DISTRIBUTIVE POLITICS, NATURE OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN A LOW INCOME DEMOCRACY

In this paper we analyze how the government in a democratic setup of the developing world manipulates the fiscal instruments to maximize its political gain so that it can retain power. The government and the voters in low income countries are generally selfish and myopic in the sense that the electorates prefer to get direct and immediate benefits from the government while the government, in turn, tries to seek majority support in the election, by adopting short term and distributive policies instead of going for long term growth. Using the theoretical structure of the existing literature, and making modifications therein, this study demonstrates that the optimal tax rate, public expenditure shares and growth rate are determined in terms of technological and behavioral parameters. The simulation results show that if political gain from distributive policies is high, the government will allocate a greater share of the fund for distributive purposes adversely affecting economic growth.Selfish government; fiscal instruments; distributive policies; political gain; long term growth.

Effect of Anti-Oxidant in co-relation with Rasayana therapy of Ayurveda on Ageing

Ageing is a process of unfavorable progressive changes associated with decline in vigour and ending in death. Ageing is the part of life which is unavoidable but the untimely aging can be stopped. The process of ageing involves the coexistence of two opposing factor namely evolution (growth) and involution (atrophy). These processes continue to operate throughout the life but their importance varies in different age groups. As the age advanced, human beings gradually lose some of their attributes, because of functional and structural alteration in almost all organ systems. Ageing in individuals is affected to a greater extent by genetic factors, diet, social conditions and the occurrence of age related disorders. Anti oxidants can speed up the cell division and cell replacement process, which can help to slow the overall effects of ageing and prevent specific age related diseases. It also deactivates the free radicals and prevents their formation and also stimulates the immune system to increase our protection against all diseases. Like anti-oxidant in Ayurveda the Rasayana therapy not only helped attain longer, healthier life but also help cure some of the dreadful diseases. Rasayana aid in increasing natural immunity, enhancing general wellbeing, improving the functioning of all fundamental organs of the body and keep the signs of early ageing. The main purpose of Rasayana therapy is to impede the ageing process and to delay the degenerative process in the body

Sparse Recovery Analysis of Preconditioned Frames via Convex Optimization

Orthogonal Matching Pursuit and Basis Pursuit are popular reconstruction algorithms for recovery of sparse signals. The exact recovery property of both the methods has a relation with the coherence of the underlying redundant dictionary, i.e. a frame. A frame with low coherence provides better guarantees for exact recovery. An equivalent formulation of the associated linear system is obtained via premultiplication by a non-singular matrix. In view of bounds that guarantee sparse recovery, it is very useful to generate the preconditioner in such way that the preconditioned frame has low coherence as compared to the original. In this paper, we discuss the impact of preconditioning on sparse recovery. Further, we formulate a convex optimization problem for designing the preconditioner that yields a frame with improved coherence. In addition to reducing coherence, we focus on designing well conditioned frames and numerically study the relationship between the condition number of the preconditioner and the coherence of the new frame. Alongside theoretical justifications, we demonstrate through simulations the efficacy of the preconditioner in reducing coherence as well as recovering sparse signals.Comment: 9 pages, 5 Figure

Population Viability Analysis of Swift fox (Vulpes velox) at the Badlands National Park

The swift fox (Vulpes velox) was historically distributed in southwestern South Dakota including the region surrounding Badlands National Park (BNP). The species declined during the mid-1900s due to habitat fragmentation, non-target poisoning, and harvest. A remnant population occurred on USDA Forest Service lands in Fall River County, South Dakota. Following the successful reintroduction of the species in Canada (1983), a reintroduction program was initiated in BNP in the year 2003. Free-ranging swift fox from Colorado and Wyoming were translocated to BNP from 2003 to 2006. Despite these releases and observations of free-ranging swift fox occurring throughout western South Dakota, it was not known if a viable population occurred in western South Dakota. My study objectives were: (1) To determine the age-specific survival of the reintroduced swift fox population at BNP and surrounding area, (2) to determine the genetic diversity of the reintroduced population at BNP and (3) to determine habitat selection of female swift fox during the pup-rearing period (May – July), and finally, (4) to determine the viability of the reintroduced swift fox population at BNP and surrounding area. Monthly apparent survival probability of pups, yearlings, and adults was 0.88 (95% CI: 0.86-0.90), 0.90 (95% CI: 0.88-0.92), and 0.93 (95% CI: 0.91-0.94), respectively, in our study area. Accordingly, the annual apparent survival probability of pups, yearlings, and adults in our study area was 0.22, 0.29, and 0.39, respectively. We measured genetic diversity of the reintroduced swift fox population at BNP and surrounding area, and in an area of Colorado and Wyoming from where swift foxes were translocated to BNP, as well as the local swift fox population neighbouring BNP in Fall River County, South Dakota, using 12 microsatellite loci in Program Fstat version 2.9.3. We obtained mean gene diversity values of 0.778 (SD=0.156) for the Colorado population, 0.753 (SD=0.165) for the Wyoming population, 0.751 (SD=0.171) for the BNP population, and 0.730 (SD=0.166) for the Fall River population. We obtained an Fst value of 0.029 for the BNP and Fall River fox population, and an Fst value of 0.014 for the Colorado and Wyoming fox populations. We also obtained an Fst value of 0.020 for the Colorado and Fall River populations as well as an Fst value of 0.0246 for the Wyoming and Fall River populations. Analyses of location data from 13 radiomarked lactating female foxes indicated disproportional use (P \u3c 0.001) of some habitats relative to their availability within swift fox home ranges. Swift foxes used grassland (ŵ = 1.01), sparse vegetation (ŵ = 1.4) and prairie dog towns (ŵ = 1.18) in proportion to their availability, whereas they were less likely to use woodland (ŵ = 0.00), shrubland (ŵ=0.14), pasture/agricultural-land (ŵ = 0.25) and development (ŵ = 0.16) relative to availability. Swift foxes typically are located in habitats that provide greater visibility, such as shortgrass prairie and areas with sparse vegetation; which allow detection of approaching coyotes (Canis latrans: primary predator of swift foxes). We used Progam VORTEX 9.99b to assess the viability of the reintroduced swift fox population at BNP and surrounding area incorporating data on the pedigree of the initial population. According to our findings, the reintroduced swift fox population at BNP had a 100% chance of extinction in the next 10 years with a negative growth rate under current conditions. The sensitivity analysis showed mortality rate to be the major cause of probability of extinction. Even a slight increase in survival (33% for pups and 45% for adults) would be capable of maintaining a stable population with a positive growth rate. The probability of population extinction, mean population size, and genetic diversity are crude estimations obtained from data on diverse interacting processes that are too complex to be integrated intuitively. Thus, the outcomes of this PVA should be considered an attempt to identify the factors affecting the persistence of the reintroduced population rather than using it to estimate accurate extinction probabilities and genetic changes to the population. To ensure viability of the reintroduced population, the survival rate of the foxes should be increased by increasing availability of suitable habitat, increasing prey availability, and keeping predators under control. Moreover, the population should be monitored periodically to assess demographic rates and genetic diversity