SHRIMP MARICULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN ECUADOR: SOME RESOURCE POLICY ISSUES

During the past 15 years, Ecuador has become the Western Hemisphere's leading producer and exporter of shrimp. Growth has come about largely through mariculture development. About 8,000 metric tons (MT) of shrimp have been captured off the Ecuadorian coast each year since the late 1970s. Meanwhile, pond output has increased several-fold, from less than 5,000 MT in 1979 to over 100,000 MT 12 years later (Table 1). Mariculture has expanded largely at the expense of renewable natural resources. Mangrove swamps, characterized by extremely high biological productivity and, therefore, a critical element of coastal ecosystems, have been displaced. In addition, shrimp postlarvae (PL) collection has at times been excessive and wastewater emissions from some enterprises harm the environment. Mariculture also suffers from water pollution from agricultural, urban, and industrial sources. This paper first describes the extent and consequences of coastal ecosystem disturbance; then presents a causal analysis of environmental problems. Policies contributing to depletive management of wetlands and related resources are similar to policies stimulating tropical deforestation. The tenurial regime rewards those who convert coastal ecosystems into shrimp ponds, just as frontier property arrangements encourage agricultural colonists to convert natural ecosystems into farmland (Southgate 1990). In addition, mariculture's geographic expansion, like agriculture's, has been accelerated by inadequate spending on education, research, and extension (Southgate 1991). If this policy regime remains unchanged, continued deterioration of Ecuador's coastal ecosystems is inevitable.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Excavating widening participation policy in Australian higher education: subject positions, representational effects, emotion

This article uses Foucauldian discourse analysis to identify two subject positions within Australia\u27s Widening Participation higher education policy. Purpose The massification of higher education is a definitive feature of the late twentieth century. Widening Participation (WP) policy is a recent manifestation of this phenomenon in Britain and Australia. This article uses Foucauldian discourse analysis to identify two subject positions within Australian WP higher education policy, that of the cap(able) individual and the proper aspirant. The article also traces the feeling-rules associated with these subject positions to ask critical questions about neo-liberal social justice. Design/methodology/approach A Foucauldian discourse analysis was conducted on a range of policy documents relating the higher education during the period 2008-2013. Using Bacchi’s (2012) ‘what is the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) approach, two subject positions and their attendant feeling-rules are identified.    Findings The two subject positions, the cap(able) individual and the proper aspirant, represent a quintessential neo-liberal subject who possesses ‘natural’ ability, hope for social mobility and is highly individualised and entrepreneurial in disposition. As a reinvention of social justice approaches to higher education, WP has wide emotional and common sense appeal derived from its links into older discourses on social justice, meritocracy and the redemptive promise of education and childhood hope.  A new neo-liberal appropriation of social justice, WP neglects critical historical, social and contextual factors related to educational inequity

Food Insecurity and Its Determinants in Asia and the Pacific

In Asian-Pacific developing countries, the prevalence of food insecurity has diminished dramatically in the past generation. Despite this, many millions continue to suffer from persistent or periodic food insecurity. The causes of food insecurity are both structural and market-related, including influences of public policy on market operations. The most vulnerable populations are those that simultaneously experience both these forms of insecurity. The places they inhabit tend to have poor-quality land, are exposed to climatic and other environmental risks, or both. These same populations either have relatively weak links with the non-food economy, in which higher wages and better income-earning opportunities make food self-sufficiency less important, or are prevented from accessing opportunities in the non-food economy because of poor or misguided policies.

THE INSTITUTIONAL ORIGINS OF DEFORESTATION IN LATIN AMERICA

Land Economics/Use,

A MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR DEVELOPING ETHNO-BIOLOGICALLY DIVERSE TROPICAL FORESTS

This paper presents a dynamic optimal control model describing the benefits and costs associated with the development of tropical forests rich in plant and animal species and folk knowledge. The model is a framework to assess how various market and institutional incentives might influence both deforestation and the collection of "ethno-biological information."Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Belief-based action prediction in preverbal infants

Successful mindreading entails both the ability to think about what others know or believe, and to use this knowledge to generate predictions about how mental states will influence behavior. While previous studies have demonstrated that young infants are sensitive to others’ mental states, there continues to be much debate concerning how to characterize early theory of mind abilities. In the current study, we asked whether 6-month-old infants appreciate the causal role that beliefs play in action. Specifically, we tested whether infants generate action predictions that are appropriate given an agent’s current belief. We exploited a novel, neural indication of action prediction: motor cortex activation as measured by sensorimotor alpha suppression, to ask whether infants would generate differential predictions depending on an agent’s belief. After first verifying our paradigm and measure with a group of adult participants, we found that when an agent had a false belief that a ball was in the box, motor activity indicated that infants predicted she would reach for the box, but when the agent had a false belief that a ball was not in the box, infants did not predict that she would act. In both cases, infants based their predictions on what the agent, rather than the infant, believed to be the case, suggesting that by 6 months of age, infants can exploit their sensitivity to other minds for action prediction

West to east: reflection on partnership working in Vietnam

Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) has been working in partnership with the Newborns Vietnam (NBV) Charity to support education and skills based training for neonatal nurses in Vietnam. The primary objective of NBV is to support the Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children (DHWC) to become a regional centre of excellence in the care of sick new borns. In 2012 CCCU was commissioned to provide an educational needs assessment of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at DHWC. This led to the development of an 18-month Neonatal Nursing Course. To date, this has upskilled 27 neonatal nurses to enable specialist neonatal care to be delivered more effectively. Following the success of the Neonatal Nursing Course, it was recognised by NBV that further education and skills training was required. This was to ensure specialist neonatal knowledge and skills were cascaded in order to maintain a sustainable future workforce. As a result, in 2015, CCCU was commissioned to deliver a locally and contextually appropriate Practice Educator Course. The aim of the course was to develop a number of the neonatal nurses to become Practice Educators. There were 10 neonatal nurses selected to undertake the course, including 2 from the National Paediatric Hospital in Hanoi. In addition, 4 university lecturers from the Da Nang Technical University of Medicine and Pharmacy. The success of both the Neonatal and Practice Educator Courses has led to continued engagement with NBV and another neonatal course has been commissioned for 2017. The presentation will provide an overview of the impact of the partnership on the development of a sustainable neonatal workforce in Vietnam

Balance and gait adaptations in patients with early knee osteoarthritis

AbstractGait adaptations in people with severe knee osteoarthritis (OA) have been well documented, with increased knee adduction moments (KAM) the most commonly reported parameter. Neuromuscular adaptations have also been reported, including reduced postural control. However these adaptations may be the result of morphological changes in the joint, rather than the cause. This study aimed to determine if people with early OA have altered gait parameters and neuromuscular adaptations. Gait and postural tasks were performed by 18 people with early medial knee OA and 18 age and gender-matched control subjects. Parameters measured were kinematics and kinetics during gait and postural tasks, and centre of pressure and electromyographic activity during postural tasks. OA subjects showed no differences in the gait parameters measured, however they demonstrated postural deficits during one-leg standing on both their affected and unaffected sides and altered hip adduction moments compared with controls. Increased activity of the gluteus medius of both sides (p<0.05), and quadriceps and hamstrings of the affected side (p<0.05) during one-leg standing compared with controls were also noted. This study has demonstrated that gait adaptations commonly associated with OA do not occur in the early stages, while neuromuscular adaptations are evident. These results may be relevant for early interventions to delay or prevent osteoarthritis in its early stages