Beyond Cash: Assessing Externality and Behaviour Effects of Non-Experimental Cash Transfers

In this paper we propose a method to estimate externality effects in cash transfer programmes, even in cases when the benefit is not randomly assigned. Externality is assessed through the decomposition of the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) into participation (direct) effect and externality (indirect) effect. We also suggest a non parametric decomposition to investigate whether changes in household outcomes are caused by the income transfer itself or by the other non-monetary components of the programme, such as conditionalities and family support services. We apply all these decompositions on the effect of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme on household consumption and savings in Paraguay. This was possible because of the presence of two distinct comparison groups, one within the village and potentially exposed to the externality, and another in a different village not affected by the programme. Furthermore, the evaluation survey collected information on both income and consumption. The results indicate that the programme has a small impact on consumption and a considerable impact on savings. In the absence of externality, however, the programme would have a higher effect on consumption, mostly associated with the cash transfer, and a lower effect on savings. Moreover, the impact on the pattern of consumption is significantly related to a substitution effect and is not related to the increase in income. (...)Beyond Cash: Assessing Externality and Behaviour Effects of Non-Experimental Cash Transfers

Effects of plyometric versus optimum power load training on components of physical fitness in young male soccer players

Purpose: The current study aimed to compare the effects of plyometric (PT) versus optimum power load (OPL) training on physical performance of young high-level soccer players. Methods: Athletes were randomly divided into PT (horizontal and vertical drills) and OPL (squat + hip thrust exercises at the load of maximum power output) interventions, applied over 7 weeks during the in-season period. Squat and countermovement jumps, maximal sprint (10 and 30 m), and change of direction (COD; agility t test) were the pretraining and posttraining measured performance variables. Magnitude-based inference was used for within- and between-group comparisons. Results: OPL training induced moderate improvements in vertical squat jump (effect size [ES]: 0.97; 90% confidence interval [CI], 0.32–1.61) and countermovement jump (ES: 1.02; 90% CI, 0.46–1.57), 30-m sprint speed (ES: 1.02; 90% CI, 0.09–1.95), and COD performance (ES: 0.93; 90% CI, 0.50–1.36). After PT training method, vertical squat jump (ES: 1.08; 90% CI, 0.66–1.51) and countermovement jump (ES: 0.62; 90% CI, 0.18–1.06) were moderately increased, while small enhancements were noticed for 30-m sprint speed (ES: 0.21; 90% CI, −0.02 to 0.45) and COD performance (ES: 0.53; 90% CI, 0.24–0.81). The 10-m sprint speed possibly increased after PT intervention (small ES: 0.25; 90% CI, −0.05 to 0.54), but no substantial change (small ES: 0.36; 90% CI, −0.40 to 1.13) was noticed in OPL. For between-group analyses, the COD ability and 30-m sprint performances were possibly (small ES: 0.30; 90% CI, −0.20 to 0.81; Δ = +1.88%) and likely (moderate ES: 0.81; 90% CI, −0.16 to 1.78; Δ = +2.38%) more improved in the OPL than in the PT intervention, respectively. Conclusions: The 2 different training programs improved physical performance outcomes during the in-season period. However, the combination of vertically and horizontally based training exercises (squat + hip thrust) at optimum power zone led to superior gains in COD and 30-m linear sprint performances

Beyond Cash: Assessing Externality and Behaviour Effects of Non-Experimental Cash Transfers

In this paper we propose a method to estimate externality effects in cash transfer programmes, even in cases when the benefit is not randomly assigned. Externality is assessed through the decomposition of the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) into participation (direct) effect and externality (indirect) effect. We also suggest a nonparametric decomposition to investigate whether changes in household outcomes are caused by the income transfer itself or by the other non-monetary components of the programme, such as conditionalities and family support services. We apply all these decompositions on the effect of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme on household consumption and savings in Paraguay. This was possible because of the presence of two distinct comparison groups, one within the village and potentially exposed to the externality, and another in a different village not affected by the programme. Furthermore, the evaluation survey collected information on both income and consumption. The results indicate that the programme has a small impact on consumption and a considerable impact on savings. In the absence of externality, however, the programme would have a higher effect on consumption, mostly associated with the cash transfer, and a lower effect on savings. Moreover, the impact on the pattern of consumption is significantly related to a substitution effect and is not related to the increase in income.Externality, Income effect, Behaviour effect, Conditional cash transfer

Externality and Behavioural Change Effects of a Non-randomised CCT Programme: Heterogeneous Impact on the Demand for Health and Education

This paper investigates the impact of the pilot phase of Paraguay’s conditional cash transfer programme, Tekoporã, on the demand for healthcare and education, and how much of this impact was due to the cash transfers and/or due to changes in behaviour/preferences, possibly as an effect of other, non-monetary programme components such as the conditionalities and family support visits. It also explores the presence of externalities effects through a decomposition of the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) into participation and externality effect. This decomposition was possible thanks to the use of two distinct comparison groups, one within the village and possibly exposed to the externality, and another in a different district not affected by the programme. The results indicate that the programme was successful in improving children’s attendance at school and increasing visits to the health centres. They also suggest that the positive impacts do not reach non-beneficiary families (no externality effect). In the pilot phase, with no conditionality enforcement in place, the role of conditionality and social worker visits is not yet clear. No differential effect was found for those who were aware of the conditionalities and/or were visited by social workers, although the message of the importance of education and healthcare somehow did reach the households, altering their preferences towards a greater consumption of healthcare and education services.Externality, Income effect, Behaviour effect, Conditional cash transfer

