Inequality Matters

This is one of a series of five papers outlining the particular domains and dimensions of inequality where new research may yield a better understanding of responses to this growing issue.The aim of this paper is to describe, in very broad brushstrokes, the state of academic scholarship regarding social inequality, with an eye toward identifying important gaps. The focus is on four key interacting social domains: 1) socioeconomic (financial and human capital)2) health (including physical and psychological) 3) political (access to power and political representation)4) sociocultural (identity, cultural freedoms, and human rights

Aero/fluids database system

The AFAS Database System was developed to provide the basic structure of a comprehensive database system for the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Structures and Dynamics Laboratory Aerophysics Division. The system is intended to handle all of the Aerophysics Division Test Facilities as well as data from other sources. The system was written for the DEC VAX family of computers in FORTRAN-77 and utilizes the VMS indexed file system and screen management routines. Various aspects of the system are covered, including a description of the user interface, lists of all code structure elements, descriptions of the file structures, a description of the security system operation, a detailed description of the data retrieval tasks, a description of the session log, and a description of the archival system

Impacts of Agrifood Market Transformation during Globalization on the Poor's Rural Nonfarm Employment: Lessons for Rural Business Development Programs

Consumer/Household Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Impacts of Agrifood Market Transformation during Globalization on the Poor's Rural Nonfarm Employment: Lessons for Rural Business Development Programs

This paper presents emerging evidence pointing to the transmission to developing countries' rural spaces of the impacts of agrifood market transformation occurring at national and global levels. That transmission takes place via retail chains penetrating intermediate cities and rural towns, and urban-based food manufacturers selling products to those chains as well as to traditional shops. The paper presents and justifies three main hypotheses concerning the impacts of that penetration. (1) The direct effect is that the modern retailers and modern-sector processed products directly compete with, and present potentially major challenges to, the processed foods, farm inputs, and commercial services already being undertaken in the RNFE sector by the rural poor among others. (2) The indirect effects is that modern sector firms tend, once they have "modernized" their procurement systems, to prefer larger suppliers if available, and/or small suppliers that have the requisite levels of capital assets. This further translates to a potential labor substitution bias, in particular of unskilled labor, although it may drive skilled labor demand. (3) The production and consumption linkage effects of the above impacts on RNFE firms, laborers, and farmers, all else equal, probably implies greater demand for non-tradeable goods and services in the RNFE that correspond to the demand patterns of the upper stratum of rural consumers. Faced with the above, what can business development programs do? (1) Given the change in the market context, it will be increasingly undesirable and "un-strategic," except in the most remote, hinterland areas, to maintain the separation between competitiveness and nonfarm employment programs. At least for RNF activities that supply processed products, farm inputs, and retail commerce, RNF enterprises will need to face the same general challenge that exporters in their country face on the global market, and urban firms face, which is to compete on cost and quality. (2) Second, maintaining the analogy to international competitiveness, it will be necessary go beyond a generic competitiveness approach, to employ a "customized competitiveness" strategy (a term used by Reardon and Flores 2006 for export programs, but applicable here). Such an approach focuses on understanding the specific requirements of transformed markets and building the capacity of particular groups to respond to those requirements (as suppliers) or match cost and quality and compete for specific niches. The capital assets that programs should building include market intelligence capital, organizational capital, technology capital, and financial (and risk reduction) capital. (3) In the economic transformation, this time in the rural space, the poorest, those with least assets, are again vulnerable. Special attention should be paid to equipping those households and firms to participate in the increasingly challenging rural nonfarm economy.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Marketing Channel and Technology Adoption: Chinese Villages in the Local Horticulture Market

China has been experiencing the substantial changes in agricultural sectors in the past decades. Interaction between diversified channels for marketing agricultural products and modern technology adoption are important for restructuring agriculture and improving productivity, but fewer researches have been done in this field in China. With the village - level data collected a round Beijing, the capital of China, this study attempts to find out the major market channel(s) in rural China and its (their) linkage with technology innovation in the horticulture sector. The study finds that small brokers still dominate horticultural product distribution in rural area because of their cheap labor costs; however, the modern supply chain components such as supermarkets are penetrating the rural area and competing with small brokers. Modern market channels stimulate the adoptions of new technology, whereas technology adoption had few effects on modern market channel selection. In addition, shares of crop such as vegetables and fruits are soaring; surprisingly villages farther away from Beijing experienced faster crop restructuring with higher specialization. In the future we try to incorporate wholesalers or supermarkets into the analysis, which can depict a more complete picture of rural market development.Crop Production/Industries,

AGROINDUSTRIALIZATION IN EMERGING MARKETS: OVERVIEW AND STRATEGIC CONTEXT

This article offers an overview for a special issue on agroindustrialization. It reviews eleven articles analyzing the agroindustrialization process in Latin America and Asia. It sets out a conceptual framework from the organizational economics and strategic management literature to enhance the understanding of the process of agroindustrialization from a competitive strategy point of view.Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

Thermal and structural tests of Rene 41 honeycomb integral-tank concept for future space transportation systems

Two flat 12 by 72 inch Rene 41 honeycomb sandwich panels were tested in a manner to produce combined thermal and mechanical longitudinal stresses that simulated those that would occur in a larger, more complex integral tank and fuselage structure of an earth to orbit vehicle. Elastic strains measured at temperatures below 400 F are compared with calculated values obtained from a linear elastic finite element analysis to verify the analytical model and to establish confidence in the calculated strains. Elastic strain measurement at higher temperatures (between 600 F and 1400 F), where strain measurement is more difficult and less certain, are also compared with calculated strains. Agreement between measured and calculated strains for the lower temperatures is good, but agreement for the higher temperatures is poor because of unreliable strain measurements. Test results indicate that an ascent and entry life cycle of 500 is attainable under high combined thermal and mechanical elastic strains

Commentary on “Critical Appraisal of Published Systematic Reviews Assessing the Cost-Effectiveness of Telemedicine Studies”

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140283/1/tmj.2014.9980.pd