Exploring the Relationship between Stalking and Homicide

Presented at National Stalking Awareness Week Holly Gazzard Trust, Gloucestershire; House of Commons; Protection Against Stalking, Seven Oaks; Tracking the Stalker, Glasgo

Challenges in diagnosis in couple and family systems work

Choosing to use a formal diagnosis in couples and family counseling can be a treatment conundrum for counselors who believe they must provide a diagnosis. To create a diagnosis for financial reimbursement is a fraudulent and an unethical practice. This article addresses diagnosis in couples and family work and offers strategies to use when not diagnosing

Scoping the implementation of recommendations from previous early generation seed studies in sub-Saharan Africa

The purpose of this report is to document and track progress on the implementation of recommendations from EGS studies that were carried out on selected countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) and West and Central Africa (WCA). The recommendations were designed to ensure a sustainable supply of EGS based on market-specific archetypes involving private, public and public-private partnerships. For the subsequent years following the conclusion and adoption of the study reports, there have been some significant achievements registered based on the country-specific recommendations from the studies. This report provides a review of the extent of implementation of the recommendations in each of the mentioned countries. The study involved a review of literature which included the country-specific EGS studies and the available literature that comprised of projects reports, recent policy documents and any other relevant available literature. Despite the list of countries in which the studies were conducted, this study only focused on the implementation of recommendations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, Ghana and Nigeria. Most countries have to a large extent implemented most of the recommendations from the EGS studies. A lot of emphasis was placed on addressing the creation of enabling environment aspects such as the enactment of seed acts, the plant variety protection bill and policies in Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana as well as harmonization between the national and regional seed laws. There was also emphasis towards capacity building for seed regulation and certification services through training of human resources and enabling private sector participation in seed inspection in addition to accreditation by the international bodies ISTA and OECD. PPPs were established for the root and tuber crops cassava and potatoes; and mainly hybrid and OPV maize for the cereal crops. Fingerprinting of parental lines is the most notably unimplemented for all the countries that it was recommended, but also the national establishements such as Variety Testing Center, demand forecasting frameworks and National Seed Steering committee for the case of Malawi and Tanzania respectively. It is therefore recommended that further investigation of gaps in implementation be carried to understand reasons for non-implementation

Business models for early generation seed production and marketing

Sustainable access to early generation seed (EGS) is important for efficient supply of quality certified, standard and/or quality declared seed of improved high-performing crop varieties. Some studies have been conducted from a global perspective on the delivery of EGS with a major focus on the economic analysis and identification of effective pathways for sustainable supply. This study was designed to establish the best practices and critical factors for the delivery of EGS for grain legume and dryland cereal crops in selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and parts of South Asia. A literature review of specific business models applied in SSA and India was conducted. More information was gathered through in-depth interviews with specific key informants drawn from the respective institutions or agencies that were studied. The models include public-sector or research-led models, private -sector models, and public-private partnership models. This working paper presents a synthesis of best practices and approaches through which the specific business models ensure the production and supply of breeder and foundation seeds. The paper identifies practices involving mechanisms for planning, financing, infrastructural facilities required for EGS production, incentives to promote pure line crop EGS production by the private sector, and the methods of production. The study reveals critical constraints for EGS production and supply, including seed market vagaries; the short shelf life of some crop seeds like groundnut; limited maintenance breeding efforts; low quality of breeder seed; lack of infrastructure to produce EGS; breeder seed production does not match the demand for production of foundation seed while foundation seed production does not match the demand for production of certified seed; and high costs of supervising and managing various groups of seed outgrowers. Interventions that build the capacity of seed producers to effectively plan EGS production requirements, guided by a seed roadmap, and product cycle management are needed. The public research institutions need to be strengthened with facilities that enhance their capacity to produce sufficient quantities of breeder seed at the required time. Besides, the proceeds from the sales should “revolve” to enable the unit to make further investments and carry out all the necessary operations in a timely manner. This requires consultation with Governments to set up financial management structures that provide an easier accountability process. Incentive schemes should be developed to encourage investment in the production of pure-line grain legumes and dryland cereals by the private sector as well as enhance their role in popularizing new varieties. Improvement and enforcement of quality assurance and control systems by breeding programmes, including modern technological methods should be considered. Importantly, a handover system that includes lisencing and pre-orders would help to bridge the supply and demand disparity

