High Linkages Research Articles

Data Quality and Legal Barriers to Linking US Government Social Program Data

To link social program data, such as employment, welfare, education, and human services data, a set of high-quality variables or fields are needed to facilitate rigorous linkage. The siloed nature of data collection in the US leads to a lack of consistency in the data that agencies collect. The data that one needs to make high quality linkages are often exactly those that government agencies are unwilling and unable to collect, or those that have poor quality. This has significant implications for privacy-protecting record-linkage and other techniques whereby privacy and confidentiality can be appropriately addressed. There are some obvious examples. For example, in the US, many agencies are unlikely to collect or share Social Security Number because of privacy concerns. A different type of example many agencies collect race or ethnicity poorly, so that the data is not consistent over time or simply inaccurate at the point of collection. Some programs may only collect age or month and year of birthdate. This presentation will discuss strategies to address these barriers short of changing agency practice around data sharing. It will also address how policies are a barrier to better linkage and data use. Also, how the proposed National Secure Data Service may affect state capacity to conduct linkage will also be discussed. This presentation is based on 40 years of experience working with the US federal government, states, and local agencies.

Generation Victoria (GenV): Creating a large consented longitudinal infrastructure for discovery and intervention research

Designed to help solve complex problems facing children and adults, Generation Victoria is Australia’s largest-ever birth cohort, and the only such cohort mounted internationally during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we describe progress in bringing together this ‘cell-to-society’ consented cohort with diverse existing data and biosamples assets. GenV is a whole-of-state consented cohort open to all Victorian children born October 2021-October 2023 and their parents. With over 117,000 participants to date (babies, mothers, fathers and non-binary parents), GenV closely reflects Australia's diverse demographics. At recruitment parents consent to GenV accessing (a) government managed and routinely collected administrative datasets across health, primary care, education, social care and geospatial and clinical datasets, (b) residual biosamples, (c) clinical and other service records and (d) spatial data. To date, GenV has developed protocols, governance and technical requirements for linking birthing hospitals clinical data, state based administrative datasets and residual samples from statewide pathology labs. In pilot studies we have achieved high linkages rate (over 98%) with the state-based linkage spine and with clinical records from one birthing hospital. Universal newborn blood spot linkage is nearing completion. We are developing methods to include our natural and built environment exposome platform, antenatal imaging and trials data. While challenging, GenV has encountered no significant barriers in creating an enduring, linked and secure data resource to advance future evidence-based decision making for child, family and adult outcomes. Our collaborative approach welcomes partnerships to co-build and enhance the muti-sectoral data and its utility.

Preface

5th International Conference on Civil Engineering Trends and Challenges for Sustainability (CTCS-2023) (Under the Aegis of ICETE 2023 Multi-Conference Platform) 19th & 20th December 2023 Organized by Department of Civil Engineering About NITTE (Deemed to be University) Nitte (Deemed-to-be University) has its roots in a group of Institutions established by the Nitte Education Trust. The Trust was established in 1979 by one of India’s respected Statesman, Late Justice KS Hegde, Supreme Court Judge and Speaker of Lok Sabha, with the mission of empowering rural youth through quality education and healthcare. The Trust has established 36 institutions spread in three campuses at Nitte, Mangalore and Bangalore. It offers education in diverse areas of learning including health professions education, engineering, management, humanities, general education, vocational training, and school/pre-university education. The University offers a total of 98 programs in the disciplines of engineering, medicine, allied health sciences, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, physiotherapy, speech and audiology, biological sciences, media & communication, commerce, science, management, and Architecture. It has 10,000+ students, over 875 faculty members and over 2475 support staff on roll. The University campuses are spread over 52 acres in Deralakatte-Paneer areas of Mangalore and 110 acres in Nitte. The University received A+ Grading in NAAC accreditation in 2021. It has been consistently placed in the Top 65-80 rank band in NIRF. The University is placed in the 401 to 450 Rank Band in the QS Rankings for Asia Region. It has received Diamond rating in the QS I-Gauge India Ratings. The Constituent colleges of the university have good standing in their disciplines in the NIRF rankings. In 2023, Nitte University has obtained 65th Rank, the dental college ranked 5th and pharmacy colleges ranked 46th in NIRF. The BPharm program of the University is accredited by NBA. The teaching hospital is accredited by both NABH and NABL. About the Institute Nitte Mahalinga Adyantaya Memorial Institute of Technology(NMAMIT), Nitte, established in 1986 and recognized by the All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi, has been a constituent college of Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru, since June 2022. Rank band 101-150 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2023 by Ministry of Education, Government of India, the College has been placed under ‘Platinum’ category for having high industry linkages by the AICTE-CII Survey of Industry-Linked Technical Institutes 2020. NMAMIT, the off-campus centre of Nitte DU located at Nitte village, has active collaborations with several international universities and organizations for faculty and student exchanges, research, internships and placements. The Institute offers UG engineering program in eleven disciplines; Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (AI&ML), Artificial Intelligence & Data Science (AI&DS), Biotechnology (BT), Civil Engineering(CIV), Computer & Communication Engineering (CCE), Computer Science & Engineering(CS), Electrical & Electronics Engineering (E&E), Electronics & Communication Engineering (E&C), Information Science & Engineering (IS), Mechanical Engineering(MECH) and Robotics & Artificial Intelligence (R&AI ). Out of these programs, seven UG programs i.e., BT, CIV, CS, E&E, E&C, IS and MECH are accredited by NBA, New Delhi under Tier - I category till 30 June 2025. The institute also offers PG program M.Tech. in seven disciplines namely Construction Technology, Computer Science & Engineering, Cyber Security, Electric Vehicle Technology, Machine Design, Structural Engineering and VLSI Design & Embedded Systems as well as MCA program. All the departments have qualified research guides for students interested in taking up research work leading to Ph.D. List of About the Organizing Department, About the Conference, Keynote Speakers, Theme of the Conference, Thrust Areas, Publication Partner, Paper Submission, Accommodation, Conference Location and Contact Us are available in this Pdf.

