Farmers, food and climate change: ensuring community-based adaptation is mainstreamed into agricultural programmes

Climate change creates widespread risks for food production. As climate impacts are often locally specific, it is imperative that large-scale initiatives to support smallholder farmers consider local priorities and integrate lessons from successful autonomous adaptation efforts. This article explores how large-scale programmes for smallholder adaptation to climate change might link effectively with community-led adaptation initiatives. Drawing on experiences in Bangladesh, Mozambique, Uganda and India, this article identifies key success factors and barriers for considering local priorities, capacities and lessons in large-scale adaptation programmes. It highlights the key roles of extension services and farmers' organizations as mechanisms for linking between national-level and community-level adaptation, and a range of other success factors which include participative and locally driven vulnerability assessments, tailoring of adaptation technologies to local contexts, mapping local institutions and working in partnership across institutions. Barriers include weak governance, gaps in the regulatory and policy environment, high opportunity costs, low literacy and underdeveloped markets. The article concludes that mainstreaming climate adaptation into large-scale agricultural initiatives requires not only integration of lessons from community-based adaptation, but also the building of inclusive governance to ensure smallholders can engage with those policies and processes affecting their vulnerability

Twenty Years of Timing SS433

We present observations of the optical ``moving lines'' in spectra of the Galactic relativistic jet source SS433 spread over a twenty year baseline from 1979 to 1999. The red/blue-shifts of the lines reveal the apparent precession of the jet axis in SS433, and we present a new determination of the precession parameters based on these data. We investigate the amplitude and nature of time- and phase-dependent deviations from the kinematic model for the jet precession, including an upper limit on any precessional period derivative of $\dot P < 5 \times 10^{-5}$. We also dicuss the implications of these results for the origins of the relativistic jets in SS433.Comment: 21 pages, including 9 figures. To appear in the Astrophysical Journa

Initiation of home mechanical ventilation at home:A randomised controlled trial of efficacy, feasibility and costs

SummaryIntroductionHome mechanical ventilation (HMV) in the Netherlands is normally initiated in hospital, but this is expensive and often a burden for the patient. In this randomised controlled study we investigated whether initiation of HMV at home in patients with chronic respiratory failure is non-inferior to an in hospital based setting.MethodsSeventy-seven patients were included, of which 38 patients started HMV at home. All patients were diagnosed with chronic respiratory failure due to a neuromuscular or thoracic cage disease. Primary outcome was the arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2) while quality of life and costs were secondary outcomes. Telemonitoring was used in the home group to provide therapeutic information, for example; transcutaneous carbon dioxide, oxygen saturation and ventilator information, to the caregivers. Follow-up was six months.ResultsPaCO2, improved by 0.72 (SE ± 0.16) kPa in the hospital group and by 0.91 (±0.20) in the home group, both improvements being significant and the latter clearly not inferior.There were also significant improvements in quality of life in both groups, again not being inferior with home treatment.ConclusionThis study is the first to show that initiation of HMV at home in a selective group of patients with chronic respiratory failure is as effective for gas exchange and quality of life as hospital initiation. In addition we found that it is safe, technically feasible and that more than € 3000 per patient can be saved compared to our standard care

Comparison of urine with urethral swabs for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in men attending an STD clinic

Urethral swabs and first-catch urine specimens for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis were collected from 370 black men with urethritis who attended a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic in Pretoria. An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for C. trachomatis was carried out on all urethral swabs and urine specimens. Chlamydial culture and a direct immunofluorescent antibody (DFA) test (Imagen, Dako, UK) were also carried out on urethral swabs; DFA was used for confirmation of urine EIA positives.Based on culture and/or DFA, C. trachomatis was detected in 96 (26%) urethral swab specimens. The sensitivity of urine EIA investigation was 94% and the specificity 99%, compared with those of urethral swab EIA which. were 97% and 99% respectively. The positive and negative predictive values for urine were 96% and 98% compared with 96% and 99% respectively for urethral swabs. Urine examination was therefore sensitive and specific compared with urethral swab examination in these STD patients. In view of this, the advantage of urine as an alternative to urethral swabs for C. trachomatis detection is that sampling is non-invasive and non-traumatic

Inferring Rn-222 soil fluxes from ambient Rn-222 activity and eddy covariance measurements of CO2

We present a new methodology, which we call Single Pair of Observations Technique with Eddy Covariance (SPOT-EC), to estimate regional-scale surface fluxes of 222Rn from tower-based observations of 222Rn activity concentration, CO2 mole fractions and direct CO2 flux measurements from eddy covariance. For specific events, the regional (222Rn) surface flux is calculated from short-term changes in ambient (222Rn) activity concentration scaled by the ratio of the mean CO2 surface flux for the specific event to the change in its observed mole fraction. The resulting 222Rn surface emissions are integrated in time (between the moment of observation and the last prior background levels) and space (i.e. over the footprint of the observations). The measurement uncertainty obtained is about ±15 % for diurnal events and about ±10 % for longer-term (e.g. seasonal or annual) means. The method does not provide continuous observations, but reliable daily averages can be obtained. We applied our method to in situ observations from two sites in the Netherlands: Cabauw station (CBW) and Lutjewad station (LUT). For LUT, which is an intensive agricultural site, we estimated a mean 222Rn surface flux of (0.29 ± 0.02) atoms cm−2 s−1 with values  > 0.5 atoms cm−2 s−1 to the south and south-east. For CBW we estimated a mean 222Rn surface flux of (0.63 ± 0.04) atoms cm−2 s−1. The highest values were observed to the south-west, where the soil type is mainly river clay. For both stations good agreement was found between our results and those from measurements with soil chambers and two recently published 222Rn soil flux maps for Europe. At both sites, large spatial and temporal variability of 222Rn surface fluxes were observed which would be impractical to measure with a soil chamber. SPOT-EC, therefore, offers an important new tool for estimating regional-scale 222Rn surface fluxes. Practical applications furthermore include calibration of process-based 222Rn soil flux models, validation of atmospheric transport models and performing regional-scale inversions, e.g. of greenhouse gases via the SPOT 222Rn-tracer method

