Soya bean crop development in Kenya

The paper describes the introduction of commercial Soya Bean growing in the Districts of Kisii, South Nyanza and Narok. Focus is put on agronomic and infrastructural problems and proposals are being made on further expansion of Soya Bean growing in Kenya

Managing extension staff: Two experiments in Kenya

This paper focusses on techniques for managing agricultural extension staff. A system of staff meetings, recording and reporting is described, which was tested in the Mbere Special Rural Development Programme area. The purpose of this system was to provide closer supervision of the routine activities of agricultural extension staff, and its achievements and limitations'in meeting this goal are discussed here. A system of inservice training and planning workshops associated: with new and/or more comprehensive extension activities was tested in Kisii and Homa Bay. This is basically a management system for extension planning which provides a tool for the effective participation of grassroots level field staff. The two management systems are considered complementary, and it is proposed that they be combined to form a useful management tool for agricultural extension

New extension methods to speed up diffusion of agricultural innovations

This paper is based on field experiments carried out by researchers at the University of Nairobi's Institute for Development Studies in collaboration with Kenya District Agricultural Offices. The research has aimed at developing more efficient methods for stimulating diffusion of agricultural innovations and at the same time reducing the dualistic pattern of rural development . The governments of many developing countries have based their agricultural extension services on the diffusion theory of E.M. Rogers (Diffusion of Innovation, New York, Free Press, 1962), directing their efforts to the 'most progressive' farmers, with the expectation that the adoption of innovations would trickle down to the majority of farmers -- the 'less progressive'. Yet many researchers and planners have realised that under conditions of dualistic development agricultural innovations are rarely communicated in this direction, and furthermore, when extension efforts are directed towards the most progressive farmers the division in rural society is actually aggravated. Thus researchers and politicians in Kenya have sought alternative approaches to agricultural extension which will reach the majority of farmers without requiring a greatly expanded level of investment The research has shown that in a situation of dualistic rural development communications from more progressive farmers to less progressive farmers tend to break down. However, there is intense communication of agricultural innovations among farmers on the same or similar level of progressiveness, and more progressive farmers also readily adopt innovations from less progressive farmers if they perceive that it is to their advantage. Thus diffusion is maximised when innovations are introduced through less progressive farmers, even though it is more difficult to make less progressive farmers successful first adopters of an innovation. This paper reports on experiments carried out within the government extension organisation to find out how this can be done. The results are considered clearly encouraging

Rapid development for Kenya's small farms

The proposed research aims at developing more efficient replicable extension strategies for income generating innovations. The basic concept, theoretically founded, is to change the target groups for the extension service. Traditionally most progressive farmers are being approached to become first adopters of an innovation. The large majority of farmers (less progressives) is reached by a very slow diffusion process only and often the diffusion process completely leaves out a major part of the farmers. If less progressives (below average) are approached to become the first adopters, the diffusion process from them to the top progressives is very quick and the diffusion process among the target group itself is quicker and reaches more. This is founded on communication - and social stratification factors. The practical problem, however, seems to be the greater difficulty in making less, progressives first adopters. This problem could be solved by an appropriate package extension method already successfully tested in the "Tetu Project”. The only major problem with "Tetu", the very limited number of farmers which can be reached by this extension method, could be solved by taking the training out of the FTCs to the field and by approaching the farmers in groups. Summing up, the research therefore aims at: a) further testing of the new strategy, b) developing and evaluating methods of approaching farmers in groups, c) improving the replicability of the more efficient extension strategies and methods, and d) promoting their replication

Fear Memory Retrieval Is Associated With a Reduction in AMPA Receptor Density at Thalamic to Amygdala Intercalated Cell Synapses

