bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Asian Agriculture: Achievements and Challenges
Authors: Vyas V. S.
Published: June 2023

A significant yet not fully appreciated development of the last decade was the remarkable growth of agricultural production in the Asian developing countries, a performance in marked contrast to the agricultural stagnation in many developing countries in other parts of the world. Of the ten South and Southeast Asian countries examined in this article, seven – Burma, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in South Asia and Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand in Southeast Asia – had average annual growth rates of 3 per cent or more during the 1970s. Bangladesh and India, two of the most populous countries in Asia, had slightly less than 3 per cent, while Nepal had a low 1.2 per cent. The growth rates of food production, the major subsector, were also relatively high, exceeding population growth rates in all but two of the ten countries. In Bangladesh, these growth rates were about the same, but in Nepal, the population growth rate was significantly higher than that of food production (see Table 1)…
Japan’s Development: A Model for Less-Developed Countries?
Authors: Ohkawa Kazushi
Published: June 2023

Japan’s experience from the Meiji period of the mid-nineteenth century onward provides highly valuable records for the modern economic growth of a non-Western nation. There are many references to the Japanese model of development as an excellent guide for present-day less-developed countries; also, there are references to the non-applicability of this special case. Surely, the truth lies in between…
Development Economics: What Have We Learned?
Authors: Bhagwati Jagdish N.
Published: June 2023

The wealth and poverty of nations and their peoples constitute the domain of development economics. The complexity of the problems it studies is thus immense, and the difficulties facing its practitioners, either the Suslovs or the aparatchiks, are heroic. I can think of no better way of underlining these difficulties than by recalling that few foresaw, at the turn of the century, the dramatic rise of modern Japan or, for that matter, at the end of World War II, the later emergence of the Far Eastern Four – the Republic of China, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea and Singapore – as the more impressive success stories in development. Those who enjoy Japanese literature as much as I do may be interested to know that Natsume Soseki, the great Japanese novelist, was reported to have wanted to become an architect instead when he entered college in 1884, but was advised that “there was no glory in being an architect in such a poor country as Japan, where there would never arise the opportunity of building a great monument of the order of St. Paul’s”!…
The Dual Economy Framework: Its Relevance to Asian Development
Authors: Ranis Gustav
Published: June 2023

Development may be considered as a process of two successful graduations: the first is from colonial agrarianism to dualism, and the second, from dualism to modern growth. This article presents a framework for this transition process, keeping in mind important differences among developing countries as to colonial heritage, size, and resource endowment…
Asian and Pacific Developing Economies: Performance and Issues
Authors: Hughes Helen
Published: June 2023

In the early 1980s, following the second oil shock in 1979, the Asian and Pacific developing countries as a group fared better than other developing regions of the world. During the last two years, the economies in this region have continued to grow faster than those in other developing regions. In several Asian countries, living standards rose markedly, despite the recession in 1981-1982. The Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs) in the region still had the highest increases in productivity and income, but several other countries also maintained their growth momentum…
Asian and Pacific Developing Economies: Performance and Issues
Authors: Hirono Ryokichi
Published: June 2023

During 1983 and 1984, the economies of the developing countries in the Asian and Pacific region regained the growth momentum they experienced during the 1970s. This was due to the steady economic recovery of the industrialized countries, in general, and the rapid expansion of the economy of the United States, in particular, the latter being intensified by a strong U.S. dollar. While there were few exceptions to the recovery of the developing economies in the region during 1983 and 1984, a general slowdown in the growth of demand in the industrialized countries in 1985 decelerated economic growth in the developing countries during that year and dampened their growth prospects for 1986…
Environmental Policies and Economic Development
Authors: Rees Colin P.
Published: June 2023

Governments of developing countries in the Asian and Pacific region have sought to improve the quality of the human environment and the use of natural resources for some time, but the application of environmental policies per se is a recent phenomenon. Only in the last 10 to 15 years have specific steps been taken to pass legislation and create institutions to protect air and water quality, conserve natural resources, and support economic development with environmental protection…
Timing and Sequencing of Trade Liberalization in Developing Countries
Authors: Wolf Martin
Published: June 2023

There is surprisingly general agreement, not only among academics and international institutions but also among those responsible for policymaking in developing countries, that it would be desirable to achieve a considerable measure of trade liberalization. A large body of empirical evidence has convinced most of those whose minds are not entirely closed on the subject of the positive relation between trade policy and economic growth. While many questions remain open for debate – for example, whether it is neutrality between the incentive to export and to produce import substitutes or the more stringent requirement of more or less complete liberalization of imports that matters – it is now quite widely agreed that something needs to be done to improve the rationality of the trade regimes of many developing countries…
Asian and Pacific Developing Economies: Performance and Issues
Authors: Campbell Burnham O.
Published: June 2023

