A quantitative economic analysis of the impact of price reform and the elimination of subsidies on poverty among cotton producing households in rural Uganda : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Masters in Applied Economics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The benefits of eliminating cotton subsidies for Africa have been studied in terms of a higher world price, greater market share and higher export earnings for Africa. These estimates have focused on macroeconomic gains. This research simulates the effect of increases in the price on incomes of cotton growing households in rural Uganda to assess the impact on poverty levels. The Foster-Greer-Thorbecke measure of poverty is used to analyse the effect price increase on poverty. Results from this research indicate that Ugandan cotton farmers are unlikely to benefit from the elimination of cotton subsidies without price reform within its domestic cotton market. It is estimated that price reform alone can decrease poverty by 5 percent among cotton growing households in the Northern and Eastern Regions of Uganda. The results of the simulations also indicate increasing the price of cotton reduces the income gap for those households that remain in poverty despite the price increase. Thus the price increase decreases the severity of poverty amongst cotton producing households in rural Uganda

Teen pregnancy: Tailoring a pregnancy app to the needs of pregnant adolescents

Teenage pregnancy is an important issue; adolescence is associated with various challenges and changes, as a result, pregnant adolescents have fewer cognitive, emotional, and social resources to meet the challenges of pregnancy. Stress and distress are often associated with these challenges and many adolescents lack the coping strategies to manage them. Research suggests that stress during pregnancy can have a significant impact on the wellbeing of both mother and child. E-health interventions are being used more frequently to support adolescents with their challenges however, only a small number of these are aimed at pregnant adolescents. Psychosocial interventions for pregnant adolescents have been developed and evaluated, and most of them aim to provide social support, access to professionals and pregnancy related resources. Psychosocial interventions targeting adolescents in general often focus on improving or maintaining their emotional and social wellbeing. E-health interventions are a relatively new yet highly successful mode of support for teenagers as they are easily accessible, less time consuming, inexpensive and therefore more widely available than face to face interventions. ‘Positively Pregnant’ is an E-health intervention using a resilience-focussed model to improve the wellbeing of pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to introduce the ‘Positively Pregnant app’ to pregnant adolescents and professionals working alongside them, to gain their feedback on how we might tailor the app to the needs of pregnant adolescents. Three professionals working alongside pregnant adolescents were recruited through email and social media. One parenting teen and one pregnant teen were recruited from their Teen Parent Units (TPU). Feedback was given in individual interviews. Participants were asked their opinion on the challenges that pregnant adolescents experience, the supports they need to manage these challenges and then to give feedback on the ‘Positively Pregnant app along with suggestions for how we can tailor the app to the needs of pregnant teenagers. Three key themes were identified for the challenges and needs of pregnant adolescents: Emotional wellbeing and support, Access to resources, and Cognitive immaturity. Participants responded that the app appeared to be easy to use, interactive and helpful to pregnant teens. Only the professional participants responded with negative feedback which was that the app could be overwhelming for pregnant teens in terms of the layout and wording. Lastly, all five participants provided recommendations for changes, such as: downsizing the app, making it possible to use alongside the users healthcare provider and, adding teen specific and pregnancy related material

The Neural Correlates of Similarity- and Rule-based Generalization

The idea that there are multiple learning systems has become increasingly influential in recent years with many studies providing evidence that there is both a quick, similarity, or feature-based, system, and a more effortful, rule-based system. A smaller number of imaging studies have also examined whether neurally dissociable learning systems are detectable. We further investigate this by employing for the first time in an imaging study a combined positive and negative patterning procedure originally developed by Shanks and Darby (1998). Unlike previous related studies employing other procedures, rule generalization in the Shanks-Darby task is beyond any simple non-rule-based (e.g., associative) account. We found that rule- and similarity-based generalization evoked common activation in diverse regions including the prefrontal cortex and the bilateral parietal and occipital lobes indicating that both strategies likely share a range of common processes. No differences between strategies were identified in whole-brain comparisons but exploratory analyses indicated that rule-based generalization led to greater activation in the right middle frontal cortex than similarity-based generalization. Conversely, the similarity group activated the anterior medial frontal lobe and right inferior parietal lobes more than the rule group did. The implications of these results are discussed

