Millions fed: Proven successes in agricultural development

Learning from successes in agricultural development is now more urgent than ever. Progress in feeding the world’s billions has slowed, while the challenge of meeting future food needs remains enormous and is subject to new uncertainties in the global food and agricultural systems. In the late 1950s around a billion people were estimated to go hungry every day. Scientists, policymakers, farmers, and ordinary people initiated a concerted push to boost agricultural production and productivity in developing countries. Great strides were also made in improving the quality of food and the ability of vulnerable people to access food needed for survival. All these efforts have done more than just feed millions. They have also demonstrated that agriculture can be a key driver of growth and development for many of the world’s poorest countries.Developing countries, Food prices, Poverty reduction, Hunger, malnutrition, Agricultural research, Agricultural technology, food security, Agricultural development, Climate change, Agricultural markets, Agricultural policies, Science and technology,

Highlights from millions fed: Proven successes in agricultural development

Learning from successes in agricultural development is now more urgent than ever. Progress in feeding the world’s billions has slowed, while the challenge of meeting future food needs remains enormous and is subject to new uncertainties in the global food and agricultural systems. In the late 1950s around a billion people were estimated to go hungry every day. Scientists, policymakers, farmers, and ordinary people initiated a concerted push to boost agricultural production and productivity in developing countries. Great strides were also made in improving the quality of food and the ability of vulnerable people to access food needed for survival. All these efforts have done more than just feed millions. They have also demonstrated that agriculture can be a key driver of growth and development for many of the world’s poorest countries.Developing countries, Food prices, Poverty reduction, Hunger, malnutrition, Agricultural research, Agricultural technology, food security, Agricultural development, Climate change, Agricultural markets, Agricultural policies, Science and technology,

Big Boxes, Power Centres and the Evolving Retail Landscape of Winnipeg: A Geographical Perspective

This report offers a geographical perspective on a wave of big box store and power centre development that Winnipeg experienced between 1998 and 2001. Analysis reveals that new retail development has gravitated to existing major retail nodes thereby reinforcing the traditional retail hierarchy. New big box discount and category killer merchants have not eroded the integrity of any regional or super-regional enclosed shopping malls. Smaller open air strip malls have not fared as well. Micro-geographies of traditional enclosed malls and the new retail power centres are explored with attention given to ways the typical design and layout of power centres contributes to increased levels of dependence on automobiles. Planning issues related to the construction of new retail space and the redevelopment of existing retail spaces are discussed

A Comparative Analysis of Major Suburban Shopping Nodes in Winnipeg

This report examines structural and business sector attributes of eight major suburban shopping nodes in Winnipeg. It is based on data assembled during August and September 2001

A clerical error provides a unique opportunity to study the effect of previously seen exam questions on exam results

Due to a clerical error identical chemistry exam papers were set two years running. In the second year that the paper was used it was distributed as a ‘past paper’ for use as a revision aid, and lecturers worked through all the questions during classes. The students were also provided with model answers. Despite this, the cohort of students that had seen and reviewed the questions (n=50) performed no better than the previous year’s students (n=68) who had no prior knowledge of the questions. After the mistake was discovered the students were given a short survey to assess their reactions to the paper. Most thought the practice paper had helped them revise, furthermore they did not notice that they had already seen the exam paper. The students’ results and reactions shed doubt on the value of working through exam questions in lessons

Location and orientation of serotonin receptor 1a agonists in model and complex lipid membranes

Magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR has been used to investigate the location and orientation of five serotonin receptor 1a agonists (serotonin, buspirone, quipazine, 8-OH-DPAT, and LY-163,165) in single component model lipid and brain lipid membranes. The agonist locations are probed by monitoring changes in the lipid proton chemical shifts and by MAS-assisted nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy, which indicates the orientation of the agonists with respect to the 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine lipids. In the single component bilayer, the membrane agonists are found predominantly in the top of the hydrophobic chain or in the glycerol region of the membrane. Most of the agonists orient approximately parallel to the membrane plane, with the exception of quipazine, whose piperazine ring is found in the glycerol region, whereas its benzene ring is located within the lipid hydrophobic chain. The location of the agonist in brain lipid membranes is similar to the 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine lipid bilayers; however, many of the agonists appear to locate close to the cholesterol in the membrane in preference to the phospholipids

Conformational photoswitching of a synthetic peptide foldamer bound within a phospholipid bilayer

