Branchless banking (BB) represents a significantly cheaper alternative to conventional ... risk reward balancing is necessary to use such models. In line with its responsibility to promote financial inclusion without ...
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The element chromium (Cr) in the +3 oxidation state has been proposed to be an essential trace element for mammals [14]. The National Academy of Sciences of the United States has set the adequate intake (AI) of chromium at 35 µg daily for men and 25 µg daily for women [13]. Even though the typical American diet provides an adequate amount of chromium, chromium supplements are currently on the market and include chromium chloride, chromium picolinate, and chromium nicotinate. However, a consensus exists among researchers that chromium supplementation of healthy rats does not provide any therapeutic effects except for the compound Cr3 [10, 8, 15, 1]. Several reasons may explain this difference among Cr chloride, Cr nicotinate, Cr picolinate and the cation Cr3.
Olin et al. [9] and Anderson et al. [2] have shown that Cr chloride, Cr nicotinate, and Cr picolinate are absorbed with efficiencies between 0.5-1.3 % of the gavaged dose after 24 hours. However, for Cr3, 40% of the Cr at a pharmacological dose and 60% of the Cr at a nutritionally relevant dose are absorbed over a 24 hour period. (The nutritional dose was 3 µg Cr/kg body mass while the pharmacological dose was 3 mg Cr/kg body mass). The better absorption efficiency of Cr3 may explain its better effectiveness as a therapeutic agent.
Growing economic disparities between the industrialized West and underdeveloped countries and decreased costs of transportation have caused a spurt in immigration over the past few decades. Countries such as Canada, the U.S., Sweden, and Switzerland with more liberal immigration regimes have seen foreign-born populations expand into the double digits as a percentage of their total populations (OECD 2001 and author‘s calculations for Sweden). With this growth, however, have come calls from some quarters that countries re-examine their abilities to absorb large streams of immigrants (Briggs 1996).
Immigration affects host countries in a variety of ways–socioeconomically, demographically, spatially and culturally (Briggs 1996; Greenwood 1994; Simon 1989). These effects have been studied exhaustively through the past few decades using a variety of qualitative and quantitative approaches. However, most of these studies address historical conditions and patterns, while many of the questions being raised are of a —what if“ nature. Simulation, which can be used to examine the consequences of alternative immigration policies, is potentially one of the most useful tools for answering such questions but unfortunately is rarely used. The absence of large-scale economic-demographic models with detailed economic-population linkages has meant that few immigration policy handles are available for the social scientist to reliably simulate immigration.
Demographic change is a growing concern for both developed and developing countries. Increasing longevity and reduced fertility threaten the sustainability of traditional pay-as-you-go pension systems. The pension contributions from the working population will not be sufficient to support the elderly. In response, countries are increasingly shifting their pension systems toward partial or full funding. In addition to the main purpose of coping with demographic pressures and unsustainable fiscal positions, other motivations for countries to reform their pension systems often include the hope that funded pensions will contribute to economic development by promoting national savings and capital market development.
