Poverty, Inequality and the Role of Social Grants: An Analysis using Decomposition Techniques

Despite South Africa’s transition from apartheid in 1994, the social landscape is still fragmented along racial lines. However, South Africa has an impressive social grants system by international standards, with social assistance spending as a percentage of GDP comparing to Western European countries during the 1980s (the height of the welfare state). This paper investigates the impact of social grants poverty and inequality in South African. Using the Income and Expenditure Survey of 2005 (IES2005) the normalized Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) measure and the General Entropy (GE) measure (to assess the impact of social grants on poverty and inequality, respectively), it is found that social grants have a considerable impact on poverty, and that this impact increases as the poverty measure being used becomes more sensitive to the severity of poverty. In terms of inequality, it is found that social grants have a negligible impact. The reason for this is that inequality is largely driven by the upper end of the income distribution – a group who do not receive social grants.Welfare and Poverty, Government Policy, Provision and Effects of Welfare Programmes, Measurement and Analysis of Poverty, Inequality

Atividade antimicrobiana de compostos isolados e derivados semissintéticos de Miconia ferruginata

This study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of isolated compounds and semisynthetic derivatives from Miconia ferruginata (Melastomataceae) against five microorganisms: Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6623), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 15442), and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231). The isomeric mixture of ursolic and oleanolic acids was active against S. aureus (MIC = 250 μg mL-1) and against E. coli, B. subtilis, and P. aeruginosa (MIC = 500 μg mL-1). The flavone 5,6,7-trihydroxy-4’-methoxyflavone and the methyl esters, semisynthetic derivatives of a mixture of ursolic and oleanolic acids, showed no activity against the tested microorganisms. These results suggest that the carboxyl group present in the triterpenes may contribute to antimicrobial activity.Este estudo descreve a avaliação da atividade antimicrobiana de compostos isolados e derivados semissintéticos de Miconia ferruginata (Melastomataceae) contra cinco microorganismos: Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6623), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 15442) and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231). A mistura isomérica dos ácidos ursólico e oleanólico foi ativa contra S. aureus (CIM = 250 μg mL-1) e contra E. coli, B. subtilis e P. aeruginosa (CIM = 500 μg mL-1). A flavona 5,6,7-trihidroxi-4’-metóxiflavona e os ésteres metílicos, derivados semissintéticos da mistura dos ácidos ursólico e oleanólico, não apresentaram atividade contra os microrganismos testados. Estes resultados sugerem que o grupo carboxila presente nos triterpenos podem contribuir para a atividade antimicrobiana

Fibulin-4 deficiency differentially affects cytoskeleton structure and dynamics as well as TGF beta signaling

Fibulin-4 is an extracellular matrix (ECM) protein essential for elastogenesis and mutations in this

Genomic Analyses Show Extremely Perilous Conservation Status of African and Asiatic cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus).

We live in a world characterized by biodiversity loss and global environmental change. The extinction of large carnivores can have ramifying effects on ecosystems like an uncontrolled increase in wild herbivores, which in turn can have knock-on impacts on vegetation regeneration and communities. Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) serve important ecosystem functions as apex predators; yet, they are quickly heading towards an uncertain future. Threatened by habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict and illegal trafficking, there are only approximately 7100 individuals remaining in nature. We present the most comprehensive genome-wide analysis of cheetah phylogeography and conservation genomics to date, assembling samples from nearly the entire current and past species' range. We show that their phylogeography is more complex than previously thought, and that East African cheetahs (A. j. raineyi) are genetically distinct from Southern African individuals (A. j. jubatus), warranting their recognition as a distinct subspecies. We found strong genetic differentiation between all classically recognized subspecies, thus refuting earlier findings that cheetahs show only little differentiation. The strongest differentiation was observed between the Asiatic and all the African subspecies. We detected high inbreeding in the Critically Endangered Iranian (A. j. venaticus) and North-western (A. j. hecki) subspecies, and show that overall cheetahs, along with snow leopards, have the lowest genome-wide heterozygosity of all the big cats. This further emphasizes the cheetah's perilous conservation status. Our results provide novel and important information on cheetah phylogeography that can support evidence-based conservation policy decisions to help protect this species. This is especially relevant in light of ongoing and proposed translocations across subspecies boundaries, and the increasing threats of illegal trafficking

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Extragalactic Sources at 148 GHz in the 2008 Survey

We report on extragalactic sources detected in a 455 square-degree map of the southern sky made with data at a frequency of 148 GHz from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope 2008 observing season. We provide a catalog of 157 sources with flux densities spanning two orders of magnitude: from 15 to 1500 mJy. Comparison to other catalogs shows that 98% of the ACT detections correspond to sources detected at lower radio frequencies. Three of the sources appear to be associated with the brightest cluster galaxies of low redshift X-ray selected galaxy clusters. Estimates of the radio to mm-wave spectral indices and differential counts of the sources further bolster the hypothesis that they are nearly all radio sources, and that their emission is not dominated by re-emission from warm dust. In a bright (>50 mJy) 148 GHz-selected sample with complete cross-identifications from the Australia Telescope 20 GHz survey, we observe an average steepening of the spectra between 5, 20, and 148 GHz with median spectral indices of $\alpha_{\rm 5-20} = -0.07 \pm 0.06$, $\alpha_{\rm 20-148} = -0.39 \pm0.04$, and $\alpha_{\rm 5-148} = -0.20 \pm 0.03$. When the measured spectral indices are taken into account, the 148 GHz differential source counts are consistent with previous measurements at 30 GHz in the context of a source count model dominated by radio sources. Extrapolating with an appropriately rescaled model for the radio source counts, the Poisson contribution to the spatial power spectrum from synchrotron-dominated sources with flux density less than 20 mJy is C^{\rm Sync} = (2.8 \pm 0.3) \times 10^{-6} \micro\kelvin^2.Comment: Accepted to Ap

