Trends in Soil Science Education and Employment

During the last several decades, members of the SSSA have discussed several trends related to soil science education, including: (i) declining academic programs and course offerings at land grant universities, (ii) decreased enrollments, and (iii) improved employment opportunities for soil science graduates (SSSA, 2006; Ferris et al., 2010). The SSSA Advocacy/Education Task Force met in 2007 and concluded that quantitative survey information was needed to document trends in soil science academic programs, student enrollment, faculty, and job opportunities for graduates. Suggested survey topics included: Has the recognition of soil science as a distinct discipline increased or decreased? How has the job market changed during the past decade, and how will job opportunities for soil scientists change in the future? How have undergraduate and graduate soils curricula changed during the last decade? Has enrollment in soil science degree programs and courses changed during the past decade? Has there been a change in the degree programs of students enrolling in soils courses in the past decade? Have soil science programs been combined with other programs? Therefore, the objective of the survey was to quantify trends in student enrollment, faculty positions, pertinent educational issues in soil and related sciences, and career or job opportunities and trends. Expected outcomes included a better understanding of current educational practices and trends, and identification of specific opportunities for SSSA to enhance the practice and profession of soil science

Reduced tillage, but not organic matter input, increased nematode diversity and food web stability in European long‐term field experiments

Soil nematode communities and food web indices can inform about the complexity, nutrient flows and decomposition pathways of soil food webs, reflecting soil quality. Relative abundance of nematode feeding and life‐history groups are used for calculating food web indices, i.e., maturity index (MI), enrichment index (EI), structure index (SI) and channel index (CI). Molecular methods to study nematode communities potentially offer advantages compared to traditional methods in terms of resolution, throughput, cost and time. In spite of such advantages, molecular data have not often been adopted so far to assess the effects of soil management on nematode communities and to calculate these food web indices. Here, we used high‐throughput amplicon sequencing to investigate the effects of tillage (conventional vs. reduced) and organic matter addition (low vs. high) on nematode communities and food web indices in 10 European long‐term field experiments and we assessed the relationship between nematode communities and soil parameters. We found that nematode communities were more strongly affected by tillage than by organic matter addition. Compared to conventional tillage, reduced tillage increased nematode diversity (23% higher Shannon diversity index), nematode community stability (12% higher MI), structure (24% higher SI), and the fungal decomposition channel (59% higher CI), and also the number of herbivorous nematodes (70% higher). Total and labile organic carbon, available K and microbial parameters explained nematode community structure. Our findings show that nematode communities are sensitive indicators of soil quality and that molecular profiling of nematode communities has the potential to reveal the effects of soil management on soil quality

Trends in Real Food Prices in Six Sub-Saharan African Countries

Demand and Price Analysis, Downloads July 2008-July 2009: 12,

Cultural Beliefs and Understandings of Cervical Cancer among Mexican Immigrant Women in Southeast Georgia

Rural Mexican immigrant women in the U.S. are infrequently screened and experience health disparities from cervical cancer. We explored cancer-related cultural beliefs in this population. We administered a cross-sectional survey to 39 Mexican immigrant women due for screening. We conducted univariate and bivariate analyses of participants’ characteristics, Pap test history, cancer-related knowledge and beliefs, and cultural consensus analysis about causes of cervical cancer and barriers to screening. For all the cultural consensus tasks, there was consensus (Eigenratios \u3e3:1) among survey participants. Comparing the rankings of risk factor clusters, clusters related to sexual behaviors were ranked more severely than clusters related to genetic or other behavioral factors. There was agreement on ideas of cervical cancer causation and barriers to screening among these women. Hence, improved methods of disseminating important health information and greater access to care are needed, particularly in relationship to stigma about sex and birth control practice

Corticosteroid induced osteoporosis : guidelines for treatment

BACKGROUND: Last year, Australian Family Physician published Guidelines for Management of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis\u27. which were developed by Osteoporosis Australia. Recently, significant advances in our understanding of the treatment of corticosteroid osteoporosis have occurred.OBJECTIVE: The following guidelines also developed by Osteoporosis Australia, and supported by the National Asthma Campaign, are to help general practitioners identify those patients at risk of this problem and to provide information about current treatment strategies.DISCUSSION: Corticosteroids are widely used and effective agents for the control of many inflammatory diseases. Corticosteroid osteoporosis is a common problem associated with the long term high dose use of these medications. <br /

Laser treatment in diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in developed countries due to macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). For both complications laser treatment may offer proven therapy: the Diabetic Retinopathy Study demonstrated that panretinal scatter photocoagulation reduces the risk of severe visual loss by >= 50% in eyes with high-risk characteristics. Pan-retinal scatter coagulation may also be beneficial in other PDR and severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) under certain conditions. For clinically significant macular edema the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study could show that immediate focal laser photocoagulation reduces the risk of moderate visual loss by at least 50%. When and how to perform laser treatment is described in detail, offering a proven treatment for many problems associated with diabetic retinopathy based on a high evidence level. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

Contemporary and future distributions of cobia, Rachycentron canadum

Climate change has influenced the distribution and phenology of marine species, globally. However, knowledge of the impacts of climate change is lacking for many species that support valuable recreational fisheries. Cobia (Rachycentron canadum) are the target of an important recreational fishery along the U.S. east coast that is currently the subject of a management controversy regarding allocation and stock structure. Further, the current and probable future distributions of this migratory species are unclear, further complicating decision-making. The objectives of this study are to better define the contemporary distribution of cobia along the U.S. east coast and to project potential shifts in distribution and phenology under future climate change scenarios

Rhodium(II)-catalyzed stereocontrolled synthesis of dihydrofuran-3-imines from 1-Tosyl-1,2,3-triazoles

Rhodium(II) acetate catalyzes the denitrogenative transformation of 5-substituted and 4,5-disubstituted 1-sulfonyl-1,2,3-triazoles with pendent allyl and propargyl ether motifs to oxonium ylides that undergo [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to give substituted dihydrofuran-3-imines in high yield and diastereoselectivity

Erosion of trust in humanitarian agencies: what strategies might help?

Aid agencies (AAs) provide a range of humanitarian and health related assistance globally. However, the trust placed on them is eroding. Evidence for this includes accusations of a decline in their humanitarianism, and the increasing number of conflicts with host states. An analysis of the concerns expressed yields two possible reasons: a relative lack of transparency of their work and weak accountability mechanisms. This is further supported by the existing milieu: an absence of internationally accepted instrument or mechanism to check the credentials of INGOs and an opaque system of close links between some of the INGOs and their donors. The article suggests two global strategies to tackle these issues: (a) Increase transparency by establishing a global register of aid agencies. This should have basic information: their main goals and activities, countries they are active in, number of employees, annual turnover of funds (updated regularly), principal financing sources and nature of links with donors. This could also be available as printed manual that should be freely available to client countries. (b) Ensure accountability by developing templates of fair legal instruments (to facilitate and regulate work), and a set of generic rules and procedures of engagement for the interactions between agencies and client states. These should be institutionalized within the regulatory frameworks of countries and included in the Codes of Conduct of NGOs