Non-agricultural Market Access: A South Asian Perspective

A key element of the Doha Round of trade negotiations is liberalisation of trade in industrial products, commonly known as non-agricultural market access (NAMA). These negotiations are important for developing countries as these will determine the market access opportunities through which they can improve their growth prospects. This paper examines the key issues of NAMA from the South Asian perspective, outlines a negotiating strategy for increased market access, and spells out some policy implications.

Local Industrial Structures and Female Entrepreneurship in India

We analyze the spatial determinants of female entrepreneurship in India in the manufacturing and services sectors. We focus on the presence of incumbent female-owned businesses and their role in promoting higher subsequent female entrepreneurship relative to male entrepreneurship. We find evidence of agglomeration economies in both sectors, where higher female ownership among incumbent businesses within a district-industry predicts a greater share of subsequent entrepreneurs will be female. Moreover, higher female ownership of local businesses in related industries (e.g., those sharing similar labor needs, industries related via input-output markets) predict greater relative female entry rates even after controlling for the focal district-industry’s conditions. The core patterns hold when using local industrial conditions in 1994 to instrument for incumbent conditions in 2000-2005. The results highlight that the traits of business owners in incumbent industrial structures influence the types of entrepreneurs supported.

Spontaneous Lung Herniation Leading to Extensive Subcutaneous Emphysema, Pneumothorax, Pneumomediastinum, and Pneumopericardium.

Spontaneous lung herniation is a rare phenomenon in which the lung parenchyma along with the pleural membranes protrudes outside their usual boundaries and can lead to a wide variety of complications. We are reporting a case of a middle-aged male who presented with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation with severe bouts of cough. Initial computed tomography (CT) chest was unrevealing, but two days later, he developed spontaneous lung herniation, which was initially managed conservatively, but later it progressed to pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, with striking CT scan images showing extensive subcutaneous emphysema. Blowhole incisions were done on the anterior chest wall which led to ultimate recovery

Optimalisasi Produksi Peralatan Gali-Muat dan Angkut pada Penambangan Batubara di PT. Alfa Riung Jaya Tanah Laut Kalimantan Selatan

PT. Alfa Riung Jaya merupakan perusahaan yang bergerak dibidang pertambangan batubara yang berlokasi di Desa Batalang, Kecamatan Djorong, Kabupaten Tanah Laut, Kalimantan Selatan. PT. Alfa Riung Jaya menetapkan target produksi batubara untuk jobsite Pit C sebesar 150.000 ton/bulan menggunakan kombinasi alat mekanis 2 unit excavator Caterpillar 340DL dan 7 unit dump truck Scania P380CB dengan jarak pengangkutan menuju stockpile 984 meter. Permasalahan yang dihadapi adalah belum tercapainya produksi dari alat muat dan alat angkut sehingga target produksi belum tercapai, terutama pada jobsite Pit C PT. Alfa Riung Jaya. Kemampuan produksi saat ini untuk alat muat sebesar 271.711,96 ton/bulan dan untuk alat angkut sebesar 126.410,76 ton/bulan. Upaya peningkatan produksi dapat dilakukan dengan cara menambah 1 kali pengisian bucket dump truck serta perbaikan di faktor – faktor yang menyebabkan tidak tercapainya target produksi. Setelah dilakukan perbaikan, kemampuan penangkutan batubara meningkat dari 271.711,96 ton/bulan menjadi 305.675,96 ton/bulan untuk alat muat dan 126.410,76 ton/bulan menjadi 179.884,96 ton/bulan untuk alat angkut

Fibrational induction meets effects

This paper provides several induction rules that can be used to prove properties of effectful data types. Our results are semantic in nature and build upon Hermida and Jacobs’ fibrational formulation of induction for polynomial data types and its extension to all inductive data types by Ghani, Johann, and Fumex. An effectful data type μ(TF) is built from a functor F that describes data, and a monad T that computes effects. Our main contribution is to derive induction rules that are generic over all functors F and monads T such that μ(TF) exists. Along the way, we also derive a principle of definition by structural recursion for effectful data types that is similarly generic. Our induction rule is also generic over the kinds of properties to be proved: like the work on which we build, we work in a general fibrational setting and so can accommodate very general notions of properties, rather than just those of particular syntactic forms. We give examples exploiting the generality of our results, and show how our results specialize to those in the literature, particularly those of Filinski and Støvring

Insights from unifying modern approximations to infections on networks

Networks are increasingly central to modern science owing to their ability to conceptualize multiple interacting components of a complex system. As a specific example of this, understanding the implications of contact network structure for the transmission of infectious diseases remains a key issue in epidemiology. Three broad approaches to this problem exist: explicit simulation; derivation of exact results for special networks; and dynamical approximations. This paper focuses on the last of these approaches, and makes two main contributions. Firstly, formal mathematical links are demonstrated between several prima facie unrelated dynamical approximations. And secondly, these links are used to derive two novel dynamical models for network epidemiology, which are compared against explicit stochastic simulation. The success of these new models provides improved understanding about the interaction of network structure and transmission dynamics