The expansionary and inflationary world economy of the 1970s was brought about by the expansionary and inflationary financing, especially by the United States, of the first oil shock in 1973. The decision of the United States to offset rather than to accommodate the second oil shock in 1979 led to a new environment and set of economic problems for the developing economies, particularly in the Asian and Pacific region. Outward-looking development policies seemed a less attractive response to the oil shock mainly because the world recession brought about record levels of real interest rates, a stronger U.S. dollar, decelerating inflation and, for the developing countries, worsening terms of trade. Further, there was rising protectionism fueled by demographic changes and high levels of structural unemployment. Also, the U.S. budget deficit widened…
Energy and Economic Development: Experience and Issues in Developing Asia
Authors: Madhab Jayanta
Published: June 2023

Since the early 1970s, the world economy experienced a series of difficulties resulting in sluggish economic growth. An inflationary trend was followed in late 1973 by a sharp increase in the price of oil and a consequent recession in developed countries. The oil-importing developing countries faced growing balance of payments deficits because of their rising import bills and declining demand for their exports in industrial countries…
The Role of Government in Economic Development: The Korean Experience
Authors: Whang In-Joung
Published: June 2023

Every government, regardless of political ideology, is engaged in the mobilization and allocation of resources, the stabilization. of the national economy, and the promotion of technological innovation. Furthermore, a government plays diverse roles in development: as the guardian of political stability, which is a prerequisite for economic growth, as the instrument for law and order, as the major investor, as a source of development financing, as a powerful agent of social change, as a motivating force behind investment decisions by private business, and as a safeguard of social security. The relative priority assigned to these multifarious roles of government has varied over time to cope with the changing market forces and business environment…
The Role of Public Enterprises in India
Authors: Bagchi Amiya K.
Published: June 2023

The public sector is just as much a part of the society it is supposed to serve as the private sector. In India, the public sector not only profoundly influences the economy and society, but it is also the outcome of social and political processes that are outside the control of a single group or a single planning authority…
Institutional Framework for Promoting Small-Scale Industries in India
Authors: Sandesara J.C.
Published: June 2023

The institutional framework that a country creates and nurtures for the promotion of a sector such as that of small and medium industries depends upon the perception of the problems of that sector and upon the hope or conviction that it is through, among other things, that framework that progress toward the solution of those problems is possible. Moreover, when the institutions to be created are in the public sector, it is further expected that they serve not only the sectors for which they are created but also the larger good of the society enunciated in the socioeconomic objectives which the country seeks to promote generally…
Revitalizing Development Cooperation: Issues and Priorities
Authors: Singh Manmohan
Published: June 2023

The idea that a global strategy for an attack on world poverty is both feasible and desirable has gathered considerable support in the postwar years. In a famous address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, President John F. Kennedy had proposed that the 1960s should be designated as a development decade in which both developing and developed countries would undertake to adopt concerted convergent measures for promoting sustained growth in the Third World. Since then, at the beginning of each decade, the UN has issued a document outlining the broad elements of an international development strategy for the decade…
Agricultural Price Policy in Asia: Issues and Areas of Reform
Authors: Ali Ifzal
Published: June 2023

Recognition of the increasing importance of price policy reform in agriculture has led to the emergence of a considerable body of literature in the 1980s. The purpose of this article is to: (i) examine the likely thrust of agricultural strategy in the 1990s; (ii) analyze the role of price policy reforms in implementing that strategy; and (iii) indicate the areas of input and output price policy reforms. Agricultural prices play a key role in the efficient allocation of resources within agriculture and between domestic production and imports. In addition, they influence the allocation of resources between the agriculture and non-agriculture sectors…
Hong Kong’s Role in Asian and Pacific Economic Development
Authors: Chen Edward K.Y.
Published: June 2023

Hong Kong is one of Asia’s four newly industrializing economies (NIEs) which have experienced very rapid economic growth in the past 25 years. While all of them have experienced export-oriented industrialization, there have been significant differences among them from the start of their rapid economic growth and development. Over time, their differences have become even more pronounced. It is very often asserted that the Asian NIEs can be divided into two groups: the Republic of Korea and Taipei, China on the one hand, and Hong Kong and Singapore on the other. Yet, there are in fact significant differences between the Republic of Korea and Taipei, China, and even more so between Hong Kong and Singapore…
Catching Up: The Asian Newly Industrializing Economies in the 1990s
Authors: Hughes Helen
Published: June 2023

