Ortega set for a third consecutive term in Nicaragua

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Election Process ◽  
National Liberation Front ◽  
Consecutive Term ◽  
Domestic Support ◽  
Nicaraguan Revolution ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Opinion Polls

Subject Pre-election politics. Significance On July 19, the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) celebrated the 37th anniversary of the Nicaraguan Revolution. With presidential and legislative elections scheduled for November 6, their leader, President Daniel Ortega, is set to run for third consecutive term in office (his fourth in total). While the FSLN has a substantial lead in the opinion polls, however, concerns are running high around the integrity of the election process. Impacts The Ortega administration is likely to receive international criticism for its stance against election observers. Ortega is likely to announce more public spending in order to bolster domestic support. Rising tensions around the elections may contribute to an environment of increased criminality, especially in urban areas.

Stronger Angolan opposition unlikely to triumph

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Election Process ◽  
Step Down ◽  
Post War

Significance With Dos Santos set to step down as president following this year's legislative elections, the country’s opposition is emboldened and hopes to capitalise on apparent disunity and divisions within the ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). With a deep financial crisis imperiling patronage networks, leading opposition groups believe they can give the MPLA its greatest challenge in the post-war era. Impacts A costly election process will increase the strain on government finances. The potential introduction of diaspora voting would increase opposition votes, but the MPLA would also benefit from elite diaspora support. The MPLA will likely shun a new IMF fund programme until at least after the forthcoming poll.

Hernandez looks set for re-election in Honduras

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Electoral Campaign ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
The One ◽  
Opinion Polls ◽  
Public Concerns

Subject Election preparations. Significance Honduras will hold presidential and legislative elections on November 26, selecting a new leader and 128 representatives for the one-chamber legislature. President Juan Orlando Hernandez looks set to win re-election, with opinion polls putting him 15 percentage points clear of his nearest rival, despite attempts by the opposition to capitalise on public concerns about institutional corruption and the Hernandez administration's commitment to anti-corruption efforts. Impacts With the presidential result almost certain, legislative results may be more decisive -- especially if the PN again fails to win a majority. Graft concerns will not deter a planned 2-billion-dollar investment in transport infrastructure, which will buoy Hernandez’s support. The US government has not yet commented on the electoral campaign in Honduras and may decide to remain distant until after the polls.

Indonesian incumbent will likely win populism contest

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Military Officers ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Opinion Polls

Significance Both candidates are espousing populist policies. However, Jokowi currently leads in the opinion polls, ahead of the election on April 17. Impacts Indonesia will be on high alert for terrorist attacks in the run-up to April’s presidential and legislative elections. Social media will feature prominently in the polls, increasing the risk of misinformation. Several government entities will likely establish their own anti-corruption units. Military officers may increasingly occupy positions in the civilian bureaucracy.

Adjudication in tenancy deposit scheme disputes: agents’ perspectives

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-172
Author(s):  
Julian Sidoli del Ceno ◽  
Hannah George ◽  
Michel Vols
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Original Data ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Content Type ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Uk ◽  
To Receive

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically the operation of tenancy deposit protection within England and Wales. The paper consciously focuses solely on the views and perspectives of letting agents operating in the various schemes. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a series of semi-structured qualitative interviews with lettings agents in two distinct geographical urban areas, Birmingham and South Wales. Participants were selected for their market presence within a given area and the fact that they were all members of approved regulatory schemes. Findings – Overall, most agents were broadly happy with the process and considered adjudication to be an appropriate form of resolution for tenancy deposit disputes given the often small monetary value of the disputes and the large volume of cases. Concerns were raised, however, regarding the heavy bureaucratic burden placed on agents and on the perceived evidential burden on the landlord. There being a widely held view that a landlord could rarely “win” outright. Research limitations/implications – The qualitative data are based on a relatively small although representative sample of lettings agents’ active within the UK residential property sector. Originality/value – The paper provides original data on the attitudes and perspectives of agents who manage deposit disputes. This is an area of current interest that has yet to receive sustained attention. Although concerned with legislation in England and Wales, its findings and discussion are relevant in other jurisdictions facing similar issues.

Using the private finance initiative for energy efficiency projects at the urban scale

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto De Marco ◽  
Giulio Mangano ◽  
Fania Valeria Michelucci ◽  
Giovanni Zenezini
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Light Emitting Diode ◽  
Project Finance ◽  
Private Finance Initiative ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Light Emitting ◽  
Alternate Forms ◽  
Private Investors

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest the usage of the project finance (PF) scheme as a suitable mechanism to fund energy efficiency projects at the urban scale and present its advantages and adoption barriers. Design/methodology/approach – A case study is developed to renew the traffic lighting system of an Italian town via replacement of the old lamps with new light-emitting diode (LED) technology. Several partners are involved in the case project to construct a viable PF arrangement. Findings – The case study presents the viability of the proposed PF scheme that provides for acceptable financial returns and bankability. However, it also shows that the need for short concession periods may call for a public contribution to the initial funding to make the project more attractive to private investors. Practical implications – This case study is a useful guideline for governments and promoters to using the PF arrangement to fund energy efficiency investments in urban settings. It helps designing an appropriate PF scheme and understanding the advantages of PF to reduce risk and, consequently, increase the debt leverage and profitability of energy efficiency projects. Originality/value – This paper contributes to bridging the gap about the lack of works addressing the implementation of the PF mechanism in the energy efficiency sector in urban areas. The importance of this paper is also associated with the shortage of traditional public finance faced by many cities that forces to seek for alternate forms of financing.

Loan officer rotation and credit access: evidence from Madagascar

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-67
Author(s):  
Yaw Sarfo ◽  
Oliver Musshoff ◽  
Ron Weber
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Frequency Effect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Credit Access ◽  
Loan Officer ◽  
Microfinance Institution ◽  
Lending Decisions ◽  
Loan Officers ◽  
Loan Approval

Purpose With exclusive data from a commercial microfinance institution (MFI) in Madagascar, the purpose of this paper is to investigate if loan officer rotation (change of loan officer) has an effect on credit access (loan approval) in rural and in urban areas. The authors further analyze how the frequency of loan officer rotation affects credit access in rural and in urban areas. Design/methodology/approach The authors apply propensity score matching to compare credit access between loan applicants who experienced loan officer rotation and loan applicants who experienced no loan officer rotation in rural and in urban areas. Findings Results show that loan officer rotation has a positive and statistically significant effect on credit access. The authors observe further that loan officer rotation has a different effect on credit access in rural and in urban areas. Whilst rural loan applicants who experienced loan officer rotation are more likely to have credit access, urban loan applicants show no statistically significant effect of loan officer rotation on credit access. For the frequency effect on credit access, the authors observe that one loan officer rotation has a positive and statistically significant effect on credit access whereas results are mixed for two loan officer rotations. Research limitations/implications Even though the authors can show that loan officer rotation can improve credit access to loan applicants, especially in rural areas, the conditions in Madagascar are unique. Therefore, results need to be verified in other countries and institutional contexts. Practical implications From the perspective of MFI, the authors recommend that the management of MFI needs to provide better tools to loan officers to improve on the evaluation of agricultural loan products or standardize the assessment of agricultural loan products to improve on lending decisions. Further, if applicable, the authors recommend that MFI should consider using credit worthiness assessment procedures which rely less on loan officer’s judgment for loan evaluation, such as automated systems. From the perspective of loan applicants, the authors recommend that loan applicants should request for a change of loan officer if they experience successive loan applications rejection. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to provide empirical evidence on the effect and frequency of loan officer rotation on credit access in Sub-Sahara Africa, and Madagascar, in particular.

scholarly journals Phase 1 Study of the Safety, Tolerability, and Pharmacokinetics of the β-Lactamase Inhibitor Vaborbactam (RPX7009) in Healthy Adult Subjects

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (10) ◽  
pp. 6326-6332 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Griffith ◽  
Jeffery S. Loutit ◽  
Elizabeth E. Morgan ◽  
Stephanie Durso ◽  
Michael N. Dudley
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Clearance ◽  
Healthy Adult ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Time Curve ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Multiple Doses ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Lactamase Inhibitor

ABSTRACTVaborbactam (formerly RPX7009) is a member of a new class of β-lactamase inhibitor with pharmacokinetic properties similar to those of many β-lactams, including carbapenems. The pharmacokinetics and safety of vaborbactam were evaluated in 80 healthy adult subjects in a first-in-human randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, sequential single- and multiple-ascending-dose study. A total of 10 dose cohorts were enrolled in the study, with 6 subjects randomized to receive 250 to 2,000 mg of vaborbactam and 2 subjects randomized to receive placebo in each cohort. Maximum concentrations for vaborbactam were achieved at the end of the 3-h infusion. Vaborbactam exposure (Cmaxand area under the concentration-time curve [AUC]) increased in a dose-proportional manner following multiple doses. There was no evidence of accumulation with multiple doses, consistent with the terminal half-life of ∼2 h. Both the volume of distribution (Vss) and plasma clearance were independent of dose. For the 2,000-mg dose, the plasma clearance was 0.17 ± 0.03 liters/h, the AUC from 0 h to infinity (AUC0–∞) was 144.00 ± 13.90 mg · h/liter, and theVsswas 21.80 ± 2.26 mg · h/liter. Urinary recovery was 80% or greater over 48 h across all dose groups. No subjects discontinued the study due to adverse events (AEs), and no serious AEs (SAEs) were observed. All AEs were mild to moderate and similar among the vaborbactam- and placebo-treated subjects, with mild lethargy as the only unique AE reported with the high dose of vaborbactam. Overall, this study revealed the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic profile of vaborbactam and formed the basis for advancement into patient studies in combination with meropenem, including treatment of patients with carbapenem-resistantEnterobacteriaceae(CRE) infections. (This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT01751269.)

