Growth of ICT and ICT for Development: Realities of the Myths of the Indian Experience

ICT, growth, development, India, software exports

Stagnation and revival of Kerala economy : an open economy perspective

One debilitating feature of the existing literature on the development dynamics of Kerala economy is the undue emphasis on endogenous factors. The making of the ‘Kerala model’ as well as its crisis are sought to be understood in a closed economy framework. While the emphasis on endogenous factors, particularly on the redistributive policies, is eminently justifiable, what is conspicuously missing in the literature is an effort to unravel the mystery of the general backwardness of the goods producing sectors. This is particularly true of the studies on the crisis of the regional economy since the mid seventies. Given the closed economy perspective, neither the migration nor the remittance has figured in the analytics of development of the region. The mainstream approach has been one of treating the boom in remittance as a boon, with no bearing on the crisis except that it helped moderate the adverse impact of the same. Given the extreme dependence of the regional economy on rest of the world, the present study approaches the problem in an open economy perspective and bring the question of migration and remittance to its rightful place within the structure of the regional economy. Drawing insights from the Dutch disease economics, the present paper argues that the crisis of the commodity producing sectors witnessed during the period since mid seventies could be attributed to the resource movement and spending effect associated with remittance boom. The study also highlights a revival in the growth of the regional economy since the mid eighties and makes an attempt to account for the same in terms of different factors including the adaptation of the regional economy to the Dutch disease environment. JEL Classification: F22, O18, O19

Using five-minute bird counts to study magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) impacts on other birds in New Zealand

We used five-minute bird counts to investigate whether introduced Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) influence the abundance of other birds in rural New Zealand. Over 3 years, magpies were removed from five c. 900-ha study blocks, one in each of Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wellington and Southland. Birds were counted in both the treatment blocks and paired non-treatment blocks for the 3 years of removal and also 1 year before. To minimise problems raised elsewhere with index counts we (1) selected treatment blocks and count stations using randomisation procedures, (2) used trained observers who spent equal time in paired treatment and non-treatment blocks, and (3) counted all blocks at the same time of year and only in good weather. On average, 548 magpies were removed from each treatment block each year, with magpie counts reduced by 76% relative to non-treatment blocks. Our results suggest magpies may restrict the movements of some birds (including kererū and tūī) in rural areas, but are less important than pest mammals at limiting population abundance at a landscape scale. We submit that five-minute bird counts were appropriate for our objectives, but that more research to examine their relationship to absolute densities is needed

Effect of microwave radiation on seed mortality of rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora R.Br.), parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorous L.) and bellyache bush (Jatropha gossypiifolia L.)

A trial was undertaken to evaluate the effect of microwaves on seed mortality of three weed species. Seeds of rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora R.Br.), parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorous L.) and bellyache bush (Jatropha gossypiifolia L.) were buried at six depths (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 20 and 40 cm) in coarse sand maintained at one of two moisture levels, oven dry or wet (field capacity), and then subjected to one of five microwave radiation durations of (0, 2, 4, 8 and 16 min). Significant interactions between soil moisture level, microwave radiation duration, seed burial depth and species were detected for mortality of seeds of all three species. Maximum seed mortality of rubber vine (88%), parthenium (67%) and bellyache bush (94%) occurred in wet soil irradiated for 16 min. Maximum seed mortality of rubber vine and bellyache bush seeds occurred in seeds buried at 2.5 cm depth whereas that of parthenium occurred in seeds buried at 10 cm depth. Maximum soil temperatures of 114.1 and 87.5°C in dry and wet soil respectively occurred at 2.5 cm depth following 16 min irradiation. Irrespective of the greater soil temperatures recorded in dry soil, irradiating seeds in wet soil generally increased seed mortality 2.9-fold compared with dry soil. Moisture content of wet soil averaged 5.7% compared with 0.1% for dry soil. Results suggest that microwave radiation has the potential to kill seeds located in the soil seed bank. However, many factors, including weed species susceptibility, determine the effectiveness of microwave radiation on buried seeds. Microwave radiation may be an alternative to conventional methods at rapidly depleting soil seed banks in the field, particularly in relatively wet soils that contain long lived weed seeds

Comparing plasma and faecal measures of steroid hormones in Adelie penguins Pygoscelis adeliae

Physiological measurements of both stress and sex hormones are often used to estimate the consequences of natural or human-induced change in ecological studies of various animals. Different methods of hormone measurement exist, potentially explaining variation in results across studies; methods should be cross-validated to ensure that they correlate. We directly compared faecal and plasma hormone measurements for the first time in a wild free-living species, the Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae). Blood and faecal samples were simultaneously collected from individual penguins for comparison and assayed for testosterone and corticosterone (or their metabolites). Sex differences and variability within each measure, and correlation of values across measures were compared. For both hormones, plasma samples showed greater variation than faecal samples. Males had higher mean corticosterone concentrations than females, but the difference was only statistically significant in faecal samples. Plasma testosterone, but not faecal testosterone, was significantly higher in males than females. Correlation between sample types was poor overall, and weaker in females than in males, perhaps because measures from plasma represent hormones that are both free and bound to globulins, whereas measures from faeces represent only the free portion. Faecal samples also represent a cumulative measure of hormones over time, as opposed to a plasma ‘snapshot’ concentration. Our data indicate that faecal sampling appears more suitable for assessing baseline hormone concentrations, whilst plasma sampling may best define immediate responses to environmental events. Consequently, future studies should ensure that they select the most appropriate matrix and method of hormone measurement to answer their research questions

Hierarchical Concurrent Engineering in a Multiagent Framework

Our experience indicates coordination in concurrent engineering (CE) requires support for two types of relationships among decision makers supervisor/subordinate and peer-to-peer Supervisor/subordinate relationships are created by the standard hierarchical decomposition process that is required to solve any large design problem Peer-to-peer relationships arise when teams of decision makers must interact, without direct guidance, to achieve individual and common goals In this paper, we describe a general decision-making methodology, which we call hierarchical CE The emphasis of hierarchical CE is to provide support for both supervisor/subordinate and peer-to-peer relationships In addition to the concept of hierarchical CE, we present a supporting agent-based framework in which the preferences and constraints of a design supervi sor are distributed to design subordinates, who are expected to exploit their local expertise within the context provided by this global information A distinct separation between feasibility and value facilitates optimal decision-making by design agents, since the bounds on feasibility do not include arbitrary statements about value This distinction may prove useful for other problem domains as wellPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68258/2/10.1177_1063293X9600400105.pd