An Unsettled Return: Memory and Self-Identity in Lina Meruane’s Volverse Palestina

Chile is home to one of the largest Palestinian communities outside of the Arab world. Despite its significant size of more than 400,000 people, few have undertaken comprehensive studies of the group and the literature it has produced. This thesis explores the emergence of a diasporic Palestinian consciousness among members of Chile's Palestinian community through an analysis of contemporary writer Lina Meruane's chronicle, Volverse Palestina [Becoming Palestinian] (2013). I argue that Meruane's novel approach to the diasporic Palestinian narrative of return textualizes the emergence of this consciousness in the context of Chile following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. I will begin by providing an overview of Arab migration to Latin America, with a special emphasis on Palestinian migration to Chile. Following this, I will discuss literature written prior to 1948 by Chilean immigrants of Arab descent. I will then analyze Meruane's text in relation to its treatment of collective, intergenerational, and personal memory; diaspora space and border writing; and the concept of return. Lastly, I conclude that in addition to its importance for the Palestinian community in Chile, this narrative offers a refreshingly accessible entry point into the history of a complex, ongoing conflict.Spanish and Portugues

World Trade Organisation (WTO): Trade rules/agreements and developing countries

The GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs) rules of 1947 were seen as prejudicial to the economic and development concerns of developing countries. With the coming into effect of World Trade Organization (WTO), it was expected that some of the concerns of the developing countries will be addressed. Notwithstanding the tremendous improvement made by WTO, there remained many areas of the current rules of WTO that reinforce the disadvantages faced by developing economies. This essay deals with these unfair trade rules and disadvantages inherent in the World Trade Organization (WTO) system by critically examining some important agreements that affect developing economies, specifically the Trade-Related Intellectual Property (TRIPs), Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Barriers to Trade (SPS & TBT). This essay argues that WTO rules have locked most developing countries into an unfair and unbalanced trade system leaving them little space to introduce policies that advance their economy, a situation which not only perpetuates poverty but also hampers development and runs contrary to the objective for which WTO was born and set up.Keywords: Development, Developing Countries Liberalisations, World Trade Organisation- WTO, Trade Agreement

Sensitivity and Responsiveness of Health Utility Indices (HUI2 and HUI3) Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients

Purpose: To assess the sensitivity and responsiveness of HUI2 and HUI3 among Type 2 diabetes patients.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two purposively selected Nigerian tertiary hospitals. Six hundred and thirty-eight (638) adult patients were surveyed following their consent using the HUI2 and HUI3 (HUI23S4En.40Q) questionnaire. Patients’ clinical characteristics such as age, comorbidity, severity of disease, and utilization of hospital resources were postulated a priori to be associated significantly with utility scores of HUI2 and HUI3. Student’s t-test and bivariate analyses were conducted to determine the diabetes-severity discriminatory ability of HUI2 and HUI3. The analyses were conducted with SPSS 14.0. A two-tailed significance level of 0.05 was used.Results: Older patients had lower quality of life than younger patients. The overall health deficit of increasing age for HU13 was -0.2950 and that of overall HUI2 was -0.1553. The respondents without eye problem had higher quality of life than those with eye problem, in both HUI3 and HUI2 utility scores. Stroke was the most important patients’ characteristic that negatively affected HRQOL. Patients with duration of diabetes > 4 years had lower quality of life scores than their counterparts (≤ 4years).Conclusion: Health Utility Index Mark 2 and Mark 3 were sufficiently sensitive and responsive to diabetes severity among Type 2 diabetes patients.Keywords: Health utility index, HUI2, HUI3, Quality of life, Diabetes

Theories of Gold Price Movements: Common Wisdom or Myths?

This paper examines several of the explanations commonly provided regarding gold and its price movements. We consider the safe haven, inflation hedge, and dollar destruction hypotheses. The results are mixed. Our data does not support the theories that gold is a safe haven or an inflation hedge. We find that gold is a zero-beta asset and there is a strong negative correlation between gold and the value of the US dollar in the post Bretton-Woods era. The decomposition of gold prices under a semi-structural model finds the aggregate demand shock, monetary policy shock, and precautionary demand shock of gold all only have modest influence on the price movement of gold

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and global social change- theoretical foundations and practical considerations

Traditionally, both in the domestic and international affairs, nation states are  considered the major players in policy formulation for the purposes of international relations and regulation. Thus, it is not out of place to conclude that they are also the movers and shakers of social change. In the absence of fuller integration and  representation within the sphere of law making in both domestic and international  arrangement, the increasing influence, contribution and work of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for the purpose of social change, policy formulation and eventual rule making are undeniable. This paper sets down the theoretical frameworks for greater participation of NGO’s in international law making and argues subsequently for their fuller integration for the purposes of policy formulation in International Law.Key words: Non-Governmental Organisations, United Nations, social change

Discriminatory Attitudes of Pharmacy Students and Pharmacists against People Living with HIV/AIDS

