AGRICULTURE AND RELATED SECTORS IN THE CILSS COUNTRIES: PAST PERFORMANCE AND STRATEGIC CHOICES FOR THE FUTURE

The document identified five priority areas on which to focus future development plans and projects: 1) human resource development; 2)institutional capacity building; 3) rapid and sustainable development of agricultural production; 4) economic growth and diversification; 5) greater regional integration and ties to the world economy. Recognizing that several of these priorities reached beyond its mandate, CILSS recommended that other more qualified regional organizations (ECOWAS, UEMOA) assume their responsibilities in pursuing these objectives. This paper analyzes the past performance, potential for and challenges facing the agricultural sector in the Sahel, focusing on the factors critical to increasing household income and improving food security in the Sahel. It is divided in four parts.Industrial Organization,

Linkages Between Agricultural Growth and Improved Child Nutrition in Mali

This paper presents the results of the first phase of a project aimed at analyzing the links between agricultural growth in Mali and child nutritional status. The objective of this project is to strengthen these links through applied research and extension. The first phase of the project was designed to generate hypotheses concerning the relationship and review existing data to test these hypotheses, generate new hypotheses and draw policy implications. The second phase of this project will carry out in-depth research to address the critical questions left unanswered in phase I and initiate actions designed to improve these links.food security, food policy, child nutrition, Mali, agricultural growth, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Development, Downloads July 2008-July 2009: 13, I1,

Temperature-tuning of near-infrared monodisperse quantum dot solids at 1.5 um for controllable Forster energy transfer

We present the first time-resolved cryogenic observations of Forster energy transfer in large, monodisperse lead sulphide quantum dots with ground state transitions near 1.5 um (0.83 eV), in environments from 160 K to room temperature. The observed temperature-dependent dipole-dipole transfer rate occurs in the range of (30-50 ns)^(-1), measured with our confocal single-photon counting setup at 1.5 um wavelengths. By temperature-tuning the dots, 94% efficiency of resonant energy transfer can be achieved for donor dots. The resonant transfer rates match well with proposed theoretical models

Assessment of Altimetry Using Ground-Based GPS Data from the 88S Traverse, Antarctica, in Support of ICESat-2

We conducted a 750 km kinematic GPS survey, referred to as the 88S Traverse, based out of South Pole Station, Antarctica, between December 2017 and January 2018. This ground-based survey was designed to validate space-borne altimetry and airborne altimetry developed at NASA. The 88S Traverse intersects 20% of the ICESat-2 satellite orbits on a route that has been flown by two different Operation IceBridge airborne laser altimeters: the Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM; 26 October 2014) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Lidar (30 November and 3 December 2017). Here we present an overview of the ground-based GPS data quality and a quantitative assessment of the airborne laser altimetry over a flat section of the ice sheet interior. Results indicate that the GPS data are internally consistent (1:1+- 4:1 cm). Relative to the ground-based 88S Traverse data, the elevation biases for ATM and the UAF lidar range from -9:5 to 3.6 cm, while surface measurement precisions are equal to or better than 14.1 cm. These results suggest that the ground-based GPS data and airborne altimetry data are appropriate for the validation of ICESat-2 surface elevation data

Elevated O-GlcNAc levels activate epigenetically repressed genes and delay mouse ES cell differentiation without affecting naive to primed cell transition

The differentiation of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells is controlled by the interaction of multiple signaling pathways, typically mediated by post-translational protein modifications. The addition of O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) to serine and threonine residues of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins is one such modification (O-GlcNAcylation), whose function in ES cells is only now beginning to be elucidated. Here we demonstrate that the specific inhibition of O-GlcNAc hydrolase (Oga) causes increased levels of protein O-GlcNAcylation and impairs differentiation of mouse ES cells both in serum-free monolayer and in embryoid bodies (EBs). Use of reporter cell lines demonstrates that Oga inhibition leads to a reduction in the number of Sox1-expressing neural progenitors generated following induction of neural differentiation, as well as maintained expression of the ES cell marker Oct4 (Pou5f1). In EBs expression of mesodermal and endodermal markers is also delayed. However, the transition of naïve cells to primed pluripotency indicated by Rex1 (Zfp42), Nanog, Esrrb and Dppa3 downregulation and Fgf5 upregulation remains unchanged. Finally, we demonstrate that increased O-GlcNAcylation results in upregulation of genes normally epigenetically silenced in ES cells, supporting the emerging role for this protein modification in the regulation of histone modifications and DNA methylation. Stem Cells 2014

