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This paper examines the ties between Latin America and Asia by moving beyond the homogenisation of the two regions through elevating the importance of opposition to a third party, in this case an "imperialist" and developed North. In contrast to normative analyses based on outmoded conceptions of world history, it proposes an intellectual exercise that problematises the interregional bond by placing the emphasis on heterogeneities rather than broad bush approaches that ignore the complex and diverse national and regional realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of international and collaborative publication trends in prominent behavior‐analytic journals has been a topic of interest for behavioral researchers. This paper focuses on publication trends from 1997 through 2020 in three prominent journals: Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB), Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), and Perspectives on Behavior Science (PBS). The variable of interest was the percentage of articles published per geographical category—Australasia/East Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America, and Africa. The results showed that 79, 96, and 87% of the published articles in JEAB, JABA, and PBS, respectively, were conducted by researchers with a North American affiliation. Furthermore, 12, 4, and 4% of the articles in JEAB, JABA, and PBS, respectively, were coauthored by at least two researchers from different geographical categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The causes presented in the literature of the middle-income trap are generic, emphasizing the quality of the legal institutions of the country, demographic problems, the lack of social infrastructure, poor macroeconomic policies, etc. were already present in developing countries when they were growing fast. Besides, the income interval used on the studies on the trap was too large. • Instead of promoting the growth, the liberalizing reforms, which were more radical in Latin America than in Asia, caused an increase in the interest rate and dismantled the mechanism that neutralized the Dutch disease – both facts leading to the chronic overvaluation of the exchange rate, which represented a competitive disadvantage of the companies utilizing the best technology available. • In the economic literature, it is well established that the currencies of the commodity-focused economies tend to be appreciated in the long run because they face the Dutch disease. On the other hand, central banks in the region tend to define a high interest rate around which they organize their monetary policy so as to attract foreign capital and "grow with external savings" – this representing a second major cause of overvaluation of the national currencies of Latin American countries. • The main conclusion of the research is that, in the period of 1980–2016, the Latin American countries didn't fall into middle-income but a liberalization trap; the reason why they have fallen into quasi-stagnation while Asian countries did not lie in the liberal reforms. Opening trade in countries that have the Dutch disease meant dismantling the pragmatic mechanisms that neutralized it; financial liberalization limited the ability of countries to control distorted flows of capital and created conditions for the increase in the interest rate. • The instrument to neutralize the Dutch disease on the domestic market side were import tariffs on manufactured goods. To the extent that they were just neutralizing the Dutch disease, they were not protectionist – they were just giving the local manufacturing industry equal conditions of competition with the companies of other countries. If the import tariffs on manufactured goods were higher than what was required to neutralize the Dutch disease, they would be also protectionist. This paper offers an alternative explanation to the slow-down observed in the growth of developing countries. Instead of a middle-income trap what happened was a liberalization trap. Growth didn't happen because countries turned middle-income, but happened in a given period, around the 1980s, when these countries faced a serious foreign debt crisis and were constrained to open their economies. The studies on the middle-income trap have adopted a broad income interval and were unable to offer new historical facts that explained why these countries stop growing fast. Differently, this paper shows that the trade liberalization and the financial liberalization that started in the 1980s involved the dismantling of the mechanism that neutralized the Dutch disease and the change from low to high interest rates – both facts leading to a long-term or chronic overvaluation of the exchange rate that made the manufacturing industry non-competitive and caused deindustrialization and low growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction- Reinforced Concrete Frames (RCF) constitute a significant portion of the building stock in areas with seismic hazard. Many older buildings of this type were designed and constructed with little or no consideration of lateral load effects. When not properly designed, the Beam-Column Joints (BCJ) can be the weak links in the RCF. Unreinforced BCJ are still quite prevalent in older-type construction especially in Asia and Latin America. The unreinforced BCJ are key components that have a significant impact on the structure's behavior of RCF. Regarding the analytical approaches applicable to BCJ, the approaches range from simplified to more elaborate and phenomenologicaloriented. Unfortunately, most of them lack of simplicity, numerical stability and practicality to robustly evaluate the performance of unreinforced BCJ. This paper presents an analytical approach to modeling unreinforced BCJ. Objective- The aim of this paper is to present a modified modeling approach to simulate the nonlinear behavior of unreinforced BCJ in RCF structures. Method- The