Breaking away from the land policy stalemate

Unlocking the potential of land is crucial for realising the development aspirations of the people of Papua New Guinea and the island nations of the Pacific, yet land policy development has largely been absent in these countries. Land is a political ‘hot potato’, which goes some way towards explaining this absence. In recent years, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu have pointed the way forward. Their focus has been on getting the land policy process right, because without this there can be no reform. It is as a result of problematic land policy processes that past reform efforts in the region have foundered

A phylogenomic study characterising the co‐option and evolutionary history of endogenous viral elements in bats (order Chiroptera)

Endogenous viral elements (EVEs) are the genetic fragments of viruses found within the genomes of eukaryotes. These elements represent ‘fossils’ of viruses that once infected the ancestors of the host, millions of years in the past, and thus contain a wealth of information about the deep history of viruses. In this thesis, I develop a novel, automated approach to sensitively detect EVEs and accurately recover their genetic sequence, even in the presence of multiple frame‐disrupting mutations. I then use this approach to carry out the most phylogenetically comprehensive, systematic census of EVEs in bat genomes to date, providing new data for the study of viruses associated with bats. Bats (order Chiroptera) are a clade of extreme species richness. Constituting around one fifth of all mammal species, they harbour a similarly high diversity of viruses – including many that pose public health risks as zoonoses, making their associations with viruses and their potential as zoonotic reservoirs important areas of research. The EVE census I carried out enabled me to compare the distribution of endogenous retrovirus (ERV) lineages across bats, infer rates of cross‐species retrovirus transmission between bats over the course of evolutionary time, and ultimately show significant differences in this long‐term transmission rate between different phylogenetic levels and different clades of bats. In addition, I use bat EVEs to provide new evidence characterising the ancient biogeography, host‐range, and macro‐evolutionary patterns of parvoviruses, filoviruses, and bornaviruses. Finally, I combine the EVE data I generated with a large set of transcriptomic data to examine the broad patterns of ERV co‐option occurring in bats, and to locate examples of specific EVE loci that are potentially co‐opted for roles in the bat immune system. Together, these analyses show the diverse insights about both hosts and viruses that large comparative studies of EVEs can provide

Conflict of Memories: A comparison of the Popular and Collective Memories of the Battleship USS Maryland

This paper examines the differences between how military veterans and the general public remember military conflict

Πόνος και προσωπικότητα σε έφηβους αθλητές ποδοσφαίρου: μια περιγραφική μελέτη

Ο πόνος είναι ένα συχνό φαινόμενο μεταξύ των παιδιών και των έφηβων. Οι λόγοι πρόκλησης πόνου σε αυτές τις ηλικίες ποικίλει, ενώ μία κοινή αιτία είναι οι αθλητικοί τραυματισμοί. Το ποδόσφαιρο είναι ένα από τα πιο δημοφιλή αθλήματα παγκοσμίως ιδιαίτερα στις νεαρές ηλικίες το οποίο σχετίζεται με μεγάλη συχνότητα εμφάνισης επώδυνων συμπτωμάτων. Καθώς ο πόνος έχει αναδυθεί ως ένα βιοψυχοκοινωνικό φαινόμενο και ενώ το βίωμά του αναγνωρίζεται ως ατομικό και άρα εξαιρετικά υποκειμενικό, ένα μέρος της έρευνας επικεντρώνεται στην αναζήτηση των σχέσεων του με την προσωπικότητα. Πράγματι μεταξύ ασθενών με χρόνιο πόνο η προσωπικότητα μπορεί να ξεχωρίσει διαφορετικές ομάδες ατόμων, με κοινά χαρακτηριστικά, που βιώνουν και αντιδρούν στον πόνο με παρόμοιο τρόπο. Παρομοίως μεταξύ αθλητών συγκεκριμένα χαρακτηριστικά προσωπικότητας έχουν συσχετιστεί με την εμφάνιση τραυματισμών. Επίσης η ενσωμάτωση ψυχολογικών παρεμβάσεων έχει φανεί να προλαμβάνει τραυματισμούς αλλά και να βελτιώνει την αποκατάσταση των τραυματισμών. Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τη σημασία της προσωπικότητας στην πρόκληση αθλητικών τραυματισμών αλλά και στην αντίληψη του πόνου η παρούσα πιλοτική εργασία είχε ως στόχο να περιγράψει τα επώδυνα συμπτώματα και τα χαρακτηριστικά της προσωπικότητας έφηβων αθλητών ποδοσφαίρου. Στην εργασία συμμετείχαν 30 άρρενες έφηβοι αθλητές από δύο ακαδημίες ποδοσφαίρου, οι οποίοι συμπλήρωσαν ένα ερωτηματολόγιο καταγραφής των επώδυνων συμπτωμάτων και της έντασης του πόνου (Brief Pain Inventory) και ένα ερωτηματολόγιο προσωπικότητας (NEO-FFI). Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν υψηλά ποσοστά συμπτωμάτων πόνου, στοιχεία που συνάδουν με τις επιδημιολογικές μελέτες πόνου μεταξύ παιδιών του γενικού πληθυσμού. Η ένταση των συμπτωμάτων χαρακτηρίστηκε μικρή. Σχετικά με τα χαρακτηριστικά προσωπικότητας παρατηρήθηκε πως οι αθλητές που δήλωσαν συμπτώματα πόνου εμφάνισαν σε μικρότερο βαθμό το χαρακτηριστικό της τερπνότητας. Παρά τα συμπεράσματα αυτά, μεθοδολογικά προβλήματα και το μικρό δείγμα δυσκολεύουν την ερμηνεία και την γενίκευση των αποτελεσμάτων. Τα μειονεκτήματα αυτά θα ληφθούν υπόψη για τη συνέχιση της έρευνας.Pain is a common phenomenon among children and adolescents. Causes of pain may vary, while a common cause is athletic injuries. Soccer is one of the most popular sports internationally especially in young ages and is correlated with a high frequency of pain symptoms. While pain is being perceived as a biopsychosocial phenomenon and experiencing pain in acknowledged as highly subjective, part of the literature focuses on the search of links between pain and personality. Indeed patients with chronic pain can be categorized in groups depending on how they experience and react to pain based on their personality traits. Likewise among athletes specific personality traits have been correlated with injury occurence. Also psychological interventions have been shown to prevent injuries and improve the rehabilitation process. Given the above, this pilot study aims to describe pain symptoms and personality traits of adolescent soccer athletes. The study consisted of 30 male adolescent soccer players from two soccer academies. The subjects completed a questionnaire about pain symptoms (Brief Pain Inventory) and a personality questionnaire (NEO-FFI). Results revealed high incidence of pain symptoms that are consistent with epidemiological data on children pain of the general population. Symptom intensity was classified as low. Relating to personality traits it was observed that athletes who reported pain symptoms exhibited agreeableness at a lesser degree. Nevertheless, methodological issues and small sample size constitute the interpretation and generalization of the these results problematic. These issues should be considered and further research is required

