Suchergebnisse

In den Ländern südlich der Sahara, die nicht zur Franc-Zone gehören, haben alle Anpassungsprogramme des IMF und der Weltbank die Rolle der Wechselkurspolitik betont. Abwertungen sind ein Schlüsselelement im Rahmen des wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Aufschwungs. Basierend auf der Analyse von Währungsexperimenten, die in 16 Ländern südlich der Sahara durchgeführt wurden, versucht der Artikel die Auswirkungen dieser Devisenpolitik auf die Handelsbilanz, auf die finanziellen Variablen, auf die Produktion und die soziale Dynamik zu beurteilen; er bewertet auch ihre Grenzen als Entwicklungsinstrument. (DÜI-Ott)

'Die berufliche Migration von Fußballspielern ist in letzter Zeit ein beliebtes Thema geworden. Sie hat seit ungefähr zehn Jahren nicht nur die Verfasser von Büchern und Zeitschriftenartikeln beschäftigt, sondern wird auch von Zeitungs-, Radio- und Fernsehjournalisten diskutiert. Die unterschiedlichen Meinungen zur Migration von Berufsfußballern werfen nicht nur ein Licht auf Fragen der politischen Ökonomie des Spitzensports, sondern auch der nationalen Identität, der Staatsbürgerschaft, der freien Arbeitsplatzwahl sowie der Inklusion bzw. Exklusion von 'Fremden'. Dieser Beitrag fasst zentrale Beiträge zu dem Thema zusammen und verbindet dies mit einer Analyse der zugrunde gelegten Globalisierungskonzepte. Er rückt unsere Wahrnehmung der beruflichen Migration von Fußballspielern zugleich in eine historische Perspektive. Im Kern entwickelt der Beitrag zwei Argumente: erstens, dass die Migration von Fußballspielern keine neue Entwicklung darstellt, sondern eine lange und komplizierte Geschichte hat; und zweitens, dass man sie sinnvollerweise nicht isoliert von der Analyse allgemeiner Migrationstrends und -muster betrachtet. Die geografische Mobilität von Fußballspielern von Land zu Land und von Kontinent zu Kontinent ist mithin nicht eine simple Reaktion auf die ökonomischen und politischen Machtverhältnisse im Weltfußball. Sie spiegelt vielmehr ein komplexes Beziehungsgeflecht zwischen bestimmten Ländern oder Ländergruppen wider - ein Beziehungsgeflecht, das vielfältige soziale, kulturelle und historische Verankerungen hat.' (Autorenreferat)

"How inflation fears shaped American society, then and now. For most of its history, the United States has benefited from price stability-a steady relationship between supply and demand, characterized by prices that don't inflate or deflate in unpredictable fashion. Across these long stretches, the US economy became famously free-market: prices did the job of stabilizing the economy so the government didn't have to. In this sweeping and revelatory history of American economy and democracy, Carola Conces Binder shows that American price-stability is no accident. From its colonial origins to today, the American state has been designed for, and continues to be shaped by, an unlimited effort to insulate the economy from the dangers of price fluctuations. Binder narrates an American history in which inflationary anxiety has informed everything from the reluctant establishment of paper money to the rise of the modern Federal Reserve as an omniscient actor in public policy. At every step, and with each historical brush with monetary instability, the US has been reinvented as a response to its most recent failings. Shock Values is the epochal history of the US as a monetary state. Binder recounts both the monetary interests at the dawn of the Republic; its decades-long experiments with price controls; the outsize role of agriculture and industry in its monetary apparatus; and how the rise of the all-powerful Federal Reserve was born out of crisis more than anything else. Expansive and erudite, Shock Values is a watershed telling of an old history: how American union's pledge to be more perfect was drawn along monetary lines. It is not to be missed."

