Sustainable Development and the Issue of Water in the Kagera Region of Tanzania

Over the last five decades, an abundance of research on sustainable development has emerged in multiple disciplinary areas, but few studies on the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability have examined water issues for rural communities. Consequently, the purpose of this case study was to understand how a group of rural women from the Kagera region in Tanzania perceived and experienced sustainable development as a result of their improved access to water. The following central questions of the study sought to explore the local meanings of sustainable development and improved water sources: (a) How was life of rural women from the Kagera region in Tanzania before the rainwater harvester project, and how did it change as a result of it?; (b) How did the rural women from the Kagera region in Tanzania perceive and experience the economic, social, and environmental impact as a result of easier access to water?; and (c) As a consequence of the rainwater harvester project, what did they seek to sustain, and what did they seek to develop? Using a qualitative case study approach, I traveled to Bukoba, Tanzania, to interview members of the Bukoba Women’s Empowerment Association (BUWEA) who were associated with the water project. The findings of the study revealed the hardships of living without easy access to water. The rural women of the Kagera region spent countless hours trekking through harsh terrain in search of water, at times fearing for their safety, while enduring fatigue, illness, punishment, and having to deal with contaminated water. With support from nonprofit organizations, the rural women built rainwater harvesters in four villages. Economic, social, and environmental improvements were reported as a product of easier access to water. Moreover, their reflections provided their own framework and understanding of sustainable development based on four themes: membership, partnerships, group projects, and empowerment. The BUWEA women understand sustainable development as an action constructed under their own framework with outside support. The concept of sustainable development calls for strong membership, supportive partnerships, meaningful group projects, and ultimate feelings of empowerment, all leading to the expansion of their capabilities and enhancement of freedom. Institutions, policymakers, and NGOs should support local initiatives in a collaborative manner with mutual agreement on results as a strategy to secure commitment and sustainability from all

Domestic Rivalry and Export Performance: Theory and Evidence from International Airline Markets

The much-studied relationship between domestic rivalry and export performance consists of those supporting a national-champion rationale, and those supporting a rivalry rationale. While the empirical literature generally supports the positive effects of domestic rivalry, the national-champion rationale actually rests on firmer theoretical ground. We address this inconsistency by providing a theoretical framework that illustrates three paths via which domestic rivalry translates into enhanced international exports. Furthermore, empirical tests on the world airline industry elicit the existence of one particular path - an enhanced firm performance effect - that connects domestic rivalry with improved international exports

Direct laryngoscopy and cervical spine stabilisation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72396/1/j.1365-2044.1994.tb03327.x.pd

Autonomous Intersection Driving with Neuro-Evolution

Neuro-Evolution (NE) has been used to evolve controllers in land-based vehicles that accomplish various tasks. However, there has been little work on evolving coordinated movement for maximizing traffic flow through intersections. This study used NE to synthesize collective driving behaviors for given road networks (interconnected intersections), where there were no traffic signals to assist with vehicle coordination and navigation. Rather, NE automates controller design where collective driving behavior emerges in response to the task of maximizing traffic throughput and minimizing delays at intersections

Adjuvant statin therapy for oesophageal adenocarcinoma: the STAT‐ROC feasibility study

Background Statins inhibit proliferative signalling in oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) and their use is associated with better survival in observational studies. The present study was undertaken to examine the feasibility of assessing adjuvant statin therapy in patients with operable OAC in a phase III RCT. Methods For this multicentre, double‐blind, parallel‐group, randomized, placebo‐controlled feasibility trial, adults with OAC (including Siewert I–II lesions) who had undergone oesophagectomy were centrally allocated (1 : 1) to simvastatin 40 mg or matching placebo by block randomization, stratified by centre. Participants, clinicians and investigators were blinded to treatment allocation. Patients received treatment for up to 1 year. Feasibility outcomes were recruitment, retention, drug absorption, adherence, safety, quality of life, generalizability and survival. Results A total of 120 patients were assessed for eligibility at four centres, of whom 32 (26·7 per cent) were randomized, 16 in each group. Seven patients withdrew. Participants allocated to simvastatin had lower low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels by 3 months (adjusted mean difference −0·83 (95 per cent c.i. −1·4 to −0·22) mmol/l; P = 0·009). Median adherence to medication was greater than 90 per cent between 3 and 12 months' follow‐up. Adverse events were similar between the groups. Quality‐of‐life data were complete for 98·3 per cent of questionnaire items. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and aspirin use were more prevalent in the non‐randomized group, whereas tumour site, stage and grade were similar between groups. Survival estimates were imprecise. Conclusion This RCT supports the conduct and informs the design considerations for a future phase III trial of adjuvant statin therapy in patients with OAC. Registration number: ISRCTN98060456 (www.isrctn/com)

The political process of constructing a sustainable London Olympics sports development legacy

This study attempts to develop a research agenda for understanding the process of constructing a sustainable Olympic sports development legacy. The research uses a social constructivist perspective to examine the link between the 2012 London Olympic Games and sustainable sports development. The first part of the paper provides justification for the study of sport policy processes using a constructivist lens. This is followed by a section which critically unpacks sustainable sports development drawing on Mosse’s (1998) ideas of process-oriented research and Searle’s conceptualisation of the construction of social reality. Searle’s (1995) concepts of the assignment of function, collective intentionality, collective rules, and human capacity to cope with the environment are considered in relation to the events and discourses emerging from the legacy vision(s) associated with the 2012 London Olympic Games. The paper concludes by proposing a framework for engaging in process oriented research and highlights key elements, research questions, and methodological issues. The proposed constructivist approach can be used to inform policy, practice, and research on sustainable Olympic sports development legacy