The Relationship Between Foreign Aid and Growth: A Comparative Analysis of Low Income, Lower-Middle Income and Upper-Middle-Income African Countries

The research is financed from Humanities and Social Science Youth Foundation of Ministry of Education of China（13YJCZH133） Abstract Our paper studies 53 African economies by segregating them into 27 Africa low-income economies (ALICs), 18 Africa lower-middle-income economies (ALMICs) and 8 Africa upper-middle-income (AUMICs) economies according to United Nations (UN) income threshold categorization. The paper uses panel data of aid and GDP (economic growth) with control variables from 1990 to 2015 to investigate the direction and causal linkage between aid and economic growth in a quest to fill the void created by previous empirical literature in generating inconclusive results on the effects of foreign aid on economic growth through aggregate countries studies. Our study addresses this gap by employing Pedroni (1999) panel cointegration method to test the cointegration relationship between the series and the granger causality is investigated by the pooled mean group estimator (PMGE). Then, we investigate whether or not a strong relationship between aid and economic growth holds by using Pedroni (2001) method of Panel FMOLS and DOLS estimates. The results established the existence of cointegration relationship between aid and growth in all the three income sub-groups. There is also evidence of bidirectional granger causality between aid and economic growth in low- income and lower-middle income sub-groups. The results however record unidirectional causality in the case of African upper-income sub-group. There are mixed panel FMOLS and DOLS findings for the groups. The panel results indicate a strong relationship between aid and growth for the lower and upper-middle-income economies and no strong relationship for the low-income countries. The issues of strong aid-growth relationship in the individual country case analysis present a new perspective to policy makers to understand by taking into consideration the specific degree of GDP growth in each country in order to formulate effective aid-based policies to propel growth. Keywords: foreign aid, economic growth, Africa, disaggregated aid, Causality Analysi

Exploring Spectral Bias in Time Series Long Sequence Forecasting

Transformers have achieved great success in the task of time series long sequence forecasting (TLSF) in recent years. However, existing research has pointed out that over-parameterized deep learning models are in favor of low frequency and could be difficult to capture high-frequency information for regression fitting task, named spectral bias. Yet the effect of such bias on TLSF problem, an auto-regressive problem with a long forecasting length, has not been explored. In this work, we take the first step to investigate the spectral bias issues in TLSF task for state-of-the-art models. Specifically, we carefully examine three different existing time series Transformers on the task of TLSF with both synthetic and real-world data and visualize their behavior on spectrum. We show that spectral bias exists in the problem of TLSF. Surprisingly, our experiment demonstrated that the model bias behavior, whether it favors at high or low frequencies, is heavily influenced by the model design of the individual Transformer

Global Emergency Medicine: A Review of the Literature From 2013

Objectives The Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review ( GEMLR ) conducts an annual search of peer‐reviewed and grey literature relevant to global emergency medicine ( EM ) to identify, review, and disseminate the most important new research in this field to a worldwide audience of academics and clinical practitioners. Methods This year 8,768 articles written in six languages were identified by our search. These articles were distributed among 22 reviewers for initial screening based on their relevance to the field of global EM . An additional two reviewers searched the grey literature. A total of 434 articles were deemed appropriate by at least one reviewer and approved by an editor for formal scoring of overall quality and importance. Results Of the 434 articles that met our predetermined inclusion criteria, 65% were categorized as emergency care in resource‐limited settings, 18% as EM development, and 17% as disaster and humanitarian response. A total of 24 articles received scores of 18 or higher and were selected for formal summary and critique. Interrater reliability for two reviewers using our scoring system was good, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.63 (95% confidence interval = 0.55 to 0.69). Infectious diseases, trauma, and the diagnosis and treatment of diseases common in resource‐limited settings represented the majority of articles selected for final review. Conclusions In 2013, there were more emergency care in resource‐limited settings articles, while the number of disaster and humanitarian response articles decreased, when compared to the 2012 review. However, the distribution of articles selected for full review did not change significantly. As in prior years, the majority of articles focused on infectious diseases, as well as trauma and injury prevention. Resumen Objetivos El grupo Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review (GEMLR) lleva a cabo una búsqueda anual de revisión por pares y de la literatura gris relevante para la Medicina de Urgencias y Emergencias ( MUE ) Global para identificar, revisar y divulgar las investigaciones recientes más importantes en este campo para la audiencia mundial de profesores universitarios y médicos clínicos. Metodología Se identificaron según nuestra búsqueda 8.768 artículos escritos en seis lenguas en 2013. Estos artículos se distribuyeron entre 22 revisores para un despistaje inicial basado en la relevancia para el área de la MUE Global. Dos revisores adicionales buscaron en la literatura gris. Un total de 434 artículos se consideraron apropiados por al menos un revisor y se aprobaron por un editor mediante una puntación formal de calidad e importancia. Resultados De los 434 artículos que cumplieron los criterios de inclusión predeterminados, un 65% se categorizó como atención urgente en escenarios de recursos limitados, un 18% como desarrollo de la MUE y un 17% como grandes catástrofes y respuesta humanitaria. Un total de 24 artículos recibió puntuaciones de 18 o más y se seleccionaron para el resumen formal y la crítica. La concordancia interobservador para los dos revisores usando nuestro sistema de puntuación fue buena con un coeficiente de correlación intraclase de 0,63 (intervalo de confianza 95% = 0,55 a 0,69). Las enfermedades infecciosas, los traumatismos y el diagnostico y tratamiento de las enfermedades comunes en escenarios de recursos limitados representaron la mayoría de los artículos seleccionados para la revisión final. Conclusiones En 2013, hubo más artículos de atención urgente en escenarios de recursos limitados, mientras que el número de artículos de grandes catástrofes y respuesta humanitaria disminuyó respecto a la revisión de 2012. Sin embargo, la distribución de los artículos seleccionados para la revisión total no cambio significativamente. Como en años anteriores, la mayoría de los artículos se centró en enfermedades infecciosas, así como en la prevención de los traumatismos y las lesiones.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108313/1/acem12414.pd

