Helping smallholder farmers mitigate climate change

Key messages - Smallholder farmers can contribute significantly to climate change mitigation but will need incentives to adapt their practices. - Incentives from selling carbon credits are limited by low returns to farmers, high transaction costs, and the need for farmers to invest in mitigation activities long before they receive payments. - Improved food security, economic benefits and adaptation to climate change are more fundamental incentives that should accompany mitigation. - Designing agricultural investment and policy to provide up-front finance and longer term rewards for mitigation practices will help reach larger numbers of farmers than specialized mitigation interventions

Hubungan Kontak Serumah, Luas Ventilasi, dan Suhu Ruangan dengan Kejadian Tuberkulosis Paru di Desa Wori

Sampai saat ini tuberkulosis (TB) paru masih merupakan masalah kesehatan di seluruh dunia termasuk di Indonesia. Upaya –upaya dalam mengeliminasi  kasus tuberkulosis paru di Indonesia masih mengalami banyak kendala. Faktor lingkungan sangat mempengaruhi tingginya prevalensi tuberkulosis paru. Dari 33 propinsi di Indonesia prevalensi tuberkulosis paru tertinggi berasal dari 3 propinsi yaitu DKI Jakarta, Banten, dan Sulawesi Utara. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui adanya hubungan  antara kontak serumah dan faktor lingkungan fisik rumah dengan kejadian tuberkulosis paru di wilayah kerja puskesmas Wori. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian  cross sectional dengan variabel bebas yang diteliti ialah kontak serumah, luas ventilasi, dan suhu ruangan. Analisis dengan mengunakan uji chi square menunjukan bahwa ada hubungan kontak serumah dengan kejadian tuberkulosis paru dengan nilai p=0,016, sedangkan variabel luas ventilasi p=0,278 dan suhu ruangan  p=0,677 menunjukan tidak ada hubungan dengan kejadian tuberkulosis paru di desa Wori

Duration and Magnitude of Postoperative Risk of Venous Thromboembolism after Cholecystectomy: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Background: This study aimed to identify burden and risk of VTE associated with cholecystectomy in England. Methods: An historical cohort study of cholecystectomy patients from 2001-2011 was undertaken using linked primary (Clinical Practice Research Datalink) and secondary (Hospital Episode Statistics) care data. Crude rates and adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated for risk of VTE following cholecystectomy using Cox regression.Results: 24 677 patients were identified with a rate of VTE in the first year following cholecystectomy of 2.80 per 1000 person years (95% CI 2.18-3.59). Patients aged >/=70 vs aged 30 vs BMI less than 0 had 2.4-fold increase in risk (HR 2.42, 95% CI 1.40–4.18); open vs. laparoscopic operation had 3-fold increase in risk (HR 2.94, 95% CI 1.55–5.55). Compared to general population, VTE risk was the highest in the first 30 days post-operatively with 9.9-fold risk following emergency cholecystectomy and 4.5-fold risk after inpatient cholecystectomy (HR 9.90, 95% CI 4.42–22.21; HR 4.54, 95% CI 2.85–7.21). Conclusions: Cholecystectomy is associated with a low absolute risk of VTE and we have identified high risk groups including the elderly, obese and those having open surgery

Silica sand briquets and pellets as a replacement for quartzite

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On the particle paths and the stagnation points in small-amplitude deep-water waves

In order to obtain quite precise information about the shape of the particle paths below small-amplitude gravity waves travelling on irrotational deep water, analytic solutions of the nonlinear differential equation system describing the particle motion are provided. All these solutions are not closed curves. Some particle trajectories are peakon-like, others can be expressed with the aid of the Jacobi elliptic functions or with the aid of the hyperelliptic functions. Remarks on the stagnation points of the small-amplitude irrotational deep-water waves are also made.Comment: to appear in J. Math. Fluid Mech. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1106.382

Non-invasive assessment of the reproductive cycle in free-ranging female African elephants (Loxodonta africana) treated with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) vaccine for inducing anoestrus

