gender and inorganic nitrogen what are the implications of moving towards a more balanced use of nitrogen fertilizer in the tropics

ABSTRACTFor agriculture to play a role in climate change mitigation strategies to reduce emissions from inorganic nitrogen (N) fertilizer through a more balanced and efficient use are necessary. Such strategies should align with the overarching principle of sustainable intensification and will need to consider the economic, environmental and social trade-offs of reduced fertilizer-related emissions. However, the gender equity dimensions of such strategies are rarely considered. The case studies cited in this paper, from India, Lake Victoria in East Africa and more broadly from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), show that the negative externalities of imbalanced inorganic N use in high- and low-use scenarios impact more strongly on women and children. We examine, through a literature review of recent work in SSA, the relative jointness of intra-household bargaining processes in low N use scenarios to assess the degree to which they impact upon N use. We suggest that gender-equitable strategies for achieving more ba..

Regulation of Transforming Growth Factor-β1–driven Lung Fibrosis by Galectin-3

Rationale: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic dysregulated response to alveolar epithelial injury with differentiation of epithelial cells and fibroblasts into matrix-secreting myofibroblasts resulting in lung scaring. The prognosis is poor and there are no effective therapies or reliable biomarkers. Galectin-3 is a beta-galactoside binding lectin that is highly expressed in fibrotic tissue of diverse etiologies. Objectives: To examine the role of galectin-3 in pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: We used genetic deletion and pharmacologic inhibition in well-characterized murine models of lung fibrosis. Further mechanistic studies were performed in vitro and on samples from patients with IPF. Measurements and Main Results: Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta and bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis was dramatically reduced in mice deficient in galectin-3, manifest by reduced TGF-beta 1 induced EMT and myofibroblast activation and collagen production. Galectin-3 reduced phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of beta-catenin but had no effect on Smad2/3 phosphorylation. A novel inhibitor of galectin -3, TD139, blocked TGF-beta-induced beta-catenin activation in vitro and in vivo and attenuated the late-stage progression of lung fibrosis after bleomycin. There was increased expression of galectin-3 in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum from patients with stable IPF compared with nonspecific interstitial pneumonitis and controls, which rose sharply during an acute exacerbation suggesting that. galectin-3 may be a marker of active fibrosis in IPF and that strategies that block galectin-3 may be effective in treating acute fibrotic exacerbations of IPF. Conclusions: This study identifies galectin-3 as an important regulator of lung fibrosis and provides a proof of principle for galectin-3 inhibition as a potential novel therapeutic strategy for IPF

Faster estimation of a discrete-time proportional hazards model with gamma frailty

Fitting a complementary log–log model that accounts for gamma-distributed unobserved heterogeneity often takes a significant amount of time. This is in part because numerical derivatives are used to approximate the gradient vector and Hessian matrix. The main contribution of this article is the use of Mata and a gf2 evaluator to express the gradient vector and Hessian matrix. Gradient vector expression allows one to use a few different options and postestimation commands. Furthermore, expression of the gradient vector and Hessian matrix increases the speed at which a likelihood function is maximized

Cancer and the healthy immigrant effect: a statistical analysis of cancer diagnosis using a linked Census-cancer registry administrative database

Abstract Background A large volume of research has been published on both the socio economic and demographic determinants of cancer and on the health of immigrants and minority groups. Yet because of data limitations, little research examines differences in the occurrence of cancer incidence between immigrants and non-immigrants and among immigrants defined by region of birth and time in the host country. In particular it is not known whether a healthy immigrant effect is present for cancer and if so, whether this advantage is lost with additional years of residence in the host country. Methods This paper uses a large data file from Statistics Canada that links Census information on immigrant status, socioeconomic status including educational attainment, and other person-level information with administrative data on cancer and mortality over a continuous 13 year period of observation. It estimates discrete and continuous time duration models to identify differences in cancer diagnosis by immigrant subgroup after controlling for a variety of potential confounders. Differences in historical smoking behavior are not observable at the individual level in the dataset but are accounted for indirectly using various methods. Results Results in general confirm the existence of a healthy immigrant effect for cancer in that, overall, recent immigrants to Canada are significantly less likely than otherwise comparable non-immigrant Canadians to be diagnosed with any cancer and the most common forms of cancer by site. As well, this gap appears to decline with additional years in Canada for immigrant men and women, eventually converging to Canadian-born levels. Differentiating among immigrant subgroups by period of arrival and country of birth reveals significant variation across immigrant subgroups, with immigrant men and women from developing countries typically having a lower likelihood of being diagnosed with cancer than immigrants from the US, UK and continental Europe. As well, controlling for immigrant heterogeneity this way weakens the conclusion that the gap narrows with years in Canada. Immigrant men overall continue to exhibit convergence to Canadian-born levels for diagnosis of any cancer and for prostate cancer, while immigrant women exhibit narrowing over time only for breast cancer. Although smoking behavior is not directly observed, controlling for subgroup-specific lifetime smoking behavior using survey data has only a relatively minor effect on the estimated differences. Conclusions The specificity of the results by cancer type, gender, immigrant status and ethnicity provides useful guidance for future research by helping to narrow the possible channels through which social and economic characteristics may be affecting cancer incidence

Rimisp - Latin American Center for Rural Development in the WDR2008 "Agriculture for Development" : assessment of its influence; final report; annex 1, documents commissioned by Rimisp for the WDR 2008

Fair trade makes visible the relations within international commodity chains, and has an explicit development agenda targeted towards those considered most marginalized in international agricultural commodity chains - smallholder farmers and plantation workers. Fair Trade works to connect Southern producers with Northern consumers through international trade networks dedicated to community development. The report details world-wide production and consumption markets for fair trade, the main actors and networks involved in these markets and movements, the details and implications of the mainstreaming of fair trade, and the prospects for fair trade to promote current and future pro-poor development