An alternative methodology to predict aging effects on the mechanical properties of glass fiber reinforced cement (GRC)

The effect of three different aging methods (immersion in hot water, freeze–thaw cycles and wet–dry cycles) on the mechanical properties of GRC were studied and compared. Test results showed that immersion in hot water may be an unreliable method for modified GRC formulations, with it being in probability a very harmful procedure. A new aging method, mixing freeze–thaw cycles and wet–dry cycles, seems to be the most accurate simulation of weather conditions that produce a noticeable change in GRC mechanical properties. Future work should be carried out to find a correlation between real weather and the proposed aging method

How Is Convergent Mobility Consistent with Rising Inequality? A Reconciliation in the Case of Argentina

[Excerpt] This is a paper on earnings mobility in Argentina during the macroeconomic growth and contractions that have characterized that nation’s economy from 1996 to the present. Since 1996, real GDP growth has fluctuated widely. For most of the 1990s, Argentina was seen as a model of successful policymaking. Having pegged its exchange rate to the dollar under a currency board type arrangement in 1991, Argentina had succeeded in ending hyperinflation, reducing inflation rates to single-digit levels. Greater economic stability attracted foreign investment inflows, contributing to an acceleration in economic growth; indeed, even as lenders withdrew their financing in East Asia in 1997, capital inflows continued to Argentina. Then, Argentina entered into a prolonged recession. The combination of the hard peg of the local currency to the U.S. dollar and excessive borrowing led to an unsustainable fiscal situation and, ultimately, to the collapse of the economy at the end of 2001 (See Figure 1). Gross Domestic Product fell by 13.5 percent from the second quarter of 2001 to the second quarter of 2002, and the share of the population in poverty reached 58 percent in October 2002, versus 38 percent in October 2001, according to the official moderate poverty line. This paper addresses the distributional consequences of these macroeconomic events. (Note: Here and throughout the paper, “distribution of income” means the entire density or cumulative distribution function; it does not mean “inequality.”) Who benefited the most from Argentine economic growth? Who lost the most in economic decline? Are those who started rich getting richer in growth periods and losing more in recessionary periods, or is it the other way around? Are the answers to these questions the same for all measures of initial advantage

Earnings Mobility in Times of Growth and Decline: Argentina from 1996 to 2003

In recent years, the economy of Argentina has experienced both rapid economic growth and severe economic decline. In this paper, we use a series of one-year long panels to study who gained the most in pesos when the economy grew and who lost the most in pesos when the economy contracted. To answer these questions, we test two hypotheses both unconditionally and conditionally. The ?divergence of earnings? hypothesis holds that in any given year, the highest earning individuals are those who experienced the largest earnings gains or the smallest earnings losses in pesos. The ?symmetry of gains and losses? hypothesis holds that those groups that gained the most in pesos when the economy grew are those that lost the most in pesos when the economy contracted. Both hypotheses are decisively rejected in the data. Rather, we find that it is the lowest income individuals and groups who gain the most in pesos, whether in good times or in bad. Thus, the panel data analysis performed in this paper presents a picture of economic growth that is much more pro-poor than one gets from cross sectional inequality comparisons.finance, growth, inequality, Argentina, survey, gains, losses

A comparative study of refugees and idps

There is a grave concern for the life, liberty and security of individuals who have been forced to leave their homes and have become dispersed within their native countries and throughout the Asian continent. These internally displaced persons and refugees are the subject of this study. Some of the themes that will be discussed include: civil war, human rights violations and the economy, since these are the problems affecting the populations of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Myanmar. These case studies are of particular interest because Afghanistan is where most refugees come from, Myanmar has the longest-running military regime and Pakistan hosts the most refugees in the world. All three case studies are currently in a state of civil war, are breeding grounds for violations of human rights and have corrupt economies. Thus, the goal is to end armed conflict, to put an end to the human rights violations that come with it and to restructure the economies in each of these nation states so that the internally displaced persons and refugees can be repatriated, since displacement has become too much of a burden for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Myanmar\u27s neighboring countries, who have been taking in all of the refugees from said countries. Theoretically, if the issues causing displacement were to be solved, then the countries that host refugees would be able to concentrate on their own populations. This study can potentially address the gap between knowledge, policy formation, and policy implementation to realize the goals of the international community in dealing with the displacement crisis

