Agricultural research and poverty reduction:

International agricultural research has contributed enormously to increasing world food supplies to their current state of plenty. Yet poverty remains a major problem and the challenge for agricultural research now lies in developing strategies that more explicitly address the needs of the poor. This paper, based on the study commissioned by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the CGIAR system, addresses this issue. Based on an analysis of the links between agricultural research and poverty alleviation in different types of countries and rural regions, Peter Hazell and Lawrence Haddad identify six key priorities for a pro-poor agricultural research agenda and discuss strategies for achieving each of these goals with the least trade-off in national agricultural growth. (Excerpted from Forward by Per Pinstrup-Andersen and Emil Javier)agricultural research, poverty, food supply,

Attempting to validate the over/under triage matrix at a level I trauma center.

The Optimal Resources Document (ORD) mandates trauma activation based on injury mechanism, physiologic and anatomic criteria and recommends using the over/undertriage matrix (Matrix) to evaluate the appropriateness of trauma team activation. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the Matrix method by comparing patients appropriately triaged with those undertriaged. We hypothesized that these two groups are different and Matrix does not discriminate the needs or outcomes of these different groups of patients.Trauma registry data, from 1/2013-12/2015, at a Level I trauma center were reviewed. Over and undertriage rates were calculated by Matrix. Patients with ISS ≥16 were classified by activation level (full, limited, consultation), and triage category by Matrix. Patients in the limited activation and consultation groups were compared to patients with full activation by demographics, injuries, initial vital signs, procedures, delays to procedure, ICU admission, length of stay, and mortality.7031 patients met activation criteria. Compliance with ACS tiered activation criteria was 99%. The Matrix overtriage rate was 45% and undertriage was 24%. Of 2282 patients with an ISS ≥16, 1026 were appropriately triaged (full activation), and 1256 were under triaged. Undertriaged patients had better GCS, blood pressure, and BD than patients with full activation. ICU admission, hospital stays, and mortality were lower in the undertriaged group. The under triaged group required fewer operative interventions with fewer delays to procedure.Despite having an ISS ≥ 16, patients with limited activations were dissimilar to patients with full activation. Level of activation and triage are not equivalent. The ACS-COT full and tiered activation criteria are a robust means to have the appropriate personnel present based on available pre-hospital information. Evaluation of the process of care, regardless of level of activation should be used to evaluate trauma center performance.Level III Therapeutic and Care managementThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal

Impacts of agricultural research on poverty: findings of an integrated economic and social analysis

Agricultural research, Sustainable livelihoods, Agricultural growth, Gender, Agricultural technology,

Red-tide–associated Mass Mortality in 2005 of the Sand Dollars Encope aberrans, Encope michelini, and Mellita tenuis (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) on the Central Florida Gulf Coast Shelf

In March 2005, populations of Encope aberrans and E. michelini found at 20-m depth (ca. 27 km west of Captiva Island) and of Mellita tenuis at 6.5-m depth (ca. 7 km west of Egmont Key) were studied to calculate density and size frequency distribution. All individuals were alive. A red tide occurred on the central Florida Gulf Coast shelf during the summer. In Sept., all individuals in these populations were dead. Dead individuals had lost their spines and were gray but intact, indicating recent death. On the same date, all E. michelini and E. aberrans were alive in a population at 20-m depth (ca. 26 km north of the site off Captiva Island and ca. 23 km west of Gasparilla Island). All individuals in a population of M. tenuis at 2-m depth immediately offshore Fort De Soto Park were alive 1 mo after the observation of complete mortality off Egmont Key. All E. aberrans at a site 28 km southwest of Egmont Key were dead in Oct. In May 2006, live E. michelini occurred at the Captiva site at the same density as in March and Sept. 2005. Their large size indicates their origin was by migration from nearby areas unaffected by the red tide