The amygdala plays a crucial role in attaching emotional significance to environmental cues. Its intercalated cell masses (ITC) are tight clusters of GABAergic neurons, which are distributed around the basolateral amygdala complex. Distinct ITC clusters are involved in the acquisition and extinction of conditioned fear responses. Previously, we have shown that fear memory retrieval reduces the AMPA/NMDA ratio at thalamic afferents to ITC neurons within the dorsal medio-paracapsular cluster. Here, we investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the fear-mediated reduction in the AMPA/NMDA ratio at these synapses and, in particular, whether specific changes in the synaptic density of AMPA receptors underlie the observed change. To this aim, we used a detergent-digested freeze-fracture replica immunolabeling technique (FRIL) approach that enables to visualize the spatial distribution of intrasynaptic AMPA receptors at high resolution. AMPA receptors were detected using an antibody raised against an epitope common to all AMPA subunits. To visualize thalamic inputs, we virally transduced the posterior thalamic complex with Channelrhodopsin 2-YFP, which is anterogradely transported along axons. Using face-matched replica, we confirmed that the postsynaptic elements were ITC neurons due to their prominent expression of μ-opioid receptors. With this approach, we show that, following auditory fear conditioning in mice, the formation and retrieval of fear memory is linked to a significant reduction in the density of AMPA receptors, particularly at spine synapses formed by inputs of the posterior intralaminar thalamic and medial geniculate nuclei onto identified ITC neurons. Our study is one of the few that has directly linked the regulation of AMPA receptor trafficking to memory processes in identified neuronal networks, by showing that fear-memory induced reduction in AMPA/NMDA ratio at thalamic-ITC synapses is associated with a reduced postsynaptic AMPA receptor density

Place attachment in stroke rehabilitation:A transdisciplinary encounter between cultural geography, environmental psychology and rehabilitation medicine

Purpose: To increase understanding of stroke survivor's needs to successfully re-establish attachment to meaningful places at home and in the community. Methods: Qualitative research methodology including in-depth interviews with stroke survivors in the clinical, post-discharge and reintegration phases of the rehabilitation process. Results: Participants longed for recovery and domestic places in the clinical phase, for pre-stroke activities and roles in the post-discharge phase, and for recognition and a sense of belonging in the reintegration phase. The participants' selves had changed, while the spatial and social contexts of their homes had remained the same. Their spatial scope became smaller in both a social and a geographical sense. It was difficult to achieve a feeling of being at home in their bodies and own living environments again. The complexities that needed to be dealt with to engage with the outside world, turned participants unintentionally inwards. In particular, family members of participants with cognitive problems, longed for support and recognition in dealing with the changed personality of their spouses. Conclusions: Rehabilitation should put greater effort into supporting stroke survivors and their families in home-making and community reintegration processes, and help them to re-own and renegotiate their disabled bodies and changed identities in real life

New features on the expression and trafficking of mglur1 splice variants exposed by two novel mutant mouse lines

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) couple to G-proteins to modulate slow synaptic transmission via intracellular second messengers. The first cloned mGluR, mGluR1, regulates motor coordination, synaptic plasticity and synapse elimination. mGluR1 undergoes alternative splicing giving rise to four translated variants that differ in their intracellular C-terminal domains. Our current knowledge about mGluR1 relates almost entirely to the long mGluR1α isoform, whereas little is known about the other shorter variants. To study the expression of mGluR1γ, we have generated by means of the CRISPR/Cas9 system a new knock-in (KI) mouse line in which the C-terminus of this variant carries two short tags. Using this mouse line, we could establish that mGluR1γ is either untranslated or in amounts that are undetectable in the mouse cerebellum, indicating that only mGluR1α and mGluR1β are present and active at cerebellar synapses. The trafficking and function of mGluR1 appear strongly influenced by adaptor proteins such as long Homers that bind to the C-terminus of mGluR1α. We generated a second transgenic (Tg) mouse line in which mGluR1α carries a point mutation in its Homer binding domain and studied whether disruption of this interaction influenced mGluR1 subcellular localization at cerebellar parallel fiber (PF)-Purkinje cell (PC) synapses by means of the freeze-fracture replica immunolabeling technique. These Tg animals did not show any overt behavioral phenotype, and despite the typical mGluR1 perisynaptic distribution was not significantly changed, we observed a higher probability of intrasynaptic diffusion suggesting that long Homers regulate the lateral mobility of mGluR1. We extended our ultrastructural analysis to other mouse lines in which only one mGluR1 variant was reintroduced in PC of mGluR1-knock out (KO) mice. This work revealed that mGluR1α preferentially accumulates closer to the edge of the postsynaptic density (PSD), whereas mGluR1β has a less pronounced perijunctional distribution and, in the absence of mGluR1α, its trafficking to the plasma membrane is impaired with an accumulation in intracellular organelles. In conclusion, our study sets several firm points on largely disputed matters, namely expression of mGluR1γ and role of the C-terminal domain of mGluR1 splice variants on their perisynaptic clustering