Exploring the nexus between tourism and output in Cook Islands: An ARDL bounds approach

Tourism plays an important role in the development of Cook Islands. In this paper we examine the nexus between tourism and growth using quarterly data over the period 2009Q1–2014Q2 using the recently upgraded ARDL bounds test to cointegration tool, Microfit 5.01, which provides sample adjusted bounds and hence is more reliable for small sample size studies. We perform the cointegration using the ARDL bounds test and examine the direction of causality. Using visitor arrival and output in per capita terms as respective proxy for tourism development and growth, we examine the long-run association and report the elasticity coefficient of tourism and causality nexus, accordingly. Using unit root break tests, we note that 2011Q1 and 2011Q2 are two structural break periods in the output series. However, we note that this period is not statistically significant in the ARDL model and hence excluded from the estimation. Subsequently, the regression results show the two series are cointegrated. The long-run elasticity coefficient of tourism is estimated to be 0.83 and the short-run is 0.73. A bidirectional causality between tourism and income is noted for Cook Islands which indicates that tourism development and income mutually reinforce each other. In light of this, socio-economic policies need to focus on broad-based, inclusive and income-generating tourism development projects which are expected to have feedback effect.

The nexus between poverty and deprivation in Vietnam

Unlike previous studies’ finding on western and developed economies, income is a significant determinant of multidimensional deprivation in Vietnam. This first study on a developing country also incorporates food security in a latent class framework to compute a new multidimensional deprivation index. It was found that chronic poverty and not transient poverty has a detrimental effect on multidimensional deprivation and thus current poverty alleviation programs should potentially be tailored according to these poverty types to effectively combat multidimensional deprivation. The finding that 20% of non-poor are most deprived with85% of this group living in urban Vietnam also points to the need for a new form of targeted policy.

The Tourism-Development Nexus in Namibia : A Study on National Tourism Policy and Local Tourism Enterprises' Policy Knowledge

The tourism development nexus in southern Africa involves highly topical issues related to tourism planning, power relations, community participation, and natural resources. Namibia offers a particularly interesting context for the study of these issues due to its colonial legacy, vast tourism potential, recently adopted tourism policy and community-based approaches to tourism and natural resource management. This study is an interdisciplinary endeavour to analyse the role of tourism in Namibia s post-apartheid transformation process by focusing on Namibian tourism policy and local tourism enterprises' policy knowledge. Major attention is paid to how the tourism policy's national development objectives are understood and conceptualised by the representatives of different tourism enterprises and the ways in which they relate to the practical needs of the enterprises. Through such local policy knowledge the study explores various opportunities, challenges and constraints related to the promotion of tourism as a development strategy. The study utilises a political economy approach to tourism and development through three current and interrelated discourses which are relevant in the Namibian context. These are tourism, power and inequality, tourism and sustainable development, and tourism and poverty reduction. The qualitative research material was gathered in Namibia in 2006-2007 and 2008. This material consists of 34 semi-structured interviews in 16 tourism enterprises, including private trophy hunting farms and private lodges, small tour operators and community-based tourism enterprises. In addition, the research material consists of observations in the enterprises, and 37 informal and 23 expert interviews. The findings indicate that in the light of local tourism enterprises the tourism policy objectives appear more complex and ambiguous. Furthermore, they involve multiple meanings and interpretations which reflect the socio-economic stratification of the informants and Namibian society, together with the professional stratification of the tourism enterprises and restrictions on the capacity of tourism to address the development objectives. In the light of such findings it is obvious that aspects of power and inequality affect the tourism development nexus in Namibia. The study concludes that, as in the case of other southern African countries, in order to promote sustainable development and reduce poverty, Namibia should not only target tourism growth but pay attention to who benefits from that growth and how. From a political economy point of view, it is important that prevailing structural challenges are addressed equally in the planning of tourism, development and natural resource management. Such approach would help the Namibian majority to enjoy the benefits of increasing tourism in the country.

Migration-Development Nexus in the Malawian Health Sector: European Union Blue Card – circular migration for development?