Forty years ago, some of the Asian newly industrializing economies (NIEs) and near-NIEs were among the poorest countries in the world. Today they not only lead in economic growth among developing countries but also are catching up to the market-oriented industrial countries (see Table 1). During the late 1980s the performance of the NIEs accelerated, reaching even higher rates of growth than they had achieved in the 1960s and 1970s. Domestic policy improvements enabled them to take advantage of the strength of the world economy from the second half of 1983. The South Asian countries performed quite well during this period and so did some of the Mediterranean countries, but countries in Africa south of the Sahara and in Latin America ran deeply into debt and barely grew at all in terms of per capita income…
Development Strategies for Poverty Alleviation
Authors: Burki Shahid Javed
Published: June 2023

Whereas in the 1970s, there may have been grounds for cautious optimism with respect to poverty alleviation, welfare and redistributive policies were severely battered by macroeconomic conditions in the first half of the 1980s. In many, perhaps the majority of less-developed countries, modest gains in improving income distribution or containing poverty slipped away, and there is little evidence that the ground has been retrieved over the past four years…
Small and Medium Industries in Asian Developing Countries
Authors: Chowdhury A.H.M. Nuruddin
Published: June 2023

In many Asian developing countries, industrialization has not succeeded in achieving the intended objectives of absorbing surplus labor, alleviating poverty and bringing about a more regional balanced growth. The large-scale import substitution approach widely adopted in most countries often led to the use of highly capital-intensive techniques, generated few employment opportunities and aggravated the balance-of-payments disequilibrium with a heavy dependence on imports. In view of these circumstances, the development of small and medium-scale industries is being considered as a more appropriate alternative to promote industrialization…
Foreign Capital and Asian Economic Growth
Authors: Rana Pradumna B. , Dowling J. Malcolm
Published: June 2023

The role of foreign capital in economic growth is controversial. Neither the theoretical arguments nor empirical evidence is clear-cut or conclusive. In the early 1960s a group of economists had argued that foreign capital inflows invariably had a favorable effect on economic efficiency and growth. In the early 1970s the assumptions and findings of this group were challenged by the “displacement theorists” who argued that foreign capital could be immiserizing. Recent developments and experiences in Asian developing countries have warranted a further consideration of this issue. First, the recent accumulation of external debt in these countries is emerging as a potential constraint on economic development. Second, the rapid increase of intraregional investment in Asia in recent years has renewed interest on the contribution of foreign inflows to economic growth. Third, the external debt crisis has made the transition for developing countries from recipients of aid to market-oriented private flows more difficult as access to voluntary private financing has been curtailed, and official aid, from both multilateral and bilateral sources, is once again becoming the major element in the transfer of foreign resources to developing countries…
External Resources for Development and International Capital Markets
Authors: Black Stanley W.
Published: June 2023

Consideration of the role of external resources in economic development requires analysis of both their use and their availability. The first part of this article considers the use of external resources in development, from the point of view of their role in the economy in relation to domestic resources and from the perspective of the conditions in domestic financial markets that are conducive to the appropriate use of external resources. The second part discusses the availability of external resources from international capital markets based on recent data and projections in the light of current international economic conditions.
The Role of Fiscal Policy in Asian Economic Development
Authors: Kohli Kedar N.
Published: June 2023

In developed countries, fiscal policy refers to the measures taken by governments to stabilize their economies at high levels of employment and output through taxation and government expenditures. In discussing fiscal policy, a distinction is therefore made between measures that affect government spending and those that bear on government revenues. When economic activity is at a low level, the expansionary effect can be achieved through increased expenditure on construction of infrastructure such as roads, buildings and irrigation systems. A similar effect could also be achieved through the revenue side of the budget by reducing taxes on income and consumption or by providing fiscal incentives for increasing investment in the private sector. The process could be reversed, however, when the economic activity is at a high level by reducing government spending and/or increasing taxes…
Mobilizing External Resources in Developing Asia: Structural Adjustment and Policy Reforms
Authors: Fry Maxwell J.
Published: June 2023

Over the past decade, the flow of foreign capital to developing countries has declined precipitously. The inflow of foreign capital to finance balance-of-payments deficits on current account depends both on a country’s desire to spend more than its income and on the willingness of the rest of the world to finance the concomitant current account deficit. In other words, foreign capital inflows are determined simultaneously by both the demand for and the supply of foreign savings…
Tax Reform in Developing Countries: Agenda for the 1990s
Authors: Bagchi Amaresh
Published: June 2023

In recent years tax reform has featured prominently in the agenda of governments in both developing and developed countries. During the 1980s Bolivia, Colombia, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malawi, Mexico, Morocco, Turkey and Zimbabwe all carried out at least one major reform in their tax system. Several countries have either already embarked on or are contemplating extensive reform. Among the developed countries, the most sweeping reform took place in the United States in 1986. Other developed countries which have attempted (or were planning) to overhaul their tax system during the 1980s included Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Denmark, France, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom. Indeed, “very rarely has the world seen so much interest in tax reform as in the past couple of years”…
Understanding Poverty: An Introduction to Conceptual and Measurement Issues
Authors: Quibria M.G.
Published: June 2023

