INTRODUCTION: POST-GADDAFI REPERCUSSIONS IN THE SAHEL AND WEST AFRICA

The areas south of Libya have experienced more than their fair share of conflict and rapid social change. In earlier times, the main routes of trade, commerce and pilgrimage between West African and the Arab Peninsula passed through this region, also once inhabited by mighty warrior empires (see for example Bawuro 1972). However, as the empires along these routes faded away, and international ocean shipping opened up this part of Africa to the forces of global trade and capitalism, the centres of authority that once controlled this region also vanished. What remained was an almost open territory: unwelcoming and hard, but also a place of possibilities and the freedom to roam for those who had mastered the art of survival under such difficult conditions. This was the land of the Tuareg and other semi-nomadic groups who controlled cities and important trading posts such as Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal in contemporary Mali. This is the world of the Sahel and the parts of Western Africa that straddles Libya, and a region that currently includes Southern Algeria, Northern Mali, Niger, Chad, Mauritania and parts of Northern Nigeria. These are therefore also the countries and areas that have come to experience the full effect of what we define as post-Gaddafi repercussions.

The great GDP contraction may herald huge crowding out

Subject Economic stimulus schemes and gaps. Significance The recent flow of economic data is putting numbers to the real-life experiences of a sudden stop in economic activity, a collapse in demand and soaring unemployment and corporate and consumer delinquencies. Countries have responded with monetary and fiscal stimulus packages, cushioning the worst damage of the crisis and stabilising financial markets somewhat. However, many gaps have appeared even though the 8 trillion dollars of fiscal stimulus programmes is larger than the 5 trillion dollars mobilised in 2008-09 and monetary accommodation by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and ECB has become almost open-ended. Impacts Many emerging and developing countries will need more support, especially those unable to access the Fed's currency swap or repo facilities. Changes in consumer behaviour -- less eating out, travelling, gathering at events -- could persist longer than the pandemic. A battle over budgetary priorities between social groups and generations during the recovery could heighten social tension and discord.

In Silico Evolution of Early Metabolism

We developed a simulation tool for investigating the evolution of early metabolism, allowing us to speculate on the formation of metabolic pathways from catalyzed chemical reactions and on the development of their characteristic properties. Our model consists of a protocellular entity with a simple RNA-based genetic system and an evolving metabolism of catalytically active ribozymes that manipulate a rich underlying chemistry. Ensuring an almost open-ended and fairly realistic simulation is crucial for understanding the first steps in metabolic evolution. We show here how our simulation tool can be helpful in arguing for or against hypotheses on the evolution of metabolic pathways. We demonstrate that seemingly mutually exclusive hypotheses may well be compatible when we take into account that different processes dominate different phases in the evolution of a metabolic system. Our results suggest that forward evolution shapes metabolic network in the very early steps of evolution. In later and more complex stages, enzyme recruitment supersedes forward evolution, keeping a core set of pathways from the early phase.

Can the restrictive harvest period policy conserve mopane worms in southern Africa? A bioeconomic modelling approach

ABSTRACTThe mopane worm, which is the caterpillar form of the Saturnid moth Imbrasia belina Westwood, is – like other edible insects and caterpillars – a vital source of protein in southern African countries. The worms live and graze on mopane trees, which have alternative uses. With increasing commercialization of the worm, its management, which was hitherto organized as a common property resource, has been degraded to almost open access. This paper uses a bioeconomic modelling approach to show that for some optimal allocation of the mopane forest stock, the restrictive harvest period policy advocated by community leaders may not lead to sustainable harvesting of the worm.

Weak Forms of Continuity andcmd="newline"Associated Properties

We introduce slightly -continuous mapping and almost -open mapping and investigate the relationships between these mappings and related types of mappings, and also study some properties of these mappings.