Inter-temporal and Spatial Price Dispersion Patterns and the Well-Being of Maize Producers in Southern Tanzania

We revisit a methodology to gauge the short-term effect of price changes on smallholder farmer's welfare that is popular amongst policy makers and academia. Realising that farmers face substantial seasonal price volatility over the course of an agricultural year, we pay particular attention to the timing of sales and purchases. In addition we depart from the implicit assumption that all farmers scattered across rural areas face the same prices when interacting with markets. Using maize marketing during the 2007–2008 agricultural season in a sample of smallholders in Tanzania as an illustration, we find that especially poor farmers face greater losses than what a standard analysis would suggest. We also relate our methodology to factors that are likely to affect potential benefits or costs from inter-temporal and spatial price dispersion, such as means of transport, access to price information and credit

III-V-on-silicon anti-colliding pulse-type mode-locked laser

An anti-colliding pulse-type III–V-on-silicon passively mode-locked laser is presented for the first time based on a III–V-on-silicon distributed Bragg reflector as outcoupling mirror implemented partially underneath the III–V saturable absorber. Passive mode-locking at 4.83 GHz repetition rate generating 3 ps pulses is demonstrated. The generated fundamental RF tone shows a 1.7 kHz 3 dB linewidth. Over 9 mW waveguide coupled output power is demonstrated

Μελέτη και ανάπτυξη πλατφόρμας επεξεργαστή ανοικτού λογισμικού για την υλοποίηση μετεωρολογιακού δικτύου

This study aimed to gain insight into the microbial quality, safety and bacterial community composition of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) reared at different facilities on a variety of organic waste streams. For seven rearing cycles, both on laboratory-scale and in large-scale facilities at several locations, the microbiota of the larvae was studied. Also samples of the substrate used and the residue (= leftover substrate after rearing, existing of non-consumed substrate, exuviae and faeces) were investigated. Depending on the sample, it was subjected to plate counting, Illumina Miseq sequencing and/or detection of specific food pathogens. The results revealed that the substrates applied at the various locations differed substantially in microbial numbers as well as in the bacterial community composition. Furthermore, little similarity was observed between the microbiota of the substrate and that of the larvae reared on that substrate. Despite substantial differences between the microbiota of larvae reared at several locations, 48 species-level operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were shared by all larvae, among which most belonged to the phyla Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. Although the substrate is assumed to be an important source of bacteria, our results suggest that a variety of supposedly interacting factors-both abiotic and biotic-are likely to affect the microbiota in the larvae. In some larvae and/or residue samples, potential foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella and Bacillus cereus were detected, emphasising that decontamination technologies are required when the larvae are used in feed, just as for other feed ingredients, or eventually in food

Lysolecithin, but not lecithin, improves nutrient digestibility and growth rates in young broilers

Young broilers have an underdeveloped ability for lipid digestion. The potential of lecithin and lysolecithin to improve lipid digestion and growth performance was investigated in 3 experiments: an in vitro model that mimics the intestinal conditions of the chick, a digestibility trial with chicks (5 to 7 days of age), and a performance trial until 21 days of age. In Experiment 1, palm oil (PO), palm oil with lecithin (PO+L), and palm oil with lysolecithin (PO+LY) were subjected to in vitro hydrolysis and applied to Caco-2 monolayers to assess lipid absorption. The in vitro hydrolysis rate of triglycerides was higher in PO+LY (k= 11.76 × 10-3 min-1) than in either PO (k= 9.73 × 10 3 min 1) or PO+L (k= 8.41 × 10 3 min 1), and the absorption of monoglycerides and free fatty acids was highest and free fatty acids was highest (P<0.01) for PO+LY. In Experiment 2, 90 broilers were assigned to three dietary treatments: a basal diet with 4% palm oil, and the basal diet supplemented with either 250 ppm lecithin or lysolecithin. ATTD of crude fat was higher in broilers supplemented with lysolecithin, but was lower in broilers supplemented with lecithin. DM digestibility and AMEn in birds supplemented with lysolecithin were significantly higher (3.03% and 0.47 MJ/kg, respectively). In Experiment 3, 480 broilers were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments: basal diet with soybean oil (2%), basal diet with lecithin (2%), soybean oil diet with 250 ppm lysolecithin, or lecithin oil diet with 250 ppm lysolecithin. Lecithin diets significantly reduced weight at day 10 and 21 compared with soybean oil. However, the addition of lysolecithin to lecithin-containing diets significantly improved bird performance. The results of these studies show that, in contrast to lecithin, lysolecithin is able to significantly improve the digestibility and energy values of feed in young broilers

Medial gastrocnemius volume and echo-intensity after botulinum neurotoxin A interventions in children with spastic cerebral palsy.

AIM: This cross-sectional investigation evaluated whether recurrent botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT-A) interventions to the medial gastrocnemius have an influence on muscle morphology, beyond Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level. METHOD: A cohort of typically developing children (n=67; 43 males, 24 females; median age 9y 11mo [range 7y 10mo-11y 6mo]), a cohort of children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) naive to BoNT-A interventions (No-BoNT-A; n=19; 10 males, nine females; median age 9y 3mo [range 8y 5mo-10y 10mo]) and a cohort of children with spastic CP with a minimum of three recurrent BoNT-A interventions to the medial gastrocnemius (BoNT-A; n=19; 13 males, six females; median age 9y 8mo [range 7y 3mo-10y 7mo]) were recruited. Three-dimensional freehand ultrasound was used to estimate medial gastrocnemius volume normalized to body mass and echo-intensity. RESULTS: Normalized medial gastrocnemius volume and echo-intensity significantly differed between the two spastic CP cohorts (p≤0.05), with the BoNT-A cohort having larger alterations. Associations between normalized medial gastrocnemius volume and echo-intensity were highest in the No-BoNT-A cohort, followed by the BoNT-A cohort. Multiple regression analyses revealed that both GMFCS level and BoNT-A intervention history were significantly associated with smaller normalized medial gastrocnemius volume and higher echo-intensity. INTERPRETATION: Recurrent BoNT-A interventions may induce alterations to medial gastrocnemius volume and echo-intensity beyond the natural history of the spastic CP pathology. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: In spastic cerebral palsy, medial gastrocnemius volumes are smaller and echo-intensities higher compared with typical development. Alterations after botulinum neurotoxin A intervention (BoNT-A) are larger than in no BoNT-A intervention. Gross Motor Function Classification System level and BoNT-A history significantly associate with medial gastrocnemius and echo-intensity alterations

Evidence that duplications of 22q11.2 protect against schizophrenia.

A number of large, rare copy number variants (CNVs) are deleterious for neurodevelopmental disorders, but large, rare, protective CNVs have not been reported for such phenotypes. Here we show in a CNV analysis of 47 005 individuals, the largest CNV analysis of schizophrenia to date, that large duplications (1.5-3.0 Mb) at 22q11.2--the reciprocal of the well-known, risk-inducing deletion of this locus--are substantially less common in schizophrenia cases than in the general population (0.014% vs 0.085%, OR=0.17, P=0.00086). 22q11.2 duplications represent the first putative protective mutation for schizophrenia