Does the group leader matter? The impact of monitoring activities and social ties of group leaders on the repayment performance of groupbased lending Eritrea

This paper analyzes whether the effects of monitoring and social ties of the group leader and other group members on repayment performance of groups differ, using data from an extensive questionnaire held in Eritrea among participants of 102 groups. We hypothesize that the monitoring activities and social ties of the group leader have a stronger positive impact on the repayment performance of groups. The results show that social ties of the group leader do have a positive effect on repayment performance of groups, whereas this is not true for social ties of other group members. We do not find evidence for the hypothesis that monitoring activities of the group leader have a stronger positive impact on group repayment performance. All variables measuring monitoring activities, either of the group leader or the other group members, are found to be statistically insignificant.

Evaluation of Sex-Based Differences in the Prescription of the Combination of Evidence-Based Medicine After the Occurrence of an Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Aim: To evaluate sex-based differences in the prescription of the combination of evidence-based medicine (cEBM) at discharge after an acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Secondly, we analysed risk factors for the absence of cEBM after discharge, and examined sex differences in adverse events. Methods: This retrospective cohort study compared women to men who were admitted with an acute STEMI at Haga Teaching Hospital between January 2017 and June 2023. The primary outcome was cEBM, defined as an active prescription of the combination of acetylsalicylic acid, P2Y12-inhibitor, ACEi/ARB, beta-blocker, and statin/ezetimibe on the day after discharge. Results: Among 1467 patients (27% women), women were older than men (74 years vs. 65 years, p &lt; 0.001). cEBM was less often prescribed to women than men (66.0% vs. 72.8%, p = 0.013), primarily due to ACEi/ARB (82.1% vs. 87.7%, p = 0.007) and statins (90.2% vs. 95.2%, p = 0.001). In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, female sex was not associated with the absence of cEBM (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.01, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.73–1.39). Other confounders such as increasing age, decreasing haemoglobin, and oral anticoagulants were correlated with the absence of cEBM. Conclusions: A smaller proportion of women were prescribed cEBM post-STEMI compared to men. However, this difference disappeared when controlled for other confounders. Also, women remained to have a higher chance for a stroke or death at 6 months post-discharge. These findings highlight the need for further research into sex disparities and their underlying confounders in the field of evidence-based medicine after an acute STEMI.</p

International home economics

The conference was planned to serve the interests of those who wish to work in home economics programs abroad and those who are concerned with the education of international students in the universities and colleges of the United States. Approximately 165 home economists from other states and from foreign countries I including the African and Latin American countries I participated in the conference.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/card_reports/1026/thumbnail.jp

Efficiency of European public higher education institutions: a two-stage multicountry approach

The purpose of this study is to examine efficiency and its determinants in a set of higher education institutions (HEIs) from several European countries by means of non-parametric frontier techniques. Our analysis is based on a sample of 259 public HEIs from 7 European countries across the time period of 2001–2005. We conduct a two-stage DEA analysis (Simar and Wilson in J Economet 136:31–64, 2007), first evaluating DEA scores and then regressing them on potential covariates with the use of a bootstrapped truncated regression. Results indicate a considerable variability of efficiency scores within and between countries. Unit size (economies of scale), number and composition of faculties, sources of funding and gender staff composition are found to be among the crucial determinants of these units’ performance. Specifically, we found evidence that a higher share of funds from external sources and a higher number of women among academic staff improve the efficiency of the institution

Holocene evolution of the Chan May coastal embayment, central Vietnam: Changing coastal dynamics associated with decreasing rates of progradation possibly forced by mid- to late-Holocene sea-level changes

Southeast Asian coastal environments are undergoing massive transformations with unprecedented population and infrastructure development. These transformations are occurring on a backdrop of intense natural and anthropogenic environmental change, which are increasing the risk to the burgeoning coastal population. Little is known about how central Vietnamese coastal environments have changed naturally since the mid-Holocene sea-level highstand and how recent anthropogenic change and sea-level variation have affected the coastal system. The Chan May embayment in central Vietnam allows us to examine how recent changes in both anthropogenic development and sea-level change have affected the coastline. The embayment preserves a series of prograding beach ridges and is subject to intense human pressures with the construction of a large economic and industrial park, and expansion of tourist facilities. Using ground penetrating radar and quartz optical dating we identify a switch from 6000 years of prograding beach ridges to transgressive dunes within the past century resulting in a decreasing rate of beach ridge progradation possibly in the last 100 years. The recent modes of sediment deposition through washovers and a transgressive dune indicates that coastal progradation has slowed and might have stopped

Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo

Meeting Abstracts: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo Clearwater Beach, FL, USA. 9-11 June 201