The Economic Development of Bangladesh

In general, Bangladesh\u27s economic performance has been impressive with a fast-growing economy and astounding achievements accomplished in many areas, from encouraging private investment to accelerating the process of urbanization and industrialization while keeping unemployment rate and income inequality under control. However, the country is still struggling with a broad spectrum of complicated issues, most of which have to do with its low skilled labor force, persistent poverty, and the lack of resources to support the rapid economic growth and urbanization. Those issues have restrained the country from making the leap to the next stage of development. With an aim to provide an in-depth analysis of how the government of Bangladesh has tackled those problems, the following parts of this report will discuss two development initiatives: one made education more affordable for children from poor Bangladeshi families and the other lit up the country

Developing a Mobile Game Environment to Support Disadvantaged Learners

Schmitz, B., Hoffmann, M., Klamma, R., Klemke, R., & Specht, M. (2012). Developing a Mobile Game Environment to Support Disadvantaged Learners. Proceedings of 12th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT 2012) (pp. 223-227). July, 4-6, 2012, Rome, Italy: IEEE Computer Society CPS.This paper reports on the development of WeBuild, a mobile learning game designed to engage learners difficult to reach with IT learning. The development is based on a mobile game engine for the Android smart phone that was devised to support the required multiplayer and location based services. We played and tested the mobile learning game in a training facility of the building industry. The results indicate that the learners accepted the game for the low entry barriers and were motivated to use the game in an educational context. This paper describes the WeBuild prototype and the underlying game engine. Eventually, it presents results from the game session that was carried to assess interface and gameplay usability, technical functionality and motivational aspects of the game design

RhoA activation during polarization and cytokinesis of the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo is differentially dependent on NOP-1 and CYK-4

RhoA and the Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor ECT-2 are involved in both polarization and cytokinesis. During cytokinesis, interactions of ECT-2 with the Rho GTPase-activating protein CYK-4 promote RhoA activation. A novel protein, NOP-1, acts in parallel with CYK-4 to promote RhoA activation during polarization and cytokinesis.The GTPase RhoA is a central regulator of cellular contractility in a wide variety of biological processes. During these events, RhoA is activated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs). These molecules are highly regulated to ensure that RhoA activation occurs at the proper time and place. During cytokinesis, RhoA is activated by the RhoGEF ECT-2. In human cells, ECT-2 activity requires its association with CYK-4, which is a component of the centralspindlin complex. In contrast, in early Caenorhabditis elegans embryos, not all ECT-2–dependent functions require CYK-4. In this study, we identify a novel protein, NOP-1, that functions in parallel with CYK-4 to promote RhoA activation. We use mutations in nop-1 and cyk-4 to dissect cytokinesis and cell polarization. NOP-1 makes a significant, albeit largely redundant, contribution to cytokinesis. In contrast, NOP-1 is required for the preponderance of RhoA activation during the establishment phase of polarization

Divergence via Europeanisation: rethinking the origins of the Portuguese debt crisis

A founding myth of the euro was that profound economic convergence could be achieved across the core and periphery of Europe. Scholarship from within Comparative Political Economy (CPE) has compellingly pointed to this myth of convergence as the fundamental mistake of the euro project (Regan, “Imbalance of Capitalisms”). Economic and Monetary Union was applied across a range of incompatible varieties of capitalism with little appreciation for how difficult it would be for peripheral economies to overcome long-standing institutional stickiness. Yet, while institutional stickiness tells us much about the causes of declining competitiveness, it tells us much less about the origins of brand new patterns of debt-led growth. This article modifies this CPE account by drawing attention to the much overlooked case of Portugal. In contrast to CPE’s emphasis on institutional stickiness, this paper explores the ways in which negotiation of European integration has been generative of institutional transformation leading to debt-led growth in Portugal. By combining Europeanisation with CPE, this article shows that, far from an inability to do so, in the case of Portugal, it has been the attempt to ‘follow the rules’ of European Integration that explains its damaging patterns of debt-led growth

Baseline Chest Computed Tomography as Standard of Care in High-Risk Hematology Patients

Baseline chest computed tomography (BCT) in high-risk hematology patients allows for the early diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). The distribution of BCT implementation in hematology departments and impact on outcome is unknown. A web-based questionnaire was designed. International scientific bodies were invited. The estimated numbers of annually treated hematology patients, chest imaging timepoints and techniques, IPA rates, and follow-up imaging were assessed. In total, 142 physicians from 43 countries participated. The specialties included infectious diseases (n = 69; 49%), hematology (n = 68; 48%), and others (n = 41; 29%). BCT was performed in 57% (n = 54) of 92 hospitals. Upon the diagnosis of malignancy or admission, 48% and 24% performed BCT, respectively, and X-ray was performed in 48% and 69%, respectively. BCT was more often used in hematopoietic cell transplantation and in relapsed acute leukemia. European centers performed BCT in 59% and non-European centers in 53%. Median estimated IPA rate was 8% and did not differ between BCT (9%; IQR 5-15%) and non-BCT centers (7%; IQR 5-10%) (p = 0.69). Follow-up computed tomography (CT) for IPA was performed in 98% (n = 90) of centers. In high-risk hematology patients, baseline CT is becoming a standard-of-care. Chest X-ray, while inferior, is still widely used. Randomized, controlled trials are needed to investigate the impact of BCT on patient outcome

Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST): A Technology Roadmap for the Next Decade

The Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) is a set of mission concepts for the next generation of UVOIR space observatory with a primary aperture diameter in the 8-m to 16-m range that will allow us to perform some of the most challenging observations to answer some of our most compelling questions, including "Is there life elsewhere in the Galaxy?" We have identified two different telescope architectures, but with similar optical designs, that span the range in viable technologies. The architectures are a telescope with a monolithic primary mirror and two variations of a telescope with a large segmented primary mirror. This approach provides us with several pathways to realizing the mission, which will be narrowed to one as our technology development progresses. The concepts invoke heritage from HST and JWST design, but also take significant departures from these designs to minimize complexity, mass, or both. Our report provides details on the mission concepts, shows the extraordinary scientific progress they would enable, and describes the most important technology development items. These are the mirrors, the detectors, and the high-contrast imaging technologies, whether internal to the observatory, or using an external occulter. Experience with JWST has shown that determined competitors, motivated by the development contracts and flight opportunities of the new observatory, are capable of achieving huge advances in technical and operational performance while keeping construction costs on the same scale as prior great observatories.Comment: 22 pages, RFI submitted to Astro2010 Decadal Committe

A Multisite Preregistered Paradigmatic Test of the Ego-Depletion Effect

We conducted a preregistered multilaboratory project (k = 36; N = 3,531) to assess the size and robustness of ego-depletion effects using a novel replication method, termed the paradigmatic replication approach. Each laboratory implemented one of two procedures that was intended to manipulate self-control and tested performance on a subsequent measure of self-control. Confirmatory tests found a nonsignificant result (d = 0.06). Confirmatory Bayesian meta-analyses using an informed-prior hypothesis (δ = 0.30, SD = 0.15) found that the data were 4 times more likely under the null than the alternative hypothesis. Hence, preregistered analyses did not find evidence for a depletion effect. Exploratory analyses on the full sample (i.e., ignoring exclusion criteria) found a statistically significant effect (d = 0.08); Bayesian analyses showed that the data were about equally likely under the null and informed-prior hypotheses. Exploratory moderator tests suggested that the depletion effect was larger for participants who reported more fatigue but was not moderated by trait self-control, willpower beliefs, or action orientation.</p