Words from Yun Xuan

Hey guys,
I'm really sorry for posting this so late because I've been out and haen't been able to sit down properly to do this.
Anyways, for the last 2 points of my part I concluded it based on a table of values that I got but its in a picture and I dont quite know how to put the picture into the post! I tries the "Insert Picture" thing but nothing appears!
So I'll just email to you the word doc that I did my work on then you can see all the pretty pictures inside:)

Yun Xuan
3.07 pm, 13 January 2013

Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

·         Poverty is multi-dimensional

- Most common indicator of income poverty is headcount ratio (measures the proportion of population considered to be earning an income below the standard required for basic needs) has beeen standardised to be US$1 per day

- Income measure fails to adequately reflect development in that per-capita income, in terms of its levels or changes to it, does not sufficiently correlate with measures of (human) development, such as life expectancy, child/infant mortality and literacy

- Countries where the level of poverty is relatively large tend also to exhibit low values of human development, thus lowering the mean values of the development measures. Where inequalities of development indicators are very large, however, the average values may not sufficiently reflect the conditions of the poor, requiring the need to concentrate on poverty per se

- Both HDI and MPI are needed, however, to gauge the nature of the development challenge. For example, a relatively low HDI value despite a high per-capita income suggests that growth is not being efficiently transformed into human development. Similarly, if both HDI and HPI are high, then the achievement in human development is not being sufficiently shared by those at the bottom, suggesting the need to address the human-development distribution picture. Ideally, HDI should be high and HPI low.

·         Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) replaced Human Poverty Index (HPI) and has been in use since 2010

- UNDP researchers concluded that the HPI had limited utility because it aggregated average deprivation levels for each dimension and thus could not be linked to any specific group of people.

-  MPI is a more detailed composite measure of poverty, presents a much detailed landscape of the extent as well as the range of deprivations

http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Table5.pdf

                                                    

·         Both Indonesia and Thailand were under the category of Medium Human Development for MPI statistics published in the Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

·         Conclusion: Thailand > Malaysia

- Since Thailand fares better than Indonesia in terms of both HDI and MPI, we can safely conclude that Thailand has a higher standard of living than Indonesia

---

[1] http://www.ophi.org.uk/multidimensional-poverty-index/background/

[2] http://goodpal.hubpages.com/hub/Exploring-Global-Poverty-Using-the-Multidimensional-Poverty-Index

Human Development Index(HDI)

A composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development-a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living. 

It considers 3 aspects:

1. Life Expectancy at birth- Number of years a newborn infant could expect to live if prevailing patterns of age-specific mortality rates at the time of birth stay the same throughout the infant's life. 

1. Education level- measured by mean of years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and expected years of schooling for children of school entering age.

1. Standard of Living- Gross national income (GNI) per capita: Aggregate income of an economy generated by its production and its ownership of factors of production, less the incomes paid for the use of factors of production owned by the rest of the world, converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity (PPP) rates, divided by midyear population. 

Factors	Thailand	Indonesia
Life Expectancy	78.83	71.62
Literacy Rate	92.6	90.4
GNI per capita; PPP (US dollars)	8390	4530

Thailand>Indonesia

http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/hdi/http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/human_development.htmhttp://www.indexmundi.com/indonesia/life_expectancy_at_birth.htmlhttp://databank.worldbank.org/databank/download/GNIPC.pdfhttp://www.tradingeconomics.com/thailand/gni-per-capita-ppp-us-dollar-wb-data.html

Consumer Price index

 It is based on the overall cost of a fixed basket of goods and services bought by a typical consumer, relative to price of the same basket in some base year.

By including a broad range of thousands of goods and services with the fixed basket, the CPI can obtain an accurate estimate of the cost of living.

Consumer price index:
Indonesia - 51.42
Thailand- 50.16

As consumer price index can be used to estimate cost of living, comparison between CPI of Thailand and Indonesia will tell us that Indonesians have a higher cost of living as it has a higher CPI.

This tells us that Indonesians have a (slightly) lower standard of living. With a higher cost of living, Indonesians enjoy less material goods and perhaps necessities than Thais due to the cost of goods. Therefore, Indonesians have a lower standard of living than Thais in the material aspect. 


* standard of living: The level of wealth, comfort, material goods and necessities available to a certain socioeconomic class in a certain geographic area.

VERDICT: THAILAND>INDONESIA

http://www.sparknotes.com/economics/macro/measuring1/section2.rhtml
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp

World Giving Index (charity index)

What is it?

The World Giving Index is designed by Charities Aid Foundation to provide evidence-based insight into the scope and nature of giving around the world. In order to reflect a culturally diverse planet, the report looks at three aspects of giving behaviour. To establish a rounded measure of giving behaviour across the world, the World Giving Index relies on a simple averaging of the responses from the three key questions asked in each country. The questions are:

Have you done any of the following in the past month:

•          „ Donated money to a charity?
•          „ Volunteered your time to an organisation?
•          „ Helped a stranger, or someone you didn’t know who needed help?

