Does Africa trade less than it should, and if so, why?: The role of market access and domestic factors

"This paper addresses the question of whether Africa is an undertrading continent. We answer this question using a much-improved data set for obtaining predicted trade and by employing methods that correct for bias in estimates of undertrading. Our results indicate that globally Africa is an underexporter in our preferred Heckman specification. This result is robust to the addition of various controls and the application of variants of the gravity model of trade. We also looked for explanations for Africa's undertrading. We found that accounting for transport and communication infrastructure reduced the undertrading effect for Africa, and in some specifications of the gravity model, the under-trading effect vanished altogether. Results from a semiparametric model provided evidence of significant nonlinear impacts from infrastructure, and the effects for a large number of African countries was significant and compared favorably with the marginal effects of infrastructure in countries on other continents and in comparable income brackets. Using this model we also found evidence of complementarity across transport and communication infrastructure, implying that much greater impacts will be likely if the infrastructure are developed jointly rather than in isolation." from Author's AbstractGravity model, Undertrading, Trade related infrastructure, Market access,

Significance of Physical Education for School Students

Physical education fosters personal and community wellness by empowering students to attain healthy, lifelong attitudes and behaviors through physical activity as part of the total educational experience. It: promotes a physically active lifestyle; o is a link to good health; o is a preventive measure against disease; o is a program for muscle strength and fitness; o promotes academic learning; o builds self esteem; and o develops cooperation, teamwork and sportsmanship skill The purpose of physical education is to instill in students, at an early age, the value of self preservation and choosing a lifestyle that is good for both the mind and body. Most physical education programs are holistic. The program allows student to interact together to a common goal and that is to win and excel physically. It brings out the competitive sides of students working both body and mind but also promotes sportsmanship. This paper primarily aims to ?give an insight into the health benefits of physical education programs for students within the school system. It also provides legislative / regulatory recommendations for the purpose of improving the quality of physical education. The paper concludes that by addressing the quality, quantity and intensity of physical education across the country (the educational as well as the activity component), policymakers will maximize children‘s potential for a lifetime of:  physical activity,  health, and wellness

Jumps in Rank and Expected Returns. Introducing Varying Cross-sectional Risk

Decision theorists claim that an ordinal measure of risk may be sufficient for an agent to make a rational choice under uncertainty. We propose a measure of financial risk, namely the Varying Cross-sectional Risk (VCR), that is based on a ranking of returns. VCR is defined as the probability of a sharp jump over time in the position of an asset return within the cross-sectional return distribution of the assets that constitute the market, which is represented by the Standard and Poor's 500 Index (SP500). We model the joint dynamics of the cross-sectional position and the asset return by analyzing (1) the marginal probability distribution of a sharp jump in the cross-sectional position within the context of a duration model, and (2) the probability distribution of the asset return conditional on a jump, for which we specify different return dynamics depending upon whether or not a jump has taken place. As a result, the marginal probability distribution of returns is a mixture of distributions. The performance of our model is assessed in an out-of-sample exercise. We design a set of trading rules that are evaluated according to their profitability and riskiness. A trading rule based on our VCR model is dominant providing superior mean trading returns and accurate estimation of the Value-at-Risk.Duration, Mixture of distributions, Nonlinearity, Reality check, Trading rule, VaR

Strong Urge for Racial and Gender Identity amid the Cultural Chaos in Shyam Selvaduarai’s Funny Boy

The Sri-Lankan author Shyam Selvadurai colours his imagination within the racial experiences, gender hierarchy and ethical society of the place to share the world unfolded social dichotomy of the place where the conflict between the Tamils and Singhalese is the key problem of the society which needs to be changed and flexible granting freedom and choice to people promoting the democratic values and the social values as well. The novel Funny Boy paints beautifully to the urge of a child for his choice and freedom on the sensitive issue of race and gender like. The violence between Buddhist Sinhala Majority people and Hindu Tamil Minority due to the issue of homosexuality is central cultural thread which affects the mindset of the youths in the country. The novel reveals the extended chaos, troubles and tensed environment involving consistent fights and clashes of the people in Sri-Lankan society happening frequently

