1,827 research outputs found
Does Aid translate into Bilateral Trade? Findings for Recipient Countries
This paper uses the gravity model of trade to investigate the link between foreign aid and exports in recipient countries. Most of the theoretical work emphasizes the negative impact of aid on recipient countries' exports primarily due to exchange rate appreciation, disregarding possible positive effects of aid in overcoming supply bottlenecks and promoting bilateral trade relations. Our empirical findings -all based on endogeneity-proof techniques (such as Dynamic OLS or more refined techniques) - depend very strongly on whether bilateral trade relations and autocorrelation of the disturbances are controlled for. When not controlling for these phenomena, the impact of aid is quite substantial (especially in Asia, Latin America & Caribbean) but when sound estimation techniques are applied the net impact of aid on recipient countries' exports becomes insignificant in the full 130-country sample and the subsamples: Sub-Saharan Africa & MENA, Asia and Latin America & the Caribbean. However, this rather disappointing finding is in line with the small macroeconomic impact of aid found in earlier studies. --International trade,foreign aid,recipient exports,bilateral trade relations
Vascular risk factors for male and female urgency urinary incontinence at age 68 years from a British birth cohort study
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) at age 68 years and the contribution of vascular risk factors to male and female UUI pathogenesis in addition to the associations with raised body mass index (BMI). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In all, 1 762 participants from the Medical Research Council (MRC) National Survey for Health and Development birth cohort who answered the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire short form (ICIQ-SF), at age 68 years, were included. Logistic regression was used to estimate associations between UUI and earlier life vascular risk factors including: lipid status, diabetes, hypertension, BMI, previous stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) diagnosis; adjusting for smoking status, physical activity, co-presentation of stress UI symptoms, educational attainment; and in women only, type of menopause, age at period cessation, and use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). RESULTS: UUI was reported by 12% of men and 19% of women at age 68 years. Female sex, previous stroke or TIA diagnosis, increased BMI and hypertension (in men only) at age 60-64 years were independent risk factors for UUI. Female sex, increased BMI, and a previous diagnosis of stroke/TIA increased the relative risk of more severe UUI symptoms. Type and timing of menopause and HRT use did not alter the estimated associations between UUI and vascular risk factors in women. CONCLUSION: Multifactorial mechanisms lead to UUI and vascular risk factors may contribute to the pathogenesis of bladder overactivity in addition to higher BMI. Severe UUI appears to be a distinct presentation with more specific contributory mechanisms than milder UUI
Foreign Aid and Recipient Countries` Exports: Does Aid Promote Bilateral Trade?
This paper uses the gravity model of trade to investigate the link between foreign aid and exports in recipient countries. Most of the theoretical work emphasizes the negative impact of aid on recipient countriesâ exports primarily due to exchange rate appreciation, disregarding possible positive effects of aid in promoting bilateral trade relations. The empirical findings, in contrast, indicate that the net impact of aid on recipient countriesâ exports is positive -even though the macroeconomic impact of aid is rather small- and that the average return for recipientsâ exports is about 1.50 US$ for every aid dollar spent. We argue that âbilateral aidâ seems to promote good bilateral trade relations, mutual trust and familiarity and that those factors reinforce bilateral trade, including recipient country exports. The paper also estimates the effect of different types of aid (bilateral aid versus multilateral aid flowing to a specific recipient) and studies aidâs contribution to an expansion of exports in different regions of the world. It is found that aid is strongly export-enhancing in Asia and Latin America, but not in Africa.International trade; foreign aid; recipient exports; bilateral trade relations
Perspectives on high-frequency nanomechanics, nanoacoustics, and nanophononics
Nanomechanics, nanoacoustics, and nanophononics refer to the engineering of
acoustic phonons and elastic waves at the nanoscale and their interactions with
other excitations such as magnons, electrons, and photons. This engineering
enables the manipulation and control of solid-state properties that depend on
the relative positions of atoms in a lattice. The access to advanced
nanofabrication and novel characterization techniques enabled a fast
development of the fields over the last decade. The applications of
nanophononics include thermal management, ultrafast data processing,
simulation, sensing, and the development of quantum technologies. In this
review, we cover some of the milestones and breakthroughs, and identify
promising pathways of these emerging fields.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figure
Diffusive epidemic process: theory and simulation
We study the continuous absorbing-state phase transition in the
one-dimensional diffusive epidemic process via mean-field theory and Monte
Carlo simulation. In this model, particles of two species (A and B) hop on a
lattice and undergo reactions B -> A and A + B -> 2B; the total particle number
is conserved. We formulate the model as a continuous-time Markov process
described by a master equation. A phase transition between the (absorbing)
B-free state and an active state is observed as the parameters (reaction and
diffusion rates, and total particle density) are varied. Mean-field theory
reveals a surprising, nonmonotonic dependence of the critical recovery rate on
the diffusion rate of B particles. A computational realization of the process
that is faithful to the transition rates defining the model is devised,
allowing for direct comparison with theory. Using the quasi-stationary
simulation method we determine the order parameter and the survival time in
systems of up to 4000 sites. Due to strong finite-size effects, the results
converge only for large system sizes. We find no evidence for a discontinuous
transition. Our results are consistent with the existence of three distinct
universality classes, depending on whether A particles diffusive more rapidly,
less rapidly, or at the same rate as B particles.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure
Magnetically controlled exciton transfer in hybrid quantum dot-quantum well nanostructures
A magnetophotoluminescence study of the carrier transfer with hybrid
InAs/GaAs quantum dot(QD)-InGaAs quantum well (QW) structures is carried out
where we observe an unsual dependence of the photoluminescence (PL) on the GaAs
barrier thickness at strong magnetic field and excitation density. For the case
of a thin barrier the QW PL intensity is observed to increase at the expense of
a decrease in the QD PL intensity. This is attributed to changes in the
interplane carrier dynamics in the QW and the wetting layer (WL) resulting from
increasing the magnetic field along with changes in the coupling between QD
excited states and exciton states in the QW and the WL
Growth, Nitrogen and Phosphorus Economy in Two \u3ci\u3eLotus Glaber\u3c/i\u3e Mill. Cytotypes Grown Under Contrasting P-Availability
Lotus glaber Mill. (lotus) is a forage legume with its origin in Europe which has shown an excellent adaptation to the Depressed Pampas of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The soils colonized by lotus usually have poor drainage, moderate sodium and low extractable P concentrations. An experiment was performed with the aim of comparing the early growth and economy of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) within two L. glaber cytotypes differing in their ploidy level, a commercial diploid versus an induced autotetraploid population (Barufaldi et al., 2001)
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