Supplying Improved Seed to Farmers in Rural Kenya: The Case of Freshco Kenya Ltd.

Freshco, a small producer and distributor of hybrid maize seed and macadamia seedlings, was one of the first private companies to enter the Kenya seed market after its liberalization. Currently, the company produces and markets six high yielding maize varieties that are suited for diverse agro-ecological conditions. Despite the company’s encouraging growth in the local maize seed market, Freshco’s executives recognize the need to scale up operations to stay competitive. The company’s challenge is to recognize business opportunities and customer needs in an environment susceptible to ecological, political, and socioeconomic change.Kenya, seed industry, smallholder farmers, scenario planning, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q10, Q12,

Incommensurate magnetic order in the alpha-Fe(Te,Se) superconductor systems

Magnetic spin fluctuations is one candidate to produce the bosonic modes that mediate the superconductivity in the ferrous superconductors. Up until now, all of the LaOFeAs and BaFe2As2 structure types have simple commensurate magnetic ground states, as result of nesting Fermi surfaces. This type of spin-density-wave (SDW) magnetic order is known to be vulnerable to shifts in the Fermi surface when electronic densities are altered at the superconducting compositions. Superconductivity has more recently been discovered in alpha-Fe(Te,Se), whose electronically active antifluorite planes are isostructural to the FeAs layers found in the previous ferrous superconductors and share with them the same quasi-two-dimensional electronic structure. Here we report neutron scattering studies that reveal a unique complex incommensurate antiferromagnetic order in the parent compound alpha-FeTe. When the long-range magnetic order is suppressed by the isovalent substitution of Te with Se, short-range correlations survive in the superconducting phase.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Charge carrier localization induced by excess Fe in the Fe1+y(Te,Se) superconductor system

We have investigated the effect of Fe nonstoichiometry on properties of the Fe1+y(Te, Se) superconductor system by means of resistivity, Hall coefficient, magnetic susceptibility, and specific heat measurements. We find that the excess Fe at interstitial sites of the (Te, Se) layers not only suppresses superconductivity, but also results in a weakly localized electronic state. We argue that these effects originate from the magnetic coupling between the excess Fe and the adjacent Fe square planar sheets, which favors a short-range magnetic order.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures accepted for publication in PR

The Distribution of Dengue Virus Serotype in Quang Nam Province (Vietnam) during the Outbreak in 2018

Objectives: Quang Nam province in the Centre of Vietnam has faced an outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in 2018. Although DHF is a recurrent disease in this area, no epidemiological and microbiological reports on dengue virus serotypes have been conducted mainly due to lack of facilities for such a kind of advanced surveillance. The aim of this study was to detect different dengue virus serotypes in patients’ blood samples. Design and Methods: Suspected cases living in Quang Nam province (Vietnam) and presenting clinical and hematological signs of dengue hemorrhagic fever were included in the study. The screening was performed, and the results were compared by using two methodologies: RT real-time PCR (RT-rPCR) and the Dengue NS1 rapid test. Results: From December 2018 to February 2019, looking both at RT-rPCR [+] and NS1 [+] methodologies, a total of 488 patients were screened and 336 were positive for dengue virus detection (74 children and 262 adults); 273 of these patients (81.3%) underwent viral serotype identification as follows: 12.82% (35/273) D1 serotype, 17.95% (49/273) D2, 0.37% (1/273) D3, 68.50 (187/283) D4, and 0.37% (1/273) D2+D4 serotypes. The RT-rPCR outcomes showed higher sensitivity during the first three days of infection compared to NS1 (92.3% vs. 89.7%). The NS1 increased sensitivity after the first 3 days whilst the RT-rPCR decreased. Conclusions: Advanced surveillance with dengue virus serotypes identification, if performed routinely, may help to predict and prevent further DHF epidemics based on the exposure of the different serotypes during different periods that lead to the intensification of disease severity as a consequence of antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE)

"Smart'' and stimulus responsive chitosan-based scaffolds/cells for bone tissue engineering: Influence of lysozyme upon scaffold degradation and osteogenic differentiation of cultured marrow stromal cells induced by cap coatings

[Excerpt] The present study reports the use of non-porous, ‘‘smart’’ and stimulus responsive chitosan-based scaffolds with the capability of gradual in situ pore formation for bone tissue engineering applications. Biomimetic calcium phosphate (CaP) coatings were used as a strategy to incorporate lysozyme at the surface of chitosan based materials the main objective of controlling their degradation profile as a function of immersion time. In order to confirm the concept, degradation tests with concentration similar to those incorporated into CaP chitosan-based scaffolds were used to study the degradation of the scaffolds and the formation of pores as function of immersion time. Degradation studies with lysozyme (1.5 g/L) showed the formation of pores, indicating an increase of porosity (~5% - 55% up to 21 days) resulting in porous 3-D structures with interconnected pores. […]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The effects of a whey protein and guar gum-containing preload on gastric emptying, glycaemia, small intestinal absorption and blood pressure in healthy older subjects

A whey protein/guar gum preload reduces postprandial glycaemia in type 2 diabetes through slowing gastric emptying. However, gastric emptying has previously been assessed using a stable isotope breath test technique, which cannot discriminate between slowing of gastric emptying and small intestinal absorption. This preload also may be useful in the management of postprandial hypotension. We evaluated the effects of a whey protein/guar preload on gastric emptying, glucose absorption, glycaemic/insulinaemic and blood pressure (BP) responses to an oral glucose load. Eighteen healthy older participants underwent measurements of gastric emptying (scintigraphy), plasma glucose and insulin, glucose absorption, superior mesenteric artery (SMA) flow, BP and heart rate (HR) after ingesting a 50 g glucose drink, with or without the preload. The preload reduced plasma glucose (p = 0.02) and serum 3-O-methylglucose (3-OMG) (p = 0.003), and increased plasma insulin (p = 0.03). There was no difference in gastric emptying or BP between the two days. The reduction in plasma glucose on the preload day was related to the reduction in glucose absorption (r = 0.71, p = 0.002). In conclusion, the glucose-lowering effect of the preload may relate to delayed small intestinal glucose absorption and insulin stimulation, rather than slowing of gastric emptying.publishedVersio

Origin of Drastic Change of Fermi Surface and Transport Anomalies in CeRhIn5 under Pressure

The mechanism of drastic change of Fermi surfaces as well as transport anomalies near P=Pc=2.35 GPa in CeRhIn5 is explained theoretically. The key mechanism is pointed out to be the interplay of magnetic order and Ce-valence fluctuations. We show that the antiferromagnetic state with "small" Fermi surfaces changes to the paramagnetic state with "large" Fermi surfaces with huge enhancement of effective mass of electrons with keeping finite c-f hybridization. This explains the drastic change of the de Haas-van Alphen signals. Furthermore, it is also consistent with the emergence of T-linear resistivity simultaneous with the residual resistivity peak at P=Pc in CeRhIn5.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Journal of Physical Society of Japa