Breaking the "Fertilizer Poverty" and Food Insecurity Traps in Smallholder Maize Based Farming System in Southern Africa: Experiences and Lessons from Soil Fertility Network/Economics and Policy Working Group (EPWG)

Smallholder farmers in southern Africa face acute food insecurity because the productive capacity of their soils has declined. These resource-poor farmers increasingly cannot afford mineral fertilizers Farmers mentioned the lack of fertilizers for their depleted soils as the most important constraint- "Empty Soils, stomachs and pockets." In response to this challenge, Soil Fert Net researchers in southern Africa have developed and promoted a range of "best-bet" soil fertility management technological (SFMT) options for farmers. This paper presents a review of financial, adoption, institutional and policy analysis undertaken by EPWG members on the use of SFMT by smallholders. Financial and risk analysis tools, selected econometric models and policy analysis matrix were employed to measure profitability, incidence and intensity of adoption and to understand the effects of policy instruments necessary to promote SFMTs. Financial analysis of "best bets" indicates that (even with current unfavorable input and output prices) there are positive payoffs to investing in SFMTs. Adoption studies in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique revealed that farmers need to make a significant initial investment in terms of labor, land and capital before they start to obtain benefits. SFMTs are also management and information intensive and farmers' limited skills and knowledge are critical factors influencing adoption. Profitability and subsequent adoption decisions are sensitive to changes in maize grain price, crop yield and the cost of borrowing capital. The study recommend institutional and policy support and advocacy for better access to credit, input availability, market linkages to scale up the diffusion and promotion of SFMTs.Policy briefs, Policy analysis matrix, markets, cropping systems, legumes, N fertilizer, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty,

Variations in the propagation of UH-nuclei

Calculations of the propagation of UH-nuclei were improved by extending the number of individual nuclides considered, and by using more recent evaluations of the rigidity dependence of the escape length, the possible source composition, and altered cross sections. The effects of using different expressions for the dependence of abundances on first ionization potentials (FIP) are outlined. The sensitivity of the calculated elemental abundances to the various changes made in the propagation assumptions are discussed

Logic-controlled solid state switchgear for 270 volts dc

A feasibility study to design and demonstrate solid state switchgear in the form of circuit breakers and a power transfer switch is described. The switchgear operates on a nominal 270 V dc circuit and controls power to a load of up to 15 amperes. One circuit breaker may be interconnected to a second breaker to form a power transfer switch. On-off and transfer functions of the breakers or the transfer switch are remotely controlled. A number of reclosures with variable time delay between tripout and reclosure are programmed and controlled by integrated analog and COSMOS logic circuits. A unique commutation circuit, that generates only minimal transient disturbance to either source or load, was developed to interrupt current flow through the main SCR switching element. Laboratory tests demonstrated performance of the solid state circuit breakers over specified voltage and temperature ranges

The charge and energy spectra of heavy cosmic ray nuclei

A charged particle detector array flown in a high altitude balloon detected and measured some 30,000 cosmic ray nuclei with Z greater than or equal to 12. The charge spectrum at the top of the atmosphere for nuclei with E greater than 650 MeV/n and the energy spectrum for 650 less than or equal to E less than 1800 MeV/n are reported and compared with previously published results. The charge spectrum at the source of cosmic rays is deduced from these data and compared with a recent compilation of galactic abundances

NICMOS Imaging of the Dusty Microjansky Radio Source VLA J123642+621331 at z = 4.424

We present the discovery of a radio galaxy at a likely redshift of z = 4.424 in one of the flanking fields of the Hubble Deep Field. Radio observations with the VLA and MERLIN centered on the HDF yielded a complete sample of microjansky radio sources, of which about 20% have no optical counterpart to I < 25 mag. In this Letter, we address the possible nature of one of these sources, through deep HST NICMOS images in the F110W (J) and F160W (H) filters. VLA J123642+621331 has a single emission line at 6595-A, which we identify with Lyman-alpha at z = 4.424. We argue that this faint (H = 23.9 mag), compact (r = 0.2 arcsec), red (I - K = 2.0) object is most likely a dusty, star-forming galaxy with an embedded active nucleus.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters. 11 pages, 4 figures, uses aastex v5.0 and psfi

