A Challenge to All: Raising the Participation and Success of Women and Minorities in Mathematics, Science, and Technlogy

This issue of our journal is the product of a Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition (VMSC) conference titled, Programs That Work and held in March, 2000 on the issues of raising both the levels of success and the levels of participation of women and minorities in mathematics, science, and technology. Traditionally, these two groups have had low rates of participation in these subjects, and we believe this situation can and must be changed. The conference was to Coalition\u27s first direct assault on the problem

Agricultural Prices, Food Consumption and the Health and Productivity of Farmers

Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Reply to the comment by Carmelo Anile on the paper "Complexity analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid pulse waveform during infusion studies"

Veterinary technology is an emerging profession within the veterinary and allied animal health fields in Australia and affords graduates the opportunity to contribute to the small but growing body of literature within this discipline. This study describes the introduction of a contextualised assessment task to develop students’ research capability, competence and confidence in professional writing, and to engage them with the academic publishing process. Students worked in self-selected dyads to author a scientific case report, of publishable standard, based on authentic cases from their clinical practicum. Intrinsic to the task, students attended a series of workshops that explored topics such as critiquing the literature, professional writing styles and oral presentation skills. Assessment was multi-staged with progressive feedback, including peer review, and culminated with students presenting their abstracts at a mock conference. Students reported the task to be an enjoyable and valuable learning experience which improved their competence and confidence in scientific writing; supported by a comparison of previously submitted work. Linking scientific writing skills to clinical practice experiences enhanced learning outcomes and may foster the professionalisation of students within this emerging discipline

Frame synchronization performance and analysis

The analysis used to generate the theoretical models showing the performance of the frame synchronizer is described for various frame lengths and marker lengths at various signal to noise ratios and bit error tolerances

The Selectivity of Fertility and the Determinants of Human Capital Investments: Parametric and Semi-Parametric Estimates

In this paper we assess the importance of heterogeneity and selective fertility in altering estimates and interpretations of the determinants of the human capital of children. We set out a sequential model of human capital investments in children incorporating endogenous fertility and heterogeneity in human capital endowments to illustrate the fertility selection problem and issues of identification. Empirical results based on parametric and semi-parametric estimates of selectivity models applied to data on birthweight and schooling in Malaysia indicate that the hypothesis of no fertility selection is strongly rejected, with mothers having higher birthweight children tending to have substantially lower birth probabilities (negative birth selectivity). As a consequence, the positive association between mother's schooling and birthweight is substantially underestimated and the positive effects of delaying childbearing overestimated when birth selectivity is not taken into account. The schooling results indicate strong rejection of the "efficient schooling" model, in which schooling is allocated efficiently across children, but only when the selectivity of fertility is taken into account.Labor and Human Capital,

Estimating the Intrafamily Incidence of Health: Child Illness and Gender Inequality in Indonesian Households

In this paper, we demonstrate the difficulties of identifying both the own- and cross-effects of health on the allocation of time within a household, and develop and implement a method for estimating the effects of infant morbidity on the differential allocation of time by other family members based on discrete indicators of health and of activity participation commonly available in survey data. Estimates obtained from Indonesian household data indicate that inattention to problems of the measurement and endogeneity of health leads to a substantial underestimate of the effects of variations in child morbidity on the intrahousehold division of labor, and our estimates that take into account the "simultaneity" of health-activity associations indicate that increased levels of infant morbidity significantly exacerbate existing differentials in work-home time allocations across teenage boys and girls in Indonesia.Consumer/Household Economics, Health Economics and Policy,

Correction of the definition of mass-flow parameter in dynamic inflow modelling

No abstract available

Does micro-credit empower women : evidence from Bangladesh

This paper examines the effects of men's and women's participation in group-based micro-credit programs on a large set of qualitative responses to questions that characterize women's autonomy and gender relations within the household. The data come from a special survey carried out in rural Bangladesh in 1998-99. The results are consistent with the view that women's participation in micro-credit programs helps to increase women's empowerment. Credit program participation leads to women taking a greater role in household decisionmaking, having greater access to financial and economic resources, having greater social networks, having greater bargaining power compared with their husbands, and having greater freedom of mobility. Female credit also tended to increase spousal communication in general about family planning and parenting concerns. The effects of male credit on women's empowerment were, at best, neutral, and at worse, decidedly negative. Male credit had a negative effect on several arenas of women's empowerment, including physical mobility, access to savings and economic resources, and power to manage some household transactions.Public Health Promotion,Economic Theory&Research,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Anthropology,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Anthropology,Environmental Economics&Policies,Housing&Human Habitats,Economic Theory&Research