Living on the margin: Assessing the economic impacts of Landcare in the Philippine uplands

In the Philippines, about 38 per cent of the population resides in rural areas where poverty remains a significant problem. In 2006, 47 per cent of all households in Bohol Province fell below the national poverty line, with the percentage even higher in upland communities. These households often exist in marginal landscapes that are under significant pressure from ongoing resource degradation and rising input costs. This paper first explores whether the adoption of Landcare practices in a highly degraded landscape has resulted in improved livelihood outcomes for upland farming families in Bohol. Second, it analyses the potential for the piecemeal adoption of these measures to deliver tangible benefits at the watershed scale. Finally, using a BCA approach, these outcomes are compared to the costs of the research and extension projects that have helped achieve them.Landcare, Philippines, livelihoods, poverty, watershed, ACIAR,

User guide to experimental auctions of vegetatively propagated seed. RTB User Guide

Experimental auctions are used to understand the value of different products to consumers through estimations of willingness to pay (WTP). This information is valuable for many reasons, from obtaining local prices attached to seed traits to informing seed businesses about acceptable production costs. Experimental auctions do a better job of estimating this than simple questionnaires or surveys. By engaging participants actively, experimental auctions lead to real or hypothetical consequences that make people think and act carefully according to their personal preferences. This user guide provides an overview of different types of experimental auctions and their use in seed system research. The guide discusses the structure of auctions, planning and conducting them, and lessons from the field. Reading this guide will help you to be prepared to design and implement an auction in your own project or intervention

Cassava rapid stem multiplication tunnel: Construction manual

This manual will teach you how to build a rapid stem multiplication tunnel based on CIAT’s experiences in Colombia and Lao PDR . These tunnels have been developed by CIAT and tested in South America and Asia, proving to be practical solutions for rapid production of clean planting materials

Impact of noncardiac findings in patients undergoing CT coronary angiography:a substudy of the Scottish computed tomography of the heart (SCOT-HEART) trial

Objectives Noncardiac findings are common on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). We assessed the clinical impact of noncardiac findings, and potential changes to surveillance scans with the application of new lung nodule guidelines. Methods This substudy of the SCOT-HEART randomized controlled trial assessed noncardiac findings identified on CCTA. Clinically significant noncardiac findings were those causing symptoms or requiring further investigation, follow-up or treatment. Lung nodule follow-up was undertaken following the 2005 Fleischner guidelines. The potential impact of the 2015 British Thoracic Society (BTS) and the 2017 Fleischner guidelines was assessed. Results CCTA was performed in 1,778 patients and noncardiac findings were identified in 677 (38%). In 173 patients (10%) the abnormal findings were clinically significant and in 55 patients (3%) the findings were the cause of symptoms. Follow-up imaging was recommended in 136 patients (7.6%) and additional clinic consultations were organized in 46 patients (2.6%). Malignancy was diagnosed in 7 patients (0.4%). Application of the new lung nodule guidelines would have reduced the number of patients undergoing a follow-up CT scan: 68 fewer with the 2015 BTS guidelines and 78 fewer with the 2017 Fleischner guidelines; none of these patients subsequently developed malignancy. Conclusions Clinically significant noncardiac findings are identified in 10% of patients undergoing CCTA. Application of new lung nodule guidelines will reduce the cost of surveillance, without the risk of missing malignancy

Initial spacing of teak (Tectona grandis) in northern Lao PDR: Impacts on the growth of teak and companion crops

Teak (Tectona grandis) has been planted extensively by smallholder farmers in Luang Prabang province of northern Laos, primarily in small woodlots established at high initial stocking rates with little/no management until the largest trees are harvested selectively, commencing at 15–20 years after planting. This study used a Nelder wheel experiment planted in 2008, and measured annually after the end of the first 10 growing seasons, to evaluate the effects of the initial planting density on the growth of teak. The potential for intercropping established teak was also evaluated using this Nelder wheel, when the trees were 5–6 years of age, to emulate what might be achievable from companion cropping under an agroforestry system with teak. Individual tree diameter was maximised at the lowest initial stocking, but tree height showed optimum development between 637 and 1020 trees ha−1. While standing volume (m3 ha−1) was maximised at the highest initial stocking (2424 trees ha−1), merchantable volume maximised at initial stocking rates between 423 and 637 trees ha−1. Companion cropping demonstrated that modest yields of maize, cassava and pigeon pea are possible under established teak, where the spacing between trees exceeds 8 m. Both maize and cassava achieved yields of over 2 t ha−1 with a spacing of 8 m between trees, while pigeon pea achieved 3 t ha−1 at 10 m spacing between trees. These results demonstrate that the adoption of reduced initial stocking rates for teak (i.e. below 1000 trees ha−1) can significantly increase the growth rates of teak, improving individual tree volumes, and potentially reducing time to commercial harvest. Further, where row spacing is at least 8–10 m, these results suggest that extended periods of companion cropping (2–6 years after planting) may be possible. Finally, given that Lao farmers are reluctant to adopt pre-commercial thinning, serious consideration should be given to the promotion of simple, regimes for teak woodlots using an initial stocking rate of around 600 trees ha−1. Alleys widths of 10 m are recommended for farmers wishing to establish grow teak in an agroforestry system and extend the period for companion cropping. Nevertheless, revision of Government of Lao policy frameworks are required to support the adoption of more appropriate initial spacing in teak woodlots and agroforestry systems by smallholders