Rockingham County v. The Luten Bridge Company is now a staple in most Contracts casebooks. The popular story goes as follows: Rockingham County entered into a contract with the Luten Bridge Company to build a bridge over the Dan River. Shortly after work commenced, the County repudiated the contract. Nonetheless, the Luten Bridge Company continued with its construction project and sued the County for the entire bill. Judge John J. Parker, the long-time chief judge of the Fourth Circuit, ruled in the famous 1929 opinion that the County was liable only for the costs up until the time of breach plus the anticipated profit, a sum of approximately $1,900, and not for the entire bill that was closer $18,000. The case is used to illustrate the "duty to mitigate," where a party to a contract against whom a breach has occurred is obligated to mitigate the damages resulting from that breach In this article, we revisit the history of this famous case. Examining original sources related to the case, the contemporary history, and the lives of those involved, we reveal that the case arose during, and sharply illustrates, Rockingham County's struggle to industrialize. The dispute emerged within a heated tax revolt that pitted the county's farmers against its mill owners and constituted a microcosm of the larger political conflict – endemic throughout North Carolina and the south – over investing in the public improvements necessary to promote industrialization. The Fourth Circuit opinion that transpired from the dispute offers many lessons and insights into the era's history, its legal issues challenges, and the development of the common law. We do our best to bring the rich story to life and to understand its lessons. Section I of the paper documents the case's current importance in contract law, and Section II describes in detail the political and legal fights that culminated in Judge Parker's 1929 opinion. Section III then examines the true contemporary significance of the opinion. We reveal that Judge Parker's real objective was to enable North Carolina counties to enter into enforceable contracts to enable municipal development and facilitate industrialization, and that the ruling on mitigating damages was merely an afterthought. Section IV then examines the process through which the opinion, despite Judge Parker's intents, lost its original significance but later became immortalized to establish the mitigation principle.

AbstractIntroductionSince many countries in sub‐Saharan Africa are willing to implement HIV oral pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for men who have sex with men (MSM), data are needed to assess its feasibility and relevance in real life. The study objectives were to assess drug uptake, adherence, condom use and number of sexual partners, HIV incidence and trends in the prevalence of gonorrhoea and chlamydia.MethodsIn this oral PrEP demonstration study conducted prospectively in Benin, a combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate‐TDF 300 mg and emtricitabine‐FTC 200 mg (TDF‐FTC) was offered daily or on‐demand to MSM. Participants were recruited from 24 August to 24 November 2020 and followed over 12 months. At enrolment, month‐6 and month‐12, participants answered to a face‐to‐face questionnaire, underwent a physical examination and provided blood samples for HIV, gonorrhoea and chlamydia.ResultsOverall, 204 HIV‐negative men initiated PrEP. The majority of them (80%) started with daily PrEP. Retention rates at month‐3, 6, 9 and 12 were 96%, 88%, 86% and 85%, respectively. At month‐6 and month‐12, respectively, 49% and 51% of the men on daily PrEP achieved perfect adherence (self‐reported), that is seven pills taken during the last week. For event‐driven PrEP, the corresponding proportions for perfect adherence (last seven at‐risk sexual episodes covered) were 81% and 80%, respectively. The mean number (standard deviation) of male sexual partners over the last 6 months was 2.1 (1.70) at baseline and 1.5 (1.27) at month‐12 (p‐value for trend <0.001). Consistent condom use during the last 6 months was 34% (enrolment), 37% (month‐6) and 36% (month‐12). Three HIV seroconversions (2‐daily and 1‐event‐driven) were recorded. Crude HIV incidence (95% confidence interval) was 1.53 (0.31−4.50)/100 person‐years. Neisseria gonorrhoeae and/or Chlamydia trachomatis prevalence at the anal and/or pharyngeal and/or urethral sites was 28% at baseline and 18% at month‐12 (p‐value = 0.017).ConclusionsIn West Africa, oral PrEP introduction in routine practice as a component of a holistic HIV prevention package is feasible and may not result in a significant increase in condomless sex among MSM. Since HIV incidence was still higher, additional interventions, such as culturally tailored adherence counselling, may be needed to optimize the benefits of PrEP.

