Evaluating "The Bottom of the Pyramid" from a Fundamental Capabilities Perspective

Prahalad’s thesis is extremely vague, indeed it identifies seven versions. The paper then turns to examining the 12 major cross-country case studies that Prahalad uses as corroboration for his views. It argues that the evidence that Prahalad offers to support his claims fails to do so, or, proves to provide counter-examples. Furthermore, the case study approach that Prahalad uses is methodologically weak for the strong claims that he makes. Placing the argument in a broader perspective, it is argued that the bottom of the pyramid approach can do more harm than good if it, as Prahalad does, plays down factors which have been important to large scale poverty reduction in countries such as South Korea, China, India and Vietnam. After assessing the book on its own terms, the paper asks whether or not income poverty is the correct space in which to evaluate the impact of business activities. The concepts of income poverty, multidimensional poverty and capability deprivation are discussed and a notion of fundamental capability deprivations as being the relevant evaluative space is defended. It is argued while the Bottom of the Pyramid approach fares better on these criteria, but still leaves a lot to be desired. The eradication of deprivation requires more than self-interested firms

FDI with chinese characteristics

China’s FDI to Africa has drawn much attention recently, partially because of the high profile China has given it, and partially because of the political and economic effects it is having on Africa. This paper begins by outlining the political context which is needed to understand Chinese outward FDI, namely the introduction of the "open door” policy and, more particularly, its policy towards Africa. The paper then goes on to give an overview of Chinese FDI in Africa. The paper then turns to ask the question: Is Chinese FDI developmental? To answer this question, it examines the notion of development and argues that much of the "western FDI” debate is severely limited in as far as it concentrates on income poverty and ignores other aspects of multidimensional poverty. After giving an overview of China’s involvement in Africa, the paper turns to four case studies of Chinese FDI, examining the developmental impacts on a variety of dimensions (as far as is possible) of different types of FDI in different regimes, namely resource seeking and manufacturing in Zambia, an infrastructure project in Botswana and construction/tourism in Sierra Leone. It warns against generalising from these cases, but suggests that the developmental effects so far have been limited

Regional values and the politics of growth management in the Pacific Northwest

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1997.Includes bibliographical references (leaves [121]-124).by Andrew Crabtree.M.C.P

GANs and Closures: Micro-Macro Consistency in Multiscale Modeling

Sampling the phase space of molecular systems -- and, more generally, of complex systems effectively modeled by stochastic differential equations -- is a crucial modeling step in many fields, from protein folding to materials discovery. These problems are often multiscale in nature: they can be described in terms of low-dimensional effective free energy surfaces parametrized by a small number of "slow" reaction coordinates; the remaining "fast" degrees of freedom populate an equilibrium measure on the reaction coordinate values. Sampling procedures for such problems are used to estimate effective free energy differences as well as ensemble averages with respect to the conditional equilibrium distributions; these latter averages lead to closures for effective reduced dynamic models. Over the years, enhanced sampling techniques coupled with molecular simulation have been developed. An intriguing analogy arises with the field of Machine Learning (ML), where Generative Adversarial Networks can produce high dimensional samples from low dimensional probability distributions. This sample generation returns plausible high dimensional space realizations of a model state, from information about its low-dimensional representation. In this work, we present an approach that couples physics-based simulations and biasing methods for sampling conditional distributions with ML-based conditional generative adversarial networks for the same task. The "coarse descriptors" on which we condition the fine scale realizations can either be known a priori, or learned through nonlinear dimensionality reduction. We suggest that this may bring out the best features of both approaches: we demonstrate that a framework that couples cGANs with physics-based enhanced sampling techniques can improve multiscale SDE dynamical systems sampling, and even shows promise for systems of increasing complexity.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures, 3 table

Use of Polarized Light in the Diagnosis of Fuzz Granuloma in the Conjunctiva of a Child.

Synthetic fiber granulomas, also known as Teddy Bear granulomas or Fuzz Ball granulomas, are usually seen in childhood. We present a case of a 5-year-old child with a Fuzz Ball granuloma of the conjunctiva. The resected specimen was processed routinely. The use of polarized light during microscopic examination of the resected tissue made the diagnosis evident due to the prominent birefringence of the synthetic foreign material fibers

Those Who Need It Most: Maximizing Transit Accessibility and Removing Barriers to Employment in Areas of Concentrated Poverty

This research assesses the transportation assets and challenges faced by residents of Areas of Concentrated Poverty (ACPs), paying special attention to ACP50s—ACPs in which people of color comprise more than 50% of the population. The authors develop a graphically-facilitated survey blending multiple choice, free response, cognitive mapping and discussion questions to capture unmet transportation needs and user experience information difficult to gather in traditional travel behavior surveys. They find that participants’ activity spaces vary significantly based on car availability and local built form and that pedestrian environments around stops affect the experience of using transit in ACPs more strongly than transit service itself, leading to the conclusion that transit- and pedestrian-oriented community design is a significant equity issue

