The political economy of slums in Africa

In a recently published working paper, LSE’s Sean Fox examines the wide variation in slum incidence across several countries in Africa

Africa’s urban transition: challenges, misconceptions and opportunities

LSE’s Sean Fox argues that some basic misunderstandings about the nature and causes of Africa’s urban transition have resulted in decades of misguided development policies in the region

Neglected drivers of urbanisation in Africa

The common assumption that rural-to-urban migration is the primary source of rapid urban population growth in Africa is flawed. Natural population increase within urban areas and rural transformation are also important forces. Policies aimed at easing population pressure in urban areas by discouraging migration are therefore unlikely to succeed, argues Sean Fox

Yangon’s mobility crisis: a governance problem

A mobility crisis has arisen in Yangon, Myanmar, as growth-induced congestion is slowing travel times for the city’s widely used buses, thereby incentivising car ownership and increasing traffic further. The key cause is poor governance, which manifests itself through fragmented planning, low public infrastructure investment, and a ban on motorcycles and bicycles

Mortality, migration and rural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa’s urban transition

AbstractThe stylized facts of Africa's urban transition highlight the limitations of traditional economic models of urbanization. Recent research has provided evidence that demographic rather than economic processes provide a more compelling explanation for observed trends in the region. In particular, mortality decline appears to be both a necessary and sufficient condition for urbanization to occur and a key driver of urban growth more broadly. The accumulation of survey data over the past few decades and the development of new geospatial datasets that incorporate satellite imagery are facilitating new, more spatially nuanced insights into the dynamics of urban population change in the region. This offers opportunity to develop better policies for managing urban change than those adopted in the past, which placed a misguided emphasis on manipulating migration incentives with little evidence of positive benefits.</jats:p

Pricing Grain-fed Beef in Australia

Based on an examination of factors affecting grain-fed beef prices in Australia, there is evidence that Australian market prices for grain-fed beef are not a true reflection of world prices for that product. Although no evidence was found of attempts to manipulate or otherwise distort market prices through collusion, exercising market power, or shifting profits out of Australia, the available price data suggest that Australian prices have been lower than they otherwise might have been. This report presents a brief overview of the structure of the Australian fed-beef industry and examines factors affecting the pricing of Australian fed-beef

ADHD Evaluation and Diagnosis in the Primary Care Setting

Our goal was to develop a comprehensive Epic template for the initial evaluation of ADHD in the primary care setting.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1880/thumbnail.jp

Identification and Characterization of Genetic Factors Involved in Candida-Bacterial Interactions

Throughout existence, fungi and bacteria have long shared ecological niches and thus engage in numerous interactions to mutually enhance survival or antagonistically gain competitive advantages. Of importance to human health are those interactions that involve bacteria with the opportunistic fungi, Candida albicans. An important virulence factor of C. albicans is the ability to control morphology, which allows the transition between yeast, pseudohyphal, and hyphal phenotypes. Morphological control in C. albicans is governed by quorum sensing and the secreted autoregulatory molecule farnesol. Quorum sensing allows individual cells to sense the environment and respond as a group. Bacteria also use quorum sensing to communicate and control virulence. Despite their abundance in nature, very little is known about the interactions of C. albicans with bacteria on a genetic and molecular level. The objective of our research is to identify the genetic elements involved in C. albicans-bacterial interactions and characterize the genes that may participate in these relationships. To accomplish this, we screened a C. albicans mutant library for the ability to filament in the presence of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus, where 3 typically, these three bacterial species inhibit C. albicans filamentation. We identified 836 C. albicans mutants that displayed a filamentous phenotype in the presence of bacteria. Collectively, 295 of these mutants filamented in the presence of all 3 bacterial species. Candidates were subsequently sequenced to identify the location of the mutation and the affected genetic element. CDR4, a putative ABC transporter, and ALS6, a putative adhesion, were further characterized for their specific involvement in Candida-bacterial interactions. Using a filamentation assay, cdr4 and als6 deletion strains demonstrated a decreased response to the inhibitory effects of farnesol, as well as bacterial molecules known to inhibit the production of hyphal-filaments. Additionally, the ability of cdr4 and als6 deletion strains to attach and form biofilms was significantly enhanced even in the presence of farnesol and bacterial inhibitors. The results of this study contribute to the body of knowledge involving polymicrobial interactions and these findings may lead to new antifungal targets for therapeutic interventions