Potential of deep learning segmentation for the extraction of archaeological features from historical map series

Historical maps present a unique depiction of past landscapes, providing evidence for a wide range of information such as settlement distribution, past land use, natural resources, transport networks, toponymy and other natural and cultural data within an explicitly spatial context. Maps produced before the expansion of large‐scale mechanized agriculture reflect a landscape that is lost today. Of particular interest to us is the great quantity of archaeologically relevant information that these maps recorded, both deliberately and incidentally. Despite the importance of the information they contain, researchers have only recently begun to automatically digitize and extract data from such maps as coherent information, rather than manually examine a raster image. However, these new approaches have focused on specific types of information that cannot be used directly for archaeological or heritage purposes. This paper provides a proof of concept of the application of deep learning techniques to extract archaeological information from historical maps in an automated manner. Early twentieth century colonial map series have been chosen, as they provide enough time depth to avoid many recent large‐scale landscape modifications and cover very large areas (comprising several countries). The use of common symbology and conventions enhance the applicability of the method. The results show deep learning to be an efficient tool for the recovery of georeferenced, archaeologically relevant information that is represented as conventional signs, line‐drawings and text in historical maps. The method can provide excellent results when an adequate training dataset has been gathered and is therefore at its best when applied to the large map series that can supply such information. The deep learning approaches described here open up the possibility to map sites and features across entire map series much more quickly and coherently than other available methods, opening up the potential to reconstruct archaeological landscapes at continental scales

Atmospheric transport and chemistry of trace gases in LMDz5B: evaluation and implications for inverse modelling

Representation of atmospheric transport is a major source of error in the estimation of greenhouse gas sources and sinks by inverse modelling. Here we assess the impact on trace gas mole fractions of the new physical parameterizations recently implemented in the atmospheric global climate model LMDz to improve vertical diffusion, mesoscale mixing by thermal plumes in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), and deep convection in the troposphere. At the same time, the horizontal and vertical resolution of the model used in the inverse system has been increased. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of these developments on the representation of trace gas transport and chemistry, and to anticipate the implications for inversions of greenhouse gas emissions using such an updated model. Comparison of a one-dimensional version of LMDz with large eddy simulations shows that the thermal scheme simulates shallow convective tracer transport in the PBL over land very efficiently, and much better than previous versions of the model. This result is confirmed in three-dimensional simulations, by a much improved reproduction of the radon-222 diurnal cycle. However, the enhanced dynamics of tracer concentrations induces a stronger sensitivity of the new LMDz configuration to external meteorological forcings. At larger scales, the inter-hemispheric exchange is slightly slower when using the new version of the model, bringing them closer to observations. The increase in the vertical resolution (from 19 to 39 layers) significantly improves the representation of stratosphere/troposphere exchange. Furthermore, changes in atmospheric thermodynamic variables, such as temperature, due to changes in the PBL mixing modify chemical reaction rates, which perturb chemical equilibriums of reactive trace gases. One implication of LMDz model developments for future inversions of greenhouse gas emissions is the ability of the updated system to assimilate a larger amount of high-frequency data sampled at high-variability stations. Others implications are discussed at the end of the paper

Формирование супружеской дезадаптации при сексуальном фобическом неврозе у мужа

Освещены причины, условия формирования и клинические проявления вторичной супружеской дезадаптации при сексуальном фобическом неврозе у мужа. Показана роль биогенных, социогенных и негативных психологических факторов в генезе связанной с рассмотренной формой сексуального расстройства супружеской дезадаптации.The causes, conditions of forming and clinical manifestations of secondary spouse deadaptation in sexual phobic neurosis in the husband are described. The role of biogenic, sociogenic and negative mental factors in the development of spouse deadaptation associated with this form of a sexual disorder is shown

Теоретичні засади дослідження виборчих технологій в електоральному процесі України та проблеми їх ефективності

Здійснено політологічний аналіз ефективності виборчих технологій та проаналізо­вано їх вплив на електоральні процеси в Україні.Осуществлен политологический анализ эффективности избирательных технологий и проанализировано их влияние на электоральные процессы в Украине.Political analysis of electoral technologies effectiveness and analyzes of their impact on the electoral process in Ukraine are made

Система показателей социальной диагностики состояния общества в условиях демократических преобразований в Украине

В статье предпринята попытка проанализировать различные подходы к показателям социальной диагностики состояния современного общества. Предложена методика социальной диагностики состояния современного общества с позиций объективных показателей развития.У статті зроблена спроба проаналізувати різні підходи до показників соціальної діагностики стану сучасного суспільства. Запропонована методика соціальної діагностики стану сучасного суспільства з позицій об'єктивних показників розвитку.An attempt to analyze different approaches to the indexes of social diagnostics of the state of modern society is undertaken in the article. The method of social diagnostics of the state of modern society is offered from positions of objective indexes of development