Altruism, Cooperation, and Efficiency: Agricultural Production in Polygynous Households

Altruism among family members can, in some cases, inhibit cooperation by increasing the utility that players expect to receive in a non-cooperative equilibrium. To test this, we examine agricultural productivity in polygynous households in West Africa. We find that cooperation is greater – production is more efficient – among co-wives than among husbands and wives because co-wives are less altruistic towards each other. The results are not driven by scale effects or self-selection into polygyny. Nor can they be explained by greater propensity for cooperation among women generally or by the household head acting as an enforcement mechanism for others' cooperative agreements.altruism, non-cooperative behavior, household bargaining, polygyny, Africa

Comparison of instrumental methods for measuring seed hardness of food-grade soybean

Seed hardness is an important factor in determining soybean suitability for natto production. There is no established methodology for testing seed texture of soybeans. The objective of this study was to develop an efficient method by examining different instruments and seed parameters that could be potentially used for testing soybean seed hardness. Five food-grade soybean genotypes with different seed sizes were used to determine seed hardness and water-absorption capacity. Water absorption capacity was expressed by swell ratios for seed weight, seed dimension, and volume of water changes before and after soaking. Seed hardness test was conducted by a one-bite method using two food-texture analyzers: a TMS-2000 equipped with shear cell (SC) and a TA-XT2i equipped with either a single blade (SB), a 2-mm probe (PB), a 75-mm cylinder (CY), or a 16-probe pea rigs (PR). The results showed that hardness testing by CY with ten seeds (CV=0.14), SB with 5 seeds (CV=0.11), and SC with 30 g steamed seeds (CV=0.14) produced dependable and consistent results with low coefficient of variance. However, SC may not be practical for early plant selection in a breeding program due to a relatively large sample requirement. Seed size was negatively, whereas swell ratio by weight and volume was positively, correlated with seed hardness, and therefore, can be used as indirect selection indicators for seed hardness

Exploring the dynamics of transformative change of lectio divina in the context of transformative learning theory

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1853/thumbnail.jp

MA in International Education - Low-Residency Singapore Program

The Master’s of Arts (MA) in International Education (IE) Low-Residency Singapore Program is a new graduate program designed for SIT Graduate Institute. It is created to value-add to the current program offerings of SIT Graduate Institute. The MA in IE Low-Residency Singapore Program is a two year long program, and is delivered via a unique combination of online coursework and low-residency periods in Singapore. The program is designed to allow current working professionals to keep their current job in the field of International Education while pursuing a higher degree. Participants will study in Singapore for two weeks in the first year, and one week in the second. They will also be able to enroll in electives offered through SIT Study Abroad, as well as other graduate field courses. The online coursework piece will also provide an elevated level of flexibility, so that students can design the program around their active schedules. The MA in IE Low-Residency Singapore Program with mirror the current MA in IE Low-Residency program offered by SIT Graduate Institute, in terms of coursework and other academic requirements. It will also provide extra attention to specific topics and issues most relevant to the Asian International Education scene, better preparing participants to work in the region and with the region. The targeted audience for this new program will be those interested, or already involved in developing the skills and knowledge needed to advance professionally in International Education, especially in Asia

Shall We Continue Laptop Services?

Laptop ownership levels have changed over time for students at Southern Polytechnic State University. The authors used surveys to determine appropriate numbers of laptops to make available for circulation

