The green economy aims to achieve economic growth and development without an adverse effect on the environment. The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis explains the relationship between economic activity and environmental degradation. Using the EKC hypothesis as a theoretical framework, this study tested the EKC hypothesis for 12 East African countries using the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) approach for the period from 1990 to 2013. The result shows that the relationship between per capita income and CO 2 emissions (a proxy for environmental degradation) is bell shaped and thus is an extended version of the original inverted U-shaped curve relationship between economic activities and environmental degradation. Hence, one can conclude that the economic activities in East African countries do not lead to CO 2 emissions. Therefore, environmental conservation policies, technological advancement and modern industrial policies are required to make the economic growth of East African countries effective in reducing CO 2 emissions.

Thrombo-haemorrhagic events are the main cause of morbidity and mortality in essential thrombocythemia. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of thrombotic events and the impact of the JAK2V617F, MPL (W515L, W515K, W515R, W515A and S505N) and CALR (type-1, type-2) mutations on 101 essential thrombocythaemia patients (72 females and 29 males with a mean age of 61 years) diagnosed in a Southern Hungarian regional academic centre. The incidence of major thrombosis was 13.86 %. Sixty percent of the patients carried the JAK2V617F mutation. The MPL mutations were analysed by sequencing and the W515L was the only one we could identify with an incidence of 3.96 %. Type-2 CALR mutation could be identified in 3 cases among the patients who had JAK2/MPL-unmutated ET. Statistical analyses revealed that the JAK2V617F mutation was associated with significantly increased levels of platelet (p = 0.042), haemoglobin (p = 0.000), red blood cell (p = 0.000) and haematocrit (p = 0.000) and hepatomegaly (p = 0.045) at diagnosis compared to JAK2V617F negative counterparts, however there was no significant association between the JAK2V617F mutation status (relative risk: 1.297, 95 % CI 0.395-4.258; p = 0.668) and subsequent thrombotic complications. The impact of JAK2V617F, MPL W515L and CALR mutations on the clinical findings at the diagnosis of ET was obvious, but their statistically significant role in the prediction of thrombotic events could not be proven in this study. Our results indirectly support the concept that, besides the quantitative and qualitative changes in the platelets, the mechanisms leading to thrombosis are more complex and multifactorial.

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Although Ethiopia is one of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), there is a lack of empirical studies about the determinants of its external indebtedness. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining the macroeconomic determinants of the external indebtedness of Ethiopia between 1981 and 2016, using the two- and three-gap models as a theoretical framework and an autoregressive distributed lag bound testing approach. The result shows that in the long run, the savings-investment gap, trade deficit, fiscal deficit, and debt service have a positive and significant impact on external indebtedness. However, the growth rate of gross domestic product, trade openness, and inflation negatively and significantly affect the external indebtedness of the country. These results coincide with the predictions of the two- and three-gap models of the theoretical framework. The study argues that appropriate macroeconomic, social, and supply-side policies are essential to reducing the external indebtedness of Ethiopia.