Returns to Facilitating Farmers’ Organisations for Distributary Maintenance: Empirical Results from a Pilot Project in Southern Punjab

Institutional reforms currently underway in Pakistan’s irrigation and drainage sector require that farmers take over the operation and maintenance responsibilities of their secondary canals. However, the farmers need to be organised first, for which investments are a prerequisite. A great deal of skepticism about the farmers’ collective ability and willingness to undertake the needed tasks exists, even now when they are actually organised. This skepticism originates from past experiences when direct subsidies were offered to induce collective action. Theoretically, collective action can be more sustainable if investments are made in capacity building for the tasks that the farmers have to perform to improve the service delivery. Farmers are being organised for distributary operation and maintenance. So far, the delay in formulation of an appropriate legal framework has prevented the irrigation departments from formally transferring the operation and maintenance responsibilities to farmers. Self-help-based maintenance has been the only avenue for farmers to participate in the management of the irrigation system. The paper uses data pertaining to the cost of facilitation and estimates the amount of resources mobilised for two successive years from a pilot project. The analysis shows that investments made for facilitation do pay off. Investment in facilitation returns 69 percent higher than the actual investment per year during the initial years. In the short-run, the returns to facilitation indicate an increasing trend. The paper argues that when compared to previous approaches adopted in Pakistan, investments for facilitation and capacity building have a greater chance of prompting sustainable collective action for irrigation and drainage management.

Returns to Facilitating Farmers’ Organisations for Distributary Maintenance: Empirical Results from a Pilot Project in Southern Punjab

Institutional reforms currently underway in Pakistan’s irrigation and drainage sector require that farmers take over the operation and maintenance responsibilities of their secondary canals. However, the farmers need to be organised first, for which investments are a prerequisite. A great deal of skepticism about the farmers’ collective ability and willingness to undertake the needed tasks exists, even now when they are actually organised. This skepticism originates from past experiences when direct subsidies were offered to induce collective action. Theoretically, collective action can be more sustainable if investments are made in capacity building for the tasks that the farmers have to perform to improve the service delivery. Farmers are being organised for distributary operation and maintenance. So far, the delay in formulation of an appropriate legal framework has prevented the irrigation departments from formally transferring the operation and maintenance responsibilities to farmers. Self-help-based maintenance has been the only avenue for farmers to participate in the management of the irrigation system. The paper uses data pertaining to the cost of facilitation and estimates the amount of resources mobilised for two successive years from a pilot project. The analysis shows that investments made for facilitation do pay off. Investment in facilitation returns 69 percent higher than the actual investment per year during the initial years. In the short-run, the returns to facilitation indicate an increasing trend. The paper argues that when compared to previous approaches adopted in Pakistan, investments for facilitation and capacity building have a greater chance of prompting sustainable collective action for irrigation and drainage management

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in Guillain-Barré syndrome: A prognostic biomarker of severe disease and mechanical ventilation in Bangladesh

In addition to cellular and humoral immunity, inflammatory markers play an important role in the pathogenesis of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and are used to predict prognosis in many autoimmune diseases. The aim of this study was to identify whether the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio, and monocyte-lymphocyte ratio in the early stages of GBS have prognostic value for severe disease, mechanical ventilation (MV) and poor long-term outcome. A prospective cohort study of 140 adult patients with GBS and 140 healthy controls (HC) was performed in Bangladesh during 2019–2022. Clinicodemographic characteristics of the patients were recorded, and hematological parameters were measured using an automated hematology analyzer. Median patient age was 35 (44–23) years; 71% were male; 88% were severely affected (GBS Disability Score> 3); 32% required MV. Patients had higher NLR than HC (P<.0001). Among patients, elevated NLR was associated with severe GBS and MV (P=.001 and <.0001, respectively) and moderately positively correlated with poor outcomes at 4 weeks (r = 0.423). Multiple logistic regression revealed NLR was an independent risk factor for severe GBS (OR = 5.2, 95% CI = 1.6–17.4) and MV (OR = 1.5 1.1–2.1). No significant association was observed between elevated NLR and the long-term outcome of GBS. Receiver operating characteristic curves revealed NLR cut-off values of ≥ 2.432 and ≥ 4.4423 predicted severe disease (sensitivity = 71%, specificity = 75%, AUC = 0.750, 95% CI = 0.651–0.849, P =.001) and MV (sensitivity = 65.9%, specificity = 81.7%, AUC = 0.804, 95% CI=0.724–0.884; P<.001). The NLR in the early stage of GBS may represent an independent prognostic factor of severe GBS and the requirement for MV

Design of Polymer-Brush-Grafted Magnetic Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient Water Remediation

Highly efficient removal of mercury­(II) ions (Hg^II) from water has been reported by employing polymer-brush-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). Surface-initiated conventional radical polymerization (SI-cRP) was used to grow poly­(2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride) (poly-AEMA·HCl) polymer chains on magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄), followed by the transformation of pendant amino groups into dithiocarbamate (DTC) groups, which showed high chelating affinity toward Hg^II ions. This polymer-brush-based DTC-functionalized MNP (MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC) platform showed the complete removal of Hg^II from aqueous solutions. The Hg^II ion removal capacity and efficiency of MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC were compared with its monolayer analogue, which was derived from the direct transformation of amino groups of (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES)-functionalized MNPs (MNPs-APTES) to DTC functional groups (MNPs-DTC). The surface chemical modifications and higher chelating functional group density, in the case of MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC, were ascertained by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), physical property measurement system (PPMS), attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Hg^II ion removal capacity and efficiency of monolayer and polymer-brush-based DTC-functionalized MNPs (MNPs-DTC and MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC, respectively) were evaluated and compared by studying the effect of various factors on the percentage removal of Hg^II such as adsorbent amount, temperature, and contact time. Furthermore, the adsorption behavior of MNPs-DTC and MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC was analyzed by applying Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models. In addition, the adsorption thermodynamics, as well as the adsorption kinetics, were also evaluated in detail. The higher surface functional group density of MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC led to superior remediation characteristics toward Hg^II ions than its monolayer analogue

Design of Polymer-Brush-Grafted Magnetic Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient Water Remediation

Highly efficient removal of mercury­(II) ions (Hg^II) from water has been reported by employing polymer-brush-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). Surface-initiated conventional radical polymerization (SI-cRP) was used to grow poly­(2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride) (poly-AEMA·HCl) polymer chains on magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄), followed by the transformation of pendant amino groups into dithiocarbamate (DTC) groups, which showed high chelating affinity toward Hg^II ions. This polymer-brush-based DTC-functionalized MNP (MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC) platform showed the complete removal of Hg^II from aqueous solutions. The Hg^II ion removal capacity and efficiency of MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC were compared with its monolayer analogue, which was derived from the direct transformation of amino groups of (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES)-functionalized MNPs (MNPs-APTES) to DTC functional groups (MNPs-DTC). The surface chemical modifications and higher chelating functional group density, in the case of MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC, were ascertained by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), physical property measurement system (PPMS), attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Hg^II ion removal capacity and efficiency of monolayer and polymer-brush-based DTC-functionalized MNPs (MNPs-DTC and MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC, respectively) were evaluated and compared by studying the effect of various factors on the percentage removal of Hg^II such as adsorbent amount, temperature, and contact time. Furthermore, the adsorption behavior of MNPs-DTC and MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC was analyzed by applying Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models. In addition, the adsorption thermodynamics, as well as the adsorption kinetics, were also evaluated in detail. The higher surface functional group density of MNPs-polyAEMA·DTC led to superior remediation characteristics toward Hg^II ions than its monolayer analogue