The problem of poverty is as old as human history, so is the concern for poverty. Although this concern is age-old, it appears to have been heightened with the progress of civilization and greater economic prosperity. Poverty—its different meanings and manifestations—has been studied by historians, sociologists and economists. Its causes have been traced to a wide variety of sources; its alleviation has been sought in many different directions. Despite the concern for poverty for centuries, attempts at measuring poverty are relatively recent, linked largely to developments in economics and statistics. With increasing momentum of economic development, the changing extent of poverty has become a subject of great importance and interest today…
Rural Poverty in Bangladesh: Trends and Determinants
Authors: Hossain Mahabub , Sen Binayak
Published: June 2023

Studies on poverty in Bangladesh have focused on the measurement of the poverty level and trends based on income and nutrition deficiency. Most studies agree that poverty is widespread, and that the poverty situation deteriorated alarmingly in the 1970s. There is, however, controversy about the poverty trend in the 1980s, and few studies have looked in depth into the determinants of poverty…
The State and the Market in Industrial Development: Perspectives from the 1980s
Authors: Rosen George
Published: June 2023

The relationship between the state and the market has been a continuous theme for those economists seeking to understand the process of economic growth and to advise on policies to affect that process. The classical economists from Adam Smith through Marx devoted much of their work to that task, and a central theme was the relationship of those two institutions in facilitating or hampering the growth process. With the rise of neoclassical economics, attention shifted from the study of growth to the study of the market per se. Simultaneously, the question of appropriate government policies, whether in relation to the market or to economic growth, became a marginal issue in mainstream economics, although not among institutional economists in the United States or historical economists in Germany. The world depression of the 1930s, the rise of Keynesian economics and World War II revived such issues within developed economies. The aftermath of that war, which saw the breakdown of the colonial system and the rise of a large number of independent states with a major goal of economic growth, recreated the field of economic development within the economics discipline. This was true in the developed countries, whose leaders sought to develop economic policies toward the former colonies, and in the developing countries, where appropriate government policies to stimulate growth became a major task for the new rulers…
Financial and Fiscal Sector Reforms in Asian Countries
Authors: Chelliah Raja J.
Published: June 2023

In the late seventies and eighties fiscal and financial sector reforms have been an integral and complementary part of the overall structural reform of the economies in several Asian countries. Apart from the obvious need to increase the efficiency of operations in the financial sector, including attempts to improve the efficiency and productivity of the real sector of the economy, reforms in the financial sector were also called for to make that sector capable of serving the emerging multiple needs of the growing real sector…
Taxation of Services in the Asian and Pacific Region
Authors: Rao M. Govinda
Published: June 2023

Generally, tax reforms have been triggered off by the desire to make the tax systems and regimes simple, transparent, broad-based, neutral, and stable. However, in most of the developing countries, the immediate motivation for reform has been the need to eliminate large and growing fiscal deficits. In many cases, deficits are so large and persistent that realistic levels of public expenditure compression alone cannot phase out fiscal imbalances. Also, it is true that expenditure compression strategies have not been uniformly successful. Therefore, often, tax reforms have had to substitute expenditure compression measures. Given the predominance of taxes on commodities and services in the developing countries, reform of these taxes has received a good deal of emphasis…
Government and Market in Economic Development
Authors: Cho Soon
Published: June 2023

Experiences of most developing countries show that the initial stage of development has to be engineered by the government. The governments of developing countries are likely to adopt “mercantilistic” growth promotion policies, which tend to be effective during the initial phase of extensive growth. Even at this stage, it is important for developing countries to adopt market-conforming type of growth promotion policies. The policy of industrial “targeting” can achieve success in promoting the targeted sectors, but on a long term, it tends to create industrial imbalance and overall inefficiency in the economy. The real and financial sectors of a developing economy are intimately related to each other. The more interventionist a government is with respect to the real sector, the more expansionary it is with its monetary policy, and the more repressive with its financial policy. The industrial targeting policy, accompanied by a repressive financial policy, may promote the growth of priority sectors, but the benefit to the economy as a whole, particularly from a long-run point of view, is likely to be limited. This policy would bring forth chronic inflation, distortion in industrial structure, and discourage financial saving and retard the development of financial entrepreneurship. Chronic inflation, imbalance in industrial structure, retarded development of financial sector, and proliferation of bureaucratic regulations, which are commonly observable in developing countries, call for a set of policies aimed at macroeconomic stability with microeconomic reform. It is, however, extremely difficult to implement these policies in such a way as to bring beneficial results to the economy. The developing countries should conform as much as possible the basic direction of economic policies to market principle. The government is also urged to adopt those policies which can improve the quality of human resources.
Comments on “Government and Market in Economic Development” by Cho Soon
Authors: Hughes Helen
Published: June 2023