Pyridazine-Promoted Construction of Vinylene-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks with Exceptional Capability of Stepwise Water Harvesting.

In this study, we successfully developed two novel vinylene-linked covalent organic frameworks (COFs) using 2-connected 3,6-dimethylpyridazine through Knoevenagel condensation. These COFs featured finely tailored micro-/nano-scale pore sizes, high surface areas and stable non-polar vinylene linkages. Finely resolved powder X-ray diffraction patterns demonstrated highly crystalline structures with a hexagonal lattice in the AA layer stacking. The resulting one-dimensional channels possess strong hydrogen-bond accepting sites arising from the decorated cis-azo/azine units with two pairs of fully exposed lone pair electrons, endowing the as-prepared COFs with exceptional water absorption properties. The g-DZPH-COF exhibited successive steep water uptake steps starting from low relative pressures (P/PSTA=0.1), with the remarkable water uptake capacity of 0.26 g/g at P/PSTA=0.2 (25 °C), which is the optimal value recorded among the reported COFs. Dynamic vapour sorption measurements revealed the fast kinetics of these COFs, even in the cluster formation process. Water uptake and release cycling tests demonstrated their outstanding hydrolytic stability, durability, and adsorption-desorption retention ability.

Applying the hypothetical extraction method to investigate the interindustry greenhouse gas emissions linkages in the Greek economy

ABSTRACT This paper examines the interindustry greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linkages within the Greek economy for the year 2018, using a symmetric I-O table and air emissions accounts data. The GHG linkages among industries are analyzed both from a demand and supply perspective by applying an environmental modification of the Dietzenbacher and van der Linden’s Hypothetical Extraction Method (1997), as introduced and discussed in Tsirimokos (2022). The findings reveal that: (i) the ‘Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply’ industry exhibits the highest total absolute backward and forward linkages; (ii) the ‘Real estate activities’ industry demonstrates the highest relative backward and forward linkages; (iii) industries with low (high) relative linkages generally, exhibit high (low) internal linkages; and (iv) the ‘Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply’ and ‘Transportation and storage’ industries are the primary GHG emissions contributors within the Greek economy. These empirical results can inform the development of effective environmental policies, supporting Greece in achieving its climate action plan objectives.

Self-sampling strategies (with/without digital innovations) in populations at risk of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae: a systematic review and meta-analyses

BackgroundChlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) resulted in over 200 million new sexually transmitted infections last year. Self-sampling strategies alone or combined with digital innovations (ie, online, mobile or...

