278 research outputs found
Strengthening women in wheat farming in India: Old challenges, new realities, new opportunities
This resource provides guidance for scientists, researchers, and rural advisory services in wheat-based systems on how to better target women in all communities and how to improve inclusion for everyone. It builds on 12 case studies conducted across India’s wheat belt under CRP WHEAT. It discusses how norms are shifting in parts of rural India to accommodate open recognition of women as farmers and managers of wheat and as adopters of associated technologies, including zero tillers, combine harvesters, and improved varieties of wheat
Gender integration in aquaculture research and technology adoption processes: lessons learned in Bangladesh
This working paper is part of a review of aquaculture technologies and gender in Bangladesh in the period 1990 to 2014. It assesses how gender has been integrated within past aquaculture technology interventions, before exploring the gender dimensions associated with current approaches to transferring knowledge about homestead aquaculture technology. It draws out existing knowledge, identifies research gaps, and selects practices to build upon--as well as practices to move away from. The review examines the research and practice of WorldFish and other development partners in Bangladesh through consultations, a review of gray and published literature, and fieldwork. It aims to contribute to the development of aquaculture technology dissemination methodologies that strengthen and underpin women’s participation in aquaculture
The effect of drinking milk containing conjugated linoleic acid on fecal microbiological profile, enzymatic activity, and fecal characteristics in humans
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The primary objective was to determine whether consumption of conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) affected the fecal microbiota composition, fecal enzyme activity or fecal composition.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Human subjects consumed (1 <it>L</it>/day) cows' milk (4% fat) containing (5 mg/g fat) <it>cis</it>-9, <it>trans</it>-11 CLA (CONT), (32 mg/g fat) cis-9, <it>trans</it>-11 CLA (NAT) and (32 mg/g fat) <it>trans</it>-10, <it>cis</it>-12 CLA and <it>cis</it>-9, <it>trans</it>-11 CLA (SYN) for 8 weeks, in addition to their normal diet. Milk feeding periods were separated by 4 week washout periods. Fecal samples were obtained at the beginning (day 0) and the end (day 56) of each milk feeding period. Fecal samples were analysed for microbiological profile, enzyme activity, pH and short chain fatty acid content.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Samples taken at day 0 and day 56 indicated that the numbers of <it>lactobacilli </it>and <it>bifidobacteria </it>significantly decreased after consumption of all experimental milks; total aerobes, total anaerobes, enterobacteria, and enterococci + streptococci did not change. At day 56, the activities of β-glucosidase, nitroreductase, and urease enzymes had decreased compared to samples taken on day 0 for all treatments. β-glucuronidase activity did not change. Fecal pH and ammonia content did not change.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It was concluded that observed changes could have been attributed to increased milk intake; no differences could be attributed to consumption of the different CLAs.</p
The oxygen isotope effect in the ab-plane reflectance of underdoped YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-delta}
We have measured the effect of oxygen isotope substitution on the ab-plane
reflectance of underdoped YBCO. The frequency shift of the transverse optic
phonons due to the substitution of O-16 by O-18 yields an isotope effect of the
expected magnitude for copper-oxygen stretching modes with alpha=0.5 +- 0.1.
The reflectance shoulder at 400 - 500 cm^-1 shows a much smaller exponent of
alpha=0.1 +- 0.1 in the normal state and alpha=0.23+- 0.1 in the
superconducting state. These observations suggest that the shoulder is of
electronic origin and not due to a phonon mode as has been suggested recently.Comment: 4 pages 2 figure
From working in the wheat field to managing wheat: women innovators in Nepal
This article presents research conducted in Nepal’s Terai plains in 2014-15 showing that women are innovating in wheat to the extent that wheat farming is experiencing a shift from feminization of agricultural labor towards women taking control over decision making. Processes accounting for this include male out-migration, non-governmental organizations working on promoting women’s equality that has developed women’s confidence, individual support from extension agents, and strong cooperation between women to foster each other’s “innovation journeys.