The paper by Cho Soon (1994) covers several themes central to the economics of development and thus is wide-ranging. Cho stresses that rapid growth in Asia is not a miracle but the result of appropriate policies and hard work. His conclusions are much more incisive than the recent World Bank’s The East Asian Miracle (1993), which seems to argue that government intervention is desirable if it works! Cho’s exposition is so excellent that it requires little comment. Therefore, the issues to be highlighted here focus on the four principal themes cutting across the paper: uncertainty and markets, the role of government, macroeconomic stability, and microeconomic efficiency. The conclusion will include a few remarks about the emerging “Asian development culture”.
Market, Redistributive and Proto-Reform: Can Liberalization Help the Poor?
Authors: Lipton Michael
Published: June 2023

In early modernization, reforms can remove arbitrary privilege—both freeing markets and helping the poor. Later, there is tension between redistributive and market reforms. The paper explores reform options by contrasting recent Asian experience with earlier experiences of Europe, especially Britain. The two great accelerations in world poverty reduction—Europe’s in 1750-1950, Asia’s since 1950—saw sharply increasing salience of redistributive reform. In 1950-75, such reform often proved disappointing for want of market reform; gains leaked to the rich and to bureaucrats via rent-seeking. Yet the reaction toward purely market reforms since 1980 has also disappointed many developing countries, because the decline in redistributive reforms has left many poor people without access to markets, land, or education. Market reforms often require land reform and / or “children’s reform” in order to succeed. Recent evidence confirms robust, positive relationships between reduced inequality and subsequent faster growth. In some policy areas (e.g., bequests taxation), incentives may benefit from redistributive reform.
Special Employment Programs and Poverty Alleviation
Authors: Deolalikar Anil B.
Published: June 2023

This paper argues that the two main poverty alleviation strategies used in many developing countries—wage employment creation via rural public work or self-employment creation via provision of subsidized credit for purchasing assets—are complementary to each other. Social infrastructure created by wage employment schemes can doubly augment incomes of the poor if the latter have access to credit and working capital that enables them to take advantage of the social infrastructure they help create. Of course, wage employment schemes are an important source of employment and income to the poor during times of adversity, such as droughts, crop failures and lean seasons. However, the important policy question often is not whether special employment programs reduce the incidence, depth, and severity of poverty, but whether the poverty reduction obtained on account of these programs is greater than it would have been under some alternative intervention of equal or lower cost. Growth in agricultural productivity remains the most sustainable and effective way of alleviating rural poverty in the long run.
Post-Uruguay Round Issues for Asian Developing Countries
Authors: Srinivasan T. N.
Published: June 2023

This paper looks at some of the emerging issues since the conclusion of the Uruguay Round (UR) in the world trading system from the perspective of developing countries in Asia. Two important issues are the linking of trade and the environment, and the proposed “social clause” to the WTO charter relating to labor standards. The author suggests that developing countries should resist the linking of market access to performance in nontrade-related areas and, in particular, the inclusion of the social clause. Concern is raised that the commitment to the phaseout of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) might be reneged and MFA recreated in effect through antidumping and safeguard measures. Potential problems with the UR agreement on these measures and the dispute settlement mechanism are presented. Institutional reforms in developing countries related to global integration and issues of transparency and corruption are addressed. A brief discussion of the potential danger for the WTO from proliferating preferential regional trading arrangements follows. Finally, the implications of the global trading system of recent US legislation are touched upon. Remarks on the proposal to negotiate a multilateral investment code under the aegis of the WTO conclude the paper.
Economic Integration, Cooperation, and the Asian Environment
Authors: Anderson Kym , Brooks Douglas H.
Published: June 2023

Deepening regional and global economic integration is raising the demand for greater international cooperation on domestic resource and environmental policy issues. Concerns over competitiveness effects and disguised protectionism have generated opposition to this trade and environment linkage. The debate has centered primarily in the GATT / WTO, and in trade provisions of multilateral environmental agreements, and has the potential to undermine the rules-based trading system on which Asian developing countries are particularly dependent. Asian developing countries have mounted a broad range of responses and initiatives in subregional, regional and global fora related to cross-border environmental interactions, reflecting the varied nature and scope of environmental concerns, but much remains to be done. Greater scientific and socioeconomic research is needed, as is greater dissemination of existing knowledge and a clearer delineation of WTO’s mandate. Smaller groupings, such as APEC, may be useful fora for initial discussions and activities.
Effects of the Emerging Multilateral Trading Arrangement on the Malaysian Economy
Authors: Ariff Mohamed , Abidin Mahani Zainal , Tan Eu Chye
Published: June 2023

