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After the industrial revolution in England, a general feeling of optimism pervaded Western society. A common belief was that scientific knowledge, whose growth knew no limits, could always be applied to the problems of society. Si...
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After the industrial revolution in England, a general feeling of optimism pervaded Western society. A common belief was that scientific knowledge, whose growth knew no limits, could always be applied to the problems of society. Since science and technology were so successful in producing marvelous inventions, it was felt that they could eventually solve any human problem
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摘要 :
After the industrial revolution in England, a general feeling of optimism pervaded Western society. A common belief was that scientific knowledge, whose growth knew no limits, could always be applied to the problems of society. Si...
展开
After the industrial revolution in England, a general feeling of optimism pervaded Western society. A common belief was that scientific knowledge, whose growth knew no limits, could always be applied to the problems of society. Since science and technology were so successful in producing marvelous inventions, it was felt that they could eventually solve any human problem
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摘要 :
Microcredit offers an innovative response to non-traditional financing and development needs for marginalized individuals. Here, impact assessment is very useful in that it helps to determine whether or not the objectives set at t...
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Microcredit offers an innovative response to non-traditional financing and development needs for marginalized individuals. Here, impact assessment is very useful in that it helps to determine whether or not the objectives set at the onset are achieved and what can be done to correct the impediments to achieve better results. The paper analyzes the socio-economic effect of microcredit through the novel dual approach of self-reported perception and relationships with others. The data were gathered in collaboration with the Fonds Mauricie in November, 2019. Apart from the improvement in the financial indicators of micro-enterprises, the results show that microcredit has enhanced micro-entrepreneurs’ living conditions and family situation at rates of 88 and 91 percent, respectively. Regarding morale, 88 percent of micro-entrepreneurs report feeling better and optimistic about the future, and 92 percent report better relationships with others. In particular, the socio-economic effect of microcredit is determined by a better family situation, better living conditions and better financial situation and business income. These results imply that microfinance institutions must extend their financing to all segments of the population, especially the most vulnerable people such as immigrants and indigenous peoples.
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Computational grid provides virtual powerful computer for solving any large-scale scientific, commercial, and engineering problems by aggregating and sharing heterogeneous resources. However, designing an effective resource alloca...
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Computational grid provides virtual powerful computer for solving any large-scale scientific, commercial, and engineering problems by aggregating and sharing heterogeneous resources. However, designing an effective resource allocation method is a complicated task. To undertake the task, several economic-based resource management models have been studied. Bargaining (or negotiation) is one of the most used and effective models even though it has several main defects such as high communication demand and the risk of losing a deal. Instead of repeating negotiation for every generated grid job (GJ), the novel contribution of threshold-based negotiation framework is to determine whether a new negotiation is needed or not, according to the current market conditions which depend on supply of resource providers and demand of consumers. In the proposed framework, agents request for renewing negotiation, provided that the amount of change in market conditions exceeds pre-defined threshold. Therefore, communication overhead and the risk of losing the deal are minimised by avoiding unnecessary negotiations.
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This paper assesses flood recurrence and effects on the socio-economic livelihoods of communities in Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. Limited studies conducted focused on the effects of the recurrence of floods but none on the soci...
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This paper assesses flood recurrence and effects on the socio-economic livelihoods of communities in Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. Limited studies conducted focused on the effects of the recurrence of floods but none on the socio-economic livelihoods of communities in Dar es Salaam Region. Specifically, this article examines the reasons for the recurrence of floods, determines the effects of floods on communities’ socio-economic livelihoods, and evaluates measures to mitigate the recurrence. The study conducted in Ubungo and Kinondoni Districts, employed mixed research methods to triangulate the information collected, whereby in-depth interviews, field observations, and household surveys were used for data collection. The study found that the recurrence of floods is a result of heavy rainfall, building in the drainage systems, impervious surfaces, disposing of waste in the drainages, and poor drainage systems. Effects of the floods include death, injuries, damage to properties, and diseases. Remedial measures for the recurrence of floods include enlargement of the drainages, frequent cleaning of the drainage systems, avoiding disposal of waste in the drainages and demolishing all buildings which obstruct the flow of water. The study recommends reinforcement of emergencies, preparedness, resettling people living in flood-prone areas, and acting on forecasts provided by the Meteorological Authority in the study area.
