Communication links, Productivity, knowledge transfers, growth and income distribution

In this study, we show that banking development, communication links, productivity and income distribution exert a statistically and economically significant positive impact on local economic growth. This effect becomes more pronounced when the financial sector is more liberalized and deregulated. Preceded by the global changes that occurred since the mid-1980s and 1990s, the world has seen continued economic liberalization, increasing privatization and gradual loosening of credit/capital controls by states. The lifting of state controls in the banking sector in the 1980s and 1990s, created a more integrated and competitive financial industry ensuring efficient allocation of bank credits to productive areas. The economic thinking behind all this is that the financial entities, functioning under liberalized monetary regimes operate at higher levels of efficiency and productivity. Productivity improvements may result from different sources, yet the notion that the private sector’s intention to maximize profit leads to productivity improvement is one of the fundamental ones. Put it differently; a deregulated financial system is viewed as an appealing society to invest. Using data from 14 Sub Saharan African Countries (SSA), we examined the growth effects of banking development, communication links, productivity and income distribution over the period 1990 – 2013. We find evidence of significant growth effects of banking development in SSA on industrial components of GDP. Growth in agricultural GDP is positive but not significant

Mapping the Madness, Making a Method: A critical reflection on living, learning, and organizing amidst chaos

Statement of Purpose This is my first attempt at synthesizing my experience as a student of race and power during a time of total system failure, mass resistance to systems of racial capitalism and state violence, and settler desecration of the Earth. As a pre-service educator at a time when schools are a site of contestation over whether our children should be taught about power and oppression, whether or not all of our children should be allowed to learn freely, whether transgender children have the right to exist at all. As an organizer, human being, and young person who is coming into himself during a period of immense change and inescapably visible suffering. It is my attempt at testimony. As my struggle to align my actions to my values continues, I hope I might return to this piece as a marker of my own development. At its core, I am taking this work as an opportunity to share what I have learned with all those who have aided me in the process of becoming more fully human; my mentors, educators, friends, and – most importantly – my family

Design foto - tipo gráfico

Design foto/tipo/gráfico é uma representação que surge da relação entre o design gráfico, a Fotografia e a Tipografia —deriva do conceito de Design Foto/Gráfico, criado por Allen Hurlburt em 1985 e do conceito de tipofoto, criado por Laszló Moholy-Nagy, em 1925. ‘Foto/gráfica no es un término nuevo, sino una nueva mirada a una expresión que ingresó en el lenguaje hace aproximadamente ciento cincuenta años’ (Hurlburt, 1985, p. 9). A expressão design foto/gráfico foi usada pela primeira vez por John Herschel (1792–1871) para descrever um processo inventado por William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–77). Esta expressão surgiu da combinação de duas palavras gregas: pothós, que significa ‘luz’, e grapho, que significa ‘desenho’ (Hurlburt, 1985). A invenção deste processo fotográfico deu origem a transformações profundas na comunicação gráfica e visual da época. Tipofoto é um conceito definido por Moholy-Nagy como ‘la información representada visualmente de la manera más precisa’, que surge da junção das palavras Tipografia e Fotografia -Tipografia é ‘una información traducida a caracteres de impresión’ e Fotografia é ‘la representación visual de lo ópticamente perceptible’ (1985). Existe uma relação muito próxima entre o conceito de design foto/gráfico e o conceito de tipofoto, uma vez que ambos exploram a relação texto-imagem. Tendo em conta o que é e para que serve o design, importa referir que o objectivo máximo é sempre a comunicação de uma determinada mensagem. As possibilidades de combinar, relacionar e enquadrar texto e imagem são infinitas. O design foto/tipo/gráfico surge como uma disciplina que, fazendo uso do conhecimento profundo de várias áreas distintas, procura encontrar uma relação de equilíbrio entre a necessidade permanente de comunicação de uma imagem e a descodificação de mensagens complexas, considerando sempre o aspecto gráfico e visual. O processo de design envolve vários passos e é uma resposta condicionada por muitos factores, que deve ter em conta considerações pictóricas, tipográficas, relação das imagens entre si, entre outros. No seguimento, importa perceber que, muitas vezes, mesmo o objecto gráfico e visual mais simples é resultado de uma investigação frutífera. O design moderno foi fortemente influenciado pelos dadaístas e designers construtivistas, que exploraram, de forma exaustiva e inovadora, a relação imagem-texto, desde o uso excessivo de imagens; a sobreposição destas; a relação texto-imagem e texto-texto; a escala, etc. Um dos principais elementos de combinação de fotografias é o contraste: de tamanho, de valor (escuro-claro), de escala, de cores, de forma (horizontal vertical, altura largura), impacto, significado, mensagem visual, etc. Na procura constante de harmonia entre as imagens, faz sentido encontrar pontos de relação comuns, desde geométricos (alinhamentos e linhas paralelas), a pontos mais visuais (cor, contraste, entre outros), que vão reforçar a relação entre as imagens e contribuir para alcançar a coesão e a unidade do objecto gráfico.ABSTRACT : Photo/typo/graphic Design is a representation that arises from the relationship between Graphic Design, Photography and Typography — it comes from the concept of Photo/Graphic Design, created by Allen Hurlburt in 1985 and the concept of Typophoto, created by László Moholy-Nagy in 1925. Foto/gráfica no es un término nuevo, sino una nueva mirada a una expresión que ingresó en el lenguaje hace aproximadamente ciento cincuenta años’ (Hurlburt, 1985, p. 9). The term Photo/Graphic Design was first used by John Herschel (1792-1871) to describe a process invented by William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-77). This expression came from the combination of two Greek words: photos, which means 'light' and grapho which means 'drawing' (Hurlburt, 1985). The invention of the photographic process led to deep changes in the graphic and visual communication of those days. Tipofoto is a concept defined by Moholy-Nagy as ‘la información representada visualmente de la manera más precisa’, that arises from the junction of words Typography and Photography — Typography is ‘una información traducida a caracteres de impresión’ and Photography is ‘la representación visual de lo ópticamente perceptible’ (1985). There is a close relationship between the concept of Photo/Graphic Design and the concept of Typophoto, because both explore the text-image relationship. Considering what design is, and what it exists for, it should be noted that it’s ultimate goal is always to communicate a specific message. The possibilities for matching, relating and framing text and image are endless. The photo/typo/graphic Design appears as a discipline which, making use of deep knowledge in several different areas, looks to find a balanced relationship between the constant need for communicating images and decoding complex messages, always taking in account the graphic and visual aspect. The design process involves several steps and is a response conditioned by many factors, which must account for pictorial and typographic considerations, the relationship of the images to each other, and others. Following this, it is important to realize that often, even the most simple graphic and visual object is the result of a fruitful research. The modern design has been strongly influenced by the Dadaists and Constructivists designers who explored exhaustively and innovatively, the image-text relationship, from the excessive use of images, the overlap of these, the relationship between text and image and text-text; scale etc.. A key element in combining photographs is the contrast: size, value (dark-light), scale, color, shape (vertical, horizontal, height, width), impact, meaning, visual message, etc.. In constant search for harmony between images, it makes sense to find common points of relationship, from geometric alignments and parallel lines, to more visual points of relationship, such as: color, contrast, and others; which will strengthen the relationship between the images and contribute for achieving cohesion and unity in the graphic object.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Plank Shootback from Table Saws – Its Causes and Effects

