Extending the Geographical Scope of the ENP: The Neighbours of the EU’s Neighbours

The concept of the “neighbours of the EU’s neighbours” appeared for the first time within the 2006 communication of the European Commission on “strengthening the ENP”1, the main idea being to “look beyond the Union’s immediate neighbourhood” and to see if bridges could be built between the areas covered by the latter and Africa, Central Asia and the Gulf

Notes on two interesting specimens of Hippotion celerio (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae)

Moths of the genus Hippotion Hübner, 1822 (Family: Sphingidae) are distributed in Africa, Central and southern Asia and as migrants in southern Europe and Australia. Currently, around 30 species are accommodated in this genus. Hippotion celerio is a regular migrant to the Maltese Islands. On the onset of warmer weather conditions, colonies establish themselves in North Africa and Europe. It is a resident species in the Azores and the Atlantic coast of Morocco and most probably also in the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Egyptpeer-reviewe

Furuncular myiasis of the foot caused by the tumbu fly, Cordylobia anthropophaga: Report in a Medical Student Returning from a Medical Mission trip to Tanzania.

Cutaneous myiasis in humans is a temporary parasitic infestation of the skin by fly larvae or maggots of a variety of Dipteran families. In the United States, autochthonous cases of myiasis are infrequently seen. Most cases of cutaneous myiasis are acquired when traveling to tropical areas of Africa, Central America or South America. This case report involves a 26-year-old male medical student who visited Tanzania on a medical mission trip. Three weeks following his return to the United States he developed a furuncular lesion on the side of the fifth digit on his right foot, which contained the larva of the tumbu fly, Cordylobia anthropophaga

Vaccination control programs for multiple livestock host species: an age-stratified, seasonal transmission model for brucellosis control in endemic settings

Brucella melitensis causes production losses in ruminants and febrile disease in humans in Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere. Although traditionally understood to affect primarily sheep and goats, it is also the predominant Brucella species that affects cows in some endemic areas. Despite this, no licensed vaccine is available specifically for use against B. melitensis in cows. The mainstay of most control programs is vaccination of sheep and goats with a live vaccine, Rev-1. The aim of this study was to investigate how critical vaccination of cows might be, in order to control B. melitensis on a mixed sheep-and-cattle farm

Short-term risk of anaemia following initiation of combination antiretroviral treatment in HIV-infected patients in countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia-Pacific, and central and South America

BACKGROUND:The objective was to examine the short-term risk and predictors of anaemia following initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in HIV-infected patients from the Western Africa, Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, Central Africa, Asian-Pacific, and Caribbean and Central and South America regions of the International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) collaboration. METHODS: Anaemia was defined as haemoglobin of = 10 g/dL, and had one or more follow-up haemoglobin tests. Factors associated with anaemia up to 12 months were examined using Cox proportional hazards models and stratified by IeDEA region. RESULTS: Between 1998 and 2008, 19,947 patients initiated cART with baseline and follow-up haemoglobin tests (7358, 7289, 2853, 471, 1550 and 426 in the Western Africa, Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, Central Africa, Asian-Pacific, and Caribbean and Central and South America regions, respectively). At initiation, anaemia was found in 45% of Western Africa patients, 29% of Eastern Africa patients, 21% of Southern Africa patients, 36% of Central Africa patients, 15% of patients in Asian-Pacific and 14% of patients in Caribbean and Central and South America. Among patients with haemoglobin of > = 10 g/dL at baseline (13,445), the risks of anaemia were 18.2, 6.6, 9.7, 22.9, 11.8 and 19.5 per 100 person-years in the Western Africa, Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, Central Africa, Asian, and Caribbean and Central and South America regions, respectively. Factors associated with anaemia were female sex, low baseline haemoglobin level, low baseline CD4 count, more advanced disease stage, and initial cART containing zidovudine. CONCLUSIONS: In data from 34 cohorts of HIV-infected patients from sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America, and Asia, the risk of anaemia within 12 months of initiating cART was moderate. Routine haemoglobin monitoring was recommended in patients at risk of developing anaemia following cART initiation

Talking to the inattentive public: How the media translates the Reserve Bank’s communications

Central bank communication is widely recognised as crucial to the implementation of monetary policy. This communication should enhance a central bank’s management of the inflation expectations of the financial markets as well as the general public — the latter being a part of the central bank’s audience that has received relatively little research attention. In this paper, the role of the media in transmitting the SARB’s communication to the general public is explored, with the aim of improving our understanding of its impact on the expectations channel of the monetary policy transmission mechanism. A deliberate evaluation of this channel could aid the design of future strategies to communicate with the general public.South Africa, central bank communication, consistency, monetary policy transmission mechanism, transparent monetary policy.

Talking to the inattentive Public: How the media translates the Reserve Bank’s communications

Central bank communication is widely recognised as crucial to the implementation of monetary policy. This communication should enhance a central bank’s management of the inflation expectations of the financial markets as well as the general public – the latter being a part of the central bank’s audience that has received relatively little research attention. In this paper, the role of the media in transmitting the SARB’s communication to the general public is explored, with the aim of improving our understanding of its impact on the expectations channel of the monetary policy transmission mechanism. A deliberate evaluation of this channel could aid the design of future strategies to communicate with the general public.South Africa, central bank communication, consistency, monetary policy transmission mechanism, transparent monetary policy

‘Of course we must be equal, but …’: imagining gendered futures in two rural Southern African secondary schools

Based on focus group discussions held with students at rural secondary schools in Lesotho and Zimbabwe, this paper argues that secondary schools provide important spaces for the (re)construction of gendered identities among rural girls in southern Africa. Central to processes of identity formation in rural secondary schools are normative discourses centring on notions of ‘culture’ and ‘equal rights’. These discourses are (re)produced in secondary schools and are appropriated by students in making sense of their lives. Both are ambiguously related to dominant gender ideologies and are mobilised by students in ways which do not simply conform to an accommodation/resistance dichotomy. Also highlighted is the complex articulation of identity production and materiality. Identities are constructed in the context of the school in relation to expected material performance in contexts removed in time and space. The ‘culture’ and ‘equal rights’ discourses are understood and negotiated in relation to expectations of future lives beyond the spatial and temporal boundaries of the school: lives imagined in relation to particular (generally urban) geographical contexts

One Struggle

A flyer for One Struggle an event hosted by the Chicago Committee in Solidarity with Southern Africa (CCISSA) to discuss United States Foreign Policy in South Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean.https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cjoccissa/1003/thumbnail.jp

Islam Observed: The Case of Contemporary Malaysia

The phenomenon of the rise of Islam in Malaysia does not attract much attention of observers when compared with the same phenomenon in the countries of the Middle East, North Africa, Central or South Asia. This paper attempted to review comprehensively the development of Islam in Malaysia since obtaining its independence from Britain in August 1957.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v5i2.75