Colorectal cancer linkage on chromosomes 4q21, 8q13, 12q24, and 15q22

A substantial proportion of familial colorectal cancer (CRC) is not a consequence of known susceptibility loci, such as mismatch repair (MMR) genes, supporting the existence of additional loci. To identify novel CRC loci, we conducted a genome-wide linkage scan in 356 white families with no evidence of defective MMR (i.e., no loss of tumor expression of MMR proteins, no microsatellite instability (MSI)-high tumors, or no evidence of linkage to MMR genes). Families were ascertained via the Colon Cancer Family Registry multi-site NCI-supported consortium (Colon CFR), the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Memorial University of Newfoundland. A total of 1,612 individuals (average 5.0 per family including 2.2 affected) were genotyped using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism linkage arrays; parametric and non-parametric linkage analysis used MERLIN in a priori-defined family groups. Five lod scores greater than 3.0 were observed assuming heterogeneity. The greatest were among families with mean age of diagnosis less than 50 years at 4q21.1 (dominant HLOD = 4.51, α = 0.84, 145.40 cM, rs10518142) and among all families at 12q24.32 (dominant HLOD = 3.60, α = 0.48, 285.15 cM, rs952093). Among families with four or more affected individuals and among clinic-based families, a common peak was observed at 15q22.31 (101.40 cM, rs1477798; dominant HLOD = 3.07, α = 0.29; dominant HLOD = 3.03, α = 0.32, respectively). Analysis of families with only two affected individuals yielded a peak at 8q13.2 (recessive HLOD = 3.02, α = 0.51, 132.52 cM, rs1319036). These previously unreported linkage peaks demonstrate the continued utility of family-based data in complex traits and suggest that new CRC risk alleles remain to be elucidated. © 2012 Cicek et al

Designing self-sustaining early generation seed supply systems: The must-dos

Shortages in the supply of quality early generation seed (EGS) of new and improved varieties, particularly of dryland cereals and legumes is a major challenge because of the business models.This triggers the following questions: what EGS business models would sustainably avail quality parent seed? To investigate this, we documented 16 EGS interventions. We found that pre-securing seed market ahead of production played important role in the successful seed business. Taking different forms (e.g., pre-orders, demand forecasting, pre-aggregation of demand, joint planning,contractual agreement), it brings confidence to EGS producers to continuously invest in the business and make it profitable. For sustainable EGS production and supply in sub-Saharan Africa, we advocate for market assurance in advance. Two guiding principles are also suggested and four recommendations formulated

Vitamins B2, B6, and B12 and Risk of New Colorectal Adenomas in a Randomized Trial of Aspirin Use and Folic Acid Supplementation

Folate, other vitamin B cofactors, and genes involved in folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism (FOCM) all may play important roles in colorectal neoplasia. In this study, we examined the associations between dietary and circulating plasma levels of vitamins B2, B6 and B12 and risk colorectal adenomas

Colorectal Adenomas in a Randomized Folate Trial: The Role of Baseline Dietary and Circulating Folate Levels

The Aspirin/Folate Polyp Prevention Study is a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of aspirin use and folic acid supplementation and incidence of colorectal adenomas in individuals with a history of these lesions. The trial showed that folic acid supplementation does not prevent the occurrence of new adenomas and may increase risk. We extend these results by investigating whether the effect of folic acid treatment differed by baseline dietary and circulating folate levels. Diet and supplement use were ascertained at baseline through a food-frequency questionnaire; a blood sample was used to determine plasma and red blood cell (RBC) folate levels. Individuals were followed for 3 years (1st follow up) and subsequently for an additional 3-5 years (2nd follow up). We used generalized linear regression to estimate risk ratios and 95% confidence limits as measures of association. There was little evidence that baseline dietary and total folate intake, and plasma and RBC folate modified the association between folic acid treatment and risk of any adenomas or advanced lesions. However, there was a protective association of the highest tertile of dietary and total intake as well as circulating folate with risk of any adenomas among those in the placebo group, but no association among individuals in the folic acid group. Our findings support the idea that while moderate doses of folate may be protective compared to deficiency, at some point of sufficiency supplementation provides no additional benefit