Agricultural water management in a water stressed catchment: Lessons from the RIPARWIN Project

irrigation management / water stress / river basins / water rights / water fees / water allocation / irrigation efficiency / economic aspects / decision support tools / wetlands / water use / water users associations

From integrated to expedient: an adaptive framework for river basin management in developing countries

Water resource management / River basin management / Water allocation / Case studies / Africa South of Sahara / Great Ruaha River Basin

Modification of the Ingram bicycle seat stool for the treatment of vaginal agenesis and stenosis

The use of nonsurgical techniques for the creation of a neovagina for vaginal agenesis and stenosis has been successful for many patients and is currently recommended as first‐line therapy. The Ingram bicycle seat stool technique, a nonsurgical approach, has largely replaced the surgical McIndoe technique as the method of choice for vaginal dilation. It provides an easy and comfortable way for patients to engage in dilation. However, the Ingram bicycle seat stool is not height adjustable. We have created a bicycle seat stool that is height adjustable and will likely provide patients with an improved, more comfortable, and individualized method of dilation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135330/1/ijgo301.pd

Formal water rights in rural Tanzania: Deepening the dichotomy?

Water rights / Water law / Water scarcity / Water use / Water users’ associations / Irrigation water / Cost recovery

Use of a hydrological model for environmental management of the Usangu Wetlands, Tanzania

Wetlands / Rivers / Ecology / Environmental effects / Remote sensing / Hydrology / Simulation models / Water budget / Irrigated sites / Land cover / Time series analysis / Tanzania / Usangu Wetlands / Great Ruaha River

Irrigated agriculture: more than ‘big water’ and ‘accountants will [not] save the world’

Two of Tony Allan’s phrases – big water and accountants will save the world – invite me to argue that irrigation is poorly served when its hydrology is seen solely as big or via accounts. While big applies because irrigated areas deplete considerable volumes of water, irrigation systems contain many more water relations, behaviours and puzzles. In this problematic, environmental, social and governance (ESG) and water accountants and accounts will become a dominant force. This is worrying for the degree to which individual irrigation systems are rendered into catchment-level accounting abstractions, removing us from a more vital, multidisciplinary, cross-scale and action-oriented approach

The key components of Schwann cell-like differentiation medium and their effects on gene expression pattern of adipose-derived stem cells.

BackgroundSchwann cell-like cells differentiated from adipose-derived stem cells may have an important role in peripheral nerve regeneration. Herein, we document the individual effects of growth factors in Schwann cell-like differentiation medium.MethodsThere were 6 groups in the study. In the control group, we supplemented the rat adipose-derived stem cells with normal cell culture medium. In group 1, we fed the cells with Schwann cell-like differentiation medium (normal cell culture medium supplemented with platelet-derived growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, forskolin, and glial growth factor). In the other groups, we removed the components of the medium one at a time from the differentiation medium so that group 2 lacked glial growth factor, group 3 lacked forskolin, group 4 lacked basic fibroblast growth factor, and group 5 lacked platelet-derived growth factor. We examined the expression of the Schwann cell-specific genes with quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence staining in each group.ResultsGroups 3 and 4, lacking forskolin and basic fibroblast growth factor, respectively, had the highest expression levels of integrin-β4, and p75. Group 1 showed a 3.2-fold increase in the expression of S100, but the expressions of integrin-β4 and p75 were significantly lower compared to groups 3 and 4. Group 2 [glial growth factor (-)] did not express significant levels of Schwann cell-specific genes. The gene expression profile in group 4 most closely resembled Schwann cells. Immunofluorescence staining results were parallel with the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction results.ConclusionsGlial growth factor is a key component of Schwann cell-like differentiation medium

Rapid games designing; constructing a dynamic metaphor to explore complex systems and abstract concepts

Initiated by a research project examining agricultural and water resilience in South Africa and tested in workshops on a range of topics, we reflect on our application of a half-to-one day "games designing" format for constructing dynamic metaphors for complex systems and related concepts (e.g., the resilience or sustainability of a catchment/agricultural marketing system). While this short format gives rich and detailed games that potentially could be played in an extended version of the workshop, we did not go ahead with this step. Instead, we devoted the limited time available to supporting participants in designing, comparing and discussing their games and to exploring the concepts and meanings of a given complex system, even if the latter was initially deemed by participants to be abstract and "academic". Our abridged term for short-format games designing is "rapid games designing" (RGD). Key benefits to participating individuals, the whole group and workshop organizers include (a) the highly productive and creative use of limited time; (b) an inclusive group exercise that draws everyone into the process; (c) rich discussion of pluralist viewpoints through the comparison of the remarkable variety of games generated, including their differences in purpose, players and rules; and (d) observations on how the games construct a dynamic metaphor for the system and its properties, leading to deeper insights and knowledge building regarding system concepts and components. Here, we use two case studies in South Africa to explore what value RGD provides and how it does so, and then we briefly compare it to other similar methods. We also provide practical guidance for facilitating RGD workshops. In conclusion, we argue this format offers an option for the ongoing evolution of games about complex human, natural and socio-ecological systems and that it generates considerable creativity, learning, discussion and insights amongst all participants