Education, earnings, and inequality in Brazil, 1982-98 - implications for education policy

The educational attainment of Brazil's labor force, has gradually increased over the past two decades. At the same time, the government has pursued a series of economic structural adjustment policies. The authors investigate how these simultaneous advances have altered the relationship between labor market earnings, and education. They find that the returns to education in the labor market, fundamentally changed between 1982, and 1998. While the returns to tertiary education increased sharply, the returns to primary education dropped by 26 percent, and those to lower secondary, by 35 percent. Moreover, the authors argue, the marginal reduction in wage inequality that occurred in this period was linked primarily to a reduction in the returns to schooling, and only secondarily, to a more equitable distribution of schooling. The findings suggest that the supply of highly skilled labor is inadequate to meet demand. That suggests a need for policy action aimed at increasing access to, and completion of tertiary education. Increasing the supply of highly skilled labor, would improve prospects for both economic growth, and reduce wage inequality.Public Health Promotion,Curriculum&Instruction,Decentralization,Teaching and Learning,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Teaching and Learning,Curriculum&Instruction,Gender and Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Girls Education

Non-Concentration of Primes in Γ\PSL2(R)\Gamma \backslash PSL_2(\mathbb{R})

This paper generalizes the result of Sarnak and Ubis \cite{sarnak-ubis} about non-concentration of primes in horocycle orbits on $PSL_2(\mathbb{Z}) \backslash PSL_2(\mathbb{R})$ to any lattice in $PSL_2(\mathbb{R})$. The proof combines the asymptotic result of Str\"ombergsson \parencite{strombergsson} and Venkatesh's method \parencite{venkatesh} with the approach of Sarnak and Ubis of approximating horocycle pieces with periodic horocycles. The key step is to establish a dichotomy between $\{\xi h(t), t \in [0, T] \}$ having good equidistribution in $\Gamma \backslash PSL_2(\mathbb{R})$ and it being approximable by closed horocycle pieces with small period. In a follow-up paper, a similar approach will be used to show equidistribution of $\xi h(n^{1+\gamma})$ for small $\gamma>0$, generalizing Venkatesh's result \parencite{venkatesh} to non-compact $\Gamma$.Comment: 26 pages and 4 figures. To appear in Israel Journal of Mathematic

On absolute continuity and maximal Garsia entropy for self-similar measures with algebraic contraction ratio

In this paper, we consider the self-similar measure $\nu_\lambda=\mathrm{law}\left(\sum_{j \geq 0} \xi_j \lambda^j\right)$ on $\mathbb{R}$, where $|\lambda|<1$ and the $\xi_j \sim \nu$ are independent, identically distributed with respect to a measure $\nu$ finitely supported on $\mathbb{Z}$. One example of this is the classical Bernoulli convolution. It is known that for certain combinations of algebraic $\lambda$ and $\nu$ uniform on an interval, $\nu_\lambda$ is absolutely continuous and its Fourier transform has power decay (\cite{garsia1}, \cite{feng}); in the proof, it is exploited that for these combinations, a quantity called the Garsia entropy $h_{\lambda}(\nu)$ is maximal. We show that absolute continuity and power Fourier decay occur when $\lambda$ and $\nu$ are such that $h_{\lambda}(\nu)$ is maximal and classify all combinations for which this is the case. We find that if an algebraic $\lambda$ without a Galois conjugate of modulus exactly one has a $\nu$ such that $h_{\lambda}(\nu)$ is maximal, then all Galois conjugates of $\lambda$ must be smaller in modulus than one and $\nu$ must satisfy a certain finite set of linear equations in terms of $\lambda$.Comment: 48 page

The Differential Diagnosis of Three Common Swine Problems

Swine exhibiting nervous disorders or a weak, incoordinated posterior gait can often present a problem in diagnosis. This review will be based mainly on clinical signs and post-mortem lesions in the differential diagnosis of organic arsenic toxicity, water deprivation syndrome, and edema disease. Several conditions may give similar clinical symptoms but these three may give the most problem in differential diagnosis

Henri Temianka Correspondence; (photographs)

This collection contains photographs pertaining to the life, career, and activities of Henri Temianka, violin virtuoso, conductor, music teacher, and author.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/temianka_photos/1041/thumbnail.jp

Development of a Framework to compare Climate Strategies

In a world focusing increasingly on climate change, businesses face multiple risks if they do not adapt. Therefore, creating long term business strategies focused on climate change are essential not only to navigate risks, but also to be able to capitalize on potential opportunities. Additionally, investors as well as consumers demand businesses to make changes as well as openly communicate their long term intentions. However, due to the complexity of the strategies developed, it is difficult for consumers, investors, and even the companies themselves to obtain an overview. Therefore, this article aims at developing a climate strategy comparison framework to aid in assessing and comparing the strategies, as well as improving the transparency. The framework consist of the Target, Achievement and Action Dimension

Approaches to results-based funding in tertiary education : identifying finance reform options for Chile

