Is the debt crisis history? Recent private capital inflows to developing countries

The outlook for economic development for an important group of middle-income countries has again been buoyed by substantial private capital inflows in the 1990s. As in the 1970s, this development has been met with cautious optimism. It is generally accepted that these countries need resource transfers from the rest of the world to support capital formation and growth. It is also generally accepted that these private capital flows make the allocation of resources more efficient. But there is concern that a rapid reversal of market sentiment could impose considerable adjustment costs on these same economies. The authors try to quantify what many consider to be the main reasons debtor countries have access to capital markets again: (a) Domestic policy reform in the debtor countries. (b) Debt and debt service reduction, usually associated with Brady Plan restructuring. (c) Changes in the external market, such as changes in interest rates in industrial countries. They argue that a useful barometer for access to new loans is the market value of existing sovereign debt. It follows that a quantitative analysis of the factors that caused the market value of sovereign debts to rise rapidly after 1989 would also improve understanding of the forces behind the renewed access to international capital. Empirical historical evidence suggests that fiscal reform, privatization, and debt reduction are useful in explaining relative improvements in the standing of debtor countries in international credit markets. Debtor countries with strong reform programs, in other words, are better prepared to withstand deterioration in the external environment. But the reduction in dollar interest rates since 1989 appears to be the chief factor in the debtor countries'renewed access to international loans. The authors estimate the effect of increases in dollar interest rates and conclude that the typical debtor country remains vulnerable to increases in interest rates that are well within the range of recent experience.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Strategic Debt Management,Financial Intermediation

Recent Private Capital Inflows to Developing Countries: Is the Debt Crisis History?

This empirical study finds that while debt reduction and policy reforms in debtor countries have been important determinants of renewed access to international capital markets, changes in international interest rates have been the dominant factor. We calculate the effects of changes in international interest rates for a 'typical' debtor country. We conclude that increases in interest rates associated with business cycle upturn in industrial countries could depress the secondary market prices of existing debt to levels inconsistent with continued capital inflows.

Printed Receive Coils with High Acoustic Transparency for Magnetic Resonance Guided Focused Ultrasound.

In magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) therapy sound waves are focused through the body to selectively ablate difficult to access lesions and tissues. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner non-invasively tracks the temperature increase throughout the tissue to guide the therapy. In clinical MRI, tightly fitted hardware comprised of multichannel coil arrays are required to capture high quality images at high spatiotemporal resolution. Ablating tissue requires a clear path for acoustic energy to travel but current array materials scatter and attenuate acoustic energy. As a result coil arrays are placed outside of the transducer, clear of the beam path, compromising imaging speed, resolution, and temperature accuracy of the scan. Here we show that when coil arrays are fabricated by additive manufacturing (i.e., printing), they exhibit acoustic transparency as high as 89.5%. This allows the coils to be placed in the beam path increasing the image signal to noise ratio (SNR) five-fold in phantoms and volunteers. We also characterize printed coil materials properties over time when submerged in the water required for acoustic coupling. These arrays offer high SNR and acceleration capabilities, which can address current challenges in treating head and abdominal tumors allowing MRgFUS to give patients better outcomes

Experience of the I Workshop Women in Tech Occidente-Costa Rica (WITO 2019): a study of undergraduate students

The Information and Communications Technologies’ market has been growing, and organizations around the world have been joining the great concern about the women’s under-representation in programs related with science, technology, engineering and mathematics areas. This situation has led to the proposal of initiatives in distinct institutions to promote an increase in the participation of women. This article describes the experience of carrying out the I Workshop Women in Tech Occidente-Costa Rica (WITO 2019), which was attended by the fourth-year undergraduate female students of the bachelor’s degree program in Inform´atica Empresarial from the Sede de Occidente of the Universidad de Costa Rica. This workshop was focused on identifying: student fears, skills, interests and how the program and university services could be improved. Main results showed that: (i) students do not feel completely prepared for the office environment, (ii) the university must improve the support provided to students in topics such as sexual harassment, ergonomics labs and complementary services, and (iii) participants consider that stereotypes should disappear, and gender equality can generate better results for organizations. Finally, this kind of activity encourages the empowerment of female students and it also inspires them to be role models

Screen-printed flexible MRI receive coils.

