Estimating the long-term impacts of rural roads : a dynamic panel approach

Infrastructure investments are typically long-term. As a result, observed benefits to households and communities may vary considerably over time as short-term outcomes generate or are subsumed by longer-term impacts. This paper uses a new round of household survey as part of a local government engineering department's rural road improvement project financed by the World Bank in Bangladesh to compare the short-term and long-term effects of rural roads over eight years. A dynamic panel model, estimated by generalized method of moments, is applied to estimate the varying returns to public road investment accounting for time-varying unobserved characteristics. The results show that the substantial effects of roads on such outcomes as per capita expenditure, schooling, and prices as observed in the short run attenuate over time. But the declining returns are not common for all outcomes of interest or all households. Employment in the rural non-farm sector, for example, has risen more rapidly over time, indicating increasing returns to investment. The very poor have failed to sustain the short-term benefits of roads, and yet the gains accrued to the middle-income groups are strengthened over time because of changing sectors of employment, away from agriculture toward non-farm activity. The results also show that initial state dependence -- or initial community and household characteristics as well as road quality -- matters in estimating the trajectory of road impacts.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Housing&Human Habitats,Economic Theory&Research,Rural Poverty Reduction,Rural Roads&Transport

Clinical submission of supernumerary head of adducter brevis muscle

Adductor brevis is an important member of the adductor family occupying the medial compartment of the thigh executing the function of adduction and medial rotation. Deviations from normal anatomy are unusual and rarely reported. A survey of anatomical archives revealed occasional mention of additional bellies of adductor brevis muscle. The present study reports a double belly of adductor brevis muscle (AB) found during a cadaveric dissection class for medical students. The left sided AB displayed two bellies disposed in the same plane. This case report attempts to present the clinical applications of supernumerary bellies of this important adductor muscle of the thigh. It is feasible to categorize these muscular variations upon specialized radiological procedures such as CT and MRI scans only if the radiologist possesses satisfactory understanding of variant anatomy of this region. It is thereafter inferred that upon recognition these muscles present a fair chance of being of utilitised in reconstructions. A biomechanical overview of the present anomaly is also attempte

The poverty impact of rural roads : evidencefrom Bangladesh

The rationale for public investment in rural roads is that households can better exploit agricultural and nonagricultural opportunities to use labor and capital more efficiently. But significant knowledge gaps remain as to how opportunities provided by roads actually filter back into household outcomes and their distributional consequences. This paper examines the impacts of rural road projects using household-level panel data from Bangladesh. Rural road investments are found to reduce poverty significantly through higher agricultural production, higher wages, lower input and transportation costs, and higher output prices. Rural roads also lead to higher girls'and boys'schooling. Road investments are pro-poor, meaning the gains are proportionately higher for the poor than for the non-poor.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Rural Roads&Transport,Economic Theory&Research,Rural Transport,Rural Poverty Reduction

Experiences in porting mini-applications to OpenACC and OpenMP on heterogeneous systems

This article studies mini-applications—Minisweep, GenASiS, GPP, and FF—that use computational methods commonly encountered in HPC. We have ported these applications to develop OpenACC and OpenMP versions, and evaluated their performance on Titan (Cray XK7 with K20x GPUs), Cori (Cray XC40 with Intel KNL), Summit (IBM AC922 with Volta GPUs), and Cori-GPU (Cray CS-Storm 500NX with Intel Skylake and Volta GPUs). Our goals are for these new ports to be useful to both application and compiler developers, to document and describe the lessons learned and the methodology to create optimized OpenMP and OpenACC versions, and to provide a description of possible migration paths between the two specifications. Cases where specific directives or code patterns result in improved performance for a given architecture are highlighted. We also include discussions of the functionality and maturity of the latest compilers available on the above platforms with respect to OpenACC or OpenMP implementations

EVALUATION OF ADENOIDS BY ORONASAL AND NASAL SPIROMETRY

Objectives: The main aim of this study is to compare the oronasal and nasal spirometry among adenoid hypertrophy children before and after surgery.Methods: A total of 40 healthy and 40 adenoid hypertrophy children were recruited for this study with the age range from 6 to 15 years. All the children were examined by two measurements (1) oronasal spirometry and (2) nasal spirometry. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1), FEV 1/FVC%, forced expiratory time (FET), peak expiratory flow rate, peak inspiratory flow rate (PIFR), and forced expiratory flow (FEF)25-75, FEF25%, FEF50%, FEF75%, FIF25%, FIF50%, and FIF75% were recorded.Results: All the parameters were significantly reduced in adenoid hypertrophy by nasal spirometry when compared to oronasal spirometry. FEV1/ FVC% was insignificant from oral to nasal values among adenoid hypertrophy in both the sexes. FET can act as an indicator for upper airway obstruction which shown significantly in adenoid hypertrophy but insignificant among control and adenoidectomy. Inspiratory parameters also had shown more variation in nasal than oronasal spirometry.Conclusion: Significant differences were found in many parameters between oronasal and nasal spirometry among adenoids and adenoidectomy. Nasal spirometry is a portable one, simple, and less cost-effective and so it can be used to determine the obstruction in the nose nasopharynx region

