An Unsettled Return: Memory and Self-Identity in Lina Meruane’s Volverse Palestina

Chile is home to one of the largest Palestinian communities outside of the Arab world. Despite its significant size of more than 400,000 people, few have undertaken comprehensive studies of the group and the literature it has produced. This thesis explores the emergence of a diasporic Palestinian consciousness among members of Chile's Palestinian community through an analysis of contemporary writer Lina Meruane's chronicle, Volverse Palestina [Becoming Palestinian] (2013). I argue that Meruane's novel approach to the diasporic Palestinian narrative of return textualizes the emergence of this consciousness in the context of Chile following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. I will begin by providing an overview of Arab migration to Latin America, with a special emphasis on Palestinian migration to Chile. Following this, I will discuss literature written prior to 1948 by Chilean immigrants of Arab descent. I will then analyze Meruane's text in relation to its treatment of collective, intergenerational, and personal memory; diaspora space and border writing; and the concept of return. Lastly, I conclude that in addition to its importance for the Palestinian community in Chile, this narrative offers a refreshingly accessible entry point into the history of a complex, ongoing conflict.Spanish and Portugues

Theories of Gold Price Movements: Common Wisdom or Myths?

This paper examines several of the explanations commonly provided regarding gold and its price movements. We consider the safe haven, inflation hedge, and dollar destruction hypotheses. The results are mixed. Our data does not support the theories that gold is a safe haven or an inflation hedge. We find that gold is a zero-beta asset and there is a strong negative correlation between gold and the value of the US dollar in the post Bretton-Woods era. The decomposition of gold prices under a semi-structural model finds the aggregate demand shock, monetary policy shock, and precautionary demand shock of gold all only have modest influence on the price movement of gold

Eficácia dos taninos condensados presentes no extrato de acácia no controle de Trichostrongylus colubriformis em ovinos

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential uses of acacia extract (AE) on Trichostrongylus colubriformis control in sheep. The lambs were allocated in three groups of six animals. Two groups were experimentally infected with third-stage larvae of T. colubriformis and one was remained as non-infected control. Thirty days post-infection, the infected animals from treated group were supplemented with AE. During and after the treatment, the values of faecal eggs counts (FEC), number of third-stage larvae recovered per gram of faeces (LPG), number of FEC accumulated per animal during the treatment period, nematode egg viability, and worm burden were determined. Animals from non-infected group did not presented FEC values, during the experimental period. The average of total accumulated amount of FEC output per group, during the 10 days of the treatment was lower in AE treated lambs (P<0.05). The values of egg viability were statistically reduced (P<0.05) on days 4, 7 and 10 post treatment (p.t.). The number of LPG was lower (P<0.05), at the days 10 and 14p.t., in treated animals. AE showed potential to be used on the prophylaxis of gastrointestinal nematode infections in sheep.O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o potencial do extrato de acácia (EA) para o controle de T. colubriformis em ovinos. Os cordeiros foram alocados em três grupos de seis animais. Dois grupos foram experimentalmente infectados com larvas infectantes de T. colubriformis, sendo um grupo mantido como controle não infectado. Trinta dias pós-infecção, os animais infectados do grupo tratado foram suplementados com EA. Durante e após o tratamento os valores de contagem de ovos por grama de fezes (OPG), número de larvas de terceiro estágio por grama de fezes (LPG), número de OPG eliminado por animal durante o período de tratamento, viabilidade dos ovos e carga parasitária foram determinados. Os animais do grupo não infectado permaneceram com número de OPG igual a zero durante todo o período experimental. A média do número de OPG total eliminado por grupo, somatória durante os 10 dias de tratamento, foi menor nos cordeiros tratados com EA (P<0,05). Os valores de viabilidade dos ovos de helmintos foram menores (P<0,05) nos dias 4, 7 e 10 pós-tratamento (p.t.). O número de LPG foi menor (P<0,05), nos dias 10 e 14p.t., no grupo tratado. O EA demonstrou potencial para sua utilização no controle de T. colubriformis em ovinos