Because it is a country with relatively large export orientation, Malaysia is likely to benefit from the emerging multilateral trading arrangement through improvements in market access, gains due to competition, and strengthened international trade regulations. Despite this optimism, there are concerns about the effect of liberalization because major industrial exports may not grow much more due to the low Pre-Uruguay Round tariff rates. Furthermore, Malaysia’s services sector may face new challenges in the areas of domestic production capability, regulatory environment, and trade. Similarly, the inclusion of trade-related intellectual property rights and antidumping provisions means that exporters will need special help in adapting to the new trading system. Malaysia’s immediate concern is the successful implementation of the present arrangement and is apprehensive about the presence of issues such as labor standards and environment on the trade agenda. In its view these are not trade issues.
The Implications of the Emerging Trading Environment for Sri Lanka
Authors: Rajapakse Purnima
Published: June 2023

This paper examines the implications for Sri Lanka of the Uruguay Round and other events shaping the world trading environment such as growing regionalism, labor standards, and the environment. The analysis reveals that the Uruguay Round is unlikely to have a significant influence on Sri Lanka in the short term. Given the gradual phasein periods of the Agreements, the impact of the Round is only likely to be felt in the medium to long term. Although Sri Lanka has made significant progress in liberalizing its economy, the government needs to improve its regulatory capacity to better manage a market economy and ensure competitive and fair practices. As to whether the country will succeed or not in gaining from the new opportunities that arise from the emerging trading environment will depend on the speed of domestic adjustments to the realities of the post-Round era.
Linking Food and Nutrition Security: Past Lessons and Future Opportunities
Authors: Bouis Howarth , Hunt Joseph
Published: June 2023

Traditional food security strategies are reviewed and generally found to have a weak impact on lowering child malnutrition. Unless these programs are properly targeted and linked to employment and micro-credit opportunities for women, they are unlikely to be effective or sustainable. The links between food policy and nutrition security require greater attention to dietary quality through agricultural research and technology, directed to reducing both undernutrition and overnutrition; social security policies that protect poor women and children; and food aid policies that are developmental in intent and impact.

One element in the final solution to malnutrition is to provide increased consumption of a range of nonstaple foods. To reach the poor, this will require a relatively large investment in agricultural research and other public and on-farm infrastructure over several decades. In the medium run, a much smaller investment in improving the nutrient content of food staples through plant breeding can make a major contribution to reducing deficiencies in selected micronutrients. The role of women is central to nutrition outcomes through child care, so that policies and programs must consider how to enhance women’s decision-making power in the household, how they affect time demands on women, and how to increase women’s education and nutritional knowledge. Finally, community-based programs, which are central to the RETA strategy for improved nutrition, should be used to monitor the nutrition effects of agricultural policies and programs and to provide feedback to agricultural policymakers as to how to enhance the positive effects and minimize the negative effects of agricultural policies and programs.
Approximation Algorithms for Partial Vertex Covers in Trees
Authors: Mkrtchyan Vahan , Parekh Ojas , Subramani K.
Published: June 2023

This paper is concerned with designing algorithms for and analyzing the computational complexity of the partial vertex cover problem in trees. Graphs (and trees) are frequently used to model risk management in various systems. In particular, Caskurlu et al. in [4] have considered a system which essentially represents a tripartite graph. The goal in this model is to reduce the risk in the system below a predefined risk threshold level. It can be shown that the main goal in this risk management system can be formulated as a Partial Vertex Cover problem on bipartite graphs. In this paper, we focus on a special case of the partial vertex cover problem, when the input graph is a tree. We consider four possible versions of this setting, depending on whether or not, the vertices and edges are weighted. Two of these versions, where edges are assumed to be unweighted, are known to be polynomial-time solvable. However, the computational complexity of this problem with weighted edges, and possibly with weighted vertices, remained open. The main contribution of this paper is to resolve these questions by fully characterizing which variants of partial vertex cover remain NP-hard in trees, and which can be solved in polynomial time. In the paper, we propose two pseudo-polynomial DP-based algorithms for the most general case in which weights are present on both the edges and the vertices of the tree. One of these algorithms leads to a polynomial-time procedure, when weights are confined to the edges of the tree. The insights used in this algorithm are combined with additional scaling ideas to derive an FPTAS for the general case. A secondary contribution of this work is to propose a novel way of using centroid decompositions in trees, which could be useful in other settings as well.
Simulation of ionic-liquid extractive purification process of thiophene and m-xylene from their mixture with n-hexane by the molecular dynamics method
Authors: Mammadhasanov K. K. , Seyidova S. A. , Ibrahimova M. D. , Abbasov V. M. , Huseynov H. J. , Komolkin A. V.
Published: June 2023

