Managing irrigation jointly with farmers: history, present status and future: review of participatory irrigation management in Sri Lanka

Agriculture development has been the main strategy for the socioeconomic development in the country since time immemorial, even though its contribution to GDP has been declining recently. Successive governments of Sri Lanka since independence have invested heavily in the irrigated agriculture sector to address the food security concerns of the country. The continuous investment in irrigation was required to address problems such as spatial and temporal variations in monsoonal rainfall in the country, which has a serious negative impact on food production and livelihoods of people. The need for pursuing irrigation development and management has become more important in the country in the face of rapid population growth and increasing food prices in the world market. In this context, managing irrigation schemes for productivity increase is becoming increasingly important and different irrigation management models have also emerged through attempts made in this direction by countries including Sri Lanka, where irrigation plays a leading role in food production and nation development. Farmers’ active involvement in irrigation management, especially operation and maintenance (O&M) and decision-making as well, has been identified as a key requirement to attain productivity goals and the sustainability of irrigation systems. This paper aims at reviewing participatory irrigation management approaches adopted in medium and major irrigation systems in Sri Lanka with a view to identifying their past and present trends and future directions. The review will contribute to an improved understanding by policymakers, managers of irrigation schemes and farmers of the role of participatory irrigation management, its past and present including institutional structures, responsibilities and performance and the directions it should take to meet future challenges as a dynamic institutional mechanism. As all the medium and major irrigation schemes in the country are jointly managed by farmers and government agencies, the inferences drawn from the review would be important for the agencies and farmers alike to introduce necessary changes in their programs to address future needs and requirements.Length: pp.35-63Participatory managementIrrigation managementFarmers organizationsIndicatorsHistoryIrrigation schemes

An assessment of the Small-Scale Irrigation Management Turnover Program in Indonesia.

Irrigation management / Privatization / Small scale systems / Irrigation systems / Water distribution / Performance / Operations / Maintenance / Productivity / Crop yield / Economic impact / Costs / Indonesia

Perubahan Kadar Hormon Tiroid pada Penderita Sindroma Nefrotik

Thyroid hormones levels in nephrotic syndromeBackground: Nephrotic syndrome is one of the most found kidney disease. A great part (>99%) of circulating thyroid hormones were bound to proteins, thus derangements of blood proteins in nephrotic syndrome are potential to disturb thyroid hormones levels. This study was aimed to compare thyroid hormones levels changes in childhood Nephrotic Syndrome before and after remission.Method: Thirty four nephrotic syndrome patients studied on Department of pediatric of Dr. Kariadi Hospital, Semarang between April 1995 to June 1996 were for albumin, cholesterol, thyroid and thyroid stimulating hormone levels before and after remission and were tested with Wilcoxon signed rank test. The correlation between albumin and thyroxin levels before and after remission. were analyzed with Spearman correlation test.Results: T4 level before remission was 26.89±16.12 nmol/L, TSH 9.36±5.51 IU/ml, and after remission T4 106.63±28.02 nmol/L,TSH 1.78±1.91 μIU/mL. There were significant changes of thyroid hormones levels before and after remission (z=5.09; p=0.000). There were positive correlation between blood protein (albumin) level and thyroid hormone (T4) level in nephrotic syndrome before remission (r=0.51; p=0.000) and after remission (r=0.38; p=0.004). A great proportion of nephrotic syndrome patients, suffered from hypothyroidism and return to euthyroid after remission.Conclusions: Thyroid hormone levels changed during the course of nephrotic syndrome

Aging of the Nonlinear Optical Susceptibility of colloidal solutions

Using Z-scan and dynamic light scattering measurements we investigate the nonlinear optics response of a colloidal solution undergoing dynamics slowing down with age. We study the high optical nonlinearity of an organic dye (Rhodamine B) dispersed in a water-clay (Laponite) solution, at different clay concentrations (2.0 wt% - 2.6 wt%), experiencing the gelation process. We determine the clay platelets self diffusion coefficient and, by its comparison with the structural relaxation time, we conclude that the gelation process proceeds through the structuring of interconnecting clay platelets network rather than through clusters growth and aggregation.Comment: 4 figures, 4 page

The scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) of Iran with the description of Mahabadphora aesthesphora as a new genus and species.

Scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) are mega-diverse and often synanthropic insects that play superb roles in various ecosystems. Identification of this group of insects is challenging due to their small size, morphological identification difficulties, niche diversity, and lack of taxonomic keys. To pave the way, an in-depth investigation was directed toward the scuttle flies in Iran using morphological and molecular data. A dichotomous key was also developed to identify the genus and species of the phorids reported in the country. The faunistic findings revealed the presence of about 22,000 (13,903 male and 8,097 female) phorid materials organized into 11 genera. Megaselia species (n = 13768), made up about 99% of the specimens studied. Moreover, 71 morphologically defined species belonging to nine genera were molecularly characterized using COI, 28S rRNA, and Arginine kinase datasets. Excluding four Megaselia Rondani, 1856 species, our results specified that morphologically delimited species were in agreement with the molecular analyses inferred from the COI/28S rRNA and COI/Arginine kinase sequences with genetic distances and phylogenetic trees. According to the results of the present study and previously published data, the Phoridae recorded for Iran are a total of 97 species that are ordered in 13 genera and three subfamilies, including Chonocephalinae, Metopininae and Phorinae. By comparing the known world phorid genera, a new monotypic genus of scuttle flies, Mahabadphora aesthesphora gen. nov., sp. nov., was identified based on its morphological and molecular characteristics and included in an updated key. Our results could comprehensively determine the taxonomic status of scuttle flies in Iran, scrutinize their phylogenetic structures and facilitate their identification

Prevalence of and factors associated with anxiety and depression among women in a lower middle class semi-urban community of Karachi, Pakistan

Objective: To study the prevalence of, and factors associated with anxiety and depression among women.Design: A cross sectional survey.SETTING: A lower middle class semi-urban community of Karachi, Pakistan.PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1218 women between the ages of 18-50 years.METHODOLOGY: Systematically every third household was identified from which a woman was randomly selected. The Aga Khan University Anxiety and Depression Scale and a socio-demographic questionnaire were administered verbally by trained interviewers for assessing the prevalence of, and associated factors for anxiety and depression.Results: A prevalence of 30% was found. Increasing age, lack of education and verbal abuse were the associated factors found to have an independent relationship.CONCLUSION: Providing education and reducing domestic abuse could lead to decrease in the prevalence of anxiety and depression in women

What issues bring primary school children to counselling? A service evaluation of presenting issues across 291 schools working with Place2Be

Background: Poor mental health reduces children’s ability to function at school, which in turn may undermine their mental health. The provision of school-based counselling aims to help schools to support their pupil’s mental health. Most work on the types of difficulties brought to school counsellors has focused on secondary school pupils (aged 11 years or over) and to our knowledge, this is the first study of presenting issues in younger children. Method: Data were systematically collected using a list of 21 potential presenting issues during assessment and formulation of 8,893 children referred for counselling in 291 UK primary schools over 3 years. We explored the number, severity and types of presenting issues recorded by counsellors in the whole sample by gender. Results: The children assessed by counsellors had higher levels of known correlates for poor mental health than their peers in the same schools. Most children had multiple presenting issues, while 55% of children had at least one severe presenting issue. The commonest presenting issues were generalised anxiety, low self-esteem, family tensions and mood swings. Girls were more likely to present with all types of anxiety and family tensions, while attentional problems and mood swings were commoner among boys. Conclusions: Children referred for counselling in primary schools often present with multiple difficulties, which are often severe. This indicates the need for systematic and detailed assessment, adequate training and supervision and good links with external agencies

Teaching Excellence: A Reaction to the Smith Commission Report and its Effects

This paper has been written partially in response to the Smith Commission Report, and partially in response to the reactions the report has elicited already. The Smith Commission Report voiced many valid concerns about teaching excellence; however, many of the so-called "innovations" that have been developed in answer to Stuart Smith's call for teaching excellence are, in fact, little different from those techniques implemented under the auspices of the Ontario Universities Program for Institutional Development (OUPID) in the 1960's and early 1970's. This being the case, the authors feel that the most likely result will be a similar lack of success. It is, therefore, our suggestion that an attempt ought to be made to change the infrastructure of the university sys- tem so that it supports good teaching and research with equal measure. This, above all else, should lead to real improvements in the quality of teaching