Wet brewers’ grain as replacement for hay in maintenance sheep diet

O resíduo úmido de cervejaria é um subproduto disponível ao longo do ano, podendo ser utilizado como um substituto das forragens durante os períodos críticos. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a utilização do resíduo úmido de cervejaria como substituto do feno em dietas exclusivas de volumoso para ovinos. Mantiveram-se seis ovinos machos da raça Santa Inês em gaiolas de metabolismo em um delineamento experimental de quadrado latino múltiplo de 3 x 3, com dietas experimentais 100% de feno de Tifton 85 capim-bermuda (Cynodon ssp) (FT), 67% de FT + 33% de resíduo de cervejaria (RUC33) e 33% de FT + 67% de resíduo de cervejaria (RUC67). O ensaio avaliou o consumo voluntário, a digestibilidade aparente in vivo da matéria seca, da matéria orgânica, da proteína bruta, e das fibras em detergente neutro e em detergente ácido, pH ruminal e perfil de nitrogênio (N) amoniacal. O consumo voluntário foi de 1.090, 1.129 e 737 (EP = 66,9) g MS dia-1 nas dietas FT, RUC33 e RUC67, respectivamente. A digestibilidade aparente da matéria seca não foi afetada pelos tratamentos, mas a inclusão do resíduo aumentou a digestibilidade da proteína bruta. Os perfis de N-NH3 no rúmen foram semelhantes em todos os tratamentos e o pH ruminal diferiu entre os tratamentos (6,26; 5,98 e 6.28 (EP = 0,05 ) no FT, RUC33 e RUC67, respectivamente). Os animais apresentaram diminuição no consumo quando o resíduo foi oferecido nas quantidades de 67% da MS. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTWet brewers’ grain (RUC) is an available by-product throughout the year and its fiber fractions could replace forage fibers during critical periods. The aim of this study was to evaluate wet brewers’ grain as a substitute for hay in exclusive forage diets for sheep. Six Santa Inês male sheep were kept in metabolic cages in a 3x3 multiple Latin square, in which the experimental diets were 100% Tifton 85 Bermudagrass (Cynodon ssp) hay (FT), 67% FT + 33% wet brewer’s grain (RUC33) and 33% FT + 67% wet brewers’ grain (RUC67). The study evaluated voluntary intake, in vivo apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF), rumen pH and ammonia-N profiles. Voluntary intake was 1090, 1129 and 737 (SE = 66.9) g DM day-1 for diets FT, RUC33 and RUC67, respectively. Dry matter apparent digestibility was not affected by treatments, but the brewers’ grain inclusion increased crude protein digestibility. Rumen ammonia-N content profiles were similar for all treatments and pH differed among treatments (6.26, 5.98 and 6.28 (SE = 0.05) for FT, RUC33 and RUC67, respectively). By-product inclusion reduced DM intake at level of 67%

World Trade Organisation (WTO): Trade rules/agreements and developing countries

The GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs) rules of 1947 were seen as prejudicial to the economic and development concerns of developing countries. With the coming into effect of World Trade Organization (WTO), it was expected that some of the concerns of the developing countries will be addressed. Notwithstanding the tremendous improvement made by WTO, there remained many areas of the current rules of WTO that reinforce the disadvantages faced by developing economies. This essay deals with these unfair trade rules and disadvantages inherent in the World Trade Organization (WTO) system by critically examining some important agreements that affect developing economies, specifically the Trade-Related Intellectual Property (TRIPs), Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Barriers to Trade (SPS &amp; TBT). This essay argues that WTO rules have locked most developing countries into an unfair and unbalanced trade system leaving them little space to introduce policies that advance their economy, a situation which not only perpetuates poverty but also hampers development and runs contrary to the objective for which WTO was born and set up.Keywords: Development, Developing Countries Liberalisations, World Trade Organisation- WTO, Trade Agreement

Sensitivity and Responsiveness of Health Utility Indices (HUI2 and HUI3) Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients

Purpose: To assess the sensitivity and responsiveness of HUI2 and HUI3 among Type 2 diabetes patients.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two purposively selected Nigerian tertiary hospitals. Six hundred and thirty-eight (638) adult patients were surveyed following their consent using the HUI2 and HUI3 (HUI23S4En.40Q) questionnaire. Patients’ clinical characteristics such as age, comorbidity, severity of disease, and utilization of hospital resources were postulated a priori to be associated significantly with utility scores of HUI2 and HUI3. Student’s t-test and bivariate analyses were conducted to determine the diabetes-severity discriminatory ability of HUI2 and HUI3. The analyses were conducted with SPSS 14.0. A two-tailed significance level of 0.05 was used.Results: Older patients had lower quality of life than younger patients. The overall health deficit of increasing age for HU13 was -0.2950 and that of overall HUI2 was -0.1553. The respondents without eye problem had higher quality of life than those with eye problem, in both HUI3 and HUI2 utility scores. Stroke was the most important patients’ characteristic that negatively affected HRQOL. Patients with duration of diabetes &gt; 4 years had lower quality of life scores than their counterparts (≤ 4years).Conclusion: Health Utility Index Mark 2 and Mark 3 were sufficiently sensitive and responsive to diabetes severity among Type 2 diabetes patients.Keywords: Health utility index, HUI2, HUI3, Quality of life, Diabetes