BACKGROUND: In southern Africa, various options to manage elephant populations are being considered. Immunocontraception is considered to be the most ethically acceptable and logistically feasible method for control of smaller and confined populations. In this regard, the use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) vaccine has not been investigated in female elephants, although it has been reported to be safe and effective in several domestic and wildlife species. The aims of this study were to monitor the oestrous cycles of free-ranging African elephant cows using faecal progestagen metabolites and to evaluate the efficacy of a GnRH vaccine to induce anoestrus in treated cows. METHODS: Between May 2009 - June 2010, luteal activity of 12 elephant cows was monitored non-invasively using an enzyme immunoassay detecting faecal 5alpha-reduced pregnanes (faecal progestagen metabolites, FPM) on a private game reserve in South Africa. No bulls of breeding age were present on the reserve prior to and for the duration of the study. After a 3-month control period, 8 randomly-selected females were treated twice with 600 micrograms of GnRH vaccine (ImprovacW, Pfizer Animal Health, Sandton, South Africa) 5-7 weeks apart. Four of these females had been treated previously with the porcine zona pellucida (pZP) vaccine for four years (2004-2007). RESULTS: All 12 monitored females (8 treated and 4 controls) showed signs of luteal activity as evidenced by FPM concentrations exceeding individual baseline values more than once. A total of 16 oestrous cycles could be identified in 8 cows with four of these within the 13 to 17 weeks range previously reported for captive African elephants. According to the FPM concentrations the GnRH vaccine was unable to induce anoestrus in the treated cows. Overall FPM levels in samples collected during the wet season (mean 4.03 micrograms/gram dry faeces) were significantly higher (P<0.002) than the dry season (mean 2.59 micrograms/gram dry faeces). CONCLUSIONS: The GnRH vaccination protocol failed to induce anoestrus in the treated female elephants. These results indicate that irregular oestrous cycles occur amongst free-ranging elephants and are not restricted to elephants in captivity. The relationship between ecological conditions and endocrine activity were confirmed. Free-ranging female elephants were observed to not cycle continuously throughout the year in the absence of adult bulls.http://www.rbej.com/content/10/1/63ab2012ab2013 (Author correction)ab2013 (Author correction

Reversibility of the effects of GnRH-vaccination used to suppress reproductive function in mares

Reasons for performing study: Active immunisation against gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) provides a reversible method for control of oestrous behaviour and fertility in mares. Previous reports failed to demonstrate the interval to resumption of cyclic ovarian activity after GnRH-vaccination. Hypothesis: Administration of the GnRH-vaccine ImprovacÒ1 in a large group of mares of various ages will result in effective, reliably reversible suppression of ovarian activity within a two-year period. Methods: The mares, subdivided into three age categories were vaccinated twice (with a 35 d interval) using ImprovacÒ1 and were monitored via blood samples until Day 720 after initial vaccination for serum progesterone concentration determination by radio-immune assay and anti-GnRH antibody titre by enzyme immuno-assay. Samples were collected until individuals resumed cyclic ovarian activity. Results: All mares showed suppression of cyclic ovarian activity (SPC <1 nmol/l) and 92.2% resumed cyclic activity at Day 720 with a mean interval = 417.8 d (SD = 23.19) and median = 344 d. A significant age effect (P=0.028) on the interval, but not on GnRH-AB titre response, was observed between the youngest (11 years) categories. Conclusions: Immunising adult mares of all ages with ImprovacÒ1 resulted in a reversible suppression of cyclic ovarian activity in most mares. An age effect, with the youngest mares showing a longer interval to reversibility was observed.The Equine Research Centre of the University of Pretoriahttp://www.evj.co.uk/journals/hb2013ab201

Paleo-ENSO influence on African environments and early modern humans

Our results identify the prime driver of climate variation in Africa’s low latitudes over the past 620 ky—the key time frame for the evolution of our species. Warming and cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean paced by insolation changes modulated the tropical Walker circulation, driving opposing wet–dry states in eastern and western Africa. We show that the effects of glacial/interglacial cycles were not the predominant source of environmental change in most of the continent. Africa’s environmental patchwork driven by low-latitude climate processes should therefore be a critical component in conceptual models of human evolution and early demography over the past 620 ky.In this study, we synthesize terrestrial and marine proxy records, spanning the past 620 ky, to decipher pan-African climate variability and its drivers and potential linkages to hominin evolution. We find a tight correlation between moisture availability across Africa to El Niño Southern Ocean oscillation (ENSO) variability, a manifestation of the Walker Circulation, that was most likely driven by changes in Earth’s eccentricity. Our results demonstrate that low-latitude insolation was a prominent driver of pan-African climate change during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. We argue that these low-latitude climate processes governed the dispersion and evolution of vegetation as well as mammals in eastern and western Africa by increasing resource-rich and stable ecotonal settings thought to have been important to early modern humans.All study data are included in the article and/or supporting information.Results Discussion Conclusion Materials and Methods - pwPCA. - Breakpoint Analysis. - Median Calculation

Prospects in computational molecular medicine: a millennial mega-project on peptide folding

During the second half of the 20th century, Molecular Computations have reached to a level that can revolutionize chemistry. The next target will be structural biology, which will be followed soon by Molecular Medicine. The present paper outlines where we are at, in this field, at the end of the 20th century, and in what direction the development may take in the new millennium. In view of the gigantic nature of the problem, it is suggested that a suitably designed cooperative Millennial Mega-project might accelerate our schedule. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved