Community Capacity for Implementing Clean Development Mechanism Projects Within Community Forests in Cameroon

There is a growing assumption that payments for environmental services including carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emission reduction provide an opportunity for poverty reduction and the enhancement of sustainable development within integrated natural resource management approaches. Yet in experiential terms, community-based natural resource management implementation falls short of expectations in many cases. In this paper, we investigate the asymmetry between community capacity and the Land Use Land Use Change Forestry (LULUCF) provisions of the Clean Development Mechanism within community forests in Cameroon. We use relevant aspects of the Clean Development Mechanism criteria and notions of “community capacity” to elucidate determinants of community capacity needed for CDM implementation within community forests. The main requirements are for community capacity to handle issues of additionality, acceptability, externalities, certification, and community organisation. These community capacity requirements are further used to interpret empirically derived insights on two community forestry cases in Cameroon. While local variations were observed for capacity requirements in each case, community capacity was generally found to be insufficient for meaningful uptake and implementation of Clean Development Mechanism projects. Implications for understanding factors that could inhibit or enhance community capacity for project development are discussed. We also include recommendations for the wider Clean Development Mechanism/Kyoto capacity building framework

Dominant negative variants in ITPR3 impair T cell Ca²⁺ dynamics causing combined immunodeficiency

The importance of calcium (Ca2+) as a second messenger in T cell signaling is exemplified by genetic deficiencies of STIM1 and ORAI1, which abolish store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) resulting in combined immunodeficiency (CID). We report five unrelated patients with de novo missense variants in ITPR3, encoding a subunit of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R), which forms a Ca2+ channel in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane responsible for the release of ER Ca2+ required to trigger SOCE, and for Ca2+ transfer to other organelles. The patients presented with CID, abnormal T cell Ca2+ homeostasis, incompletely penetrant ectodermal dysplasia, and multisystem disease. Their predominant T cell immunodeficiency is characterized by significant T cell lymphopenia, defects in late stages of thymic T cell development, and impaired function of peripheral T cells, including inadequate NF-κB-and NFAT-mediated, proliferative, and metabolic responses to activation. Pathogenicity is not due to haploinsufficiency, rather ITPR3 protein variants interfere with IP3R channel function leading to depletion of ER Ca2+ stores and blunted SOCE in T cells.</p

SYNTHESIS OF NOVEL PYRIMIDO[5,4-f][1,2,4]TRIAZOLO[3,4-b][1,3,4]THIADIAZEPINES

Reaction of 4,6-dichloro-2-methylthiopyrimidine-5-carbaldehyde (1) with 3-substituted 4-amino-1,2,4-triazole-5-thiones (2a-g) at 50-60degreesC led to 7-chloro-9-methylthiopyrimido[5,4-f][1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazepines (3a-g) representing a new heterocyclic system. Performing of the reaction of I with 4-amino-1,2,4-triazole-5-thione (La) at room temperature gave 7-chloro-9-methylthio-5,6-dihydropyrimido[5,4-f][1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazepin-6-oI (5), which with equimolar amount of sodium methoxide afforded 7-methoxy-9-methylthiopyrimido[5,4-f][1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazepine (6)..

Emotional competencies in the process of teaching and learning in nursing, from the perspective of the neurosciences

OBJECTIVE: to investigate aspects of the interaction which occurs between feeling and learning from the perspective of the neurosciences. METHOD: research with a qualitative approach, of the case study type, undertaken in Brazilian public nursing colleges. The research subjects were lecturers and students. The techniques of use of a questionnaire, individual interviews and a focus group were used in data collection. RESULTS: knowledge of cerebral functioning and the functioning of different structures involved in the learning of cognitive, technical, emotional and relational competences can help the lecturer in her task of teaching. CONCLUSIONS: we can outline the difficulties of learning and need, as lecturers, to develop teaching strategies based in the new knowledge from the neurosciences so as to maximize the students' learning. This new knowledge brings elements which contribute to the teacher's training, facilitate the process for the person learning, and make teaching more pleasurable

Pre- and post-weaning injections of bovine somatotropin to optimize puberty achievement of Bos indicus beef heifers

The present study evaluated the growth and puberty attainment of Bos indicus heifers administered recombinant bovine somatotropin (bST) or saline injections during preweaning and/or postweaning. On day 0, 177 suckling Nellore heifers were stratified by initial age and body weight (BW) (80 +/- 10 d; 97 +/- 16 kg), and randomly assigned, in a 2 x 2 factorial design (n = 44 to 45 heifers/treatment), to receive s.c. injections of saline (5 mL 0.9% NaCl) or sometribove zinc (Posilac; Elanco, Greenfield, IN; 6.14 mg/kg of BW0.75) on days 0 and 10 (PRE) and/or days 167 and 177 (POS). All heifers were managed as a single group in Brachiaria decumbens pastures from day 0 until 24 d postweaning (day 191), and then provided a corn silage-based TMR from days 191 to 380 to achieve 65% to 70% of mature BW at the end of the study (day 380). Heifer full BW was collected on days 0, 10, 167, 177, and monthly from days 191 to 380. Transrectal ultrasonography of ovaries was performed on days 1 and 10 of each month from days 229 to 380 to assess the percentage of pubertal heifers. Liver biopsies and blood samples from jugular vein were collected on days 0, 10, 167, 177, and 380. Additional blood samples were collected monthly from days 259 to 380 (n = 10 to 15 heifers/treatment). No interactions among day of the study, PRE, and POS injections of saline or bST were detected (P = 0.11). Preweaning bST injections increased heifer average daily gain (ADG) from days 0 to 10 and plasma IGF-1 on day 10 (P = 0.19), but tended to decrease ADG from days 191 to 380 (P = 0.07) and percentage of pubertal heifers on days 349 (P = 0.07), 359 (P = 0.002), and 380 (P = 0.0001) compared with saline injections. Postweaning bST injections increased plasma IGF-1 on day 177 and overall liver mRNA expression of GHR-1A (P = 0.12) compared with saline injections. Thus, preweaning and postweaning injections of bST successfully increased heifer plasma IGF-1 concentrations 10 d after first injection. Postweaning injections of bST had no impact on puberty attainment, whereas preweaning bST injections of bST impaired puberty attainment of Nellore beef heifers.Elanco Animal Health (Brooklin, Sao Paulo, Brazil)Univ Florida, IFAS Range Cattle Res & Educ Ctr, Ona, FL 33865 USAElanco Anim Hlth, BR-04703002 Sao Paulo, BrazilTexas A&M Univ, Dept Anim Sci, College Stn, TX 77843 USASao Paulo State Univ, Dept Anim Prod, BR-18168000 Botucatu, SP, BrazilSao Paulo State Univ, Dept Anim Prod, BR-18168000 Botucatu, SP, Brazi