Can we evaluate network brokerage initiatives using data that are byproducts of the network broking process?

Increasingly, development projects list social capital development and network brokerage among their objectives. How do we quantitatively evaluate such initiatives? Best practice, diff-in-diff methods may be impossible or too costly. Here, we try using data that are byproducts of the network broking process to evealuate the Challenge Program for Water and Food along this dimension. We find that, in accordance with its objectives, the program is associated with bridging linkages between organizations in the water and food sectors and between CGIAR members and their counterparts in government and that, in the case of the former, the association may be causal.Food production; water; Project evaluation; organizational networks; network brokerage; dyadic analysis

LINKING NETWORK STRUCTURE WITH PROJECT PERFORMANCE

N° ISBN - 978-2-7380-1284-5International audienceInnovation processes are the processes by which people and organizations interact with each other to put new knowledge to use. These interactions can be represented by networks, showing agents as nodes, and interactions as the links between them. Research-for-development projects attempt to foster and support innovation through research. It follows that project network structure, in terms of the types of organizations that work together to implement projects, and their patterns of interaction, should correlate with measures of project success. This paper finds evidence to support this premise through correlating the structure of networks drawn by staff of 29 projects of the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) and project performance, measured through a rating carried out by the program's research and development leadership. The analysis found that the more successful projects had comparatively larger networks – they had more network capital. Specifically the more successful projects tended to disperse funding to more partners, and those partners had more links to other organizations, than less successful ones, in particular more research links to Advanced Research Organizations and CGIAR Centres

A stochastic individual based model for the growth of a stand of Japanese knotweed including mowing as a management technique

Invasive alien species are a growing threat for environment and health. They also have a major economic impact, as they can damage many infrastructures. The Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), present in North America, Northern and Central Europe as well as in Australia and New Zealand, is listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the world's worst invasive species. So far, most models have dealt with how the invasion spreads without management. This paper aims at providing a model able to study and predict the dynamics of a stand of Japanese knotweed taking into account mowing as a management technique. The model we propose is stochastic and individual-based, which allows us taking into account the behaviour of individuals depending on their size and location, as well as individual stochasticity. We set plant dynamics parameters thanks to a calibration with field data, and study the influence of the initial population size, the mean number of mowing events a year and the management project duration on mean area and mean number of crowns of stands. In particular, our results provide the sets of parameters for which it is possible to obtain the stand eradication, and the minimal duration of the management project necessary to achieve this latter

Transport of Dietary Anti-Inflammatory Peptide, γ-Glutamyl Valine (γ-EV), across the Intestinal Caco-2 Monolayer

The present study analyzed the transepithelial transport of the dietary anti-inflammatory peptide, -glutamyl valine (γ-EV). γ-EV is naturally found in dry edible beans. Our previous study demonstrated the anti-inflammatory potency of γ-EV against vascular inflammation at a concentration of 1mM, and that it can transport with the apparent permeability coefficient (Papp) of 1.56 x 10-6 ± 0.7 x 10-6 cm/s across the intestinal Caco-2 cells. The purpose of the current study was to explore whether the permeability of the peptide could be enhanced and to elucidate the mechanism of transport of γ-EV across Caco-2 cells. The initial results indicated that γ-EV was nontoxic to the Caco-2 cells up to 5 mM concentration and could be transported across the intestinal cells intact. During apical-to-basolateral transport, a higher peptide dose (5 mM) significantly (p \u3c 0.01) enhanced the transport rate to 2.5 x 10-6 ± 0.6 x 10-6 cm/s. Cytochalasin-D disintegrated the tight-junction proteins of the Caco-2 monolayer and increased the Papp of γ-EV to 4.36 x 10-6 ± 0.16 x 10-6 cm/s (p \u3c 0.001), while theaflavin 3\u27-gallate and Gly-Sar significantly decreased the Papp (p \u3c 0.05), with wortmannin having no effects on the peptide transport, indicating that the transport route of γ-EV could be via both PepT1-mediated and paracellular

Synthesis, secretion, and perception of abscisic acid regulates stress responses in \u3ci\u3eChlorella sorokiniana\u3c/i\u3e

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a phytohormone that has been extensively characterized in higher plants for its roles in seed and bud dormancy, leaf abscission, and stress responses. Genomic studies have identified orthologs for ABA-related genes throughout the Viridiplantae, including in unicellular algae; however, the role of ABA in algal physiology has not been characterized, and the existence of such a role has been a matter of dispute. In this study, we demonstrate that ABA is involved in regulating algal stress responses. Chlorella sorokiniana strain UTEX 1230 contains genes orthologous to those of higher plants which are essential for ABA biosynthesis, sensing, and degradation. RNAseq-based transcriptomic studies reveal that treatment with ABA induces dramatic changes in gene expression profiles, including the induction of a subset of genes involved in DNA replication and repair, a phenomenon which has been demonstrated in higher plants. Pretreatment of C. sorokiniana cultures with ABA exerts a protective effect on cell viability in response to ultraviolet radiation. Additionally, C. sorokiniana produces and secretes biologically relevant amounts of both ABA and the oxylipin 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA) into the growth medium in response to abiotic stressors. Taken together, these phenomena suggest that ABA signaling evolved as an intercellular stress response signaling molecule in eukaryotic microalgae prior to the evolution of multicellularity and colonization of land

Ecuador's Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition is using the Collect Earth Online tool to improve forest monitoring data accuracy

Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition (MAATE) is using a Collect Earth Online through a service co-developed with EcoCiencia and SERVIR-Amazonia (an Alliance – led regional program) to improve forest monitoring data accuracy in the Ecuadorian Amazon and to validate National Monitoring System maps and land cover estimates. MAATE continues to improve the monitoring of forest degradation and to support the provinces and indigenous forest- dependent groups to use the data for decision making

Bioactivity of Cooked Standard and Enriched Whole Eggs from White Leghorn and Rhode Island Red in Exhibiting In-Vitro Antioxidant and ACE-Inhibitory Effects

Hen breed, diet enrichment, cooking methods, and gastrointestinal (GI) digestion modulates the bioaccessibility of the bioactive compounds in eggs, but their synergistic role in modulating bioactivity is still unclear. The present study evaluates the effect of hen breed, diet enrichment, and GI digestion on the cooked whole egg-derived peptides in-vitro antioxidant and antihypertensive activities. Standard and enriched whole eggs from White Leghorn (WLH) and Rhode Island Red (RIR) hens were boiled or fried and subjected to GI digestion. Antioxidant activity was measured through oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and gastrointestinal epithelial cell-based assays, and the antihypertensive capacity by in-vitro Angiotensin-I Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibition assay. WLH fried standard egg hydrolysate showed a high ORAC antioxidant activity but failed to show any significant antioxidant effect in the cell-based assay. No significant differences were observed in the antihypertensive activity, although enriched samples tended to have a higher ACEinhibitory capacity. The peptide profile explained the antioxidant capacities based on antioxidant structural requirements from different peptide fractions, while previously reported antihypertensive peptides were found in all samples. The study validates the importance of physiologically relevant models and requires future studies to confirm mechanisms that yield bioactive compounds in whole egg hydrolysates