Changing knowledge and perceptions of African indigenous vegetables: the role of community-based nutritional outreach

African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) have potential to sustainably address malnutrition, a growing problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Their consumption is however, limited by poor perceptions and lack of awareness of nutritional benefits. There is limited evidence of the effectiveness of community-focused information dissemination approaches in influencing participants’ perceptions and uptake of innovations in AIVs to address malnutrition. This article aims to fill this knowledge gap, using a case study focusing on pastoral communities in Monduli district in northern Tanzania. Target communities participated in a community-based nutritional outreach facilitated by the Good Seed Initiative (GSI), held at Monduli district hospital in September 2014. The results provide evidence of the achievements of the GSI intervention, and the effectiveness of alternative information dissemination approaches.     

Procompetitive dual pricing

We analyze the procompetitive effects of dual pricing, that is, input market price discrimination. An upstream firm has an incentive to maintain competition downstream which is realized by selling at an advantageous price to an inefficient downstream firm when discrimination is possible while it would exit under uniform pricing. We augment the exit issue into existing frameworks of Katz (Am Econ Rev 77:154–167, 1987), DeGraba (Am Econ Rev 80:1246–1253, 1990), and Yoshida (Am Econ Rev 90:240–246, 2000) which allows us to show that price discrimination in intermediary goods markets tends to have positive effects on allocative, dynamic and productive efficiency, respectively. In contrast, a discrimination ban tends to facilitate exit of relatively inefficient firms, thereby strengthening downstream market concentration.     

Gender, social support, and depression in criminal justice-involved adolescents

Knowing where criminal justice-involved teens look for support and whether those supports reduce depression has important and possibly gender-specific treatment implications for this vulnerable population. This study examines the relationships between social support and depression in a mixed-gender sample of 198 incarcerated adolescents. Greater support from families and overall and greater satisfaction with supports predicted lower depression for boys and girls. Support from siblings and extended family strongly predicted lower depression; support from parents and from friends was either not related or only weakly related to depression. Girls reported higher levels of depression, more support from friends and extended family, and less support from parents than did boys. Family, sibling, and overall support were stronger predictors of depression for girls than for boys. Results suggest that nonparent family members, especially siblings and extended family, provide important emotional resources for teens in the criminal justice system.     

Blast Suppression Foam,Aqueous Gel Blocks,and their Effect on Subsequent Analysis of Forensic Evidence*

In addition to having blast mitigation properties, aqueous foam concentrate AFC-380 blast suppression foam is designed to capture aerosolized chemical, biological, and radioactive particles during render-safe procedures of explosive devices. Exposure to aqueous environments and surfactants may negatively affect forensic evidence found at the scene, but the effects of AFC-380 foam and aqueous gel on the preservation and subsequent analysis of forensic evidence have not previously been investigated. Sebaceous finger and palm prints and DNA samples on paper, cardboard, tape, and various metal and plastic items, along with hairs, carpet and yarn fibers, and inks and documents, were exposed to AFC-380 foam. Similar mock evidence was also exposed to a superabsorbent gel of the type found in aqueous gel blocks used for shrapnel containment. Exposure to foam or aqueous gel was associated with a dilution effect for recovered DNA samples, but quality of the samples was not substantially affected. In contrast, exposure to AFC-380 foam or gel was detrimental to development of latent finger and palm prints on any substrate. Neither the hair nor the fiber samples were affected by exposure to either the foam or gel. Indented writing on the document samples was detrimentally affected by foam or gel exposure, but not inks and toners. The results from this study indicate that most types of forensic evidence recovered after being exposed to aqueous gel or blast suppression foam can be reliably analyzed, but latent finger and palm prints may be adversely affected.     

制定一部德意志统一民法典之必要性

在不久前发表的一篇评论文章(<海德堡年鉴>1814年卷,第1-32页)中,本人曾就制定德意志统一民法典之必要性附带发表了一些拙见.这让一些值得尊敬的人士敦促我专文对这一重要问题予以更细致的阐述.     

Telephone Number Allocation: A Property Rights Approach

This paper analyzes the coordination, competition and resource allocation problems associated with telephone numbers, and it examines the advantages and disadvantages of various allocation mechanisms from a property rights perspective. We suggest to move away from current administrative number allocation procedures to a market-based auction mechanism, at least for the most valuable numbers. It is also argued that number portability is essential not only for reducing consumer switching costs, but also for efficient investment into a number's value, as only number portability enables telephone users to obtain unfettered property rights in their telephone numbers.