Income distribution dependence of poverty measure:a theoretical analysis

Using a modified deprivation (or poverty) function, in this paper, we theoretically study the changes in poverty with respect to the 'global' mean and variance of the income distribution using Indian survey data. We show that when the income obeys a log-normal distribution, a rising mean income generally indicates a reduction in poverty while an increase in the variance of the income distribution increases poverty. This altruistic view for a developing economy, however, is not tenable anymore once the poverty index is found to follow a pareto distribution. Here although a rising mean income indicates a reduction in poverty, due to the presence of an inflexion point in the poverty function, there is a critical value of the variance below which poverty decreases with increasing variance while beyond this value, poverty undergoes a steep increase followed by a decrease with respect to higher variance. Identifying this inflexion point as the poverty line, we show that the pareto poverty function satisfies all three standard axioms of a poverty index [N.C. Kakwani, Econometrica 43 (1980) 437; A.K. Sen, Econometrica 44 (1976) 219] whereas the log-normal distribution falls short of this requisite. Following these results, we make quantitative predictions to correlate a developing with a developed economy. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Birmingham relationship continuity measure:the development and evaluation of a measure of the perceived continuity of spousal relationships in dementia

Background: Qualitative research has suggested that spousal carers of someone with dementia differ in terms of whether they perceive their relationship with that person as continuous with the premorbid relationship or as radically different, and that a perception of continuity may be associated with more person-centered care and the experience of fewer of the negative emotions associated with caring. The aim of the study was to develop and evaluate a quantitative measure of the extent to which spousal carers perceive the relationship to be continuous. Methods: An initial pool of 42 questionnaire items was generated on the basis of the qualitative research about relationship continuity. These were completed by 51 spousal carers and item analysis was used to reduce the pool to 23 items. The retained items, comprising five subscales, were then administered to a second sample of 84 spousal carers, and the questionnaire's reliability, discriminative power, and validity were evaluated. Results: The questionnaire showed good reliability: Cronbach's α for the full scale was 0.947, and test-retest reliability was 0.932. Ferguson's δ was 0.987, indicating good discriminative power. Evidence of construct validity was provided by predicted patterns of subscale correlations with the Closeness and Conflict Scale and the Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory. Conclusion: Initial psychometric evaluation of the measure was encouraging. The measure provides a quantitative means of investigating ideas from qualitative research about the role of relationship continuity in influencing how spousal carers provide care and how they react emotionally to their caring role. © 2012 International Psychogeriatric Association.

Evaluation in translation:critical points of translator decision-making

Book review: Evaluation in Translation: Critical Points of Translator Decision-Making, by Jeremy Munday, London, Routledge, 2012, 194 pp., £95 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-415-57769-4, £26.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-415-57770-0.

The evolution of "classical mythology" within marketing measure development

Purpose - This paper provides a deeper examination of the fundamentals of commonly-used techniques - such as coefficient alpha and factor analysis - in order to more strongly link the techniques used by marketing and social researchers to their underlying psychometric and statistical rationale. Design/methodology approach - A wide-ranging review and synthesis of psychometric and other measurement literature both within and outside the marketing field is used to illuminate and reconsider a number of misconceptions which seem to have evolved in marketing research. Findings - The research finds that marketing scholars have generally concentrated on reporting what are essentially arbitrary figures such as coefficient alpha, without fully understanding what these figures imply. It is argued that, if the link between theory and technique is not clearly understood, use of psychometric measure development tools actually runs the risk of detracting from the validity of the measures rather than enhancing it. Research limitations/implications - The focus on one stage of a particular form of measure development could be seen as rather specialised. The paper also runs the risk of increasing the amount of dogma surrounding measurement, which runs contrary to the spirit of this paper. Practical implications - This paper shows that researchers may need to spend more time interpreting measurement results. Rather than simply referring to precedence, one needs to understand the link between measurement theory and actual technique. Originality/value - This paper presents psychometric measurement and item analysis theory in easily understandable format, and offers an important set of conceptual tools for researchers in many fields. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Migration of additives from thermoplastic polymers

A homologous series of ultra-violet stabilisers containing 2-hydroxybenzophenone (HBP) moiety as a uv absorbing chromophore with varying alkyl chain lengths and sizes were prepared by known chemical synthesis. The strong absorbance of the HBP chromophore was utilized to evaluate the concentration of these stabilisers in low density polyethylene films and concentration of these stabilisers in low density polyethylene films and in relevant solvents by ultra-violet/visible spectroscopy. Intrinsic diffusion coefficients, equilibrium solubilities, volatilities from LDPE films and volatility of pure stabilisers were studied over a temperature range of 5-100oC. The effects of structure, molecular weight and temperature on the above parameters were investigated and the results were analysed on the basis of theoretical models published in the literature. It has been found that an increase in alkyl chain lengths does not change the diffusion coefficients to a significant level, while attachment of polar or branched alkyl groups change their value considerably. An Arrhenius type of relationship for the temperature dependence of diffusion coefficients seems to be valid only for a narrow temperature range, and therefore extrapolation of data from one temperature to another leads to a considerable error. The evidence showed that increase in additive solubility in the polymer is favoured by lower heat of fusions and melting points of additives. This implies the validity of simple regular solution theory to provide an adequate basis for understanding the solubility of additives in polymers The volubility of stabilisers from low density polyethylene films showed that of an additive from a polymer can be expressed in terms of a first-order kinetic equation. In addition the rate of loss of stabilisers was discussed in relation to its diffusion, solubility and volatility and found that all these factors may contribute to the additive loss, although one may be a rate determining factor. Stabiliser migration from LDPE into various solvents and food simulants was studied at temperatures 5, 23, 40 and 70oC; from the plots of rate of migration versus square root time, characteristic diffusion coefficients were obtained by using the solution of Fick's diffusion equations. It was shown that the rate of migration depends primarily on partition coefficients between solvent and the polymer of the additive and also on the swelling action of the contracting media. Characteristic diffusion coefficients were found to approach to intrinsic values in non swelling solvents, whereas in the case of highly swollen polymer samples, the former may be orders of magnitude greater than the latter.

The development, evaluation and use of freshly isolated renal proxinal tubule systems in the fischer rat

The investigation of renal pathophysiology and toxicology has traditionally been advanced by the development of increasingly defined and refined in vitro preparations. This study has sought to develop and evaluate various methods of producing pure samples of renal proximal tubules (PTs) from the Fischer rat. The introduction summarised the most common in vitro preparations together with the parameters used to monitor viability - particularly with regard to toxic events. The most prevalent isolation methods have involved the use of collagenase to produce dissociation of the cortex. However, the present study has shown that even the mildest collagenase treatment caused significant structural damage which resulted in a longevity of only 3hr in suspension. An alternative mechanical isolation technique has been developed in this study that consists of perfusion loading the renal glomeruli with Fe304 followed by disruption of the cortex by homogenisation and sequential sieving. The glomeruli are removed magnetically and the PTs then harvested by a 64μM sieve. PTs isolated in this way showed a vastly superior structural preservation over their collagenase isolated counterparts; also oxygen consumption and enzyme leakage measurements showed a longevity in excess of 6hr when incubated in a very basic medium. Attempts were then made to measure the cytosolic calcium levels in both mechanical and collagenase isolated PTs using the fluorescent calcium indicator Fura. However results were inconclusive due to significant binding of the Fura to the external PT surfaces. In conclusion, PTs prepared by the present mechanical isolation technique exhibit superior preservation and longevity compared with even the mildest collagenase isolation technique and hence appear to offer potential advantages over collagenase isolation as an in vitro renal system.