Magnetic resonance imaging is an inherently signal-to-noise-starved technique that limits the spatial resolution, diagnostic image quality and results in typically long acquisition times that are prone to motion artefacts. This limitation is exacerbated when receive coils have poor fit due to lack of flexibility or need for padding for patient comfort. Here, we report a new approach that uses printing for fabricating receive coils. Our approach enables highly flexible, extremely lightweight conforming devices. We show that these devices exhibit similar to higher signal-to-noise ratio than conventional ones, in clinical scenarios when coils could be displaced more than 18 mm away from the body. In addition, we provide detailed material properties and components performance analysis. Prototype arrays are incorporated within infant blankets for in vivo studies. This work presents the first fully functional, printed coils for 1.5- and 3-T clinical scanners

Estructura de generalización algebraica de patrones: estudio de caso con el triángulo de Sierpinski

Radford (2013), aborda tres problemas que se evidencian en todo proceso de generalización, estos son el fenomenológico, el epistemológico y el semiótico, estos problemas se manifiestan de manera implícita en la estructura de generalización algebraica de patrones (definida en un ciclo de seis secciones por Radford). La secuencia que Radford presenta en dicha estructura, es justo el camino que presentan los estudiantes cuando se enfrentan a tareas sobre generalización. Reportamos una experiencia basada en el Triángulo de Sierpinski, con una joven de grado undécimo, en donde se desarrolla el proceso de la estructura de generalización algebraica de patrones. La tarea fue planteada mostrando la primera, segunda y tercera iteración, para que apoyada en la visualización la estudiante captara la regularidad presente. A partir de las respuestas suscitadas en la estudiante y con la orientación del maestro, se logró identificar de manera natural cada paso de la estructura

Flexible and stretchable power sources for wearable electronics.

Flexible and stretchable power sources represent a key technology for the realization of wearable electronics. Developing flexible and stretchable batteries with mechanical endurance that is on par with commercial standards and offer compliance while retaining safety remains a significant challenge. We present a unique approach that demonstrates mechanically robust, intrinsically safe silver-zinc batteries. This approach uses current collectors with enhanced mechanical design, such as helical springs and serpentines, as a structural support and backbone for all battery components. We show wire-shaped batteries based on helical band springs that are resilient to fatigue and retain electrochemical performance over 17,000 flexure cycles at a 0.5-cm bending radius. Serpentine-shaped batteries can be stretched with tunable degree and directionality while maintaining their specific capacity. Finally, the batteries are integrated, as a wearable device, with a photovoltaic module that enables recharging of the batteries

Convergent evolution of reduced energy demands in extremophile fish

Citation: Passow, C. N., Arias-Rodriguez, L., & Tobler, M. (2017). Convergent evolution of reduced energy demands in extremophile fish. PLOS ONE, 12(10), e0186935. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186935Convergent evolution in organismal function can arise from nonconvergent changes in traits that contribute to that function. Theory predicts that low resource availability and high maintenance costs in extreme environments select for reductions in organismal energy demands, which could be attained through modifications of body size or metabolic rate. We tested for convergence in energy demands and underlying traits by investigating livebearing fish (genus Poecilia) that have repeatedly colonized toxic, hydrogen sulphide-rich springs. We quantified variation in body size and routine metabolism across replicated sulphidic and non-sulphidic populations in nature, modelled total organismal energy demands, and conducted a common-garden experiment to test whether population differences had a genetic basis. Sulphidic populations generally exhibited smaller body sizes and lower routine metabolic rates compared to non-sulphidic populations, which together caused significant reductions in total organismal energy demands in extremophile populations. Although both mechanisms contributed to variation in organismal energy demands, variance partitioning indicated reductions of body size overall had a greater effect than reductions of routine metabolism. Finally, population differences in routine metabolism documented in natural populations were maintained in common-garden reared individuals, indicating evolved differences. In combination with other studies, these results suggest that reductions in energy demands may represent a common theme in adaptation to physiochemical stressors. Selection for reduced energy demand may particularly affect body size, which has implications for life history evolution in extreme environments

Propuesta de diseño nueva sede de la Escuela de Diseño Industrial del ITCR

Proyecto de graduación (Licenciatura en Arquitectura y Urbanismo) Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Escuela de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, 2011.The emergence of the Constructivist approach and its idea that students “construct” their own learning has created a shift in the educational paradigm. Within this new vision of the learning process, teachers are expected to play the role of a facilitator, whose job is to promote spaces for social interactions so students can develop their own knowledge. In this regard, it must be consider that a suitable environment for learning includes not only the subjective aspects or materials, but also involves the physical space, which provides the place where social interactions and the development of materials will improve the learning process. Therefore, the present Graduation Thesis aims to provide an educational proposal that incorporates elements that serve to enhance learning, such as creating recreational and interaction spaces that invite students to stay in the institution, to socialize, to exchange ideas, to seek group solutions, and to unwind in a pleasant atmosphere.Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica. Escuela de Arquitectura y Urbanismo