Large-scale land deals,global capital and the politics of livelihoods: Experiences of women small-holder farmers in Chisumbanje,Zimbabwe

Abstract

Large scale land acquisitions by foreign conglomerates in Zimbabwe have been a recurrent phenomenon within the last five years. This has led to land deals being negotiated with state, individual and nongovernmental actors, leading to the production of agro fuels. This article investigates how the large scale commercial land deals have affected the livelihoods of women small holder farmers, the role of global capital in entrenching discrimination of women and how the politics of resource use and distribution has become a central force in shaping livelihoods in Zimbabwe's communal areas. The article is based on field work that was conducted in Ndowoyo communal area, in Chisumbanje village, from July 2011 until April 2012. The methods used for collecting data were in-depth interviews with the women, interviews with officials from the Platform for Youth Development, a nongovernmental organisation, Macdom Pvt Ltd and Ratings Investments, focus group discussions and personal observations that involved interactions with the women. In 2011, Macdom Pvt Ltd and Ratings Investments, both bio fuels companies owned by Billy Rautenbach started green fuel production operations in Chisumbanje and this has led to the altering of the livelihoods systems of women smallholder farmers. The argument seeks, first, to demonstrate how the company‘s green fuel production systems have led to the loss of land for women and the redefinition of tenure in a communal area. Secondly it explores how the company has been involved in political issues that have undermined the role of development for the women and, thirdly, the article investigates how the women have created livelihood alternatives in an area which has been transformed from a communal rural area into almost an urban area. It concludes by suggesting the need to give primacy to women centred notions of agency in coping with the negative implications of commercial land deals on women‘s livelihoods.     

Importance of electromyography and the electrophysiological severity scale in forensic reports

Forensic reports on traumatic peripheral nerve injuries include dysfunction degrees of extremities, which are arranged according to the Turkish Penalty Code. The aim of this study is to discuss the role and importance of electromyography while preparing forensic reports in the cases of traumatic peripheral nerve injuries and the usefulness of scoring systems. A modified global scale, recommended by Mondelli et al., was used to assess the electrophysiological impairment of each peripheral nerve. Forensic reports of 106 patients, reported between 2002 and 2004, were evaluated. Thirty-four percent of the cases were reported as "total loss of function," 41.5% were reported as "functional disability," and there were no dysfunctions in the other cases in forensic reports that were prepared based on Council of Social Insurance Regulations of Health Processes and Guide prepared by the Council of Forensic Medicine and profession associations of forensic medicine. When we rearranged these forensic reports based on the electrophysiological severity scale (ESS), it was clearly found that all of the score 2 cases and 86.7% of the score 3 cases corresponded to "functional disability" and 91.4% of the score 4 cases correspond to "total loss of function." We found a significant correlation between the ESS and functional evaluation in peripheral nerve injury cases. Evaluation of functional disabilities in peripheral nerve injuries with the ESS represents a standardized and objective method used for forensic reports.     

加快推进我国城镇化需要正确处理的几个关系

加快推进我国城镇化,要正确处理城镇化与城区扩张的关系,城镇化不是城镇区城的简单扩张;正确处理城镇规模和城镇数量的关系,主旋律应当是扩张现有城镇规模;城镇化与城镇个性的关系,要突出城镇个性、张扬个性;城镇建设中硬环境和软环境的关系,硬环境是载体,软环境是灵魂;城镇化与区城经济发展的关系,建立城镇集群与区城发展的内生性机制。     

肿瘤伴失眠患者的热敏腧穴分布情况及热敏灸临床疗效观察

目的 观察热敏灸和口服艾司唑仑治疗肿瘤患者失眠的临床疗效,统计肿瘤伴失眠患者高频热敏化腧穴分布。方法 将70例肿瘤伴失眠患者随机分为对照组35例和试验组35例。对照组采用口服艾司唑仑治疗方案,该组于药物治疗展开前进行1次热敏化腧穴探查,并对热敏化腧穴予以记录;试验组进行热敏化腧穴探查并记录其热敏化腧穴后,依据探查结果选取灸感较好的两个穴位进行为期2周、每日1次的热敏灸治疗。比较两组患者治疗前后匹兹堡睡眠质量指数(Pittsburgh sleep quality index, PSQI)、焦虑自评量表(self-rating anxiety scale, SAS)、抑郁自评量表(self-rating depression scale, SDS)评分,治疗后以及随访时基于两组患者PSQI评分进行疗效比较。结果 两组患者治疗后PSQI评分均较治疗前显著减少(P<0.05);两组患者随访时PSQI评分以及治疗前与随访时PSQI评分的差值比较,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。两组患者治疗后SAS评分、SDS评分均较治疗前显著减少(P<0.05);两组患者治疗后SAS评分、...     

脑卒中后单侧空间忽略的诊疗思路

单侧空间忽略是脑卒中后常见的认知功能障碍,快速诊治对恢复患者运动功能和日常生活能力具有重要意义.应将中医基础理论和现代康复理念结合,采用中医临床诊断和行为注意障碍评测、凯瑟林-波哥量表评定结合的方式进行诊断.运用针刺联合康复训练的方式分期治疗,以达到标本兼治的目的,提高临床疗效.此外,应在治疗的过程中不断进行疗效反馈,...     

