Fraying of the Ties that Bind: HIV/AIDS and Informal Contract Enforcement in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

This paper provides a theoretical and empirical investigation of the effects of HIV/AIDS on communitylevel informal financial institutions such as rotating savings and credit associations. Our theoretical model illustrates that the mortality risk implied by the HIV/AIDS pandemic can put a significant strain on such institutions by shortening time horizons and weakening expectations of reciprocity on the part of participants. Mortality thus implies a community-wide externality, as even households that are not directly impacted by the disease are nonetheless adversely affected by living in high prevalence communities. Using panel data from the high-prevalence area of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, we investigate the effects of community-level mortality on the rate of participation in community level financial and other types of groups. We find that mortality at the community level substantially reduces the prevalence of group membership, and that the differential impacts of mortality on different types of groups are consistent with the predictions of our theoretical model.HIV/AIDS; South Africa; Institutions; ROSCAs

Whose incentives? The evolution of inheritance practices, intergenerational conflict, and women’s control over land in rural Kenya

Land related investment decisions are shaped by both the formal and informal institutions governing land tenure and acquisition. In the case of agricultural Kikuyu households in Kenya, we show that the inheritance practice of uncertain allocation in conjunction with the principle of equal division among heirs reduces long-term investments in land among potential heirs. This apparent inefficiency is explained by intergenerational power dynamics within the household, as the inheritance practice allows parents to shift the investment incentives facing heirs in their favor. This analytical framework is also used to illustrate that despite legislation formalizing women’s rights to property, control over land continues to follow the informal traditional patrilineal system in important ways.Inheritance, agriculture, Kenya

Degrees of Coaching: Success Boston's Transition Coaching Model, Highlights Brief

SBC coaches engage in providing the general kinds of supports proven helpful in research about beginning college outcomes for students. Connecting students to resources, helping them plan their coursework and identify a major, and developing a positive relationship with coaches have all been identified as mechanisms by which supports may improve outcomes for community college students in particular. Two-thirds of SBC coaches reported that connecting students to resources on and off campus is an important component of transition coaching. Coaches and students communicated with one another through a variety of methods; generally, coaches relied upon the modes students most preferred—text, email and in-person.In 2014-2015 the SBC program, as a whole, was providing support services on those topics aligned with prior research findings about the specific factors linked with college persistence and graduation, including financial aid support, course selection, time management, connecting students to resources, setting goals, and selecting a course of study. Importantly, students concurred that their coaches were most helpful when providing support about these same topics. Coaches described two other central components of their work with students, including helping students learn to advocate for themselves, and developing the confidence to succeed, through encouraging students to meet with professors to discuss course requirements, seek out support services, and identify and apply for internships.Prior research also suggests that the amount of communication and contact coaches have with students may contribute to improved college-related outcomes.ix SBC coaches and students communicate frequently, as evidenced by the nearly 9,000 transition support interactions recorded for the 2014-2015 school year. Yet these same data suggest variability in nonprofit organizations' expectations about how often coaches should engage with students each semester. To ensure that all students receive a consistent threshold of coaching support, perhaps stakeholders could consider whether to establish a minimum number of interactions between coaches and their students or minimum amount of one-on-one coaching each semester.The findings summarized in this brief illustrate how the SBC program has continued to help collegeentering students navigate their first years in college. They also suggest possible connections between aspects of program implementation and later accomplishments—connections to be explored in subsequent reports about key student outcomes. The findings also point to some challenges faced by the nonprofit organizations, especially in terms of managing large and sometimes widely dispersed caseloads of students. Those coaches with caseloads of 60-plus students lamented the lack of adequate time with individual students, and coaches whose caseloads were distributed across multiple campuses faced logistical hurdles in managing multiple college calendars and spending valuable time traveling between campuses. These impediments hindered coaches' capacity to support students effectively. Over the coming years, as SBC triples the number of students to be served, helping coaches and organizations manage these barriers will be even more critical

Leveling the Playing Field: Attracting, Engaging, and Advancing People with Disabilities

