141 research outputs found
Linking Mara Fruits and Vegetable Growers to Serengeti National Park Tourist Hotels Market
Tourism in Tanzania has been on the rise since late 1990s when the markets were fully liberalized. This has created a high demand for horticultural produces from tourist hotels located in Serengeti national park in the northwest of Tanzania. Analysis was carried out to determine supply and demand for horticultural produces in Mara region. The annual requirements for horticulture produces in three Serengeti tourist hotels were about 614 tons. These hotels obtain most of the fruits and vegetables from Arusha, Kenya and South Africa which are very far from the park. Due to long distances and poor roads the hotels obtain high priced, low quality and small quantities of produces. The production of horticulture in Mara region is about 620 tons which is more than what is demanded by the hotels. The major problems hindering horticulture production in Mara region include unstable markets, erratic prices and low demand for horticulture produces. The tourist hotels demand locally produced, regular supply, fresh and medium quality horticulture produces while farmers want regular markets for their produces. The Gross Margin analysis indicated that supplier gross profit and growers’ return to labour are high with horticultural crops as compared to other crops. The study recommends that the hotels and growers establish contract agreement to enhance reliable deliveries. To improve production and entrepreneurial skills of the farmers; management support at the beginning of implementation from extension, research, credit and irrigation schemes from local institutions would be necessary. Keywords: Mara Fruits, Tourism, Serengeti, TanzaniaAgricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,
Derived environment effects: A representational approach
Derived environment effects involve either overapplication or underapplication of phonological rules in phonological or morphological environments. This paper focuses on underapplication effects in both phonological and morphological environments, which are treated as resulting from representational differences between derived and non-derived environments at the appropriate level. The Government and Dependency Phonology notions of head and dependent are utilised to this end. Thus, phonologically derived environment effects result from melodic structure that differentiates branching from immediate dominance relations between elements, allowing phonological processes to target a segment of one melodic configuration to the exclusion of another. Morphologically derived environment effects, on the other hand, involve representational differences at the constituent structure level, corresponding to the fact that morphological effects are a result of junctural or morpheme-integrity effects. In the latter case, head-dependent relations are defined as holding over domains, thereby differentiating affixal from non-affixal material, while in the former junctural effects the representational difference is defined at the CV tier, with phonological processes being sensitive to the presence of empty V and C positions. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Public health at the margins: local realities and the control of neglected tropical diseases in Eastern Africa
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are both causes and manifestations of poverty in
developing countries. Recent advocacy efforts have increased the profile of NTDs, and led to
bold new control and elimination targets set for 2020 by the World Health Organisation.
However there are multifaceted challenges in effectively implementing NTD interventions in
resource-poor contexts that need to be understood and engaged. While there is a growing call by
researchers and international agencies for a science of global health delivery to understand these
complexities, the exact nature of this science remains contested. This thesis contributes to these
debates by advancing a critical social science perspective on the factors that mediate intervention
effectiveness for NTD control. Grounded in a social constructivist approach using mixed
methods, it critiques prevailing orthodoxies by unpacking the nature, processes and outcomes of
three large-scale NTD prevention programmes in Eastern Africa. Focused on different diseases,
these case studies represent different types of intervention approaches: top-down, participatory
and public-private partnership. The thesis traces the social, technical and environmental
processes that mediate the delivery, adoption and use of particular health technologies, such as
pit latrines, insecticides and vaccination. Together, these case studies reveal surprisingly similar
reasons for why many interventions do not perform according to expectations. Despite new
approaches that claim to overcome stereotypical challenges of top-down planning, narrow
technocratic perspectives continue to play a defining role in maintaining disjunctions between
global aspirations, local realities and intervention outcomes. New perspectives and changes in
orientation are needed that emphasise flexibility, learning and adaptability to local contexts.
Towards this end, the thesis outlines a conceptual framework based on a comparative analysis of
the case studies that highlights five interrelated domains where effectiveness is determined:
geographical/livelihood variation, local agency, incentives, the socio-materiality of technology
and planning/governance. I argue that addressing the shortcomings of contemporary
interventions requires that programme planners actively engage these domains by seeking to
“order complexity.” Greater integration of social science perspectives into the management of
NTD programmes would provide significant benefit. In these ways, the thesis contributes to
wider debates about the nature of global health interventions and the influence of local contexts
in mediating efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of the world’s poor and marginalised
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Dynamic MAIT cell response with progressively enhanced innateness during acute HIV-1 infection.
