Culture of aid : Chinese aid to Cambodia

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. The United Nations Human Development Index ranks Cambodia as 137 out of 182 countries in terms of quality of life. Cambodia is also an aid dependent country, with nearly half its annual budget coming from aid. Since the Paris Peace Accords in 1991 and subsequent United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) period, OECD-DAC (Development Assistance Committee) (or 'traditional') donors have entered Cambodia in large numbers. These traditional donors allocate aid according to the OECDDAC consensus. This consensus is based around international agreements such as the Millennium Development Goals, The Pahs Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Monterrey Consensus o f the International Conference on Financing fo r Development. The traditional donors have, since the early 1990s, created and dominated the aid 'culture' in Cambodia. Recently, however, another donor has come to the fore in Cambodia, and that is China. China has strong historical, social and economic links with Cambodia that go back to ancient times. China has been disbursing aid to Cambodia since the 1950s. However, it has only been since 2006 that China has come to the fore as an aid donor, due in part to the large amount of aid it is currently pledging to Cambodia but also to the growing role China is playing on the wider global stage. China is now one of the largest donors to (as well as investors in) Cambodia. China, however, is often considered a 'rogue' donor by the traditional donors both at the global scale and within Cambodia, as China does not conform with DAC policy on aid and development. This leads to certain representations of China that do not always accord with the 'realities' of China's aid program. This thesis explores aid cultures in Cambodia, in particular the encounter between Chinese aid and western aid. Theoretically this thesis situates itself at the intersection between (post)development geography and cultural geography, drawing on ideas such as representation and encounter to understand how Chinese and western aid come together in the context of Cambodia. By doing so, this thesis fills a gap in the existing literature by looking at aid as a culture, and exploring China's aid from a [post]development/cultural geography viewpoint, rather than an economic or international relations stance. Arising from this theoretical stance come three primary research questions: How do those with different cultural sets come together in certain contexts, namely aid; what cultural encounters do we see in this mix between traditional donors and new donors; how do discourses around 'the other' play into aid dialogues in Cambodia? This thesis investigates these research questions through qualitative methods, including interviews, discourse analysis and participant observation. Analysis is undertaken of western aid to Cambodia, with a focus on the history and statistics of aid, aid coordination, development policy and critiques of traditional aid in order to highlight the existing aid culture in Cambodia. An analysis is then undertaken of China's aid to Cambodia, looking at the aid figures and aid structure before investigating representations of China's aid and looking at an indicative case study of one Chinese aid project in Cambodia. Finally the encounter between western aid and Chinese aid is analysed with particular reference to three types of western aid actors in Cambodia and how they encounter and represent China and its aid program. Through the above investigation, three main findings are arrived at: a) that a particularly western aid culture has been created in Cambodia, one which can be seen as a 'site of knowledge' for western aid; b] that Chinese aid is deliberately constructed and represented in certain ways by the West for its own purposes much as Said (1995] outlined in his work Orientalism regarding the relationship between the West and 'the other'; and c) whilst global aid discourses influence the encounter between China and the West in Cambodia, Cambodia itself is not a passive player in this encounter, using it for its own advantage by playing off China and the western donors against one another

