Tourism projects for community development : Influences of tour operators and development organisations.

This study compares tour operators and development organisations, by analysing their role in three differently funded and operated tourism projects in Ecuador. Additionally, the study identifies links between micro level livelihood outputs of the projects, the meso level operational contexts, and macro level influences. The study reviews general assumptions that the tourism private sector is not as capable of contributing to poverty reduction to the same extent that the development sector is.Guided by a political economy approach, whilst also considering Giddens' concept of structuration theory, the study examines whether traditional structuralist views of tourism development in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) are applicable within the context of three externally-led tourism projects. Elements of critical ethnography and livelihoods analysis were employed to gather primarily qualitative data, which was obtained by interviewing, observing, carrying out ranking exercises, and analysing documents.Results of the study revealed that the tour operator project was considerably more successful in contributing to the livelihoods of residents surrounding the project. The tour operator was well equipped to respond to operational challenges of the project, and well networked with a range of organisations which provided technical expertise, and small grants. The projects supported by development organisations had notable positive outputs, but failed to create adequate networks with the private sector to sell the projects, and hence were suffering from over-supply and lack of demand.The study showed that development organisations were more confined to operating within bureaucratic processes of head offices than tour operators, which also had detrimental effects on project outputs. Development organisation projects suffer from a lack of tourism expertise, and must adhere to strict regulations regarding project design and operations, echoing the power of institutional structures over agency. Although tour operators must comply with service and product standards to satisfy their international buyers, they appear to be more influential in altering traditional structures, such as networking between the private and development sectors, thus demonstrating the potential power of agency.The evidence concluded that tour operators are better equipped to fund and operate sustainable tourism projects which contribute to community development, and that development organisations would significantly benefit from enlisting the assistance of tour operators in project design, operations, and sales outlets

The Shuffleboard Game: Effects of social drinking on mood and risky behaviour

Objective: Existing research examining how social forces and alcohol interact to impact risky behaviours has yielded contrasting findings, possibly due to the nature and variety of risk-taking tasks used and the failure to consider the role of emotion. Using a novel risk-task, akin to real world drinking games, this study examines the effect of intoxication and group contexts on risk-taking, considering mediating effects of mood. Method: 132 social drinkers (83 female) consumed an alcoholic (0.8g/kg) or placebo beverage before participating in the shuffleboard game (designed to mimic real drinking games) either individually (N = 66) or in the presence of two friends (N = 66). Mood was assessed before and after beverage consumption. Results: When controlling for group identity, intoxication (versus placebo) was associated with significantly higher risk-taking, although there was no impact of group context. No interaction between context and intoxication was observed, and mood did not mediate this relationship. Conclusions: Intoxication increases risk-taking behaviour regardless of whether an individual is in a group, or isolated, whereas groups do not appear to enhance risky behaviour. Previous evidence of an effect of groups on risk-taking may have been due to a failure to control for the effect of group identity. To reduce risky behaviours, interventions may benefit from targeting alcohol use while considering how pre-existing social norms within a friendship group may either mitigate or exacerbate risk. Results affirm the importance of considering both intoxication and group effects on affective states when investigating risk-taking behaviours

The shuffleboard game: investigating group drinking, mood, and risky behavior

Objective: Existing research examining how social forces and alcohol interact to impact risky behaviors has yielded contrasting findings, possibly due to the nature and variety of risk-taking tasks used and the failure to consider the role of emotion. Using a novel risk task, akin to real-world drinking games, this study examines the effect of intoxication and group contexts on risk-taking, considering mediating effects of mood. Method: One hundred thirty-two social drinkers (83 females) consumed an alcoholic (0.8 g/kg) or placebo beverage before participating in the shuffleboard game (designed to mimic real drinking games) either individually (N = 66) or in the presence of two friends (N = 66). Mood was assessed before and after beverage consumption. Results: When controlling for group identity, intoxication (vs. placebo) was associated with significantly higher risk-taking, although there was no impact of group context. No interaction between context and intoxication was observed, and mood did not mediate this relationship. Conclusions: Intoxication increases risk-taking behavior regardless of whether an individual is in a group, or isolated, whereas groups do not appear to enhance risky behavior. Previous evidence of an effect of groups on risk-taking may have been due to a failure to control for the effect of group identity. To reduce risky behaviors, interventions may benefit from targeting alcohol use while considering how preexisting social norms within a friendship group may either mitigate or exacerbate risk. Results affirm the importance of considering both intoxication and group effects on affective states when investigating risk-taking behaviors

Blunted hypertrophic response in old mouse muscle is associated with a lower satellite cell density and is not alleviated by resveratrol