Motivation of owners to purchase pedigree cats, with specific focus on the acquisition of brachycephalic cats
Background: Cats are globally popular pets and pedigree cats are increasingly prevalent, with brachycephalic breeds being the most registered breeds. How owners decide upon and acquire their cats is poorly understood. Moreover, there are growing concerns about the health and welfare of brachycephalic (BC) dogs and recent studies are raising the awareness of health and welfare problems in BC cats. Methods: An online survey investigated owners’ motivations, perceptions and behaviours prior to, during and following acquisition of non-pedigree (NP), extreme brachycephalic pedigree (BC; i.e., Persian and Exotic Shorthair) and mild to non-BC pedigree (P) cats. Results: The survey received 1367 valid responses (NP n = 882, P n = 400, BC n = 85 (6.2%)). There were marked differences between NP, P and BC owners’ perception of their cats’ health and welfare, reason(s) for acquisition and its process. Owners of NP were less influenced by appearance, behaviour and other features than P or BC owners. In contrast, P and BC owners were highly influenced by appearance, with P owners also placing greater importance on good breed health than BC owners. BC owners were less likely to recommend their breeds to prospective cat owners, apparently concerned by high maintenance requirements. Conclusion: Further research is needed to determine how decision-making is constructed and how it may be improved, especially in respect of welfare outcomes for extreme BC cats given the increased weighting given to appearance over health
Singularities in the optical response of cuprates
We argue that the detailed analysis of the optical response in cuprate
superconductors allows one to verify the magnetic scenario of superconductivity
in cuprates, as for strong coupling charge carriers to antiferromagnetic spin
fluctuations, the second derivative of optical conductivity should contain
detectable singularities at , , and
, where is the amplitude of the
superconducting gap, and is the resonance energy of spin
fluctuations measured in neutron scattering. We argue that there is a good
chance that these singularities have already been detected in the experiments
on optimally doped .Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Can one extract the electron-phonon-interaction from tunneling data in case of the multigap superconductor MgB?
In the present work we calculate the tunneling density of states (DOS) of
MgB% for different tunneling directions by directly solving the two-band
Eliashberg equations (EE) in the real-axis formulation. This procedure reveals
the fine structures of the DOS due to the optical phonons. Then we show that
the numeric inversion of the standard \emph{single-band} EE (the only available
method), when applied to the \emph{two-band} DOS of MgB, may lead to
wrong estimates of the strength of certain phonon branches (e.g. the )
in the extracted electron-phonon spectral function . The
fine structures produced by the two-band interaction at energies between 20 and
100 meV turn out to be clearly observable only for tunneling along the
planes, when the extracted contains the combination
\textbf{+}, together with a minor \textbf{+} component. Only in this case
it is possible to extract information on the -band contribution to the
spectral functions. For any other tunneling direction, the -band
contribution (which does not determine the superconducting properties of
MgB) is dominant and almost coincides with the whole
for tunneling along the c axis. Our results are compared with recent
experimental tunneling and point-contact data.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. B (Brief Reports
Infrared and optical properties of pure and cobalt-doped LuNi_2B_2C
We present optical conductivity data for Lu(NiCo)BC over
a wide range of frequencies and temperatures for x=0 and x=0.09. Both materials
show evidence of being good Drude metals with the infrared data in reasonable
agreement with dc resistivity measurements at low frequencies. An absorption
threshold is seen at approximately 700 cm-1. In the cobalt-doped material we
see a superconducting gap in the conductivity spectrum with an absorption onset
at 24 +/- 2 cm-1 = 3.9$ +/- 0.4 k_BT_c suggestive of weak to moderately strong
coupling. The pure material is in the clean limit and no gap can be seen. We
discuss the data in terms of the electron-phonon interaction and find that it
can be fit below 600 cm-1 with a plasma frequency of 3.3 eV and an
electron-phonon coupling constant lambda_{tr}=0.33 using an alpha^{2}F(omega)
spectrum fit to the resistivity.Comment: 10 pages with 10 embedded figures, submitted to PR
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