Each country is given a percentage score; and countries are ranked on the basis of these scores.

The World Giving Index focuses on the percentage of people who donate money, volunteer time, and help a stranger, to any extent, in a typical month. It does not quantify the amount of money donated, the number of hours volunteered, or the number of strangers helped. The strength of this approach is that it provides a clear view of the basic state of giving worldwide - by showing who is ‘included’ in giving, and who is not.

Rankings:

Indonesia within top 10 means on average at least half the population is taking part in at least one of the three behaviours – donating money, volunteering time and helping a stranger – on a monthly basis.

Country	World Giving Index 2012 Ranking	World Giving Index Score (%)	Donating money (%)	Volunteering time (%)	Helping a stranger (%)
Indonesia	7	52	71	41	43
Thailand	26	42	71	15	40

Evaluation

The higher the WGI index, the more chartitable the nation. From the world giving index rankings, Indonesia is a more gracious and grateful country as on average, more of Indonesian's population are able to and willing to give in terms of donating money to charity, helping a stranger and volunteering than Thailand's population. With a higher world giving index score, Indonesians enjoy a higher standard of living in the non-material aspect than the Thais since more people in Indonesia are giving back to the community or are helping one another and are thus happier.

Verdict

Indonesia > Thailand

https://www.cafonline.org/PDF/WorldGivingIndex2012WEB.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Giving_Index

Crime Stats- TO BE UPDATED :D

http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/id-indonesia/cri-crime&all=1
http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/th-thailand/cri-crime&all=1

TO BE EDITED :D

Gini Coefficient

Country	UN R/P 10%[3]	UN R/P 20%[4]	World Bank Gini (%)[5]	WB Gini (year)	CIA R/P 10%[6]	Year	CIA Gini (%)[7]	CIA Gini (year)

Indonesia	7.8	5.2	34.0	2005	7.9	2002	36.8	2009
Thailand	12.6	7.7	40.0	2009	12.4	2002	53.6	2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality

Gini coefficient

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gini coefficient of national income distribution around the world. This is based on 1989 to 2009 data, estimated by the CIA. Some are pre-tax, others post-tax income.

The Gini coefficient (also known as the Gini index or Gini ratio) is a measure of statistical dispersion developed by the Italian statistician and sociologist Corrado Gini and published in his 1912 paper "Variability and Mutability" (Italian: Variabilità e mutabilità).^[1][2]

The Gini coefficient measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution (for example levels of income). A Gini coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality, where all values are the same (for example, where everyone has an exactly equal income). A Gini coefficient of one (100 on the percentile scale) expresses maximal inequality among values (for example where only one person has all the income).^[3][4] However, a value greater than one may occur if some persons have negative income or wealth.

It has found application in the study of inequalities in disciplines as diverse as sociology, economics, health science, ecology, chemistry, engineering and agriculture.^[5]

Gini coefficient is commonly used as a measure of inequality of income or wealth.^[6] For OECD countries, in the late 2000s, considering the effect of taxes and transfer payments, the income Gini coefficient ranged between 0.24 to 0.49, with Slovenia the lowest and Chile the highest.^[7] The countries in Africa had the highest pre-tax Gini coefficients in 2008-2009, with South Africa the world's highest at 0.7.^[8][9] The global income inequality Gini coefficient in 2005, for all human beings taken together, has been estimated to be between 0.61 and 0.68 by various sources.^[10][11]

There are some issues in interpreting a Gini coefficient. The same value may result from many different distribution curves. The demographic structure should be taken into account. Countries with an aging population, or with a baby boom, experience an increasing pre-tax Gini coefficient even if real income distribution for working adults remain constant. Scholars have devised over a dozen variants of the Gini coefficient.^[12][13][14]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient

GINI INDEX IN INDONESIA

The GINI index in Indonesia was 36.76 in 2009, according to a World Bank report, published in 2010. Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.This page includes a historical data chart, news and forecasts for GINI index in Indonesia.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/indonesia/gini-index-wb-data.html

Roles and what we're each researching for

YX- HPI and search on Emplyoment Cost Index
Shree- HDI
Wanz- Consumer Price Index
Aish- Environmental Indicators/ Charity Index
Becky- Crime rates and Gini Coefficient

Deaedlines: Research by Saturday 3pm each person one post + own evaluation, and add coments by Sunday 3pm, then PPT Sunday night by white colour background, then one person do formatting

WANQI SAYS: PLEASE VISIT THIS WEBSITE

http://www.tradingeconomics.com

INDICATORS

Material indicators

GDP/GNP

Consumer price index http://www.investopedia.com/university/releases/cpi.asp#axzz2HWipTczx

Employment cost index    

    

Non-material Indicators

Gini coefficient (?)