People with disabilities experience significant challenges in finding employment. The participation of people with disabilities in the workforce and their median income are both less than half that of the civilian workforce. They work part time 68 percent more frequently than people without disabilities. These disheartening results persist despite the enactment of significant federal legislation aimed at making the workplace more supportive and accessible to people with disabilities. The Conference Board Research Working Group (RWG) on Improving Employment Outcomes for People with Disabilities was convened to address how to overcome these disparities. It was sponsored by the Employment and Disability Institute at Cornell University, under a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education. The RWG members focused on four questions: 1) The business case: Is it advantageous for organizations to employ people with disabilities? 2) Organizational readiness: What should organizations do to create a workplace that enables people with disabilities to thrive and advance? 3) Measurement: How can success for both people with disabilities and the organization itself be determined? 4) Self-disclosure: How can people with disabilities, especially those whose disabilities are not obvious, be encouraged to identify themselves so that resources can be directed toward them and outcomes can be measured

Reaching for the Cap and Gown: Progress Toward Success Boston's College Completion Goals for Graduates of the Boston Public Schools

A new report, prepared for Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Success Boston college completion initiative, shows a remarkable increase in both the percentage and the number of Boston Public Schools graduates who complete college within six years. The report also examines college completion for students with Success Boston coaches, a major intervention launched by the Boston Foundation and its partners, including the Boston Public Schools, in 2009. Success Boston, a citywide multi-sector college completion initiative, was launched in 2008 in response to a report that found that only 35% of the BPS Class of 2000 graduates who enrolled in college earned a degree within seven years of graduating high school. The initiative is guided by the Boston Public Schools, the Boston Foundation, UMass Boston, Bunker Hill Community College, and the Boston Private Industry Council, along with dozens of colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations. Among the initiative's ambitious goals was pushing members of the BPS Class of 2009 to a 52%six-year college completion rate. Today's report, "Reaching for the Cap and Gown: Progress Toward Success Boston's College Completion Goals for Graduates of the Boston Public Schools," finds that the six-year college completion rate of first-year college enrollees from the BPS Class of 2009 was 51.3%--within one percentage point of the 52% goal set in 2008. Equally impressive is the gain in the number of BPS graduates completing college within six years of high school graduation--1,314 from the Class of 2009, compared to 735 from the Class of 2000, the equivalent of a 79% increase. The study also finds that college completion, at 54.7%, is even higher than the goal for students who enrolled in the fall immediately after graduating from high school

Afiliação nacional ou representação local: quando alunos de TFA são candidatos para os conselhos escolares

Historically power to govern public schools has been delegated to local school boards. However, this arrangement of power has been shifting over the past half century and increasingly, local school boards are targeted as ineffective and antiquated. Teach For America (TFA), typically examined for its placement of teachers, also seeks to develop educational leaders and TFA now encourages and supports its alumni to run for local school boards. The involvement of a national organization, like TFA, with its own national education agenda in local school board elections may reflect the next step in the demise of local control. To investigate whether TFA’s involvement in local elections represents the spreading of a national agenda at the expense of attention to local issues, this research examines campaign messages for both TFA alumni candidates and their opponents. Results indicate that TFA alumni candidates incorporate significantly more messages aligned with TFA than their opponents (35 vs. 11), but they also maintain a focus on local issues as measured by the number of local issue messages they also incorporate into their campaign literature. Rather than debating whether school boards have lost power, this research points to the need to better understand how local politics is changing and expanding as new voices enter the arena.Históricamente la autoridad para dirigir las escuelas públicas fue delegado a los consejos escolares locales. Sin embargo, esta disposición ha ido cambiando en el último medio siglo y cada vez más, las juntas escolares locales están siendo atacadas por ser ineficaces y anticuadas. Teach For America (TFA), ha sido analizada por su tarea en cuanto los docentes, pero también busca desarrollar líderes educativos y TFA ahora alienta y apoya a sus alumnos a postularse para los consejos escolares locales. La participación de una organización nacional, como TFA, con su propia agenda educativa nacional en los sistemas elecciones para los consejos escolares puede reflejar el próximo paso en la desaparición del control local. Para investigar si la participación de TFA en las elecciones locales representa la difusión de una agenda nacional en detrimento de la atención a los problemas locales, esta investigación analiza los mensajes de campaña de  candidatos  tanto ex-alumnos  de TFA y sus oponentes. Los resultados indican que los candidatos ex-alumnos  de TFA incorporan significativamente más mensajes alineados con TFA que sus oponentes (35 vs 11), pero también mantienen un enfoque en temas locales, medido por el número de mensajes locales que en aparecen en la literatura de campaña. En lugar de debatir si los consejos escolares han perdido autoridad, esta investigación apunta a la necesidad de comprender mejor la forma como la política local está cambiando y incorporando nuevas voces.Historicamente, a autoridade para dirigir as escolas públicas foi delegada a conselhos escolares locais. No entanto, esta disposição foi mudando no último meio século e cada vez mais, os conselhos escolares locais estão sendo atacados por serem ineficaces e ultrapassados. Teach For America (TFA) e frequentemente analisado por seu trabalho com professores, mas também procura desenvolver líderes educacionais e TFA agora incentiva e apoia os ex-alunos a concorrer para os conselhos escolares locais. A participação de uma organização nacional, como TFA, com sua própria agenda nacional de educação nas eleições para os sistemas de conselhos escolares pode refletir o próximo passo no fim do controle local. Para investigar se a participação nas eleições locais TFA representa a propagação de uma agenda nacional em detrimento da atenção aos problemas locais, esta pesquisa analisa as mensagens de campanha de candidatos tanto alunos TFA e seus oponentes. Os resultados indicam que TFA alunos candidatos incorporar significativamente mais mensagens alinhadas com seus oponentes TFA (35 vs 11), mas também manter um foco em questões locais, medida pelo número de mensagens locais que aparecem na literatura campanha. Em vez de debater se os conselhos escolares perderam autoridade, esta pesquisa aponta para a necessidade de entender melhor como a política local está mudando e incorporando novas vozes.

