Risk-sharing in Rural Pakistan

Risk-sharing is a fundamental form of economic behaviour. It can occur through formal insurance markets, informal family arrangements, community support, legal institutions (such as bankruptcy), or government tax-transfer programmes. Whatever the mechanism used to share risk, the extent of risk mitigation can greatly influence the welfare of all members of society. Understanding the degree of risk-pooling in society is important for policy-makers, since insufficient risk pooling may provide a basis for government intervention. Alternatively, if risks are being pooled adequately without the help of the government, government risk-sharing may be redundant. This study explores the implications of the risk-sharing model, namely, that households which pool risks, either through formal markets or informal personal arrangements, experience correlated changes in their consumption through time. It conducts tests of within-village, across-village, within-district, and across-district risksharing using a new Pakistani panel data set—the Pakistan Food Security Management Survey—collected by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, D. C. Unlike studies for other Less Developed Countries (LDCs), these tests find very little or almost no evidence of risk-sharing among unrelated individuals within- and across-villages in the rural sector of Pakistan.

The impact of performance-related pay in teaching: is it fair for all?

t has been a decade since the Department for Education (DfE) introduced the policy of performance-related pay (PRP) to schools across England. They sold the package to schools by stating, ‘The new arrangements provide increased flexibility for schools to develop pay policies tailored to their particular needs’ (DfE, 2013a). However, drawing on existing research, I illustrate in this paper the detrimental impact PRP has continued to have on the teaching profession. PRP has not only contributed to the continued gender pay gap among teachers, but has further disadvantaged and targeted teachers who are from marginalised groups in society. The dominance of neoliberal ideology, along with the culture of high-stakes testing, performativity and accountability within the profession, has led many teachers to reassess their position as policy actors. The relationship between government policymaking and the enactment of policy within schools, and thereby retention, is increasingly becoming a problem within the profession, and therefore needs to be reviewed

Hyperparathyroidism Presenting as Acute Pancreatitis: Case Report of Mortality

Background: Acute pancreatitis may be caused by a myriad of factors, hypercalcemia secondary to hyperparathyroidism, albeit is a rare cause of acute pancreatitis but not unheard of. If the underlying cause of acute pancreatitis is diagnosed, goal-directed management becomes possible, reducing morbidity and mortality. Though acute pancreatitis on its own presents significant mortality, hypercalcemia, especially detected late, augments this. Case Report: We report a case of acute pancreatitis secondary to hyperparathyroidism. The patient was undiagnosed at the time of admission and presented with non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms. After admission, he developed multi-organ dysfunction and was managed by intensive care. The patient died within hours of admission despite our best efforts. Diagnosis of acute pancreatitis secondary to hyperparathyroidism was suspected on the basis of hypercalcemia, confirmed by a posthumous result of a raised parathyroid hormone assay. Conclusion: When a patient is admitted in the emergency department with a suspicion of acute pancreatitis, serum calcium levels and its reporting should be expedited to as early as possible. Hypercalcemia in the setting of acute pancreatitis merits a multidisciplinary approach and expedited parathyroid hormone levels sent with a high suspicion of long standing untreated hyperparathyroidism. Hyperparathyroidism is a cause of silent hypercalcemia and can be lethal if not diagnosed in time

El miliario tetrárquico del Parador Sinforiano: interrogantes y anomalías

En el presente artículo avanzamos una hipótesis interpretativa sobre una inscripción miliaria de la Vía de la Plata (Salamanca). Su historia sufrió diversos avatares. La componen dos fragmentos que, descubiertos y leídos por el Padre César Morán en los años' 40 del siglo XX, estuvieron alejados y en paradero desconocido hasta que fueron recuperados en los años '90. Sospechamos que son dos partes de una misma inscripción por razones métricas y paleográficas. De ser así sería uno de los pocos miliarios en los que aparecen seis emperadores.In this paper we advance a hypothesis interpreting a milestone inscription in the Via de la Plata (Salamanca). During its life it has experienced different setbacks. It is formed by two fragments, which, once discovered and read by Father César Morán in the 40's of the 20th century, were taken away to an unknown place, until they were recovered in the 90's. We suspect the two fragments are part of the same inscription because of metric and palaeographic reasons. If so, it would be one of the few milestones in which six emperors are displayed

Understanding Communication Patterns in MOOCs: Combining Data Mining and qualitative methods

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offer unprecedented opportunities to learn at scale. Within a few years, the phenomenon of crowd-based learning has gained enormous popularity with millions of learners across the globe participating in courses ranging from Popular Music to Astrophysics. They have captured the imaginations of many, attracting significant media attention - with The New York Times naming 2012 "The Year of the MOOC." For those engaged in learning analytics and educational data mining, MOOCs have provided an exciting opportunity to develop innovative methodologies that harness big data in education.Comment: Preprint of a chapter to appear in "Data Mining and Learning Analytics: Applications in Educational Research

Development Of Material Model Subroutines For Linear And Nonlinear Response Of Elastomers

The nature of elastomers has been extensively studied ever since the vulcanization of rubber in the 19th century. Elastomers have been heavily employed in various fields, such as automobile, aerospace, robotics, biomimetics, dynamics and energy harvesting. Due to their molecular nature, these materials display hyperelastic and viscous response when deformed. Their response has been studied in a number of works, which tend to explain their nature through the theory of polymer dynamics or using rheological models. As elastomers are designed as actuators, generators or artificial tissues with complex geometries, the need for finite element analysis to study their response is becoming more essential. The purpose of this study is to develop user defined subroutines (UMATs) to capture the viscoelastic and hyperelastic response of elastomeric materials in ABAQUS CAE. Two UMATs have been formulated based on the existing theory of linear viscoelasticity and hyperelasticity. The developed UMATs are then tested using ABAQUS CAE software on their accuracy, robustness and versatility. The UMAT for predicting the linear response of elastomers can capture the time and rate-dependent response of material. However, it showed some offset from experimental results since the material is nonlinear in nature. The UMAT for predicting the nonlinear behavior of elastomers quite accurately capture the hyperelastic response of the material

The English language needs of Islamic studies students

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