Bankability of a public private partnership in agricultural sector: A project in sub Saharan Africa

A public private partnership can be an effective approach to deal the projects with modern agricultural development in Sub Saharan Africa. A former financial analysis of a development project, carried out by the authors, showed that public and private partners can effectively join in a mutually satisfactory venture capital. The same project is now complemented with a bankability study, considering lenders options, equity allocation, collaterals and likely applicable interest rates, available cash flow and sustainable debt service repayment to provide a through financing scenario for each partner’s perspective assessing the relevant Debt Service and Loan Life Cover Ratios. Cash flow and interest rates fluctuation impacts are eventually investigated with a sensitivity analysis to prove the robustness of the proposed scenario

Lorentz-Lorenz Coefficient, Critical Point Constants, and Coexistence Curve of 1,1-Difluoroethylene

We report measurements of the Lorentz-Lorenz coefficient density dependence, the critical temperature, and the critical density, of the fluid 1,1-difluoroethylene. Lorentz-Lorenz coefficient data were obtained by measuring refractive index and density of the same fluid sample independently of one another. Accurate determination of the Lorentz-Lorenz coefficient is necessary for transformation of refractive index data into density data from optics-based experiments on critical phenomena of fluid systems done with different apparatus, with which independent measurement of the refractive indes and density is not possible. Measurements were made along the coexistence curve of the fluid and span the density range 0.01 to 0.80 g/cc. The Lorentz-Lorenz coefficient results show a stronger density dependence along the coexistence curve than previously observed in other fluids, with a monotonic decrease from a density of about 0.2 g/cc onwards, and an overall variation of about 2.5% in the density range studied. No anomaly in the Lorentz-Lorenz coefficient was observed near the critical density. The critical temperature is measured at Tc=(302.964+-0.002) K (29.814 C) and the measured critical density is (0.4195+-0.0018)g/cc.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, MikTeX 2.4, submitted to Physical Review

Financial sustainability of a public-private partnership for an agricultural development project in Sub-Saharan Africa

Land, water, sun, infrastructure, capital and know-how are needed for any agricultural development. Sub-Saharan Africa has immense natural resources, though often not immediately available altogether in the same place, but is generally short of the other inputs. That is why a public-private partnership can be an effective approach to deal the projects with modern agricultural development: public partner provides land, most of the infrastructure and finance; private partners provide the intensive farming practice, processing know-how and part of the equity. Financial analysis of lower and higher capital demanding scenarios and testing of the impact of changes in the critical drivers of costs and revenues shown that a combination of staple crops and cash crops can be found to balance national food security policy targets and financial appeal for private partners in a mutually satisfactory venture capital. The effect of environmental and infrastructural constraints was also considered, showing how likely-to-happen threats on the side of the implementation of the project may turn into challenging opportunity to climb the agribusiness value chain upward

Altered deoxyribonucleotide pools in T-lymphoblastoid cells expressing the multisubstrate nucleoside kinase of Drosophila melanogaster

The multisubstrate nucleoside kinase of Drosophila melanogaster (Dm-dNK) can be expressed in human solid tumor cells and its unique enzymatic properties makes this enzyme a suicide gene candidate. In the present study, Dm-dNK was stably expressed in the CCRF-CEM and H9 T-lymphoblastoid cell lines. The expressed enzyme was localized to the cell nucleus and the enzyme retained its activity. The Dm-dNK overexpressing cells showed approximately 200-fold increased sensitivity to the cytostatic activity of several nucleoside analogs, such as the pyrimidine nucleoside analogs (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine (BVDU) and 1-beta-d-arabinofuranosylthymine (araT), but not to the antiherpetic purine nucleoside analogs ganciclovir, acyclovir and penciclovir, which may allow this technology to be applied in donor T cells and/or rescue graft vs. host disease to permit modulation of alloreactivity after transplantation. The most pronounced effect on the steady-state dNTP levels was a two- to 10-fold increased dTTP pool in Dm-dNK expressing cells that were grown in the presence of 1 microm of each natural deoxyribonucleoside. Although the Dm-dNK expressing cells demonstrated dNTP pool imbalances, no mitochondrial DNA deletions or altered mitochondrial DNA levels were detected in the H9 Dm-dNK expressing cells

Computer animations of color markings reveal the function of visual threat signals in Neolamprologus pulcher