LGBTI Rights in a Chilean Juvenile Detention Center

Field Placement Experience, Summer 2018 -- Santiago, Chile -- Partner Agencie(s): Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; CIP-CRC Santiago (SENAME)https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145773/1/Sanchez_Poster.pd

Els estiraments com a millora de la flexibilitat del tríceps sural

Treball Final de Grau de Podología, Escola Universitaria d'Infermeria, Universitat de Barcelona, curs: 2013-2014, Tutor: Laura Planas OrtegaObjectiu: Exposar quins són els diferents tipus d’estiraments i la varietat d’aplicacions existents, argumentar els avantatges i desavantatges de la seva aplicació discutint-ne els resultats. Hipòtesi: Es troba als estiraments com una mesura terapèutica conservadora útil i utilitzada freqüentment per millorar la flexibilitat muscular. Materials i mètodes: S’ha realitzat una revisió bibliogràfica, escollint-se 66 articles des de 1984 al 2013. Fent servir la base de dades biomèdiques MEDLINE; PEDro; Cochrane Library Plus; IME i buscadors d’edicions ENFISPO; CINAHL mitjançant l’EBSCO HOST (Academic Search Premier) i Scielo. Per a una elecció més selectiva segons categories s’han utilitzat els mitjans de Medical Subject Headings database “MeSHdatabase” de PubMed. Limitant la recerca al període de 2004 i 2014. Es varen incloure publicacions científiques que fessin menció als efectes dels estiraments en la musculatura i tendons, sense tenir en compte la seva localització, però si excloent aquells articles que parlessin de la deformitat en equí a causa d’espasticitat neurològica. Resultats: S’han trobat un total de 65 documents: 44 articles publicats; 8 llibres sobre el camp dels estiraments; 3 llibre sobre anatomia; 4 llibres sobre la biomecànica de l’extremitat inferior; 3 llibres sobre fisiologia humana, 2 llibres d’ajut a l’elaboració d’aquesta revisió bibliogràfica i 1 tesis doctoral. Conclusions: Els estiraments son emprats amb freqüència com a tractament conservador per la millora de la flexibilitat enfront a retraccions musculars. Els estiraments practicats de forma continuada desenvolupen una adequada amplitud de moviment en els casos de ser limitada i així poder relaxar els músculs amb excessiva tensió. Tenint en compte que el canvi en la flexibilitat és depenent de la durada d'estirament, havent-hi resultats visibles a partir dels 30 segons d’estiraments en adults joves. A dia d’avui, la investigació no ha confirmat la creença que l’estirament abans de l’activitat física disminueix el risc de dany muscular, podent inclús alterar el rendiment en l’esportista

The Mauritanian labor market through the lens of the 2004 national household survey

This paper provides a snapshot of Mauritania’s labor market using data from the 2004 national household survey. The results show that the labor market is characterized by lower participation rates, lower employment-to-population rates, and relatively higher unemployment rates than in neighboring countries. The non poor fare better in the labor market than the poor. Although the labor force participation of the poor is higher than that of the non poor, the poor display a higher unemployment rate and a lower employment rate than the non poor. The data also suggest a negative correlation between wage employment and poverty. Substantial differences in labor market indicators emerge when disaggregating the analysis by gender and age-group. Female non-participation is extremely high. Women systematically earn less than men independently of their sector and type of employment and controlling for other factors, such as education. Young adults face considerable difficulties in entering the labor market: more than half of the population aged 15-24 is neither studying nor participating in the labor force. As gender disparities remain important for similar levels of education, more work is needed to understand whether cultural factors may prevent women from entering the labor market. Concerning young adults, future poverty reduction strategies need to pay more explicit attention to the promotion of employment through informed labor market policies.Labor Markets,Population Policies,Rural Poverty Reduction,Labor Policies,