approach presented is based on the model presented in [1]. The model was modified to follow the same nomenclature of the [2]. In the proposed approach, the BCJ subassembly is represented by (1) a set of rigid links placed in cross-shape are used to represent the joint geometry, (2) a zero-length element with an empirical quad-backbone curve, placed at the middle point of the rigid links, to represent the joint shear behavior, and (3) columns and beams elements modeled with fiber formulation and five integration points to capture the material nonlinearity of the elements that frame into the joint. The approach was implemented in the OpenSEES platform, and this was validated with 13 test results of unreinforced BCJ documented in the literature. Results- The proposed modelling approach can satisfactorily predict the joint shear capacity. A 2% difference and a standard deviation of about 11% were obtained when compared to 13 test results of unreinforced BCJ documented in the literature. In terms of cyclic behavior, the proposed modelling approach shown to adequately capture the initial stiffness, strength degradation, reloading stiffness, pre-capping, and post-capping capacity. Conclusions- The method proposed presents satisfactory agreement with the test results analyzed. Taking into account the minor modifications applied to the proposed method and the uncertainties associated with the materials, test measurements, test setup, and the tolerances, the proposed method can satisfactorily predict the unreinforced BCJ shear capacity in RCF structures. It is assumed that the procedures presented here will contribute in the incorporation of the unreinforced BCJ flexibility when modeling older-type RCF construction in a pragmatic manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, inequality has been rising in Europe, North America and parts of Asia. How does our understanding of global inequality dynamics change if coverage is extended to the rest of the developing world? To rebalance the perspective on global inequality trends, this paper surveys data and literature on recent inequality trends in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It finds that in these regions there are more countries with falling than rising inequality over the past 20 years, as measured by Ginis of income or consumption inequality. At the global level, therefore, there are signs of inequality convergence, as inequality has been falling in countries with high inequality in the 1990s (particularly Latin America), and rising in historically low-inequality countries. We discuss the political and economic drivers of inequality decline in countries with a steady fall in the Gini. This suggests some common trends across the globe, including the role of democratisation, the rise of new social movements, and the expansion of education and social safety nets and favourable commodity prices, in reducing income disparities. This paper calls for more country-level comparisons of inequality trends, to highlight the multiplicity of paths in this latest phase of globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces Kohonen self-organizing maps to the scholarly discussion of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We use data through the MDGs' approximate mid-point (2000–2008) to analyze three world regions: Africa, Asia and Latin America. We observe a handful of countries that showcase noteworthy progress, including Ghana, Senegal, China, Vietnam, India, and Brazil, and then examine more closely the three major regions of developing countries: Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Major statistical differences within Africa separate the northern and southern regions from the central, eastern and western regions. In contrast, Latin America and Asia are largely homogeneous in the MDG measures with the exceptions of Afghanistan, Haiti, and Bolivia, which lag far behind. The substantial differences between Africa and the other continents (and indeed within Africa itself) appear to be mainly attributable to deficiencies in education and information and communications technology infrastructure, both areas that are imperative for the achievement of other MDGs. The paper demonstrates self-organizing maps to be a useful tool in evaluating differential convergence over the three time periods under investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to analyze the long-run equilibrium exchange rate in Latin America and Asia countries using the monetary model described in Obstfeld and Rogoff (1996) to evaluate the exchange rate gap between the regions. I use panel cointegration tests to verify the existence of panel cointegration for the countries. I estimate the coefficients of the long-run exchange rate function using the dynamic OLS (DOLS) from a balanced panel of 14 countries and quarterly observations that span from 1999 to 2015. The estimation shows the impact of monetary aggregates on the exchange rate. In addition, it points the exchange rate gap between Latin America and Asia. For example, long run equilibrium exchange rate between Latin America and Asia means 4% depreciation in this last region's currency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The contribution of copper-bearing intrauterine devices (IUDs) to overall contraceptive protection has declined in many countries, despite their well-known advantages. In response, initiatives to promote this method have been undertaken.Objective: To review and interpret the experience of interventions to promote use of IUDs in low- and middle-income countries in order to provide strategic guidance for policies and programs.Methods: We conducted a systematic search of Medline, Popline, Embase and Global Health electronic databases for relevant journal papers, reports and gray literature since 2010. Telephone interviews were held with two donors and six international family planning organizations.Results: We identified a total of 31 