© The Author (2016). Visual signals, including changes in coloration and color patterns, are frequently used by animals to convey information. During contests, body coloration and its changes can be used to assess an opponent's state or motivation. Communication of aggressive propensity is particularly important in group-living animals with a stable dominance hierarchy, as the outcome of aggressive interactions determines the social rank of group members. Neolamprologus pulcher is a cooperatively breeding cichlid showing frequent within-group aggression. Both sexes exhibit two vertical black stripes on the operculum that vary naturally in shape and darkness. During frontal threat displays these patterns are actively exposed to the opponent, suggesting a signaling function. To investigate the role of operculum stripes during contests we manipulated their darkness in computer animated pictures of the fish. We recorded the responses in behavior and stripe darkness of test subjects to which these animated pictures were presented. Individuals with initially darker stripes were more aggressive against the animations and showed more operculum threat displays. Operculum stripes of test subjects became darker after exposure to an animation exhibiting a pale operculum than after exposure to a dark operculum animation, highlighting the role of the darkness of this color pattern in opponent assessment. We conclude that (i) the black stripes on the operculum of N. pulcher are a reliable signal of aggression and dominance, (ii) these markings play an important role in opponent assessment, and (iii) 2D computer animations are well suited to elicit biologically meaningful short-term aggressive responses in this widely used model system of social evolution

Hantaviruses in agricultural and forestry workers: Knowledge, attitudes and practices in Italian physicians

Hantaviruses are viral pathogens usually endemic in rodent populations. Human exposure follows inhalation of dusts contaminated with rodent excreta, and most individuals have been in-fected in occupational settings heavily contaminated with rodent droppings, such as agricultural and forestry. To date, knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical professionals, especially occupational physicians (OP), regarding hantavirus disease in at-risk workers have been scarcely investigated. We investigated these topics through a structured questionnaire administered through an online survey of 223 medical professionals (42.2% of them working as OP). Adequate general knowledge of hantavirus disease was found in 48.9% of respondents, with OP exhibiting a better understanding of clinical features of human hantavirus infections. OP aware of the endemic status of hantavirus in North-Eastern Italy exhibited higher risk perception for agricultural workers (odds ratio 21,193, 95% confidence interval 3.666–122.505). On the contrary, a better knowledge of hantaviruses was association with acknowledging an increased risk of hantavirus infection in forestry workers (odds ratio 5.880, 95% confidence interval 1.620–21.343). Hantavirus in Italy represent an often-overlooked biological risk in occupational settings. The lack of preventive immunization, the inappropriate risk perception and the unsatisfying awareness of hantavirus issues collectively stress the importance of appropriate information campaigns among health care providers

Nimesulide in painful OA of the knee

Summary Objective:  This study was designed to investigate the analgesic effects of nimesulide and celecoxib in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). In patients with joint effusion, the effects of these non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on synovial fluid concentrations of substance P (SP), interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 also were evaluated. Methods:  Patients were randomly assigned either nimesulide (100 mg twice a day) or celecoxib (200 mg once a day) for 2 weeks. The intensity of joint pain was assessed with a 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS). Furthermore, patients completed questions about analgesic efficacy and overall tolerability of the treatments on a five-point categorial scale. Synovial fluid samples were drawn at baseline, 30 min after the first drug intake (day 1), and 30 min after the last drug intake (day 14). Results:  We enrolled 44 patients, 20 of whom had a joint effusion. In this group, the effects of nimesulide were more marked than for celecoxib, with evidence of a faster onset of the analgesic action. Both after a single or repeated administration, nimesulide significantly reduced the synovial fluid concentrations of SP and IL-6. Celecoxib, on the other hand, did not change the concentrations of SP and significantly reduced the levels of IL-6 only on day 14. None of the drugs affected IL-8. Both drugs were generally well tolerated. Conclusions:  These results provide evidence that nimesulide is an effective agent for the symptomatic treatment of OA. The effect on inflammatory pain mediators is consistent with the fast analgesic action of this NSAID

Estimación del comportamiento de híbridos de maíz mediante modelos mixtos

La selección de cultivares superiores se basa en el comportamiento de éstos en los llamados ensayos multiambientales. El problema de la correcta elección de cultivares se incrementa cuando estos ensayos dan lugar a datos fuertemente desbalanceados, sumado a la presencia de la interacción genotipo x ambiente. Para identificar los mejores cultivares se ha empleado la mejor predicción insesgada o BLUP, empleando modelos lineales mixtos para el análisis de datos fenotípicos unidos a datos de relaciones de parentesco. Los objetivos del presente trabajo fueron: estimar el comportamiento de híbridos de maíz partir de datos desbalanceados, con y sin la inclusión del parentesco genético, y determinar el poder predictivo de los años de evaluación sobre el comportamiento de los genotipos. Se emplearon datos de rendimiento de 49 híbridos de maíz, desde 2006 hasta 2009, para las estimaciones de los BLUPS de cada genotipo. La inclusión de las relaciones de coancestría en el cálculo de los BLUPs permitió una mejor discriminación del material genético. Para la correcta discriminación de híbridos es recomendable el empleo de los tBLUP basados en más de 2 años, incluyendo ambientes de evaluación donde los cultivares experimentales puedan expresar su potencial de rendimient