Productive and reproductive performance and metabolic profiles of ewes supplemented with hydroponically grown green wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Inclusion of high levels of concentrate in the diets of late gestation and lactating ewes to improve productive and reproductive performance is a common practice. However cost-effective alternate feeding strategies for small ruminants must be developed and evaluated in order to counteract sustainability issues of feeding them concentrate feeds (Alexandre and Mandonnet, 2005). Hydroponically grown green forages are a potential high feed quality feedstuff in arid and semiarid regions of the world (Al-Faraki and Al-Hashimi, 2012). The nutritive value and fermentative characteristics of hydroponically grown forages positively influenced the performance of late gestation and lactating ewes (Herrera et al., 2010; Gebremedhin, 2015). Earlier investigations emphasized effects of dietary quality on endocrine and metabolic profiles in ewes during pregnancy and lactation (Lemley et al., 2014; Vonnahme et al., 2013). However adequate nutritional status of ewes is associated with favorable productive and reproductive performance whereby blood glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) are utilized to sustain a desirable protein and energy balance in ewes during gestation and lactation (Hatfield et al., 1999). Changes in metabolic hormones, such as insulin, play an important role in metabolic adaptation to changes in body weight (BW) and body condition while providing diagnostic information to evaluate ewe nutritional status (Caldeira et al., 2007). Cortisol may be particularly important in this regard as it is the predominant glucocorticoid in sheep blood and has been used as a reliable physiological endpoint to determine ewe responses to a variety of physiological, physical and environmental stress (Moolchandani et al., 2008). A paucity of information is available with respect to the metabolic profile and performance during mating, gestation and lactation of ewes fed diets containing hydroponically grown green wheat (HGW). Thus this experiment was conducted to determine effects of replacement of dry-rolled corn (DRC) and cottonseed meal (CSM) by HGW in an oat hay-based diet on the metabolic profile as well as the productive and reproductive performance of Katahdin female lambs.Twenty six Katahdin ewes (i.e., female lambs from breeding to 2 mo of their 1st lactation) were used in a completely randomized design (13/treatment)to evaluate effects of replacement of dietary dry-rolled corn grain (DRC) and cottonseed meal(CSM) with hydroponically grown whole plant green wheat (HGW; Triticum aestivum L.) on productive parameters and blood metabolites during mating, gestation and lactation, and on body weight (BW) gain of their lambs in their 1st 60 days of age. The gestation diet contained 70% oat hay, 20% rolled corn grain and 10% cottonseed meal, while the lactation diet contained 50% oat hay, 20% DRC and 30% CSM. Treatments consisted of total replacement of DRC and CSM with HGW in the gestation diet, while in the lactation diet HGW replaced 100% of the DRC and 33% of the CSM. There were no diet effects on reproductive parameters, and substitution of DRC and CSM with HGW did not affect dry matter intake during gestation and lactation. The BW gain of the lambs that were fed HGW did not differ from controls in the first 2 months of gestation, while it was lower (P < 0.05) at the last 3 months of gestation. Feeding HGW did not affect birth BW of lambs or subsequent BW gains through 60 days of age. Plasma non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) were not affected by the diets fed during gestation, but were 56% lower (P < 0.05) at day 60 of lactation. Plasma glucose was only lower (P < 0.05) at day 90 of gestation, and blood urea nitrogen was only lower (P < 0.05) at day 30 of lactation. There were no effects of diets on plasma insulin, cortisol or progesterone during gestation and lactation. Hydroponically grown green wheat is a suitable substitute for a portion of the DRC and CSM in ewes diets during gestation and lactation without negative effects

