Innovative agricultural extension for women : a case study in Cameroon

Agricultural extension has not been particularly kind to Africa's women farmers. On a continent where women produce 90 percent of the food and 60 percent of total agricultural output, insensitivity and neglect by extension services is the norm. Numerous case studies have pointed out the"gender gap"that exists in the provision of extension services to women farmers. Compared to male farmers or farming couples, women farmers receive far less attention from extension services, thus benefiting less from improved farming techniques. However, in Cameroon's North West province, over the last five years, the Mission de Developpement de la Province du Nord-Ouest (MIDENO), has been implementing a project to improve agricultural production in the province. In terms of agricultural extension, the project has hired almost 200 new extension agents, one-fourth of whom are women. The overall representation of women in the extension service is now 18.3 percent, among the highest in developing countries. The paper is organized into three Chapters : Chapter I deals with the agricultural and policy setting in which MIDENO was designed; Chapter II is devoted to the MIDENO case study; Chapter III attempts to generalize from the MIDENO case and determines the extent to which the MIDENO's experience and success can be sustained and replicated.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Agriculture&Farming Systems,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Crops&Crop Management Systems,Agricultural Research

Influence of cell surface characteristics on adhesion of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to the biomaterial hydroxylapatite

The influence of the physicochemical properties of biomaterials on microbial cell adhesion is well known, with the extent of adhesion depending on hydrophobicity, surface charge, specific functional groups and acid–base properties. Regarding yeasts, the effect of cell surfaces is often overlooked, despite the fact that generalisations may not be made between closely related strains. The current investigation compared adhesion of three industrially relevant strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (M-type, NCYC 1681 and ALY, strains used in production of Scotch whisky, ale and lager, respectively) to the biomaterial hydroxylapatite (HAP). Adhesion of the whisky yeast was greatest, followed by the ale strain, while adhesion of the lager strain was approximately 10-times less. According to microbial adhesion to solvents (MATS) analysis, the ale strain was hydrophobic while the whisky and lager strains were moderately hydrophilic. This contrasted with analyses of water contact angles where all strains were characterised as hydrophilic. All yeast strains were electron donating, with low electron accepting potential, as indicated by both surface energy and MATS analysis. Overall, there was a linear correlation between adhesion to HAP and the overall surface free energy of the yeasts. This is the first time that the relationship between yeast cell surface energy and adherence to a biomaterial has been described

Choosing friends carefully: allies for critical computing

In this paper, we argue firstly that researchers in critical computing should address the specific information and communication technology (ICT) needs and activities of those agencies concerned with emancipatory issues. Secondly, we argue that a critical perspective, explicitly foregrounding empowerment and emancipatory concerns, forms a basis for emphasising the practice of individuals, groups and organsations , rather than purely focusing on organisational form in social action. We discuss this context of social action, identifying some relevant ICT-related challenges. We identify three themes that highlight factors that differentiate ICT support for social action groups from the setting of conventional business and service organisations: Free / Libre Open- Source Software, techniques and technologies for engagement through storytelling, and learning and evaluation in social action.</p

Trans-spectral orbital angular momentum transfer via four-wave mixing in Rb vapor

We report the transfer of phase structure and, in particular, of orbital angular momentum from near-infrared pump light to blue light generated in a four-wave-mixing process in Rb-85 vapor. The intensity and phase profile of the two pump lasers at 780 and 776 nm, shaped by a spatial light modulator, influences the phase and intensity profile of light at 420 nm, which is generated in a subsequent coherent cascade. In particular, we observe that the phase profile associated with orbital angular momentum is transferred entirely from the pump light to the blue. Pumping with more complicated light profiles results in the excitation of spatial modes in the blue that depend strongly on phase matching, thus demonstrating the parametric nature of the mode transfer. These results have implications on the inscription and storage of phase information in atomic gases