Unrealized potential exists for increasing accountability and transparency in Chilean tertiary education by allocating resources based on achieved results rather than historical precedence and political negotiation. Against this background, the authors profile approaches to results-based funding of tertiary education to identify efficacious finance reform options for Chile. International experience shows that financing by results is not a ready-made concept, but a broad label that offers a menu of design options. To decipher results-based funding, the authors cover all phases in designing and implementing a results-based funding system and highlight strengths and weaknesses of concepts, such as taximeter funding, performance contracts, and formula-based allocations.Public Health Promotion,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Decentralization,Teaching and Learning,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Gender and Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Curriculum&Instruction,Teaching and Learning

Elucidation of novel biosynthetic pathways for the discovery of cyclodipeptide derivatives from Streptomyces species

Cyclodipeptides (CDPs) with a 2,5-diketopiperazine (DKP) as central core occur ubiquitously in living organisms, from simple bacteria and fungi to more complex ones like plants and animals. They display various biological and pharmacological effects, including antibiotic, antifungal, and antiproliferative activities. In microorganisms, CDPs are usually synthesized by one of the two distinct enzyme families, nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), mainly occurring in fungi, or cyclodipeptide synthases (CDPSs), commonly found in bacteria. NRPS for CDP formation are comparably large (~2500 amino acids), bi-modular enzymes, using free amino acids as substrates. CDPSs on the other hand are smaller (200 – 300 amino acids) and require activated amino acyl tRNAs for peptide bond formation. In general, the formation of the DKP ring increases the stability of CDPs against proteolysis compared to their acyclic counterparts. This enables a variety of intriguing modifications carried out by tailoring enzymes. Their genetic information often lies in direct neighborhood to that of backbone enzymes, like CDPSs, arranged in biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). In CDPS-associated pathways, tailoring enzymes comprise cyclodipeptide oxidases (CDOs), cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes, FeII/2-oxoglutarate dependent (FeII/2-OG) oxidases, as well as methyl- (MTs) and prenyltransferases (PTs). In this thesis, eight of such BGCs from Streptomyces species were identified using genome mining and elucidated by a combination of heterologous expression and biochemical analyses. In the first project, a BGC from Streptomyces cinnamoneus consisting of five genes was chosen for detailed investigation and termed gtm gene cluster. It codes for four enzymes, i.e. a CDPS (GtmA), a CDO (GtmBC), a P450 enzyme (GtmD), and a FeII/2-OG oxidase (GtmE). The genes were cloned in different combinations into the replicative pPWW50A vector for heterologous expression in Streptomyces albus J1074 (S. albus). Investigation using LC-MS and NMR spectroscopy revealed that GtmA synthesizes cyclo-L-Trp-L-Met, GtmBC installs a double bond at the methionine residue of the DKP, GtmD transfers a guanine onto the tryptophan moiety, and GtmE forms a second double bond at another side of the DKP. Together, this cascade results in the formation of the novel secondary metabolite guatrypmethine C. As the second dehydrogenation by GtmE displayed a novel reaction for FeII/2-OG oxidases in CDPS-dependent pathways, it was further characterized biochemically using the recombinant protein. It was proven that GtmE indeed catalyzes the conversion of the precursor guatrypmethine A to the pathway end product guatrypmethine C. No efficient conversion of the stable isomer guatrypmethine B was observed by GtmE. This experimental finding was further supported by quantum chemical calculations using density functional theory. In the second project, in cooperation with Dr. Jing Liu, a widely distributed two-gene locus, gymAB, was identified in 47 different actinobacteria. It comprises the genes gymA and gymB, coding for a CDPS and a P450 oxidase, respectively. The latter is closely related to CYP121, an essential enzyme for the viability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Six representative Streptomyces species were selected for functional elucidation of these BGCs. In analogy to the first project, their genes were cloned into pPWW50A and overexpressed in S. albus. Analyses of the cultural extracts by LC-MS in combination with NMR spectroscopy of the purified compounds showed that all six CDPSs produce cyclo-L-Tyr-L-Tyr (cYY) as major product. Subsequently, the P450 oxidases catalyze two different kind of reactions – either the formation of an intramolecular C-C bond within cYY resulting in mycocyclosin, or the intermolecular transfer of the nucleobases guanine or hypoxanthine, leading to the formation of the novel secondary metabolites guatyromycine A and B, respectively. The reactions catalyzed by GymBs were confirmed with biochemical assays using recombinant proteins of all six candidates. As the intramolecular coupling is the same reaction performed by CYP121 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the corresponding gene cluster was also expressed heterologously in the same manner. However, CYP121 merely catalyzes the formation of mycocyclosin, indicating that GymBs might have evolved from CYP121 and slightly changed during evolution. In the third project, I contributed to the elucidation of a BGC from Streptomyces aurantiacus, coding for the CDPS SasA, the PT SasB, and the MT SasC. It was proven that the sasABC gene cluster is responsible for the formation of streptoazine C. The involved PT SasB catalyzes two regular prenylations at both tryptophan residues within cyclo-L-Trp-L-Trp. By incubation with other CDPs and dehydrogenated CDPs, it was shown that SasB possesses a broad substrate flexibility and can convert at least eight other CDP derivatives efficiently

Domains That Do Not Have a Nice Complementary Set of Rays

We will introduce conditions which are sufficient to guarantee that a closed connected domain in R^2 that has a smooth boundary does not have a nice complementary set of rays