Commodity and product identification for value chain analysis.

This commodity and product identification research was undertaken in the context of the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS). AAS seeks to reduce poverty and improve food security for the millions of small-scale fishers and farmers who depend on the world’s floodplains, deltas and coasts. The objective of this research is to strengthen the capacity of AAS to undertake value chain studies with high potential impact on smallholders. The capacity-building aspect of this research was focused on the process of commodity and product identification for value chain analysis. Its scope was limited to fish and other aquatic animals and products in the Tonle Sap area identified for AAS intervention. The result of the identification process was the selection of a number of commodities and products that were deemed to involve a high number of smallholders along the value chain and that have high market development potential

Socioeconomics and values of resources in great Lake-Tonle Sap and Mekong-Bassac area : results from a sample survey in Kampong Chhnang, Siem Reap and Kandal provinces, Cambodia

Socioeconomics aspects, Fishery economics, Cambodia,

Fish fights over fish rights: Conflicts arising from re-allocation of fishing lots: perceptions from community fisheries in Cambodia

Disputes, Aquaculture, Cambodia,

Fish consumption pattern in major freshwater fisheries provinces of Cambodia

Production and consumption of fish were estimated for a one year period during 1995-96 using a sample of 5 117 households. The sample was taken from a study area covering 83 sample communes in 51 fishing districts belonging to eight freshwater fisheries provinces. About 39% of households in fishing dependent communities were actively involved in fishing. Of the total fishing households, 14% took part in commercial fishing using middle-scale fishing gear. Average annual catch per household for middle-scale and family fishing was 3 319 kg and 647 kg, respectively. Nearly 40% of the fish catch was consumed within the communes. The per capita consumption of fresh fish by fishing households (49.7 kg/yr) was higher than that of non-fishing households (39.9 kg/yr). Including processed fish, the total fish consumption by the fishing dependent communes was estimated at 75.6 kg per capita per annum. Given this high rate of fish consumption, development interventions must consider the role of fisheries in ensuring a sustainable livelihood and food security to Cambodia's growing population

Ocean colour changes in the North Pacific since 1930

In this paper we present an analysis of historical ocean colour data from the North Pacific Ocean. This colour is described by the Forel-Ule colour index, a sea colour comparator scale that is composed of 21 tube colours that is routinely measured since the year 1890. The main objective of this research is to characterise colour changes of the North Pacific Ocean at a timescale of decades. Next to the seasonal colour changes, due to the yearly cycle of biological activity, this time series between 1930 and 1999 might contain information on global changes in climate conditions. From seasonal independent analyses of the long-term variations it was found that the greenest values, with mean Forel-Ule scale ((FU) ̅) of 4.1 were reached during the period of 1950-1954, with a second high ((FU) ̅ = 3) in the period 1980-1984. The bluest ocean was encountered during the years 1990-1994. The data indicate that after 1955 a remarkable long bluing took place till 1980

Organization Culture as an Explanation for Employee Discipline Practices

Most supervisors dread employee discipline and often employ strategies not officially sanctioned by the organization. Poorly designed discipline systems cause this variation in discipline practices. Inconsistent discipline can cause losses in productivity and reduce employee morale. Extant literature offers little in the form of guidance for improving this important human resource activity. This article explore where normative literature on organizational culture may have explanatory value for understanding variation in discipline practices. The article suggests two groups of factors that have causal effects on discipline practices. The tangible factors are those describing the formal practices the organization wishes its employees to follow. The intangible factors provide cues for explaining why informal strategies emerge as successful practices for getting things done. Using this conception of organization culture, the article proposes hypotheses for future testing to validate the suspected influence of culture on decisions regarding employee discipline.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Everyday Diplomacy: UKUSA Intelligence Cooperation and Geopolitical Assemblages

This article offers an alternative to civilizational thinking in geopolitics and international relations predicated on assemblage theory. Building on literature in political geography and elsewhere about everyday practices that produce state effects, this article theorizes the existence of transnational geopolitical assemblages that incorporate foreign policy apparatuses of multiple states. Everyday material and discursive circulations make up these assemblages, serving as conduits of affect that produce an emergent agency. To demonstrate this claim, I outline a genealogy of the UKUSA alliance, an assemblage of intelligence communities in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. I then trace the circulation of materialities and affects—at the scales of individual subjects, technological systems of mediation, and transnational processes of foreign policy formation. In doing so, I offer a bottom-up process of assemblage that produces the emergent phenomena that proponents of civilizational thinking mistakenly attribute to macroscaled factors, such as culture

Characteristics and outcomes of patients with severe COVID-19 in Indonesia: Lessons from the first wave.

BackgroundIndonesia's national response to COVID-19 evolved rapidly throughout 2020. Understanding pandemic response and outcomes is crucial for better mitigation strategies ahead. This study describes the characteristics and outcomes of patients admitted to ICU during the early stages of the pandemic.MethodsThis is a multi-centre prospective observational study including patients from twelve collaborating hospitals in Indonesia. All patients were clinically suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases admitted to ICU between January 2020 and March 2021. The primary outcome was monthly ICU mortality. Descriptive statistics of patient characteristics and treatment were generated as secondary outcomes.ResultsFrom 559 subjects, the overall mortality was 68% and decreased over the study period, while the mortality of patients that received mechanical ventilation was 92%, consistently high over the study period. Fatal cases showed 2- and 4-day delays from symptoms onset to hospital admissions and ICU admissions, respectively. Evidence-backed approaches which could influence patient outcome, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, prone positioning, renal replacement therapy, and neuromuscular blockade were scarcely administered.ConclusionsThe mortality rate of COVID-19 patients in Indonesia was extremely high during the first major outbreak of disease, particularly in those mechanically ventilated. Delayed admission and unavailability of evidence-based approaches due to high burden on health facility during COVID-19 crisis could be addressed by efficient public health measures and enhancing health infrastructure to improve the future pandemic response

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.