Utilização de subprodutos da indústria de biodiesel na alimentação de ruminantes

Com a introdução de óleo vegetal na cadeia produtiva do biocombustível no Brasil, é esperado o aumento da demanda por plantas oleaginosas e oferta de fibras vegetais resultantes da extração do óleo. Considerando a alimentação animal como elo entre a produção de biodiesel e a pecuária, propomos o estudo da utilização de subprodutos destes empreendimentos na alimentação visando aumentar a produtividade e diminuir a emissão de gases de efeito estufa pelos animais, gerando créditos de carbono e atendendo ao interesse da iniciativa privada. A técnica de produção de gases in vitro tem sido utilizada no LANA-CENA/USP com a finalidade de estudar o efeito de alimentos que possuem metabólitos secundários bioativos, na fermentação ruminal e degradabilidade da matéria orgânica (MOVD), bem como, no estudo da produção de metano. Resultados recentes mostraram que a substituição total do farelo de soja por tortas de algodão, dendê, mamona e pinhão manso proporcionou menor produção total de gases; e que a produção de metano foi significativamente afetada pela inclusão das tortas, sendo que o farelo de soja apresentou produção de metano de 15,3 mL/g MOVD. Diversos trabalhos mostram que as tortas e farelos apresentam características nutricionais adequadas para inclusão na dieta de ruminantes, entretanto, estudos criteriosos desses materiais enquanto matérias-primas para ração animal são necessários para avaliar possíveis efeitos deletérios devido à presença de metabólitos bioativos. Através de análises de cromatografia de alta resolução, podem ser identificadas essas substâncias que, em condições tropicais podem não apresentar a mesma toxicidade. A introdução de tortas com elevado teor de gordura nas dietas de ruminantes pode auxiliar na mitigação de metano entérico, e a produção de algumas oleaginosas pode contribuir com o seqüestro de carbono pelos solos de Cerrado na recuperação de pastagens, reduzindo a necessidade de desmatamentos.With the introduction of vegetable oil in the bio-fuel productive chain in Brazil, the increase in the demand of oleaginous plants is expected as well as the offer of the resulting vegetable fibers from the extraction of the oil. Considering the animal feeding as link between the biodiesel production and the livestock, we propose the study of the use of by-products of these enterprises in the feeding system seeking to increase the productivity and to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases from the animals, generating carbon credits and assisting to the interest of the private initiative. The in vitro gas technique has been used at LANA-CENA/USP with the purpose of studying the effect of feeds containing secondary bioactive metabolites upon the ruminal fermentation and organic matter degradability (MOVD), as well as, in the study of methane production. The total substitution of the soybean meal for meals of cotton seed, palm oil, castor oil plant and jatropha provided less total gas production and the production of methane was affected significantly by the inclusion of the meals, with soybean meal presenting methane production of 15.3 mL/g MOVD. Literature data also show that meals from biodiesel production present appropriate nutritional characteristics for inclusion in the diet of ruminant, however, discerning studies of those materials while raw materials for animal ration are necessary to evaluate possible harmful effects due to the presence of bioactive metabolites. Through analyses of high resolution chromatography, those metabolites may be identified. The introduction of meals with high fat content in the diets of ruminant can aid in the mitigation of enteric methane, and the production of some oleaginous plants can contribute with the sequestering of carbon for the Cerrado soils in the recovery of pastures, reducing the need of deforestation

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and global social change- theoretical foundations and practical considerations

Traditionally, both in the domestic and international affairs, nation states are  considered the major players in policy formulation for the purposes of international relations and regulation. Thus, it is not out of place to conclude that they are also the movers and shakers of social change. In the absence of fuller integration and  representation within the sphere of law making in both domestic and international  arrangement, the increasing influence, contribution and work of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for the purpose of social change, policy formulation and eventual rule making are undeniable. This paper sets down the theoretical frameworks for greater participation of NGO’s in international law making and argues subsequently for their fuller integration for the purposes of policy formulation in International Law.Key words: Non-Governmental Organisations, United Nations, social change

A Comparative Study of Quinine and Artemether in the Treatment of Severe Malaria in Nigerian Children

Purpose: Nigeria has adopted quinine as the drug of first choice in the treatment of severe malaria and artemether as an alternative therapy. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether artemether is a comparable alternative to quinine in the management of severe malaria in Nigerian children. Methods: We conducted a randomized prospective study comparing quinine and artemether therapies in 90 Nigerian children with severe malaria. Results: Mortality was lower in quinine group (13.0 %) than artemether (15.9 %), Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.446 (95 % Confidence Interval (CI), 0.124 to 1.603, p = 0.249 ). The parasitaemia clearance on day 3 by quinine and artemether was 96.8 and 99.0 % (p = 0.422), respectively, while on day 14 it was 100 % for both medicines. Fever clearance by quinine and artemether was 87.7 and 90 % (p = 0.753), respectively, on day 3 but it increased to 100 and 96.42 % (p = 0.072), respectively, on day 14. For the quinine group, 71.74 % of the patients spent less than one week in the hospital versus 61.76 % for the artemether group (p = 0.829, OR = 0.883, 95 %CI = 0.284 to 2.742). Conclusion: Artemether is a comparable alternative to quinine in the treatment of severe paediatric malaria.Key words: Artemether; Nigerian children; Paediatric; Quinine; Severe malaria.