Oral Cancer Awareness and its Determinants among a Selected Malaysian Population

Objective: To assess oral cancer awareness, its associated factors and related sources of information among a selected group of Malaysians. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on all Malaysian ethnic groups aged >= 15 years old at eight strategically chosen shopping malls within a two week time period. Data were analysed using chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression. Significance level was set at alpha<0.05. Results: Most (84.2%) respondents had heard of oral cancer. Smoking was the most (92.4%) recognized high risk habit. Similar levels of awareness were seen for unhealed ulcers (57.3%) and red/white patches (58.0%) as signs of oral cancer. Age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education, occupation and income were significantly associated with oral cancer awareness (p<0.05). Conclusions: There was a general lack of awareness regarding the risk habits, early signs and symptoms, and the benefits of detecting this disease at an early stage. Mass media and health campaigns were the main sources of information about oral cancer. In our Malaysian population, gender and age were significantly associated with the awareness of early signs and symptoms and prevention of oral cancer, respectively.Article Link: http://koreascience.or.kr/article/ArticleFullRecord.jsp?cn=POCPA9_2013_v14n3_195

Laser suction effect: Zero-basket technique for dusting ureteral stones with pulse modulation

Introduction and Objectives: In the laser suction effect, collapse of the vapor bubble leads to a change in pressure which produces a suction effect on the stone. In the Venturi effect, a vacuum is produced in front of the stone as the endoscope is withdrawn and the irrigating fluid helps push the stone out. During semi-rigid ureteroscopy (URS) and laser lithotripsy, it may be possible to use a combination of these two phenomena to help attract and evacuate stone fragments. In this video, we demonstrate our technique of dusting ureteral stones using pulse modulation for laser suction effect, along with Venturi effect, for evacuation of fragments without the need for basket retrieval. Materials and Methods: We present three patients with distal to mid ureteral stones (7 to 12 mm) undergoing semi-rigid URS and laser lithotripsy. Dusting settings of low pulse energy and moderate frequency with pulse modulation (Moses Contact mode) using a 230 µm core fiber was used to treat the stones (P120Moses, Lumenis). Each stone was able to be broken into dust and small fragments, which were sequentially evacuated out of the ureter. Results: Principles for this technique include: (1) Patient in reverse Trendelenburg position, (2) Semi-rigid ureteroscopy, (3) Safety guidewire, (4) Irrigation modulated by surgeon, (5) Low power (\u3c10 W) 0.3 J x 30 Hz dusting settings, (6) Pulse modulation (Moses Contact mode) to reduce retropulsion and keep fragments close to fiber tip for laser suction effect, (7) Activating laser on center of stone, (8) Advancing scope beyond fragments and withdrawal of scope for Venturi effect and fragment expulsion, (9) Manipulation of guidewire to help tease fragments out of ureteral orifice. In all three patients, the stone could be dusted and fragments expelled without the need for basketing. There were no complications and follow-up imaging showed no hydronephrosis or residual fragments. Conclusions: We present a method of dusting stones in the ureter with the semirigid ureteroscope using low pulse energy (0.3 J), and moderate frequency (30 Hz). Use of pulse modulation aids this approach, by reducing retropulsion and keeping fragments close to the scope while withdrawing it out of the ureter. A combination of fluid irrigation and scope withdrawal helps evacuate fragments from the ureter without the use of a basket

Generic Fibrational Induction

This paper provides an induction rule that can be used to prove properties of data structures whose types are inductive, i.e., are carriers of initial algebras of functors. Our results are semantic in nature and are inspired by Hermida and Jacobs' elegant algebraic formulation of induction for polynomial data types. Our contribution is to derive, under slightly different assumptions, a sound induction rule that is generic over all inductive types, polynomial or not. Our induction rule is generic over the kinds of properties to be proved as well: like Hermida and Jacobs, we work in a general fibrational setting and so can accommodate very general notions of properties on inductive types rather than just those of a particular syntactic form. We establish the soundness of our generic induction rule by reducing induction to iteration. We then show how our generic induction rule can be instantiated to give induction rules for the data types of rose trees, finite hereditary sets, and hyperfunctions. The first of these lies outside the scope of Hermida and Jacobs' work because it is not polynomial, and as far as we are aware, no induction rules have been known to exist for the second and third in a general fibrational framework. Our instantiation for hyperfunctions underscores the value of working in the general fibrational setting since this data type cannot be interpreted as a set.Comment: For Special Issue from CSL 201