This paper deals with the results of simulation of extractive purification process of model diesel fuel (the mixture of n-hexane with thiophene and m-xylene) by molecular dynamics simulation using N-methylpyrrolidinium acetate ionic liquid as an extractant. The extractive purification process was simulated for several model fuel systems with different concentrations of sulfur and aromatic containing components. The ionic liquid exhibits high extractive ability, the degrees of desulfurization and dearomatization reach 85–90 and 60[Formula: see text]wt.%, respectively. The results were proved by experimental studies of a mixture by the ionic liquid. After 1[Formula: see text]h of contact of the ionic liquid and the model mixture, the degree of purification against thiophene was 94.2[Formula: see text]wt.%.
Interactions Between Humans, Cyborgs, and Artificial Consciousness Modeled Through Operators and Function Spaces
Authors: Ruette Fernando
Published: June 2023

This paper describes a mathematical model based on operators and function spaces (Hilbert space) to better understand consciousness and the relationship between human and artificial consciousness (AC). Scientific understanding of the relationships between human consciousness (HC) and AC may shed new light on the future of HC and AC. This mathematical physical model considers general models of external and internal realities. Some schemes using external reality, senses or sensors, body-brain or computer software, internal reality, and HC or AC are discussed. The cyclic interaction of the internal reality maintains on time through decision-making (consciousness) and body-brain operators seem to be the origin of consciousness. An analysis of the importance of the AC and cyborg consciousnesses (CC) in the interaction with HC is also presented. It is concluded that the creation of CC and AC will allow the study of HC through experimentation by the evaluation of functions of emotion (values, feelings, penalties, and rewards) demanded by those consciousnesses. This will result in the transformation of the HC.
Access Work: Laboring with Non-Innocent Authorization
Authors: Hickman Louise , Bennett Cynthia
Published: June 2023

This forum focuses on the conditions and futures of the labor underpinning technology production and maintenance. We welcome standalone articles as well as interviews and conversations about all tech labor within the global supply chain of digital technologies.
--- Seyram Avle and Sarah Fox, Editors
Coarse-to-Fine Knowledge-Enhanced Multi-Interest Learning Framework for Multi-Behavior Recommendation
Authors: Meng Chang , Zhao Ziqi , Guo Wei , Zhang Yingxue , Wu Haolun , Gao Chen , Li Dong , Li Xiu , Tang Ruiming
Published: June 2023

Multi-types of behaviors (e.g., clicking, carting, purchasing, etc.) widely exist in most real-world recommendation scenarios, which are beneficial to learn users’ multi-faceted preferences. As dependencies are explicitly exhibited by the multiple types of behaviors, effectively modeling complex behavior dependencies is crucial for multi-behavior prediction. The state-of-the-art multi-behavior models learn behavior dependencies indistinguishably with all historical interactions as input. However, different behaviors may reflect different aspects of user preference, which means that some irrelevant interactions may play as noises to the target behavior to be predicted. To address the aforementioned limitations, we introduce multi-interest learning to the multi-behavior recommendation. More specifically, we propose a novel Coarse-to-fine Knowledge-enhanced Multi-interest Learning (CKML) framework to learn shared and behavior-specific interests for different behaviors. CKML introduces two advanced modules, namely
Coarse-grained Interest Extracting (CIE)
and
Fine-grained Behavioral Correlation (FBC)
, which work jointly to capture fine-grained behavioral dependencies. CIE uses knowledge-aware information to extract initial representations of each interest. FBC incorporates a dynamic routing scheme to further assign each behavior among interests. Empirical results on three real-world datasets verify the effectiveness and efficiency of our model in exploiting multi-behavior data.
Disaggregated GPU Acceleration for Serverless Applications
Authors: Fingler Henrique , Zhu Zhiting , Yoon Esther , Jia Zhipeng , Witchel Emmett , Rossbach Christopher J.
Published: June 2023

Serverless platforms have been attracting applications from traditional platforms because infrastructure management responsibilities are shifted from users to providers. Many applications well-suited to serverless environments could leverage GPU acceleration to enhance their performance. Unfortunately, current serverless platforms do not expose GPUs to serverless applications.
First-Principles Investigation into the Contributions of ORR and HER in Magnesium Corrosion
Authors: Ng Man-Fai , Blackwood Daniel John , Jin Hongmei , Tan Teck Leong
Published: June 2023

