Voltage controlled oscillators for 40Gbit/s cascaded bit-interleaving PON

Technologies such as the Internet-of-Things and cloud services demand dynamic bandwidth allocation flexibility, which is not offered by the currently deployed solutions. The Bit-Interleaving PON (BiPON) and its cascaded extension the Cascaded Bit-Interleaving PON (CBI-PON) offer a solution that allows to increase bandwidths, reduce power consumption and have a much more flexible dynamic bandwidth allocation scheme. CBI-PON consists of multiple levels of BiPON with different line rates. For each of these line rates, clock-and-data recovery must be performed, which requires a set of different Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs). This paper presents the VCOs designed for the CABINET chip, an implementation of a CBI-PON network device, allowing clock-and-data recovery for 40Gbit/s, 10 Gbit/s and 2.5 Gbit/s line rates

Subsidy policies and insurance demand

Using data from a two-year pricing experiment, we study the impact of subsidy policies on weather insurance take-up. Results show that subsidies increase future insurance take-up through their influence on payout experiences. Exploring mechanisms of the payout effect, we find that for households that randomly benefited from financial education, receiving a payout provides a one-time learning experience that improves take-up permanently. In contrast, households with poor insurance knowledge continuously update take-up decisions based on recent experiences with disasters and payouts. Combining subsidy policies with financial education can thus be effective in promoting long-run insurance adoption

Learning, Misallocation, and Technology Adoption: Evidence from New Malaria Therapy in Tanzania

I show that malaria misdiagnosis, common in resource-poor settings, decreases the expected effectiveness of an important new therapy–since only a fraction of treated individuals have malaria–and reduces the rate of learning via increased noise. Using pilot program data from Tanzania, I exploit variation in the location and timing of survey enumeration to construct reference groups composed of randomly chosen, geographically and temporally proximate acutely ill individuals. I show that learning is stronger and adoption rates are higher in villages with more misdiagnosis. Subsidizing diagnostic tools or improving initial targeting of new technologies may thus accelerate uptake through learning.technology adoption, learning, malaria, Tanzania

Demand for plastic latrine slabs in rural Kenya and Tanzania

Plastic latrine slabs provide a cleanable surface and a coverable squat hole opening. They are a simple option for upgrading unimproved pit latrines. To measure consumer demand for plastic slabs in rural areas, we conducted i) a voucher-based real-money sales trial in Tanzania in 2015 (n=569) and ii) a real-money auction in Kenya in 2017 (n=322). In Tanzania, 60% of respondents were willing to pay 1 USD, and only 4% were willing to pay 12 USD (compared to the market price of 18 USD). In Kenya, 93% of respondents were willing to pay 1 USD, with only 1% willing to pay the market price of 16 USD. These findings show that there is demand for plastic slabs but at a lower price than what is commercially available. Amongst households who purchased the plastic slabs, 67% had installed them nine months later in Tanzania, versus 58% ten months later in Kenya

Universal Relationship Between Giant Magnetoresistance and Anisotropic Magnetoresistance in Spin Valve Multilayers

We measure the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) with the current both parallel and perpendicular to the direction of the magnetization in the ferromagnetic (FM) layers and thus probe the anisotropy of the effective mean free paths for the spin-up and spin-down electrons, seen in the anisotropic magnetoresistance. We find that the difference of the GMR in the two configurations, when expressed in terms of the sheet conductance, displays a nearly universal behavior as a function of GMR. On interpreting the results within the Boltzmann transport formalism we demonstrate the importance of bulk scattering for GMR.Comment: REVTEX, 2 figure

Do mito do desenvolvimento econômico ao mito do progresso: uma homenagem a Celso Furtado e Gilberto Dupas

The purpose of this essay is a tribute to Celso Furtado and Gilberto Dupas through a crossreading of the works The myth of economic development (Furtado, 1974) and The myth of progress (Dupas, 2006). In both works the authors reach the same conclusion: development/progress is a myth. Based on the discussion of environmental issues in economy, on the focus on two themes (the environment and poverty), on the theoretical and methodological differences and on historical periods, we intend to establish a dialogue with these authors, trying to understand differences and similarities in their ideas. In general, it is concluded that both consider the development/progress a myth, since it brings the destruction of nature and persistence of poverty and social inequalities.Key words: Economic Theory, environment, poverty.O objetivo do ensaio é fazer uma homenagem a Celso Furtado e Gilberto Dupas através de uma leitura cruzada das obras O mito do desenvolvimento econômico (Furtado, 1974) e O mito do progresso (Dupas, 2006). Nessas duas obras, os autores chegam à mesma conclusão: o desenvolvimento/progresso é um mito. Com base na discussão sobre a questão ambiental na economia, o foco em dois temas (meio ambiente e pobreza), as diferenças teórico-metodológicas e os períodos históricos, pretende-se dialogar com esses autores, procurando entender diferenças   semelhanças nas suas ideias. De modo geral, conclui-se que ambos consideram o desenvolvimento/progresso um mito, uma vez que, da forma como ocorre, traz consigo a destruição da natureza e a persistência da pobreza e das desigualdades sociais.Palavras-chave: Teoria Econômica, meio ambiente, pobreza

A low power 40 Gbit/s cascaded extension to bit-interleaving optical networks enabling next-generation metro/access connectivity

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Interlayer exchange coupling in (Ga,Mn)As based multilayers

Exhibiting antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling in dilute magnetic semiconductor multilayers is essential for the realisation of magnetoresistances analogous to giant magnetoresistance in metallic multilayer structures. In this work we use a mean-field theory of carrier induced ferromagnetism to explore possible (Ga,Mn)As based multilayer structures that might yield antiferromagnetic coupling.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To be published in physica status solidi c as the proceedings of the PASPS IV conferenc