An Efficient MDC based Set Partitioned Embedded Block Image Coding

In this paper, fast, efficient, simple and widely used Set Partitioned Embedded bloCK based coding is done onMultiple Descriptions of transformed image. The maximum potential of this type of coding can be exploited with discretewavelet transform (DWT) of images. Two correlated descriptions are generated from a wavelet transformed imageto ensure meaningful transmission of the image over noise prone wireless channels. These correlated descriptions areencoded by set partitioning technique through SPECK coders and transmitted over wireless channels. Quality ofreconstructed image at the decoder side depends upon the number of descriptions received. More the number ofdescriptions received at output side, more enhance the quality of reconstructed image. However, if any of the multipledescription is lost, the receive can estimate it exploiting the correlation between the descriptions. The simulationsperformed on an image on MATLAB gives decent performance and results even after half of the descriptions islost in transmissio

Doppler study of umbilical and fetal middle cerebral artery in severe preeclampsia and intra uterine growth restriction and correlation with perinatal outcome

Background: Pre-eclampsia and IUGR are two conditions resulting from defective trophoblastic invasion of spiral arteries and an increase in vascular resistance in uteroplacental circulation. Doppler offers a non-invasive tool for evaluation of fetoplacental blood flow and correlate with fetal compromise giving early warning sign of fetal distress.Methods: The study was conducted in Command Hospital, Lucknow in 100 singleton pregnancies with vertex presentation between 28-40 weeks of gestation with severe preeclampsia and/or IUGR. Doppler analysis of UA and MCA was done. Pregnancies were terminated depending on clinical condition and Doppler results.Results: Abnormal Umbilical artery S/D ratio had strong statistical correlation with poor perinatal outcome. Elevated RI had 100% sensitivity in predicting APGAR48hrs) in predicting poor perinatal outcome. PI values had highest sensitivity for predicting low APGAR values and highest specificity for predicting NICU admission. AEDF and REDF also correlated with adverse perinatal outcome. MCA S/D ratio had a high sensitivity (96.8%) in determining NICU stay>48h and specificity (70%) in determining NICU admissions. RI had highest sensitivity (71.8%) for NICU stay >48hrs and highest specificity for predicting NICU admissions (76.5%). MCA PI had a sensitivity of 66.6% in determining APGAR<7 at 5min and a specificity of 78.7% in determining NICU admissions. CPR had the highest sensitivity (100%) among all indices.Conclusions: The study showed an adverse fetal outcome in cases of severe preeclampsia and or IUGR which showed abnormal Doppler results and thereby help to determine the optimal time for delivery

Utilization of Reproductive and Child Health Services and Client Satisfaction from Urban Primary Health Centers by Recently Delivered Women Living in Urban Slums of Lucknow, India

Background: Due to rapid urbanization, there is an increase in population in slums often lacking access to basic health services. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the utilization of reproductive and child health services by recently delivered women and their children residing in catchment areas of urban PHCs, to evaluate their level of satisfaction and to determine the factors associated with utilization of these services by recently delivered women. Settings and Design: The study was conducted in the catchment areas of urban primary health centre of Lucknow. Methods and Material: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 320 women having children less than 24 months in the slums covered under selected U-PHCs, sampled through a multi-stage random sampling technique using a semi-structured questionnaire. Statistical analysis used: SPSS-26 and MedCalc software were used for data analysis. Results: Utilization of RCH services by recently delivered women from UPHC was 39%. About 24% of recently delivered women availed ANC services from UPHC and 56.7% utilized family planning services and 95.8% immunization services for children. Child care services for diarrhea and ARI were availed by 9.9 and 3.1% of women, respectively. Satisfaction regarding maternal care and immunization services was seen in 84 and 95.8% of women. Poor satisfaction regarding child care was seen in 56.5% of women. Conclusions: The utilization of RCH services was found to be poor in the study population. Most recently delivered women were satisfied with all services except child care