Role of environmental factors on sleep patterns of different age groups

ABSTRACT  OBJECTIVE :The objective of the study is to determine the effect of various environmental factors associated with modern lifestyle,on sleep patterns of three different age groups through a survey based study. METHODSThis was a survey based cross sectional study. A questionnaire which included questions about their lifestyle habits such as caffeine consumption, electronic media or gadget usage, bedtime and wake up time were distributed to people of different ages who were grouped into three age groups. The data collected was then analyzed statistically.  RESULTSMost of the habits of today's sedentary lifestyle such as excessive stimulant consumption and extensive late night usage of electronic media and gadgets have a negative impact on both quality and quantity of sleep. People with such habits tend to have a very short and disturbed sleep. From the current study, it is clearly evident that the group which is most affected are the adolescents. CONCLUSIONAwareness regarding the ill effects of these modern day lifestyle factors would help everyone to minimise the adverse effects of these factors on sleep and aid in adopting a healthy lifestyle

MOLECULAR DOCKING STUDIES OF SIDDHA HERBAL FORMULATION KUPPAIMENI CHOORNAM ON HUMAN HISTAMINE RECEPTOR (3RZE)

Background: Molecular docking has tremendous applications in the field of Siddha medicine especially herbal formulations were the interactions of the lead molecules of the formulation with that of receptors can be elucidated at the molecular level and furthermore to reach an assumption of its fundamental biochemical processes to which the formulation is targeting. Kuppaimeni Choornam (KC) is a simple herbal formulation used in Siddha medicine for urticaria and other skin allergies. As far as skin allergy is concerned Amino acids such as Asparagine (ASN), Tryptophan (Trp), Aspartate (Asp), Tyrosine (Tyr), Serine (Ser), Isoleucine (Ile), Lysine (Lys), Threonine (Thr), Phenylalanine (Phe) are the main core residues involved in mediating Human histamine receptor (3RZE). Binding of lead compounds with this core residue may inhibit the enzyme activity. Aim & Objectives: Molecular docking studies of Siddha herbal formulation KC and to screen the lead component interaction on the Human Histamine Receptor (3RZE). Methodology: Docking calculations were carried out using Auto Dock 4. Gasteiger partial charges were added to the ligand atoms. Docking simulations were performed using the Lamarckian genetic algorithm (LGA) and the Solis & Wets local search method. Initial position, orientation, and torsions of the ligand molecules were set randomly. All rotatable torsions were released during docking. Results and Conclusion: The compounds present in KC like beta-sitosterol, apigenin, luteolin, cuminaldehyde, kaempferol, and triacetonamine showed maximum interactions with 3RZE when compared to that of the standard cetirizine. Hence, these compounds of test drug possess promising Human histamine 1 receptor (3RZE) inhibition activity. For prospective pharmacological validation of Kuppaimeni Choornam, the docking studies were an important step for its scientific justification

Comparison Of Ranolazine With Telmisartan In The Treatment Of Mild To Moderate Hypertension

The objective of the present study was to develop and compare fast-dissolving oral films of Anti-Hypertensive drugs Ranolazine and Telmisartan using a solvent casting technique.  A response surface methodology experimental design was applied to optimize fast-dissolving film using Box-Behnken experimental design. The concentrations of X1 (mango kernel, 100–400 mg), X2 (MDX 0–100 mg), and X3 (PG, 15–30%) were preferred as independent factors for Ranolazine films. The concentrations of X1 (Mango kernel, 100–300 mg), X2 (Maltodextrin, 200–350 mg), and X3 (Propylene glycol, 15–30%) were selected as independent variables for Telmisartan.  Y1 (Tensile Strength; MPa), Y2 (Disintegration Time; Sec), Y3 (Folding Endurance; Folds), Y4 (Elongation; %), and Y5 (% drug release; min) were considered as dependent variables for both drugs. Various physicochemical parameters like weight variation, thickness, folding endurance, and drug content were evaluated. Ranolazine films' maximum bio-adhesive strength and highest ex-vivo mucoadhesion time were 52.43±0.31 gm and 182 min observed for F6. Telmisartan-optimized films F4 had the highest ex-vivo mucoadhesion duration and maximal bioadhesive strength of 49.82 gm and 189 min, respectively. Ex-vivo muco irritation was performed by using fresh sheep oral mucosa.  The Pharmacokinetic plasma parameters of Telmisartan-optimized films F4 results displayed improved absorption compared to RZ-OFDFs F6