The European Union has agreed on implementing the Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) principle in all policy sectors that are likely to have a direct impact on developing countries. This is in order to take account of and support the EU development cooperation objectives and the achievement of the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals. The common EU migration policy and the newly introduced EU Blue Card directive present an example of the implementation of the principle in practice: the directive is not only designed to respond to the occurring EU labour demand by attracting highly skilled third-country professionals, but is also intended to contribute to the development objectives of the migrant-sending developing countries, primarily through the tool of circular migration and the consequent skills transfers. My objective in this study is to assess such twofold role of the EU Blue Card and to explore the idea that migration could be harnessed for the benefit of development in conformity with the notion that the two form a positive nexus. Seeing that the EU Blue Card fails to differentiate the most vulnerable countries and sectors from those that are in a better position to take advantage of the global migration flows, the developmental consequences of the directive must be accounted for even in the most severe settings. Accordingly, my intention is to question whether circular migration, as claimed, could address the problem of brain drain in the Malawian health sector, which has witnessed an excessive outflow of its professionals to the UK during the past decade. In order to assess the applicability, likelihood and relevance of circular migration and consequent skills transfers for development in the Malawian context, a field study of a total of 23 interviews with local health professionals was carried out in autumn 2010. The selected approach not only allows me to introduce a developing country perspective to the on-going discussion at the EU level, but also enables me to assess the development dimension of the EU Blue Card and the intended PCD principle through a local lens. Thus these interviews and local viewpoints are at the very heart of this study. Based on my findings from the field, the propensity of the EU Blue Card to result in circular migration and to address the persisting South-North migratory flows as well as the relevance of skills transfers can be called to question. This is as due to the bias in its twofold role the directive overlooks the importance of the sending country circumstances, which are known to determine any developmental outcomes of migration, and assumes that circular migration alone could bring about immediate benefits. Without initial emphasis on local conditions, however, positive outcomes for vulnerable countries such as Malawi are ever more distant. Indeed it seems as if the EU internal interests in migration policy forbid the fulfilment of the PCD principle and diminish the attempt to harness migration for development to bare rhetoric.

'South-South' Remittance - Poverty reduction nexus. The Case of 'Hadiya' immigrants in South Africa, as Agents of 'Constituence development' in Ethiopia, and the policy implications of their 'remittance instrument'

This thesis explores the link between South-South remittance and development. It attempts to establish improved understanding about the role of immigrants as agents of constituency growth and development. By doing so, it illuminates the dark corners of the policy implications that the unconventional development agency of immigrants might have for countries in the Organization ft Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The thesis problematises the existence of state-centric international cooperation as providing the recipe for failed Aid in the face of global poverty menace. In the last half a century, the relative shi' of focus to non-state actors brought about the proliferation of NGOs. That, intrun, helped improve international access to crisis situations; however, their long-term remedial impacts on poverty and development have been contested. Major misgivings for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are, on one hand, low level goal-bound expenditures and lack of independence from influence of the state, on the other. Therefore, the thesis enterprises to empirically verify its fundamental question whether remitting immigrants constitute an alternative development agency to the traditional players: the State and NGOs. Its main arguments are: due to state's failures in bringing sustainable development in many countries of the South, the future of poverty reduction and development also rests in immigrants' remittances. Nonetheless, in the last decade, remittance security-nexus dominated its discourse. Because of that remittance was viewed as something requiring global regime and restrictions. These temptations to tightly regulate remittance flows carry the danger of overlooking its trans-boundary nature and its strong link with livelihood of the poor. Therefore, to avoid unintended consequences of interventions, there need to be clear policy that bases itself on a discursive knowledge on the issues of North-South and South-South remittances The study involved both literature based and empirical research. It employed Discourse Analysis (C as main method for the former and snow-balling as its approach for the latter. For the first part the thesis constructed three conceptual models, these are: metrological model, police model and ecological model on remittance development-nexus. Through this modeling, the thesis achieved better deconstruction on the concepts remittance, immigrants and development agency. The protagonists of each model, the values and interests they represent, and their main arguments along various lines of dichotomies have been discussed. For instance, the main treats of meteorological model include: it sees remittance as transitional economic variable which require constant speculations and global management; it acts as meteorological station for following up or predicting the level, direction, flow and movement of global remittance. It focuses on official lines and considers the state as legitimate recipient of advic and positive consequence of remittance. On the other hand, police model views remittance as beir at best, development neutral or as an illicit activity requiring global regulations and tight control. Both immigrants and remittance viewed as subversive to establishments. It gives primacy to state stable agent of development and a partner for international cooperation. The anti-thesis to the police model is supplied by ecological model, which this thesis is a part. Ecological model on remittance and immigrants argues that, tight global regulations alone cannot be a panacea for possible abuse of informal remittance system. Ecological model, not only links remittance to poverty reduction, the main trust of development, but also considers the development agency of immigrants as critical factor for 21st century north-south development intervention. It sees immigrants as development conscious and their remittance instrument as most stable flow of finance to the developing countries. Besides, it sees remittance as effective poverty solutions than Foreign Direct Investment and international AID. This thesis focuses on the significance of South-South remittance and investigates the South Africa - Ethiopia remittance corridor, as case study; and empirically verifies the role of Ethiopian (Kembata and Hadiya) immigrants in South Africa as agents of local development back home. The study involved techniques of interview, group discussions, observations and investigative study. It also looked into the determinants of their migration to South Africa, and their remittance to Ethiopia. The theoretical models in the first part of the thesis have been operationalised throughout the empirical part to verify if the Kembata and Hadiya immigrants played the crucial role in their household poverty and local development in comparison with the Ethiopian state and the NGOs involved in the system. As evidenced by the research the thesis has made three distinct contributions to the discourse of remittance development-nexus. Fist, it systematized the debate about linkages between remittance, immigrants, development agency and policy of international cooperation by creating three conceptual models (school of thoughts); second, it singled out remitting immigrants as new agents of development in the South; third, it deconstructed concept of remittance and established South¬South remittance as additional sphere of academic investigation. In addition to the above contributions, the thesis finds that Kembata and Hadiya immigrants have engaged in various developmental activities in their locality than usually anticipated. Hence, it concludes that Ethiopian immigrants constitute an alternative development agency to the state and other non-state actors in their country, and the lesson can be applied to poverty reduction strategies in most developing countries.

