The Remittances Framework in Lesotho: Assessment of Policies and Programmes Promoting the Multiplier Effect

This study explored policies and programmes aimed at facilitating remittances inflows through formal channels and leveraging remittances for development in Lesotho. The study also looked into regulations and laws on remittances. In order to answer key questions of this study, semi‐structured questionnaires were administered to 29 institutions, including commercial banks, an asset manager, insurance companies, telecommunication companies, government ministries, parastatals, a research institution, a retailer, a savings and credit cooperative and non-governmental organizations. The gaps revealed by this study can be summarised as: the Deferred Pay Act is the only policy driving officially recorded remittance inflows to Lesotho and which facilitated the creation of remittances‐linked savings product by the banking sector; there are restrictions on remittance outflows for immigrants working in the country, though planned to be eliminated; most of remittances transfer products offered by various institutions suit regular income earners with bank accounts, the adoption of mobile‐phone based transfers adoption is low and the mobile‐phone based transfer products cannot be used to make international transfers; there is lack of adoption of remittances‐linked financial products by financial intermediaries and relevant government ministries; the benefits packaged with the remittances‐ linked savings accounts are less attractive; and most of the remittances services providers are concentrated in urban centres. These findings show there is a need to develop policies and programmes for harnessing remittances for development. This study concluded by suggesting policy options for facilitating remittances inflows through regular channels and promoting positive impact of remittances on development

Suppression of SIV-specific CD4+ T cells by infant but not adult macaque regulatory T cells: implications for SIV disease progression.

The impact of regulatory T cells (T reg cells) on the course of HIV and SIV disease is unknown. T reg cells could suppress protective antiviral responses and accelerate disease progression. Alternatively, these cells might block T cell activation and thereby limit viral replication as well as activation-associated immunopathology. Given the higher frequency of T reg cells known to be present during human fetal ontogeny, such influences may be most important in the context of perinatal infection. We found that infant macaques had higher fractions of CD4(+)CD25(+)CD127(low)FoxP3(+) T reg cells in the peripheral blood and in lymphoid tissues, and that these T reg cells showed greater in vitro suppressive activity on a per cell basis. Infant and adult macaques were infected with SIVmac251 to test the influence of the T reg cell compartment on SIV-specific immune responses. After infection with SIV, most (three out of four) infant macaques had persistently high viral loads, weak and transient SIV-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell responses, and rapid disease progression. T reg cells in the infant but not in the adult directly suppressed SIV-specific CD4(+) T cell responses, which were detectable only after depletion of T reg cells. In the case of both the infant and the adult macaque, T reg cells were not able to directly suppress SIV-specific CD8(+) T cell responses and had no apparent effect on T cell activation. In aggregate, these observations suggest that the T reg cell compartment of the infant macaque facilitates rapid disease progression, at least in part by incapacitating SIV-specific CD4(+) T cell responses

Remittances and democratization

Do remittances stabilize autocracies? Remittances—money sent by foreign workers to individuals in their home country—differ from other sources of external non-tax revenue, such as foreign aid, because they accrue directly to individuals and thus raise the incomes of households. We argue that remittances increase the likelihood of democratic transition by undermining electoral support for autocratic incumbents in party-based regimes. Remittances therefore make voters less dependent on state transfers. As a result, autocracies that rely heavily on the broad-based distribution of spoils for their survival, namely party-based regimes, should prove especially vulnerable to increases in remittances. Evidence consistent with this argument suggests that remittances promote democratization in some dictatorships

Thermal Design Considerations of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Science Instrument Control and Data Handler (SI C and DH-2)

Following a failure in side 1 of the HST SI C&DH in September 2008, HST Servicing Mission 4 (SM-4) was delayed so that a SI C&DH Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) could be qualified for flight. This second generation SI C&DH (SI C&DH-2) included several enhancements which increased its thermal dissipation near critical components. In order to maintain the SI C&DH-2 within its operational temperature limits, several thermal modifications were installed prior to its final qualification testing. This paper presents the thermal modifications performed on the SI C&DH-2, as well as the thermal ground test results and a correlation of the SI C&DH-2 thermal design to flight telemetry

Pratiques phytosanitaires paysannes dans les savanes d'Afrique centrale

International audienceAvec une production de plus de 300 000 tonnes, la culture cotonnière joue un rôle moteur dans l'économie sous-régionale de l'Afrique centrale. Par ailleurs, les productions maraîchères destinées au marché local ou à l'exportation participent à la sécurité alimentaire de la région et à la diversification des sources de revenus des paysans. La protection de ces cultures, soumises à de fortes attaques parasitaires, a entraîné une consommation croissante de pesticides. Outre le problème d'un coût monétaire élevé, leur mauvaise utilisation a des effets négatifs sur la santé des utilisateurs et des consommateurs mais aussi sur l'environnement. Elle provoque de surcroît la sélection d'insectes résistants. La présente étude a pour but de caractériser les pratiques phytosanitaires paysannes dans les systèmes de cultures associant coton et niébé comme dans le maraîchage. L'inventaire des pesticides, celui des sources d'approvisionnement et le recensement des différents textes administratifs et réglementaires en matière de gestion des pesticides, ont été réalisés dans chaque pays. Une typologie des pratiques phytosanitaires des producteurs et des revendeurs a été établie. L'étude a permis de recenser les pesticides mis sur le marché, les types d'emballages, le reconditionnement, ainsi que les circuits d'approvisionnement, de distribution et de vente. Quatre principaux canaux de distribution des pesticides ont été identifiés : canal étatique et para-étatique, canal non étatique (sociétés de développement, projets), canal privé (circuit commercial) et agriculteurs. Les familles chimiques les plus utilisées sont celles des organophosphorés (29 %), des carbamates (21 %), des pyréthrinoïdes (18 %) et des organochlorés (9 %). Les produits destinés à la protection du coton, pour lesquels les paysans disposent d'un crédit, sont souvent détournés sur d'autres cultures. Pour la majorité des paysans interrogés, l'emploi de pesticides permet encore d'assurer un bon rendement et de réduire les pertes liées aux ravageurs. Cependant, ils n'ont pas une bonne connaissance des matières actives utilisées, des doses d'application, des fréquences de traitement et de leurs impacts sur la santé humaine. Cette étude confirme une utilisation non contrôlée des pesticides « coton » tout au long de l'année sur des cultures autres que le cotonnier, plus particulièrement sur le niébé et la tomate. Le manque de formation et d'information des producteurs ainsi que le non-respect des cadres légaux relatifs à la commercialisation et l'utilisation des pesticides sont des facteurs qui aggravent la situation sanitaire des populations de la sous-région