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In this paper, using two case studies from the Hibernia offshore platform construction project, we argue that follow-up based on the hypothesis-testing approach typically adopted in biophysical effects monitoring could be more wid...
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In this paper, using two case studies from the Hibernia offshore platform construction project, we argue that follow-up based on the hypothesis-testing approach typically adopted in biophysical effects monitoring could be more widely adopted in socio-economic effects monitoring. While there are some significantly different issues associated with socio-economic and biophysical monitoring, we argue that such an approach in the socio-economic context would encourage more focused attention on monitoring objectives, more appropriate data collection and clearer identification of project-specific impacts, thereby offering more credible and useful information to decision-makers than is now often the case.
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Small mining towns are often single-industry towns that turn to ghost towns or face negative socio-economic impacts upon mine closure. This study qualitatively explores the roles that mining companies and other key stakeholders (s...
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Small mining towns are often single-industry towns that turn to ghost towns or face negative socio-economic impacts upon mine closure. This study qualitatively explores the roles that mining companies and other key stakeholders (should) play in the development of local economies of the small mining communities to bring about economic sustainability, employing a constant comparative analysis. A small mining town in South Africa is the case study. Legislative and policy frameworks were scrutinized for their effectiveness in promoting economic sustainability. In-depth interviews with key stakeholders were carried out. Key factors limiting the effective implementation of developmental strategies were also explored. The study finds that weak community involvement, lack of trust, poor collaboration, poor municipal capacity, and legislation and policy flaws impact economic sustainability. Sustainable local economic development efforts are reported though. However, such efforts are insufficient because of the legislation and policy frameworks that are promoting short-term growth. Also, the town’s overdependence on the mining company, local government not optimally fulfilling their roles and responsibilities, and minimal community members’ participation on local economic development are other hindrances. However, the fact that the mining company and local municipality do acknowledge the shortcomings in their efforts towards promoting economic sustainability is a promise in minimizing the socio-economic effects of mine closures.
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This article focuses on residential energy consumption in France. Using a bottom-up statistical approach, this analysis explores determinants of household energy consumption using data from the most recent National Housing Survey....
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This article focuses on residential energy consumption in France. Using a bottom-up statistical approach, this analysis explores determinants of household energy consumption using data from the most recent National Housing Survey. The primary objective is to tease out the impacts of various factors on the domestic energy consumption spectrum across different population groups. The aim of this approach is to neutralize conventional factors affecting energy consumption (age of house, total area, etc.) to finely analyze the impact of other determinants including those relating to household characteristics and other control variables.
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Bronchiectasis is an abnormal permanent dilatation distortion and destruction of the airways with both pulmonary and extrapulmonary side-effects. The aim of the study was to find out the presenting features, aetiologies and socio-...
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Bronchiectasis is an abnormal permanent dilatation distortion and destruction of the airways with both pulmonary and extrapulmonary side-effects. The aim of the study was to find out the presenting features, aetiologies and socio-economic factors in patients of bronchiectasis. It is a prospective observational study comprising 53 patients over a period of two years. Aetiologies were determined using Kuppuswamy's socioeconomic scale. Number of exacerbations and mortality were noted. The age ranged from 14 to 80 years (mean: 43.33+-16.37 years). There were 35 males (66%) and 18 females (34%). Clubbing was seen in 58% cases (n=31); 11 % patients (n=6) had haemoptysis. Bilateral involvement was seen in 64% cases (n=34). Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and post-tuberculous sequelae were the commonest causes (n=12,23% each). The range of household medical expenditure in these patients varied from 6% to 47%. Lower the Kuppuswamy scale poorer the follow-up (p-value <0.05). Multiple exacerbations were seen in all classes of patients (p-value 0.09). Death occurred in 4 patients. It is concluded that bronchiectasis is a chronic illness with significant morbidity and socio-economic implications. Lower the socio-economic scale, poorer the compliance of therapy.
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