28 research outputs found
Coloron Phenomenology
A flavor-universal extension of the strong interactions was recently proposed
in response to the apparent excess of high- jets in the inclusive jet
spectrum measured at the Tevatron. This paper studies the color octet of
massive gauge bosons (`colorons') that is present in the low-energy spectrum of
the model's Higgs phase. Constraints from searches for new particles decaying
to dijets and from measurements of the weak-interaction parameter imply
that the colorons must have masses greater than 870-1000 GeV. The implications
of recent Tevatron data and the prospective input from future experiments are
also discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 4 embedded Postscript figures, LaTeX, full postscript
version also available at http://smyrd.bu.edu/htfigs/htfigs.html rectified
confusing phrase at end of sub-section on 'dijets
Behavioral attitudes and preferences in cooking practices with traditional open-fire stoves in Peru, Nepal, and Kenya: implications for improved cookstove interventions.
Global efforts are underway to develop and promote improved cookstoves which may reduce the negative health and environmental effects of burning solid fuels on health and the environment. Behavioral studies have considered cookstove user practices, needs and preferences in the design and implementation of cookstove projects; however, these studies have not examined the implications of the traditional stove use and design across multiple resource-poor settings in the implementation and promotion of improved cookstove projects that utilize a single, standardized stove design. We conducted in-depth interviews and direct observations of meal preparation and traditional, open-fire stove use of 137 women aged 20-49 years in Kenya, Peru and Nepal prior in the four-month period preceding installation of an improved cookstove as part of a field intervention trial. Despite general similarities in cooking practices across sites, we identified locally distinct practices and norms regarding traditional stove use and desired stove improvements. Traditional stoves are designed to accommodate specific cooking styles, types of fuel, and available resources for maintenance and renovation. The tailored stoves allow users to cook and repair their stoves easily. Women in each setting expressed their desire for a new stove, but they articulated distinct specific alterations that would meet their needs and preferences. Improved cookstove designs need to consider the diversity of values and needs held by potential users, presenting a significant challenge in identifying a "one size fits all" improved cookstove design. Our data show that a single stove design for use with locally available biomass fuels will not meet the cooking demands and resources available across the three sites. Moreover, locally produced or adapted improved cookstoves may be needed to meet the cooking needs of diverse populations while addressing health and environmental concerns of traditional stoves
The Costs of Missing the Millennium Development Goal on Gender Equity
At the Millennium Summit, the world community pledged to promote gender equality and chose as a specific target the achievement of gender equity in primary and secondary education by the year 2005 in every country of the world. Based on the findings from a growing empirical literature that suggests that gender equity in education promotes economic growth and reduce fertility, child mortality, and undernutrition, we estimate what the costs in terms of growth, and forgone fertility, mortality and undernutrition reduction, will be for the 45 countries that are, on current projections, unlikely to meet the target. Our estimates suggest that, by 2005, the countries that are off track are likely to suffer 0.1-0.3 percentage points lower per capita growth rates as a result and will have 0.1-0.4 more children per woman, and, by 2015, an average of 14 per 1000 higher rates of under five mortality and 2.4 percentage points higher prevalence of underweight children under five. Sensitivity analyses suggest that the results are quite robust to using different specifications and approaches to estimating these losses. JEL: I2, J7, J16 Acknowledgements We want to thank Andrew Clark, Luis Crouch, Shantayanan Devarajan, Ruth Kagia, Elizabeth King, Stephen Knowles, Dorian Owen, Paul Schultz, Carolyn Winter, and participants at a seminar at the University of Munich for helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. We also thank Jong-Wha Lee for providing us with enrolment figures that were used for their assessment of schooling attainments. Funding from the World Bank in support of this work is gratefully acknowledged