AbstractIntroductionGeographic and transportation barriers are associated with poorer HIV‐related health outcomes in sub‐Saharan Africa, but data on the impact of these barriers on prevention interventions are limited. We estimated the association between distance to clinic and other transportation‐related barriers on pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake and initial clinic visit attendance in a rural community in southwestern Uganda enrolled in the ongoing SEARCH study (NCT01864603).MethodsCommunity‐wide HIV testing was conducted and offered to adult (≥15 years) participants in Ruhoko. Participants were eligible for PrEP based on an empiric risk score, having an HIV‐discordant partner, or self‐referral at either the community health campaign or during home‐based testing from March to April 2017. We collected data from PrEP‐eligible households on GPS‐measured distance to clinic, walking time to clinic and road difficulty. A sample of participants was also asked to identify their primary barriers to PrEP use with a semi‐quantitative questionnaire. We used multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the association between transportation barriers and (1) PrEP uptake among PrEP‐eligible individuals and (2) four‐week clinic visit attendance among PrEP initiators.ResultsOf the 701 PrEP‐eligible participants, 272 (39%) started PrEP within four weeks; of these, 45 (17%) were retained at four weeks. Participants with a distance to clinic of ≥2 km were less likely to start PrEP (aOR 0.34; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.79, p = 0.012) and less likely to be retained on PrEP once initiated (aOR 0.29; 95% CI 0.10 to 0.84; p = 0.024). Participants who were deemed eligible during home‐based testing and did not have the option of same‐day PrEP start were also substantially less likely to initiate PrEP (aOR 0.16, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.37, p < 0.001). Of participants asked to name barriers to PrEP use (N = 98), the most frequently cited were "needing to take PrEP every day" (N = 18) and "low/no risk of getting HIV" (N = 18). Transportation‐related barriers, including "clinic is too far away" (N = 6) and "travel away from home" (N = 4) were also reported.ConclusionsDistance to clinic is a significant predictor of PrEP uptake and four‐week follow‐up visit attendance in a community in rural Uganda. Interventions that address geographic and transportation barriers may improve PrEP uptake and retention in sub‐Saharan Africa.

The Sahara in North Africa and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts in Asia are the primary sources of mobilized dust in the atmosphere, with regional or global airborne transport estimated at 2 to 5 billion tonnes per year. Annual Asian dust plumes take about 7 to 10d to cross the Pacific Ocean, and often reach the northwest USA between late February and May. In contrast, the peak season for the movement of African dust storms to the southeastern USA is typically June to August, and dust plumes take about 5 to 7d to reach Florida. Although studies have documented that a wide range of bacteria, fungi, archaea, and viruses in dust plumes reach the USA each year, little is known about temporal and spatial variability in the microbial biodiversity in transoceanic dust plumes, or the effect on the deposition environments. A scoping study (called the Transoceanic Aerobiology Biodiversity Study) was conducted to develop field-based campaigns centered on examining the abundance, diversity, survival, and impact of microorganisms in transoceanic dust plumes arriving in the continental USA from Asia and Africa. This effort identified Science Questions (SQs) and Knowledge Gaps(KGs) that are highly relevant toward an understanding of the microbial diversity, transport, survival, and dispersal in transoceanic dusts. Science Questions were defined as broad science topics in transoceanic dust plume microbiology that were underexplored by the aerobiology community. Knowledge Gaps were defined as specific project-level research questions for each SQ that represented important topics in the study of transoceanic aerobiology. ; NASA's Biodiversity Office [NNX16AQ38G]; National Science Foundation grant from the Division of Environmental Biology [1241161, 1643288]; Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate Program Development Funds at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; U.S. Geological Survey's Environmental Health Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminate Biology Programs ; The project was supported by a scoping study Grant from NASA's Biodiversity Office (Grant #NNX16AQ38G). Partial support to BC was provided by a National Science Foundation grant from the Division of Environmental Biology (1241161 and 1643288). Partial support to SB was funded by the Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate Program Development Funds at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. DG was partially supported by the U.S. Geological Survey's Environmental Health Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminate Biology Programs. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

Kitoza is a traditional Malagasy meat product made from beef or pork strips of 20 to 50 cm long and 2 to 4 cm wide, salted and then dried and/or smoked for preservation. Kitoza sensory and consumer testing were undertaken through an international collaborative project funded by European Union "African Food Tradition rEvisited by Research" (AFTER). AFTER, aims to revisit traditional African food products, knowledge and know-how in the light of new technologies for the benefit of consumers, producers and processors in Africa and Europe. These products are widely consumed within the selected countries in Africa but do not meet EU food safety requirements. The reengineering of Kitoza seeks to overcome food safety and to improve nutritional properties of this traditional product issues to facilitate their promotion and introduction to EU markets. Kitoza samples, beef and pork, were prepared in France, using French meat. Controlled fermentation and smoking procedures were used and salt, spices and other condiments were added according the traditional process. The products were vacuum packed. For sensory profile two smoked Kitoza samples (beef and pork) and a traditional Portuguese smoked loin sausage was used for comparison. All samples were scored by a sensory panelists using Flash profiling (FP), a technique that combines individual panelist vocabulary generation through free choice profiling and attribute intensity ranking. A previous focus group session was conducted with the aim to promote attribute generation and acceptance factors for Kitoza in European context, specifically in Portugal. For the near market consumer acceptance tests for improved Kitoza products, was used a panel of a 102 consumers. Consumption attitudes were also analyzed. The sensory profile showed that there are significant differences at the following level descriptors: color tone, spices, sweetness, smoke and succulence. The results obtained for consumer acceptance showed that the hedonic results between the three samples are statistically different being the preferred sample the traditional Portuguese smoked loin sausage, followed immediately by the Kitoza pork and finally less appreciated the Kitoza beef. In terms of markets, as regards to shops and the cost of the product, due to the exotic origin, the consumers are willing to pay more for Kitoza samples than traditional Portuguese smoked loin sausage. (Texte intégral)

