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We run a randomized controlled experiment in which farmers trained on a new rice cultivation method (SRI) teach two other farmers selected by us. We find that farmers invited to teach others are much more likely to adopt new practices than farmers who only receive the BRAC training. Teacher farmers are effective at spreading knowledge and inducing adoption. Incentivizing teachers improves knowledge transmission but not adoption. Matching teachers with farmers who list them as role models does not improve knowledge transmission and may hurt adoption. Using mediation analysis, we find that the knowledge of the teacher is correlated with that of their student, consistent with knowledge transmission. We also find that SRI knowledge predicts adoption of some SRI practices, and that adoption by teachers predicts adoption by their students, suggesting that students follow the example of their teacher. Explicitly mobilizing peer-to-peer (P2P) transmission of knowledge thus seems a cost-effective way of inducing the adoption of new agricultural practices.

Using a randomised experiment in 200 Bangladeshi villages, we evaluate the impact of an over-the-phone learning support intervention (telementoring) among primary school children and their mothers during Covid-19 school closures. Post-intervention, treated children scored 35% higher on a standardised test, and the homeschooling involvement of treated mothers increased by 22 minutes per day (26%). We also found that the intervention forestalled treated children's learning losses. When we returned to the participants one year later, after schools briefly reopened, we found that the treatment effects had persisted. Academically weaker children benefited the most from the intervention that only cost USD20 per child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated mitigation policies created a global economic and health crisis of unprecedented depth and scale, raising the estimated prevalence of depression by more than a quarter in high-income countries. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) suffered the negative effects on living standards the most severely. However, the consequences of the pandemic for mental health in LMICs have received less attention. Therefore, this study assesses the association between the COVID-19 crisis and mental health in 8 LMICs. Methods and findings We conducted a prospective cohort study to examine the correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health in 10 populations from 8 LMICs in Asia, Africa, and South America. The analysis included 21,162 individuals (mean age 38.01 years, 64% female) who were interviewed at least once pre- as well as post-pandemic. The total number of survey waves ranged from 2 to 17 (mean 7.1). Our individual-level primary outcome measure was based on validated screening tools for depression and a weighted index of depression questions, dependent on the sample. Sample-specific estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between COVID-19 periods and mental health were estimated using linear regressions with individual fixed effects, controlling for independent time trends and seasonal variation in mental health where possible. In addition, a regression discontinuity design was used for the samples with multiple surveys conducted just before and after the onset of the pandemic. We aggregated sample-specific coefficients using a random-effects model, distinguishing between estimates for the short (0 to 4 months) and longer term (4+ months). The random-effects aggregation showed that depression symptoms are associated with a increase by 0.29 standard deviations (SDs) (95% CI [-.47, -.11], p-value = 0.002) in the 4 months following the onset of the pandemic. This change was equivalent to moving from the 50th to the 63rd percentile in our median sample. Although aggregate depression is correlated with a decline to 0.21 SD (95% CI [-0.07, -.34], p-value = 0.003) in the period thereafter, the average recovery of 0.07 SD (95% CI [-0.09, .22], p-value = 0.41) was not statistically significant. The observed trends were consistent across countries and robust to alternative specifications. Two limitations of our study are that not all samples are representative of the national population, and the mental health measures differ across samples. Conclusions Controlling for seasonality, we documented a large, significant, negative association of the pandemic on mental health, especially during the early months of lockdown. The magnitude is comparable (but opposite) to the effects of cash transfers and multifaceted antipoverty programs on mental health in LMICs. Absent policy interventions, the pandemic could be associated with a lasting legacy of depression, particularly in settings with limited mental health support services, such as in many LMICs. We also demonstrated that mental health fluctuates with agricultural crop cycles, deteriorating during 'lean', pre-harvest periods and recovering thereafter. Ignoring such seasonal variations in mental health may lead to unreliable inferences about the association between the pandemic and mental health., Author(s): Nursena Aksunger 1, Corey Vernot 2, Rebecca Littman 3, Maarten Voors 4, Niccolò F. Meriggi 5, Amanuel Abajobir 6, Bernd Beber 7, Katherine Dai 8, Dennis Egger 9, Asad [...]