publications. Four reported the results of randomized control trials and three were derived from quasi-experiments. The majority were based on service statistics. Eight publications concerned interventions for HIV-positive women or couples, nine for postpartum or postabortion cases and 14 for general populations. Intervention approaches included vouchers, franchising of private practitioners, mobile outreach services, placement of dedicated staff in high-volume facilities and demand creation. Most publications adduced evidence of a positive impact and some reported impressively large numbers of IUD insertions. Results to date on the uptake of IUDs in postpartum interventions are modest. There is also almost no evidence of effects on IUD use at national levels. Implant uptake generally exceeded IUD uptake when both were offered.Conclusion: The evidence base is weak and offers few lessons on what strategies are most effective. The overall impression is that IUD use can be increased in a variety of ways but that progress is hampered by persistent adverse perceptions by both providers and potential clients. Provider enthusiasm is a key to success. The lack of a population impact stems in part from the fact that nearly all interventions are initiated by international organizations, with limited national reach except in small countries, rather than by government agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The objective of this paper is to review literature in order to calculate regional estimates of the average duration of time individuals maintain a specific high-risk behaviour. Methods The review targeted the key populations of female sex workers (FSW), male clients of female sex workers (MCFSW), people who inject drugs (injecting drug users (IDU)) and high-risk men who have sex with men (MSM). To be included in the review the study had to provide information on (1) the time a person spent at risk until death or cessation of the risk behaviour, (2) the percentage of the sample who initiated the risk behaviour in less than a year or (3) the mean or median duration of the behaviour from a representative sample. Results 49 papers were found for the FSW population describing the period of time FSW stay in sex work to be between 2.9 years (Asia) and 12 years (Latin America). Eight papers were found for MCFSW showing the duration of the risk behaviour in this category varying from 4.6 years in Africa to 32 years in Asia. 86 papers were reviewed for the population of IDU showing that the average time a person injects illegal drugs varies from 5.6 years (Africa) to 21 years (South America). No information was found for duration of high-risk behaviour among MSM; instead, the definitions found in the literature for high- and low-risk behaviour among MSM were described. Conclusions There is high variability of estimates of duration of high-risk behaviours at regional level. More research is needed to inform models and prevention programmes on the average duration of time individuals maintain a specific high-risk behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) among refugees, despite the common practice of CAM in many non-Western countries. We performed a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature using nine electronic databases. We included articles pertaining to refugees and CAM (whole medical systems, mind body medicine, herbal remedies, manipulative therapies, energy medicine). Qualitative and quantitative data were compiled and analyzed through descriptive statistics and chi square distribution tables. We reviewed 237 abstracts, and 47 publications met our inclusion criteria. Twenty-six papers documented whole medical systems; 11 mind-body medicine; 5 biologically based practices; 4 manipulative and body-based therapies; and 1 study documented the use of energy medicine. There were 3 clinical trials, 20 surveys, 12 case reports, 2 participant-observer qualitative papers, and 10 review papers. Most studies focused on Asian refugee populations (66%; n = 31). Mental problems related to trauma accounted for 36% of CAM use (17). Among included articles, methodological quality was extremely low. Our results show evidence that type of CAM used by refugees may vary based on ethnicity, yet this is most likely due to a bias in the medical literature. Efforts are needed to further explore these results and expand research within this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human-induced vegetation fires destroy a large amount of biomass each year and thus constitute an important fraction of the human interference with the energy flows of terrestrial ecosystems. This paper presents a quantification of the biomass burned in large-scale as well as small-scale human-induced vegetation fires at the country level for the year 2000. The amount of biomass burned in large scale fires is estimated combining information on the amount of biomass destroyed by large vegetation fires each year, derived by remote sensing, with estimates about the fraction induced by human activities. For biomass flows resulting from shifting cultivation, no comprehensive information is available at the global scale. Therefore, this flow was modelled on the basis of data on the area subjected to shifting cultivation and assumptions about the typical length of the cropping and fallow periods and the amount of biomass destroyed in each rotation cycle. The results show that the amount of biomass consumed in anthropogenic vegetation fires ranges between 3.5 and 3.9billion tons dry matter per year (Pg dm/yr), a considerable amount when compared to the global socioeconomic biomass harvest of 12Pg dm/yr. One third of the biomass consumed in anthropogenic fires each year, 1.0–1.4Pg dm, results from shifting cultivation. Anthropogenic fires are most important in the regions of Sub-Saharan Africa (2202Tg dm/yr), Latin America (795Tg dm/yr), South-Eastern Asia (336Tg dm/yr) and Central Asia (157Tg dm/yr), whereas in regions