Culture of aid : Chinese aid to Cambodia

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. The United Nations Human Development Index ranks Cambodia as 137 out of 182 countries in terms of quality of life. Cambodia is also an aid dependent country, with nearly half its annual budget coming from aid. Since the Paris Peace Accords in 1991 and subsequent United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) period, OECD-DAC (Development Assistance Committee) (or 'traditional') donors have entered Cambodia in large numbers. These traditional donors allocate aid according to the OECDDAC consensus. This consensus is based around international agreements such as the Millennium Development Goals, The Pahs Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Monterrey Consensus o f the International Conference on Financing fo r Development. The traditional donors have, since the early 1990s, created and dominated the aid 'culture' in Cambodia. Recently, however, another donor has come to the fore in Cambodia, and that is China. China has strong historical, social and economic links with Cambodia that go back to ancient times. China has been disbursing aid to Cambodia since the 1950s. However, it has only been since 2006 that China has come to the fore as an aid donor, due in part to the large amount of aid it is currently pledging to Cambodia but also to the growing role China is playing on the wider global stage. China is now one of the largest donors to (as well as investors in) Cambodia. China, however, is often considered a 'rogue' donor by the traditional donors both at the global scale and within Cambodia, as China does not conform with DAC policy on aid and development. This leads to certain representations of China that do not always accord with the 'realities' of China's aid program. This thesis explores aid cultures in Cambodia, in particular the encounter between Chinese aid and western aid. Theoretically this thesis situates itself at the intersection between (post)development geography and cultural geography, drawing on ideas such as representation and encounter to understand how Chinese and western aid come together in the context of Cambodia. By doing so, this thesis fills a gap in the existing literature by looking at aid as a culture, and exploring China's aid from a [post]development/cultural geography viewpoint, rather than an economic or international relations stance. Arising from this theoretical stance come three primary research questions: How do those with different cultural sets come together in certain contexts, namely aid; what cultural encounters do we see in this mix between traditional donors and new donors; how do discourses around 'the other' play into aid dialogues in Cambodia? This thesis investigates these research questions through qualitative methods, including interviews, discourse analysis and participant observation. Analysis is undertaken of western aid to Cambodia, with a focus on the history and statistics of aid, aid coordination, development policy and critiques of traditional aid in order to highlight the existing aid culture in Cambodia. An analysis is then undertaken of China's aid to Cambodia, looking at the aid figures and aid structure before investigating representations of China's aid and looking at an indicative case study of one Chinese aid project in Cambodia. Finally the encounter between western aid and Chinese aid is analysed with particular reference to three types of western aid actors in Cambodia and how they encounter and represent China and its aid program. Through the above investigation, three main findings are arrived at: a) that a particularly western aid culture has been created in Cambodia, one which can be seen as a 'site of knowledge' for western aid; b] that Chinese aid is deliberately constructed and represented in certain ways by the West for its own purposes much as Said (1995] outlined in his work Orientalism regarding the relationship between the West and 'the other'; and c) whilst global aid discourses influence the encounter between China and the West in Cambodia, Cambodia itself is not a passive player in this encounter, using it for its own advantage by playing off China and the western donors against one another

An epidemiologic investigation of wastage and productivity of ewes in a sample of New Zealand commercial flocks : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Veterinary Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Material in this thesis has been published as: K.J.Griffiths, AL Ridler, C Heuer, RA Corner-Thomas & PR Kenyon. (2016, Dec). The effect of liveweight and body condition score on the ability of ewe lambs to successfully rear their offspring. Small Ruminant Research, 145, 130-135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2016.11.001 KJ Griffiths, AL Ridler, C Heuer, RA Corner-Thomas & PR Kenyon. (2018). Associations between liveweight, body condition score and previous reproductive outcomes, andthe risk of ewes bred at 18-months of age being dry at docking, New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 66(6), 290-296. https://doi.org/10.1080/00480169.2018.1498035 KJ Griffiths, AL Ridler, CWR Compton, RA Corner-Thomas & PR Kenyon. (2019.) Investigating associations between lamb survival to weaning and dam udder and teatscores, New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 67(4), 163-171. https://doi.org/10.1080/00480169.2019.1596523 KJ Griffiths, AL Ridler, CWR Compton, RA Corner-Thomas & PR Kenyon. (2019). Associations between lamb growth to weaning and dam udder and teat scores, New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 67(4), 172-179. https://doi.org/10.1080/00480169.2019.1596524Until recently, little was known about ewe wastage in commercial New Zealand ewe flocks, or indeed, internationally. This PhD was undertaken with the broad objective of establishing the extent, timing and cause (premature culling or mortality) of ewe wastage in New Zealand ewe flocks, while also identifying factors associated with increased ewe wastage including pre-mating body condition score (BCS), failure to rear a lamb and, linked with the latter, impact of ewe udder defects on productivity. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that reports both lifetime wastage and detailed annual wastage in a sample of New Zealand commercial flocks. Of the 13,142 enrolled ewes, 50.4% exited their respective flocks due to premature culling (where a ewe is culled from the flock prior to the potential end of her productive lifespan) and 40.0% due to on-farm dead/missing, giving a total of 90.4% that exited due to wastage. In all years, pre-mating BCS could be used as a predictor of ewe wastage with odds of wastage lower with increasing BCS. In Year 1, wastage for each cohort ranged from 7.6% - 45.4% of ewe lambs enrolled, while wastage due to dead/missing accounted for 26.8% - 100.0% of ewe lamb wastage across cohorts, and premature culling was primarily due to poor reproductive performance (dry at pregnancy diagnosis or dry at docking when 3-6-week-old lambs are yarded for ear marking, tail removal and castration of males). Hence, other than the cull sale-value for those that were prematurely culled, the farmer received no productive or economic benefit from these wasted ewe lambs. Ewe lambs with heavier conceptus adjusted liveweight (CALW) and those that gained greater CALW between pregnancy diagnosis and pre-lambing were less likely to be dry at docking. Similarly, for two-tooth ewes (18-months of age at breeding), heavier ewes and those that gained CALW were less likely to be dry at docking than lighter ewes or those that lost CALW. Pre-mating udder palpation scores of hard or lump were associated with increased odds of lambs not surviving to weaning compared with normal scores. Additionally, surviving offspring of ewes with pre-mating udder palpation scores of hard had lower growth to weaning. Commercial farmers can use the information presented in this thesis to identify ewes within their flocks that have increased risk of wastage or poor productivity. They can then alter management of these at-risk ewes to both improve ewe productivity and reduce likelihood of wastage