Influence of Monomer Structure, Initiation, and Porosity on Mechanical and Morphological Characteristics of Thiol‐ene PolyHIPEs

AbstractCombining high internal phase emulsion templating with thiol‐ene click chemistry produces porous polymers with high yields and degradable ester linkages. This study compares the influence of the monomer functionalities (tri versus tetra), internal phase volume, and initiation type (photo versus thermal) on the morphological and mechanical properties of poly(high internal phase emulsions) (polyHIPEs). For the synthesis of the polyHIPEs pentaerythritol tetrakis(3‐mercaptopropionate) (PETMP, tetrafunctional), trimethylolpropane tris(3‐mercaptopropionate) (TMPTMP, trifunctional), pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PETA, tetrafunctional), and trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA, trifunctional) are used. The main factors influencing the properties of the polyHIPEs are the monomer structures and the internal phase volume, while the initiation type influences the morphology of the trifunctional system (pore size and morphology type) resulting in an interconnected cellular morphology in all cases except in the case of the photopolymerization of the emulsion with 85 vol% of the internal phase. The average pore diameter of the trifunctional system ranges from 8.0 to 27.8 µm, while for the tetrafunctional system it ranges from 8.1 to 12.3 µm. The compression moduli of the trifunctional system range from 0.093 to 0.240 MPa and for the tetrafunctional system they range from 1.906 to 7.670 MPa. The compression moduli decrease with increasing internal phase volume (porosity).

Critical Analysis of Backward and Forward Linkages in Cotton Cultivation

Backward and forward linkages will help cotton growers to plan their farm activities in advance from production to post production activities and gain information about inter-sectoral linkages operating in cotton cultivation.Understanding the significance of backward and forward linkages in the contemporary scenario, an attempt was made to find out the activity wise backward and forward linkages followed by cotton growers in cotton cultivation. Based on maximum area under cotton cultivation Kurnool and Guntur districts from the state of Andhra Pradesh were purposively selected. An ex-post facto research design was used for the study and the data were collected using pre-structured interview schedule from 240 respondents through multi-stages ampling. The results showed that, with respect to backward linkages more than half (58.33%) of the farmers were having moderate/medium backward linkages with various agencies followed by 21.25 per cent were having low and remaining 20.41 per cent were having high level of backward linkages with various agencies. With respect to forward linkages nearly half (49.58%) of the farmers were having forward linkages with various agencies followed by 30.41 per cent were having low and rest onefifth (20.00%) were having high backward linkages with various agencies.These findings draw attention of researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders for the introduction of innovative methods in better indulgent of backward and forward linkages in cotton cultivation.

An assessment of the linkages between the construction and other sectors of the Nigerian economy

PurposeThe construction sector (CNS) occupies a very unique position in any economy depending on whether developed or developing economy. The size and linkages of the CNS are expected to be high to help push or pull the economy from developing to developed economy through elaborate forward and backward linkages, a cardinal aim of developing economies. This paper aims to investigate the forward and backward linkages of the CNS in the Nigerian economy.Design/methodology/approachIn contrast to the traditional input–output analysis to assess sectoral economic performance and production interdependence, this paper used econometric techniques, including unit root test, cointegration test and Granger causality test to analyze the data. Time-series data (TSD) for the study were extracted from United Nations Statistical Department database.FindingsThe result indicated that the CNS has low forward linkages but high backward linkages to virtually all the sectors of the Nigerian economy. Thus, the outputs of construction mainly satisfy the manufacturing and other activities.Originality/valueThe paper gives an insight into the construction on backward linkages but less extensive forward linkages. The paper recommends a massive local content development of sector to deepen backward and forward linkages and thus helps pull or push weak sectors out of stagnation.

Highly active bifunctional dual-arm organoboron catalysts bearing cooperative intramolecular structures for the copolymerization of CO2 and epoxides

A series of bifunctional hexanuclear organoboron catalysts with dual-arm structures were facile prepared via a two-step procedure in ~100% yields featuring six boron centers and two quaternary ammonium bromides for the epoxides/CO2 copolymerization. The boron active sites within the p-HexaB, m-HexaB, and o-HexaB catalysts were like two stretched “arms” presenting the cooperative intramolecular structures as para-, meta-, and ortho-locations, respectively. For propylene oxide (PO)/CO2 copolymerization, the catalysts exhibited > 99% polymer selectivity under 25 – 60 ℃. The p-HexaB catalyst provided the highest carbonate linkages (88%) in the poly(propylene carbonate)s while the o-HexaB catalyst generated much more ether linkages as 45%. The o-HexaB catalyst performed higher activity in cyclohexane oxide (CHO)/CO2 copolymerization, obtaining fully alternating poly(cyclohexane carbonate)s with > 99% polymer selectivity under 25 – 150 ℃. For electron-withdrawing epichlorohydrin (ECH) monomer, the catalysts showed highly selective copolymerization (>99% polymer selectivity) and enhanced activity in comparison with tetraboron catalysts, providing poly(chloropropylene carbonate)s with > 99% carbonate linkages under 25 – 40 ℃. A novel bilaterally sequential copolymerization mechanism for alternating epoxide/CO2 insertion was proposed and verified by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Bearing dual-arm intramolecular structures, the catalysts withstood the simultaneous growth of two polymer chains, achieving the enhanced activity for the copolymerization. Thus, up to seven effective boron pairs were found in the o-HexaB catalysts within the unique cooperative structure, leading to the PO homopolymerization in the copolymer with high ether linkages. Meanwhile, the o-HexaB catalyst with enough steric space exhibited higher activity than p-HexaB and m-HexaB catalysts during the copolymerization.

Identification of Key Sectors in Nigeria – Evidence of Backward and Forward Linkages from Input-Output Analysis

The input-output table provides summary information on the industrial structure of an economy in a specific period. This table contains information on the flow of goods and services between industries and economic sectors. The backward and forward links are descriptive measures of the economic interdependence of sectors in terms of the volume of transactions. Sectors with strong backwards and forward linkages are vital sectors and play an essential role in a country’s development strategy. This paper aims to construct a symmetric input-output table for Nigeria and examine the Nigerian economy’s production structure by using the results applying traditional backward and forward linkage methods developed by Chenery-Watanabe and Rasmussen. Our study identifies the key sectors with backward and forward linkages as Crop and Animal production, Manufacture of Food products, Textiles, Refined petroleum products, Chemicals, Motor vehicles, Furniture, Machinery and equipment, Wholesale/retail trade, Land transport and Telecommunication. In addition, through the constructed symmetric input-output table, sector development can be further done in line with the relationship matrix, as it serves as a conduit for investment strategy, local linkage matrix and policy development. So, for the development strategy it is very important to determine which industries possess high backward and forward linkages, then stimulating final demand or primary inputs namely of these industries could positively influence the economic activity of the country. The results from this work may be used by policy makers in terms of which sectors of the economy stimulate (for example, by means of creating extra final demand, decreasing taxes, or with the help of subsiding) in order to gain better results in the sphere of economic development of Nigeria.

Modelling and Optimization of a Magnetic Spring Based Electromagnetic Vibration Energy Harvester

This paper presents the development of an AA battery size electromagnetic vibration energy harvester with an aim to maximize the output power density. A tube shape and stacked opposing permanent magnets with magnetic spring were used to suit the shape constraint as well as to achieve high flux linkages. An initial prototype of electromagnetic vibration harvester with AA battery size was built and tested on a controllable shaker to obtain its output voltage and power level at different frequencies for fixed accelerations. A single magnet was fixed at the bottom of the harvester to provide levitation force in this development in order to lower the resonant frequency. A special time-domain based analytical model was also developed using both Finite Element Analysis and Simulink simulation. The time-domain analytical model is easier to implement than other frequency domain based analytical models which generally applied in literatures for modelling of the electromagnetic vibration energy harvesters. The analytical model was verified by the measured results obtained from the initial prototype. The validated analytical model was successfully applied to optimize the harvester. Two more generator prototypes were further built and tested after the optimization study. The optimized harvester using three stacked opposing permanent magnets could achieve a normalized power density of 12,655 μWcm−3 g−2 at 9.9 Hz frequency with 0.22 g acceleration, which is significantly higher than other reported electromagnetic vibration energy harvesters.

Input-output linkages and interdependence between countries in Southern Africa

ABSTRACT Regional industrialisation and integration form part of the economic policy priorities of a number of countries in Southern Africa and of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Manufacturing can be seen as a key driver of domestic and regional industrialisation and growth, given its ability to exhibit high backward and forward input-output linkages. While most input-output research for African countries explores domestic input-output linkages, this paper investigates inter-country intersectoral linkages among five Southern African countries for the years 2000 and 2015. We find that linkages tend to be highest in the manufacturing sector, particularly in ‘food and beverages’, across the countries in the study. We also find that the highest inter-country linkages are found between neighbouring countries. These findings suggest that regional growth may benefit from promoting manufacturing, especially agro-processing sectors. Regional integration may benefit from a specific focus on bilateral relationships between neighbouring countries.