Perceptions of product blogs in Taiwan

Department Head: Greg Luft.2010 Summer.Includes bibliographical references (pages 76-82).A survey was conducted among college students in Taiwan (n=314) regarding their use, perceptions and responses to blogs that discuss products and services. Predictor variables included prior use/experience with blogs, the motivations of blog readers (seeking knowledge/information versus social utility/entertainment), the effects of blogger affiliation (independent, employee of manufacturer, paid), and the effects of balanced versus all-positive language. Criterion variables included assessments of credibility and value, purchase intent, and the likelihood of engaging in word-of-mouth (information sharing) online and offline. Blog readers in the study were primarily motivated by knowledge/information seeking rather than social utility/entertainment. As hypothesized, assessments of credibility and value were positively related to bloggers being independent and using balanced (versus all-positive) language. However, no statistically significant main effects were discerned based on these variables for purchase intent or for the likelihood of sharing information with others. Notably, respondents were more likely to respond offline than online, and females were more likely than males to engage in information sharing. People with positive attitudes toward blogs also were more likely to assess blogs as more trustworthy compared to either advertisements or news. Hierarchical regression suggested that attitudes toward blogs and purchase intent were best predicted by a knowledge/information motivation, although independence of the bloggers closely approached statistical significance. Information sharing online was best predicted by motivation based on social utility/entertainment (versus product knowledge), hours of e-mail use, and blogger affiliation. Information sharing online was also positively related to both forms of motivation and to the use of balanced language. Implications for blog marketing, limitations and directions for future research were discussed

Morse Inequalities for Orbifold Cohomology

This paper begins the study of Morse theory for orbifolds, or more precisely for differentiable Deligne-Mumford stacks. The main result is an analogue of the Morse inequalities that relates the orbifold Betti numbers of an almost-complex orbifold to the critical points of a Morse function on the orbifold. We also show that a generic function on an orbifold is Morse. In obtaining these results we develop for differentiable Deligne-Mumford stacks those tools of differential geometry and topology -- flows of vector fields, the strong topology -- that are essential to the development of Morse theory on manifolds

Are systematic reviews up-to-date at the time of publication?

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews provide a synthesis of evidence for practitioners, for clinical practice guideline developers, and for those designing and justifying primary research. Having an up-to-date and comprehensive review is therefore important. Our main objective was to determine the recency of systematic reviews at the time of their publication, as measured by the time from last search date to publication. We also wanted to study the time from search date to acceptance, and from acceptance to publication, and measure the proportion of systematic reviews with recorded information on search dates and information sources in the abstract and full text of the review. METHODS: A descriptive analysis of published systematic reviews indexed in Medline in 2009, 2010 and 2011 by three reviewers, independently extracting data. RESULTS: Of the 300 systematic reviews included, 271 (90%) provided the date of search in the full-text article, but only 141 (47%) stated this in the abstract. The median (standard error; minimum to maximum) survival time from last search to acceptance was 5.1 (0.58; 0 to 43.8) months (95% confidence interval = 3.9 to 6.2) and from last search to first publication time was 8.0 (0.35; 0 to 46.7) months (95% confidence interval = 7.3 to 8.7), respectively. Of the 300 reviews, 295 (98%) stated which databases had been searched, but only 181 (60%) stated the databases in the abstract. Most researchers searched three (35%) or four (21%) databases. The top-three most used databases were MEDLINE (79%), Cochrane library (76%), and EMBASE (64%). CONCLUSIONS: Being able to identify comprehensive, up-to-date reviews is important to clinicians, guideline groups, and those designing clinical trials. This study demonstrates that some reviews have a considerable delay between search and publication, but only 47% of systematic review abstracts stated the last search date and 60% stated the databases that had been searched. Improvements in the quality of abstracts of systematic reviews and ways to shorten the review and revision processes to make review publication more rapid are needed

Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers and Remittances on Credit Market Outcomes in Rural Nicaragua

The impact of public and private transfers on credit markets has not been sufficiently studied and understanding any spill over effects caused by these transfers may be useful for policy makers. This paper estimates the impact of Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) and remittances received by poor households in rural Nicaragua on their decision to request a loan. We find that, on average, CCTs did not affect the request of credit while remittances increased it, controlling for potential endogeneity. We argue the reduction in income risk provided by remittances changes borrowers’ expected marginal returns to a loan and/or their creditworthiness, as perceived by lenders. The successful enforcement of the use of CCTs on long-term investments seems to have avoided externalities on the use of short-term credit these households have access to and their creditworthiness.International Development, D14, F22, O15,