Human Development Index for rural Andhra Pradesh

The method used to measure Human Development are reviewed in order to measure Human Development Index for rural AP by considering indicators such as economic attainment, longevity and education. Using UNDP method to estimate Human Development Index, which is predominantly normative approach to club different indicators by giving weights. The estimates are worked out with and without considering inequalities in economic attainment indicator. IAMR survey data for year 2001 is used for this study. However, for making comparison over time, data and analysis undertaken in other study is also used. In other methods, primarily for the analysis of data for year 2001, inequalities in all indicators were taken into consideration to measure Human Development using both UNDP and Principal Component Analysis. The comparison of results show that there has been only marginal improvement in Human development during the 1990s in rural AP considering only inequality in economic indicator using UNDP method. However, the results may differ significantly in case inequalities in all the variables are taken into account and depending upon the methodology used as is demonstrated by analysis of data for year 2001. But unfortunately comparison of analysis over time using the modified approach was not possible due to lack of detailed data for other years.Human Development

Systemic Financial Distress and Auction-Based Bankruptcy Reorganization

Financial reorganization under bankruptcy reduces a firm's debts to a serviceable level through negotiations overseen by courts. Markets have been suggested as an alternative to such negotiations, recognizing that equity holders and junior claimants have call options to buy the firm back from senior creditors. This paper further develops this market-based approach when claimants are severely cash-constrained and there is merit in having existing owners-managers remain in control. The scheme arranges creditors in a queue to be serviced in sequence from the firm's operating cash flows. Creditors bid for their position in this queue, and those accepting a greater proportionate reduction in the face value of their claims (perhaps those most pessimistic about the firm's prospects) are placed ahead of the others. A pre-existing hierarchy of claims is honored by having claimants bid for their positions within the relevant segment of the queue. No one in the queue (including owners who are last) is paid anything until the (reduced) debts of the first in line are fully discharged using the firm's operating cash surpluses. The queue then moves up and the next claimant in line is serviced. The paper shows that, in equilibrium, the aggregate debts of the firm are reduced to a level that is more serviceable and that provides the owner-manager with a positive expected residual return. We discuss the appropriateness of this scheme to situations of systemic financial distress, including the East Asian crisis.

Anomalous lateral diffusion in a viscous membrane surrounded by viscoelastic media

We investigate the lateral dynamics in a purely viscous lipid membrane surrounded by viscoelastic media such as polymeric solutions. We first obtain the generalized frequency-dependent mobility tensor and focus on the case when the solvent is sandwiched by hard walls. Due to the viscoelasticity of the solvent, the mean square displacement of a disk embedded in the membrane exhibits an anomalous diffusion. An useful relation which connects the mean square displacement and the solvent modulus is provided. We also calculate the cross-correlation of the particle displacements which can be applied for two-particle tracking experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Awareness regarding eye donation among stakeholders in Srikakulam district in South India

Background There is a huge need for the availability of transplantable donor corneas worldwide to reduce the burden of corneal blindness due to corneal opacity. Voluntary eye donation depends on the awareness levels of various stakeholders in the community. This study aimed to assess the awareness level regarding eye donation among various stakeholders in Srikakulam district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Methods 355 subjects were selected from the district using multi stage random sampling. A pre tested semi structured questionnaire was used to collect information regarding each individual’s awareness, knowledge, and perception regarding eye donation. Each response was scored individually and a total score was calculated. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with willingness towards eye donation and increased awareness levels. Results Of the 355 subjects interviewed, 192 (54%) were male and 163 (46%) were female. The mean age of the stakeholders was 35.9 years (SD ±16.1) and all the study subjects were literate. Ninety-three percent of subjects were aware of the concept of eye donation. Knowledge levels were similar among the teaching community and persons engaged in social service, but lower among students (p < 0.05). Among the stakeholders, there was considerable ambiguity regarding whether persons currently wearing spectacles or suffering from a chronic illnesses could donate their eyes. Older age group (p < 0.001), female gender (p < 0.001) and education (p < 0.001) were associated with increased knowledge levels. 82% of the subjects were willing to donate their eyes and this was unaffected by gender or geographical location (rural vs urban). Conclusions Awareness levels and willingness to donate eyes are high among the stakeholders in Srikakulam district in India. The services of stakeholders could be utilized, in conjunction with other community based eye donation counselors, to promote awareness regarding eye donation among the general population

Motivic complexes over finite fields and the ring of correspondences at the generic point

Already in the 1960s Grothendieck understood that one could obtain an almost entirely satisfactory theory of motives over a finite field when one assumes the full Tate conjecture. In this note we prove a similar result for motivic complexes. In particular Beilinson's Q-algebra of "correspondences at the generic point" is then defined for all connected varieties. We compute this for all smooth projective varieties (hence also for varieties birational to such a variety)

The thermodynamics of metabolism, cardiovascular performance and exercise, in health and diabetes: The objective of clinical markers

Extensive experience in UK National Health Service metabolic syndrome/type 2 diabetes clinics highlights the need for convenient clinical marker(s) which can be readily used to indicate the success or otherwise of alternative therapies. In this paper we study the metabolic context of the healthy and diseased states, which points to the haemodynamics being a possible key in identifying candidate markers. Human metabolism relates to two elemental thermodynamic systems, the individual cell and the human body in its entirety. The fundamental laws of thermodynamics apply to humans, animals, and their individual cells for both healthy and diseased conditions. as they are to classic heat engines. In compliance with the second law enhanced levels of heat are generated under exercise, heat itself being another factor modulating the cardiovascular response to physical exercise. Nutrients and oxygen uptake occurs via the digestive system and lungs, respectively, leading to ATP production by the established metabolic pathways: this is controlled by insulin. These are then delivered to the cells via the haemodynamic system to satisfy local metabolic need. The supply and demand of oxygen are finely regulated, in part, via oxygen-dependent release of ATP from the circulating erythrocytes. Energy supply and demand are regulated to sustain muscle activity resulting in the body’s output of measurable thermodynamic work—i.e. exercise. Recently a dynamic pathway model allowing quantification of ATP release from the erythrocytes and its contribution to oxygen supply regulation has been published. However, metabolic uptake is well known to be greatly affected by disease such as the highly prevalent diabetes type 2 with insulin resistance and beta cell dysfunction having mechanistic roles. In 2010, over 25% of residents above 65 in the USA had diabetes 2. The complexity of the metabolic pathways means that monitoring of patient-specific treatment would be beneficial from a diabetic marker which may be haemodynamic-related and traceable via the local fluid dynamics