South African Agricultural Research and Development: A Century of Change

The 20th Century saw substantive shifts in the structure of agriculture and agricultural production in South Africa. Farm size grew, farm numbers eventually declined, and production increasingly emphasized higher-valued commodities, notably a range of horticultural crops. The real gross value of agricultural output grew steadily (by 3.32 percent per year) from 1910-1981, but declined thereafter (by 0.21 percent per year from 1982-2008). These long-run sectoral changes provide a context to present and assess an entirely new data series on public agricultural R&D (and related regulatory and extension) spending and associated scientist trends. South African agricultural R&D has been affected by a series of major policy changes. These are also documented and discussed here, along with the associated institutional changes regarding the conduct and funding of public agricultural R&D in South Africa. We reveal a number of disturbing trends, including an effective flat lining of the long-run growth in total agricultural R&D spending that took hold in the 1970s, an erratic path of funding per scientist, and a loss of scientific personnel in recent decades. Moreover, South Africa has lost ground relative to its competitors in international commodity markets such as the United States and Australia in terms of the intensity of investment in agricultural R&D. These developments are likely to have long-term, and detrimental, consequences for the productivity performance and competiveness of South African agriculture. They deserve serious policy attention as the 21st Century unfolds, with a firm eye to the long-run given the long lags (often many decades) that typify the relationship between agricultural R&D spending and productivity growth.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Intelligent Agent Architectures: Reactive Planning Testbed

An Integrated Agent Architecture (IAA) is a framework or paradigm for constructing intelligent agents. Intelligent agents are collections of sensors, computers, and effectors that interact with their environments in real time in goal-directed ways. Because of the complexity involved in designing intelligent agents, it has been found useful to approach the construction of agents with some organizing principle, theory, or paradigm that gives shape to the agent's components and structures their relationships. Given the wide variety of approaches being taken in the field, the question naturally arises: Is there a way to compare and evaluate these approaches? The purpose of the present work is to develop common benchmark tasks and evaluation metrics to which intelligent agents, including complex robotic agents, constructed using various architectural approaches can be subjected

Sexual violence against female university students in the U.K.: A case study

In questo articolo presentiamo i risultati di una ricerca effettuata negli anni 2009-11 sulle aggressioni sessuali commesse a danno di studentesse frequentanti una università inglese. I risultati di tale studio riguardano i seguenti aspetti: la natura e la numerosità dei casi di aggressione sessuale (molestia sessuale, aggressione e altri comportamenti sessuali violenti), l’identità degli aggressori, i luoghi in cui le aggressioni sessuali sono commesse, la comunicazione delle avvenute aggressioni alle autorità universitarie e di polizia, la natura delle misure di prevenzione adottate e le pratiche operative delle autorità universitarie rivolte ad affrontare questo fenomeno, la sensibilizzazione e la motivazione delle studentesse ad utilizzare le risorse universitarie esistenti per assistere le vittime e le modalità previste al fine di migliorare la presa in carico di questa utenza da parte delle autorità universitarie. I dati ottenuti da questa ricerca provengono da tre fonti: 1) un questionario online rivolto alle studentesse; 2) un focus group effettuato con un gruppo di studentesse e incentrato sul fenomeno in questione; 3) interviste con testimoni significativi universitari e non universitari. I risultati di questa ricerca sono analizzati in rapporto alle politiche universitarie e alle pratiche operative. Résumé:Dans cette étude, nous présentons les résultats d’une recherche effectuée dans les années 2009-11 sur les agressions sexuelles commises contre les étudiantes fréquentant une université Anglaise. Les résultats de cette recherche portent sur les aspects suivants : la nature et la prévalence de l’agression sexuelle (harcèlement sexuel, agression sexuelle et autres comportements sexuels violents), l’identité des agresseurs sexuels, les endroits où les agressions sexuelles sont commises, le dévoilement des agressions sexuelles aux autorités universitaires et policières, la nature des mesures de prévention prises et les pratiques courantes des autorités universitaires pour faire face à ce phénomène, la sensibilisation et la motivation des étudiantes à utiliser les ressources universitaires mises en place pour assister les victimes et les moyens afin d’améliorer la prise en charge de ce phénomène par les autorités universitaires. Les données sur lesquelles les résultats de cette recherche sont tirés proviennent de trois sources : 1) un sondage en ligne des étudiantes, 2) une discussion effectuée sur le phénomène en question avec un groupe d’étudiantes, et 3) entrevues avec des professionnels oeuvrant ou non à l’université. Les résultats de cette recherche sont discutés en lien avec les politiques et pratiques universitaires. Abstract: In this article we present the results of research conducted in 2009-2011 on sexual violence against female university students at a mid-sized English university. Included are findings on: the nature and prevalence of sexual violence (sexual harassment, stalking and sexual assault and other coercive sexual acts); the identity of perpetrators; most frequent victimisation locations; extent of, and reasons given for and against, disclosing victimisation to university authorities and police; nature of prevention and response policies, institutional arrangements and practices at the university; female student’s awareness of, and willingness to access, available services for victims; and suggestions for improvements in the university’s responses to this problem. All finding are based on data from (i) an online survey of female students, (ii) a small focus group discussion with female students, and (iii) interviews with ‘key stakeholders’ within and outside the university. Implications of the findings for university policies, institutional arrangements and practices are discussed