Whose incentives? The evolution of inheritance practices, intergenerational conflict, and women’s control over land in rural Kenya

Land related investment decisions are shaped by both the formal and informal institutions governing land tenure and acquisition. In the case of agricultural Kikuyu households in Kenya, we show that the inheritance practice of uncertain allocation in conjunction with the principle of equal division among heirs reduces long-term investments in land among potential heirs. This apparent inefficiency is explained by intergenerational power dynamics within the household, as the inheritance practice allows parents to shift the investment incentives facing heirs in their favor. This analytical framework is also used to illustrate that despite legislation formalizing women’s rights to property, control over land continues to follow the informal traditional patrilineal system in important ways

Whose incentives? The evolution of inheritance practices, intergenerational conflict, and women’s control over land in rural Kenya

Land related investment decisions are shaped by both the formal and informal institutions governing land tenure and acquisition. In the case of agricultural Kikuyu households in Kenya, we show that the inheritance practice of uncertain allocation in conjunction with the principle of equal division among heirs reduces long-term investments in land among potential heirs. This apparent inefficiency is explained by intergenerational power dynamics within the household, as the inheritance practice allows parents to shift the investment incentives facing heirs in their favor. This analytical framework is also used to illustrate that despite legislation formalizing women’s rights to property, control over land continues to follow the informal traditional patrilineal system in important ways

Fraying of the Ties that Bind: HIV/AIDS and Informal Contract Enforcement in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

This paper provides a theoretical and empirical investigation of the effects of HIV/AIDS on communitylevel informal financial institutions such as rotating savings and credit associations. Our theoretical model illustrates that the mortality risk implied by the HIV/AIDS pandemic can put a significant strain on such institutions by shortening time horizons and weakening expectations of reciprocity on the part of participants. Mortality thus implies a community-wide externality, as even households that are not directly impacted by the disease are nonetheless adversely affected by living in high prevalence communities. Using panel data from the high-prevalence area of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, we investigate the effects of community-level mortality on the rate of participation in community level financial and other types of groups. We find that mortality at the community level substantially reduces the prevalence of group membership, and that the differential impacts of mortality on different types of groups are consistent with the predictions of our theoretical model

Método automático de clasificación de color en dientes humanos usando aprendizaje de máquina

Trabajo de InvestigaciónActualmente el proceso de identificación del color de los dientes para la fabricación de prótesis dentales es realizado manualmente por un experto que, utilizando un método de identificación visual, determina el color de las piezas dentales en la boca del paciente, usando guías de color como la VITA®. A pesar de que el método visual es el más utilizado para la identificación del color de dientes, este se ve afectado por distintas variables tales como: el cansancio del experto, la luminosidad en el ambiente, salud visual del especialista, entre otras que influyen en la identificación del color en los dientes. Los errores en la clasificación del color de los dientes pueden generar pérdidas de tiempo lo que implicaría en consecuencia sobrecostos que afectarían directamente al fabricante y la satisfacción final del cliente.1. Planteamiento del problema 2. Pregunta de investigación 3. Objetivos 4. Estado del arte 5. Marco de referencia 6. Alcances y limitaciones 7. Metodología 8. Diseño metodológico 9. Discusión y resultados 10. Conclusiones 11. Trabajos futuros 12. Bibliografía 13. ANEXOSPregradoIngeniero de Sistema