Suchergebnisse

The trading relationship between Australia and Japan has been traditionally based on commodity exports, and a key Australian policy goal in the past has been to encourage Japanese investment in this sector in the hope of stabilising commodity trade. A serious deterioration in Australia's terms of trade from the beginning of the 1980s resulting from a number of events – the global recession, the restructuring of Japanese industry and changes in Japan's relations with the United States and the European Community – showed the need to diversify exports to Japan away from a heavy reliance on commodities and raw materials towards higher value-added primary products, manufactures and services. The attraction of Japanese investment into these sectors was an important part of this strategy. Japanese manufacturing investment was distinctly lacking in the mid-1980s and the Hawke and Keating governments used various methods to inform Japanese business of investment opportunities, provided tax incentives and research and development support for transnational corporations, and created the Investment Promotion Section (IPS) within the Tokyo office of Austrade to help promote investment. This paper shows how the IPS, which was established in 1991 to attract Japanese investment in manufacturing, high technology and processing industries, proved particularly successful in facilitating investment. This was especially yes after its restructure in early 1994 when it moved away from broad educational efforts towards specific investment projects which matched potential investors with Australian firms. With a focus on areas in which Australia held comparative advantages, such as processed foods and further processing of raw materials, the effectiveness of investment promotion increased dramatically and Australian exports to Japan and the Asia Pacific region expanded considerably.

The Australian Government's trade policy with Japan since the 1980s has aimed to improve market access in the hope of addressing Australia's dependence on a narrow range of commodity exports. When bilateral negotiations proved almost completely unsuccessful in diversifying or expanding exports, Australia decided to pursue its bilateral goals through multilateral negotiations. This approach was successful in the cases of the beef and rice markets, especially when the weight of the United States was behind the negotiations. When the US attempted to use managed trade to increase its exports of cars and car parts to Japan, Australia supported Japan's protestations and ensured that the US–Japan Framework Agreement was implemented on a MFN basis. Trade diversion still occurred, however, with Japanese buyers being biased towards American goods. While the outcome of Japan's market-opening measures will not become entirely apparent for a number of years, this paper warns that open markets may not necessarily lead to increased Australian exports.

Anderson reviews 'The Asia-Australia Survey 1997-98' edited by Bernie Bishop and Deborah McNamara.

You've read about Jack Welch, Lou Gerstner and Steve Jobs - but what can you learn about business from van Gogh and Picasso? The Fine Art of Success shows why you should look to pop-stars like Madonna or artists like Damian Hirst for guidance on innovation, competitive advantage, leadership, and a host of other business issues. Managers, marketing professionals, and students will see how these creative artists can help their organizations. Chapters include Madonna - Strategy at the dance floor; Damian Hirst - The shark is dead/How to build yourself a new market; Beuys - Understanding creativit.

AbstractWe report on a trial of theneighbourhood thriving framework(NTF), a conceptual framework from psychology and social science for measuring collective subjective social well-being. It combines the notions of feeling good and functioning effectively in a neighbourhood social environment in an indicator set of 15 conceptual dimensions. An online questionnaire was used to measureneighbourhood thriving(NT) among 212 pro-social volunteers involved in revitalising neighbourhoods in the UK city of Stoke-on-Trent between May and October 2018. Exploratory factor analysis revealed 11 factors that made conceptual sense including three social epidemiological pathways to well-being, networks, participation and pro-social behaviours, and four criteria forflourishingsocieties, autonomous citizenship, safety, cohesive communities and resilience. The 11 sub-scales of NT showed satisfactory internal consistency reliability and preliminary evidence of construct validity. The sub-scales were used tentatively to examine NT among the volunteer sample, which showed the highest sub-scale score forPositive Regardand the lowest score forCelebration. Different levels of NT were observed among the community, with age and income positively associated with higher levels of NT. Further validation work is needed before the NT scales can be used with confidence. Validated scales offer potential benefits including: measuring NT pre- and -post project implementation; establishing which dimensions of NT are, and are not, working well in a community and need strengthening through further initiatives, and establishing which specific groups of people are experiencing lower levels of NT and designing projects that meet their needs.

Empirical urban design research emphasizes the support in vitality of public space use. We examine the extent to which a public space intervention promoted liveliness and three key behaviors that enhance well-being ("connect," "be active," and "take notice"). The exploratory study combined directly observed behaviors with self-reported, before and after community-led physical improvements to a public space in central Manchester (the United Kingdom). Observation data ( n = 22,956) and surveys (subsample = 212) were collected over two 3-week periods. The intervention brought significant and substantial increases in liveliness of the space and well-being activities. None of these activities showed increases in a control space during the same periods. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of the research methods, and the impact of improved quality of outdoor neighborhood space on liveliness and well-being activities. The local community also played a key role in conceiving of and delivering an effective and affordable intervention. The findings have implications for researchers, policy makers, and communities alike.

