Innovating for skills enhancement in agricultural sciences in Africa: The centrality of field attachment programs

Africa remains an intensely agrarian continent, with two-thirds of its people directly or indirectly deriving their livelihood from agriculture. Higher agricultural education has thus emphasised production of graduates with the requisite skills to drive agricultural development. Despite these efforts, too few graduates in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have the employable skills necessary to transition to the labour market. A similar situation is observable among agricultural science graduates, who are vital to serving rural smallholder farmers. Most Colleges of Agriculture in Africa offer field attachment internships in agriculture and related fields but they are largely designed to cater for undergraduate students and are not part of the training programs at graduate level. To ameliorate this gap, the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), a network of 55 member universities in SSA, designed and rolled out an innovative field attachment program award (FAPA), launched in 2010, to serve graduate students. The FAPA is competitively based and designed to encourage students to follow through with the dissemination of their research and to enable them to link more closely with the communities and agencies working in the geographical area where the research was undertaken.During the period 2010–2015, five grant cycles were successfully implemented and 114 graduate students from 17 countries in SSA awarded. This article discusses the lessons learned during this period by examining two key areas: (1) the application process and implementation of the awards; and (2) the reported outcomes and challenges for grantees. Establishing the award has generated key technical and implementation lessons that the network and individual universities have been able to use to improve and institutionalise processes. Grantees have reported gaining a range of cross-cutting skills in personal mastery, initiative leadership and innovativeness, proactivity, flexibility, communication, analytical capacity, teamwork, networking and advocacy, and technical capacity, particularly in engaging with smallholder farmers. They have also noted significant challenges, in particular around establishing productive and sustainable engagement with smallholder farmers. These outcomes have influenced curricular reviews by member universities, with particular emphasis on these skills sets. Keywords: graduate employability, internships, sub-Saharan Africa, university

Symmetry Plays a Key Role in the Erasing of Patterned Surface Features

We report on how the relaxation of patterns prepared on a thin film can be controlled by manipu- lating the symmetry of the initial shape. The validity of a lubrication theory for the capillary-driven relaxation of surface profiles is verified by atomic force microscopy measurements, performed on films that were patterned using focused laser spike annealing. In particular, we observe that the shape of the surface profile at late times is entirely determined by the initial symmetry of the perturba- tion, in agreement with the theory. Moreover, in this regime the perturbation amplitude relaxes as a power-law in time, with an exponent that is also related to the initial symmetry. The results have relevance in the dynamical control of topographic perturbations for nanolithography and high density memory storage

FY 2017 Center Innovation Fund Annual Report - Highlights/Abstract section

This project evaluated the feasibility of low pressure cold plasma (CP) for two applications: disinfection of produce grown in space and sterilization of medical equipment in space. Currently there is no ISS capability for disinfecting pick and eat crops, food utensils, food production areas, or medical devices. This deficit is extended to projected long duration missions. Small, portable, cold plasma devices would provide an enhanced benefit to crew health and address issues concerning microbial cross contamination. The technology would contribute to the reduction of solid waste since currently crews utilize benzalkonium chloride wet wipes for cleaning surfaces and might use PRO-SAN wipes for cleaning vegetables. CP cleaning/disinfection/sterilization can work on many surfaces, including all metals, most polymers, and this project evaluated produce. Therefore CP provides a simple system that has many different cleaning application in space: produce, medical equipment, cutlery, miscellaneous tools

Far-UV FUSE spectroscopy of the OVI resonance doublet in Sand2 (WO)

We present Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spectroscopy of Sand 2, a LMC WO-type Wolf-Rayet star, revealing the OVI resonance P Cygni doublet at 1032-38A. These data are combined with HST/FOS ultraviolet and Mt Stromlo 2.3m optical spectroscopy, and analysed using a spherical, non-LTE, line-blanketed code. Our study reveals exceptional stellar parameters: T*=150,000K, v_inf=4100 km/s, log (L/Lo)=5.3, and Mdot=10^-5 Mo/yr if we adopt a volume filling factor of 10%. Elemental abundances of C/He=0.7+-0.2 and O/He=0.15(-0.05+0.10) by number qualitatively support previous recombination line studies. We confirm that Sand 2 is more chemically enriched in carbon than LMC WC stars, and is expected to undergo a supernova explosion within the next 50,000 yr.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, AASTeX preprint format. This paper will appear in a special issue of ApJ Letters devoted to the first scientific results from the FUSE missio

Do rearing salmonids predictably occupy physical microhabitat?

