The mismatch between the in-country determinants of technology transfer,and the scope of technology transfer initiatives under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Despite decades of international political emphasis, little is known about the in-country determinants of technology transfer for climate change mitigation. We draw upon the conclusions of a series of standardised, official governmental statements of technology priorities, coupled with questionnaire-based data collection, to shed light on the nature of those determinants. We find that there is a disconnect between what developing country governments perceive as the key enablers of, and barriers to, technology transfer, and what bilateral and multilateral technology transfer programmes can offer, given budgetary constraints and the logic of development aid spending. We show that the well-established notion of making climate change mitigation actions an integral part of sound development plans is especially relevant for technology transfer. We offer pointers as to how this might be done in practice, in the context of the ‘technology action plans’ developed as part of the United Nations-sponsored technology needs assessment process.     

Therefore,Is Bureaucracy Dead? Making a Case for Complementarity of Paradigms in Public Administrative Thinking and Discourse

Public Administration has gone through conceptual development to inject renaissance and public value creation. The literature provides a battleground of ideas between bureaucracy, new public management and post NPM with the latter ones chastising bureaucracy. The new developments should be seen as perfecting and correcting some of the extremes of bureaucracy but cannot replace it entirely. Owing to the broad nature of the public sector coupled with complex goals, agencies and mandates; this paper argues for a synergistic relationship and harmonization of the principles espoused by each paradigm; because each may be applicable in specific context, sector and periods.     

Homeownership and Nontraditional and Subprime Mortgages

This article documents the growth and geographic distribution of nontraditional mortgages (NTMs) and subprime mortgages during 2000-2006, and examines the association between these products and homeownership at the county level between 2000 and 2012. It finds a significant relationship between the origination of NTM and subprime mortgages during the boom and changes in the number of homeowners (positive during the 2000-2006 period and negative during the 2006-2012 period) but no significant relationship with the change in the homeownership rate. Looking at specific categories of the population, the results indicate a positive relationship between the presence of NTMs and subprime mortgages and increased numbers of homeowners for young households as well as for low income and minority households, but the relationship is smaller than for the general population. Overall, the relationship between NTMs and homeownership is stronger than the relationship between subprime mortgages and homeownership during the boom and it is less negative during the bust.     

Microcredit and gender empowerment: policy implications for sustainable agricultural development in Eritrea

Sustainable agricultural development requires capital investment. However, farmers in Africa are constrained by inadequate access to microcredit. Therefore, this article examines the extent to which gender influences access to microcredit. The empirical results showed that women are less likely to be able to access microcredit, compared to men. The study also found that separate sets of factors including assets endowment, socio-economic, institutional, and technological factors significantly affected women’s and men’s access to microcredit. The article suggests that to promote sustainable agricultural development, gender differential should be critically considered in designing microcredit schemes that target farmers in Africa.     

Adolescent Civic Engagement and Adult Outcomes: An Examination Among Urban Racial Minorities

Civic engagement in adolescence is encouraged because it is hypothesized to promote better civic, social, and behavioral outcomes. However, few studies have examined the effects of civic engagement on youth development over time. In particular, the long-term association between adolescent civic engagement and development among racial minority youth who are exposed to high levels of risk factors is understudied. Using data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study (CLS; N = 854; 56.6 % were female; 93 % were African Americans and 7 % were Latinos), this study examined the associations between civic engagement in adolescence and outcomes during emerging adulthood among racial minority youth. Regression analyses found that civic engagement in adolescence is related to higher life satisfaction, civic participation, and educational attainment, and is related to lower rates of arrest in emerging adulthood. The findings suggest that adolescent civic engagement is most impactful in affecting civic and educational outcomes in emerging adulthood. The present study contributes to the literature by providing support for the long-term associations between adolescent civic engagement and multiple developmental domains in adulthood among an inner-city minority cohort.     

Comparative Islamist Perspectives on the Politics of Energy in the Middle East and Beyond

The article will describe the general Islamic approach on energy based on the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad, as well as the writings of prominent Muslim thinkers. Then it will examine and compare the energy perspectives of four Islamist groups: Hizballah, Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Al Qaeda. It will be argued that Islamist groups have attempted to achieve their external energy objectives by either using violence or exercising political blackmail against their opponents. Moreover, Islamists have developed globalized, glocalized, or localized “scale of engagement,” depending on the targeted audience. Finally, the article will examine the security implications stemming from Islamists’ interest in energy issues.     

Texas Population Substructure and Its Impact on Estimating the Rarity of Y STR Haplotypes from DNA Evidence*

Abstract: Three sampled populations of unrelated males—African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic, all from Texas—were typed for 16 Y short tandem repeat (STR) markers using the AmpFlSTR^® Yfiler^TM kit. These samples also were typed previously for the 13 core CODIS autosomal STR loci. Most of the 16 marker haplotypes (2478 out of 2551 distinct haplotypes) were observed only once in the data sets. Haplotype diversities were 99.88%, 99.89%, and 99.87% for the African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic sample populations, respectively. F_ST values were very small when a haplotype comprised 10–16 markers. This suggests that inclusion of substructure correction is not required. However, haplotypes consisting of fewer loci may require the inclusion of F_ST corrections. The testing of independence of autosomal and Y STRs supports the proposition that the frequencies of autosomal and Y STR profiles can be combined using the product rule.     

Drug consumption among sexual offenders against females

This article aims to evaluate the role of drug consumption among sexual offenders against females. Three groups of participants (N = 133) comprising sexual offenders against girls, pubertal females, and women were examined with reference to history of drug and/or alcohol use, impulsivity level, sexual addiction, and recidivism risk. Sexual offenders against women were found to have significantly more difficulties with drug use, higher impulsivity level, and to be younger than the sexual offenders against girls and pubertal females. The combination of drug consumption and higher level of impulsivity may contribute to sexual aggression against adult females.     

Paradoxes of internationalisation of the Anglophone problem in Cameroon

Historically it is not strange that the Anglophone elites in Cameroon took their case to the international community, since this was a strategy that they employed during the British colonial period. A number of petitions and constant visits were made to the United Nations (UN) by Anglophone elites concerning British neglect of their territory. These petitions were made in the form of presentations before the United Nations in New York or whenever there was a visiting UN mission to the trust territory. Nonetheless, since the early 1990s, the pattern of petitions has changed drastically. Petitions against the new state are different from those earlier petitions against colonialism. The aim of the petitions against the new state has been to draw the attention of the UN and the international community to the injustices inflicted upon minority English-speaking Cameroonians by the ruling government. The Anglophone elites believe that, by making their plight known to the international community, the latter might intervene to restore the statehood of Southern Cameroons.