Are there lasting impacts of aid to poor areas ? Evidence from rural China

The paper revisits the siteof a large, World Bank-financed, rural development program in China 10 years after it began and four years after disbursements ended. The program emphasized community participation in multi-sectoral interventions (including farming, animal husbandry, infrastructure and social services). Data were collected on 2,000 households in project and nonproject areas, spanning 10 years. A double-difference estimator of the program's impact (on top of pre-existing governmental programs) reveals sizeable short-term income gains that were mostly saved. Only modest gains to mean consumption emerged in the longer term-in rough accord with the gain to permanent income. Certain types of households gained more than others. The educated poor were under-covered by the community-based selection process-greatly reducing overall impact. The main results are robust to corrections for various sources of selection bias, including village targeting and interference due to spillover effects generated by the response of local governments to the external aid.Rural Poverty Reduction,Access to Finance,,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Economic Theory&Research

Effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Root Growth and Architecture of Tulip Gesneriana

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi(AMF) can promote the absorption of soil water and mineral nutrients, improve photosynthesis, and make host attain higher quality finally by establishing symbiotic relationship between AMF and host root. To improve Tulip gesneriana quality have practical meaning under no bad affect to cultivation soil, in the light of its economical and ecological values. However, some AMF may be diverse from others, the concrete function of AMF on commercial tulip varieties need to explore. Therefore, three different sets of  arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi were inoculated into tulip rhizosphere soil, which were set as 4(Diversispora versiformis), 7(Diversispora spurca) and 1 + 3 + 4 (Rhizophagus intraradias + Funneliformis mosseae + Diversispora versiformis), respectively. The results showed that the activity of most of the measured indices increased, the average root diameter and sucrose content decreased in those three mycorrhizal treatments. Our research provide some theoretical basis for the application of AMF on T.gesneriana ecological cultivation in future

A case of complex mechanical asphyxia due to physical restraint and gagging in an obese man

Abstract: Death from positional asphyxia by physical restraint takes place when the abnormal position of the victim's body compromises the process of respiration. Dying in a supine restraint position is rare. The term ''gagging'' describes the blockage of the internal airways by ramming certain objects into the mouth. Here, we report the case of a 47-year-old obese man who had been kidnapped and was found dead in a supine position with limbs bound together in the back and the mouth gagged with stick. Apart from a very low level of the drug estazolam, and mild trauma on the body surface, autopsy findings were unremarkable. There were no injuries or pathological findings to account for his death. The cause of death was certified as mechanical asphyxia following gagging and restraint in a supine position. The victim's obesity is a co-factor in hastening his death

Bayesian multimodel estimation of global terrestrial latent heat flux from eddy covariance, meteorological, and satellite observations

Accurate estimation of the satellite-based global terrestrial latent heat flux (LE) at high spatial and temporal scales remains a major challenge. In this study, we introduce a Bayesian model averaging (BMA) method to improve satellite-based global terrestrial LE estimation by merging five process-based algorithms. These are the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) LE product algorithm, the revised remote-sensing-based Penman-Monteith LE algorithm, the Priestley-Taylor-based LE algorithm, the modified satellite-based Priestley-Taylor LE algorithm, and the semi-empirical Penman LE algorithm. We validated the BMA method using data for 2000–2009 and by comparison with a simple model averaging (SA) method and five process-based algorithms. Validation data were collected for 240 globally distributed eddy covariance tower sites provided by FLUXNET projects. The validation results demonstrate that the five process-based algorithms used have variable uncertainty and the BMA method enhances the daily LE estimates, with smaller root mean square errors (RMSEs) than the SA method and the individual algorithms driven by tower-specific meteorology and Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) meteorological data provided by the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), respectively. The average RMSE for the BMA method driven by daily tower-specific meteorology decreased by more than 5 W/m2 for crop and grass sites, and by more than 6 W/m2 for forest, shrub, and savanna sites. The average coefficients of determination (R2) increased by approximately 0.05 for most sites. To test the BMA method for regional mapping, we applied it for MODIS data and GMAO-MERRA meteorology to map annual global terrestrial LE averaged over 2001–2004 for spatial resolution of 0.05°. The BMA method provides a basis for generating a long-term global terrestrial LE product for characterizing global energy, hydrological, and carbon cycles

Are there lasting impacts of aid to poor areas?

