Financial instruments of the poor: Initial findings from the financial diaries study

A new data set called the Financial Diaries has been produced, based on a sample of 166 households, drawn from three different areas (Langa, Lugangeni and Diepsloot), from a range of dwelling types and wealth categories. A unique methodology was used to create a year-long daily data set of every income, expense and financial transaction used by these households. Within this sample, households used, on average, 17 different financial instruments over the course of the study year. A composite household portfolio, based on all 166 households, has an average of 4 savings instruments, 2 insurance instruments and 11 credit instruments. Of these financial instruments, for the same composite household portfolio, 30% are formal and 70% are informal. Interestingly, it was found that rural households use as many financial instruments as urban households.

Exploiting Imine Photochemistry for Masked N‐Centered Radical Reactivity

This report details the development of a masked N‐centered radical strategy that harvests the energy of light to drive the conversion of cyclopropylimines to 1‐aminonorbornanes. This process employs the N‐centered radical character of a photoexcited imine to facilitate the homolytic fragmentation of the cyclopropane ring and the subsequent radical cyclization sequence that forms two new C−C bonds en route to the norbornane core. Achieving bond‐forming reactivity as a function of the N‐centered radical character of an excited state Schiff base is unique, requiring only violet light in this instance. This methodology operates in continuous flow, enhancing the potential to translate beyond the academic sector. The operational simplicity of this photochemical process and the structural novelty of the (hetero)aryl‐fused 1‐aminonorbornane products are anticipated to provide a valuable addition to discovery efforts in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.The N‐centered open‐shell character of photoexcited cyclopropylimines is utilized to initiate a radical fragmentation–cyclization sequence that generates bridgehead‐functionalized norbornanes. This unique mode of reactivity requires only violet light to proceed, and the 1‐aminonorbornane products are valuable building blocks for drug and agrochemical discovery programs.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153143/1/anie201909492_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153143/2/anie201909492.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153143/3/anie201909492-sup-0001-misc_information.pd

The effect of size and density on the mean retention time of particles in the reticulorumen of cattle (Bos primigenius f. taurus), muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and moose (Alces alces)

Particle passage from the reticulorumen (RR) depends on particle density and size. Forage particle density and size are related and change over time in the RR. Particle density mainly influences sorting in the reticulum, whereas particle size influences particle retention in the fibre mat of stratified rumen contents (‘filter-bed' effect). We investigated these effects independently, by inserting plastic particles of different sizes (1, 10 and 20mm) and densities (1·03, 1·20 and 1·44mg/ml) in the RR of cattle (Bos primigenius f. taurus) as a pilot study, and of muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus; n 4) and moose (Alces alces; n 2) both fed two diets (browse and grass). Faeces were analysed for plastic residues for 13d after dosing to calculate mean retention times (MRT). The results confirmed previous findings of differences in absolute MRT between species. Comparing muskoxen with moose, there was no difference in the effect of particle density on the MRT between species but particle size had a more pronounced effect on the MRT in muskoxen than in moose. This indicated a stronger ‘filter-bed effect' in muskoxen, in accord with the reports of stratified RR contents in this species v. the absence of RR content stratification in moose. Low-density particles were retained longer in both species fed on grass diets, indicating a contribution of forage type to the ‘filter-bed effect'. The results indicate that retention based on particle size may differ between ruminant species, depending on the presence of a fibre mat in the RR, whereas the density-dependent mechanism of sedimentation in the RR is rather constant across specie

Contribution to the life history and reproductive biology of gag, mycteroperca microlepis (serrandidae), in the South Atlantic bight

The gag, Myceteroperca microlepis, is a demersal serranid found along the southeastern coast of the States and in the Gulf of Mexico. Throughout its range the gag is of both commercial and recreational importance. Because of its relatively slow growth rate and desirability, overfishing is of wide concern. The gag is a protogynous hermaphrodite, and suggested that sexual transformation occurs during the 10th or 11th year. Spawning occurs from January to March off the west coast of Florida , and the maximum reported age is 13 years in both the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic Bight 1978 J. Microscopic examination of the gonads is necessary for definite sexual identification, but gonad morphology has not been specifically described. The purpose of this study is to provide new information on the age, growth. and reproductive biology of this important species, including a description of the morphology of gag ovaries and testes

Institutional Experience with Voriconazole Compared with Liposomal Amphotericin B as Empiric Therapy for Febrile Neutropenia

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90034/1/phco.27.7.970.pd

The Astropy Problem

The Astropy Project (http://astropy.org) is, in its own words, "a community effort to develop a single core package for Astronomy in Python and foster interoperability between Python astronomy packages." For five years this project has been managed, written, and operated as a grassroots, self-organized, almost entirely volunteer effort while the software is used by the majority of the astronomical community. Despite this, the project has always been and remains to this day effectively unfunded. Further, contributors receive little or no formal recognition for creating and supporting what is now critical software. This paper explores the problem in detail, outlines possible solutions to correct this, and presents a few suggestions on how to address the sustainability of general purpose astronomical software

Credit Constraints and the Measurement of Time Preferences

Incentivized experiments are commonly used to estimate marginal rates of intertemporal substitution (MRS) in the lab and in the field in order to make inferences about individual time preferences. This paper considers an integrated model of behavior in which individuals are subject to financial shocks and credit constraints, and take those into account when making experimental choices. The model shows that measured MRS depends on the individual’s effective interest rate which is equal to the relative marginal utility of current and future consumption. Experimental responses should therefore be correlated with other variables that describe the subject’s financial situation, like savings and shocks to income and consumption. We test the model using a new a panel data set from Mali and find evidence for such effects. Our results imply that the relationship between experimentally elicited MRS and time preferences is not straightforward. However, measured MRS can be useful in determining the importance of different types of financial shocks to the household

Correction: Expanding the clinical phenotype of individuals with a 3-bp in-frame deletion of the NF1 gene (c.2970_2972del): an update of genotype–phenotype correlation

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