Crime rates(?)

Environment indicator like HSI (air quality)

Charity index(?)

Gross National Happiness

Composite Indicators

HDI

HPI

continued research

Types of disorder gene thereapy can and cannot treat

Can treat:

-          all forms of diseases can be treated to a various degree by altering gene expression

-           heal hereditary diseases such as

o   muscular distrophy

o   cystic fibrosis

o   hemophilia

o   diabetes type I

o   metabolic diseases (phenylketonuria etc.)

o   lysosomal storage disorders (mucopolysaccharosis, Gaucher etc..)

-          diseases that are genetically predisposed, but also depend on external factors such as

o   cancer

o   cardiovascular failures

o   neurodegenerative disorders (ALS, MS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's etc)

-          purely accidental (acquired) disorders such as

o   traumatic injuries (bone fractures, wounds, burns)

o   ischemias (tissue necrosis due to interrupoted blood supply)

o   infections

How gene therapy can be used to treat ADA-deficient SCID

-          The target cells are: Lymphocytes, bone marrow cells

-          Adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency is inherited as an autosomal recessive disorder. Defects in the ADA gene can leads to absent or diminished ADA enzyme activity in all tissues of the body.

-          The reversing of this genetic defect by replacing the defective gene may be possible by means of gene therapy.

-          The newly isolated gene may then be used for treatment by inserting it into the cells whose function is dependent on that gene.

The gene transfer method used must be highly efficient and able to deliver the corrective gene to the proper cells to restore its normal function.

What gene therapy is

-          Gene therapy is the insertion of genes into an individual's cells and tissues to treat a disease, such as a hereditary disease in which a deleterious mutant allele is replaced with a functional one.

In general, how gene therapy works (types of vectors, delivery methods)

Researchers are testing several approaches to gene therapy, including:

-          Replacing a mutated gene that causes disease with a healthy copy of the gene.

-          Inactivating, or “knocking out,” a mutated gene that is functioning improperly.

-          Introducing a new gene into the body to help fight a disease.

Vectors

-          Virus: ''A virus is found which replicates by inserting its genes into the host cell's genome. This virus has two genes- A and B. Gene A encodes a protein which allows this virus to insert itself into the host's genome. Gene B causes the disease this virus is associated with. Gene C is the "normal" or "desirable" gene we want in the place of gene B. Thus, by re-engineering the virus so that gene B is replaced by gene C, while allowing gene A to properly function, this virus could introduce the required gene - gene C into the host cell's genome without causing any disease.''

-          Retroviruses: The genetic material in retroviruses is in the form of RNA molecules, while the genetic material of their hosts is in the form of DNA. When a retrovirus infects a host cell, it will introduce its RNA together with some enzymes, namely reverse transcriptase and integrase, into the cell. This RNA molecule from the retrovirus must produce a DNA copy from its RNA molecule before it can be integrated into the genetic material of the host cell. The process of producing a DNA copy from an RNA molecule is termed reverse transcription. It is carried out by one of the enzymes carried in the virus, called reverse transcriptase. After this DNA copy is produced and is free in the nucleus of the host cell, it must be incorporated into the genome of the host cell. That is, it must be inserted into the large DNA molecules in the cell (the chromosomes). This process is done by another enzyme carried in the virus called integrase.

-          Adenoviruses: The genetic material of the adenoviruses is not incorporated (transient) into the host cell's genetic material. The DNA molecule is left free in the nucleus of the host cell, and the instructions in this extra DNA molecule are transcribed just like any other gene. The only difference is that these extra genes are not replicated when the cell is about to undergo cell division so the descendants of that cell will not have the extra gene. As a result, treatment with the adenovirus will require readministration in a growing cell population although the absence of integration into the host cell's genome should prevent the type of cancer seen in the SCID trials. 

Hybrid methods

-          Virosomes are one example; they combine liposomes with an inactivated HIV or influenza virus. This has been shown to have more efficient gene transfer in respiratory epithelial cells than either viral or liposomal methods alone. 

Challenges or risks faced in implementation of gene therapy to treat disorder

-          Short-lived nature of gene therapy – Before gene therapy can become a permanent cure for any condition, the therapeutic DNA introduced into target cells must remain functional and the cells containing the therapeutic DNA must be long-lived and stable. Problems with integrating therapeutic DNA into the genome and the rapidly dividing nature of many cells prevent gene therapy from achieving any long-term benefits. Patients will have to undergo multiple rounds of gene therapy.

-        -   Chance of inducing a tumor (insertional mutagenesis) - If the DNA is integrated in the wrong place in the genome, for example in a tumor suppressor gene, it could induce a tumor. This has occurred in clinical trials for X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID) patients, in which hematopoietic stem cells were transduced with a corrective transgene using a retrovirus, and this led to the development of T cell leukemia in 3 of 20 patients.