Delivering validated information to rural areas is a major challenge in low-income countries. In this paper, we study information provision to rural communities in the context of a global outbreak of an infectious disease—COVID-19. Two weeks after the initial lockdown in March 2020, we conducted a randomized experiment in rural Bangladesh and India to disseminate health information over the phone. We find that relative to information provided via SMS, phone calls can significantly improve people's awareness and compliance with health guidelines. We also find compliance to be substantially higher among women, which also persists after three months of the campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the effects of non-partisan information and get-out-the-vote campaigns on the partisan composition of the voting population in competitive authoritarian elections, we conducted a large-scale field experiment prior to the 2018 Bangladeshi general election. Our two treatments highlight that high turnout increases the winning party's legitimacy and that election outcomes matter for policy outcomes. Both treatments increase turnout (measured by ink marks) in government strongholds, but decrease turnout in opposition strongholds. We explain the withdrawal of treated opposition supporters and conclude that non-partisan information and get-out-the-vote campaigns can further tilt the uneven playing field in competitive authoritarian elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is devoted to an investigation of the TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) diagnostics and self-diagnostics problems. The aim of the current research is to prepare the TCAS system built-in diagnostics aid and to build a model of a device for non-contact monitoring of the TCAS unit operational status. The tasks of the research are the following: to conduct analysis of the features and capabilities of the TCAS diagnostic techniques and aids; to develop a model which can detect the spurious actuation of the system and false decision-making; to prepare techniques which can detect such behavior of the system during a flight; to construct a model of a device for built-in diagnostics based on an non-contact monitoring of the TCAS states. The applied techniques of the researches are the following: application of signs, facts, and heuristic information about faults, implementation of an instrumental approach and diagnostic techniques based on an estimation of measured and monitored parameters. The system state monitoring method was proposed to carry out non-contact diagnostics of the system and to monitor the operating modes. This method is based on operating current variations by means of current measure using non-contact meters. It was proposed to apply the Hall sensor and the Rogowski coil to carry out such diagnostics. The schematic model to monitor the operation of the TCAS receiving and computing unit is developed considering Hall sensors’ capabilities to measure both direct and alternating currents. It was proposed the method and schematics to monitor TCAS system transmitter operating modes due to the fact that Rogowski coil is capable to measure both pulse and HF currents. This promotes to carry out diagnostics of the system proper operation. Several model versions of Rogowski coil are developed. Researches were carried out applying self-contained testing device (АКИП – 3407/2А) and Tektronics TSB digital oscilloscope. Conclusions. The novelty of the carried researches is follows: it is proposed a method for monitoring the variations of operating currents applied by the TCAS basic units for providing the self-contained diagnostics system; it is proposed a method for monitoring the system state according to the operating current variations, based on current measurements applying the Hall sensor and the Rogowski coil to provide the TCAS non-contact diagnostics. The research includes analysis of the laboratory measurements which were performed applying several versions of the Rogowski coil. Functional diagrams of the coil connections to the circuit are developed applying MultiSim14. The logical unit of the TCAS electrical modes built-in monitoring device is developed applying MatLab and MultiSim14

In this paper, we suggest a modification for the residual power series method that is used to solve fractional-order Helmholtz equations, which is called the Shehu-transform residual power series method (S T-RPSM). This scheme uses a combination of the Shehu transform (S T) and the residual power series method (RPSM). The fractional derivatives are taken with respect to Caputo order. The novelty of this approach is that it does not restrict the fractional order and reduces the need for heavy computational work. The results were obtained using an iterative series that led to an exact solution. The 3D graphical plots for different values of fractional orders are shown to compare S T-RPSM results with exact solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]