Hubble Space Telescope observations of Mars

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) afforded the possibility of resolving features as small as 100 km on the Martian surface even when it is at the far point of its orbit. Therefore it is ideally suited for monitoring seasonal changes on the red planet. The objectives research include: the study of Martian dust storms; use of images obtained through different filters to study the spectral reflectance of regions on the Martian surface; use of ultraviolet images and spectra to measure the amount of ozone in the planet's atmosphere as a function of location of the planet; use of images to study changes in the albedo of the Mars surface; and use of Planetary Camera images to study Martian clouds and to measure the opacity of the atmosphere

Making a Research Infrastructure: Conditions and Strategies to Transform a Service into an Infrastructure

In this article, we investigate the making of research infrastructures. Our aim is to identify the relevant context factors, actor constellations, organizational settings, and strategies for a mere service to become an actual infrastructure. To this end, we conducted 36 case studies of non-commercial and commercial research services. Our research sheds light on the motivations and logics behind infrastructure development and the reasons why not every service succeeds in becoming one. We believe that the results of this study are therefore of practical relevance, especially for persons and organizations that want to create and sustain research infrastructured

South African agricultural R&D investments : sources, structure, and trends, 1910-2007

The twentieth century saw substantive shifts in the structure, funding and conduct of public agricultural research and development (R&D) and related regulatory and extension activities in South Africa. Following a long period of steady (and at times quite rapid) growth beginning in the early twentieth century, real spending on public agricultural R&D has essentially flat lined since the 1970s. There has also been an erratic pattern of funding per scientist and a loss of scientific personnel in recent decades. Notably, South Africa has lost ground relative to its competitors in international commodity markets, such as the United States (US) and Australia in terms of the intensity of investment in agricultural R&D. In the absence of changes to these trends, these developments may well have enduring, and detrimental, consequences for the productivity performance and competitiveness of South African agriculture. They deserve serious policy attention as the twenty-first century unfolds, with a firm eye to the long-run given the lengthy lags (often many decades) that typify the relationship between public agricultural R&D spending and productivity growth.The research supporting this paper was funded principally by the South African DoA and ARC, with additional support from the International Food Policy Research Institute, InSTePP, the University of Pretoria, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ragr2

Targeting the Major Groove of the Palindromic d(GGCGCC)2 Sequence by Oligopeptide Derivatives of Anthraquinone Intercalators

