Building sustainable smallholder cooperatives in emerging market economies: findings from a five-year project in Kenya

A comparative study of two smallholder dairy cooperatives in Kenya examines the question: what factors are conducive to producing sustainable smallholder cooperatives that can gain entry into the vertical value chain in liberalized post-colonial economies? The relative weight of income advantage; selective individual incentives and, social capital on maintaining member patronage are assessed within variable environmental constraints and opportunities facing different cooperatives. The methodology includes case study observation of the cooperatives during a five-year period, as well as sample surveys of members and non-members that include indicators of dairy income; reasons why farmers elect to join or not join the cooperative; and assessments of the importance of different services provided by the cooperative. The findings show how the relative weight of specific incentives for cooperative membership can vary from one environment to another within the same nation. The most important finding is that maintaining sustainable smallholder cooperatives within an increasingly competitive environment depends on the ability of managers to create business strategies that are compatible with the cooperative’s environmental constraints but, at the same time, incentivize members’ patronage

Intra-week spatial-temporal patterns of crime

Since its original publication, routine activity theory has proven most instructive for understanding temporal patterns in crime. The most prominent of the temporal crime patterns investigated is seasonality: crime (most often assault) increases during the summer months and decreases once routine activities are less often outside. Despite the rather widespread literature on the seasonality of crime, there is very little research investigating temporal patterns of crime at shorter time intervals such as within the week or even within the day. This paper contributes to this literature through a spatial-temporal analysis of crime patterns for different days of the week. It is found that temporal patterns are present for different days of the week (more crime on weekends, as would be expected) and there is a spatial component to that temporal change. Specifically, aside from robbery and sexual assault at the micro-spatial unit of analysis (street segments) the spatial patterns of crime changed. With regard to the spatial pattern changes, we found that assaults and theft from vehicle had their spatial patterns change in predictable ways on Saturdays: assaults increased in the bar district and theft from vehicles increased in the downtown and recreational car park areas

Short-Lived Trace Gases in the Surface Ocean and the Atmosphere

The two-way exchange of trace gases between the ocean and the atmosphere is important for both the chemistry and physics of the atmosphere and the biogeochemistry of the oceans, including the global cycling of elements. Here we review these exchanges and their importance for a range of gases whose lifetimes are generally short compared to the main greenhouse gases and which are, in most cases, more reactive than them. Gases considered include sulphur and related compounds, organohalogens, non-methane hydrocarbons, ozone, ammonia and related compounds, hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Finally, we stress the interactivity of the system, the importance of process understanding for modeling, the need for more extensive field measurements and their better seasonal coverage, the importance of inter-calibration exercises and finally the need to show the importance of air-sea exchanges for global cycling and how the field fits into the broader context of Earth System Science

Diversity of Meiofauna from the 9°50′N East Pacific Rise across a Gradient of Hydrothermal Fluid Emissions

Background: We studied the meiofauna community at deep-sea hydrothermal vents along a gradient of vent fluid emissions in the axial summit trought (AST) of the East Pacific Rise 9 degrees 50'N region. The gradient ranged from extreme high temperatures, high sulfide concentrations, and low pH at sulfide chimneys to ambient deep-sea water conditions on bare basalt. We explore meiofauna diversity and abundance, and discuss its possible underlying ecological and evolutionary processes. Methodology/Principal Findings: After sampling in five physico-chemically different habitats, the meiofauna was sorted, counted and classified. Abundances were low at all sites. A total of 52 species were identified at vent habitats. The vent community was dominated by hard substrate generalists that also lived on bare basalt at ambient deep-sea temperature in the axial summit trough (AST generalists). Some vent species were restricted to a specific vent habitat (vent specialists), but others occurred over a wide range of physico-chemical conditions (vent generalists). Additionally, 35 species were only found on cold bare basalt (basalt specialists). At vent sites, species richness and diversity clearly increased with decreasing influence of vent fluid emissions from extreme flow sulfide chimney (no fauna), high flow pompei worm (S: 4-7, H-loge': 0.11-0.45), vigorous flow tubeworm (S: 8-23; H-loge': 0.44-2.00) to low flow mussel habitats (S: 28-31; H-loge': 2.34-2.60). Conclusions/Significance: Our data suggest that with increasing temperature and toxic hydrogen sulfide concentrations and increasing amplitude of variation of these factors, fewer species are able to cope with these extreme conditions. This results in less diverse communities in more extreme habitats. The finding of many species being present at sites with and without vent fluid emissions points to a non endemic deep-sea hydrothermal vent meiofaunal community. This is in contrast to a mostly endemic macrofauna but similar to what is known for meiofauna from shallow-water vents

Laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: omitting a pelvic drain

PURPOSE: Our goal was to assess outcomes of a selective drain placement strategy during laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) with a running urethrovesical anastomosis (RUVA) using cystographic imaging in all patients. Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed for all patients undergoing LRP between January 2003 and December 2004. The anastomosis was performed using a modified van Velthoven technique. A drain was placed at the discretion of the senior surgeon when a urinary leak was demonstrated with bladder irrigation, clinical suspicion for a urinary leak was high, or a complex bladder neck reconstruction was performed. Routine postoperative cystograms were obtained. RESULTS: 208 patients underwent LRP with a RUVA. Data including cystogram was available for 206 patients. The overall rate of cystographic urine leak was 5.8%. A drain was placed in 51 patients. Of these, 8 (15.6%) had a postoperative leak on cystogram. Of the 157 undrained patients, urine leak was radiographically visible in 4 (2.5%). The higher leak rate in the drained vs. undrained cohort was statistically significant (p = 0.002). Twenty-four patients underwent pelvic lymph node dissection (8 drained, 16 undrained). Three undrained patients developed lymphoceles, which presented clinically on average 3 weeks postoperatively. There were no urinomas or hematomas in either group. CONCLUSIONS: Routine placement of a pelvic drain after LRP with a RUVA is not necessary, unless the anastomotic integrity is suboptimal intraoperatively. Experienced clinical judgment is essential and accurate in identifying patients at risk for postoperative leakage. When suspicion is low, omitting a drain does not increase morbidity