Welfarism vs. extra-welfarism

'Extra-welfarism' has received some attention in health economics, yet there is little consensus on what distinguishes it from more conventional 'welfarist economics'. In this paper, we seek to identify the characteristics of each in order to make a systematic comparison of the ways in which they evaluate alternative social states. The focus, though this is not intended to be exclusive, is on health. Specifically, we highlight four areas in which the two schools differ: (i) the outcomes considered relevant in an evaluation; (ii) the sources of valuation of the relevant outcomes; (iii) the basis of weighting of relevant outcomes and (iv) interpersonal comparisons. We conclude that these differences are substantive. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Intensification of smallholder livestock production through utilisation of crop residues for livestock feed in Tanzania

Poor feed utilisation and seasonal feed availability are considered contributory factors leading to less-than-optimal livestock productivity on smallholder farms in Babati, Tanzania. Cereal and legume crop residues, such as dry or green maize stover and bean haulms, are commonly fed to livestock but are also of low quality and they are poorly used by farmers. Improving the efficiency with which the crop residues can be used as animal feed appears the first step towards solving critical feed shortage. Studies on maize crop residue uses and trade-offs on smallholder crop-livestock farmers have proven on an economic perspective that it is logical to prioritise its use for feed over soil fertility management. A study was conducted to assess availability of types, quantity and quality of crop residues and other feed resources for livestock on farms. The study aimed to understand how cereal and legume crop residues are harvested, stored, processed and used in different farms. It also aimed to identity gaps in managing crop residues in intensified systems and factors that may affect adoption. Post-harvest forage processing technologies such as feed choppers offer potential to enhance use of crop residues for livestock feeding. This not only reduces feed wastage but also enhances feed intake and quality. It also has potential to improve quantity and quality of manure. Following the study a feed chopping technology to enhance utilisation was introduced to farmers. The findings showed that the average household tropical livestock unit (TLU) is 3.8 (se = 0.15). Crop residues are the major contributor to livestock diet in the dry season. The most dominant cereal crop residues are maize stover (57%) and rice straw (20%) while the most common legumes straws are pigeon pea (4%); bean (12%), groundnut (5%) and cowpea (2%) haulms. On average the maize stover yield on farms is 9.3 t ha-1 (se = 0.28). There is a lot of feed waste on farms due to chopping by using a machete. Yield of maize stover from a hectare of land can sustain one TLU of livestock for 247 days

The genetic algorithm as a discovery engine: Strange circuits and new principles

This paper examines the idea of a genetic or evolutionary algorithm being an inspirational or discovery engine. This is illustrated in the particular context of designing electronic circuits. We argue that by connecting pieces of logic together and testing them to see if they carry out the desired function it may be possible to discover new principles of design, and new algebraic techniques. This is illustrated in the design of binary circuits, particularly arithmetic functions, where we demonstrate that by evolving a hierarchical series of examples, it becomes possible to re-discover the well known ripple-carry principle for building adder circuits of any size. We also examine the much harder case of multiplication. We show also that extending the work into the field of multiple-valued logic, the genetic algorithm is able to produce fully working circuits that lie outside conventional algebra. In addition we look at the issue of principle extraction from evolved data

Ethnic conflict and economic disparity: Serbians and Albanians in Kosovo

We use the Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) household survey from postconflict Kosovo to examine economic deprivation among Serbs and Albanians. Economic deprivation is measured by per capita household expenditure and by the incidence of poverty as captured by the headcount ratio. We examine the roles played by the stock of attributes and by the impact of these attributes on deprivation using Oaxaca-type decomposition methods. Empirical results for both decomposition analyses show differences in characteristics as well as returns to measured characteristics favor Serbs, even though Serbs have lower expenditures and higher poverty incidence than Albanians

Landscape natural resources management using forage grasses and legume intercrops

United States Agency for International Developmen

Associations between reliable changes in depression and changes in BMI, total body fatness and visceral adiposity during a 12-month weight loss trial.

We investigated associations between changes in depression and body composition over a 12-month weight loss trial. Of the 298 adults (BMI > 27 m/kg2), 219 with complete depression and body composition data were included. A 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale measured depression; dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measured body composition. Multinomial logistic regression predicted reliable changes in depression by BMI, body fat (BF) and visceral adiposity (VAT). Multiplicative interaction terms tested modification by sex and ethnicity. Participants with increases in body composition were less likely to experience improvements in depression (BMI: RRR = 0.79 (0.68-0.91), p < 0.01; BF: RRR = 0.97 (0.94 - 0.99), p = 0.01; VAT: RRR = 0.99 (0.98-1.00), p = 0.02), but not worsening of depression (BMI: RRR = 1.29 (0.96-1.73), p = 0.10; BF: RRR = 1.04 (0.99-1.09), p = 0.15; VAT: RRR = 1.01 (1.00-1.03), p = 0.18). Sex and ethnicity interaction terms were not significant. However, the relationship was only significant among females, among non-Latinos for BMI and BF, and among Latinos for VAT. Our study supports the association between depression and obesity and highlights the need for longitudinal studies investigating VAT and depression in diverse ethnic groups

The Zagreb indices of graphs with a given clique number

AbstractFor a (molecular) graph, the first Zagreb index M1 is equal to the sum of squares of the degrees of vertices, and the second Zagreb index M2 is equal to the sum of the products of the degrees of pairs of adjacent vertices. Let Wn,k be the set of connected n-vertex graphs with clique number k. In this work we characterize the graphs from Wn,k with extremal (maximal and minimal) Zagreb indices, and determine the values of corresponding indices

MODELLING OF ENUGU STATE MONTHLY RAINFALL USING BOX AND JENKINS METHODDOLOGY

The paper examined the rainfall distribution of Enugu state in Nigeria. Box-Jenkins methodology was used to build ARIMA model to analyze data and forecast for the period of 15 years, from January, 2002 to December, 2016 and to predict for the future. We observed that the average annual rainfall of Enugu state ranges from 124mm to 179mm. The irregularity in annual rainfall of Enugu State one and half decades ago is a bit large, indicating that climate stability is high in the state. Different time series models were diagnostically checked, and tested for Enugu state and at last an SARIMA (0, 0, 0) (1, 0, 1)12 model is chosen as the proposed best model. The proposed model was used to forecast two years’ monthly rainfall value for the state. The results indicated that relatively there is a tendency of increasing in trend of future rainfall values in the state