Long-term consequences of early childhood malnutrition

"This paper examines the impact of preschool malnutrition on subsequent human capital formation in rural Zimbabwe using a maternal fixed effects-instrumental variables (MFE-IV) estimator with a long-term panel data set. Representations of civil war and drought 'shocks' are used to identify differences in preschool nutritional status across siblings. Improvements in height-for-age in preschoolers are associated with increased height as a young adult and number of grades of schooling completed. Had the median preschool child in this sample had the stature of a median child in a developed country, by adolescence, she would be 4.6 centimeters taller and would have completed an additional 0.7 grades of schooling." Authors' AbstractCivil war Africa ,

Revisiting forever gained: income dynamics in the resettlement areas of Zimbabwe

This paper examines income dynamics for a panel of households resettled on former white-owned farms in the aftermath of Zimbabwe's independence. There are four core findings: (i) there has been an impressive accumulation of assets by these households; (ii) while this accumulation has played a role in increases in crop income, increases in returns to these assets have been especially important in generating the dramatic increase in crop incomes observed in these households; (iii) differences in initial conditions across these households, such as previous farming experience, have few persistent effects; and (iv) growth in incomes has been shared across all households, with the largest percentage increases in predicted incomes recorded by households that had the lowest predicted incomes at the beginning of the survey.

Fungal Genetics Stock Center Catalogue of Strains, 9th edition

Catalogue of Strains, 9th edition, 2002, supplement to Fungal Genetics Newsletter No. 49. This catalogue contains lists of materials held by the Fungal Genetics Stock Center

Nonformal Education in Ghana: A Project Report

This report presents a description and analysis of nonformal educational activities carried out in Ghana over a two-year period in 1976-77. Its purpose is to share the ideas, problems, and learnings that emerged from this experience with those who are concerned with the improvement of rural nonformal education programs as well as the development of more effective collaborative relationships between American universities and such field programs

Improving Work Supports: Using the Family Resource Simulator to Identify Problems and Test Solutions

Neither the federal government, nor the states, has a coordinated or comprehensive work supports system. The current work supports system is comprised of a patch work of programs, such as EITC, child care programs, food stamps, Medicaid, SCHIP, and TANF. As a result of this disjointed history, these work support programs do not always help working parents meet their families\u27 needs. Using the Family Resource Simulator, a web-based policy tool, the authors make specific suggestions for how to improve the Illinois work support system. First, the Article present the landscape of work support systems and how they affect working families as income rises. Next, the Article shows the benefits of the Illinois work supports programs and also spotlights where the programs leave gaps or policy problems. Finally, the Article shows how the simulator can be used to model policy solutions to the problems revealed by the Article

Improving Work Supports: Using the Family Resource Simulator to Identify Problems and Test Solutions

Neither the federal government, nor the states, has a coordinated or comprehensive work supports system. The current work supports system is comprised of a patch work of programs, such as EITC, child care programs, food stamps, Medicaid, SCHIP, and TANF. As a result of this disjointed history, these work support programs do not always help working parents meet their families\u27 needs. Using the Family Resource Simulator, a web-based policy tool, the authors make specific suggestions for how to improve the Illinois work support system. First, the Article present the landscape of work support systems and how they affect working families as income rises. Next, the Article shows the benefits of the Illinois work supports programs and also spotlights where the programs leave gaps or policy problems. Finally, the Article shows how the simulator can be used to model policy solutions to the problems revealed by the Article

Temporal changes in temperature may suggest microhabitat shifts in larval spongillafly Climacia areolaris Hagen (Neuroptera: Sisyridae) abundance and density in a temperate freshwater lake

Abiotic factors such as temperature and depth are known to affect aquatic insect populations and are thought to be major variables that directly impact how communities are assembled and populations distributed. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of temperature and depth in structuring C. areolaris populations within a temperate freshwater quarry. Larval densities among individual sponges at different depths were determined over six months in a Pennsylvania quarry. Sponges from four depths (7.0 - 8.0 m; 8.1 - 9.0 m; 9.1 - 10.0 m and 10.1 - 12.0) were collected once per month (n = 3) using SCUBA. Temperature data were collected at four depths (n = 3 samples/depth). Larval densities significantly varied over the study period, but were not significantly different between depths on any date. Mean total larval density was significantly higher in March, April and May compared to dates later in the season. This result followed an inverse pattern where there was a significant effect of date on temperature, but no difference between depths. There was a detectable change in relative abundance of the sisyrid populations among the depths; the two shallowest depth ranges collectively represented \u3e50% of the population during March and April, but were \u3c 50% throughout the rest of the summer. There was also a significant negative relationship of larval density with temperature. Few studies have documented the role of abiotic factors such as depth and temperature on the spatial and temporal structuring of spongillafly microdistribution within a quarry environment

Propagation Effectiveness of the Surrogator for Northern Bobwhites in Southern Texas

Attempts to restore populations of northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) using pen-raised quail have been documented since the early 1900s. Low restoration success, based on low post-release survival rates and long distance dispersal from release sites, have proven the ineffectiveness of pen-raised quail in restoration of wild populations. The Surrogatort, a recent quail propagation tool using pen-raised quail, has been publicized as a method for increasing success rates in restoration of northern bobwhite populations by producing higher post-release survival and minimal dispersal. We tested the hypothesis that the Surrogatort is an effective means of supplementing populations of northern bobwhites in southern Texas. We raised 1,000 northern bobwhites in 2 Surrogators and conducted 2 trials in 2010 on a 990-ha ranch in Wilson County, Texas. Twenty northern bobwhites from each Surrogator were fitted with radio transmitters 12 hrs before release. We attempted to locate each bird daily for 3 weeks upon release from Surrogators followed by a reduced effort of 3 times per week until 100% mortality. Daily survival rates were low in Trial 1 (Surrogator A 1⁄4 0.87 and Surrogator B 1⁄4 0.96) and Trial 2 (Surrogator A 1⁄4 0.83 and Surrogator B 1⁄4 0.87). Mean distances traveled by post-released birds for Trial 1 were 401 and 1,416 m for Surrogators A and B, respectively. The Surrogator is not an effective means of restoring wild populations of northern bobwhites in southern Texas