The dynamic properties of foldamers, synthetic molecules that mimic folded biomolecules, have mainly been explored in free solution.We report on the design, synthesis, and conformational behavior of photoresponsive foldamers bound in a phospholipid bilayer akin to a biological membrane phase. These molecules contain a chromophore, which can be switched between two configurations by different wavelengths of light, attached to a helical synthetic peptide that both promotes membrane insertion and communicates conformational change along its length. Light-induced structural changes in the chromophore are translated into global conformational changes, which are detected by monitoring the solid-state 19 F nuclear magnetic resonance signals of a remote fluorine-containing residue located 1 to 2 nanometers away. The behavior of the foldamers in the membrane phase is similar to that of analogous compounds in organic solvents

Editorial: History of Neuroscience

International audienc

The order-disorder transition in colloidal suspensions under shear flow

We study the order-disorder transition in colloidal suspensions under shear flow by performing Brownian dynamics simulations. We characterize the transition in terms of a statistical property of time-dependent maximum value of the structure factor. We find that its power spectrum exhibits the power-law behaviour only in the ordered phase. The power-law exponent is approximately -2 at frequencies greater than the magnitude of the shear rate, while the power spectrum exhibits the $1 / f$-type fluctuations in the lower frequency regime.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, v.2: We have made some small improvements on presentation

Bref aperçu de Millions Fed: Succès Prouvés dans le Développement Agricole

Le monde doit accélérer ses progrès dans la réduction de la pauvreté et de la faim. Aujourd’hui, une personne sur six à travers le monde ne mange pas à sa faim et souffre de malnutrition – une proportion tragiquement élevée – et beaucoup d’autres n’ont pas les moyens de manger de manière équilibrée. Malgré les progrès réalisés, de nouveaux défis s’annoncent : la population mondiale devrait atteindre 9 millions de personnes en 2050, le changement climatique fait naître de nouveaux risques pour les agriculteurs, la dégradation de l’environnement contribue à l’érosion des sols et à la raréfaction de l’eau et nous sommes toujours confrontés aux problèmes qui ont provoqué la volatilité dévastatrice des prix alimentaires en 2008. Il est également important de se rappeler que le monde a déjà remporté de grands succès dans le développement agricole qui ont permis de nourrir des milliards d’individus. Après tout, alors qu’un sinistre monde malthusien semblait inévitable, quelque 5 milliards de personnes ont aujourd’hui assez de nourriture pour être en bonne santé et mener une existence productive, et la proportion de la population souffrant de la faim diminue. L’expérience des réussites qui ont permis de réaliser ces progrès est porteuse de précieux enseignements sur la manière de se servir de l’agriculture pour lutter contre la faim et la malnutrition. Jusqu’à aujourd’hui pourtant, nous disposions de relativement peu d’éléments expliquant le pourquoi, le comment et le où de la réussite de ces interventions. Pour identifier et analyser les succès obtenus dans le développement agricole et en tirer des enseignements, la Fondation Bill et Melinda Gates (FBMG) a fait appel à l’Institut international de recherche sur les politiques alimentaires (IFPRI – International Food Policy Research Institute) pour documenter ce qui marche dans le domaine de l’agriculture, c’est-à-dire les types de politiques, de programmes et d’investissements dans le développement agricole qui ont véritablement réduit la faim et la pauvreté. Ce projet fait suite à un autre projet récent intitulé Millions Saved: Exemples de réussites dans la santé mondiale, soutenu par la FBMG et mené par le Centre pour le développement mondial (Center for Global Development). Les études de cas décrivant ces réussites ont été choisies à travers un processus rigoureux comprenant un appel ouvert à sélection, un large examen de la littérature et la consultation d’experts. Plus de 250 études de cas candidates ont été passées au crible d’un ensemble exhaustif de critères incluant des aspects tels que l’échelle, l’impact et la soutenabilité. Un comité d’experts internationalement reconnus a fourni de précieux conseils et avis. Finalement, le projet a retenu 19 succès avérés. Ceux-ci recouvraient des interventions visant aussi bien à augmenter la productivité qu’à combattre les maladies et les organismes nuisibles, ou encore à préserver les ressources naturelles, accroître les opportunités commerciales, améliorer la nutrition humaine ou l’environnement politique. L’une des tendances communes à beaucoup de ces réussites est la conjugaison de la science, de la politique et du leadership. Tant que la faim et la malnutrition ne seront pas éradiquées, nul ne pourra crier victoire. Notre espoir est donc que notre effort attirera une plus grande attention sur des investissements solides dans le développement agricole, capables de combattre la faim et de favoriser l’extension et la réplication des succès.Agricultural development, Climate change, Agricultural markets, Developing countries, Agricultural policies, food security, Agricultural research, malnutrition, Hunger, Agricultural technology, Food prices, Poverty reduction, Science and technology,