Tesis para optar al grado de magíster en estudios internacionales / No autorizada por la autora para ser publicada en texto completo / La política exterior del gobierno Lula (2003-2010) se caracterizó por un activismo internacional y una inclinación por asociarse con los países en desarrollo, en esta dinámica, Brasil reforzó sus relaciones con África Subsahariana. La presente investigación se centra en la utilización de estrategias económicas como instrumento de política exterior en la relación Brasil-África Subsahariana, entendiendo que éstas materializan las ideas que se plantean a nivel discursivo desde el Ejecutivo. Para resolver la problemática se comienza describiendo la historia de las relaciones entre Brasil y África desde la segunda mitad del siglo XX en adelante; luego se identifican los objetivos de la política exterior de Brasil en cuanto elementos que componen y renuevan la política africana en el periodo Lula; se sigue con la identificación de las estrategias económicas utilizadas en la relación analizando las distintas estructuras, magnitudes y progresiones; y finalmente, se analizan las estrategias económicas como instrumentos de política exterior, definiendo el rol que cumplen éstas en el proceso de reorientación brasileña hacia África Subsahariana entre 2003- 2010. El estudio se realiza por medio de la combinación del método cualitativo y cuantitativo. La investigación plantea que el gobierno Lula redireccionó su política exterior y dio cabida a la relación con los países de África Subsahariana, en ello, las estrategias económicas fueron un instrumento favorable para intensificar el acercamiento. Aumenta el flujo comercial con los países africanos, el número de empresas exportadoras, la promoción comercial y las inversiones. Se destaca principalmente el financiamiento a la exportación y las líneas de crédito del Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), pues esto representa el interés del gobierno. Por lo tanto, las estrategias económicas respondieron al proyecto de política exterior del gobierno Lula que buscaba construir una nueva geografía política y comercial.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic remains a large threat for developing countries, es- pecially for Sub-Saharan Africa. To be able to fight the epidemic, we need to understand the socio-economic drivers of it to distinguish the groups of people at the highest risk of the HIV. We performed an econometric analysis using logistic regression dealing with the relationship between education and several HIV connected factors - HIV status, HIV knowledge and sexual behavior - based on a large sample from 21 Sub-Saharan African countries from Demographic and Health Survey data collection from years 2008-2014. The education ap- pears to be non-lineary correlated with the HIV status as people with primary and secondary education are at the highest risk of being HIV positive. These results can be nevertheless influenced by e.g. survivorship bias as the education appears to have a positive effect on both HIV knowledge and protective sexual behavior. It is thus advised to promote education in the Sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, it is needed to target the help primary to the groups at the highest risk of being HIV positive to prevent further spread of HIV and to help families of the HIV positive individuals. Moreover, we found that there is no significant difference in the correlation between education and HIV status between...

ABSTRACT The present study examined the distribution of six genetic variants (CYP17A1, CYP3A4, SRD5A2, KLK3, AR) in the androgen biosynthesis and metabolism pathway, in 14 sub-Saharan African populations. These polymorphisms have been implicated in several complex diseases, most notably prostate cancer. In order to elucidate the frequencies of these genetic variants, PCR-RFLP and STR based methodologies were employed. Consistent with previously reported results, the frequency distribution of the gene variants in the examined populations greatly coincided with prostate cancer incidence and geographic origin. Populations of African descent had the highest frequencies of the alleles that are postulated to increase risk to prostate cancer, whilst Asian populations had the lowest. Also, there were evident differences in the frequencies of these variants between populations of different continental origin particularly between African and Eurasian populations. The distribution of these genetic variants was further used to assess the spectrum of variation within Africa. The results were greatly aligned with those previously reported, providing further support to the origin and evolution of modern humans from Africa as well as other historic events.