The science of clinical practice: disease diagnosis or patient prognosis? Evidence about "what is likely to happen" should shape clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis is the traditional basis for decision-making in clinical practice. Evidence is often lacking about future benefits and harms of these decisions for patients diagnosed with and without disease. We propose that a model of clinical practice focused on patient prognosis and predicting the likelihood of future outcomes may be more useful. DISCUSSION: Disease diagnosis can provide crucial information for clinical decisions that influence outcome in serious acute illness. However, the central role of diagnosis in clinical practice is challenged by evidence that it does not always benefit patients and that factors other than disease are important in determining patient outcome. The concept of disease as a dichotomous 'yes' or 'no' is challenged by the frequent use of diagnostic indicators with continuous distributions, such as blood sugar, which are better understood as contributing information about the probability of a patient's future outcome. Moreover, many illnesses, such as chronic fatigue, cannot usefully be labelled from a disease-diagnosis perspective. In such cases, a prognostic model provides an alternative framework for clinical practice that extends beyond disease and diagnosis and incorporates a wide range of information to predict future patient outcomes and to guide decisions to improve them. Such information embraces non-disease factors and genetic and other biomarkers which influence outcome. SUMMARY: Patient prognosis can provide the framework for modern clinical practice to integrate information from the expanding biological, social, and clinical database for more effective and efficient care

Deep-Learning for Epicardial Adipose Tissue Assessment with Computed Tomography: Implications for Cardiovascular Risk Prediction

Background: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) volume is a marker of visceral obesity that can be measured in coronary computed tomography angiograms (CCTA). The clinical value of integrating this measurement in routine CCTA interpretation has not been documented./ Objectives: This study sought to develop a deep-learning network for automated quantification of EAT volume from CCTA, test it in patients who are technically challenging, and validate its prognostic value in routine clinical care./ Methods: The deep-learning network was trained and validated to autosegment EAT volume in 3,720 CCTA scans from the ORFAN (Oxford Risk Factors and Noninvasive Imaging Study) cohort. The model was tested in patients with challenging anatomy and scan artifacts and applied to a longitudinal cohort of 253 patients post-cardiac surgery and 1,558 patients from the SCOT-HEART (Scottish Computed Tomography of the Heart) Trial, to investigate its prognostic value./ Results: External validation of the deep-learning network yielded a concordance correlation coefficient of 0.970 for machine vs human. EAT volume was associated with coronary artery disease (odds ratio [OR] per SD increase in EAT volume: 1.13 [95% CI: 1.04-1.30]; P = 0.01), and atrial fibrillation (OR: 1.25 [95% CI:1.08-1.40]; P = 0.03), after correction for risk factors (including body mass index). EAT volume predicted all-cause mortality (HR per SD: 1.28 [95% CI: 1.10-1.37]; P = 0.02), myocardial infarction (HR: 1.26 [95% CI:1.09-1.38]; P = 0.001), and stroke (HR: 1.20 [95% CI: 1.09-1.38]; P = 0.02) independently of risk factors in SCOT-HEART (5-year follow-up). It also predicted in-hospital (HR: 2.67 [95% CI: 1.26-3.73]; P ≤ 0.01) and long-term post–cardiac surgery atrial fibrillation (7-year follow-up; HR: 2.14 [95% CI: 1.19-2.97]; P ≤ 0.01). Conclusions: Automated assessment of EAT volume is possible in CCTA, including in patients who are technically challenging; it forms a powerful marker of metabolically unhealthy visceral obesity, which could be used for cardiovascular risk stratification