Factors influencing men's experiences of a termination of pregnancy

The termination of pregnancy (TOP) is one of the most commonly performed gynaecological procedures in England. Despite the prevalence of the TOP procedure, limited research to date has investigated male partner's experiences of a TOP. The aim of the present study was to investigate the mood and effect experienced by men accompanying their female partner to a TOP. Additionally, factors influencing male partner's experiences of a TOP were also investigated; namely hegemonic masculinity and social roles. A combined qualitative and quantitative approach was used to address the research questions.Participants were 63 men accompanying their female partner to a TOP on a gynaecology day ward. Men completed questionnaire packages includingself-report measures of their mood, affect and masculinity. Participants were invited to write responses to open-ended questions regarding the reasons for adopting specific roles, and experiences of the NHS environments.The most commonly reported feelings experienced by male partners were tired determined and strong. Participants did not experience significant levels of depression; levels of anxiety experienced were somewhat higher. Results suggest that men do not experience a TOP as an entirely negative procedure. Participant's experiences highlighted the confusion as to a clear role to be adopted. Men who adopted the role of 'Bystander' were more anxious. Being emotionally in control was considered a positive masculine characteristic when accompanying a female to a TOP.Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed, in terms of understanding the experiences of men, improving service delivery and contributing to the existing body of TOP research

Labor Valorization and Social Reproduction: What is Valuable about the Labor Theory of Value?

This article argues that Social Reproduction Theory (SRT) is the trend best positioned for further developing classical Marxist accounts of the labor theory of value, through a concrete historical account of the family as a capitalist institution. To do so, it traces debates about value within and beyond the range of Marxist-feminist accounts of labor, of the strike tactic and of circulation. These debates include the revival of demands for “wages for housework” and the call for a politics of the commons by Silvia Federici and David Harvey. In particular, Amy D’Aths articulation of a social reproduction account of value and Melinda Cooper’s writing on the family are engaged as positive examples for potential further development of Social Reproduction Theory. This argument is placed in the context of a global upsurge of feminist movement and women’s strikes, the Metoo movement, and an increasing popular engagement with Marxist-feminist texts and theory

Environmental conditions can modulate the links among oxidative stress, age, and longevity

Understanding the links between environmental conditions and longevity remains a major focus in biological research. We examined within-individual changes between early- and mid-adulthood in the circulating levels of four oxidative stress markers linked to ageing, using zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata): a DNA damage product (8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine; 8-OHdG), protein carbonyls (PC), non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity (OXY), and superoxide dismutase activity (SOD). We further examined whether such within-individual changes differed among birds living under control (ad lib food) or more challenging environmental conditions (unpredictable food availability), having previously found that the latter increased corticosterone levels when food was absent but improved survival over a three year period. Our key findings were: (i) 8-OHdG and PC increased with age in both environments, with a higher increase in 8-OHdG in the challenging environment; (ii) SOD increased with age in the controls but not in the challenged birds, while the opposite was true for OXY; (iii) control birds with high levels of 8-OHdG died at a younger age, but this was not the case in challenged birds. Our data clearly show that while exposure to the potentially damaging effects of oxidative stress increases with age, environmental conditions can modulate the pace of this age–related change