The paper re-visits the site of a large, World Bank-financed, rural development program in China, 10years after it began and four years after disbursements ended. The program emphasized community participation in multi-sectoral interventions (including farming, animal husbandry, infrastructure and social services). Data were collected on 2000 households in project and non-project areas, spanning 10years. A double-difference estimator of the program's impact (on top of pre-existing governmental programs) reveals sizeable short-term income gains that were mostly saved. Only small and statistically insignificant gains to mean consumption emerged in the longer-term -- though in rough accord with the average gain to permanent income. The use of community-based beneficiary selection greatly reduced the overall impact, given that the educated poor were under-covered. The main results are robust to corrections for various sources of selection bias, including village targeting and interference due to spillover effects generated by the response of local governments to the external aid.Poor-areas Aid Credit Rural development Impact evaluation Spillover effects China

Knowledge ties among subsidiaries in MNCs: A multi-level conceptual model

While ties among subsidiaries--the key players of a MNC network--are a prerequisite for the formation of the network and the flow of knowledge within the organization, we know little about factors influencing the formation of such ties. By building on the literature on inter-firm networks and knowledge-based view of the firm, we develop a multi-level model consisting of subsidiary characteristics, dyadic dynamics, and salient contextual factors to explain the inter-subsidiary collaboration for knowledge development and exchange. We bring to the fore the importance of examining multiple dimensions in understanding what predicts tie formation and the efficacy of these ties in creating a knowledge advantage. This paper advances the notion of subsidiary knowledge networking capability--the ability to form, manage, and leverage a network for gaining and sharing knowledge--and suggests that such capability is critical for subsidiaries and by extension the MNC, to achieve a competitive advantage.MNC network Knowledge Subsidiary ties Collaboration

Efficient Delivery of Therapeutic siRNA with Nanoparticles Induces Apoptosis in Prostate Cancer Cells

Gene silencing using small interfering RNA (siRNA) has shown significant potential in the treatment of cancer. Herein, we developed the lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles (PEG-LP/siRNA NPs) for siRNA delivery. The cell viability assay indicated that PEG-LP/siRNA NPs had negligible cell cytotoxicity. The cellular uptake efficiency of PEG-LP/siRNA NPs measured by flow cytometry was up to 94.4%. Importantly, in vitro gene knockdown experiments demonstrated that PEG-LP/siJnk-1 NPs could significantly downregulate the expression of Jnk-1 at both the mRNA and protein levels in DU145 cells. Gene knockdown of Jnk-1 could activate apoptosis in part by the mitochondrial pathway in DU145 cells. Moreover, the PEG-LP/siJnk-1 NPs could inhibit tumor growth in a DU145 xenograft murine model, suggesting its therapeutic promise in cancer therapy

Efficient Delivery of Therapeutic siRNA with Nanoparticles Induces Apoptosis in Prostate Cancer Cells

Gene silencing using small interfering RNA (siRNA) has shown significant potential in the treatment of cancer. Herein, we developed the lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles (PEG-LP/siRNA NPs) for siRNA delivery. The cell viability assay indicated that PEG-LP/siRNA NPs had negligible cell cytotoxicity. The cellular uptake efficiency of PEG-LP/siRNA NPs measured by flow cytometry was up to 94.4%. Importantly, in vitro gene knockdown experiments demonstrated that PEG-LP/siJnk-1 NPs could significantly downregulate the expression of Jnk-1 at both the mRNA and protein levels in DU145 cells. Gene knockdown of Jnk-1 could activate apoptosis in part by the mitochondrial pathway in DU145 cells. Moreover, the PEG-LP/siJnk-1 NPs could inhibit tumor growth in a DU145 xenograft murine model, suggesting its therapeutic promise in cancer therapy

Hydrophobically modified mesoporous silica supported Pt as a dual-function adsorbent buffer-catalyst for toluene removal under low-temperature

A bifunctional adsorption-catalysis system for the abatement of trace amounts of toluene was developed and realized by loading different amounts of Pt on mesoporous silica synthesized with ionic liquid with hydrophobic modification. The textural properties were evaluated using BET, contact angle, XRD, IR, XPS, TEM, and H-2-TPR techniques. The capability of the synthesized catalysts for room-temperature adsorption and low-temperature catalysis of toluene was appraised. The hydrophobic sample exhibited better toluene adsorption capacity of 53.1 mg g(-1) than SiO2-350 and 3.0Pt/SiO2 samples with 28.3 mg g(-1) and 18.9 mg g(-1), respectively. Furthermore, the hydrophobic sample showed increased maximum desorption temperatures of 52 degrees C in comparison with those at 44 degrees C and 37 degrees C, which acted as a good adsorption buffering system. 3.0Pt/SiO2-H showed the best toluene conversion capacity at T-90 = 129 degrees C, together with superior water vapor resistance and sequential capture-destruction performances. The increased bifunctional adsorption-catalysis performance with hydrophobic modification may be ascribed to the change in surface functional groups. The prepared system could be a valuable candidate material for adsorption-catalysis integration and assistance for VOCs elimination technology in barren waste gases