Examining Linkage for National Economic Policy Development

Purpose. To study critically examines links as a criterion in shaping Indonesia’s economic policy and to evaluate the relationship between sectors' forward linkages and sectors' contribution to net export earnings, employment generation, and value-added creation of Indonesia's manufacturing. 
 Design/Method/Approach. Statistical analysis of the industries sectors' forward linkages and sectors' contribution to net export earnings, employment generation, and value-added creation of Indonesia's manufacturing between 1995 and 2005.
 Findings. The policies based on intersectoral input linkages have been prevalent and implemented in many developing countries. Indonesia's Government has frequently introduced the policies based on linkages. It is established that a sector with high linkages does not always provide a greater contribution to the economy. During the research window, sectors with lower forward linkages significantly contributed to Indonesian net export earnings, job creation, and value-added. However, this study does not mean that high connections are bad. This study argues that policymakers should also take into account factors other than relationships.
 Practical implications. The results of analysis links of Indonesia`s performance in the industries from 1995 to 2000 suggest that the policies based on interconnections, such as policies to provide greater domestic added value, are unwarranted, and but there is no need to place too much emphasis by forward linkages in policymaking.
 Originality/Value. This study emphasizes that all factors that are direct in the formulation of economic policy should be considered as comparative advantages.
 Paper type. Empirical.

Improving Agricultural Value Chain Financing: A Case Study of Seng Cu Rice Chain in Lao Cai Province, Vietnam

Nowadays, the value chain financing (AVCF) is considered as an effective agricultural financing approach in the world, however, its prevalence is still limited in developing countries, like Viet Nam. This paper analyses the financial gap between the demands and the actual credit obtained of the Seng Cu (SC) rice chain participants in Lao Cai. Cross-sectional data were collected from 160 face-to-face interviews with SC rice producers and from in-depth interviews with 31 other stakeholders involved in the chain (demand-side) and the representatives of district-branch banks (supply-side) in 2016 - 2017. Overall, almost chain actors had high financial demands, especially upland rice producers and the leading chain actor (TPC). However, they faced many credit constraints related to the strict risk-avoidance strategy and the collateral requirement of banks. Even the SC rice chain confirmed its high potential and many supportive linkages among them developed, the decision-making of banks on credit disbursements still depends on the individual capability of each chain actors, not the entire chain. Thus, the recommendations for policymakers, producers, and agribusiness are suggested to enhance the financial sources going in the chain and the effectiveness of chain actors in the locality.

Coexistence patterns of soil methanogens are closely tied to methane generation and community assembly in rice paddies

BackgroundSoil methanogens participate in complex interactions, which determine the community structures and functions. Studies continue to seek the coexistence patterns of soil methanogens, influencing factors and the contribution to methane (CH4) production, which are regulated primarily by species interactions, and the functional significance of these interactions. Here, methane emissions were measured in rice paddies across the Asian continent, and the complex interactions involved in coexistence patterns of methanogenic archaeal communities were represented as pairwise links in co-occurrence networks.ResultsThe network topological properties, which were positively correlated with mean annual temperature, were the most important predictor of CH4 emissions among all the biotic and abiotic factors. The methanogenic groups involved in commonly co-occurring links among the 39 local networks contributed most to CH4 emission (53.3%), much higher than the contribution of methanogenic groups with endemic links (36.8%). The potential keystone taxa, belonging to Methanobacterium, Methanocella, Methanothrix, and Methanosarcina, possessed high linkages with the methane generation functional genes mcrA, fwdB, mtbA, and mtbC. Moreover, the commonly coexisting taxa showed a very different assembly pattern, with ~ 30% determinism and ~ 70% stochasticity. In contrast, a higher proportion of stochasticity (93~99%) characterized the assembly of endemically coexisting taxa.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the coexistence patterns of microbes are closely tied to their functional significance, and the potential importance of common coexistence further imply that complex networks of interactions may contribute more than species diversity to soil functions.C3W-7jXtk5xnWLKMZMf8GXVideo abstract

Planning for carnivore recolonization by mapping sex-specific landscape connectivity