Pedestrian risk perception of marked and unmarked crosswalks in Kumasi, Ghana

Pedestrians constitute the majority of all urban road crashes in Ghana, yet there is inadequate supply of pedestrian facilities, and road-user behaviours have been cited as a major contributing factor to the high crash rates. This study seeks to investigate how pedestrians perceive risk at different crosswalks. The study adopted a mixed-method approach, where secondary crash data for 30 selected crosswalks was correlated with corresponding primary data that consisted of pedestrian surveys. The crash data from 2011 through 2014 was obtained from the database of the Building and Road Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-BRRI) in Kumasi, and supplemented with a survey of 900 pedestrians. The results revealed that pedestrians perceived marked crosswalks to be safer than unmarked crosswalks, but this is contrary to the crash records. Also, most of the crashes were registered for crosswalks located across multilane highways. In light of these results, it is recommended that the safety features of crosswalks be re-examined, while restricting indiscriminate crossing by channelling pedestrians to designated protected crossing points, installing traffic control devices and other speed-calming devices at identified high-risk crosswalks, and signalising crosswalks that are located on multilane roads. It is also recommended to intensify road safety campaigns and public education on safe road-crossing practices, while enforcing traffic safety laws to influence road-user behaviours

Dataset for electronic and optical properties of Y2O2S and Er dopped Y2O2S calculated using density functional theory and simulated x-ray near edge spectra

The computational data presented in this paper refer to the research article “Optical properties and simulated x-ray near edge spectra for Y2O2S and Er doped Y2O2S”. We present the data used to calculate the structural, electronic, and optical properties of the Y2O2S and its Er+3 doped counterparts at various concentrations using density functional theory (DFT) and simulated X-ray near edge (XANES) spectra. We report electronic information from DFT and DFT+U generated from the Vienna Ab initio Simulation Package (VASP) using PAW pseudopotentials. We also report VASP calculated optical properties for the host Y2O2S using the independent particle approximation (IPA), the random phase approximation (RPA), the many-body GW0 approximation, and the Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) approximation, under the 10-atom unit cell. The IPA calculations are repeated using the 80-atom unit cell for both the host Y2O2S and the Y2O2S:Er+3 counterparts. The optical properties data include the frequency-dependent real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function, the absorption and extinction coefficients, the refractive index, and the reflectivity. FEFF10 XANES calculations are performed on the Y K-, L1-, L2-, and L3-edges, as well as on the Er M5-edge

Transport related air pollution and its implications on public health along selected road corridors in lagos metropolis, nigeria

The study investigated the ambient air quality caused by vehicular emission and its implications on the public health around major roadways in Lagos metropolis Nigeria. Field data on vehicular volumes and mix were collected for three months in the morning, afternoon, and evening peak periods for the five (5) selected major routes. Concurrently, air pollutants from vehicles were measured by portable gas detectors on the routes. Questionnaires were administered to the respondent near the routes to investigate the implications of exposure on their health. The concentration level of the air pollutants is highest between 8-9 am morning peak periods and lowest between 12-1 pm afternoon periods. The ambient air quality is polluted on all the studied routes and revealed a strong correlation (p<0.05) between pollutants concentration and traffic flow. The questionnaire results also showed that 74% of the sampled respondents around the corridor suffered from chest pain, frequent cough, nose running and sneezing, sore throat, difficulty in breathing, body weakness, fatigue, eye irritation, loss of appetite, headache, and fast breathing of which 6% of children and 54% of women were the most susceptible. The study recommended measures for the reduction of the negative impacts on ambient air quality and public health in developing African citiesPapers presented at the 40th International Southern African Transport Conference on 04 -08 July 202

Investigating factors affecting Paratransit Travel Times: Perspectives from two Paratransit Routes in Kumasi, Ghana