Burnout and Substance Use in Collegiate Athletic Trainers

CONTEXT: The Smith Cognitive-Affective Model of Athletic Burnout suggests that athletic trainers (ATs) suffering from burnout may engage in substance use as a coping behavior. Increases in self-reported burnout symptoms are often associated with increases in heavy episodic drinking and tobacco use among various health care providers. However, this relationship has not been examined thoroughly. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of substance use in ATs and identify relationships between symptoms of burnout and substance use among ATs. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Web-based survey. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: A total of 783 certified ATs working full time in the collegiate or university setting were sampled for this study. Graduate assistant and other part-time ATs were excluded. The survey was distributed via the National Athletic Trainers\u27 Association membership directory e-mail broadcast service. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): A 100-item online questionnaire consisting of items from previously used scales was used for this study. The survey included the Maslach Burnout Inventory and questions on substance use from the Monitoring the Future study. Multiple regression analyses were performed to analyze the survey data. All independent (Maslach Burnout Inventory subscales) and dependent (use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana) variables were mapped to the Smith Cognitive-Affective Model of Athletic Burnout to determine which dimensions of burnout altered the odds of self-reported substance use. RESULTS: Almost half (46.3%) of participants admitted to at least 1 binge-drinking episode. However, the use of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, marijuana, and energy drinks during the previous month was less pronounced in the sample. Emotional exhaustion (B = .008, P = .023) and personal accomplishment (B = -.016, P = .02) were significantly correlated with binge drinking. Emotional exhaustion (Exp[B] = 1.017, P \u3c .001) was also significantly positively correlated with energy-drink consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Some ATs engaged in heavy episodic drinking. Emotional exhaustion and a decreased sense of personal accomplishment were significantly correlated with this behavior

The Role of Galactic Winds on Molecular Gas Emission from Galaxy Mergers

We assess the impact of starburst and AGN feedback-driven winds on the CO emission from galaxy mergers, and, in particular, search for signatures of these winds in the simulated CO morphologies and emission line profiles. We do so by combining a 3D non-LTE molecular line radiative transfer code with smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations of galaxy mergers that include prescriptions for star formation, black hole growth, a multiphase interstellar medium (ISM), and the winds associated with star formation and black hole growth. Our main results are: (1) Galactic winds can drive outflows of masses ~10^8-10^9 Msun which may be imaged via CO emission line mapping. (2) AGN feedback-driven winds are able to drive imageable CO outflows for longer periods of time than starburst-driven winds owing to the greater amount of energy imparted to the ISM by AGN feedback compared to star formation. (3) Galactic winds can control the spatial extent of the CO emission in post-merger galaxies, and may serve as a physical motivation for the sub-kiloparsec scale CO emission radii observed in local advanced mergers. (4) Secondary emission peaks at velocities greater than the circular velocity are seen in the CO emission lines in all models. In models with winds, these high velocity peaks are seen to preferentially correspond to outflowing gas entrained in winds, which is not the case in the model without winds. The high velocity peaks seen in models without winds are typically confined to velocity offsets (from the systemic) < 1.7 times the circular velocity, whereas the models with AGN feedback-driven winds can drive high velocity peaks to ~2.5 times the circular velocity.Comment: Accepted by ApJ; Minor revisions; Resolution tests include

Geochronology of the middle Eocene Purple Bench locality (Devil’s Graveyard Formation), Trans-Pecos Texas, USA

Purple Bench is a middle Eocene fossil locality in the Devil’s Graveyard Formation of the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. In addition to yielding a range of taxa characteristic of the Uintan North American Land Mammal Age, the Purple Bench locality is noteworthy in documenting a number of endemic species that are known only from the site. Despite the Uintan character of the mammalian fauna, the absolute age of Purple Bench is a matter of debate. This uncertainty stems from the wide interval of time encompassed by current radiometric dates bracketing the Purple Bench locality and from conflicting magnetostratigraphic correlations in the Devil’s Graveyard Formation. This study constrains the absolute age of the Purple Bench locality through detrital zircon U-Pb geochronological analyses. For these analyses, 147 new detrital zircon U-Pb ages were collected from five tuffaceous sandstones and reworked tuff horizons and analyzed via Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). These new detrital zircon U-Pb geochronological analyses suggest a maximum depositional age of 43.7 +0.8 / -0.2 Ma for the Purple Bench tuff, a significant marker horizon immediately below the Purple Bench locality. These new maximum depositional age dates presented here provide constraints on the true depositional age of the lower and middle members of the Devil’s Graveyard Formation, bringing clarity to the previously ambiguous age of the fossil-bearing Purple Bench locality. The age constraints presented here also aid the characterization of the temporally and spatially variable Uintan North American Land Mammal Age