Identifying and preserving landscape connectivity as well as planning for conflict mitigation are key for facilitating species persistence, especially in increasingly human-dominated landscapes outside of protected areas. Black bears (Ursus americanus) have lost more than a third of their former range throughout North America, but are currently recovering and recolonizing numerous human-modified landscapes. Based on previously developed sex-specific landscape suitability models, we characterized landscape use and connectivity for a recolonizing population. Since female and male carnivores differ in traits such as body size, reproductive strategies, risk aversion, and movement, we developed sex-specific models to assess intra-specific differences. Core areas (patches larger than the median annual range for each sex) represented 53–58% of their predicted suitable range, suggesting a considerable amount of habitat fragmentation. Typical linkages were 31 km for females and 37 km for males, similar to commonly documented dispersal distances for black bears. Due to having more numerous and smaller core areas being connected, female linkages occupied a larger area and had a 26% overlap with male linkages, while males overlapped 65% with females. Independent verified black bear sightings overlapped 40–50% with our predicted female and male areas, and sightings of females with offspring overlapped >90% with our predicted female areas. Anthropogenic barriers with high restoration potential were 2–4 times more numerous than natural barriers. Land cover composition within linkages was similar for both sexes, with the highest proportion of agriculture (mostly pastures and grasses) in the center of the linkage network. Core areas for both sexes extended well beyond protected areas, suggesting that private landowners will play a key role in the maintenance of high quality habitat and linkages for black bears in Missouri. Successful conservation will depend on land management that preserves a variety of high-quality habitat patches and corridors, while identifying areas of potential habitat restoration, as well as targeting management in areas with anticipated increases in bear abundance and conflict.

A country specific point of view on international diversification

This paper adds a country specific point of view on diversification among financial markets. Previous results indicate that emerging markets may generally exhibit higher diversification effects in comparison to developed markets due to lower market linkages. However, the question remains which markets in particular may be more or less attractive among emerging and developed markets as well as in a world market setting. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical study which analyzes this question beyond continental levels only. We analyze diversification by means of optimal portfolio allocations and in terms of tail risk reductions. We also include investors’ tendency to overweight regional investments (home bias). Our results show that Malaysia, Switzerland, Jordan, Chile or Singapore are markets with high diversification potential. On the contrary, Argentina, Brazil and South Korea exhibit high individual risk levels in combination with high market linkages.

Mono- and dinuclear copper complexes coordinated on NNO-tridentate Schiff-base derivatives for copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide and cyclic anhydrides.

A series of bimetallic penta-coordinated copper complexes [Ln2Cu2(OAc)2] (1, 3-7), a mononuclear tetra-coordinated copper complex [LnCu(OAc)] (8 and 9), and a penta-coordinated copper complex [L2Cu(OAc)(H2O)] (10) were prepared by the reaction of Cu(OAc)2·H2O with a variety of NNO-tridentate Schiff-base ligands (L1-H-L9-H) in refluxing 95% ethanol, respectively. However, a dinuclear copper complex [(L2)2Cu2(OAc)2] (2) can be obtained from the treatment of L2-H with a stoichiometric amount of anhydrous Cu(OAc)2 in refluxing absolute EtOH under a dry nitrogen atmosphere. All of these copper complexes are active for the alternating copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide and cyclic anhydride, affording polyesters with moderate polydispersity. In particular, dinuclear copper complexes 1 and 2 performed satisfactorily to produce polyesters with controllable molecular weights and high ester linkages. This is the first example of well-defined copper acetate catalysts active for the copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide-phthalic anhydride or cyclohexene oxide-succinic anhydride which may be advantageous in terms of obviating the use of co-catalysts and low cost as well as an effective copolymerization for the formation of biodegradable polyesters in a controlled fashion.

Are high-linked sectors more productive in India? An analysis under an input–output framework

This paper uses an input–output (I–O) framework, considering five I–O matrices, over the period 1989–90 to 2007–08 to evaluate the total factor productivity growth (TFPG) of different sectors of the Indian economy. The methodology adopted under this framework (Miller and Blair 2009) takes into account not only the contributions of the value-added inputs such as labour and capital but also the contribution of the intermediate inputs to production. Subsequently, we compute forward and backward linkages of sectors in terms of output as well as employment to examine whether the high-linked sectors of the economy are relatively better in terms of productive growth or not. Our results show that agriculture has high employment linkages with other sectors of the economy together with positive TFPG. Several other sectors such as food, beverages, textile, printing, and so on do not necessarily have high linkages even though they reveal positive TFPG, especially during the post-liberalization period. By carrying out a sector-wise analysis, the paper identifies the high-linked sectors that need special attention in terms of productivity improvements for improving overall competitiveness of those industry segments that can generate a high level of output and/or employment through their linkage effects.