Background Sarcopenia contributes to the decreased quality of life in the older person. While resistance exercise is an effective measure to increase muscle mass and strength, the hypertrophic response may be blunted in old age. Objectives To determine 1) whether hypertrophy in the m. plantaris of old mice was blunted compared to adult and 2) whether this was related to a reduced satellite cell (SC) density and 3) how resveratrol affects hypertrophy in old mice. Methods In adult (7.5 months, n = 11), old (23.5 months, n = 10) and old-resveratrol-treated (n = 10) male C57BL/6J mice, hypertrophy of the left m. plantaris was induced by denervation of its synergists. The contralateral leg served as control. Results After six weeks, overload-induced myofiber hypertrophy and IIB–IIA shift in myofiber type composition were less pronounced in old than adult mice (P = 0.03), irrespective of resveratrol treatment. Muscles from old mice had a lower SC density than adult muscles (P = 0.002). Overload-induced SC proliferation (P < 0.05) resulted in an increased SC density in old, but not adult muscles (P = 0.02), while a decrease occurred after resveratrol supplementation (P = 0.044). Id2 and myogenin protein expression levels were higher in old than adult muscles (P < 0.05). Caspase-3 was expressed more in hypertrophied than control muscles and was reduced with resveratrol (P < 0.05). Conclusion The blunted hypertrophic response in old mice was associated with a lower SC density, but there was no evidence for a lower capacity for proliferation. Resveratrol did not rescue the hypertrophic response and even reduced, rather than increased, the number of SCs in hypertrophied muscles

CD16 Expression on Monocytes in Healthy Individuals but Not Schistosome-Infected Patients Is Positively Associated with Levels of Parasite-Specific IgG and IgG1

Human IgG1 antibody responses are associated with protection against Schistosoma haematobium infection and are now a target for schistosome vaccine development. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between total IgG and the IgG subclasses and the monocyte IgG receptor, known as FcγRIIIa or CD16, in schistosome exposed people. Systemic levels of schistosome-specific anti-adult worm total IgG and IgG subclass titres were measured by ELISA in 100 individuals from an S. haematobium endemic area in Zimbabwe and, using parametric statistical methods and regression analysis, related to the levels of CD16 expression on individuals' circulating monocytes, determined via flow cytometry. Monocyte CD16 expression rose with parasite-specific total IgG and IgG1 in healthy participants, but not in schistosome infected patients. Similar to parasite-specific IgG and IgG1, CD16 expression in healthy individuals is associated with protection against schistosome infection. This relationship indicates a mechanistic link between the innate and adaptive immune responses to helminth infection in protection against infection. Further understanding the elements of a protective immune response in schistosomiasis may aid in efforts to develop a protective vaccine against this disease.This work was supported by the World Health Organisation and the Wellcome Trust grant WT082028MA, the Thrasher Research Fund and the Medical Research Council grant LJA-544

RELATIONSHIP-BASED LENDING FOR DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE SYSTEMS IN CANADA: HOW TRUST AND COMMUNITY MAY TRANSFORM FINANCIALIZED AND GENDERED FOOD SYSTEMS

Our food systems, once controlled by community and built for regions, are now global in scale and serve the interests of international financial organizations and multinational agribusiness corporations. Financialization, the term referring to the increased presence of financial actors, markets, institutions and incentives have gained importance in the organization and functioning of the economy, including agriculture & land, is an issue of increasing attention in academic and policy circles. This new trend, an increasing role of these actors in financing agriculture, means agricultural production’s primary goal has shifted from food production to cash production. Current agricultural finance habitually chooses projects based on potential for asset development rather than community benefit. Those who are most likely to opt into diversified and sustainable production such as women, people of colour, of those new to the industry struggle to fund their projects. Current unsustainability is underpinned by work dynamics and social relationships that only further perpetuates gender inequity. In this paper I argue offering trust- based loans to under-represented farmers transforms power imbalances created by financialization. The research asks: to what extent do farm women in Canada use trust-based lending to grow and sustain their farms; how does informal lending influence how women farm; and in what ways does access to informal lending shape rural communities and their food systems in Canada? I used purposive snowball sampling to identify and interview ten participants, six farmers and four lenders, using semi-structured interviews. Results show farmers using trust-based loans indicates the way they farm includes community benefits and meet personal environmental and social outcomes, including local economic development. The farmers noted a strong sense of trust between lender, borrower, and customer. Many indicated without such trust as collateral loans, they would not be in business. As researchers, community activists, and not-for-profit organizations seek resolutions to our financialized food system, trust-based loans may be of significant import

Tourism projects for community development : Influences of tour operators and development organisations

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Tourism projects for community development : Influences of tour operators and development organisations

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo