East-West Trade Regulation in the United States (1974 Trade Act, Title IV)

The Orchard Sports Injury Classification System (OSICS) is one of the world’s most commonly used systems for coding injury diagnoses in sports injury surveillance systems. Its major strengths are that it has wide usage, has codes specific to sports medicine and that it is free to use. Literature searches and stakeholder consultations were made to assess the uptake of OSICS and to develop new versions. OSICS was commonly used in the sports of football (soccer), Australian football, rugby union, cricket and tennis. It is referenced in international papers in three sports and used in four commercially available computerised injury management systems. Suggested injury categories for the major sports are presented. New versions OSICS 9 (three digit codes) and OSICS 10.1 (four digit codes) are presented. OSICS is a potentially helpful component of a comprehensive sports injury surveillance system, but many other components are required. Choices made in developing these components should ideally be agreed upon by groups of researchers in consensus statements

Assessment of needs and feasibility of commercial production of tropical fruits and vegetables for diversified exports in Ethiopia and Sudan

Diversification into the production and export of horticultural crops is a strategy increasingly adopted by developing countries to enhance incomes, employment and foreign exchange earnings. However, a relatively small number of countries dominate exports of horticultural products from Sub-Saharan Africa and for most African countries the horticulture export sector has remained very small and/or has experienced severe bottlenecks to expansion. The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) is financing projects to assist Least Developed Countries in the diversification of their commodity exports. As part of this programme, the CFC is funding this pilot project in Ethiopia and the Sudan to assess the needs and feasibility of developing commercial production of high value tropical fruit and vegetable products based on these countries' comparative advantage. The purpose of this report is to identify and prioritise the various capacity building measures that need to be devised and developed to overcome these constraints and thus facilitate an expansion of fruit and vegetable exports. The aim is to advise the relevant international and national institutions on modalities to adopt in order to strengthen the existing horticultural strategy in Ethiopia and Sudan and thus reduce poverty while enhancing the livelihood benefits accruing. The report has five chapters. The first is an introduction, while aspects of horticultural production and trade in Ethiopia and Sudan are discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 respectively. Chapter 4 reviews the international market situation looking specifically at European Union and Middle East markets. Chapter 5 contains conclusions and recommendations of the study. In addition, there are 7 Annexes, covering methodology, contacts and itinerary, workshops in Sudan and Ethiopia, detailed production and trade data, and materials consulted

Plausibility of Image Reconstruction Using a Proposed Flexible and Portable CT Scanner

The very hot and power-hungry x-ray filaments in today's computed tomography (CT) scanners constrain their design to be big and stationary. What if we built a CT scanner that could be deployed at the scene of a car accident to acquire tomographic images before moving the victim? Recent developments in nanotechnology have shown that carbon nanotubes can produce x-rays at room temperature, and with relatively low power needs. We propose a design for a portable and flexible CT scanner made up of an addressable array of tiny x-ray emitters and detectors. In this paper, we outline a basic design, propose a strategy for reconstruction, and demonstrate the feasibility of reconstruction using experiments on a software simulation of the flexible scanner. These simulations show that reconstruction quality is stable over a wide range of scanner geometries, while progressively larger errors in the scanner geometry induce progressively larger errors. We also raise a number of issues that still need to be overcome to build such a scanner.This work was supported by funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Innovation Trust

Los REA en la práctica: el cambio organizativo mediante el bootstrapping

En aquest treball investiguem un plantejament de canvi institucional encaminat a establir pràctiques educatives obertes (PEO) en una universitat i inculcar l'ús de recursos educatius oberts (REO) com a part del seu treball curricular i la seva pràctica educativa. Les pràctiques tradicionals, consistents a proporcionar recursos d'aprenentatge per a un ensenyament individualitzat en mòduls acadèmics semestrals, s'adapten cada vegada pitjor als requisits d'un panorama educatiu dinàmic i global. Els REO ofereixen una alternativa sostenible i equitativa a aquestes pràctiques tancades, i tenen la capacitat de satisfer la demanda emergent en entorns d'aprenentatge distribuït. No obstant això, canviar les pràctiques educatives continua essent un repte formidable, i l'adopció dels REO comporta una ruptura radical pel que fa a les pràctiques institucionals heretades. En aquest treball ens centrem en el punt de partida per a integrar els REO en el treball curricular i les pràctiques educatives. A la Universitat La Trobe (Austràlia) investiguem aquest canvi més per mitjà d'iniciatives emergents que d'un programa dissenyat jeràrquicament des de dalt: ens plantegem quines són les connexions necessàries per a implantar pràctiques obertes en una universitat. Descrivim tres casos de PEO que, junts, generen capacitats de REA en una universitat. Aprofitem l'estratègia de bootstrapping plantejada per Bardini com a procés d'aprenentatge iteratiu i coadaptatiu que connecta les bones pràctiques in situ amb les estructures institucionals a fi d'establir les bases de treball per al canvi emergent. Aquests casos demostren com uns processos innovadors tan dispars es poden connectar i modificar per a crear una xarxa de PEO incipient. In this paper, we investigate an approach to institutional change that aims to establish open educational practices (OEP) in a university and inculcate the use of open education resources (OER) as part of its curriculum work and teaching practice. Traditional practices that involve delivering knowledge resources for individualised learning within semester-length units of study are becoming increasingly ill-adapted to the demands of a dynamic and global educational landscape. OER offers a sustainable and equitable alternative to such closed arrangements, with the potential to meet the emerging demands of distributed learning settings. Nevertheless, changing educational practice remains a formidable challenge, and adopting OER is a radical break from legacy institutional practices. Our focus in this paper is on the starting point for embedding OER in curriculum work and teaching practice. We investigate change through emergent initiatives rather than a top-down program at La Trobe University in Australia: we ask what connections are necessary to establish open practices in a university. We trace three instances of OEP in one university that together build capacity in OER. We draw on Bardini’s strategy of bootstrapping, as an iterative and co-adaptive learning process that connects good practices in situ with institutional structures in order to build the groundwork for emergent change. These cases demonstrate how disparate innovations can be connected and re-purposed to establish a network of nascent OEP. En este trabajo investigamos un planteamiento de cambio institucional encaminado a establecer prácticas educativas abiertas (PEA) en una universidad e inculcar el uso de recursos educativos abiertos (REA) como parte de su trabajo curricular y su práctica educativa. Las prácticas tradicionales, consistentes en proporcionar recursos de aprendizaje para una enseñanza individualizada en módulos académicos semestrales, se adaptan cada vez peor a los requisitos de un panorama educativo dinámico y global. Los REA ofrecen una alternativa sostenible y equitativa a estas prácticas cerradas, y tienen la capacidad de satisfacer la demanda emergente en entornos de aprendizaje distribuido. No obstante, cambiar las prácticas educativas sigue siendo un reto formidable, y la adopción de los REA supone una ruptura radical con respecto a las prácticas institucionales heredadas. En el presente trabajo nos centramos en el punto de partida para integrar los REA en el trabajo curricular y las prácticas educativas. En la Universidad La Trobe (Australia) investigamos este cambio más a través de iniciativas emergentes que de un programa diseñado jerárquicamente desde arriba: nos planteamos cuáles son las conexiones necesarias para implantar prácticas abiertas en una universidad. Describimos tres casos de PEA que, juntos, generan capacidades de REA en una universidad. Aprovechamos la estrategia de bootstrapping planteada por Bardini como proceso de aprendizaje iterativo y coadaptativo que conecta las buenas prácticas in situ con las estructuras institucionales a fin de sentar las bases de trabajo para el cambio emergente. Estos casos demuestran cómo unos procesos innovadores tan dispares se pueden conectar y modificar para crear una red de PEA incipiente.

The production of fresh produce in Africa for export to the United Kingdom: mapping different value chains

This report maps the involvement of African smallholders in supplying produce to UK markets (with emphasis on detailed characterisation of UK markets) by determining origin of product, types of product, volumes, values and numbers of smallholders involved and destination markets. The study is important because there is strong evidence that exporters and importers are moving away from the smallest of growers, not because of product quality or productivity, but because of transaction costs associated with private retailer standards. At present, it is not clear whether production by small-scale farmers throughout Africa destined for export to retailers abroad can remain viable

Management of lumbar bone stress injury in cricket fast bowlers and other athletes

Background: Recent guidelines (including a special series in The Lancet) have emphasised a minimal role for imaging when assessing low back pain in adults, as the majority of patients will have non-specific findings on imaging that do not correlate well with pain. Objective: To assess whether the diagnosis of lumbar bone stress injuries in young athletes should be considered an exception to the recommendation to avoid imaging for low back pain in adults. Method: Narrative review. Results: Early lumbar bone stress injury diagnosis has been available via traditional MRI sequences (and its precursor Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)) for 25-30 years. MRI assessments using bone window sequences (such as Volumetric Interpolated Breath-hold Examination (VIBE)) have allowed a better understanding of the diagnosis and prognosis of lumbar bone stress injury in young athletes. MRI with bone sequences has allowed non-radiating scans to serially follow the healing of unilateral stress fractures. In the majority of cases, non-chronic unilateral fractures can heal; however, this takes three-six months rather than the six-ten weeks that would be the typical unloading period if using symptoms (only) as a guide. The use of MRI to provide evidence of bony healing (as opposed to fibrous union, which creates the pars defect that predisposes to further bone stress lesions) can lead to better long-term outcomes in athletes. There is evidence to flag this as a structural lesion which is both painful and, more importantly, can heal/resolve if managed correctly. Therefore it represents an important ‘specific’ diagnostic subset within adult low back pain. Conclusion: Structural (rather than functional) management of bone stress injuries in high-demand athletes, such as cricket pace bowlers, is in contrast to the recommendation of functional management for general back pain in adults. Structural management is justified when there are demonstrable superior outcomes of having better structure. Although this has not yet been shown in randomised trials of elite athletes, apparent lengthier Test cricket careers of pace bowlers who do not have pars defects suggest better athletic outcomes if bony healing is achieved. For lower demand young adults, or athletes with established bilateral pars defects, functional management may be more pragmatic

Farmers’ perception about quality of planted seed yam and their preferences for certified seed yam in Ghana

The study examined the effect of farmers’ perception about the quality of seed yam typically used for cultivation on their preferences for certified seed yam. Heckman’s sample selectivity probit model was applied on survey data collected from 380 yam farmers. The study found that farmers generally agree that the use of certified seed yam would help to improve yield because of minimum to no disease/pest infestation. Farmers expressed their willingness to purchase certified seed yam if the price is about 26% higher than those supplied from the informal system in as much as the quality can be assured. The study found that farmer educational level, experience, access to extension services and household incomes were factors influencing farmers’ perception about quality of seed yam cultivated. Variables such as age, educational level and income were also found to be factors that influence farmers’ preference for certified seed yam. The results were similar for both Pona and other white yam varieties. The study recommends promotion of farmer education through increased access to extension services on seed quality assessment together with other agronomic practices including farmer field schools, to help improve their ability to assess the quality of seed yam obtained from other sources as well as increase their preference for certified seed yam