Applying a novel method for the analysis of beef ultimate pH in the detection of quantitative trait loci : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science in Animal Breeding and Genetics at Massey University

Beef ultimate pH (pHU) is an economically important trait related to meat quality. Values of pHU higher than the normal 5.5 have a detrimental effect on tenderness, colour and keeping quality. The amount of lactic acid that is produced by the conversion of the glycogen stored in the muscle at time of slaughter (G0) determines pHU. A novel biochemically-based approach for pHU analysis was evaluated in the detection of quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting this characteristic. The procedure proposed by Pleasants et al. (1999) transforms pHU to the underlying glycogen generating a new variable, named predicted glycogen(PGU). This model may overcome the limitations in pHU investigations derived from its typical skewed distribution, characterised by a peaked primary mode at 5.5 and a long tail that comprise high pHU values. In addition to PG0, G0, pHU and the logarithmic transformation of pHU (LpHU) were analysed in:a simulated back-cross involving two inbred lines based on a model including a QTL and polygenic effects influencing G0 and thus pHU; and in experimental data from a reciprocal back-cross between Jersey and Limousin implemented by AgResearch. The significance levels achieved by LpHU did not differ from pHU, indicating that there was no advantage of using this transformation.Evidence of QTL was clearer for PG0 than pHU in the simulation. A better performance of PG0 compared to pHU was observed when there were more elevated pHU values. Results from the experimental data did not confirm the superiority of PG0 in QTL detection. With the exception of one value of 6.2, pHU data obtained in the experiment were close to 5.5. It is concluded that PG0 may improve the significance in QTL searching compared to pHU when pHU include high values that lead to the typical skewed distribution. The new procedure can also be exploited in other investigations utilising pHU. Additional research work involving the characterisation of G0 and pHU is recommended to reevaluate the parameters assumed in the implementation of this innovative approach. Key words:beef, ultimate pH. muscle glycogen, quantitative trait loc

Financial Inclusion In Latin America and the Caribbean: Data and Trends

This report takes a look at financial inclusion, a complex issue, difficult to analyze because of the diverse perspectives that have to be taken into account to understand and measure it. There is no consensus on the definition of financial inclusion. There are three features that are usually considered: access, use, and quality of financial services. These features are closely related to the level of development of each country's overall financial system and any existing market gap.This information is critical to identify the advances and challenges of financial inclusion, as well as for the design of efficient and effective public policies. This report presents, for the first time, this information utilizing previously under-utilized data on financial inclusion, including those services mostly used by low-income populations or other groups experiencing a financing gap

APEX ORGANIZATIONS AND THE GROWTH OF MICROFINANCE IN BOLIVIA

Bolivia has the most advanced microfinance sector in Latin America and has been a model worldwide. Apex banks�banks that lend to banks�have not been responsible for this success. Apex banks can provide funds for retail microfinance organizations, and/or strengthen their organizational development. The existing apex has done little market development. It has provided some liquidity to microfinance organizations, but it has not played an indispensable role. The various apexes planned for the future are unneeded. In fact, they may disincentive deposit mobilization and create an unfair playing field and thus hurt microfinance in Bolivia.Agricultural Finance,

Apex Organizations and the Growth of Microfinance in Bolivia

Bolivia has the most advanced microfinance sector in Latin America and has been a model worldwide. Apex organizations--second-tier wholesaling mechanisms that lend and offer non- financial assistance to retailing microfinance organizations--have not been responsible for this success. Former and current Bolivian apex organizations have engaged in little market development. Some have provided some liquidity to microfinance organizations, but they have not played an indispensable role in the development of the sector. Other mechanisms for the delivery of donor aid have been more effective in strengthening the best Bolivian microfinance organizations. There appears, therefore, to be no justification for various apex organizations planned for the future. These mechanisms may actually discourage deposit mobilization and if they would disburse funds to un-sustainable microfinance organizations, they may create an unfair playing field. This paper examines the role of apex organizations in the development of microfinance in Bolivia in two sections. The first one discusses demand and supply in the market for microfinance, the regulatory framework for the sector, and the nature of constraints on sustainable microfinance in this country. The second one evaluates the poor performance of a number of public-sector apex mechanisms and the predicament of one non-government apex organization. It also discusses options for the future.

The Spanish Case for Europe. The Power of Cultural Identity

Europe has not been for Spain an easily assumed identity, a home within which Spaniards could find accommodation. Yet, for the first time in modern history, Spain has become fully integrated in the political and economic system of Europe and it functions within it as a strong and dedicated partner. Paradoxically, this new order has developed simultaneously with the increasing assertion of the local nationalities. I propose that the current political and cultural situation in both Europe and Spain has created the appropriate conditions for an extensive reexamination of the conventional European/Spanish paradigm. That is so because the circumstances on both ends of the relation have changed and, for the first time, both sides not only desire but they need the reconstruction and redefinition of a relation that has been destructive for both parts. What Francisco José de Goya, Julián Sanz del Río, and Manuel Azaña, among others, conceived as a nearly impossible and illusory task can now become a reality. From Francisco Zurbarán, El Greco and Pedro Calderón de la Barca to Federico García Lorca, Luis Buñuel and Pablo Picasso, the various manifestations of its culture have been Spain’s unquestioned achievement. This cultural continuum is the most promising entryway for Spain in the Heimat of Europe. I also propose that the issue of the various historical nationalities within Spain can be approached from the perspective of what Andrzej Stasiuk calls the “private histories” of the minorities of Europe. In the last part of the article, I study Spain’s transcontinental identity. Without ignoring the legitimate issues raised by private narratives, I suggest that the country’s full insertion in the global reality and its immersion in realities that are beyond its own will lead to the contextualization of the internal national divide and the emergence of new and more productive approaches towards its resolution