Parametric modeling for the study of helical surfaces in descriptive geometry

O estudo de superfícies na Geometria Descritiva (GD) reduz o grau de abstração inerente à sua natureza axiomática e aumenta a experiência concreta, promovendo uma reconciliação da disciplina com o mundo real, o que facilita o processo de aprendizagem. No entanto, a complexidade tridimensional e a dificuldade no traçado manual prejudicam o seu potencial pedagógico forçando aplicações mais simples. Este é o caso das superfícies helicoidais. Este trabalho propõe um modelo paramétrico geral para a geração computacional de helicoides em toda a sua complexidade para serem utilizados em situações de aprendizagem de GD. A metodologia para modelar os processos de desenho da GD está baseada na geometria vetorial. Como principais resultados, foram gerados modelos matemáticos paramétricos generalizados para hélices cilíndricas e helicoides que podem ser facilmente implementados em softwares paramétricos, como o Grasshopper, e em aplicativos de ensino específicos em linguagem de programação de alto nível.The study of surfaces in descriptive geometry (DG) reduces the degree of abstraction inherent in the axiomatic nature and increases your concrete experience, promoting reconciliation of the discipline with the real world, which facilitates the learning process. However, three-dimensional complexity and difficulty in manual drawing undermine its pedagogical potential by forcing more straightforward applications, which is the case of helicoids that due to your complexity are used only in basic applications in DG. This work proposes a general parametric model for the computational generation of helicoids in all their complexity to use in DG learning situations. The vector geometry is the basis of methodology for modeling the drawing processes of DG. Primary results, parametric generalized mathematical models were generated for helix and helicoids that allows implementing in parametric software, like the Grasshopper, and specific educational applications using high-level programming language, such as Object Pascal. The paper presents the results of these implementations, demonstrating the efficiency of generalized parametric models proposed

Closed form solutions to water pollution problems using auto-BäcklundTransformations

Air pollution can be very harmful to human health, especially in urban areas of large cities and in the vicinity of chemical industries. In order to prevent and minimize environmental impacts from these industries, it is necessary to use mathematical models, which can simulate scenarios associated with dispersion of pollutants. This work presents a new analytical method for solving pollutant dispersion problems. The method uses two first-order differential restrictions from which are found auto-Bäcklund transformations for the two-dimensional advection-diffusion equation at steady state. The main characteristic of the formulation is the reduced time required to obtain analytical solutions

Design requirements for graphical interfaces of learning objects accessible for users with low vision

O crescente aumento das matrículas de pessoas com deficiência visual na rede regular de ensino, em um contexto no qual a legislação brasileira impulsiona a educação inclusiva, torna relevante a busca por soluções que atendam às necessidades desses alunos nas suas trajetórias acadêmicas. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo propor requisitos de projeto dos elementos da interface gráfica de objetos de aprendizagem digitais que possibilitem acessibilidade aos usuários com baixa visão. A pesquisa de mestrado da qual originou-se este artigo foi conduzida pelo método Design Science Research, com aplicação da matriz de Desdobramento da Função Qualidade (QFD) na conversão de requisitos de usuário em requisitos de projeto. Como resultado, obteve-se um conjunto de requisitos de projeto da interface gráfica de usuário de objetos de aprendizagem que podem favorecer a acessibilidade para usuários com baixa visão.The increasing enrollment of visually impaired people in the regular education system, in a context in which Brazilian legislation promotes inclusive education, makes relevant the search for solutions that meet the needs of these students in their academic trajectories. In this sense, this research aimed to propose design requirements of the elements of the graphic interface of digital learning objects that allow accessibility for users with low vision. The master's research from which this article originated was conducted by the Design Science Research method, with application of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in the conversion of user requirements into design requirements. As a result, we obtained a set of graphical user interface design requirements for learning objects that can favor accessibility for users with low vision

Processo de projeto de produto a partir do paradigma da orientação a objetos

Este artigo é parte de uma dissertação de mestrado em design e propõe a utilização do paradigma da Orientação a Objetos para estruturar e configurar artefatos físicos em nível conceitual e posteriormente auxiliar a sua prototipagem e produção. O paradigma da orientação a objetos é baseado na descrição do contexto do problema e pressupõe a definição e a reutilização de padrões no desenvolvimento de novas soluções de projeto utilizando diagramas próprios desta metodologia. A aplicação dos recursos mencionados em uma série de experimentos demonstrou a viabilidade de utilizar este método no projeto de produto.This paper is part of dissertation in design and proposes the use of Object Oriented paradigm to structure and configure physical artifacts at a conceptual level and subsequently assists your prototyping and production. The paradigm of object orientation is based on the description of the context of the problem and requires the definition and reuse of patterns in the development of new design solutions using diagrams. The application of these resources in a series of experiments demonstrated the feasibility of using this method in product design