Violence and financial decisions: evidence from mobile money in Afghanistan

We provide evidence that violence reduces the adoption and use of mobile money in three separate empirical settings in Afghanistan. First, we spatially merge nationwide administrative data on 96,000 violent events with the universe of mobile money transactions and find that users exposed to nearby violence reduce their mobile money account balances and conduct fewer transactions. Second, using high-frequency panel survey data from a field experiment, we find that subjects expecting violence are half as likely to respond to a randomized mobile money supply shock as those not expecting violence. Finally, analyzing financial survey data from nineteen of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, we find that individuals expecting violence hold more cash. Collectively, our evidence suggests that violence can impede the growth of formal financial systems

Dc slice imaging, crossed beam reaction of chlorine radical with butane

We present an investigation of the reaction dynamics of Cl radicals with Butane using crossed molecular beams, at two collision energies: ~ 6.5 and 9 kcal/mol. The product butyl radical was ionized using a 157 nm probe laser, and detection was through a dc slice detection setup. The translational energy distributions looked similar for both collision energies. The angular distribution shows that at the high collision energy there is a sharp increase in the forward scattering. At low collision energy there is more backscattering. The results show that the different scattering angles give different translational energy distribution. The forward scattered peaks at approximately 85% of the collision energy, with a different distribution for each collision energies. The sideways-scattered product shows a broader distribution and the lowest average fractional translational energy. The back-scattered product showed the broadest distribution, the least dependence on collision energy and a higher fraction of total energy showing up in translational energy

Why do defaults affect behavior? Experimental evidence from Afghanistan

We report on an experiment examining why default options impact behavior. By randomly assigning employees to different varieties of a salary-linked savings account, we find that default enrollment increases participation by 40 percentage points—an effect equivalent to providing a 50% matching incentive. We then use a series of experimental interventions to differentiate between explanations for the default effect, which we conclude is driven largely by present-biased preferences and the cognitive cost of thinking through different savings scenarios. Default assignment also changes employees' attitudes toward saving, and makes them more likely to actively decide to save after the study concludes

Evaluation of the Performance Quality of the Educational Process at Islamic University of Madinah

In this study, the quality of the educational process at Islamic University of Madinah, KSA was discussed. The study focused on evidence the quality of the performance of the student and teacher as one of the main tributaries of the quality of the educational process and at the same time it proposed the framework for statistical methods to ensure the quality of evaluation of the educational process.  The study used two surveys to investigate the quality of education at Islamic University of Madinah, KSA, one of which was directed at faculty members and consists of two main perspectives: Quality of faculty member’s evaluation (teaching activity - research activity) – Quality of student’s evaluation, and the other was meant for the students and consists of two perspectives: Quality of faculty member’s evaluation (teaching activity) - Quality of student’s evaluation. A sample of 55 faculty members and 137 students was drawn, and the extent of the existence of significant differences between the views of faculty members and students was tested regarding the quality of student evaluation, and a framework for statistical methods that can be used to measure the quality of the educational process was developed

Mobile money

The surge in access to mobile phones throughout the developing world has brought with it a wide range of benefits. One of the most noteworthy breakthroughs has been mobile money, enabling users to deposit, transfer, and withdraw funds from a digital account without owning a bank account Mobile money provides a dramatic reduction in transaction costs, as well as improvements in convenience, security, and time taken for the transaction. There is a growing literature that documents the benefits of mobile money, including improvements in the ability to smooth consumption better in the face of health and economic shocks, improving women’s empowerment, and reducing poverty. More recently, there has been a growth in digital financial services that use mobile money as the rails to deliver other products (largely credit). However, such innovations are few and far between with more research needed on their deployment and impact.otherpublishe

Promises and Pitfalls of Mobile Money in Afghanistan: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial

ABSTRACT Despite substantial interest in the potential for mobile money to positively impact the lives of the poor, little empirical evidence exists to substantiate these claims. In this paper, we present the results of a field experiment in Afghanistan that was designed to increase adoption of mobile money, and determine if such adoption led to measurable changes in the lives of the adopters. The specific intervention we evaluate is a mobile salary payment program, in which a random subset of individuals of a large firm were transitioned into receiving their regular salaries in mobile money rather than in cash. We separately analyze the impact of this transition on both the employer and the individual employees. For the employer, there were immediate and significant cost savings; in a dangerous physical environment, they were able to effectively shift the costs of managing their salary supply chain to the mobile phone operator. For individual employees, however, the results were more ambiguous. Individuals who were transitioned onto mobile salary payments were more likely to use mobile money, and there is evidence that these accounts were used to accumulate small balances that may be indicative of savings. However, we find little consistent evidence that mobile money had an immediate or significant impact on several key indicators of individual wealth or well-being. Taken together, these results suggest that while mobile salary payments may increase the efficiency and transparency of traditional systems, in the short run the benefits may be realized by those making the payments, rather than by those receiving them

Cytotoxicity of Nubein6.8 peptide isolated from the snake venom of Naja nubiae on melanoma and ovarian carcinoma cell lines

This study was conducted to examine the cytotoxic effects of Nubein6.8 isolated from the venom of the Egyptian Spitting Cobra Naja nubiae on melanoma (A375) and ovarian carcinoma cell lines and to reveal its mode of action. The size of Nubein6.8 (6801.8 Da) and its N-terminal sequence are similar to cytotoxins purified from the venom of other spitting cobras. Nubein6.8 showed a high significant cytotoxic effect on A375 cell line and moderate effect on A2780. A clonogenic assay showed that Nubein6.8 has a significant long-term potency on A375 cell survival when compared to A2780. The molecular intracellular signaling pathways of Nubein6.8 have been investigated using Western blotting analysis, flow cytometry, and microscale protein labeling. This data revealed that Nubein6.8 has DNA damaging effects and the ability to activate apoptosis in both tumor cell lines. Cellular uptake recordings revealed that the labeled-Nubein6.8 was intracellularly present in A375 cells while A2780 displayed resistance against it. SEM examination showed that Nubein6.8 was found to have high accessibility to malignant melanoma cells. The apoptotic effect of Nubein6.8 was confirmed by TEM examination that revealed many evident characteristics for Nubein6.8 apoptotic efficacy on A375 cell sections. Also, TEM reflected many resistant characteristics that faced Nubein6.8 acquisition through ovarian carcinoma cell sections. Accordingly, the snake venom peptide of Nubein6.8 is a promising template for developing potential cytotoxic agents targeting human melanoma and ovarian carcinoma

Measurement and interpretation of same-sign W boson pair production in association with two jets in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents the measurement of fducial and diferential cross sections for both the inclusive and electroweak production of a same-sign W-boson pair in association with two jets (W±W±jj) using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis is performed by selecting two same-charge leptons, electron or muon, and at least two jets with large invariant mass and a large rapidity diference. The measured fducial cross sections for electroweak and inclusive W±W±jj production are 2.92 ± 0.22 (stat.) ± 0.19 (syst.)fb and 3.38±0.22 (stat.)±0.19 (syst.)fb, respectively, in agreement with Standard Model predictions. The measurements are used to constrain anomalous quartic gauge couplings by extracting 95% confdence level intervals on dimension-8 operators. A search for doubly charged Higgs bosons H±± that are produced in vector-boson fusion processes and decay into a same-sign W boson pair is performed. The largest deviation from the Standard Model occurs for an H±± mass near 450 GeV, with a global signifcance of 2.5 standard deviations

Studies of new Higgs boson interactions through nonresonant HH production in the b¯bγγ fnal state in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in the b ¯bγγ fnal state is performed using 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. This analysis supersedes and expands upon the previous nonresonant ATLAS results in this fnal state based on the same data sample. The analysis strategy is optimised to probe anomalous values not only of the Higgs (H) boson self-coupling modifer κλ but also of the quartic HHV V (V = W, Z) coupling modifer κ2V . No signifcant excess above the expected background from Standard Model processes is observed. An observed upper limit µHH < 4.0 is set at 95% confdence level on the Higgs boson pair production cross-section normalised to its Standard Model prediction. The 95% confdence intervals for the coupling modifers are −1.4 < κλ < 6.9 and −0.5 < κ2V < 2.7, assuming all other Higgs boson couplings except the one under study are fxed to the Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted in the Standard Model efective feld theory and Higgs efective feld theory frameworks in terms of constraints on the couplings of anomalous Higgs boson (self-)interactions