There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

다중혈관 관상동맥 환자에서 y-문합을 이용하여 양쪽 내흉동맥만을 사용한 우회술의 조기 성적

Output per worker varies enormously across countries. Why? On an accounting basis, our analysis shows that differences in physical capital and educational attainment can only partially explain the variation in output per worker--we find a large amount of variation in the level of the Solow residual across countries. At a deeper level, we document that the differences in capital accumulation, productivity, and therefore output per worker are driven by differences in institutions and government policies, which we call social infrastructure. We treat social infrastructure as endogenous, determined historically by location and other factors captured in part by language.

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Why Do Some Countries Produce so Much More Output Per Worker than Others

Output per worker varies enormously across countries. Why? On an accounting basis our analysis shows that differences in physical capital and educational attainment can only partially explain the variation in output per worker—we find a large amount of variation in the level of the Solow residual across countries. At a deeper level, we document that the differences in capital accumulation, productivity, and therefore output per worker are driven by differences in institutions and government policies, which we call social infrastructure. We treat social infrastructure as endogenous, determined historically by location and other factors captured in part by language. In 1988 output per worker in the United States was more than 35 times higher than output per worker in Niger. In just over ten days the average worker in the United States produced as much as an average worker in Niger produced in an entire year. Explaining such vast differences in economic performance is one of the fundamental challenges of economics. Analysis based on an aggregate production function provides some insight into these differences, an approach taken by Mankiw, Romer, and Weil [1992] and Dougherty and Jorgenson [1996], among others. Differences among countries can be attributed to differences in human capital, physical capital, and productivity. Building on their analysis, our results suggest that differences in each element of the production function are important. In particular, however, our results emphasize the key role played by productivity. For example, consider the 35-fold difference in output per worker between the United States and Niger. Different capital intensities in the two countries contributed a factor of 1.5 to the income differences, while different levels of educational attainment contributed a factor of 3.1. The remaining difference—a factor of 7.7—remains as the productivity residual. * A previous version of this paper was circulated under the title ‘‘The Productivity of Nations.’’ This research was supported by the Center for Economic Policy Research at Stanford and by the National Science Foundation under grants SBR-9410039 (Hall) and SBR-9510916 (Jones) and is part of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s program on Economic Fluctuations and Growth. We thank Bobby Sinclair for excellent research assistance and colleagues too numerous to list for an outpouring of helpful commentary. Data used in the paper are available online from http://www.stanford.edu/,chadj.

/pdf/why-do-some-countries-produce-so-much-more-output-per-worker-4zwsdbv6gk.pdf

Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others

http://experimentationlab.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/AFMImages/butt_AFM.pdf

Force measurements with the atomic force microscope: Technique, interpretation and applications

This paper tests Aaker and Keller’s (1990) brand extension model that has been designed and tested in a series of developed economies to see if it applies to Bangladesh, a developing country. A questionnaire was developed using similar rating scales to those used b Aaker and Keller. The dependent variable, the overall attitude toward the extension, was an average of two dimensions: the overall perceived quality of the extension and the purchase probability of buying the extension. ‘Residual Centering’ regression approach was used for analyzing the data. Results suggest that there is some international heterogeneity in the way that consumers evaluate brand extension. Major findings of this study, limitations, and directions for future research have been suggested.

Consumer Evaluation of Brand Extensions: An Assessment from Bangladesh

This study aims at developing and characterizing the puerarin dry powder inhaler (DPI) formulations for pulmonary delivery. The inhalable particles size (<2 μm) was accomplished by micronization and its morphology was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The puerarin-excipient interaction in powder mixtures was analyzed by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman confocal microscopy, X-Ray powder Diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) methods. Using a Twin stage impinger (TSI), the in-vitro aerosolization of the powder formulations was carried out at a flow rate of 60 L/min and the drug was quantified by employing a validated HPLC method. No significant interactions between the drug and the excipients were observed in the powder formulations. The fine particle fraction (FPF) of the drug alone was 4.2% which has increased five to sixfold for the formulations with aerosolization enhancers. Formulation containing lactose as large carriers produced 32.7% FPF, which further increased with the addition of dispersibility enhancers, leucine and magnesium stearate (40.8% and 41.2%, respectively). The Raman and FTIR techniques are very useful tool for understanding structural integrity and stability of the puerarin in the powder formulations. The puerarin was found to be compatible with the excipients used and the developed DPI formulation may be considered as an efficient formulation for pulmonary delivery for the management of various diseases at a very low dose.

/pdf/puerarin-dry-powder-inhaler-formulations-for-pulmonary-zjdwls3hli.pdf

Puerarin dry powder inhaler formulations for pulmonary delivery: Development and characterization.

The Commercial Approach vs. the Ecological Approach to rivers: An essay in response to the Indian River Linking Project (IRLP)

The tourism industry in Thailand has been growing rapidly and generating considerable income for the country during the last decade. Many hotels have faced severe competition, so they have adopted information and communication technologies (ICT) to increase their productivities, one of the hotel performance indicators. This paper investigates the relationship between ICT adoption and hotel productivity. The level of ICT adoption was measured by three elements: (i) ICT component availability; (ii) ICT component integration; and (iii) intensity of ICT component usage. Hotel productivity comprising operational and customer productivities was calculated by using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Multivariate analysis was used to assess the relationship between levels of ICT adoption and hotel productivity. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey of both hotel managers and customers from three classes of hotels in Phuket, Thailand. Results reveal that in some categories of hotel, ICT adoptions have a positive relationship with either operational / customer productivity. It suggests that the hotel should adopt ICT selectively depending on their category. Further, the intensity of ICT use has more impact than simply having the number of ICT, for increased productivity.

Relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) adoption and hotel productivity: An empirical study of the hotels in Phuket, Thailand

Agricultural Scientists has lifted the crop production many folds’ overs last 100 years but nutritive quality of crop products has not been addressed accordingly as a result humans in many parts of the world are suffering from malnutrition. The efficient improvement of nutritive quality of important crop species like wheat is dependent on the understanding of the acquisition of micronutrients from soil environment and subsequent translocation and distribution into different tissues. The objectives of this work were to understand the effect of increased concentrations of Fe, Zn, and Cd 1) on overall mineral and metal concentrations, 2) on acquisition, translocation, and distribution of minerals among different tissues, and 3) on the inter-relationship of the minerals and metals as reflected in changing the relationship pattern in wheat. The application of increased concentrations of Fe and Zn resulted in three and 11 folds’ increase of these micronutrients in wheat respectively and significantly increased seed Ca, P, and S contents however acquisition and translocation of 20 mineral elements varied from tissue to tissue. The improvement of major crop species for health-related micronutrient is important for combating world- wide malnutrition problem. The higher concentration of one micronutrient element may not always ensure higher concentration of that element in seed but increase concentration of Fe and Zn may ensure higher concentrations of others important minerals in wheat seed. The results from our research unveiled key aspects on interrelation among some minerals and metals due to higher concentration of Fe, Zn, and Cd application in wheat.

Nazrul Islam

Papers

Consumer Evaluation of Brand Extensions: An Assessment from Bangladesh

Puerarin dry powder inhaler formulations for pulmonary delivery: Development and characterization.

The Commercial Approach vs. the Ecological Approach to rivers: An essay in response to the Indian River Linking Project (IRLP)

Relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) adoption and hotel productivity: An empirical study of the hotels in Phuket, Thailand

Effect of Increased Amounts of Fe, Zn, and Cd on Uptake, Translocation, and Accumulation of Human Health Related Micronutrients in Wheat.