Plank shoot – back is an undesirable phenomenon that occurs in the sawing of planks with table saws. This paper shows the results of an study of the phenomenon to establish its causes, frequency of occurrence, and its consequences. A theoretical energy analysis of the phenomenon was used to explain the results obtained from interviews with table – saw operators

Estimation of future inflation in Sri Lanka Using arima model

Inflation plays a key role in macroeconomic analysis. The importance and necessity of low and stable inflation has become a commonly prevailing viewpoint among the economist for maintaining a stable socio-economic situation in many countries. The negative consequences of inflation are well known. Inflation can result in a decrease in the purchasing power of the national currency leading to the aggravation of social conditions and living standards. High prices can also lead to uncertainty making domestic and foreign investors reluctant to invest in the economy. Moreover, inflated prices worsen the country's terms of trade by making domestic goods expensive on regional and world markets. Therefore, inflation is considered to be a major economic problem in transition economies and thus fighting inflation and maintaining stable prices is the main objective of monetary authorities. Earlier signal of future inflation is important to make economic decision. Forecasting is the estimation of the value of the variable (or set of variables) at some specific future point in time. Sri Lanka uses Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCP1) to estimate inflation rates. For most Central Banks, inflation is important monetary policy objective. Inflation forecasts that link future inflation to current development. Some Central Banks have even adopted an inflation forecast as an intermediate target of inflation. This proves that inflation forecast should be reliable. Quantitative inflation forecasting can provide useful information on future developments. Therefore, it is very important in an inflation-targeting regime to develop powerful models that explain the dynamic movements of the economy. If the Central Bank had a powerful inflation-forecasting model, it could be able to take preemptive actions that reproduce the economic dynamics as well

Identify the determinants of groom price special reference to selected Muslim area in Ampara district

Payments between families at the time of marriage are common practice in many areas in Sri Lanka. These payments can be substantial enough to affect the welfare of the society. Marriage payments are very high in North, Eastern and South Eastern Province in Sri Lanka. Compared with other Muslim area in Sri Lanka, these payments are very high in Muslim areas in Ampara district. These payments have risen sharply in year by year. Most probably marriages payments have paid by bride side to groom side. Groom’s Job, educational qualification, age, income and family status are the main determinants of marriage payments in the marriage market. The main objective of this study is to identify the main determinants of marriage payments for groom in marriage market in Ampara Muslim area. Data for this study has been collected by participated interview method. Regression method and descriptive statistical methods were used to analysis the data and Eviews statistical software has used to achieve this aim. Finding of this study indicate that there are several external factors such as Grooms’ professional qualification, educational qualifications, age different and groom monthly income were identified as a main determinants of groom price in marriage market in Ampara Muslim area

Behavioral and financial change:Essays in market design

This thesis consists of three essays in the realm of market design covering two topics: incentives for behavioral change and allocation mechanisms in reward-based crowdfunding. In the first essay, I use theoretical analysis and a field experiment to investigate whether introducing a betting market can help people to follow through with their plans to lead a healthier life. In the second and third essay, I use theory and laboratory experiments to examine whether a new allocation mechanism can improve reward-based crowdfunding practice

Modified DBSCAN Algorithm for Microscopic Image Analysis of Wood

The analysis of the intern anatomy of wood samples for species identification is a complex task that only experts can perform accurately. Since there are not many experts in the world and their training can last decades, there is great interest in developing automatic processes to extract high-level information from microscopic wood images. The purpose of this work was to develop algorithms that could provide meaningful information for the classification process. The work focuses on hardwoods, which have a very diverse anatomy including many different features. The ray width is one of such features, with high diagnostic value, which is visible on the tangential section. A modified distance function for the DBSCAN algorithm was developed to identify clusters that represent rays, in order to count the number of cells in width. To test both the segmentation and the modified DBSCAN algorithms, 20 images were manually segmented, obtaining an average Jaccard index of 0.66 for the segmentation and an average index M=0.78 for the clustering task. The final ray count had an accuracy of 0.91. (c) 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG