Exploring the role of education in a MIRAB economy: Brain drain or brain gain? The case of Wallis and Futuna

<p>Pursuit of higher education overseas is becoming a common pathway for young Wallisians and Futunans. A constructivist grounded theory study demonstrates that education has provided (i) a new exit route for young people, (ii) an opportunity to access employment overseas and (iii) an opportunity to access employment at home. Through Talanoa interviews, it was found that the decisions to settle permanently or to return are influenced by cultural, political, economic and structural factors amplified by the slow amalgamation of two conflicting systems. Many students are steered by the French education system and unable to return due to unsuited qualifications. Others choose not to return as a response to underdeveloped structures that constrain the use of qualifications in Wallis and Futuna. Access to education has seemingly intensified clashes between a ‘modern’ system based on equality of opportunity and a customary hierarchy where everyone has a place in society. Despite the need for qualifications, access to employment in Wallis and Futuna in practice is dependent on class structures and networks as a result of low employment opportunities and high labour availability. Yet, evidence of localisation and changing attitudes towards qualifications has suggested a new dimension of the brain gain. Young determined graduates have demonstrated strategic use of resources overseas and adapted new knowledge to the customary and political context. Access to education has proved to be a key component of the MIRAB society in Wallis and Futuna and a potential catalyst for a new stability, a possible post-MIRAB economy.</p>

Exploring the role of education in a MIRAB economy: Brain drain or brain gain? The case of Wallis and Futuna

<p>Pursuit of higher education overseas is becoming a common pathway for young Wallisians and Futunans. A constructivist grounded theory study demonstrates that education has provided (i) a new exit route for young people, (ii) an opportunity to access employment overseas and (iii) an opportunity to access employment at home. Through Talanoa interviews, it was found that the decisions to settle permanently or to return are influenced by cultural, political, economic and structural factors amplified by the slow amalgamation of two conflicting systems. Many students are steered by the French education system and unable to return due to unsuited qualifications. Others choose not to return as a response to underdeveloped structures that constrain the use of qualifications in Wallis and Futuna. Access to education has seemingly intensified clashes between a ‘modern’ system based on equality of opportunity and a customary hierarchy where everyone has a place in society. Despite the need for qualifications, access to employment in Wallis and Futuna in practice is dependent on class structures and networks as a result of low employment opportunities and high labour availability. Yet, evidence of localisation and changing attitudes towards qualifications has suggested a new dimension of the brain gain. Young determined graduates have demonstrated strategic use of resources overseas and adapted new knowledge to the customary and political context. Access to education has proved to be a key component of the MIRAB society in Wallis and Futuna and a potential catalyst for a new stability, a possible post-MIRAB economy.</p>

COVID-19 Prevention Behavior on Online Transportation Drivers in Samarinda, Indonesia

Introduction: The numbers of COVID-19 sufferers in various countries are continuing to increase, including in Indonesia. COVID-19 has a wide impact, including on the online transportation service sector. Since 2015 in Samarinda City, there has been an online transportation service, namely Gojek Indonesia, which provides services to customers in the form of shuttle passengers, food delivery, and other necessities, including goods delivery services. The online transportation driver group is one of the groups at high risk of transmitting COVID-19. Objective: This study aimed to obtain information about COVID-19 prevention behavior including driver's knowledge of COVID-19, perceptions, and customer service on online transportation drivers in Samarinda. Methods: This study used a qualitative design with a phenomenological approach. The informants in this study were selected as many as 5 people. The Gojek at Cendana Street was chosen because it is the main entrance and exit route of tourists in Samarinda. The data technique was an interview and used qualitative data analysis. Results: COVID-19 is a respiratory disease. Drivers considered that COVID-19 is a dangerous disease, frightening, and causes excessive panic in the community because of its rapid spread and risks to all groups of people, including online transportation drivers. Serving customers remains a priority even though they understand the risk of contracting COVID-19. Efforts to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 carried out by Gojek drivers including using masks, washing hands with flowing water and soap, or hand sanitizer, also cleaning helmets or replacing them with spare helmets. Conclusion: The transmission of COVID-19 can be prevented by behaving cleanly and healthy also prioritize the prevention of transmission of COVID-19, such as wearing masks while doing activities, keeping passenger helmets clean, and washing hands after serving customers.

Implementation of Community Service in The Introduction of History in the Sembulungan Peninsula, Banyuwangi Regency, East Java Province Indonesia

One of the relics whose existence must be preserved and preserved is in Banyuwangi Regency, precisely in Alas Purwo National Park (TN Alas Purwo), a national park located in Banyuwangi covering an area of 43,420 hectares. In addition to having a diversity of flora and fauna in the Alas Purwo National Park area, there are also many objects and buildings of the past, especially on the Sembulungan peninsula, which was formerly known as an entry and exit route for colonial trade commodities. However, let alone the student community who are academics who are not very familiar with the relics on the Sembulungan peninsula, the method used in this service is qualitative analysis by coming to the location directly and conducting observations and collecting data through structured interviews with a triangulation approach. The results show that students' insight has increased by looking at the relics of the Japanese military in maintaining power in the form of bunkers, cannons, and military strategies developed on the Sembulungan peninsula for maritime security.

An otopetrin family proton channel promotes cellular acid efflux critical for biomineralization in a marine calcifier

Otopetrins comprise a family of proton-selective channels that are critically important for the mineralization of otoliths and statoconia in vertebrates but whose underlying cellular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that otopetrins are critically involved in the calcification process by providing an exit route for protons liberated by the formation of CaCO3. Using the sea urchin larva, we examined the otopetrin ortholog otop2l, which is exclusively expressed in the calcifying primary mesenchymal cells (PMCs) that generate the calcitic larval skeleton. otop2l expression is stimulated during skeletogenesis, and knockdown of otop2l impairs spicule formation. Intracellular pH measurements demonstrated Zn2+-sensitive H+ fluxes in PMCs that regulate intracellular pH in a Na+/HCO3−-independent manner, while Otop2l knockdown reduced membrane proton permeability. Furthermore, Otop2l displays unique features, including strong activation by high extracellular pH (>8.0) and check-valve–like outwardly rectifying H+ flux properties, making it into a cellular proton extrusion machine adapted to oceanic living conditions. Our results provide evidence that otopetrin family proton channels are a central component of the cellular pH regulatory machinery in biomineralizing cells. Their ubiquitous occurrence in calcifying systems across the animal kingdom suggest a conserved physiological function by mediating pH at the site of mineralization. This important role of otopetrin family proton channels has strong implications for our view on the cellular mechanisms of biomineralization and their response to changes in oceanic pH.

Particle balance and return loops for microplastics in a tertiary-level wastewater treatment plant

Microplastics (MPs) from households, stormwater, and various industries are transported to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), where a high proportion of them are captured before discharging their residuals to watersheds. Although recent studies have indicated that the removed MPs are mainly retained in wastewater sludge, sludge treatment processes have gained less attention in MP research than water streams at primary, secondary, and tertiary treatments. In this study, we sampled twelve different process steps in a tertiary-level municipal WWTP in central Finland. Our results showed that, compared to the plant influent load, three times more MPs circulated via reject water from the sludge centrifugation back to the beginning of the treatment process. Especially fibrous MPs were abundant in the dewatered sludge, whereas fragment-like MPs were observed in an aqueous stream. We concluded that, compared to the tertiary effluent, sludge treatment is the major exit route for MPs into the environment, but sludge treatment is also a return loop to the beginning of the process. Our sampling campaign also demonstrated that WWTPs with varying hydraulic conditions (such as the one studied here) benefit from disc filter–based tertiary treatments in MP removal.

Turmoil over the crisis: innovation capabilities and firm exit

This work investigates the relationship between the characteristics and survival probabilities of firms, distinguishing between “involuntary” firm exit and exit by merger and acquisition (M&A). More in detail, we study how, and to what extent, innovation capabilities, as proxied by patents and trademarks, are able to shape, together with standard performance variables, the observed dynamics at the firm level. By using comprehensive data on Italian firms from business registers, we separate the administrative procedures leading to “involuntary” exit from those ending up with an event of M&A. We find that while higher productivity is associated with a lower probability of “involuntary” exit, productivity increases the chances of being the target for M&A. As far as intellectual property instruments are concerned, they tend to reduce the probability of both “involuntary” exit and M&A. However, the relative importance of the two instruments differs according to the exit route: patents are more relevant than trademarks in preventing “involuntary” exit, while the opposite is true for M&A.Plain English Summary We investigate firm’s exit after a crisis. Overall innovation plays a positive role, but the relative importance of IP depends on the exit route: patents are more relevant than trademarks against “involuntary” exit, while the opposite is true for M&A. We resort to the virtual universe of Italian limited liability firms from manufacturing, trade, and service to investigate the determinants of firm survival over the period 2010–2014. We scrutinize detailed administrative data on significant events occurring to firms to distinguish between events leading to involuntary exit and to M&A. In addition to the evidence on innovation, our results show that higher productivity decreases the probability of “involuntary” exit, yet productivity increases the chances of being the target for M&A. Taken together, these findings warn against a simplistic perspective on exit: the role of innovation and firm characteristics heavily depends on the exit route.

Enablers of exit through trade sale: the case of early-stage research-based spin-offs

A significant share of new technology-based ventures exit through trade sale at an early stage of firm development. While trade sale is an important exit route for entrepreneurs and investors, and a potential source of new innovations and technology for acquiring firms, we have limited knowledge about the factors that help to effectively achieve a trade sale. We employ a unique dataset tracking the population of research-based spin-offs in Norway and conduct in-depth case studies of nine trade sales. Building on 52 interviews and other secondary data, we inductively develop propositions outlining three dimensions that lead to a successful trade sale—potential synergies, credible alternatives, and uncertainty reduction. We show that these enablers of trade sales are not only linked to the focal venture but also related to the idiosyncratic dyad with the buyer, reflecting both the potential for and likelihood of trade sale. Consequently, our study contributes to the literatures on entrepreneurial exit and academic entrepreneurship by mapping the important but under-explored area of trade sale as an exit mode.Plain English SummaryPotential synergies and credible alternatives increase the potential of a research-based spin-offs’ trade sale, but the likelihood of a trade sale depends on how uncertainty reduction is managed. A trade sale is an important exit route for entrepreneurs and investors, and a potential source of new innovations and technology for acquiring firms. Research-based spin-offs are often acquired during their early stages of development by large corporations. We track the population of Norwegian research-based spin-offs and study nine trade sales in depth. Our findings concerning the importance of synergy potential, credible alternatives, and uncertainty reduction have implications for both academic entrepreneurs and potential buyers for how they can complete an exit through trade sale. Since scientific research is critical for society, our findings have implications for policymakers in the form of interesting ideas for influencing trade sales, a potentially important route for commercialization of scientific research.

African Swine Fever (ASF): Threat of Excintion to Nias Local Pig Farm

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a disease that infects pigs. Common symptoms caused by ASF attacks on pigs are bleeding in the feces and ears as well as sudden weakness of livestock, unable to stand, and death of livestock. ASF virus is not zoonotic so it does not affect human health. This virus has entered Indonesian territory, including the Nias Island, where most of the people cultivate local pigs. The ASF outbreak on local pigs in Nias resulted in the death of many pigs. This paper discusses the spread and death of local pigs due to ASF attacks in Nias. Data compiled from the field and the Animal Husbandry Office in 2020 in the Nias islands, it is known that the pigs that died due to the ASF outbreak reached 120,592 a pigs. Meanwhile, the fact found are that the handling of infected pigs cannot be done optimally, because until now, effective treatment and vaccination for the treatment and prevention of ASF infection has not been found. Therefore, in order to prevent the spread of the plague from becoming more widespread, the current methods that can be applied are the application of biosecurity in the cattle sheds, isolation of infected livestock and the role of the government in regulating the entry and exit route for pigs in the Nias region.

Initial Public Offering Investment: The General Investors’ Perspective

This study aims to explore the views of general investors on their IPO investments in the primary market. Using a judgemental sampling, the views of 109 general investors who actively participated in the primary market has been employed in the study from Pokhara City. The study revealed that banking and finance followed by hydropower are the most preferred sectors of buying common stocks in the primary market with the expectation of long term returns. There is a significant different perception on both risk and return from IPO investment between male and female investors. The study also found that government’s policy announcements followed by the size of the firm that issues IPOs are the major determinants of IPO return and risk among investors. Increasing paid up capital for business expansion is the important reason for issuing IPOs by the companies while creating exit route for existing shareholders is the least.