针刺肌筋膜疼痛触发点治疗神经根型颈椎病临床疗效观察

目的 评价针刺肌筋膜疼痛触发点对神经根型颈椎病的临床疗效。方法 选取60例神经根型颈椎病患者,按随机数字表法分为观察组与对照组各30例。观察组采用针刺肌筋膜疼痛触发点治疗,对照组采用传统针刺手法治疗。两组患者均每次治疗30 min,每周治疗5次,疗程为2周。分别于治疗前后观察两组患者的临床疗效,颈椎病症状量表、简易McGill疼痛问卷（short form McGill pain questionnaire,SF MPQ）、颈椎功能障碍指数（neck disability index,NDI）评分及不良反应;酶联免疫吸附法测定血清前列腺素E2（prostaglandin E2,PGE2）、白细胞介素（interleukin,IL） 1β、IL 6水平。结果 观察组疗效优于对照组（P＜0.05）。与治疗前比较,两组治疗后颈椎病症状量表评分均显著增加（P＜0.05）,SF MPQ评分、NDI评分均显著减少（P＜0.05）;两组各量表评分差值比较,差异均有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。与治疗前比较,治疗后两组患者血清PGE2、IL 1β、IL 6水平均显著降低（P＜0.05）;治疗后观察组血清PGE2、IL 1β、IL 6水平降低程度显著大于对照组（P＜0.05）。两组在治疗期间均未发生不良反应。结论 针刺肌筋膜触发点能明显改善患者症状,促进颈椎功能恢复,同时抑制炎症反应。     

气滞证自评量表第三轮专家问卷分析

目的调查专家对气滞证的诊断经验,为建立气滞证量化工具筛选条目。方法通过德尔菲法对全国各地12位专家进行第三轮问卷调查,根据每个条目的重要性评分计算均数、满分比和变异系数,再根据三者的界值筛选条目,采用Kendall W值反映专家的协调程度,采用专家权威程度系数反映专家的权威程度。结果第三轮专家咨询回收率为100%。肝维度共24个条目,主要反映病情与情志状况;胆维度共4个条目,主要反映胁肋胀痛状况;胃维度共11个条目,主要反映胃脘部的痞满、胀痛、气逆状况;肠道维度共9个条目,主要反映腹部的胀痛和大便状况;心维度共7个条目,主要反映胸部胀痛和情志状况;肺维度共2个条目,主要反映胸闷、咳嗽、气喘状况;胞宫维度共4个条目,主要反映痛经和小腹部胀痛状况。以上所有条目的均数、满分比均大于界值,变异系数均小于界值。Kendall W值为0.474(χ2值为506.21,P0.01),权威程度系数为0.84。结论 12位专家的积极程度和专业程度较高,意见可信度较高,且协调程度较高,为编制气滞证自评量表提供了参考依据。     

颅脑损伤部位及程度与日常生活活动能力的相关性

目的：研究颅脑损伤部位及程度与日常生活活动能力的相关性,为提高鉴定意见的准确性提供理论依据。方法选取颅脑损伤被鉴定人501例,详细记录其伤前情况、损伤部位及程度、治疗方式、教育程度,应用日常生活活动能力量表（Barthel指数）对被鉴定人进行测验,统计损伤部位及程度与Barthel指数的相关性。结果轻度颅脑损伤组各损伤部位Barthel指数差异无统计学意义（P〉0.05）;中度颅脑损伤组蛛网膜下腔出血与其他脑叶损伤,顶、枕叶损伤与额叶损伤,顶、枕叶损伤与颞叶损伤间Barthel指数差异均具有统计学意义（P〈0.05）,额叶损伤与颞叶损伤Barthel指数差异无统计学意义（P〉0.05）;重度颅脑损伤不论手术与否,各颅脑损伤部位的Barthel指数两两之间差异均有统计学意义（P〈0.05）。结论颅脑损伤部位与Barthel指数存在一定相关性,对分析判断颅脑损伤后日常生活活动能力具有重要的参考价值。     

国债、国债规模及其管理:研究综述

近三十年来,宏观管理国债规模的研究,呈现出行政学和公共经济学交融的新趋势。本研究将重点关注政府宏观管理体制下,国债规模管理与预算赤字、国家税收和政府支出等关键变量的联系。文章梳理了宏观管理国债规模的主要研究进展,并分析了既有研究的内在联系及可能存在的研究空间。研究认为,在目前我国政府行政体制改革全面推进和经济高速发展的大环境下,政府运用好国债工具是保证经济持续稳定增长、促进社会和谐发展的主要经济手段,同时也是政府经济执政能力提高的重要标志。     

Diversity,identity, and the indeterminacy of the size of nations

Recently economists have explored the impact of ethnic and social diversity on nation size and on the relative efficacy of the production of private and public goods. In a neoclassical framework with perfect and complete information, diversity increases the costs of government, and both the size of government and of the nation are limited. The paper proposes an alternative evolutionary framework building on the economics of identity. With imperfect and incomplete information, the relation between nation size and diversity is indeterminate, because heterogeneity plays an important role for the coordination among actors, and because political organization is crucial for the endogenous formation of preferences.