A closely related factor to economic growth is FDI - Foreign Direct Investment. Foreigninvestment in a country made in order of utilizing specific markets or certaincharacteristics of a region. Sub-Saharan Africa is a region receiving remarkably smallfraction compared to its peer regions considering the sources of natural resources andother riches. The purpose of the thesis is to find the determinants of FDI in Sub-SaharanAfrica. The determinants are a selected set of variables based on the research of previousstudies in the field of study. A panel data regression is performed for 23 Sub-Saharancountries with data from 1997 to 2017. The result of the regression demonstrated similarresults regarding the affiliation between the variables of the model and the independentvariable, FDI as previous studies. The findings of the study do not answer the question ofwhy certain other regions of developing economies receive larger amounts ofinvestments. However, our hope is that the findings of this study will gain furtherresearch on the area

Thesis advisor: James F. Keenan / Thesis advisor: Andrea Vicini / Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the worst health care systems in the world. Besides, underdeveloped economies paired with political instability do not offer much hope for improvement. In fact, despite many efforts by local, international organizations and governments to help in this field, the majority of the populations in this region do not have access to basic health care. With this in mind, the aim of this research project is to develop a personal and social anthropology of the human rights language read through the lens of the common good in order to contribute to creating and developing sustainable healthcare systems. While agreeing that many efforts have been made using different frameworks in the sphere of public health ethics in the past two decades and aware of the possibility that other underlying causes may have contributed to the failure of health systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, we will choose to address the human rights language as the main interlocutor for future contribution. This choice is motivated by the influence of human rights on public health policies that affect the lives of people in general. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Thesis advisor: Anderson James / Malaria kills over 3,000 people each day—mostly in sub-Saharan Africa—and remains the world's number one killer of children under five. While efforts to combat the disease were largely successful in past decades, eradication has since stalled as the parasite (and its mosquito vector) have retreated to the core tropics and become increasingly resistant to pesticides and anti-malarial drugs. This study seeks to determine what other factors are significant in producing high malaria rates, and, based on those results, to offer policy suggestions that may provide alternatives to the “traditional” methods of combating malaria. The project uses cross-country models and individual country models of malaria output to analyze country indicator data and household survey data from around the world. Empirical analysis reveals that foreign aid flows may be less significant in reducing malaria outputs than originally suspected. Furthermore, the data suggests that other factors such as political stability, access to goods and services, and the use of bednets perhaps demand greater attention than they currently receive. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2003. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Submitted by Gizele Lima (gizele.lima@inpa.gov.br) on 2017-07-19T13:06:28Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação Marta Custodio..pdf: 1541941 bytes, checksum: 73bb12e38c1e802b3b9a2dab60103c2c (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-19T13:06:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação Marta Custodio..pdf: 1541941 bytes, checksum: 73bb12e38c1e802b3b9a2dab60103c2c (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-04 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas - FAPEAM / Plants are a habitat model for ecological communities study, mainly to investigate the invertebrate occurrence. In this paper, we described a new method for arthropods sampling in plants, the Socket-trap, we evaluated their efficiency by comparing with the most commonly used collection methods for this sampling type and investigated the relationships between individuals abundance in arthropod guilds and predators abundance (spiders and ants) in two genera of plants (Protium and Inga). Samples were taken in 10 permanent plots, in Adolpho Ducke forest reserve, Manaus. In each plot we sampled 18 plants of Protium (Burseraceae), 6 tree beating, 6 manual collection and 6 using Socket-trap. In each plot we also sampled 6 specimens of Inga (Fabaceae) using Socket-trap. All insects collected in Protium were identified at the family level and those belonging to the order Hymenoptera were identified at the species and morphospecies level. All invertebrates collected using Socket-trap in Protium and Inga were identified and grouped into one of the following guilds: Detritivores, Ants, Herbivores (chewers and suckers), Omnivores, Parasitoids and Predators (arachnids and predatory insects). New method sampled more insect families and Hymenoptera species than tree beating and manual collection. A similar pattern was found for abundance: Socket-trap sampledmore individuals (617), followed by tree beating (295) and manual collection (127). The other methods performance was similar for insects richness and abundance. The highestrichness of Hymenoptera