dominated by industrialized countries, anthropogenic vegetation fires play a minor role. Due to the lack of consistent and spatially explicit data for the year 2000, these numbers do not include agricultural residues burned in the field. The inclusion of residue burning in the year 1985 would increase the total biomass consumed by 0.45Pg dm to a total of between 4.0 and 4.4Pg dm/yr. The paper shows that the current geographic pattern of biomass burning can be explained by a combination of natural factors, such as the type of the potential vegetation, and socioeconomic factors, such as population density and the degree of industrialization of a region, which ultimately determine the application of vegetation fires in land use management. It is expected that the magnitude of anthropogenic vegetation fires will decrease in absolute and relative terms, mainly due to population growth and the diffusion of modern land use technologies, which more and more replace the function of vegetation fires as a land management tool. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Not all foreign direct investment (FDI) is alike as far as its impact on various dimensions of human development is concerned. This paper focuses, in particular, on child labor and it undertakes a cross-country empirical analysis of this issue, using data on 100 countries spanning the period 1990–2009. Unlike earlier studies that focus mostly on total FDI, we also utilize data on disaggregated FDI, covering the main economic sectors of interest such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing, services, and finance. The empirical results suggest that different economic sectors generate varied effects on child labor. For instance, FDI in agriculture in Europe and Central Asia tends to exacerbate child labor, whereas FDI in manufacturing in South and East Asia and FDI in mining in Latin America appear negatively linked to child labor. Furthermore, signing on to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is positively associated with child labor. One possible explanation for the latter result is that stronger anti-child labor laws could lead to multiple equilibria in labor markets, including the possibility of increasing child labor in certain sectors. Selected case studies help clarify the possible reasons behind this varied FDI impact on child labor, emphasizing among other factors supply chain management and the critical importance of policy implementation and coordination with the private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnomusicologists and sociologists have extensively discussed the symbolic role of music in the creation, maintenance, and expression of cultural and national identity, while the underlying social psychological processes remain unexplored. We elaborate psychological mechanisms of identity construction and identity expression through culture-specific music preferences. We propose and test a model linking music preferences to national identity via musical ethnocentrism in six student samples from Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, and the Philippines. In each context, culture-specific music styles were related to national identity of its listeners and musical ethnocentrism mediated these effects. This paper bridges culture-specific and universal perspectives on music and identity by examining the underlying psychological processes in Asian, Latin, and Western cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a brief overview on the various papers that formed part of the "Global Social Policy Forum." These papers focus on the protagonist role of social movements and civil society organizations in the challenge of developing and pursuing new strategies for building regional alternatives. The authors inquire alternative regionalisms from different perspectives. They then reflect the complexity and the specificity of the current stages of development in the existing regions and the diversity of factors coming to bear on the outcome of regional integration in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Abstract: Open dumping is the most common practice for the disposal of urban solid wastes in the least developed regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Sanitary landfill design and operation has traditionally focused on large cities, but cities with fewer than 50,000 in population can comprise from 6% to 45% of a given country’s total population. These thousands of small cities cannot afford to operate a sanitary landfill in the way it is proposed for large cities, where heavy equipment is used to spread and compact the waste in daily cells, and then to excavate, transport and apply daily cover, and leachate is managed with collection and treatment systems. This paper presents an alternative approach for small cities, known as the semi-mechanized trench method, which was developed in Villanueva, Honduras. In the semi-mechanized trench method a hydraulic excavator is used for 1–3days to dig a trench that will last at least a month before it is filled with waste. Trucks can easily unload their wastes into the trench, and the wastes compact naturally due to semi-aerobic biodegradation, after which the trenches are refilled and covered. The exposed surface area is minimal since only the top surface of the wastes is exposed, the remainder being covered by the sides and bottom of the trench. The surplus material from trench excavation can be valorized for use as engineering fill onsite or off. The landfill in Villanueva has operated for 15years, using a total land area of approximately 11ha for a population that grew from 23,000 to 48,000, with a land requirement of 0.2m2/personyear, a cover to waste ratio of 0.2, and an estimated soil surplus of 298,000m3 that is valorized and used onsite. The landfill has been operated solely by the municipality with an operational cost in 2010 estimated at US$4.60 per ton. A modified water balance analysis at Villanueva