Microwave resonances of ultrathin hexagonally-symmetric microcavity arrays

Copyright © 2012 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Journal of Applied Physics 112 (2012) and may be found at http://link.aip.org/link/?JAP/112/014904A metamaterial surface formed by three slot gratings at 60° to each other has two possible high-symmetry arrangements. One forms equilateral triangular metal patches, the other a combination of hexagons and small equilateral triangles. When spaced above a ground plane with a thin dielectric spacer both structures give strong microwave absorption at certain resonant frequencies, which is largely angle independent. The results of microwave reflectivity measurements are here presented for the two distinct sample geometries and compared with predictions from finite element method models

Modeling the source of GW150914 with targeted numerical-relativity simulations

In fall of 2015, the two LIGO detectors measured the gravitational wave signal GW150914, which originated from a pair of merging black holes. In the final 0.2 seconds (about 8 gravitational-wave cycles) before the amplitude reached its maximum, the observed signal swept up in amplitude and frequency, from 35 Hz to 150 Hz. The theoretical gravitational-wave signal for merging black holes, as predicted by general relativity, can be computed only by full numerical relativity, because analytic approximations fail near the time of merger. Moreover, the nearly-equal masses, moderate spins, and small number of orbits of GW150914 are especially straightforward and efficient to simulate with modern numerical-relativity codes. In this paper, we report the modeling of GW150914 with numerical-relativity simulations, using black-hole masses and spins consistent with those inferred from LIGO's measurement. In particular, we employ two independent numerical-relativity codes that use completely different analytical and numerical methods to model the same merging black holes and to compute the emitted gravitational waveform; we find excellent agreement between the waveforms produced by the two independent codes. These results demonstrate the validity, impact, and potential of current and future studies using rapid-response, targeted numerical-relativity simulations for better understanding gravitational-wave observations.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit

Cavitation in shock wave lithotripsy: the critical role of bubble activity in stone breakage and kidney trauma

Objective: Shock Wave Lithotripsy (SWL) is the use of shock waves to fragment kidney stones. We have undertaken a study of the physical mechanisms responsible for stone comminution and tissue injury in SWL. SWL was originally developed on the premise that stone fragmentation could be induced by a short duration, high amplitude positive pressure pulse. Even though the SWL waveform carries a prominent tensile component, it has long been thought that SW damage to stones could be explained entirely on the basis of mechanisms such as spallation, pressure gradients, and compressive fracture. We contend that not only is cavitation also involved in SWL, bubble activity plays a critical role in stone breakage and is a key mechanism in tissue damage. Methods: Our evidence is based upon a series of experiments in which we have suppressed or minimized cavitation, and discovered that both stone comminution and tissue injury is similarly suppressed or minimized. Some examples of these experiments are (1) application of overpressure, (2) time reversal of acoustic waveform, (3) acoustically-transparent, cavitation-absorbing films, and (4) dual pulses. In addition, using passive and active ultrasound, we have observed the existence of cavitation, in vivo, and at the site of tissue injury. Results: Numerical and experimental results showed mitigation of bubble collapse intensity by time-reversing the lithotripsy pulse and in vivo treatment showed a corresponding drop from 6.1% ± 1.7% to 0.0% in the hemorrhagic lesion. The time-reversed wave did not break stones. Stone comminution and hemolysis were reduced to levels very near sham levels with the application of hydrostatic pressure greater than the near 10-MPa amplitude of the negative pressure of the lithotripter shock wave. A Mylar sheet 3-mm from the stone surface did not inhibit erosion and internal cracking, but a sheet in contact with the stone did. In water, mass lost from stones in a dual pulse lithotripter is 8 times greater than with a single lithotripter, but in glycerol, which reduces the pressures generated in bubble implosion, the enhancement is lost. Conclusion: This cavitation-inclusive mechanistic understanding of SWL is gaining acceptance and has had clinical impact. Treatment at slower SW rate gives cavitation bubble clusters time to dissolve between pulses and increases comminution. Some SWL centers now treat patients at slower SW rate to take advantage of this effect. An elegant cavitation-aware strategy to reduce renal trauma in SWL is being tested in experimental animals. Starting treatment at low amplitude causes vessels to constrict and this interferes with cavitation-mediated vascular injury. Acceptance of the role of cavitation in SWL is beginning to be embraced by the lithotripter industry, as new dual-pulse lithotripters—based on the concept of cavitation control— have now been introduced