and insect families sampled with Socket-trap is due to plant bagging, which prevents invertebrates scape, especially those very agile or winged. Probably during the plant agitation on tree beating some specimens escaped, in addition, very small insects can also be sub-sampled with this method. The smallest number of individuals, species and families sampled manually is related to the difficulty of specimens capturing,directly in the plant, especially those very agile. For all evaluated parameters, Socket-trap was the best collecting invertebrates method in plants. In both plant genera, the predators guild was the highest abundant, followed by detritus, ants, herbivores, omnivores and parasitoids. Despite the phenotypic difference between plant genera, arthropods proportion by guilds was similar, but the relationship between guild abundance and predator abundance was plant genus and predator type dependent. In general, the predators abundance was negatively correlated to arthropods abundance per guild. This pattern was major in relationship between ant abundance and detritivore abundance in Inga, probably due to presence of extrafloral nectaries that maintains higher ants abundance in the plant. Similarly, spider abundance was negatively correlated with the sucking herbivores abundance. However, some positive relationships between predators abundance and arthropods abundance by guilds were also found. Positive relationship between sucking herbivores abundance and ants is an indication of hemipterans and ants interaction due to production of honeydew.Positive relationship between spiders and detritivores suggests that spiders choose plants with more food. Our results demonstrated that spiders and ants act differently on arthropod guilds in plants, and this pattern depends on plant characteristics. / As plantas são modelo de habitat para o estudo de comunidades ecológicas, principalmente para investigar a ocorrência de invertebrados. Neste trabalho descrevemos um novo método de coleta de artrópodes em plantas, a Socket-trap, avaliamos seu desempenho comparando com os métodos de coleta mais utilizados para este tipo de amostragem e investigamos as relações entre a abundância de indivíduos das guildas de artrópodes e a abundância dos predadores (aranhas e formigas) em dois gêneros de plantas (Protium e Inga). As coletas foram realizadas em 10 parcelas permanentes da Reserva Ducke, Manaus. Em cada parcela foram amostradas 18 plantas de Protium (Burseraceae), sendo seis com guarda-chuva entomológico, seis manualmente e seis com Socket-trap. Em cada parcela foram também amostrados 6 exemplares de Inga (Fabaceae) utilizando Socket-trap. Todos os insetos coletados em Protium foram identificados ao nível de família e os Hymenoptera foram identificados ao nível de espécie e morfoespécie. Todos invertebrados coletados com Socket-trap em Protium e em Inga foram identificados e agrupados em uma das seguintes guildas: Detritívoros, Formigas, Herbívoros (mastigadores e sugadores), Onívoros, Parasitoides e Predadores (aracnídeos e insetos predadores). O novo método amostrou mais famílias de insetos e espécies de Hymenoptera que o guarda-chuva entomológico e a coleta manual. Um padrão similar foi encontrado para a abundância: Socket-trap amostrou mais indivíduos (617), seguido de guarda-chuva entomológico (295) e coleta manual (127). A performance dos outros métodos foi similar tanto para riqueza quanto abundância de insetos. A maior riqueza de espécies de Hymenoptera e de famílias de insetos amostrado com Socket-trap se deve ao ensacamento da planta, que impede a fuga dos invertebrados, principalmente aqueles muito ágeis ou alados. Provavelmente durante a agitação da planta sobre o guarda-chuva entomológico alguns espécimes escaparam, além disso, insetos muito pequenos também podem ser sub amostrados com este método. O menor número de indivíduos, espécies e famílias amostrado manualmente está relacionado à dificuldade de capturar os espécimes diretamente na planta, principalmente aqueles muito ágeis, de coloração críptica ou de tamanho reduzido. Para todos os parâmetros avaliados Socket-trap foi o melhor método de coleta de invertebrados em plantas. Em ambos gêneros de planta, a guilda dos predadores foi a mais abundante, seguida de detritívoros, formigas, herbívoros, onívoros e parasitoides. Apesar da diferença fenotípica entre os gêneros de planta, a proporção de artrópodes por guildas foi semelhante, mas a relação entre a abundância das guildas e a abundância dos predadores foi dependente do gênero de planta e o tipo de predador. De maneira em geral a abundância de predadores esteve negativamente correlacionada com a abundância de artrópodes por guilda. Esse padrão foi mais acentuado na relação entre abundância de formigas e abundância de detritívoros em Inga, provavelmente pela presença de nectários extraflorais que mantém mais formigas sobre a planta. De maneira similar, a abundância de aranhas esteve negativamente correlacionada com a de herbívoros sugadores. No entanto, algumas relações positivas entre abundância de predadores e abundância de artrópodes por guildas também foram encontradas. A relação positiva entre abundância de herbívoros sugadores e formigas é um indício da interação entre homópteros e formigas devido à produção de honeydew, já que esta relação foi detectada para os dois gêneros de plantas. A relação positiva entre aranhas e detritívoros sugere que as aranhas estão escolhendo plantas onde há mais recurso alimentar. Nossos resultados demonstram que as aranhas e formigas atuam de maneira diferente sobre as guildas de artrópodes nas plantas, e que este padrão depende das características das plantas.

