Urbanization, educational expansion, and expenditures inequality in Indonesia in 1996, 1999, and 2002:

"This paper considers urban-rural location and education as the main causes of expenditure inequality and attempts to examine inequality changes associated with urbanization and educational expansion in Indonesia from 1996 to 2002, using Indonesian monthly household consumption expenditure data. It introduces a hierarchical framework of inequality decomposition by population subgroups, which enables researchers to analyze inequality resulting from differences in educational attainment as well as inequality within each educational group, after the effects on inequality of urban–rural differences in the composition of educational attainments are removed. It finds that the urban sector's higher educational group contributes significantly to overall inequality. Inequality within the group increased significantly once Indonesia recovered from the financial crisis of 1998. This, together with educational expansion in urban areas, led to a conspicuous rise in urban inequality. Overall expenditure inequality has increased markedly, due not only to the rise in urban inequality but also a widening urban-rural disparity, accompanied by a population shift from the rural to the urban sector. Since more people will obtain higher education as the economy continues to develop, and more jobs requiring specialized skills become available in urban areas, urban inequality is likely to remain high. In order to mitigate urban inequality and thus overall inequality, the government needs to introduce policies that could reduce inequality among households whose heads have a tertiary education." from Authors' AbstractExpenditure inequality, Urbanization, Educational expansion, Theil index, Two-stage nested inequality decomposition analysis, Public investment,

Credit Accessibility, Risk Attitude, and Social Learning: Investment Decisions of Aquaculture in Rural Indonesia

This study examines the factors that influenced poor Indonesian farmers to invest in floating net aquaculture after being relocated due to a reservoir construction project. To compare three primary decision factors, credit accessibility, risk attitudes, and social learning, (i.e., learning effects from others experience), we analyze 16 years of socio-economic retrospective data collected in the field interviews exclusively for this study. Our analysis reveals that credit accessibility and risk attitudes are the most important factors that influence the rate of aquaculture investment. Social learning as well as household education also influences the investment decision significantly. Our results suggest that developmen t projects that involve voluntary investments by a poor populace will be more successful if complementary services to promote credit and insurance accessibility and/or local information sharing are made available, either by the government or the private sector. Also, such support should not cease at the launch of the project but rather continue and in fact evolve to address the changing factors at the different stages of the project.Household investment decision, credit constraints, risk attitudes, social learning, panel data, Farm Management, D1, D8, D12, Q22,

Impact of contract farming on income: Linking small farmers, packers, and supermarket in China

"Contract farming is seen by proponents as a way to raise small-farm income by delivering technology and market information to small farmers, incorporating them into remunerative new markets. Critics, however, see it as a strategy for agribusiness firms to pass production risk to farmers, taking advantage of an unequal bargaining relationship. There is also concern that contract farming will worsen rural income inequality by favoring larger farmers. This study examines these issues in Shandong Province, China, using survey data collected from 162 apple and green onion farmers and interviews with four contracting firms in 2005. Using a probit model to estimate participation in a contract-farming scheme, we find little evidence that contracting firms prefer to work with larger farmers, though all farms in the area are quite small. Furthermore, using a Heckman selection-correction model to control for possible selection bias, we find that contract farmers earn significantly more than independent farmers after controlling for household labor availability, education, farm size, and other characteristics. Finally, we find that the way contracting contributes to farm income varies between commodities: contract apple growers benefit from higher yields (presumably due to technical assistance), while contract green onion growers receive higher prices (presumably due to better quality). These results suggest that contract farming can help small farmers raise their incomes and gain access to the growing urban and export markets. Questions remain regarding the number of farmers that are, or could be, brought into similar contract arrangements." from Authors' AbstractContract farming, Horticulture, exports, Small farmers, Supermarkets,

Examining the Socioeconomic Impacts of Irrigation in the Southeast Anatolia Region of Turkey

We explore the socioeconomic changes following implementation of an irrigation system in the Southeast Anatolia region of Turkey, and examines whether the improvement originally envisioned was achieved. We surveyed seven irrigated and eight non-irrigated villages in Sanliurfa Province, collecting several indicators at the household level, including crop patterns, household living standards, and access to water. Local perception of the irrigation project and decisions regarding water use also are examined. The irrigation projects have improved knowledge sharing of irrigation technology and helped to introduce the sharing of agricultural machinery. The projects also seem to have shifted the tribal hierarchy toward peer relationships. While positive changes are observed in irrigated villages, there remain socioeconomic problems that need to be addressed, such as water user association management and salinization." -- Authors' AbstractPRIFPRI3; ISIMTI

Cinacalcet suppresses calcification of the aorta and heart in uremic rats

High serum parathyroid hormone levels are associated with vascular calcification. Cinacalcet is a calcimimetic agent that inhibits parathyroid hormone secretion and is used to treat patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism. Here we measured the effects of oral cinacalcet on calcification of the aorta and heart in rats with a remnant kidney (5/6 nephrectomy) model of uremia that were fed a high-phosphate diet containing lactose to accelerate the process of aortic calcification. Alizarin red staining showed that the smooth muscle in the aortic arch of rats with a remnant kidney was calcified. The tissue levels of calcium and phosphorus in the aorta and hearts of these rats were significantly increased compared to sham-operated rats. Expression of the osteoblastic lineage genes osteocalcin, osteopontin and runt-related gene 2 were also increased in the aorta of these rats. Cinacalcet suppressed these calcification-related changes by reducing serum parathyroid hormone, calcium, phosphorus, and the calcium-phosphorus product. Parathyroidectomy also suppressed calcification in this model. We suggest that cinacalcet inhibits calcification of the aorta and heart in uremic patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism by decreasing serum parathyroid hormone levels

マウスCD3サブユニットの転写量比について

The transcripts of T cell receptor β chain（TCRβ） and CD3 subunits, CD3γ, CD3δ and CD3ε, were detected through realtime PCR in thymus and spleen of BALB/c female mouse from neonates to 400 days. The logarithmic transcript-ratios of logCD3γ/TCRβ and logCD3

Diagnostic accuracy of 16S ribosomal RNA gene polymerase chain reaction in bacteremia: A prospective observational study

　The standard method for diagnosing bacteremia is blood culture. However, the sensitivity of blood culture is low when the number of bacteria in the blood is low or when antibiotics have already been administered. Furthermore, some bacteria are difficult to detect in blood cultures. 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) contains conserved sequences that are targeted for PCR amplification using universal primers. We investigated whether the threshold cycle (Ct) value of 16S rRNA real-time PCR in whole-blood samples can be used for early diagnosis of bacteremia. Ct values of the 16S rRNA real-time PCR in 307 collected specimens showed a bimodal distribution. Ct values of the blood culture-positive group were significantly lower than those of the blood culture-negative group (P < 0.001). The cutoff value of the receiver operating characteristic curve was 38.80, as determined using finite-mixture modeling and expectation-maximization algorithm. Analysis of the diagnostic accuracy at this cutoff value showed a sensitivity of 91.4%, specificity of 33.5%, positive predictive value of 15.0%, and negative predictive value of 96.8%. The Ct value of 16S rRNA real-time PCR shows high negative predictive value, it may be useful for excluding bacteremia when the cutoff value is set appropriately