Bitopic binding mode of an M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor agonist associated with adverse clinical trial outcomes

The realisation of the therapeutic potential of targeting the M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M1 mAChR) for the treatment of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease has prompted the discovery of M1 mAChR ligands showing efficacy in alleviating cognitive dysfunction in both rodents and humans. Among these is GSK1034702, described previously as a potent M1 receptor allosteric agonist, which showed pro-cognitive effects in rodents and improved immediate memory in a clinical nicotine withdrawal test but induced significant side-effects. Here we provide evidence using ligand binding, chemical biology and functional assays to establish that rather than the allosteric mechanism claimed, GSK1034702 interacts in a bitopic manner at the M1 mAChR such that it can concomitantly span both the orthosteric and an allosteric binding site. The bitopic nature of GSK1034702 together with the intrinsic agonist activity and a lack of muscarinic receptor subtype selectivity reported here, all likely contribute to the adverse effects of this molecule in clinical trials. We conclude that these properties, whilst imparting beneficial effects on learning and memory, are undesirable in a clinical candidate due to the likelihood of adverse side effects. Rather, our data supports the notion that "pure" positive allosteric modulators showing selectivity for the M1 mAChR with low levels of intrinsic activity would be preferable to provide clinical efficacy with low adverse responses

Detailed state of the art review for the different on-line/in-line oil analysis techniques in context of wind turbine gearboxes

The main driver behind developing advanced condition monitoring (CM) systems for the wind energy industry is the delivery of improved asset management regarding the operation and maintenance of the gearbox and other wind turbine components and systems. Current gearbox CM systems mainly detect faults by identifying ferrous materials, water, and air within oil by changes in certain properties such as electrical fields. In order to detect oil degradation and identify particles, more advanced devices are required to allow a better maintenance regime to be established. Current technologies available specifically for this purpose include Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and ferrography. There are also several technologies that have not yet been or have been recently applied to CM problems. After reviewing the current state of the art, it is recommended that a combination of sensors would be used that analyze different characteristics of the oil. The information individually would not be highly accurate but combined it is fully expected that greater accuracy can be obtained. The technologies that are suitable in terms of cost, size, accuracy, and development are online ferrography, selective fluorescence spectroscopy, scattering measurements, FTIR, photoacoustic spectroscopy, and solid state viscometers

Isolation and culture of murine bone marrow-derived macrophages for nitric oxide and redox biology

Macrophages are mononuclear phagocytes derived from haematopoietic progenitors that are widely distributed throughout the body. These cells participate in both innate and adaptive immune responses and lie central to the processes of inflammation, development, and homeostasis. Macrophage physiology varies depending on the environment in which they reside and they exhibit rapid functional adaption in response to external stimuli. To study macrophages in vitro, cells are typically cultured ex vivo from the peritoneum or alveoli, or differentiated from myeloid bone marrow progenitor cells to form bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). BMDMs represent an efficient and cost-effective means of studying macrophage biology. However, the inherent sensitivity of macrophages to biochemical stimuli (such as cytokines, metabolic intermediates, and RNS/ROS) makes it imperative to control experimental conditions rigorously. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish an optimised and standardised method for the isolation and culture of BMDMs. We used classically activated macrophages isolated from WT and nitric oxide (NO)-deficient mice to develop a standardised culture method, whereby the constituents of the culture media are defined. We then methodically compared our standardised protocol to the most commonly used method of BMDM culture to establish an optimal protocol for the study of nitric oxide (NO)-redox biology and immunometabolism in vitro. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Continuity in the face of a slowly unfolding catastrophe : the persistence of Icelandic settlement despite large-scale soil erosion

The National Science Foundation of America provided financial support for this research through grants 1202692 ‘Comparative Island Ecodynamics in the North Atlantic’, and 1249313 ‘Tephra layers and early warning signals for critical transitions’.Soil erosion in Iceland since people first settled the island about 1,100 years ago has fundamentally changed some 15-30% of the island’s total surface area. This provides a unique case to evaluate the consequences of a slowly unfolding environmental catastrophe that has affected, and is continuing to affect a primary means of subsistence for a whole society. Buffered by the sufferings of regions of Iceland, individual farms and particular social groups, Icelandic society as a whole has endured through subsistence flexibility, social inequalities, and the ability to tap into larger provisioning and economic networks. This demonstrates how an adaptable people can confront challenges through social organisation and by diversifying their impacts ecosystems. In the medium term—multi-century timescales—this can be an effective, if costly, strategy, in terms of both the environment and society. Soil conservation is now a national priority, woodland is returning, and climate warming is opening up more potentials for Icelandic arable agriculture. However, the slow catastrophe of Icelandic soil erosion is still unfolding, with the perspective of the longue durée it is evident that decisions made in the Viking Age and medieval period still resonate, constraining future options for resilience and adaptive flexibility.Postprin