Aid versus trade revisited

This paper examines the (non) equivalance between aid flows and trade preferences as alternative forms of donor assistance in the presence of learning-by-doing externalities in recipient country export production. Using a two-period model based on vanWijnbergen (1985), in which the productivity externality consistitues the only (inter-temporal) distortion, we show that switching donor support on the margin from aid to trade preferences can increase recipient country welfare. To evaluate the size of this potential welfare gain to small African economies we simulate donor policy reforms using a dynamic CGE model where the productivity externality may also interact with private capital accumulation. We show that for reasonable values of key behavioural parameters, the potential growth and welfare gains from a (donor) revenue neutral re-orientation of assistance to developing countries could be substantial. The paper concludes by considering why these potential dynamic gains appear to be unexpoited by both donors and recipients.Foreign Aid, Trade Preferences, Africa.

The impact of information technology on obtaining bank loans in Nigeria

Objectives The main objective of the study is to determine the effect of the frequency of internet use on the volume of bank loans, to show the impacts of the liberalization of the Nigerian telecommunication sector on the ICT infrastructure, especially in the banking sector. Summary This study examines the impact of frequency of internet use on the probability of getting a bank loan in Nigeria. Among others, the first finding of this study shows that the reform in Nigeria’s information, technology, and communication (ICT) sector in the early 1990’s increased mobile phone penetration and internet coverage in Nigeria, and these in turn boost the volume and levels of banking electronic transactions. Conclusions The impact of ICT reforms in Nigeria affects the way banks do business in Nigeria. Banks now advertise most of their product on the internet, thus making the internet one of the platforms on which borrowers can get more information about bank loans and other bank products

Zeitschrift des Österreichischen Ingenieur- und Architekten-Vereines, 72.1920, Inhaltsverzeichnis

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Environmental conservation using rice by-products and reafforestation : Ndungu Village

As stated in the thesis project "A large Majority of Tanzanians live in villages in rural areas, their main economic activities being farming and animal husbandry to support their life. The villages and Ujamaa Villages Act, no. 21 of 1975 established governance organs at the Village level. The Act provides for the establishment of village Councils, village government, a number of Committees, and further stipulated the powers, responsibilities and duties of the village councils. The people aging 18 years and above, constituted the village Assembly, which elected leaders and other representatives including the village council whose members are supposed to be 25 only. This was the highest organ for decision making in the village. Then there were five committees each comprising five members. These were the Defense and Security Committee, Production and Marketing Committee, Planning and Finance Committee, Construction and Transport Committee. Also there was Education, culture and Social Services Committee. The constitution of United Republic of Tanzania (URT) is the one, which has established the villages in Tanzania. This is well stipulated in the following cited articles of the constitution. Article 145 (1) of the constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977, expressly provide for local government at local levels where a village is expressly mentioned. Also other statutes, which talk about the village establishment, include Local Government (Urban Authorities) Act of 1982 and Local Government (District Authorities) Act of 1982 underscore devolution of powers to local levels and democratization being the fundamental basis of Local Governance. The implication of these provisions is that the village governance is established by the constitution as a level of governance and that the village government has constitutional foundation." (Library-derived description)Kiangi, M. F. (2005). Environmental conservation using rice by-products and reafforestation : Ndungu Village. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.eduMaster of Science (M.S.)School of Community Economic Developmen

Funktion und Regulation des Chemokinrezeptors CXCR7

Der Chemokinrezeptor CXCR7 spielt eine essentielle Rolle bei der normalen Entwicklung und fördert die Initiation und Progression verschiedener pathologischer Prozesse wie Krebs und Autoimmunerkrankungen. Er ist ein atypischer Rezeptor, der nicht an G-Proteine koppelt und als effektiver Scavenger für SDF-1 agiert. Der zweite SDF-1-bindende Chemokinrezeptor CXCR4 aktiviert intrazelluläre Signalkaskaden über G-Proteine und vermittelt so physiologisch und pathologisch relevante Zellmigrationsprozesse. Indem er als Scavenger für SDF-1 agiert, moduliert CXCR7 den CXCR4-SDF-1-Signalweg. Um die Funktionen von CXCR7 besser zu verstehen und die strukturellen Domänen zu definieren, welche die entgegengesetzten Effekte der beiden SDF-1-Rezeptoren regulieren, wurden Tail swap-Mutanten und weitere Rezeptorchimären erzeugt. Diese Rezeptoren wurden in HEK293 oder CHO-K1 Zellen exprimiert und es wurde das Rezeptortrafficking, die Bindung, Internalisierung und Degradation von SDF-1, die G-Protein Kopplung und die Aktivierung von MAP-Kinasen untersucht. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen, dass CXCR7 ein effektiver Scavenger für SDF-1 ist und weisen darauf hin, dass diese Funktion aufgrund von starker Rezeptordegradation strengen Regulationsmechanismen wie de novo Synthese und Rezeptorrecycling unterliegt. Des Weiteren konnte gezeigt werden, dass die C-terminale Domäne von CXCR7 eine entscheidende Rolle bei der Regulation der Rezeptorfunktion spielt und dass diese regulatorische Funktion durch umfangreiche C-terminale Phosphorylierungen von Serin- und Threonin-Resten vermittelt wird

Traditional African plant products to protect stored cowpeas against insect damage : the battle against the beetle

Seeds of the cowpea plant, Vigna unguiculata , a tropical crop, are very susceptible to attack by the cowpea beetle. This specialist beetle needs only the beans to reproduce rapidly.Most farmers in West Africa have few possibilities to treat the beans and they face their stored supply, on which they are dependent for their daily nourishment, be destroyed within a few months. From lack of other measures, these farmers traditionally used plants, stored together with the beans for protection. In the laboratory, such plants have been tested as powders and as extract for their effect against the beetle. Side effects on natural enemies of the beetle have also been tested for and in a review of the literature, effects on humans have been investigated. Together with the results from a field test in Africa, this gives a picture of the potency of local means to protect stored seeds against insects

Zeitschrift des österreichischen Ingenieur- und Architekten-Vereins, 58.1906, H. 27-30 = S. 393-440

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