This study focuses on economic development and political turmoil in post-independence Sub-Saharan Africa. There has been a resurgence of interest in the region following the end of the Cold War. In 1997 U.S. president Bill Clinton took a 12-day tour of the region. In 1999 the U.S. Congress (106th Congress) passed the Growth and Opportunity Act and the Hope for Africa Act, designed to encourage political stability and economic development in the region. Although most Sub-Saharan African countries attained independence from colonial rule in the 1960s, more than 30 years of self-government have brought little economic development and political stability to the region. This study attempts to analyze, theoretically and empirically, the relationship among economic development, social dislocation and political turmoil. Social dislocation, as defined in this study, means "urbanization," and it is used as an exogenous variable to model and test the hypothesized causal relationship between economic development and political turmoil. This study employs pooled cross-sectional time-series and seemingly unrelated regression analyses, as well as Granger-causality, to examine the hypothesized relationships and causality in 24 Sub-Saharan African countries from 1971 to 1995. The results confirm the classical economic development theory's argument that an increase in economic development leads to a decrease in political turmoil. The result of the pooled analysis is confirmed by a SUR analysis on the strength of the relationship at the individual country level in 21 of the 24 countries. However, an indirect positive relationship exist between economic development and political turmoil through social dislocation. At lag periods 1 and 2, I found a causal ordering leading from economic development to political turmoil, indicating a causal relationship from economic development to social dislocation and from social dislocation to political turmoil.

<p>Mobile phone ubiquity in much of the developing world has turned from a question of when rather than if. Some of the poorest and most remote parts of the world are being connected to the global telecommunications network to enable an unprecedented ability to both observe and interact with previously hard-to-reach populations at scale. While many mobile phone owners adopt this technology for basic phone use, the connectedness this expansive ownership enables presents an opportunity to the study and practice of economic development that extend beyond simple peer-to-peer communication. The modern information technology sector and its underlying network infrastructure presented this same opportunity during its own formation. The network was not only valuable for the communication it enabled, but also for the data it produced from those who utilized its services. It also serves as a platform for a deluge of information systems and services that have become a part of our everyday lives and has spurred significant economic growth over the past few decades. This "data revolution" is well underway in the developed economies but is diminishing in its returns, solving increasingly marginal problems. This same transformation is relatively nascent in developing economies where more salient challenges, such as poverty, have yet to be overcome. In this dissertation, we explore a data-driven approach that leverages mobile phone technology to better measure and address poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Our approach starts with the identification of a problem: in this case, poverty. In the first chapter, we apply novel machine learning methods to analyze roughly ten terabytes of data of mobile phone use from Rwanda's largest telecommunications operator to measure poverty at a national scale. We demonstrate that an individual's history of mobile phone usage can be used to infer his or her socioeconomic status. Using this individual model of mobile phone use and socioeconomic status, we can predict poverty and wealth across the entire network and accurately reconstruct national and regional distributions of wealth. Once we obtain this measure of poverty, we can then focus our efforts in regions that are most afflicted. The second chapter helps moves us from diagnosis to a potential cure. Predictions may be helpful to provide some guidance on which regions or populations to target but does not provide much in the way of what to do to have impact. In three years of field research in poor regions of rural Kenya and Rwanda, it was clear that much of the world's poor thrive and survive on subsistence agriculture, but many of these farmers also own mobile phones. Having such a platform enabled the ability to provide potentially welfare-improving information at scale. This chapter presents the research design and analyzes the results of of six randomized controlled trials testing the welfare effects of sending hundreds of text message formulations encouraging agricultural experimentation to over 500,000 farmers in Kenya and Rwanda. Targeting farmers with the right messaging and delivery characteristics was a focus of these trials. We find statistically significant effects on agricultural technology adoption and high rates of return on welfare outcomes by providing information over this medium. This mirrors the digital advertising industry in many developed economies and reminds us that advertisements as information can have very large welfare effects in poor information environments. The third chapter dives deeper into one of the six studies where the research design focused on information spillover in Rwanda where mobile phone ownership was about half of what it was in Kenya. We find that information does indeed spillover onto other farmers within the same group, and those farmers who don't have phones experience the largest percentage increases in adoptions when others within the same group receive a text message. This has large implications on the effectiveness and cost efficiency of information treatments to regions with lower mobile phone adoption. Not only were these interventions effective, they were also very inexpensive and resulted in network effects, further improving agricultural technology adoption, increasing food production and reducing poverty. The chapters in this dissertation develop a theory and methods for understanding how to leverage mobile technologies to measure and reduce poverty. It serves as a guide for both research and practitioners to approach solving problems in development that is grounded in measurement, data, collaboration, impact and scale.

Thesis. 1975. Sc.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil Engineering. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 241-250. / Sc.D.