shows negligible leachate generation from covered trenches and 700m3/yr (60m3/hayr) from the two open trenches required for daily operation. If the site were an open dump, however, leachate generation is estimated to be 3900m3/hayr and contaminated runoff 5000m3/hayr. A simple model used to estimate dilution of generated leachate based on groundwater flow data and aquifer stratigraphy suggests that the leachate will be diluted by a factor of 0.01 in the aquifer. Leachate contaminants will not accumulate because the aquifer discharges to the Ulua River 2km south of the landfill. While not suitable for all sites, the Villanueva method nevertheless serves as an excellent example of how a small city landfill with natural compaction of waste and attenuation of leachate can be sustainably operated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The international dollar standard is malfunctioning. Near zero U.S. short-term interest rates launch massive hot money outflows by carry traders into emerging markets (EM) in Asia and Latin America. Each EM central bank buys dollars to prevent its currency from appreciating but loses monetary control. Despite EM currency appreciation, average inflation in EMs is now much higher than in the old industrial economies—and world commodity prices are bid up sharply. This inflation on the dollar''s periphery only registers in the U.S. CPI with a long lag. But the more immediate effect of the Fed''s zero interest rate is to upset the process of bank intermediation within the American economy. Bank credit continues to be weak while employment languishes. The (second) avalanche of hot money outflows into emerging markets (EM) began when the Fed reduced the interest rate on Federal Funds to virtually zero in December 2008—and other industrial countries followed suit. But the outbreak of a banking crisis in Europe with counter party risk in the summer of 2011 led to a global tightening of bank credit on which “carry traders” depend for financing hot money flows and long positions in primary commodities. So they had to sell off their foreign exchange (mainly EM) assets and long positions in commodities to get back into dollars or yen. The result is that EM currencies and commodity prices—with the exception of the price of oil—fell and remained weak through December 2011, while the dollar strengthened and the Japanese government intervened several time in the last half of 2011 to prevent the yen from appreciating. This cycle illustrates the main point of the paper: wide interest rate differentials across currencies make the world monetary system much more fragile whatever the exchange rate regime. “Reform” efforts should focus much more on international monetary harmonization that limits interest differentials while accepting the need for exchange rate buffers, such as capital controls, to limit hot money flows. Once the European banking crisis recedes (if ever), the large interest differential—near zero interest rates in the United States and much higher natural interest rates in the high growth EMs—will, in 2012, set off another cycle of hot money flows from the center to the periphery with rising commodity prices. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The basic premise of this paper is that the problem in the agency-social structure or subject-social structure relationship is crucial for understanding the present stage of take-off in the new phase of development or capitalism of knowledge following the recent global crisis of 2007-2009. This expresses the contradiction between neoliberalism, as a political-ideological projection, and a new technological-productive base, as well as the question of differentiation between developed "successful" countries and those that are "backward". Institutionalism and Gramsci's Marxism have offered solutions to the agency-structure dichotomy through very different theoretical approaches, the first seeking to explain the issue of differentiation between countries. Aspects of an alternative explanation are provided here through the Gramscian solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Prenatal and delivery care are critical both for maternal and newborn health. Using the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data for thirty-two low-income countries across Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, and employing a two-level random-intercept model, this paper empirically assesses the influence of prenatal attendance and a wide array of observed individual-, household- and community-level characteristics on a woman’s decision to give birth at a health facility or at home. The results show that prenatal attendance does appreciably influence the use of facility delivery in all three geographical regions, with women having four visits being 7.3 times more likely than those with no prenatal care to deliver at a health facility. These variations are more pronounced for Sub-Saharan Africa. The influence of the number of prenatal visits, maternal age and education, parity level, and economic status of the birthing women on the place of delivery is found to vary across the three geographical regions. The results also indicate that obstetrics care is geographically and economically more accessible to urban and rural women from the non-poor households than those from the poor households. The strong influence of number of visits, household wealth, education and regional poverty on the site of delivery setting suggests that policies aimed at increasing the use of obstetric care programs should be linked with the objectives of social development programs such as poverty reduction, enhancing the status of women, and increasing primary and secondary school enrollment rate among girls. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Previous research has shown that trade and FDI are beneficial to countries' economic development. This paper builds on the literature, and analyzes the ef fects on total factor productivity (TFP) through three channels of openness-imports, inward FDI and international call traf fic (ICT) for a set of developing countries in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Using data from the period of 1980 to 2000, I find that imports, FDI and international call traf fic all significantly promote TFP growth in developing countries, and that human capital enhances the ef fects of imports on TFP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the determinants of savings in Asia and compares them with those of the economies in Latin America. The evidence based reveals that countries in the two regions share some common features with respect to their savings rates that are largely affected by (1) international capital inflows, which, in general, displace domestic savings in less than one-to-one fashion; (2) dependency ratios, hence supporting life-cycle hypothesis; and (3) the size of the export sector which can contribute positively to national savings. Despite these similarities, a number of important differences can be identified across country groups. First, economic growth affects national savings positively (negatively) in Asia (Latin America). Second, the long-term negative impact of capital flows on domestic savings appears to be considerably weaker in the Asian countries compared to the Latin American countries. Together, the two factors explain why savings ratios may differ markedly between the two regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recently, Asian and Latin American countries have engaged in a series of negotiations to liberalize trade and investment flows. This paper analyzes the potential impact of a free trade agreement (FTA) between countries of both regions, applying a world dynamic general equilibrium model (MIRAGE). An important feature of the model is that it includes a new way of modeling bilateral investment flows and bilateral investment agreements. This is especially important given that investment plays a major role in the economic relations of the two regions. Our results show that most countries will benefit from the agreement; nevertheless, the gains of Latin American countries will be higher, especially when all Asian countries participate. In addition, Latin America benefits from increased FDI inflows, mainly from developed Asian countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines trends in monetary autonomy and their interactions with financial integration, currency regimes and foreign reserves for recent decades in emerging Asian and Latin American economies. Our main findings are the following: First, most emerging Asian economies have increased monetary autonomy mainly due to changes in currency regimes toward floating regimes, while emerging Latin American economies have shown mixed results on monetary autonomy. Second, in all sample economies, the accumulation of foreign reserves has contributed to retaining monetary autonomy, probably implying the role of foreign reserves as an anchor for monetary autonomy in emerging market economies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper focuses on recent developments in ‘ideal-typical’ welfare analysis, including findings on East Asia, Eastern Central Europe and, for the first time, Latin America. The characteristics of a new ideal-typical welfare regime in large parts of Latin America are singled out, looking at key features of major welfare state systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A social franchise in health is a network of for-profit private health practitioners linked through contracts to provide socially beneficial services under a common brand. The early 21st century has seen considerable donor enthusiasm for promoting social franchises for the provision of reproductive health services. Based on a compendium of descriptive information on 45 clinical social franchises, located in 27 countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, this paper examines their contribution to universal access to comprehensive reproductive health services. It finds that these franchises have not widened the range of reproductive health services, but have mainly focused on contraceptive services, and to a lesser extent, maternal health care and abortion. In many instances, coverage had not been extended to new areas. Measures taken to ensure sustainability ran counter to the objective of access for low-income groups. In almost two-thirds of the franchises, the full cost of all services had to be paid out of pocket and was unaffordable for low-income women. While standards and protocols for quality assurance were in place in all franchises, evidence on adherence to these was limited. Informal interviews with patients indicated satisfaction with services. However, factors such as difficulties in recruiting franchisees and significant attrition, franchisees' inability to attend training programmes, use of lay health workers to deliver services without support or supervision, and logistical problems with applying quality assurance tools, all raise concerns. The contribution of social franchises to universal access to reproductive health services appears to be uncertain. Continued investment in them for the provision of reproductive health services does not appear to be justified until and unless further evidence of their value is forthcoming. Dans la santé, une franchise sociale est un réseau de praticiens privés à but lucratif tenus par contrat d'assurer des services socialement bénéfiques sous une même marque. Au début du XXIe siècle, les donateurs ont encouragé avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme les franchises sociales pour les services de santé génésique. Se fondant sur un recueil d'informations descriptives relatives à 45 franchises sociales cliniques, situées dans 27 pays d'Afrique, d'Asie et d'Amérique latine, cet article examine leur contribution à l'accès universel à des services globaux de santé génésique. Il