GC-rich sequences are recurring motifs in oncogenes and retroviruses, and could be targeted by non-covalent major-groove therapeutic ligands. We considered the palindromic sequence d(G1G2C3G4C5C6)2, and designed several oligopeptide derivatives of the anti-cancer intercalator mitoxantrone. The stability of their complexes with a 18-mer oligonucleotide encompassing this sequence in its center was validated using polarizable molecular dynamics. We report the most salient structural features of two novel compounds, having a dialkylammonium group as a side-chain on both arms. The anthraquinone ring is intercalated in the central d(CpG)2 sequence with its long axis perpendicular to that of the two base-pairs. On each strand, this enables each ammonium group to bind in-register to O6/N7 of the two facing G bases upstream. We subsequently designed tris-intercalating derivatives, each dialkylammonium substituted with a connector to an N9-aminoacridine intercalator extending our target range from six- to a ten-base pair palindromic sequence, d(C1G2G3G4C5G6C7C8C9G10)2. The structural features of the complex of the most promising derivative are reported. The present design strategy paves the way for designing intercalator-oligopeptide derivatives with an even higher selectivity, targeting an increased number of DNA bases, going beyond ten

Cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia: An expert group paper on the current state of the art.

Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia represents one of the main obstacles to clinical and functional recovery. This expert group paper brings together experts in schizophrenia treatment to discuss scientific progress in the domain of cognitive impairment to address cognitive impairments and their consequences in the most effective way. We report on the onset and course of cognitive deficits, linking them to the alterations in brain function and structure in schizophrenia and discussing their role in predicting the transition to psychosis in people at risk. We then address the assessment tools with reference to functioning and social cognition, examining the role of subjective measures and addressing new methods for measuring functional outcomes including technology based approaches. Finally, we briefly review treatment options for cognitive deficits, focusing on cognitive remediation programs, highlighting their effects on brain activity and conclude with the potential benefit of individualized integrated interventions combing cognitive remediation with other approaches

An Open Letter to Congressman Gingrich

We urge you to reconsider your proposal to amend the House Rules to require a three-fifths vote for enactment of laws that increase income taxes. This proposal violates the explicit intentions of the Framers. It is inconsistent with the Constitution\u27s language and structure. It departs sharply from traditional congressional practice. It may generate constitutional litigation that will encourage Supreme Court intervention in an area best left to responsible congressional decision. Unless the proposal is withdrawn now, it will serve as an unfortunate precedent for the proliferation of supermajority rules on a host of different subjects in the future. Over time, we will see the continuing erosion of our central constitutional commitments to majority rule and deliberative democracy

Why are sustainable practices often elusive? The role of information flow in the management of networked human-environment interactions

Analyzing the spatial and temporal properties of information flow with a multi-century perspective could illuminate the sustainability of human resource-use strategies. This paper uses historical and archaeological datasets to assess how spatial, temporal, cognitive, and cultural limitations impact the generation and flow of information about ecosystems within past societies, and thus lead to tradeoffs in sustainable practices. While it is well understood that conflicting priorities can inhibit successful outcomes, case studies from Eastern Polynesia, the North Atlantic, and the American Southwest suggest that imperfect information can also be a major impediment to sustainability. We formally develop a conceptual model of Environmental Information Flow and Perception (EnIFPe) to examine the scale of information flow to a society and the quality of the information needed to promote sustainable coupled natural-human systems. In our case studies, we assess key aspects of information flow by focusing on food web relationships and nutrient flows in socio-ecological systems, as well as the life cycles, population dynamics, and seasonal rhythms of organisms, the patterns and timing of species’ migration, and the trajectories of human-induced environmental change. We argue that the spatial and temporal dimensions of human environments shape society's ability to wield information, while acknowledging that varied cultural factors also focus a society's ability to act on such information. Our analyses demonstrate the analytical importance of completed experiments from the past, and their utility for contemporary debates concerning managing imperfect information and addressing conflicting priorities in modern environmental management and resource use