Microhabitat suitability models are commonly used to estimate salmonid habitat abundance and quality with unknown accuracy or reliability. When tested, the metrics used to evaluate these models are often limited by the methods used to develop them. More generalized bioverification strategies that transcend methodology are therefore needed in ecohydraulics. This study further developed and applied such a generalized bioverification framework to four approximately 1-m-resolution rearing salmonid microhabitat suitability models. Water depth and velocity habitat suitability criteria (HSC) functions were developed for two size classes of rearing Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and O. mykiss using snorkel survey data collected over three years at seven sites along the lower Yuba River in California, USA. An expert-based cover HSC function was modified from previous studies. HSC functions were applied to previously validated, approximately 1-m-resolution two-dimensional hydrodynamic models and cover maps of the river. Mann–Whitney U tests confirmed that suitability values were significantly higher at utilized locations compared to randomly generated, non-utilized locations for all four models. Bootstrapped forage ratios demonstrated that microhabitat suitability models accurately predicted both preferred and avoided habitat beyond the 95% confidence level. This generalized bioverification framework is recommended for evaluating and comparing the accuracy and reliability of ecohydraulic models used in habitat management worldwide

The complex behaviour of the microquasar GRS 1915+105 in the rho class observed with BeppoSAX. I: Timing analysis

GRS 1915+105 was observed by BeppoSAX for about 10 days in October 2000. For about 80% of the time, the source was in the variability class $\rho$, characterised by a series of recurrent bursts. We describe the results of the timing analysis performed on the MECS (1.6--10 keV) and PDS (15--100 keV) data. The X-ray count rate from \grss showed an increasing trend with different characteristics in the various energy bands. Fourier and wavelet analyses detect a variation in the recurrence time of the bursts, from 45--50 s to about 75 s, which appear well correlated with the count rate. From the power distribution of peaks in Fourier periodograms and wavelet spectra, we distinguished between the {\it regular} and {\it irregular} variability modes of the $\rho$ class, which are related to variations in the count rate in the 3--10 keV range. We identified two components in the burst structure: the slow leading trail, and the pulse, superimposed on a rather stable level. We found that the change in the recurrence time of the regular mode is caused by the slow leading trails, while the duration of the pulse phase remains far more stable. The evolution in the mean count rates shows that the time behaviour of both the leading trail and the baseline level are very similar to those observed in the 1.6--3 and 15--100 keV ranges, while that of the pulse follows the peak number. These differences in the time behaviour and count rates at different energies indicate that the process responsible for the pulses must produce the strongest emission between 3 and 10 keV, while that associated with both the leading trail and the baseline dominates at lower and higher energiesComment: Astronomy and Astrophysics, in pres

Aqueous Extract of Sorindeia Juglandifolia Leaves Protects Methotrexate-Induced Liver and Kidney Damage in Rat

Introduction: Liver and kidney affection is a life-threatening disease caused by factors including drug-based treatment. Treatment based on methotrexate could result in liver and kidney damages. The study evaluates the preventive effects of Sorindeia juglandifolia leaves on methotrexate-induced liver and kidney impairment in rat. Methods: Healthy rats divided into 6 groups daily received distilled water, methotrexate (20 mg/kg), sub-cutaneous injection of L-carnitin (500 mg/kg) and methotrexate and the plant extract doses of 150, 250 and 350 mg/kg and methotrexate for 10 days. During treatment, body weight was recorded. At the end of the treatment, animals were sacrificed; venous blood were collected for haematological and biochemical analysis. Liver and kidney were collected for oxidative markers and histological examination. Results: The consecutive treatment of animals with plant extract and methotrexate showed a significant prevention of the body weight decrease and enhancement of the relative weight of liver and kidney. Sorindeia. juglandifolia extract also protected from the significant increase in transaminase activities, bilirubin and protein level, hypercholesterolemia, atherogenic index, and in the kidney from hypercreatininemia and the increase in serum urea level. The extract prevented the decrease of sodium level and glomerular filtration. Plant extract improved reactive oxygen species detoxification agents and protected from the histological disorganization of the liver and kidney tissues, observed in the MTX control. Conclusion: Sorindeia juglandifolia leaves extract expressed hepatorenal protective properties and could be useful to prevent liver and kidney damage induce by methotrexate

Tumor Retroperitoneal: Neurofibroma

El Neurofibroma es una neoplasia benigna que se origina en la vaina de los nervios periféricos, la cual es más frecuente de localizarse en los tejidos superficiales, sobre todo en las formas aisladas. Los neurofibromas pueden ser de dos tipos, localizados o difusos, estos últimos íntimamente relacionados con la enfermedad de Von Recklinghausen o NF-1. En un paciente masculino de 37 años oligo-sintomático tanto la tomografía computada, como la resonancia magnética nuclear se puede observar el tumor en vecindad con el riñón derecho, el músculo psoas, la columna vertebral y la compresión de la vena cava, más no pueden determinar con exactitud la invasión de dichas estructuras. Se describe diagnóstico diferencial, tratamiento terapéutico y revisión del manejo de esta patología en la literatura actua