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Most impact evaluations of humanitarian cash transfer programmes use traditional metrics of poverty and study average effects of outcomes separately. We analyse the impact of the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) cash programme on the multidimensional poverty of refugees in Turkey, using a purpose-built Refugee Multidimensional Poverty Index (RMPI). We conduct a causal analysis of both average and distributional impacts of the ESSN on the incidence and intensity of multidimensional poverty, and decompose effects for separate dimensions of poverty. Results show that the ESSN significantly reduced the incidence and intensity of multidimensional poverty amongst its beneficiaries. Significant reductions are found in the dimensions of food security, living standards and education. This supports emerging claims that these types of programmes, still relatively new in humanitarian con- texts, can be transformative for their beneficiaries to achieve multiple outcomes simultaneously. Reductions in the deprivation scores of the more deprived households stand out as a finding that outcome-specific evaluations and multidimensional impact evaluations focusing on estimating average treatment effects would have missed, demonstrating the added value of the distributional analyses used. By learning from the largest humanitarian cash programme in the world, results provide important lessons for cash programmes on multidimensional poverty of refugees elsewhere.

This paper explains the revision of the assets indicator of the updated global Multidimensional Poverty Index (global MPI), which was launched just before the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2018. The joint decision of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) to revise the global MPI in 2018 to align it with the Sustainable Development Goals and to best monitor progress towards “leaving no one behind” provided the opportunity to assess the statistical validities of the assets indicator contained in the Original MPI, jointly designed by OPHI and UNDP Human Development Report Office (HDRO) in 2010, and an assets indicator included in an Innovative MPI, which was developed by UNDP HDRO in 2014. Further, considering the improvements in many Demographic and Health Surveys, Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys and selected national surveys in recent years, from which the global MPI is constructed, the revision also offered an occasion to assess whether the inclusion of additional assets would add value to a revised asset index for the updated global MPI 2018. Taking into account a blend of inputs, including statistical test results, public consultations, normative reasoning and substantive trial measures of possible asset indices as outlined in detail in this paper, the revised assets indicator maintained the structure of the Original MPI, but added computer and animal cart as additional items. Here we explain the reasons and delineate the many decisions that were taken along the way.

Objective: Freehand three-dimensional ultrasound imaging (3D-US) is increasingly used in image-guided surgery. During image acquisition, a set of B-scans is acquired that is distributed in a non-parallel manner over the area of interest. Reconstructing these images into a regular array allows 3D-visualization.[for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], 60. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC), Joint Meeting mit den Benelux-Ländern und Bulgarien

A method and apparatus for performing refractive index, birefringence and optical activity measurements of a material such as a solid, liquid, gas or thin film is disclosed. The method and apparatus can also be used to measure the properties of a reflecting surface. The disclosed apparatus has an optical ring-resonator in the form of a fiber-loop resonator, or a race-track resonator, or any waveguide-ring or other structure with a closed optical path that constitutes a cavity. A sample is introduced into the optical path of the resonator such that the light in the resonator is transmitted through the sample and relative and/or absolute shifts of the resonance frequencies or changes of the characteristics of the transmission spectrum are observed. A change in the transfer characteristics of the resonant ring, such as a shift of the resonance frequency, is related to a sample's refractive index (refractive indices) and/or change thereof. In the case of birefringence measurements, rings that have modes with two (quasi)-orthogonal (linear or circular) polarization states are used to observe the relative shifts of the resonance frequencies. A reflecting surface may be introduced in a ring resonator. The reflecting surface can be raster-scanned for the purpose of height-profiling surface features. A surface plasmon resonance may be excited and phase changes of resonant light due to binding of analytes to the reflecting surface can be determined in the frequency domain.

A method and apparatus for performing refractive index, birefringence and optical activity measurements of a material such as a solid, liquid, gas or thin film is disclosed. The method and apparatus can also be used to measure the properties of a reflecting surface. The disclosed apparatus has an optical ring-resonator in the form of a fiber-loop resonator, or a race-track resonator, or any waveguide-ring or other structure with a closed optical path that constitutes a cavity. A sample is introduced into the optical path of the resonator such that the light in the resonator is transmitted through the sample and relative and/or absolute shifts of the resonance frequencies or changes of the characteristics of the transmission spectrum are observed. A change in the transfer characteristics of the resonant ring, such as a shift of the resonance frequency, is related to a sample's refractive index (refractive indices) and/or change thereof. In the case of birefringence measurements, rings that have modes with two (quasi)-orthogonal (linear or circular) polarization states are used to observe the relative shifts of the resonance frequencies. A reflecting surface may be introduced in a ring resonator. The reflecting surface can be raster-scanned for the purpose of height-profiling surface features. A surface plasmon resonance may be excited and phase changes of resonant light due to binding of analytes to the reflecting surface can be determined in the frequency domain. La présente invention a trait à un procédé et un appareil pour réaliser des mesures d'indice de réfraction, de biréfringence et d'activité optique d'un matériau tel qu'un solide, un liquide, un gaz ou un film mince. Le procédé et l'appareil peuvent également être utilisés pour la mesure des propriétés d'une surface réfléchissante. L'appareil selon l'invention comporte un résonateur en anneau sous la forme d'un résonateur à boucle de fibre, ou un résonateur en piste de course, ou en anneau de guide d'onde ou toute autre structure avec un chemin optique fermé qui constitue une cavité. Un échantillon est introduit dans le chemin optique du résonateur de sorte que la lumière dans le résonateur soit transmise à travers l'échantillon et des décalages relatifs et/ou absolus des fréquences de résonance ou des modifications des caractéristiques du spectre de transmission sont observés. Une modification dans les caractéristiques de transfert de l'anneau résonnant, tel qu'un décalage de la fréquence de résonance, est associée à un indice de réfraction (des indices de réfraction) de l'échantillon et/ou à une modification de celui-ci/ceux-ci. S'agissant des mesures de biréfringence, des anneaux qui présentent des modes avec deux états de polarisation (quasi)-orthogonal (linéaire ou circulaire) sont utilisés pour l'observation des décalages relatifs des fréquences de résonance. Une surface réfléchissante peut être introduite dans un résonateur en anneau. La surface d réfléchissante peut être soumise à un balayage de trame en vue de l'établissement de courbe de répartition verticale d'éléments de surface. Une détection par résonance plasmonique de surface peut être excitée et des changements de phase de la lumière résonance dus à la liaison d'analytes à la surface réfléchissante peuvent être déterminés dans le domaine fréquentiel.

Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) meint die Kooperation zwischen Produktion und Handel. Um Kundenbedürfnisse optimal und effizient befriedigen zu können, müssen die Geschäftsprozesse über die gesamte Wertschöpfungskette beobachtet und optimiert werden. Im Bereich frische Lebensmittel, wie z.B. Obst, Gemüse, Brot und Backwaren kommt ECR noch nicht zum Einsatz. Obst/Gemüse zeichnen sich durch ein kurzes Zeitfenster zwischen Ernte und Ungenießbarkeit aus. Betrachtet man hier das Distributionssystem, findet man eine Reihe redundanter Prozesse. Bei Brot und Backwaren muss die Logistik sehr flexibel arbeiten, da täglich frische Ware erwünscht ist. Standardisierung ist auf logistischer Ebene mit Effizienzsteigerung verbunden, aber Individuallösungen bringen Wettbewerbs-vorteile, die einer Standardisierung jedoch im Wege stehen. Alternativ bietet eine gemeinsame Disposition ebenfalls Potentiale.