Effectiveness of lending for vocational education and training: lessons from World Bank experience

This paper reviews the Bank involvement in the vocational education and training (VET) sub-sector in the 1990s. The paper aims to do just that, by mainly seeking answers to the following questions: 1) How has the Bank performed in its lending services to its clients in VET? 2) How have VET projects performed in terms of meeting stated objectives? 3) What factors led to the success, or failure of Bank operations? Based on what has been learned, the paper provides suggestions about how the performance of future VET interventions can be improved. This review concerns itself primarily with implementation performance, and proposes measures to improve project outcomes.ICT Policy and Strategies,Health Economics&Finance,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Teaching and Learning,Banks&Banking Reform

Utilisation of Waste Plastics in Flexible Pavement Construction Laid on Expansive Soil Subgrade

This paper investigates the performance of model flexible pavement on expansive soil subgrade using gravel / flyash as subbase course with waste plastics as a reinforcing material. It was observed that from the laboratory test results of direct shear and CBR, the optimum percentage of waste plastics is equal to 0.3% and 0.4% for gravel and flyash materials. Cyclic load tests were carried out in the field on the reinforced and unreinforced model flexible pavements laid on expansive soil subgrades. It is observed that the maximum load carrying capacity associated with less value of rebound deflection is obtained for gravel/flyash reinforced subbase compared to unreinforced gravel/flyash subbase

Comparisons of various configurations of the edge delamination test for interlaminar fracture toughness

Various configurations of Edge Delamination Tension (EDT) test specimens, of both brittle (T300/5208) and toughened-matrix (T300/BP907) graphite reinforced composite laminates, were manufactured and tested. The mixed-mode interlaminar fracture toughness, G sub C, was measured using (30/30 sub 2/30/90 sub N)sub s, n=1 or 2, (35/-35/0/90) sub s and (35/0/-35/90) sub s layups designed to delaminate at low tensile strains. Laminates were made without inserts so that delaminations would form naturally between the central 90 deg plies and the adjacent angle plies. Laminates were also made with Teflon inserts implanted between the 90 deg plies and the adjacent angle (theta) plies at the straight edge to obtain a planar fracture surface. In addition, interlaminar tension fracture toughness, GIc, was measured from laminates with the same layup but with inserts in the midplane, between the central 90 deg plies, at the straight edge. All of the EDT configurations were useful for ranking the delamination resistance of composites with different matrix resins. Furthermore, the variety of layups and configurations available yield interlaminar fracture toughness measurements needed to generate delamination failure criteria. The influence of insert thickness and location, and coupon size on G sub c values were evaluated

Experiencing space–time: the stretched lifeworlds of migrant workers in India

In the relatively rare instances when the spatialities of temporary migrant work, workers’ journeys, and labour-market negotiations have been the subject of scholarly attention, there has been little work that integrates time into the analysis. Building on a case study of low-paid and insecure migrant manual workers in the context of rapid economic growth in India, we examine both material and subjective dimensions of these workers’ spatiotemporal experiences. What does it mean to live life stretched out, multiplyattached to places across national space? What kinds of place attachments emerge for people temporarily sojourning in, rather than moving to, new places to reside and work? Our analysis of the spatiotemporalities of migrant workers’ experiences in India suggests that, over time, this group of workers use their own agency to seek to avoid the experience of humiliation and indignity in employment relations. Like David Harvey, we argue that money needs to be integrated into such analysis, along with space and time. The paper sheds light on processes of exclusion, inequality and diff erentiation, unequal power geometries, and social topographies that contrast with neoliberalist narratives of ‘Indian shining

Structural Analysis of the Redesigned Ice/Frost Ramp Bracket

This paper describes the interim structural analysis of a redesigned Ice/Frost Ramp bracket for the Space Shuttle External Tank (ET). The proposed redesigned bracket consists of mounts for attachment to the ET wall, supports for the electronic/instrument cables and propellant repressurization lines that run along the ET, an upper plate, a lower plate, and complex bolted connections. The eight nominal bolted connections are considered critical in the summarized structural analysis. Each bolted connection contains a bolt, a nut, four washers, and a non-metallic spacer and block that are designed for thermal insulation. A three-dimensional (3D) finite element model of the bracket is developed using solid 10-node tetrahedral elements. The loading provided by the ET Project is used in the analysis. Because of the complexities associated with accurately modeling the bolted connections in the bracket, the analysis is performed using a global/local analysis procedure. The finite element analysis of the bracket identifies one of the eight bolted connections as having high stress concentrations. A local area of the bracket surrounding this bolted connection is extracted from the global model and used as a local model. Within the local model, the various components of the bolted connection are refined, and contact is introduced along the appropriate interfaces determined by the analysts. The deformations from the global model are applied as boundary conditions to the local model. The results from the global/local analysis show that while the stresses in the bolts are well within yield, the spacers fail due to compression. The primary objective of the interim structural analysis is to show concept viability for static thermal testing. The proposed design concept would undergo continued design optimization to address the identified analytical assumptions and concept shortcomings, assuming successful thermal testing

Response to Selection for Increased Individual Grain Mass in Pearl Millet

Although pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is traditionally a small grain crop, a trait associated with adaption to marginal environments, there are both agronomic and usage-related reasons for seeking to increase individual grain mass (or size). Individual grain mass appears to have a low to moderate heritability in pearl millet, suggesting that genetic improvement based on some form of progeny testing is likely to be effective. The objective of this research was to quantify the percentage increase in individual grain mass that could be achieved in a modern open-pollinated millet cultivar, ICMS 7703, by two cycles of recurrent S1 progeny selection for increased grain mass and maintenance of grain yield potential. Evaluated across 10 test environments, two cycles of selection achieved an 18% increase in individual grain mass (8.05–9.52 mg per grain), with no change in grain yield per square meter. Substantial improvement in individual grain mass in pearl millet is thus possible with targeted recurrent selection, where larger seed size provides an agronomic or processing advantage, or enhances consumer preference

Mechanisms of adjustment by different pearl millet plant types to varying plant population densities

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is commonly grown at a wide range of plant population densities, both by design and as a consequence of stand establishment problems. High tillering genotypes are known to compensate effectively for lower plant population densities through their tillering capacity; less is known about the ability of naturally low tillering genotypes to adjust to low plant population densities. This is a particular concern in the case of the Iniadi landrace materials which are currently widely used in breeding programmes in both India and Africa. This research was done to determine how effectively the low tillering Iniadi types adjust to low plant population densities and how their mechanism(s) of adjustment compares to those of higher tillering materials. Two high and two low tillering genotypes were grown over a period of 5 years (1988-92) at plant population densities ranging from 12 to 2 plants/m², under both high and low fertility regimes at the ICRISAT Centre, India. Both the high and low tillering types adjusted equally well to the reduced plant population densities, as judged by grain yield, but differed in their mechanism of adjustment. The high tillering genotypes adjusted, as expected, primarily by increasing productive tiller numbers, with only small changes in individual tiller productivity. The Iniadi genotypes increased productive tiller numbers in response to decreasing plant population densities to a limited degree, but increased panicle productivity to a much greater degree than the high tillering types. There was no differential effect on adjustment ability between the two types as a consequence of increased fertility, despite the stimulating effect of fertility on productive tiller numbers. The results are discussed in terms of generalized mechanisms of response to changing individual plant environmental resources (fertility and space), and in terms of the use of Iniadi germplasm in pearl millet breeding programmes