No Shortcuts to Progress: An Assessment of Agricultural Research Planning and Priority Setting in Africa

Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Downloads July 2008-June 2009: 7,

Closed-loop management of inpatient hyperglycemia.

The prevalence of diabetes in the hospital is increasing and approximately 18-20% of hospital beds are occupied by someone with diabetes [1]. Diabetes disproportionally affects the elderly, with three times greater prevalence in hospitalised people aged over 65 years than in those aged under 45 years [2]. Maintaining near normoglycaemia during hospital admissions can be very challenging. The impact of the current illness, medication changes, alterations to meal timings and intake, and requirement for nutrition support in hospital can all contribute to sub-optimal glucose control. Both hyper- and hypoglycemia in hospital are associated with increased risk of complications, length of stay, admission to the intensive care unit and mortality [3].Diabetes UK (#14/0004878), Swiss National Science Foundation (P1BEP3_165297) and European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes. Additional support for the Artificial Pancreas work by JDRF, National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (100574/Z/12/Z)

Increasing Seed System Efficiency in Africa: Concepts, Strategies and Issues

The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework that can be used by agricultural leaders, administrators, policy makers, and seed program managers to (1) understand key factors affecting seed system development; and (2) compare organizational and institutional strategies for increasing seed system effectiveness. A literature review of recent studies on seed system development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was undertaken to achieve these objectives. The studies reviewed included published and unpublished reports, monographs, and case studies.food security, food policy, Sub-Saharan Africa, seed system, Crop Production/Industries, Downloads July 2008-July 2009: 22, F0,

Constraints and Strategies for the Development of the Seed System in Mozambique

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Directorate of Economics, Republic of Mozambiquefood security, food policy, Mozambique, seed system, Crop Production/Industries, Q18,

Phonological variation and change in the regional French of Alsace: Supralocalisation, age, gender and the urban–rural dichotomy

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Cambridge University Press via the DOI in this recordThis article examines patterns of variation and change in the phonology of the regional French of Alsace, within an overarching framework of regional dialect levelling (Kerswill, 2003) in the French of France. Data are drawn from an original corpus gathered in Strasbourg and a small village in a rural area of the Bas-Rhin. We analyse two well-known regional features in spontaneous speech: (h), the variable realisation of initial [h], and (ʒ), the non-assimilatory devoicing of /ʒ/. We focus on the effect on the variation observed of the major extra-linguistic variables of age, gender and social class as well as urban or rural community. While the results for class and location follow expected patterns, whereby working-class and rural speakers show higher rates of traditional non-standard variants, the principal observation is the decline and, in the case of (ʒ), apparent loss of such features. We thus provide new evidence in support of supralocalisation, not only in the urban context but also in the rural location. The results for gender are however less clearcut: there is an interaction with age, class and location, and disruption of the usual pattern of female-led adoption of supralocal norms.Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC

Correction to: New closed-loop insulin systems.

A Correction to this paper has been published: 10.1007/s00125-021-05443-1</jats:p

New closed-loop insulin systems.

Advances in diabetes technologies have enabled the development of automated closed-loop insulin delivery systems. Several hybrid closed-loop systems have been commercialised, reflecting rapid transition of this evolving technology from research into clinical practice, where it is gradually transforming the management of type 1 diabetes in children and adults. In this review we consider the supporting evidence in terms of glucose control and quality of life for presently available closed-loop systems and those in development, including dual-hormone closed-loop systems. We also comment on alternative 'do-it-yourself' closed-loop systems. We remark on issues associated with clinical adoption of these approaches, including training provision, and consider limitations of presently available closed-loop systems and areas for future enhancements to further improve outcomes and reduce the burden of diabetes management

Patch-Burn Grazing Impacts Forage Resources in Subtropical Humid Grazing Lands

Subtropical humid grazing lands represent a large global land use and are important for livestock production, as well as supplying multiple ecosystem services. Patch-burn grazing (PBG) management is applied in temperate grazing lands to enhance environmental and economic sustainability; however, this management system has not been widely tested in subtropical humid grazing lands. The objective of this study was to determine how PBG affected forage resources, in comparison with the business-as-usual full-burn (FB) management in both intensively managed pastures (IMP) and seminative (SN) pastures in subtropical humid grazinglands. We hypothesized that PBG management would create patch contrasts in forage quantity and nutritive value in both IMP and SN pastures, with a greater effect in SN pastures. A randomized block design experiment was established in 2017 with 16 pastures (16 ha each), 8 each in IMP and SN at Archbold Biological Station\u27s Buck Island Ranch in Florida. PBG management employed on IMP and SN resulted in creation of patch contrast in forage nutritive value and biomass metrics, and recent fire increased forage nutritive value. Residual standing biomass was significantly lower in burned patches of each year, creating heterogeneity within both pasture types under PBG. PBG increased digestible forage production in SN but not IMP pastures. These results suggest that PBG may be a useful management tool for enhancing forage nutritive value and creating patch contrast in both SN and IMP, but PBG does not necessarily increase production relative to FB management. The annual increase in tissue quality and digestible forage production in a PBG system as opposed to once every 3 yr in an FB system is an important consideration for ranchers. Economic impacts of PBG and FB management in the two different pasture types are discussed, and we compare and contrast results from subtropical humid grazing lands with continental temperate grazing lands

Mass spectrometry based imaging of labile glucosides in plants

Mass spectrometry based imaging is a powerful tool to investigate the spatial distribution of a broad range of metabolites across a variety of sample types. The recent developments in instrumentation and computing capabilities have increased the mass range, sensitivity and resolution and rendered sample preparation the limiting step for further improvements. Sample preparation involves sectioning and mounting followed by selection and application of matrix. In plant tissues, labile small molecules and specialized metabolites are subject to degradation upon mechanical disruption of plant tissues. In this study, the benefits of cryo-sectioning, stabilization of fragile tissues and optimal application of the matrix to improve the results from MALDI mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is investigated with hydroxynitrile glucosides as the main experimental system. Denatured albumin proved an excellent agent for stabilizing fragile tissues such as Lotus japonicus leaves. In stem cross sections of Manihot esculenta, maintaining the samples frozen throughout the sectioning process and preparation of the samples by freeze drying enhanced the obtained signal intensity by twofold to fourfold. Deposition of the matrix by sublimation improved the spatial information obtained compared to spray. The imaging demonstrated that the cyanogenic glucosides (CNglcs) were localized in the vascular tissues in old stems of M. esculenta and in the periderm and vascular tissues of tubers. In MALDI mass spectrometry, the imaged compounds are solely identified by their m/z ratio. L. japonicus MG20 and the mutant cyd1 that is devoid of hydroxynitrile glucosides were used as negative controls to verify the assignment of the observed masses to linamarin, lotaustralin, and linamarin acid