Conference paper presented at the Riara University First Annual International Conference on Education Theme: Transformative Education for Development: An African Perspective. Date: July 18-20, 2013 ; The title of our Conference leads me to reflect briefly on how I understand transformative education for development. If we look at development from an African perspective we usually understand this to refer to the socio-economic, political and other forms of development of a country. In this context there would be many ways of implementing innovative education techniques which could foster such development. However, in my experience, it is very difficult to bring about socio-economic development in a country even through education, when we look at the matter in general, third person terms. I am convinced that to foster development in Africa we need to educate our students in transformative, innovative ways, which facilitate personal growth and development. If our educational practice focuses on helping each student to transform themselves personally it is more likely that s/he will be able to bring about further change in our society. For these developments at the personal or social level to be genuine they need to have a solid foundation. ; The title of our Conference leads me to reflect briefly on how I understand transformative education for development. If we look at development from an African perspective we usually understand this to refer to the socio-economic, political and other forms of development of a country. In this context there would be many ways of implementing innovative education techniques which could foster such development. However, in my experience, it is very difficult to bring about socio-economic development in a country even through education, when we look at the matter in general, third person terms. I am convinced that to foster development in Africa we need to educate our students in transformative, innovative ways, which facilitate personal growth and development. If our educational practice focuses on helping each student to transform themselves personally it is more likely that s/he will be able to bring about further change in our society. For these developments at the personal or social level to be genuine they need to have a solid foundation.

12 páginas, 4 figuras, 4 tablas. ; [Background]: The human FOXI1 gene codes for a transcription factor involved in the physiology of the inner ear, testis, and kidney. Using three interspecies comparisons, it has been suggested that this may be a gene under human-specific selection. We sought to confirm this finding by using an extended set of orthologous sequences. Additionally, we explored for signals of natural selection within humans by sequencing the gene in 20 Europeans, 20 East Asians and 20 Yorubas and by analysing SNP variation in a 2 Mb region centered on FOXI1 in 39 worldwide human populations from the HGDP-CEPH diversity panel. [Results]: The genome sequences recently available from other primate and non-primate species showed that FOXI1 divergence patterns are compatible with neutral evolution. Sequence-based neutrality tests were not significant in Europeans, East Asians or Yorubas. However, the Long Range Haplotype (LRH) test, as well as the iHS and XP-Rsb statistics revealed significantly extended tracks of homozygosity around FOXI1 in Africa, suggesting a recent episode of positive selection acting on this gene. A functionally relevant SNP, as well as several SNPs either on the putatively selected core haplotypes or with significant iHS or XP-Rsb values, displayed allele frequencies strongly correlated with the absolute geographical latitude of the populations sampled. [Conclusions]: We present evidence for recent positive selection in the FOXI1 gene region in Africa. Climate might be related to this recent adaptive event in humans. Of the multiple functions of FOXI1, its role in kidney-mediated water-electrolyte homeostasis is the most obvious candidate for explaining a climate-related adaptation. ; This research was funded by grant BFU2005-00243 awarded by Dirección General de Investigación, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain), by grant BFU2008-01046/BMC awarded by Subdirección General de Proyectos de Investigación, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain), and by the Direcció General de Recerca, Generalitat de Catalunya (2009SGR1101). AME was supported by a CONACYT fellowship from the Mexican government (grant 179339), MS by a PhD fellowship from the Programa de becas FPU del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain (AP2005-3982) and JE by a Volkswagenstiftung scholarship (I/82 750). SNP genotyping services were provided by the Spanish "Centro Nacional de Genotipado" (http://www.cegen.org). ; Peer reviewed