Coalition loyalty-programme adoption and urban commercial-network effectiveness evaluation

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (9) ◽  
pp. 818-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan De Noni ◽  
Luigi Orsi ◽  
Luca Zanderighi
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Dynamic Network ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Marketing Theory ◽  
Urban Network ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Network Effectiveness ◽  
Commercial Network ◽  
Loyalty Programme

Purpose – To counter the proliferation of out-of-town shopping centres, a spontaneous or planned coalition loyalty programme (CLP), one involving most retailers in an urban network, may positively affect a town centre's capacity to entice customers and may enhance its competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of CLP implementation in town-centre management (TCM) as a tool for enhancing urban commercial-system attractiveness. Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical framework used in this study is supported by the evaluation methodologies of an empirical case study: the Savigliano Card project. CLP performance analysis uses a dynamic network-competitiveness index, an approach based on Laspeyres-type decomposition. The effects on each retailer's profitability are then tested by matching network and regression analyses. Findings – The results suggest that CLPs implementation in a TCM scheme can produce benefits and positive externalities for customers, retailers and urban areas. CLPs can influence a town centre's revitalisation process, improve the attractiveness of the urban commercial network and increase the profitability of private retailers by enhancing cross-selling dynamics. Practical implications – The paper provides a CLP performance-evaluation methodology and presents the benefits concerning CLP implementation in TCM strategies. Originality/value – This type of CLP is weakly exploited in marketing theory and practice; therefore, the paper provides theoretical and empirical explanations for the measurement of CLP effectiveness in TCM. In addition, it has significant implications for both practitioners and academics.

scholarly journals Pharmacokinetic Interactions between Primaquine and Chloroquine

2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 3354-3359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasithon Pukrittayakamee ◽  
Joel Tarning ◽  
Podjanee Jittamala ◽  
Prakaykaew Charunwatthana ◽  
Saranath Lawpoolsri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oral Dose ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Pharmacokinetic Interaction ◽  
Plasmodium Ovale ◽  
Open Label ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reference Number ◽  
Electrocardiographic Changes ◽  
To Receive

ABSTRACTChloroquine combined with primaquine has been the standard radical curative regimen forPlasmodium vivaxandPlasmodium ovalemalaria for over half a century. In an open-label crossover pharmacokinetic study, 16 healthy volunteers (4 males and 12 females) aged 20 to 47 years were randomized into two groups of three sequential hospital admissions to receive a single oral dose of 30 mg (base) primaquine, 600 mg (base) chloroquine, and the two drugs together. The coadministration of the two drugs did not affect chloroquine or desethylchloroquine pharmacokinetics but increased plasma primaquine concentrations significantly (P≤ 0.005); the geometric mean (90% confidence interval [CI]) increases were 63% (47 to 81%) in maximum concentration and 24% (13 to 35%) in total exposure. There were also corresponding increases in plasma carboxyprimaquine concentrations (P≤ 0.020). There were no significant electrocardiographic changes following primaquine administration, but there was slight corrected QT (QTc) (Fridericia) interval lengthening following chloroquine administration (median [range] = 6.32 [−1.45 to 12.3] ms;P< 0.001), which was not affected by the addition of primaquine (5.58 [1.74 to 11.4] ms;P= 0.642). This pharmacokinetic interaction may explain previous observations of synergy in preventingP. vivaxrelapse. This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under reference number NCT01218932.

A principal component analysis of the determinants of spatial disparity between rural and urban localities of Ghana

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 715-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivy Drafor
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component Analysis ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Component Analysis ◽  
Spatial Inequality ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Spatial Disparity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rural And Urban

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the spatial disparity between rural and urban areas in Ghana using the Ghana Living Standards Survey’s (GLSS) rounds 5 and 6 data to advance the assertion that an endowed rural sector is necessary to promote agricultural development in Ghana. This analysis helps us to know the factors that contribute to the depravity of the rural sectors to inform policy towards development targeting. Design/methodology/approach A multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis were applied to data from the GLSS-5 and GLSS-6 to determine the characteristics of the rural-urban divide in Ghana. Findings The findings reveal that the rural poor also spend 60.3 per cent of their income on food, while the urban dwellers spend 49 per cent, which is an indication of food production capacity. They have low access to information technology facilities, have larger household sizes and lower levels of education. Rural areas depend a lot on firewood for cooking and use solar/dry cell energies and kerosene for lighting which have implications for conserving the environment. Practical implications Developing the rural areas to strengthen agricultural growth and productivity is a necessary condition for eliminating spatial disparities and promoting overall economic development in Ghana. Addressing rural deprivation is important for conserving the environment due to its increased use of fuelwood for cooking. Absence of alternatives to the use of fuelwood weakens the efforts to reduce deforestation. Originality/value The application of PCA to show the factors that contribute to spatial inequality in Ghana using the GLSS-5 and GLSS-6 data is unique. The study provides insights into redefining the framework for national poverty reduction efforts.

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