Measuring cancer care experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia: Trial of a new approach that privileges patient voices

This study examined a new method for measuring the care experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer: the Indigenous People’s Experiences of Cancer Care Survey (IPECCS). The study assessed IPECCS’s: 1) performance; 2) ability to elicit information useful for service improvements; and 3) implementation potential. Three participant groups were recruited from five Australian cancer treatment sites: 1) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer (+/- support person); 2) interviewers; and 3) health services staff. Trained interviewers administered IPECCS to participants with cancer in audiotaped sessions. Paper forms and transcripts were compared to assess performance, and problems/potential solutions reported by participants with cancer were assessed for actionability. All participant groups completed separate interviews regarding IPECCS. Selected implementation measures were assessed based on interviews and IPECCS administration. Participants (n=31) included 11 Aboriginal people with cancer, 7 support people, 4 interviewers, and 9 health staff. Aboriginal people with cancer spoke at length about their cancer care experiences and identified problems and potential solutions that could be acted upon by health services. Although some parts of the IPECCS form were well-completed, recording was inconsistent and inadequate. Aboriginal people with cancer and interviewers predominantly supported the IPECCS process; while most health staff supported the aims, they questioned its feasibility. Capturing domains of patient experience relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people requires a culturally safe, strengths-based approach. The tension between facilitating meaningful patient engagement and maximizing the efficiency of data collection and use must be resolved to realise the benefits of such an approach. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Policy & Measurement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (https://www.theberylinstitute.org/ExperienceFramework). Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

Intergenerational effects on offspring telomere length: interactions among maternal age, stress exposure and offspring sex

Offspring produced by older parents often have reduced longevity, termed the Lansing effect. Because adults usually have similar-aged mates, it is difficult to separate effects of maternal and paternal age, and environmental circumstances are also likely to influence offspring outcomes. The mechanisms underlying the Lansing effect are poorly understood. Variation in telomere length and loss, particularly in early life, is linked to longevity in many vertebrates, and therefore changes in offspring telomere dynamics could be very important in this context. We examined the effect of maternal age and environment on offspring telomere length in zebra finches. We kept mothers under either control (ad libitum food) or more challenging (unpredictable food) circumstances and experimentally minimized paternal age and mate choice effects. Irrespective of the maternal environment, there was a substantial negative effect of maternal age on offspring telomere length, evident in longitudinal and cross-sectional comparisons (average of 39% shorter). Furthermore, in young mothers, sons reared by challenged mothers had significantly shorter telomere lengths than sons reared by control mothers. This effect disappeared when the mothers were old, and was absent in daughters. These findings highlight the importance of telomere dynamics as inter-generational mediators of the evolutionary processes determining optimal age-specific reproductive effort and sex allocation

Prolonged transition time between colostrum and mature milk in a bear, the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca

Bears produce the most altricial neonates of any placental mammal. We hypothesized that the transition from colostrum to mature milk in bears reflects a temporal and biochemical adaptation for altricial development and immune protection. Comparison of bear milks with milks of other eutherians yielded distinctive protein profiles. Proteomic and metabolomic analysis of serial milk samples collected from six giant pandas showed a prolonged transition from colostrum to main-phase lactation over approximately 30 days. Particularly striking are the persistence or sequential appearance of adaptive and innate immune factors. The endurance of immunoglobulin G suggests an unusual duration of trans-intestinal absorption of maternal antibodies, and is potentially relevant to the underdeveloped lymphoid system of giant panda neonates. Levels of certain milk oligosaccharides known to exert anti-microbial activities and/or that are conducive to the development of neonatal gut microbiomes underwent an almost complete changeover around days 20–30 postpartum, coincident with the maturation of the protein profile. A potential metabolic marker of starvation was detected, the prominence of which may reflect the natural postpartum period of anorexia in giant panda mothers. Early lactation in giant pandas, and possibly in other ursids, appears to be adapted for the unique requirements of unusually altricial eutherian neonates