Some Thoughts on the Development of Biomedical Engineering Technology and industry in China

This paper briefly introduces the development status of domestic biomedical engineering, summarizes the current mainstream biomedical engineering technology, and analyzes the development of nanomedicine, genetic drugs and regenerative medicine. Combined with the current medical development in China, it puts forward strategies such as realizing the development of the whole industrial chain, perfecting the patent support and establishing the industrial development road combining "production, learning and research", with a view to helping the relevant units to better understand the development direction of China's biomedical engineering technology and industry, and providing references to further promote the development of this field

Conservation planning for a widespread, threatened species: WWF and the African elephant Loxodonta africana

In a case study of conservation planning by a conservation organization working at a continental scale we examine how WWF identified and prioritized its African elephant Loxodonta africana conservation activities. We (1) review lessons learnt from previous work, (2) identify priority landscapes using biological criteria (e.g. population size and viability) and institutional criteria (e.g. feasibility, sustainability and cost-effectiveness of WWF interventions), and (3) conduct a threat analysis and review of national and subregional action plans. We suggest that species action plans should use priority-setting criteria that focus on conserving the largest and most viable populations at the subspecies level. Clear definition of geographical priorities helps an organization focus its resources and assists monitoring. Species action plans should also take account of plans developed by governments and other stakeholders. Conservation agencies wishing to select which landscapes to invest in for a given species or subspecies could then consider institutional prioritization criteria, such as those used by WWF for the African elephant. This would allow them to invest pragmatically in conservation that has a higher chance of success than work planned solely through scientific analysis. Ultimately, however, no species action plan will succeed unless it has the resources necessary for implementation and the key stakeholders work together in partnershi

Adaptive Capacity of Farmers to Climate Change in the Kassena Nankana Municipality of Ghana: Implications for climate adaptation strategies

This study analyzed factors that contribute to the adaptive capacity of farmers based on their settlement types and use/access to five forms of capital assets (natural, social, financial, physical and human). The use/access to assets were estimated and categorized into high, moderate and low adaptive capacities. The data was based on a survey of 155 farmers from three communities in the Kassena Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region of Ghana. From the findings, Manyoro, the urban community, recorded the highest adaptive score although their illiteracy level was highest. Low adaptive farmers had low access to credits and alternative livelihoods compared to farmers with high adaptive capacity. Access to irrigation had a positive significant influence on adaptive capacity. In general, the more accessible a resource was to a farmer, the more adaptable that farmer was to climate change. Following the findings of this study, it is important that policy interventions in the area prioritize creation and encouragement in alternative livelihoods sources as a means of increasing the adaptive capacity of famers in the rural and semi-urban areas. Also, private and government institutions should invest in irrigation and credits facilities as measures for economic growth and adaptation to the effects of climate change on agriculture. Farmers should be empowered through better extension and agroclimatic information and other affordable modern technologies

Impact of indigenous natural resources regulatory systems of fishing on the fisheries of a small coastal lagoon in Ghana

Many African cultures have indigenous practices that regulate the exploitation of natural resources. One such practice in Ghana is the close and open seasons for the utilisation of water bodies and the fisheries resources they provide. Compliance with the close seasons, however, has declined over the years, and this has the potential to affect fish stocks. We evaluated the impact of indigenous systems that seek to regulate natural resources exploitation on the fisheries of a small coastal lagoon, Sakumo, in Ghana. We measured fishing intensity, catch per unit effort, length-weight relationship and condition factor (K) of fish species harvested in both the open and close seasons. The predominant fish species recorded in fishermen’s catches were tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus and Sarotherodon melanotheron, which accounted for 47.62% and 35.60% by weight respectively of fish samples collected. Fishing activities occurred throughout the period of study irrespective of the season. The indigenous regulatory systems were neither respected, nor enforced by the traditional authorities, hence the lagoon fisheries continue to be overexploited. In the long run, this could lead to the collapse of the lagoon fisheries, with serious adverse impact on the livelihoods of the coastal communities who depend on this resource

Linking Biotechnology and Agricultural Biodiversity Resources in Holistic Strategy in West Africa

Modern economic activities are heavily dependent on using diversity of biological resources. Africa has a wealth of biodiversity resources which, with the appropriate application of biotechnological tools for conservation and use, can serve as sources of wealth creation. Proper harnessing of the linkages between biotechnology and the diversity of biological resources is required to meet challenges of food security, health, poverty and wealth creation in West African countries. The paper explores some of the key applications of biotechnology for conservation of agricultural biodiversity resources, and considers the potential threat of biotechnology to diversity of genetic resources. It also explores complex issues that inform current policy debates. It concludes that Government support is required for theconservation and breeding of farmers’ varieties, or landraces by public breeding programmes, and the design of private and public mechanisms to ensure that the pursuit of biotechnology does not compromise the diversity in biological resources. It would be strategic for West African countries to establish and explore beneficial linkages between the subregional genetic resources conservation initiative and biotechnology programmes. Some pertinent questions are raised on how to best manage the strategic interplay between biotechnology and diversity in agricultural biodiversity resources. The provision of adequate information is highlighted to inform decisions and choices based on the real valueand potential risks of biotechnology