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Power Spectrum at 148 and 218 GHz from the 2008 Southern Survey

We present measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope at 148 GHz and 218 GHz, as well as the cross-frequency spectrum between the two channels. Our results clearly show the second through the seventh acoustic peaks in the CMB power spectrum. The measurements of these higher-order peaks provide an additional test of the {\Lambda}CDM cosmological model. At l > 3000, we detect power in excess of the primary anisotropy spectrum of the CMB. At lower multipoles 500 < l < 3000, we find evidence for gravitational lensing of the CMB in the power spectrum at the 2.8{\sigma} level. We also detect a low level of Galactic dust in our maps, which demonstrates that we can recover known faint, diffuse signals.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures. Submitted to ApJ. This paper is a companion to Hajian et al. (2010) and Dunkley et al. (2010

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Data Characterization and Map Making

We present a description of the data reduction and mapmaking pipeline used for the 2008 observing season of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The data presented here at 148 GHz represent 12% of the 90 TB collected by ACT from 2007 to 2010. In 2008 we observed for 136 days, producing a total of 1423 hours of data (11 TB for the 148 GHz band only), with a daily average of 10.5 hours of observation. From these, 1085 hours were devoted to a 850 deg^2 stripe (11.2 hours by 9.1 deg) centered on a declination of -52.7 deg, while 175 hours were devoted to a 280 deg^2 stripe (4.5 hours by 4.8 deg) centered at the celestial equator. We discuss sources of statistical and systematic noise, calibration, telescope pointing, and data selection. Out of 1260 survey hours and 1024 detectors per array, 816 hours and 593 effective detectors remain after data selection for this frequency band, yielding a 38% survey efficiency. The total sensitivity in 2008, determined from the noise level between 5 Hz and 20 Hz in the time-ordered data stream (TOD), is 32 micro-Kelvin sqrt{s} in CMB units. Atmospheric brightness fluctuations constitute the main contaminant in the data and dominate the detector noise covariance at low frequencies in the TOD. The maps were made by solving the least-squares problem using the Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient method, incorporating the details of the detector and noise correlations. Cross-correlation with WMAP sky maps, as well as analysis from simulations, reveal that our maps are unbiased at multipoles ell > 300. This paper accompanies the public release of the 148 GHz southern stripe maps from 2008. The techniques described here will be applied to future maps and data releases.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures, 6 tables, an ACT Collaboration pape

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Sunyaev Zel'dovich Selected Galaxy Clusters at 148 GHz in the 2008 Survey

We report on twenty-three clusters detected blindly as Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) decrements in a 148 GHz, 455 square-degree map of the southern sky made with data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope 2008 observing season. All SZ detections announced in this work have confirmed optical counterparts. Ten of the clusters are new discoveries. One newly discovered cluster, ACT-CL J0102-4915, with a redshift of 0.75 (photometric), has an SZ decrement comparable to the most massive systems at lower redshifts. Simulations of the cluster recovery method reproduce the sample purity measured by optical follow-up. In particular, for clusters detected with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than six, simulations are consistent with optical follow-up that demonstrated this subsample is 100% pure. The simulations further imply that the total sample is 80% complete for clusters with mass in excess of 6x10^14 solar masses referenced to the cluster volume characterized by five hundred times the critical density. The Compton y -- X-ray luminosity mass comparison for the eleven best detected clusters visually agrees with both self-similar and non-adiabatic, simulation-derived scaling laws.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmology from Galaxy Clusters Detected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect

We present constraints on cosmological parameters based on a sample of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich-selected galaxy clusters detected in a millimeter-wave survey by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The cluster sample used in this analysis consists of 9 optically-confirmed high-mass clusters comprising the high-significance end of the total cluster sample identified in 455 square degrees of sky surveyed during 2008 at 148 GHz. We focus on the most massive systems to reduce the degeneracy between unknown cluster astrophysics and cosmology derived from SZ surveys. We describe the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal with a 4-parameter fit. Marginalizing over the values of the parameters in this fit with conservative priors gives sigma_8 = 0.851 +/- 0.115 and w = -1.14 +/- 0.35 for a spatially-flat wCDM cosmological model with WMAP 7-year priors on cosmological parameters. This gives a modest improvement in statistical uncertainty over WMAP 7-year constraints alone. Fixing the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal to a fiducial relation obtained from numerical simulations and calibrated by X-ray observations, we find sigma_8 = 0.821 +/- 0.044 and w = -1.05 +/- 0.20. These results are consistent with constraints from WMAP 7 plus baryon acoustic oscillations plus type Ia supernoava which give sigma_8 = 0.802 +/- 0.038 and w = -0.98 +/- 0.053. A stacking analysis of the clusters in this sample compared to clusters simulated assuming the fiducial model also shows good agreement. These results suggest that, given the sample of clusters used here, both the astrophysics of massive clusters and the cosmological parameters derived from them are broadly consistent with current models.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to Ap