Dynamics of Food Price Inflation in Eastern Ethiopia: A Meso-Macro Modeling

High inflationary pressure especially in food price has been a top agenda in many developing countries since the last decade as it has been hindering their socioeconomic development. Though Ethiopia is achieving an encouraging economic growth in recent years, the occurrence of galloping inflation mainly since 2005 is retarding its progress and causing high welfare loss. The very step to struggle this problem is documenting the real causes of inflation. So far, there are only few attempts to document the macroeconomic determinants of general inflation in Ethiopia. Specially, empirical works on meso level price dynamics and focus on certain items are scant. This study is, therefore, designed to assess the macro-meso derivers of food price dynamics in Dire Dawa administration and Harari regional state based on qualitative data collected through key informant interview and quantitative monthly data from January, 2001 to September 2012. A result from Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) revealed that, in the long run, money supply, real income and international food and oil price hikes increase domestic food inflation while rise in exchange rate (depreciation or devaluation) was found to decrease inflation. Inflation expectation, smuggling, rise in world oil price and exchange rate are also documented to impact food price inflation of the study area in the short run. Pursuing conservative monetary policy, promoting competitiveness in the market and reducing the cost of making business would help to mitigate the galloping inflation in the study area.Key words: Price Dynamics, Inflation, Error Correction Model, Smuggling JEL Classification: E31, E37, C3

Haemophilus influenzae invasive disease in the United States, 1994-1995: near disappearance of a vaccine-preventable childhood disease.

We analyzed national Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) surveillance data from 1994 and 1995 to describe the epidemiology of Hi invasive disease among persons of all ages. Serotype data were available for 376 (56%) of 669 reported Hi cases among children aged 4 years or younger; 184 (49%) were H. influenzae type b (Hib). Among children aged 4 or younger, incidence (per 100,000) of all Hi invasive disease was 1.8 in 1994 and 1.6 (p < 0.05) in 1995. Children aged 5 months or younger had the highest average annual incidence rate of Hib invasive disease (2.2 per 100,000); children aged 6 to 11 months had the next highest rate (1.2 per 100,000)(p < 0.05). Of 181 children with Hib invasive disease whose age in months was known, 85 (47%) were too young (aged 5 months or younger) to have completed a primary series with an Hib-containing vaccine. Of the 83 children with known vaccination status who were eligible to receive a primary series (aged 6 months or older), 52 (63%) were undervaccinated, and the remaining 31 (37%) had completed a primary series in which vaccine failed. Among persons aged 5 years or older with Hi invasive disease, the lowest average annual incidence was among those 20 to 39 years of age (0.15 per 100,000), and the highest was among those aged 80 years or older (2.26 per 100,000). Among persons aged 5 years or older, serotype data were available for 1,372 (71%) of the 1,940 Hi invasive disease cases; 159 (28%) of the 568 Hi cases with known serotype were due to Hib

Evolution of the interfacial structure of LaAlO3 on SrTiO3

The evolution of the atomic structure of LaAlO3 grown on SrTiO3 was investigated using surface x-ray diffraction in conjunction with model-independent, phase-retrieval algorithms between two and five monolayers film thickness. A depolarizing buckling is observed between cation and oxygen positions in response to the electric field of polar LaAlO3, which decreases with increasing film thickness. We explain this in terms of competition between elastic strain energy, electrostatic energy, and electronic reconstructions. The findings are qualitatively reproduced by density-functional theory calculations. Significant cationic intermixing across the interface extends approximately three monolayers for all film thicknesses. The interfaces of films thinner than four monolayers therefore extend to the surface, which might affect conductivity

Laparoscopic colectomy for colonic neoplasms in a developing country

AbstractAimTo report the outcome of patients treated for colonic neoplasms using a laparoscopic assisted technique since its introduction at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Jamaica.Subjects and MethodsAll consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopic assisted colectomy were entered into a prospective database and this data analysed. Data collected included patient demographics, pre-operative diagnosis, operative events, post-operative morbidity and outcome.ResultsOver the thirty-six months period July 1, 2005–December 31, 2005 and July 1, 2006–December 31, 2008, thirty patients each underwent laparoscopic assisted colectomy for a colonic neoplasm. Their mean age was 63 years with M: F ratio of 1:2. Seventy-four per cent of the patients had carcinomas which was located on the right and sigmoid colon in 17 and 10 patients respectively. Mean operative time was 98 min for patients with right-sided lesions and blood loss for the entire group was minimal. Two patients were converted to open resections. Median duration of hospitalization was five days. There was no mortality but three patients had complications. After median follow-up of 30 months, there was no local or systemic recurrence.ConclusionsAppropriately selected patients with colonic neoplasms can be safely subjected to a laparoscopic assisted resection and expect to enjoy the advantages of this technique even in a developing country setting.The outcome of thirty consecutive laparoscopic assisted colectomies is reported demonstrating that this technique can be safely applied to selected patients with colonic carcinomas in developing countries