Metastability in pressure-induced structural transformations of CdSe/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals

The kinetics and thermodynamics of structural transformations under pressure depend strongly on particle size due to the influence of surface free energy. By suitable design of surface structure, composition, and passivation it is possible, in principle, to prepare nanocrystals in structures inaccessible to bulk materials. However, few realizations of such extreme size-dependent behavior exist. Here we show with molecular dynamics computer simulation that in a model of CdSe/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals the core high pressure structure can be made metastable under ambient conditions by tuning the thickness of the shell. In nanocrystals with thick shells, we furthermore observe a wurtzite to NiAs transformation, which does not occur in the pure bulk materials. These phenomena are linked to a fundamental change in the atomistic transformation mechanism from heterogenous nucleation at the surface to homogenous nucleation in the crystal core. Our results suggest a new route towards expanding the range of available nanoscale materials

Off-target effects of bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccination on immune responses to SARS-CoV-2: implications for protection against severe COVID-19

Background and objectives: Because of its beneficial off-target effects against non-mycobacterial infectious diseases, bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccination might be an accessible early intervention to boost protection against novel pathogens. Multiple epidemiological studies and randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are investigating the protective effect of BCG against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Using samples from participants in a placebo-controlled RCT aiming to determine whether BCG vaccination reduces the incidence and severity of COVID-19, we investigated the immunomodulatory effects of BCG on in vitro immune responses to SARS-CoV-2. Methods: This study used peripheral blood taken from participants in the multicentre RCT and BCG vaccination to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers (BRACE trial). The whole blood taken from BRACE trial participants was stimulated with γ-irradiated SARS-CoV-2-infected or mock-infected Vero cell supernatant. Cytokine responses were measured by multiplex cytokine analysis, and single-cell immunophenotyping was made by flow cytometry. Results: BCG vaccination, but not placebo vaccination, reduced SARS-CoV-2-induced secretion of cytokines known to be associated with severe COVID-19, including IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10. In addition, BCG vaccination promoted an effector memory phenotype in both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and an activation of eosinophils in response to SARS-CoV-2. Conclusions: The immunomodulatory signature of BCG’s off-target effects on SARS-CoV-2 is consistent with a protective immune response against severe COVID-19

Transition to growth: transport as a springboard for economic growth

Transport infrastructure underpins economic and social activity by providing a framework for interaction in business and social activities. A well-developed transport system, that offers users choice, facilitates growth in the economy by supporting innovations, trade and agglomeration through providing a framework for connectivity on both a domestic and international scale. The state of the transport infrastructure can be either a springboard or stumbling block for economic growth and development in New Zealand. Therefore, the approach to transport investment is important because inappropriate or inadequate investment could constrain the growth and development in New Zealand. Transport infrastructure will become an increasingly influential factor in urban areas as the population and urban density increases in New Zealand. The challenge is to understand where significant transport enhancements can be made to contribute to creating an environment for short term economic stimulus and long term economic development. This paper explores some of the international thinking and empirical research on the links between transport investment, productivity, economic growth and development based on international and New Zealand based research

Optimizing the Day to Day Operation of Utility Systems

At the 2002 IETC, Linnhoff March presented an overview of spreadsheet-based software packages to rigorously model site utility systems. Such models allow the user to plan future scenarios that might impact upon the system operation (energy saving projects, production changes, new equipment, future energy tariffs, etc). Indeed, since last year, the DOE has made utility system template models freely available to industrial users as reported elsewhere at the 2003 IETC. Until last year, most industrial applications of this utility system software were set up for planning purposes, largely off-line. More recently, these applications have become more sophisticated and can operate on-line in real time. They include complex optimization routines to ensure that the utility system is always being operated in the best possible way under any prevailing conditions of production, energy tariffs and other variables. These optimizer models typically reduce day-to-day utility system operating costs by between 2 and 5%