Determinants of tourist expenditure in Fiji : a cointegration approach

Tourism is Fiji's largest industry in terms of foreign exchange earnings and employment creation. The industry earns around F$600 million per annum in foreign exchange, employs around 40,000 people, and tourist expenditure per capita is valued at around F$671. On the basis of this contribution, the industry is seen as a catalyst for economic development in Fiji; hence, it is imperative to understand the behavior of the industry. This article focuses on examining the determinants of tourist expenditure in Fiji. Using cointegration analysis and error correction models, the article finds that in the long run, real GDP in the country of origin impacts tourist spending in Fiji positively while prices and transport costs (airfares) have a negative effect. In the short run, coups d'êtat impact tourist expenditure negatively. It is envisaged that these results will help Fiji's policy makers and tourism industry stakeholders to understand the industry better.

Television journalism : the cultural politics of contemporary current affairs interviewing

This thesis examined television current affairs interviewing to determine the influence of the cultural politics of Australian commercial and non-commercial networks. Marketplace pressures to rate highly was the major influence on commercial programs resulting in the use of shorter dramatic interviews, more celebrities, fewer politicians, hidden cameras and ambush interviews.

Fuzzy well-being in Pacific Asia

This paper develops a framework that uses fuzzy-set theory to measure human well-being. Fuzzy sets allow for gradual transition from one state to another while also allowing one to incorporate rules and goals, and hence are more appropriate for measuring outcomes that are ambiguous. Such ambiguity is an inherent characteristic of cross-country achieved well-being assessments. This framework is used to provide a fuzzy representation of the well known Human Development Index (HDI) and its three components. Fuzzy HDI estimates for 14 Pacific Asian countries are provided and compared with non-fuzzy estimates. Quite large differences in rankings emerge. The paper concludes by suggesting that fuzzy measures should be used more widely to measure achieved well-being outcomes.

The role of policy in improving diets : experiences from the Pacific obesity prevention in communities food policy project

There is global interest in using multisectoral policy approaches to improve diets, and reduce obesity and non-communicable disease. However, there has been ad hoc implementation, which in some sectors such as the economic sector has been very limited, because of the lack of quality evidence on potential costs and impacts, and the inherent challenges associated with cross-sectoral policy development and implementation. The Pacific Obesity Prevention in Communities food policy project aimed to inform relevant policy development and implementation in Pacific Island countries. The project developed an innovative participatory approach to identifying and assessing potential policy options in terms of their effectiveness and feasibility. It also used policy analysis methodology to assess three policy initiatives to reduce fatty meat availability and four soft drink taxes in the region, in order to identify strategies for supporting effective policy implementation.

Design based learning – student's views on industry requirements

The focus of this research paper is to illustrate students views on design based learning, and in particular  to investigate and present how important design based learning is for a career in engineering. Students  need to  acquire  various skills by  learning  and practicing  engineering, which  is necessary to  explore themselves according to the industry requirements. However students and educators are not aware of  existing industry requirements of graduates. In learning and teaching institutions, practicing design is  one of the fundamental processes in engineering and all other engineering activities related to it. When  students require the  opportunity to  apply their  knowledge to solve  design  problems,  design  based learning is generally recorded as an innovative method for engineering education. This paper presents  research findings from  a quantitative  analysis  of student  views on design based  learning for future  career readiness in engineering.

Melatonin in maturation media fails to improve oocyte maturation, embryo development rates and DNA damage of bovine embryos

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The who start study suicidal behaviors across different areas of the world

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) study entitled Suicide Trends in At-Risk Territories (START) is an international multisite initiative that aims to stimulate suicide research and prevention across different areas of the globe. A central component of the study is the development of registration systems for fatal and nonfatal suicidal behaviors. Aims: This paper provides an overview of the data collected on suicidal behaviors from the participating locations in the START study. Method: Descriptive statistics on the data are presented in terms of age, sex, and method. Results: Agreater proportion of suicide deaths occurred among males. In all areas except the Philippines more females than males engaged in nonfatal suicidal behaviors. Compared to Australia, Italy, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Hong Kong SAR, in the Pacific Islands suicide most often occurs in younger age groups. Results indicate notable variations between countries in choice of method. A greater proportion of suicides occurred by hanging in Pacific Islands, while inhalation of carbon monoxide, use of firearms, ingestion of chemicals and poisons, and drug overdose were the most frequent methods of choice in other areas. Conclusion: The information drawn from this study demonstrates the enormous variation in suicidal behavior across the areas involved in the START Study. Further research is needed to assess the reliability of the established data-recording systems for suicidal behaviors. The baseline data established in START may allow the development of suicide prevention initiatives sensitive to variation in the profile of suicide across different locations. © 2013 Hogrefe Publishing.