Recent experiments have demonstrated that oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) can contribute significantly to Mg corrosion in addition to hydrogen reduction reaction (HER). However, its contributions at various stages of Mg corrosion remains unclear. Using DFT calculations, we investigate ORR and HER on both pristine and Fe/Mn alloyed Mg, MgO and Mg(OH)2 during Mg corrosion. We found that both HER and ORR on pristine and alloyed Mg contribute to the overall cathodic current density: HER contributes much more significantly than ORR, while the ORR contribution is up to the mass transport limit and would diminish over time. In addition, we found that ORR activities on Fe/Mn alloyed MgO are high, suggesting an alternate source of cathodic ORR contribution during the whole course of Mg corrosion. Excellent agreements are found between our findings and a recent experiment.
Para-Cresyl Sulfate and BSA Conjugation for Developing Aptasensor: Spectroscopic Methods and Molecular Simulation
Authors: Gulati Payal , Verma Awadhesh kumar , Kumar Anil , Solanki Pratima
Published: June 2023

Para-cresol sulfate (PCS), a protein-bound uremic toxin, is gut microbiota derived metabolite and known for its role in human physiology and pathology. After PCS formation, it goes to blood stream and interact with serum albumin with high affinity. Normally, PCS is cleared by the kidney but if it gets accumulated then leads to chronic kidney disease (CKD). Present study is an attempt to understand the nuances of interaction wherein bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been taken as model protein to understand this interaction. Absorption spectroscopy result indicated that in presence of PCS (ranging from 2 μM to 200 μM), the absorbance of BSA gradually decreased due to complex formation between them and obtained detection limit of 0.42 μM with a linearity of 0.95. Fourier transform infra-red and circular spectroscopy results demonstrated change in secondary structure of BSA upon interaction of PCS. These interaction studies reveal that PCS binds on two sites of BSA. Docking studies represent binding score of −5.6 Kcal mol−1, demarking that PCS is involved in interaction with BSA via amino acid residues, forming the stable complex. This study helps in PCS aptamers synthesis by using this conjugate, to fabricate apta-sensors for early detection of CKD.
A new oral model of free fatty acid kinetics to assess lipolysis in subjects with and without type 2 diabetes
Authors: Bonet J. , Yadav Y. , Miles J. , Basu A. , Cobelli C. , Basu R. , Dalla Man C.
Published: June 2023

In this study, we propose a new mathematical model able to quantify postprandial FFA kinetics and adipose tissue insulin sensitivity in both subjects with obesity without type 2 diabetes (ND) and subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Results show that the slower postprandial suppression of lipolysis in T2D contributes to the higher free fatty acid (FFA) concentration that, in turn, may contribute to hyperglycemia.
Neurophysiological time course of timbre-induced music-like perception
Authors: Santoyo Alejandra E. , Gonzales Mariel G. , Iqbal Zunaira J. , Backer Kristina C. , Balasubramaniam Ramesh , Bortfeld Heather , Shahin Antoine J.
Published: June 2023

EEG induced by streams of pitchless noise segments varying in timbre were classified as music-like and exhibited a right-lateralized hierarchy in processing similar to pitched melodic processing. This study provides evidence that the neural-code of musicality is independent of pitch encoding. The results have implications for understanding music processing in individuals with degraded pitch perception, such as in cochlear-implant listeners, as well as the role of nonpitched sounds in the induction of music-like perceptual states.
The inevitability of visual interruption
Authors: Buonocore Antimo , Hafed Ziad M.
Published: June 2023

For successful adaptive behavior, exogenous environmental events must be sensed and reacted to as efficiently as possible. In the lab, the mechanisms underlying such efficiency are often studied with eye movements. Using controlled trials, careful measures of eye movement reaction times, directions, and kinematics suggest a form of “exogenous” oculomotor capture by external events. However, even in controlled trials, exogenous onsets necessarily come asynchronously to internal brain state. We argue that variability in the effectiveness of “exogenous” capture is inevitable. We review an extensive set of evidence demonstrating that before orienting must come interruption, a process that partially explains such variability. More importantly, we present a novel neural mechanistic account of interruption, leveraging the presence of early sensory processing capabilities in the very final stages of oculomotor control brain circuitry.
Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation at nonspecific timings during training can compromise motor adaptation in healthy humans
Authors: St. Pierre Mitchell Adrien , Shinohara Minoru
Published: June 2023

Adding vagus nerve stimulation via implanted electrodes during motor training can facilitate motor recovery in disabled animals and humans. No study examined the effect of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) during training on neuromotor adaptation in healthy humans. We have found that adding tVNS at nonspecific timings during motor skill training can compromise motor adaptation but not transfer in healthy humans.