Students Perception of the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) for Sustainable Architecture Designs

As the world becomes more digitally advanced, Building Information Modeling (BIM) comes into play as a tool to be used in achieving Sustainable Architecture designs. This paper seeks to evaluate students' perception of the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the area of achieving Sustainable architecture designs in Nigeria. For this purpose, a survey was conducted in schools of Architecture; in Covenant University, a leading private university in Nigeria and in the University of Lagos, a prominent Federal University in Nigeria. The results revealed that only few Building Information Modeling (BIM) software were known by students. However, most of the use was restricted to architectural design activities like drafting and 3D visualization with very few students who were aware of how useful Building Information Modeling (BIM) is in achieving Sustainable Architecture designs. It was recommended that more attention be given to the digital education of architecture students to encourage the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) to achieve Sustainable architecture design

On the Possibility of Observing the Double Emission Line Feature of H2_2 and HD from Primordial Molecular Cloud Cores

We study the prospects for observing H$_2$ and HD emission during the assembly of primordial molecular cloud cores. The primordial molecular cloud cores, which resemble those at the present epoch, can emerge around $1+z \sim 20$ according to recent numerical simulations. A core typically contracts to form the first generation of stars and the contracting core emits H$_2$ and HD line radiation. These lines show a double peak feature. The higher peak is the H$_2$ line of the $J=2-0$ (v=0) rotational transition, and the lower peak is the HD line of the $J=4-3$ (v=0) rotational transition. The ratio of the peaks is about 20, this value characterising the emission from primordial galaxies. The expected emission flux at the redshift of $1+z \sim 20$ (e.g. $\Omega_m = 0.3$ and $\Omega_\Lambda =0.7$), in the $J=2-0$ (v=0) line of H$_2$ occurs at a rate $\sim 2 \times 10^{-7}$ Jy, and in the $J=4-3$ (v=0) line of HD at a rate $\sim 4 \times 10^{-9}$ Jy. The former has a frequency of 5.33179$\times 10^{11}$ Hz and the latter is at 5.33388 $\times 10^{11}$Hz, respectively. Since the frequency resolution of ALMA is about 40 kHz, the double peak is resolvable. While an individual object is not observable even by ALMA, the expected assembly of primordial star clusters on subgalactic scales can result in fluxes at the 2000-50 $\mu$Jy level. These are marginally observable. The first peak of H$_2$ is produced when the core gas cools due to HD cooling, while the second peak of HD occurs because the medium maintains thermal balance by H$_2$ cooling which must be enhanced by three-body reactions to form H$_2$ itself.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures. MNRAS (Accepted

Continuously Flattening Polyhedra Using Straight Skeletons

We prove that a surprisingly simple algorithm folds the surface of every convex polyhedron, in any dimension, into a flat folding by a continuous motion, while preserving intrinsic distances and avoiding crossings. The flattening respects the straight-skeleton gluing, meaning that points of the polyhedron touched by a common ball inside the polyhedron come into contact in the flat folding, which answers an open question in the book Geometric Folding Algorithms. The primary creases in our folding process can be found in quadratic time, though necessarily, creases must roll continuously, and we show that the full crease pattern can be exponential in size. We show that our method solves the fold-and-cut problem for convex polyhedra in any dimension. As an additional application, we show how a limiting form of our algorithm gives a general design technique for flat origami tessellations, for any spiderweb (planar graph with all-positive equilibrium stress)

Factors That Impact Student Performance in a Course Sequence

On-line courses have become an important component of the delivery of courses in all areas of education. The validity of online delivery is challenged if Web students perform poorly in subsequent major courses. This paper investigates the effect of mode of delivery and other factors on the level of success, failure, potential, and limitations of web delivery in course sequences. This study was conducted on a two-course sequence in the Computer Information Systems Department at Metropolitan State College of Denver. The result of this research identifies important factors impacting student success in this two course sequence

Massive black hole remnants of the first stars in galactic haloes

We investigate the possibility that present-day galactic haloes contain a population of massive black holes (MBHs) that form by hierarchical merging of the black hole remnants of the first stars. Some of the MBHs may be large enough or close enough to the centre of the galactic host that they merge within a Hubble time. We estimate to what extent this process could contribute to the mass of the super-massive black holes (SMBHs) observed in galactic centres today. Many MBHs will not reach the centre of the main halo, however, but continue to orbit within satellite subhaloes. Using a semi-analytical approach that explicitly accounts for dynamical friction, tidal disruption and encounters with the galactic disk, we follow the dynamics of the satellites and their MBHs and determine the abundance and distribution of MBHs in present-day haloes of various masses. Considering two different accretion scenarios we also compute the bolometric luminosity function for the MBHs.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 11 pages, 11 figure