Mucosa-associated invariant T (MAIT) cell loss in chronic HIV-1 infection is a significant insult to antimicrobial immune defenses. Here we investigate the response of MAIT cells during acute HIV-1 infection utilizing the RV217 cohort with paired longitudinal pre- and post-infection samples. MAIT cells are activated and expand in blood and mucosa coincident with peak HIV-1 viremia, in a manner associated with emerging microbial translocation. This is followed by a phase with elevated function as viral replication is controlled to a set-point level, and later by their functional decline at the onset of chronic infection. Interestingly, enhanced innate-like pathways and characteristics develop progressively in MAIT cells during infection, in parallel with TCR repertoire alterations. These findings delineate the dynamic MAIT cell response to acute HIV-1 infection, and show how the MAIT compartment initially responds and expands with enhanced function, followed by progressive reprogramming away from TCR-dependent antibacterial responses towards innate-like functionality
Reservoir dynamics of rabies in Southeast Tanzania and the roles of cross-species transmission and domestic dog vaccination
1) Understanding the role of different species in the transmission of multi-host pathogens, such as rabies virus, is vital for effective control strategies. Across most of sub-Saharan Africa domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) are considered the reservoir for rabies, but the role of wildlife has been long debated. Here we explore the multi-host transmission dynamics of rabies across southeast Tanzania. 2) Between January 2011 and July 2019 data on probable rabies cases were collected in the regions of Lindi and Mtwara. Hospital records of animal-bite patients presenting to healthcare facilities were used as sentinels for animal contact tracing. The timing, location and species of probable rabid animals was used to reconstruct transmission trees to infer who infected whom and the relative frequencies of within-and between-species transmission. 3) During the study, 688 probable human rabies exposures were identified, resulting in 47 deaths. Of these exposures, 389 were from domestic dogs (56.5%) and 262 from jackals (38.1%). Over the same period 549 probable animal rabies cases were traced: 303 in domestic dogs (55.2%) and 221 in jackals (40.3%). 4) Although dog-to-dog transmission was most commonly inferred (40.5% of transmission events), a third of inferred events involved wildlife-to-wildlife transmission (32.6%) and evidence suggested some sustained transmission chains within jackal populations. 5) A steady decline in probable rabies cases in both humans and animals coincided with the implementation of widespread domestic dog vaccination during the first six years of the study. Following the lapse of this programme dog rabies cases began to increase in one of the northernmost districts. 6) Synthesis and applications: in southeast Tanzania, despite a relatively high incidence of rabies in wildlife and evidence of wildlife-to-wildlife transmission, domestic dogs remain essential to the reservoir of infection. Continued dog vaccination alongside improved surveillance would allow a fuller understanding of the role of wildlife in maintaining transmission in this area. Nonetheless, dog vaccination clearly suppressed rabies in both domestic dog and wildlife populations, reducing both public health and conservation risks and, if sustained, has potential to eliminate rabies from this region
"Ruvettiin jakamaan maapalloa keskenämme" : Helsingin Sanomien kehitysmaauutisointi vuosina 1965–1974
Tarkastelen tutkielmassani Helsingin Sanomien (HS) kehitysmaauutisointia vuosina 1965–1974. Tavoitteena on selvittää, miten yhteiskunnan ja journalismin merkittävä murroskohta heijastui Suomen suurimman sanomalehden välittämään maailmankuvaan. Päälähteinä ovat tekemäni aikalaistoimittajien haastattelut, Päivälehden arkiston teettämät toimittajahaastattelut ja muu arkistomateriaali sekä digitaalisessa muodossa löytyvät HS:n lehdet vuosilta 1965–1974. Tarkempi analyysi kohdistuu huhti- ja lokakuun lehtiin vuosina 1965, 1968, 1971 ja 1974.