Assessing the effectiveness of the WFD as a tool to address different levels of water scarcity based on two case studies of the Mediterranean region.

Despite being a natural phenomenon, water scarcity is, to a great extent, human-induced, particularly affected by climate change and by the increased water resources vulnerability. The Water Framework Directive (WFD), an ‘umbrella’ directive that aims to provide holistic approaches to the management of water resources and is supported by a number of Communication documents on water scarcity, requires for prompt responses to ensure ‘healthy’ water bodies of good ecological status. The current paper presents a multidisciplinary approach, developed and engaged within the Globaqua Project, to provide an assessment of the main challenges towards addressing water scarcity with emphasis on the climate change projections, in two Mediterranean regions. The current paper attempts to critically assess the effectiveness of the WFD as a tool to address water scarcity and increase sustainability in resource use. Criticism lies on the fact that the WFD does not directly refer to it, still, water scarcity is recognized as a factor that increases stress on water resources and deteriorates their status. In addition, the Program of Measures (PoMs) within the WFD clearly contribute to reducing vulnerability of water resources and to ensure current and future water use, also under the impact of the projected climate change

Full Circle or Spiralling Out of Control?: State Violence and the Control of Urbanisation in Papua New Guinea

There is an administrative reluctance to recognise the permanency of urban settlement in Papua New Guinea. This reluctance, evident since the 1960s, has been characteristic of both the colonial and post-colonial administrations. Opposition to some facets of urbanisation continues today, despite growing population and land pressures in most rural areas and real problems of landlessness emerging in particular rural areas. Colonial control of urban populations has been replicated in contemporary times, often in more draconian form. Eviction of urban settlers has been tied to issues of crime and urban respectability, and lingering perceptions that Melanesians should be rural residents. The growth of informal settlements and urbanisation are not seen as issues of urban planning, nor is the context of urban migration linked to socioeconomic inequality, hence other forms of urban policy are largely absent. Strengthening alliances between land-owners and the state (especially police and provincial administrations) have thus emphasised intraurban inequality and hampered national development

Macro and Micro Impacts of Structural Reforms in Papua New Guinea: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis

The Papua New Guinea economy has been subjected to a series of external shocks, starting with the Bougainville war in 1989. The government has responded with a series of structural reforms, with the most recent one being implemented in 2000. This paper employs a computable general equilibrium model to evaluate the impacts of the government's reform policies. Policies simulated are reduction in current government expenditure, reduction in real wages, tariff cuts and a goods and services tax. The results show that the export-oriented and government sectors benefit. However, the service sectors are adversely affected. While the rural population could benefit from the reforms, a case is made for increased government investment spending in these areas to stem the rural-urban drift

Divided communities and contested landscapes: Mobility, development and shifting identities in migrant destination sites in Papua New Guinea

Internal conflicts at the local and national levels in several South Pacific countries have revealed the fragility of national unity and the difficulties nations face in governing and managing their own economic development. In Papua New Guinea, the focus of this paper, an uncertain economic future for many rural and urban communities, and rising inequalities in income opportunities and access to resources, have coincided with greater intolerance of migrants at sites of high in-migration by customary landowners and provincial and local authorities. This paper draws on fieldwork undertaken in the major oil palm growing regions of Papua New Guinea where migrants from densely populated regions of the country have settled on state land alienated from customary landowners. We examine how struggles over land, resource control and development are polarising migrant and landowner identities resulting in increasing tensions and episodic communal violence. A settler identity is emerging based on a narrative of nation building and national development, while an ethno-regional identity amongst customary landowners is undermining the citizen rights of migrants and challenging the role and authority of the state in land matters