Purpose: To evaluate the level and predictors of discriminatory attitudes of pharmacy students and pharmacists towards people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).Methods: A cross-sectional survey of pharmacy students and pharmacists (n = 523) to assess discriminatory attitudes towards PLWHA was conducted using a self completed questionnaire. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted.Results: Pharmacists were more knowledgeable and had less negative perceptions than students towards PLWHA. Level of professional training (p < 0.0001), knowledge status (p < 0.0001) and five negative perception items, namely, (a) people who got HIV through sex deserve it (p = 0.003), (b) PLWHA would make their colleagues apprehensive (p < 0.0001), (c) PLWHA have poor hygiene (r = 0.082, p = 0.032), (d) PLWHA should feel ashamed of themselves (p < 0.0001), and (e) people who behave promiscuously should be blamed for AIDS (p = 0.031), were all significantly associated with higher discrimination. However, being a student and having negative perceptions such as “PLWHA should feel ashamed of themselves and “PLWHA would make their colleagues apprehensive” were independent predictors of discrimination.Conclusions: Discriminatory attitudes against PLWHA among pharmacy students and pharmacists who participated in this study were high and level of training and their perceptions were contributory.Keywords: Discrimination, HIV/AIDS, Pharmacists, Perception, Professionalism, Stigmatization

A Comparative Study of Quinine and Artemether in the Treatment of Severe Malaria in Nigerian Children

Purpose: Nigeria has adopted quinine as the drug of first choice in the treatment of severe malaria and artemether as an alternative therapy. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether artemether is a comparable alternative to quinine in the management of severe malaria in Nigerian children. Methods: We conducted a randomized prospective study comparing quinine and artemether therapies in 90 Nigerian children with severe malaria. Results: Mortality was lower in quinine group (13.0 %) than artemether (15.9 %), Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.446 (95 % Confidence Interval (CI), 0.124 to 1.603, p = 0.249 ). The parasitaemia clearance on day 3 by quinine and artemether was 96.8 and 99.0 % (p = 0.422), respectively, while on day 14 it was 100 % for both medicines. Fever clearance by quinine and artemether was 87.7 and 90 % (p = 0.753), respectively, on day 3 but it increased to 100 and 96.42 % (p = 0.072), respectively, on day 14. For the quinine group, 71.74 % of the patients spent less than one week in the hospital versus 61.76 % for the artemether group (p = 0.829, OR = 0.883, 95 %CI = 0.284 to 2.742). Conclusion: Artemether is a comparable alternative to quinine in the treatment of severe paediatric malaria.Key words: Artemether; Nigerian children; Paediatric; Quinine; Severe malaria.

The Construct Validity of an Instrument for Measuring Type 2 Diabetes Self-Care Knowledge in Nigeria

Purpose: To develop an instrument (DSCKQ-30) for measuring type 2 diabetic patients’ knowledge of self-care practices.Methods: A 30-item questionnaire (DSCKQ-30) consisting of close ended questions was developed for this study. DSCKQ-30 was self administered to a cross-section of randomly selected 400 ambulatory adult diabetic patients (≥ 18 years), who were attending endocrinology clinics at the hospitals included in this study. The sex distribution for female and male was 56.7 and 43.3% respectively. Factor analysis and item analysis were performed to test the construct validity and reliability of the instrument. Item performance was measured by item discrimination (item-to-total correlation) and percent correctness (%C).Results: The response rate was 78.5%. Factor analysis identified three scales of knowledge of self-care management. Chronbach’s alpha of the 30 questionnaire items was found to be 0.89. The item-to-total correlation coefficients and ranges for component 1 - 3 were 0.36 (0.25 - 0.48), 0.28 (0.23 - 0.35), and 0.34 (0.23 - 0.41), respectively, with overall average of 0.33 (0.23 - 0.48). Items percent correctness (% C) ranged from 16.7 to 86.7 % with an overall average of 55.6 %. Item factor loadings averaged 0.62 for the total items; averages of the three scales ranged from 0.59 to 0.68.Conclusion: The DSCKQ-30 provided a quantitative measure of patient's knowledge of self-care practices.Keywords: Diabetes self-care knowledge, DSCKQ-30, Knowledge instrument, Nigeria

THE MANAGEMENT OF ECOLOGICAL FUND AND NATURAL-RESOURCE CONFLICTS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA, 2009-2013

This study examines the relationship between the management of the Ecological Fund and natural-resource conflicts in northern Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the effect of the failure to conform to guidelines in the utilization of the Ecological Fund on the incidence of natural resource conflicts in the region. The study found that the utilization of the Ecological Fund was characterized by non-conformity to stipulated disbursement guidelines, incomplete remittance of the fund to relevant agencies, as well as the unauthorized diversion of the fund. In some instances, the fund was utilized to serve private interests. This led to the escalation of natural-resource conflicts in northern Nigeria. The study recommended the need implement agency review reports that ensure accountability and popular participation of stakeholders

ENHANCING STUDENTS' ATTITUDE AND ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY THROUGH INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES

In this research, the impact of peer tutoring and group tutoring led to team learning approaches on the attitude of the students towards and achievement in biology. The thesis had been motivated by four research questions and six null hypotheses. The research had used a quasi-experimental method. In particular, the design of the un-equivalent control group. The sample size was 182 SS 1 students from the four sampled government senior high schools in Port-Harcourt metropolis, River State, Nigeria in four intact classrooms. Two of the classes were exposed to peer tutoring while the remaining two were exposed to peer-led team learning strategies. Biology Attitudinal Scale (BAS), and Biology Achievement Test (BAT) were data collection instruments. BAS construct validity was developed using factor analysis, while BAT material validity was calculated using the specification table. Reliability for BAS and BAT was obtained using formula 20 (K-R 20) from Cronbach Alpha and Kudar-Richardson. Mean and the standard deviation was used to answer the study questions while Covariance analysis (ANCOVA) was used to evaluate the hypotheses at 0.05 significance point. The findings showed that peer-led team learning approach is better than peer tutoring in enhancing the attitude and achievement of the students in biology. The implications of the findings were highlighted and recommendations made