Paratransit trips on minibus vehicles have reportedly been unreliable, and users are unsatisfied with the quality of service they receive. Providing travel-related information, such as travel time information and introducing interventions along the roadway, may improve service quality and user experiences. To do this, there is a need to understand the nature of paratransit travel time and the factors affecting it. The study investigated factors affecting travel times of paratransit at the route and segment levels on two selected routes in Kumasi. A travel time survey onboard the vehicle was used to collect GPS, stop related and other information with the help of a mobile application. The Backward Stepwise Regression technique was used to determine the most significant factors which were drawn from literature and a careful study of paratransit operations. The results indicated that dwell times rather than stops contributed to paratransit travel times. Deviation from the route was found to increase travel time, contrary to the logic of using deviation to bypass apparent traffic congestion ahead. The study proffered interventions that can help improve travel time and the quality of service and made policy suggestions

Computational and Experimental Study on Undoped and Er-Doped Lithium Tantalate Nanofluorescent Probes

We present a combined density functional theory (DFT) and experimental work on lithium tantalate LiTaO3 (LT) and its Er-doped counterparts. We calculate the electronic and optical properties for both LT and LT:Er+3, with Er occupying either Li or Ta sites, at 4.167 mol%. The generalized gradient approximation (GGA) calculations show that the Er-4 f bands appear closer to the conduction band bottom and to the valance band top, for the first and second doped configurations, respectively. This agrees with changes in the imaginary part of the frequency dependent dielectric function between the doped configurations. There are striking differences between the GGA and the hybrid functional HSE06 calculations for the band structures of the doped configurations. HSE06 accurately predicts the location in energy for all Er-4 f orbitals: These are now spread in energy and appear above and below the Fermi energy. We synthesized LT:Er+3 nanoparticles, validated through X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis confirmed increases in the activation energy and lowering of the reaction temperature due to Er+3 doping. The LT:Er+3photoluminescence showed strong f–f emission in the visible and near-infrared regions, in an excellent agreement with the HSE06 electronic information

Understanding the relationship between road users and the roadway infrastructure in Ghana

Ghana exemplifies the contribution of road crashes to mortality and morbidity in Africa, partly due to a growing population and increasing car ownership, where fatalities have increased by 12 to 15 % annually since 2008 (National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), 2017). The study described in this paper focused on understanding driver behavior at unsignalized junctions in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Understanding driver behavior at unsignalized junctions is particularly important since failure to stop or yield can seriously affect vulnerable road users. The study’s objectives were to develop relationships between driver behavior and junction characteristics. Understanding the characteristics that lead to determining what factors influence a driver’s behavioral response at rural junctions provides information for policy makers to determine the best strategies to address these behaviors. The study evaluated stopping behavior at rural junctions. Driver behavior was extracted from video views of ten junctions in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. A total of 3,420 vehicles were observed across all ten junctions during data collection before any analysis was conducted. The type of stop was selected as a surrogate measure of safety. Logistic regression was used to model stopping behavior at the selected junctions. The analysis showed drivers were more likely to stop when going straight (versus a left turn) and left turning vehicles were more likely to stop than right turning vehicles. Additionally, single unit trucks and tro-tros were more likely to stop than other vehicle types. Drivers were also much more likely to stop when channelization, intersection lighting, or speed humps were present. Drivers at junctions with 4-approaches were also more likely to stop than those with 3 approaches. The results from this research contribute valuable information about what factors contribute to positive safety behaviors at rural junctions. This provides guidance for safety professionals to select solutions and can be a valuable tool to predict the economical effectiveness of solutions to addressing junction safety in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) such as Ghana. The results can also provide insight and recommendations to Ghanaian road safety agencies and launch sustainable efforts to raise community awareness toward decreasing road crash fatalities in Ghana.This article is published as Lawton, Brianna P., Shauna L. Hallmark, Guillermo Basulto-Elias, Daniel Atuah Obeng, and Williams Ackaah. "Understanding the relationship between road users and the roadway infrastructure in Ghana." Accident Analysis & Prevention 198 (2024): 107475. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2024.107475

Unsupervised Human Fatigue Expression Discovery via Time Series Chain

Fatigue manifests as a multifaceted human condition involving both psychological and physiological aspects. It is characterized by a diminished capacity to perform tasks effectively, potentially resulting in negative emotional states, errors in passive or active tasks, and even medical emergencies. There is a growing interest and practicality in continuous monitoring to identify fatigue during extended work periods. Despite the importance of fatigue detection, it is very challenging to build a model in practice due to limited data and a diverse set of sensor modalities. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised pipeline to address the challenge of fatigue detection from video streams in a challenging realistic environment. Specifically, we propose an effective fatigue expression discovery framework by first extracting key landmark points (e.g., shoulder joint, mouth) from video streaming data, then identifying evolving behavior patterns with time series chain, an effective high-order time series primitive, to discover precursors for potential human fatigues. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed framework, we show that our framework can detect signs of fatigue using video data captured in real-world fatigue scenariosAccepted to DS2-MH workshop at SIAM SDM 2024. Haroon Adam, Carlyon William, Cantu Frida, Ackaah-Gyasi Kofi Nketia, Zhang Li, Reza Md Alimoor. “Unsupervised Human Fatigue Expression Discovery via Time Series Chain.” Data Science for Smart Manufacturing and Healthcare Workshop 2024. https://dssmh.github.io/