Determinants of the Availability of Adequate Millet Stover for Mulching in the Sahel

Millet and sorghum stover protect intensively cultivated soils from rapid degradation and promote sustained productivity. Quantities of stover found on farms in the Sahel are mostly inadequate for effective mulching. Surveys conducted in western Niger revealed that the inadequacy of stover for mulching is principally due to the low millet stover yields, particularly in drier areas of the Sahel. The application of P fertilizer represents a feasible option for increasing stover yields. Also, evidence of historical relationships between yearly amounts of stover remaining on farms suggests the possibility of gradual build-up of stover for mulching on farms. Other important determinants of observed level of millet stover are: distance of farms from household compounds, differences in crop production potentials, cropping practice, and interactions between amounts of previous stover, cropping practice and crop production potentials

Seed constraint to cultivation and productivity of African indigenous leaf vegetables

Non-availability of improved seeds constitutes a major constraint to the cultivation and productivity of the indigenous leaf vegetables (ILVs) of Africa. Research on African ILVs has focused mainly on the ethnobotany, collection, preservation, and the assessment of food value and chemical composition ofthe ILVs. No serious breeding and seed production research has been done on the ILVs. This paper examines some factors underlying the lack of interest in the production of ILVs seeds, the problem associated with local seed processing and the way to organize a seed production programme for theILVs

Economic evaluation of on-station operational scale (OPSCAR) trials conducted at Sadore, Niger

This paper presents an economic evaluation of technology packages based on trials conducted at the Sahelian Center, ICRISAT, Niger during 1986-88. The financial calculations suggest that the application of phosphorus in a manually cultivated rotation of millet with cowpea or annual millet/cowpea intercrop may be the packages to recommend to farmers. The analysis showed that economies of farm size are necessary for relative profitability of using animal traction. Low post-harvest product prices were used to calculate the budgets, therefore, the use of marketing strategies that take advantage of peak prices for grains and fodder could permit substantial improvements upon the calculated returns. On the other hand, technologies that show superior on-station performance typically experience substantial yield gaps under farmer management, and hence the actual sizes of incremented returns would be lower in on-farm situation

Prey type and foraging ecology of Sanderlings Calidris alba in different climate zones: are tropical areas more favourable than temperate sites?

Citation: Grond, K., Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y., Piersma, T., & Reneerkens, J. (2015). Prey type and foraging ecology of Sanderlings Calidris alba in different climate zones: are tropical areas more favourable than temperate sites? PeerJ, 3, e1125. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1125Sanderlings (Calidris alba) are long-distance migratory shorebirds with a non-breeding range that spans temperate and tropical coastal habitats. Breeding in the High Arctic combined with non-breeding seasons in the tropics necessitate long migrations, which are energetically demanding. On an annual basis, the higher energy expenditures during migration might pay off if food availability in the tropics is higher than at temperate latitudes. We compared foraging behaviour of birds at a north temperate and a tropical non-breeding site in the Netherlands and Ghana, respectively. In both cases the birds used similar habitats (open beaches), and experienced similar periods of daylight, which enabled us to compare food abundance and availability, and behavioural time budgets and food intake. During the non-breeding season, Sanderlings in the Netherlands spent 79% of their day foraging; in Ghana birds spent only 38% of the daytime period foraging and the largest proportion of their time resting (58%). The main prey item in the Netherlands was the soft-bodied polychaete Scolelepis squamata, while Sanderlings in Ghana fed almost exclusively on the bivalve Donax pulchellus, which they swallowed whole and crushed internally. Average availability of polychaete worms in the Netherlands was 7.4 g ash free dry mass (AFDM) m−2, which was one tenth of the 77.1 g AFDM m−2 estimated for the beach in Ghana. In the tropical environment of Ghana the Sanderlings combined relatively low energy requirements with high prey intake rates (1.64 mg opposed to 0.13 mg AFDM s−1 for Ghana and the Netherlands respectively). Although this may suggest that the Ghana beaches are the most favourable environment, processing the hard-shelled bivalve (D. pulchellus) which is the staple food could be costly. The large amount of daytime spent resting in Ghana may be indicative of the time needed to process the shell fragments, rather than indicate rest

Analytical solutions of some special nonlinear partial differential equations using Elzaki-Adomian decomposition method

We apply the Elzaki-Adomian Decomposition Method (EADM) in this study to solve nonlinear Benjamin-Bona-Mahony (BBM) and Fisher's partial differential equations (PDE). This method, being an integral transform, is a hybrid of two well-known and efficient methods: the Elzaki transform and the Adomian decomposition method. The method is demonstrated by solving two special cases of the BBM Equation and one special case of Fisher's partial differential equation. Because of its high convergence rate in approximating exact solutions, this approach is very dependable. The method can also produce numerical solutions without the usage of restrictive assumptions or the discretization typical of numerical methods; making it free of round-off errors. The Elzaki-Adomian Decomposition method employs a straightforward computation that leads to effectiveness. The efficiency of EADM is demonstrated in the significant reduction of number of numerical computations. The effectiveness and efficiency of EADM account for its broad application, particularly for higher order PDEs