Desafios e possibilidades: a luta por (re) costurar a vida

Pós-graduação em Serviço Social - FCHS

Desafios da comunicação interna em departamentos de jornalismo

This paper focuses on the importance of internal communication within the journalism departments of regional Brazilian open television networks. This research shows that these professionals recognized that communication can improve relationship among staff and journalistic performance. However, just one of the companies researched invests in internal communication management. The present study also reveals many challenges which influence internal communication, relationship, and the journalistic work in these companies, such as: lean teams, interferences from other areas in the journalistic writing, lack of formal network of communication, competition among members of the team, the journalist's professional profile, need for shared leadership and internal communication policies and information management.

Learning about Self Far From Home: A Pre-service Teacher’s Intercultural Development During an International Program

Preparing teachers to effectively teach culturally diverse students, teacher educators advocate for the use of cross-cultural field experiences, including international study abroad programs. This paper reports on a qualitative case study of two pre-service teachers’ intercultural development during a semester-long teacher education study abroad program in London, England. Findings indicate that international experiences provide a catalyst to move pre-service teachers forward in their intercultural development. Implications include the need for multicultural teacher educators to take a developmental approach to pre-service teacher education informed by theories of intercultural development and cultural learning developed within intercultural communications.

The use of corpora as translation resources: A study based on a survey of Spanish professional translators

The aim of this paper is to describe the use that professional translators make of corpora as translation resources. First, we briefly review the literature on translation practitioners’ use of corpora in the contexts of both translation training and professional translation. Then we present our survey-based study, analyse the uptake of corpora among Spanish translators and describe the use of this kind of translation resource. The results show that even if corpora are not as frequently used as other kinds of resources, such as dictionaries, there are professional translators who do use corpora, in a variety of ways, in their work. Additionally, non-users do not seem entirely sceptical about corpora. Against that backdrop, translator trainers are invited to continue to report on how corpora can be used as translation resources.

The progressive fish culturist : news and views from many sources on practical hatchery problems.

Caption title, Dec. 1934-

A GÊNESE, O DESENVOLVIMENTO E A DIFUSÃO DA FOLKCOMUNICAÇÃO

Investigação sobre a gênese da teoria da Folkcomunicação, tendo por objetivo identificar suas matrizes epistemológicas e suas raízes metodológicas, bem como caracterizar sua natureza interdisciplinar, gravitando em torno das ciências da comunicação e da cultura. O estudo parte da análise do desenvolvimento dos conceitos de Luiz Beltrão, contextualizando sua ancoragem inicial na teoria do jornalismo (1967) e sua posterior ampliação para incluir as dimensões do processo social da comunicação (1980). Com base na exegese da obra seminal do fundador da Folkcomunicação, buscamos extrair as contribuições do autor para o avanço das teorias da comunicação ao adaptar dimensões de bilateralidade e de formas de expressão da cultura popular nos processos da comunicação. Realizamos, também, a análise crítica dos avanços teóricos e das estratégias metodológicas construídas pelos estudiosos que deram continuidade aos estudos de Luiz Beltrão. Em seguida, investigamos a disseminação dos conhecimentos sobre folkcomunicação no Brasil e no âmbito acadêmico internacional. O corpus analisado foi a obra de Beltrão sobre o tema, bem como, dissertações, teses, livros, artigos e comunicações cientificas, que tratam da folkcomunicação. A metodologia utilizada terá por base a pesquisa bibliográfica e documental e a análise taxonômica. O período analisado compreenderá os estudos publicados sobre a Folkcomunicação desde a obra original de Beltrão, em 1967 até 2007.

Obstacles and solutions to maximising biodiversity in major urban development schemes

The current rate of global biodiversity loss led many governments to sign the international agreement ‘Halting Biodiversity Loss by 2010 and beyond’ in 2001. The UK government was one of these and has a number of methods to tackle this, such as: commissioning specific technical guidance and supporting the UK Biodiversity Acton Plan (BAP) targets. However, by far the most effective influence the government has upon current biodiversity levels is through the town planning system. This is due to the control it has over all phases of a new development scheme’s lifecycle.There is an increasing myriad of regulations, policies and legislation, which deal with biodiversity protection and enhancement across the hierarchical spectrum: from the global and European level, down to regional and local levels. With these drivers in place, coupled with the promotion of benefits and incentives, increasing biodiversity value ought to be an achievable goal on most, if not all development sites. However, in the professional world, this is not the case due to a number of obstructions. Many of these tend to be ‘process’ barriers, which are particularly prevalent with ‘urban’ and ‘major’ development schemes, and is where the focus of this research paper lies.The paper summarises and discusses the results of a questionnaire survey, regarding obstacles to maximising biodiversity enhancements on major urban development schemes. The questionnaire was completed by Local Government Ecologists in England. The paper additionally refers to insights from previous action research, specialist interviews, and case studies, to reveal the key process obstacles.Solutions to these obstacles are then alluded to and recommendations are made within the discussion.