South Dakota Sites for Straw Pulping Plants

There are, of course, many possible types of industries that might locate in South Dakota. This study is designed to examine the economic feasibility of operating one type of industrial plant-a plant that uses straw as a basic raw material or ingredient in the production of insulating and/or structural board, box board, and corrugating paper. More specifically, this study attempts to determine whether any area or areas in the state have all the necessary requirements for the operation of such a plant

Identifying and addressing the support needs of family caregivers of people with motor neurone disease using the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool

Family caregivers of people with motor neurone disease (MND) experience adverse health outcomes as a result of their caregiving experience. This may be alleviated if their support needs are identified and addressed in a systematic and timely manner. The objective of the present study was to assess the feasibility and relevance of the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) in home-based care during the period of caregiving from the perspectives of the family caregivers of people with MND and their service providers. The study was conducted during 2014 in Western Australia. Some 30 family caregivers and 4 care advisors participated in trialling the CSNAT intervention, which involved two visits from care advisors (6–8 weeks apart) to identify and address support needs. The feedback from family caregivers was obtained via telephone interviews and that of care advisors via a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 24 caregivers completed the study (80% completion rate) and identified the highest support priorities as “knowing what to expect in the future,” “knowing who to contact if concerned,” and “equipment to help care.” The majority found that this assessment process adequately addressed their needs and gave them a sense of validation, reassurance, and empowerment. Care advisors advocated the CSNAT approach as an improvement over standard practice, allowing them to more clearly assess needs, to offer a more structured follow-up, and to focus on the caregiver and family. The CSNAT approach for identifying and addressing family caregivers' support needs was found to be relevant and feasible by MND family caregivers and care advisors. The tool provided a formal structure to facilitate discussions with family caregivers and thus enable needs to be addressed. Such discussions can also inform an evidence base for the ongoing development of services, ensuring that new and improved services are designed to meet the explicit needs of the family caregivers of people with a motor neurone disease

Research that matters: Outcome mapping for linking knowledge to poverty-reduction actions

An 'Outcome Mapping' approach was applied retrospectively to five diverse, highly collaborative research projects aimed at poverty reduction. Designed to help plan for, clarify, and document intended and actual changes in behaviour, actions, and relationships of groups and organisations that directly influence a project's intended beneficiaries, Outcome Mapping enabled us to identify and describe the strategies and actions that played important roles in the innovations achieved. Successful strategies observed included the use of champions, jointly producing high-profile outputs that enhanced the status of local partners, multiple communication strategies, targeting ongoing policy processes, and strong emphases on and investment in capacity building

A Market News Service for Livestock Auctions in South Dakota

The livestock industry is the largest immediate source of cash farm income in South Dakota. Auctions are an important market for the state\u27s livestock when one considers the number of animals sold by them or the proportion of farmers and ranchers who sell or buy livestock at auctions. The number of livestock sold through auctions has been increasing steadily through the years. The increase from 1938 to 1954 was 317 percent. Livestock producers and feeders place enough importance in market news reports to warrant establishing an auction market news service in South Dakota. Auction market news is reported by the federal government and state governments in several states

The effect of self-selected complementary therapies on cancer patients\u27 quality of life and symptom distress: A prospective cohort study in an integrative oncology setting

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of a multifaceted complementary therapies intervention, delivered in a systematic manner within an Australian public hospital setting, on quality of life and symptom distress outcomes for cancer patients. Methods: Adults receiving treatment for any form of cancer were eligible to participate in this study. Self-referred participants were offered a course of six complementary therapy sessions. Measures were administered at baseline, and at the third and sixth visit. The primary outcomes were quality of life and symptom distress. Linear mixed models were used to assess change in the primary outcomes. Results: In total, 1376 cancer patients participated in this study. The linear mixed models demonstrated that there were significant improvements in quality of life and significant reductions in symptom distress over six sessions. Body-based therapies demonstrated significantly superior improvement in quality of life over counselling, but no other differences between therapies were identified. Reduced symptom distress was not significantly associated with any particular type of therapy. Conclusion: A self-selected complementary therapies intervention, provided in an Australian public hospital by accredited therapists, for cancer patients significantly mproved quality of life and reduced symptom distress. The effect of this intervention on quality of life has particular salience, since cancer impacts on many areas of people’s lives and impairs quality of life

Résumé des résultats des enquêtes de base niveau ménage : site de Cinzana, Mali Décembre 2011 L. Diakité, K. Sissoko, R. Zougmoré, B. Traoré, M. Amadou, A.S. Moussa, W. Forch,