Abstract

Background
Almost two-thirds of refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees and other persons affected by humanitarian emergencies live in malaria endemic regions. Malaria remains a significant threat to the health of these populations.


Methods
Data on malaria incidence and mortality were analyzed from January 2006 to December 2009 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Health Information System database collected at sites in Burundi, Chad, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, and Uganda. Data from three countries during 2006 and 2007, and all nine countries from 2008 to 2009, were used to describe trends in malaria incidence and mortality. Monthly counts of malaria morbidity and mortality were aggregated into an annual country rate averaged over the study period.


Results
An average of 1.18 million refugees resided in 60 refugee sites within nine countries with at least 50 cases of malaria per 1000 refugees during the study period 2008-2009. The highest incidence of malaria was in refugee sites in Tanzania, where the annual incidence of malaria was 399 confirmed cases per 1,000 refugees and 728 confirmed cases per 1,000 refugee children younger than five years. Malaria incidence in children younger than five years of age, based on the sum of confirmed and suspected cases, declined substantially at sites in two countries between 2006 and 2009, but a slight increase was reported at sites within four of seven countries between 2008 and 2009. Annual malaria mortality rates were highest in sites in Sudan (0.9 deaths per 1,000 refugees), Uganda and Tanzania (0.7 deaths per 1000 refugees each). Malaria was the cause of 16% of deaths in refugee children younger than five years of age in all study sites.


Conclusions
These findings represent one of the most extensive reports on malaria among refugees in post-emergency sites. Despite declines in malaria incidence among refugees in several countries, malaria remains a significant cause of mortality among children younger than five years of age. Further progress in malaria control, both within and outside of post-emergency sites, is necessary to further reduce malaria incidence and mortality among refugees and achieve global goals in malaria control and elimination.

This article discusses the collaboration between the David Grant US Air Force Medical Center and University of California, Davis Medical Center, a military-civilian partnership that provides surgical training to military surgeons.

Abstract

Background
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) refugee camps are located predominantly in rural areas of Africa and Asia in protracted or post-emergency contexts. Recognizing the importance of malaria, pneumonia and diarrheal diseases as major causes of child morbidity and mortality in refugee camps, we analyzed data from the UNHCR Health Information System (HIS) to estimate incidence and risk factors for these diseases in refugee children younger than five years of age.


Methods
Data from 90 UNHCR camps in 16 countries, including morbidity, mortality, health services and refugee health status, were obtained from the UNHCR HIS for the period January 2006 to February 2010. Monthly camp-level data were aggregated to yearly estimates for analysis and stratified by location in Africa (including Yemen) or Asia. Poisson regression models with random effects were constructed to identify factors associated with malaria, pneumonia and diarrheal diseases. Spatial patterns in the incidence of malaria, pneumonia and diarrheal diseases were mapped to identify regional heterogeneities.


Results
Malaria and pneumonia were the two most common causes of mortality, with confirmed malaria and pneumonia each accounting for 20% of child deaths. Suspected and confirmed malaria accounted for 23% of child morbidity and pneumonia accounted for 17% of child morbidity. Diarrheal diseases were the cause of 7% of deaths and 10% of morbidity in children under five. Mean under-five incidence rates across all refugee camps by region were: malaria [Africa 84.7 cases/1000 U5 population/month (95% CI 67.5-102.0), Asia 2.2/1000/month (95% CI 1.4-3.0)]; pneumonia [Africa 59.2/1000/month (95% CI 49.8-68.7), Asia 254.5/1000/month (95% CI 207.1-301.8)]; and diarrheal disease [Africa 35.5/1000/month (95% CI 28.7-42.4), Asia 69.2/1000/month (95% CI 61.0-77.5)]. Measles was infrequent and accounted for a small proportion of child morbidity (503 cases, < 1%) and mortality (6 deaths, < 1%).


Conclusions
As in stable settings, pneumonia and diarrhea are important causes of mortality among refugee children. Malaria remains a significant cause of child mortality in refugee camps in Africa and will need to be addressed as part of regional malaria control and elimination efforts. Little is known of neonatal morbidity and mortality in refugee settings, and neonatal deaths are likely to be under-reported. Global measles control efforts have reduced the incidence of measles among refugee children.