LDLR-Gene therapy for familial hypercholesterolaemia: Problems, progress, and perspectives

Coronary artery diseases (CAD) inflict a heavy economical and social burden on most populations and contribute significantly to their morbidity and mortality rates. Low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) associated familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is the most frequent Mendelian disorder and is a major risk factor for the development of CAD. To date there is no cure for FH. The primary goal of clinical management is to control hypercholesterolaemia in order to decrease the risk of atherosclerosis and to prevent CAD. Permanent phenotypic correction with single administration of a gene therapeutic vector is a goal still needing to be achieved. The first ex vivo clinical trial of gene therapy in FH was conducted nearly 18 years ago. Patients who had inherited LDLR gene mutations were subjected to an aggressive surgical intervention involving partial hepatectomy to obtain the patient's own hepatocytes for ex vivo gene transfer with a replication deficient LDLR-retroviral vector. After successful re-infusion of transduced cells through a catheter placed in the inferior mesenteric vein at the time of liver resection, only low-level expression of the transferred LDLR gene was observed in the five patients enrolled in the trial. In contrast, full reversal of hypercholesterolaemia was later demonstrated in in vivo preclinical studies using LDLR-adenovirus mediated gene transfer. However, the high efficiency of cell division independent gene transfer by adenovirus vectors is limited by their short-term persistence due to episomal maintenance and the cytotoxicity of these highly immunogenic viruses. Novel long-term persisting vectors derived from adeno-associated viruses and lentiviruses, are now available and investigations are underway to determine their safety and efficiency in preparation for clinical application for a variety of diseases. Several novel non-viral based therapies have also been developed recently to lower LDL-C serum levels in FH patients. This article reviews the progress made in the 18 years since the first clinical trial for gene therapy of FH, with emphasis on the development, design, performance and limitations of viral based gene transfer vectors used in studies to ameliorate the effects of LDLR deficiency

School Choice in Indianapolis: Effects of Charter, Magnet, Private, and Traditional Public Schools

School choice researchers are often limited to comparing one type of choice with another (e.g., charter schools vs. traditional public schools). One area researchers have not examined is the effects of different school types within the same urban region. We fill this gap by analyzing longitudinal data for students (grades 3–8) in Indianapolis, using student fixed effects models to estimate the impacts of students switching from a traditional public school to a charter, magnet, Catholic, or other private school. We find that students experience no differences in their achievement gains after transferring from a traditional public school to a charter school. However, students switching to magnet schools experience modest annual losses of −0.09 standard deviation (SD) in mathematics and −0.11 SD in English Language Arts. Students switching to Catholic schools also experience annual losses of −0.18 SD in mathematics. These findings are robust to a series of alternative model specifications. Additionally, we find some variability in the mean school type impacts by students’ race/ethnicity, English language learner status, and number of years enrolled in a choice school. We discuss our results in the context of the variability of choice school effects across an entire urban area, something future research needs to examine

UK Research Information Shared Service (UKRISS) Final Report, July 2014

The reporting of research information is a complex and expensive activity for research organisations (ROs). There is little alignment between funders of the reporting requests made to institutions and requests made to individual researchers about their research outputs and outcomes. This inevitably results in duplication and increased costs across the sector, whilst limiting the potential sharing and reuse of the information. The UK Research Information Shared Service (UKRISS) project conducted a feasibility and scoping study for the reporting of research information at a national level based on CERIF (Common European Research Information Format), with the objective of increasing efficiency, productivity and quality across the sector. The aim was to define and prototype solutions which are compelling, easy to use, have a low entry barrier, and support innovative information sharing and benchmarking. CERIF has emerged as the preferred format for expressing research information across Europe. To date, CERIF has been piloted for specific applications, but not as a format for reporting requirements across all UK ROs. The final report presents the work carried out by the UKRISS project, including requirements gathering, modelling and prototyping, as well as recommendation for sustainability. UKRISS was divided into two phases. Phase 1, mapping the reporting landscape, ran from March 2012 to December 2012. Phase 2, exploring delivery of potential solutions, began in February 2013 and ended in December 2013