A DNA methylation prognostic signature of glioblastoma: identification of NPTX2-PTEN-NF-kappa B nexus

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common, malignant adult primary tumor with dismal patient survival, yet the molecular determinants of patient survival are poorly characterized. Global methylation profile of GBM samples (our cohort; n = 44) using high-resolution methylation microarrays was carried out. Cox regression analysis identified a 9-gene methylation signature that predicted survival in GBM patients. A risk-score derived from methylation signature predicted survival in univariate analysis in our and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. Multivariate analysis identified methylation risk score as an independent survival predictor in TCGA cohort. Methylation risk score stratified the patients into low-risk and high-risk groups with significant survival difference. Network analysis revealed an activated NF-kappa B pathway association with high-risk group. NF-kappa B inhibition reversed glioma chemoresistance, and RNA interference studies identified interleukin-6 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 as key NF-kappa B targets in imparting chemoresistance. Promoter hypermethylation of neuronal pentraxin II (NPTX2), a risky methylated gene, was confirmed by bisulfite sequencing in GBMs. GBMs and glioma cell lines had low levels of NPTX2 transcripts, which could be reversed upon methylation inhibitor treatment. NPTX2 overexpression induced apoptosis, inhibited proliferation and anchorage-independent growth, and rendered glioma cells chemosensitive. Furthermore, NPTX2 repressed NF-kappa B activity by inhibiting AKT through a p53-PTEN-dependent pathway, thus explaining the hypermethylation and downregulation of NPTX2 in NF-kappa B-activated high-risk GBMs. Taken together, a 9-gene methylation signature was identified as an independent GBM prognosticator and could be used for GBM risk stratification. Prosurvival NF-kappa B pathway activation characterized high-risk patients with poor prognosis, indicating it to be a therapeutic target. (C) 2013 AACR.

Network, nodes and nexus: systems approach to multitarget therapeutics

Systems biology is revealing multiple layers of regulatory networks that manifest spatiotemporal variations. Since genes and environment also influence the emergent property of a cell, the biological output requires dynamic understanding of various molecular circuitries. The metabolic networks continually adapt and evolve to cope with the changing milieu of the system, which could also include infection by another organism. Such perturbations of the functional networks can result in disease phenotypes, for instance tuberculosis and cancer. In order to develop effective therapeutics, it is important to determine the disease progression profiles of complex disorders that can reveal dynamic aspects and to develop mutitarget systemic therapies that can help overcome pathway adaptations and redundancy.

