Learning-oriented Evaluation: A tool for promoting institutional learning and program improvement

Evaluation processes of all types, including monitoring, review and impact assessment, offer unique opportunities for learning and provide useful feedback on what works and what doesn’t, and the reasons for success or failure. Involving staff members, partners and beneficiaries in the evaluation process allows them to reflect on their work, revisit their understanding of the project’s goals and activities, assess their effectiveness and take ownership of the evaluation findings. The knowledge created and the lessons learned through evaluation subsequently provide a basis for better project planning and implementation. This Brief outlines an evaluation approach that promotes learning and program improvement; it contrasts this approach with accountability-focused evaluation and it provides an example of learning-oriented evaluation from within the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).impact Assessment, monitoring, CGIAR, evaluation, learning, Agricultural and Food Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Institutional Learning and Change: An initiative to promote greater impact through agricultural research for poverty alleviation

The ILAC Initiative consists of an evolving community of individuals committed to increasing the contributions of agricultural research to sustainable poverty reduction around the world. ILAC promotes research, methodology development and capacity development to increase understanding of agricultural change processes and increase the effectiveness of interventions to stimulate pro-poor innovation. This paper presents a broad overview of ILAC, including its background, origins and evolution, objectives and activities. It also presents the initiative’s central hypothesis and a set of guiding questions. Theoretical frameworks that show promise for increasing understanding of issues related to capacities to learn, facilitate innovation, and contribute to poverty reduction are introduced.agricultural, research, ILAC, pro-poor, innovation, farmers, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Antidepressant suppression of REM and spindle sleep impairs hippocampus-dependent learning and memory but fosters striatal-dependent strategies

REM sleep enhances hippocampus-dependent associative memory but has little impact on striatal-dependent procedural learning. Antidepressant medications like desipramine (DMI) inhibit rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep but it is little understood how antidepressant treatments affect learning. We found that DMI strongly suppressed REM sleep in rats for several hours and impaired reconsolidation of a familiar maze and consolidation of moved baited positions (reversal learning) in a sleep-dependent fashion. Unexpectedly, DMI also reduced the spindle-rich transition-to-REM sleep state (TR) and spatial memory changes were more related to TR than to REM sleep. Working memory was unaffected, but overnight reference memory was significantly impaired and subjects increased reliance on non-hippocampal strategies. Procedural memory performance was positively correlated with increases in non-REM sleep after DMI serving to offset memory declines, partially preserving performance. Our results suggest that familiar memories are re-consolidated during REM sleep, reversal memories consolidated during TR, and procedural memories consolidated during non-REM sleep

The Origin, Development And Structure Of Demand For Plant Genetic Resources. The Impact Of The In Trust Agreements To The CGIAR Collections Availability

The objective of this paper is to explore how the demand of germplasm held by CGIAR genebanks changed over time in order to assess the possible influence of the 1994 In Trust Agreements on germplasm demand. The proposed theoretic model motivates the realistic hypothesis that the consequences of the In-Trust Agreements lead to an enhancement of CGIAR germplasm utilization. Therefore the paper firstly examines the classical literature on biodiversity’s valuation and its recent developments and subsequently it investigates the origin of the agricultural biodiversity’s economic value, providing a basic conceptual framework to infer on factors determining the demand for germplasm. Two Bayesian estimation frameworks are applied to the IRRI accessions distribution’s time-series to provide formal evidence to the hypothesis, exploiting Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, Gibbs sampling in particular. Evidence suggests that the demand variation implies a change in the genetic collections economic value, impacting therefore on their direct use search value.Crop genetic resources, germplasm collection, search theoretic framework, count data, changepoints, O19, Q18, Q57, C11,

Keeping It Real: Applying 360 Degrees of Authenticity

Marketers tout authenticity as the new reality, a means by which consumers in markets of abundance determine value and, at times, prestige. Approaching consumption from a Service- Dominant perspective, where every product has a unique experiential component within which the consumer and producer co-create value, means authenticity is problematic. How can a marketer represent authentically the infinite possibilities of the experiential component of a product? This paper builds on emerging research and a qualitative example to explore the meaning and application of an authenticity framework: the 360 degree model of authenticity

Three-compartment body composition changes in elite rugby league players during a super league season, measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

This study investigated the acute changes in body composition that occur over the course of a competitive season in elite rugby league players. Twenty elite senior players from an English Super League rugby league team underwent a total-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan at 3 phases of a competitive season: preseason (February), midseason (June), and postseason (September). Body mass (BM), fat mass (FM), lean mass, percentage body fat, and bone mineral content (BMC) were reported at each phase. Between the start and midpoint of the season, BM, lean mass, FM, and body fat percentage showed no significant change (p > 0.05); however, BMC was significantly increased (+0.71%; 30.70 ± 38.00 g; p 0.05); however, significant changes were observed in lean mass (-1.54%; 1.19 ± 1.43 kg), FM (+4.09%; 0.57 ± 1.10 kg), and body fat percentage (+4.98%; 0.78 ± 1.09%; p < 0.05). The significant changes in body composition seen over the latter stages of the competitive season may have implications for performance capabilities at this important stage of competition. An increase in FM and decrease in lean mass may have a negative effect on the power/BM ratio, and therefore may be a cause for concern for playing, coaching, and medical staff. Coaching and strength and conditioning staff should aim to prescribe appropriate training and nutritional practices with the aim of maintaining the players' optimal body composition until the conclusion of the competitive season, in order that performance capabilities are maximized over the entire competition period

Transition metal decorated soft nanomaterials through modular self-assembly of an asymmetric hybrid polyoxometalate

An asymmetrically functionalised Wells–Dawson organic–inorganic hybrid polyoxometalate has been post-functionalised by Pt2+ coordination, and demonstrates self-assembly into surface-decorated micellar nanostructures. This multifunctional hybrid material is found to be a redox-active soft nanomaterial and demonstrates a new molecular design strategy with potential for applications in photo- or electro-catalysis

A Glass of Milk: The Rocha, Nicaragua Goat Project

This panel will talk about their plans to embark on a goat-gifting project in two rural Nicaraguan communities

Egg development, hatching rhythm and moult patterns in Paralomos spinosissima (Decapoda: Anomura: Paguroidea: Lithodidae) from South Georgia waters (Southern Ocean)

Larval release, hatching rhythms and moult patterns were examined in a captive population of the subantarctic lithodid, Paralomis spinosissima from the South Georgia and Shag Rocks region. Larvae hatched throughout the year with the majority of females starting to release larvae at the end of the austral summer and beginning of autumn. Larval release continued over a period of up to 9 weeks with high variability in the numbers that hatched each day. A similar seasonal pattern to hatching was evident in the moulting of females. Intermoult period for two adult females (CL = 63 and 85 mm) ranged from 894 to 1,120 days while an intermoult period for males was estimated to be in excess of 832 days. The results are consistent with other species of Paralomis and are discussed in relation to physiological and environmental adaptations to the cold-water conditions south of the Antarctic Convergence

Guidelines for the use and reuse of animals for teaching within veterinary medical education programs

Use and reuse of animals for educational purposes could adversely affect animal welfare. Guidelines for quantifying, monitoring and planning the use and reuse of animals have been developed. Within this framework animals are assigned points for usage, with more points being allocated to procedures that may have a greater adverse effect on animal welfare. Usage of individual animals is limited to a maximum of 8 points in a calendar week, 24 points in a month or 60 points within a 16-week study period and any associated examination period. Advantages and disadvantages of the system are discussed while modification is expected as knowledge emerges on the impact of procedures on animal welfare