révèle que ces franchises n'ont pas élargi l'éventail de services de santé génésique, mais se sont principalement centrées sur la contraception et, dans une moindre mesure, les soins maternels et l'avortement. Dans de nombreux cas, la couverture n'avait pas été étendue à de nouvelles zones. Les mesures prises pour garantir la viabilité vont à l'encontre de l'objectif d'accès des groupes à faible revenu. Dans près des deux tiers des franchises, le coût total de l'ensemble des services devait être payé par les patients et était inabordable pour les femmes à faible revenu. Les normes et les protocoles d'assurance qualité étaient en place dans toutes les franchises, mais on dispose de données limitées sur leur observance. Des entretiens informels avec des patients ont indiqué qu'ils étaient satisfaits des services. Néanmoins, les difficultés pour recruter des franchisés et une certaine usure, l'incapacité des franchisés de suivre des programmes de formation, l'utilisation d'agents de santé profanes pour assurer des services sans soutien ni supervision et des problèmes logistiques pour appliquer les outils d'assurance qualité sont autant de facteurs préoccupants. La contribution des franchises sociales à l'accès universel aux services de santé génésique paraît incertaine. Il ne semble pas justifié de continuer d'investir en leur faveur pour la prestation de services de santé génésique, à moins que de nouvelles données ne prouvent leur utilité. Una franquicia social en salud es una red de profesionales de la salud particulares con fines de lucro, vinculados mediante contratos para ofrecer servicios de beneficio social bajo una marca en común. A principios del siglo XXI se ha visto un considerable entusiasmo por parte de donantes para promover las franquicias sociales para la prestación de servicios de salud reproductiva. Basado en un compendio de información descriptiva sobre 45 franquicias sociales clínicas, situadas en 27 países de Ãfrica, Asia y Latinoamérica, este artículo examina su contribución al acceso universal a los servicios integrales de salud reproductiva. Se encontró que estas franquicias no han ampliado la gama de servicios de salud reproductiva, sino que se han centrado principalmente en servicios de anticoncepción y, a menor grado, en servicios de salud materna y de aborto. En muchos casos, no se había extendido la cobertura a nuevas áreas. Las medidas tomadas para garantizar sostenibilidad eran contrarias al objetivo de acceso para grupos de bajos ingresos. En casi dos terceras partes de las franquicias, las pacientes tuvieron que pagar el costo total de todos los servicios, inasequible para mujeres de bajos ingresos. Aunque todas las franquicias habían establecido normas y protocolos para garantizar la calidad, había limitada evidencia de su cumplimiento. Las entrevistas informales con pacientes indicaron satisfacción con los servicios. No obstante, preocupan factores como las dificultades en reclutar franquiciados y una considerable amortización de puestos de trabajo, la imposibilidad de los franquiciados de asistir a programas de capacitación, el uso de trabajadores de la salud laicos para proporcionar servicios sin apoyo o supervisión, y los problemas logísticos aplicando las herramientas de garantía de la calidad. La contribución de franquicias sociales al acceso universal a los servicios de salud reproductiva parece ser incierta. A menos que surja más evidencia de su valor, no se justifica continuar invirtiendo en ellas para la prestación de servicios de salud reproductiva. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of the nutritional quality of some selected ethnic foods consumed in Italy was performed within the framework of the European Food Information Resource (EuroFIR) Network as part of the ethnic foods Work Package. A definition of ethnic and modified ethnic foods, as well as guidelines on the characterisation of immigrant populations and a detailed stepwise analysis of the ethnic food market, have been developed within the EuroFIR project. These were the basis for selecting ethnic foods in Italy for nutritional analysis. Four main immigrant groups (Asian, Latin American, African and Eastern European) were identified as commonly selected from those residing in Italy, and 25 dishes or composite foods consumed by these ethnic groups were selected. Based on consumption rates and market share of these foods in Italy, five ethnic food types ( cantonese rice, nachos, falafel, kebab, sarmale) were chosen and collected for analysis. Nutritional evaluation of the selected foods was performed by analysing the following components: water, nitrogen, fat, total sugars, starch, total ash and dietary fibre, fatty acid composition, cholesterol, minerals (Na, Ca, Fe, P, Mg, K, Cu, S, Zn and Cl), and vitamins (vitamins A, E, B1, B2, B6, C, biotin, niacin and β-carotene). Procedures for collection of the chosen foods, along with the results of the analysis, are described in the present paper. These new data will be added to the Italian Food Composition Tables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines global (mature market) and regional (emerging market) spillovers in local emerging stock markets. Tri-variate VAR-GARCH(1,1)-in-mean models are estimated for 41 emerging market economies (EMEs) in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. The models capture a range of possible transmission channels: spillovers in mean returns, volatility, and cross-market GARCH-in-mean effects. Hypotheses about the importance of different channels are tested. The results suggest that spillovers from regional and global markets are present in the vast majority of EMEs. However, the nature of cross-market linkages varies across countries and regions. While spillovers in mean returns dominate in emerging Asia and Latin America, spillovers in variance appear to play a key role in emerging Europe. There is also some evidence of cross-market GARCH-in-mean effects. The relative importance of regional and global spillovers varies too, with global spillovers dominating in Asia, and regional spillovers in Latin America and the Middle East. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Biofortification is increasingly seen as an additional tool to combat micronutrient malnutrition. This paper estimates the costs and potential benefits of biofortification of globally important staple food crops with provitamin A, iron, and zinc for twelve countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Using a modification of the Disability-Adjusted Life Years framework we conclude that overall, the intervention can make a significant impact on the burden of micronutrient deficiencies in the developing world in a highly cost-effective manner. Results differ by crop, micronutrient, and country; and major reasons underlying these differences are identified to inform policy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The claim of Philip Jenkins that there is now a new Christendom emerging in the Southern Hemisphere, i.e. in Latin America, Africa and Asia is not in line with the conviction of Asian theologians who started precisely from the position of Christians in Asia as a minority. In this paper, the view of three Asian theologians will be contrasted with Jenkins. Even from the list of statistical tables provided by Jenkins it is clear that Asia cannot be included in the next Christendom. However, the clash of civilizations of which Jenkins feared will happen in Asia between Christian fundamentalists and Islamic radicals is not dismissed out of hand, but will be evaluated from the experiences of Christians in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biggest developing countries in the world in terms of territory size, population and GDP are located in the continents of Asia and Latin America. In these regions, there are also the most emerging-market economies with great potential for sustaining high growth rates in the coming decades (so called the BRICs) like China, India and Brazil. Since the last quarter of the nineteenth century to the present, the major developing countries in Asia and in Latin America, such as China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico, etc have gone through various stages of development. paper makes an analysis of globalization's influences, the strengths and weaknesses of the system of WTO, participation of Asian and Latin American developing countries in the negotiations of Doha Round, development strategies to be adopted by these economies and also some important implications for building new balance in international agenda of 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents Latin American and Asian perspectives on the biofuels emerging industry. The Brazilian's possibilities of participation on this industry evolution and the involvement on the world trade for ethanol and biodiesel are discussed. Also, an investigation about who will be the main "strategic" partners of Brazil in this sector is made: the huge consumer markets of developed countries or the emerging and also hungry consumers of energy Asian economies? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are often seen by aid practitioners as a manifestly effective means of improving the position of the poor. Despite this widely held view, detailed research studies have been much more guarded about the impact of MFIs. In particular, several studies have raised doubts about the effectiveness of MFIs in reaching the "core poor". This paper surveys the evidence from Asia and Latin America and contrasts experiences in the two regions. Studies on the former have been carried out more "rigorously", but in both regions the evidence that microfinance is reaching the core poor is very limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a secondary analysis of 3419 Norplant® users from 11 countries throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America. The main objective was to identify the menstrual problems associated with a high risk of early discontinuation of Norplant use. Eligible participants were divided into two groups: those who continued use (n = 2667) for the first 3 years and those who discontinued use because of bleeding or pain (n = 752) during the first 3 years of use. Menstrual characteristics of the women were compared between groups using a logistic regression model with generalized estimating equations. Flow duration of more than 7 days, excessive amount of flow, dysmenorrhea and intermenstrual bleeding for more than 7 days were associated with a significant risk of discontinuation. The highest risk was observed in association with flow duration of more than 7 days (adjusted odds ratios of 1.85, 2.01 and 2.20 at 1, 2 and 3 years, respectively). The appropriate management of prolonged or excessive bleeding, namely by continuous counseling, is essential for successful Norplant use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A regression analysis of 92 Asian, African, and Latin American countries during 1970-85 produced the following results: (1) The effect of external debt on industrial growth is positive and statistically significant at high levels of state coercive capacity. (2) This effect is negative and statistically significant at low levels of state coercive capacity. (3) At middle levels of state coercive capacity external debt registered no effect. Based on these findings this paper puts forward the following three arguments: First, the "modernization" hypothesis of a positive relationship between external debt and industrial growth is more likely if state institutions are strong and capable. Second, the "dependency" hypothesis of a negative relationship between external debt and industrial growth is more likely when state institutions are weak and relatively incapacitated. Finally therefore, these two perspectives may be studied as special cases of a grander theory of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]