Tutkimukseni perusteella HS:n kehitysmaauutisoinnissa tapahtui selkeitä muutoksia. Vuonna 1965 pääpaino oli kansainvälisten uutistoimistojen sähkeuutisissa. Sähkeet kattoivat määrällisesti suuren joukon maita, mutta aiheiden käsittely jäi pintapuoliseksi ja näkökulmat olivat uutistoimistojen valitsemia. Omien toimittajien nimiin kirjattuja juttuja kehitysmaa-aiheista ei vuonna 1965 juuri ollut. Vuonna 1968 tilanne oli samankaltainen. Esimerkiksi maailmalla ja Suomessa suurta huomiota herättänyttä Biafran kriisiä ei analysoitu omien toimittajien voimin, eikä HS lähettänyt alueelle omaa toimittajaa.
Vuoteen 1971 mennessä ulkomaantoimituksen omien toimittajien kirjoittamien, kehitysmaita käsittelevien juttujen määrä kasvoi selvästi. Myös pidempien artikkeleiden määrä lisääntyi, samoin tekstien kommentoiva ja kantaaottava tyyli. Vuonna HS:ssa oli jo kolme Euroopan ja Pohjois-Amerikan ulkopuolisia alueita seuraavaa toimittajaa. Vuosina 1971–1974 isoin muutos näyttäisi tapahtuneen aihepiirien laventumisessa: maailman eriarvoisuuteen ja humanitaarisiin ongelmiin liittyvät artikkelit lisääntyivät. Kehitysmaauutisoinnin rinnalle alkoi nousta kehitysmaajournalismi, joka pyrki tuomaan esiin kehityskysymyksiä ja kehitysmaiden näkökulmia. Myös kehitysmaita seuraavien toimittajien työmatkat kohdealueilleen lisääntyivät.
Kaikki tutkimukseen haastatellut HS:n ulkomaantoimittajat olivat sitä mieltä, että uutispäällikkö Olli Kivisellä oli merkittävä rooli uudenlaisen uutisoinnin muovaajana. Taustalla vaikutti myös Aatos Erkon vuonna 1965 käynnistämä muutosprosessi HS:n uudistamiseksi. Erkko halusi huomioida ajan hengen ja avasi ovet nuorelle, usein vasemmistolaiselle, toimittajapolvelle. Tutkimukseni tarkastelujaksolla HS:n kehitysmaita seuraavat toimittajat olivat 1940-luvulla syntyneitä nuoria miehiä, joilla yliopisto-opinnot olivat juuri takana tai meneillään. Kaikki olivat aatemaailmaltaan selkeästi vasemmistolaisia, ja kirjoitusten pontimena oli halu valistaa lukijoita ja vaikuttaa siihen, että imperialistinen maailmanjärjestys jää historiaan. Vaikka HS säilyi arvoiltaan oikeistoliberaalina, se näyttää sallineen “radikaalitoimittajilleen” hyvinkin vasemmistolaisia kannanottoja varsinkin vuosina 1969–1974
Expansion of Inefficient HIV-Specific CD8 T Cells during Acute Infection
ABSTRACT Attrition within the CD4 + T cell compartment, high viremia, and a cytokine storm characterize the early days after HIV infection. When the first emerging HIV-specific CD8 + T cell responses gain control over viral replication it is incomplete, and clearance of HIV infection is not achieved even in the rare cases of individuals who spontaneously control viral replication to nearly immeasurably low levels. Thus, despite their partial ability to control viremia, HIV-specific CD8 + T cell responses are insufficient to clear HIV infection. Studying individuals in the first few days of acute HIV infection, we detected the emergence of a unique population of CD38 + CD27 − CD8 + T cells characterized by the low expression of the CD8 receptor (CD8 dim ). Interestingly, while high frequencies of HIV-specific CD8 + T cell responses occur within the CD38 + CD27 − CD8 dim T cell population, the minority populations of CD8 bright T cells are significantly more effective in inhibiting HIV replication. Furthermore, the frequency of CD8 dim T cells directly correlates with viral load and clinical predictors of more rapid disease progression. We found that a canonical burst of proliferative cytokines coincides with the emergence of CD8 dim T cells, and the size of this population inversely correlates with the acute loss of CD4 + T cells. These data indicate, for the first time, that early CD4 + T cell loss coincides with the expansion of a functionally impaired HIV-specific CD8 dim T cell population less efficient in controlling HIV viremia. IMPORTANCE A distinct population of activated CD8 + T cells appears during acute HIV infection with diminished capacity to inhibit HIV replication and is predictive of viral set point, offering the first immunologic evidence of CD8 + T cell dysfunction during acute infection
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