized Monolithic Nanoporous Membrane for Excellent Virus Enrichment
No full textEnrichment of viruses is essential for making high dose viral stocks for vaccines and virus-related research. Since the widely used ultracentrifugation for concentrating viral stock requires ultra-high speed rotation, it easily destroys the activity of some viruses, for instance, hepatitis c virus (HCV), which has a fragile structure and low virus titer. We introduce a novel method to concentrate HCV virus in stock by using a hierarchically self-organized monolithic nanoporous membrane made by stepwise anodization. The pores at the top part of the membrane have very regular sizes that are suitable for the perfect filtration of the virus particles in the stock. On the other hand, the remaining part has large pores that maintain high flux and mechanical strength of the membrane under the high pressure (up to 10 bar). The enrichment efficiency of HCV in crude stocks by using the membrane became over 91%, which is four times higher than that (similar to 22%) obtained by conventionally used centrifugation. A very high efficiency results from the perfect filtration and no damage to the virion particles during the enrichment process, whereas significant damage to the HCV occurs during centrifugation. The hierarchically self-organized monolithic nanoporous membrane could be effectively employed for concentrating various fragile viruses in stocks, for instance, rabies virus and human immunodeficiency virus in addition to HCV virus.X1154sciescopu
Do national soccer results really impact on the stock market?
No full textThis study is a response to Klein et al. (2008), which was highly critical of earlier work by Ashton et al. (2003). This work considering the link between international soccer results and stock market returns was challenged by Klein et al. (2008), who reject the presence and importance of this link. In response, this work provides a reassessment of the link between international soccer results and stock market returns within Ashton et al. (2003). This new analysis extends the original work by using a larger dataset, employing an extended range of tests and allowing for outliers. It is reported that, contrary to the findings of Klein et al. (2008), the link between international soccer results and stock market prices does indeed exist particularly within the sample period 1984–2002 used by Ashton et al. (2003). After extending the dataset to include observations from 2002 until 2009, it is reported that the effect on stock market returns has declined in importance over this period, particularly the impact of wins
A unified and integrated numerical-analytical approach for evaluation of Jk-integrals of an interfacial crack in orthotropic and isotropic bimaterials
No full textA new unified and integrated method for the numerical-analytical calculation of Jk-integrals of an in-plane traction free interfacial crack in homogeneous orthotropic and isotropic bimaterials is presented. The numerical algorithm, based on the boundary element crack shape sensitivities, is generic and flexible. It applies to both straight and curved interfacial cracks in anisotropic and/or isotropic bimaterials. The shape functions of semi-discontinuous quadratic quarter point crack tip elements are correctly scaled to adapt the singular oscillatory near tip field of tractions. The length of crack is designated as the design variable to compute the strain energy release rate precisely. Although an analytical equation relating J1 and stress intensity factors (SIFs) exists, a similar relation for J2 in debonded anisotropic solids for decoupling SIFs is not available. An analytical expression was recently derived by this author for J2 in aligned orthotropic/orthotropic bimaterials with a straight interface crack. Using this new relation and the present computed Jk values, the SIFs can be decoupled without the need for an auxiliary equation. Here, the aforementioned analytical relation is reconstructed for cubic symmetry/isotropic bimaterials and used with the present numerical algorithm. An example with known analytical SIFs is presented. The numerical and analytical magnitudes of Jk for an interface crack in orthotropic/orthotropic and cubic symmetry/isotropic bimaterials show an excellent agreement
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