A Superfamily of Actin-Binding Proteins at the Actin-Membrane Nexus of Higher Plants

Complex animals use a wide variety of adaptor proteins to produce specialized sites of interaction between actin and membranes. Plants do not have these protein families, yet actin-membrane interactions within plant cells are critical for the positioning of subcellular compartments, for coordinating intercellular communication, and for membrane deformation [1]. Novel factors are therefore likely to provide interfaces at actin-membrane contacts in plants, but their identity has remained obscure. Here we identify the plantspecific Networked (NET) superfamily of actin-binding proteins, members of which localize to the actin cytoskeleton and specify different membrane compartments. The founding member of the NET superfamily, NET1A, is anchored at the plasma membrane and predominates at cell junctions, the plasmodesmata. NET1A binds directly to actin filaments via a novel actin-binding domain that defines a superfamily of thirteen Arabidopsis proteins divided into four distinct phylogenetic clades. Members of other clades identify interactions at the tonoplast, nuclear membrane, and pollen tube plasma membrane, emphasizing the role of this superfamily in mediating actin-membrane interactions.

Top Three Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine Applications at the Nexus of Renal Pathophysiology and Cardiovascular Medicine.

Pharmacogenomics is a field with origins in the study of monogenic variations in drug metabolism in the 1950s. Perhaps because of these historical underpinnings, there has been an intensive investigation of 'hepatic pharmacogenes' such as CYP450s and liver drug metabolism using pharmacogenomics approaches over the past five decades. Surprisingly, kidney pathophysiology, attendant diseases and treatment outcomes have been vastly under-studied and under-theorized despite their central importance in maintenance of health, susceptibility to disease and rational personalized therapeutics. Indeed, chronic kidney disease (CKD) represents an increasing public health burden worldwide, both in developed and developing countries. Patients with CKD suffer from high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, which is mainly attributable to cardiovascular events before reaching end-stage renal disease. In this paper, we focus our analyses on renal function before end-stage renal disease, as seen through the lens of pharmacogenomics and human genomic variation. We herein synthesize the recent evidence linking selected Very Important Pharmacogenes (VIP) to renal function, blood pressure and salt-sensitivity in humans, and ways in which these insights might inform rational personalized therapeutics. Notably, we highlight and present the rationale for three applications that we consider as important and actionable therapeutic and preventive focus areas in renal pharmacogenomics: 1) ACE inhibitors, as a confirmed application, 2) VDR agonists, as a promising application, and 3) moderate dietary salt intake, as a suggested novel application. Additionally, we emphasize the putative contributions of gene-environment interactions, discuss the implications of these findings to treat and prevent hypertension and CKD. Finally, we conclude with a strategic agenda and vision required to accelerate advances in this under-studied field of renal pharmacogenomics with vast significance for global public health.

Curso de capacitación sobre la plataforma NEXUS a profesores de preparatoria utilizando un modelo de evaluación de Donald Kirkpatrik.

Tesis (Maestría en Psicología Laboral y Organizacional) UANL, 2012.

Ethic of Care versus Ethic of Justice? The Gender- Corruption Nexus: Testing the New Conventional Wisdom

Ce papier utilise des données empiriques sur le Ghana afin d’examiner comment, le genre, en tant que système social, génère des dilemmes moraux dans le secteur public. Les hommes et les femmes se sentent obligées de choisir des conditions privées de moralité dans le secteur de l’éthique publique. Ce papier démontre que les références qui délimitent les personnalités comportementales sexuées et qui sont utilisées pour justifier le plus haut degré de standard éthique des femmes peut aussi être potentiellement source de corruption, si les femmes essaient de respecter les attentes en matière de genre dans la conduite des obligations publiques. Fondamentalement, le papier argumente que l’éthique sexuée- supposant la division entre éthique de la compassion et éthique de la justice- pourrait perpétuer des comportements qui nient l’éthique du secteur public, mais se conforme à l’éthique sociale. En utilisant les travaux de Carol Gilligan (1982) sur la théorie du développement moral, il conclut, inter alia, que le recrutement des femmes dans le secteur public devrait être promu en tant que droit plutôt qu’à partir de leur probité morale présumée supérieure. Promouvoir les femmes dans le services publics sur la base de leur éthique supérieure pourrait s’avérer contre-productif si les espoirs étaient déçus.

The circular economy and the water-food nexus

The global economy is based on a take-make-consume and dispose model where natural resources are turned into products and the waste disposed of instead of being reused as a resource. In the Asia-Pacific region climate change along with rapid population and economic growth is resulting in increased demand for water and food, potentially leading to economic and political instability. Europe has developed policy and technological innovations that can facilitate the transition towards a circular economy where waste becomes a resource. By using existing instruments Europe can transfer its circular economy knowledge and technology to the Asia-Pacific region to increase security of supply of scarce resources. This can help ensure global security, influence climate change negotiations and create jobs in Europe.