Ce rapport présente les résultats des enquêtes de base conduites au niveau des ménages de sept villages du site de Cinzana (région de Ségou, Mali) dans le cadre du programme de recherche du CGIAR sur le Changement Climatique, l’Agriculture et la Sécurité Alimentaire. L’objectif de ces enquêtes était de de collecter toutes les données et informations sur des indicateurs clés de base concernant les ménages notamment les moyens de subsistance, l’agriculture et la gestion des ressources naturelles, les besoins d’information sur le climat et la gestion des risques, et les pratiques d’atténuation et d’adaptation

Adaptation Actions in Africa: Evidence that Gender Matters

This paper presents the initial data analyses of the CCAFS gender survey implemented in four sites in Africa. Using descriptive statistics we show gender differences in terms of perceptions of climate change, awareness and adoption of climate smart agricultural (CSA) practices, and types and sources of agro-climatic information in the four sites.We find that both men and women are experiencing changes in long-run weather patterns and that they are changing their behaviours in response; albeit relatively minor shifts in existing agricultural practices. For example, the most prevalent changes reported include switching crop varieties, switching types of crops and changing planting dates. As expected, women are less aware of many CSA practices. Encouragingly, this same pattern does not hold when it comes to adoption; in many cases, in East Africa in particular, women, when aware, are more likely than or just as likely as men to adopt CSA practices. In West Africa, overall, the adoption of these practices was much lower. In addition, we see that access to information from different sources varies greatly between men and women and among the sites; however, promisingly, those with access to information report using it to make changes to their agricultural practices. Our findings suggest that targeting women with climate and agricultural information is likely to result in uptake of new agricultural practices for adaptation

Evolution of Models to Support Community and Policy Action with Science: Balancing Pastoral Livelihoods and Wildlife Conservation in Savannas of East Africa

We developed a “continual engagement” model to better integrate knowledge from policy makers, communities, and researchers with the goal of promoting more effective action to balance poverty alleviation and wildlife conservation in 4 pastoral ecosystems of East Africa. The model involved the creation of a core boundary-spanning team, including community facilitators, a policy facilitator, and transdisciplinary researchers, responsible for linking with a wide range of actors from local to global scales. Collaborative researcher–facilitator community teams integrated local and scientific knowledge to help communities and policy makers improve herd quality and health, expand biodiversity payment schemes, develop land-use plans, and fully engage together in pastoral and wildlife policy development. This model focused on the creation of hybrid scientific–local knowledge highly relevant to community and policy maker needs. The facilitation team learned to be more effective by focusing on noncontroversial livelihood issues before addressing more difficult wildlife issues, using strategic and periodic engagement with most partners instead of continual engagement, and reducing costs by providing new scientific information only when deemed essential. We conclude by examining the role of facilitation in redressing asymmetries in power in researcher–community–policy maker teams, the role of individual values and character in establishing trust, and how to sustain knowledge-action links when project funding ends

Proteomic identification of immunodiagnostic antigens for <i>Trypanosoma vivax </i>infections in cattle and generation of a proof-of-concept lateral flow test diagnostic device

Trypanosoma vivax is one of the causative agents of Animal African Trypanosomosis in cattle, which is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa and transmitted primarily by the bite of the tsetse fly vector. The parasite can also be mechanically transmitted, and this has allowed its spread to South America. Diagnostics are limited for this parasite and in farm settings diagnosis is mainly symptom-based. We set out to identify, using a proteomic approach, candidate diagnostic antigens to develop into an easy to use pen-side lateral flow test device. Two related members the invariant surface glycoprotein family, TvY486_0045500 and TvY486_0019690, were selected. Segments of these antigens, lacking N-terminal signal peptides and C-terminal transmembrane domains, were expressed in E. coli. Both were developed into ELISA tests and one of them, TvY486_0045500, was developed into a lateral flow test prototype. The tests were all evaluated blind with 113 randomised serum samples, taken from 37 calves before and after infection with T. vivax or T. congolense. The TvY486_0045500 and TvY486_0019690 ELISA tests gave identical sensitivity and specificity values for T. vivax infection of 94.5% (95% CI, 86.5% to 98.5%) and 88.0% (95% CI, 75.7% to 95.5%), respectively, and the TvY486_0045500 lateral flow test prototype a sensitivity and specificity of 92.0% (95% CI, 83.4% to 97.0%) and 89.8% (95% CI, 77.8% to 96.6%), respectively. These data suggest that recombinant TvY486_0045500 shows promise for the development of a pen-side lateral flow test for the diagnosis of T. vivax animal African trypanosomosis