Soil and water conservation in semi-arid Kenya

Sub-Saharan Africa is beset by an increasing population putting stringent demands on a declining resource base. Soil and water conservation (S&WC) is often seen as the primary means to arrest the inevitable decline in soil quality and maintain the productivity of farming systems upon which the majority of the populace rely for their precarious living standards. Yet S&WC programmes have a patchy record: in humid areas they may be relatively successful, but in semi-arid areas there is neither evidence of widespread adoption of S&WC nor increased production. These marginal areas, economically and climatically present the most intractable challenge to natural resource managers. This study investigates the performance of S&WC in rainfed cropping in the drier parts of Kenya, paying particular emphasis to the yield benefits and economic viability of crop production systems for the small scale and most vulnerable of the rural land users. Results are based upon a series of experiments conducted over three crop growing seasons on three soils, testing 10 S&WC based crop production systems with a monocrop of 75-day (short-season) maize (Zea mays L.: var. Makueni composite). The S&WC measures range from physical techniques of contour tillage, tied ridging and terraces to a partly biological technique of trashlines. Hand tillage was taken as the control. In this marginal environment (agro-climatic zones IV and V), the typical situation of smallscale farmers adding no fertilizer was compared with currently recommended levels of application of fertilizer and manure

Developing value chains to farming as business with technology and innovations in Kenya

The Feed the Future Kenya - Accelerated Value Chain Development (AVCD) program seeks to widely apply technologies and innovations for selected value chains in order to competitively and sustainably increase productivity, contributing to inclusive agricultural growth, nutrition and food security in the country. The program’s main goal is to sustainably reduce poverty and hunger in the Feed the Future zones of influence in Kenya

Soil and water conservation in semi-arid Kenya

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:2674.72(NRI-Bull--61) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Agrodiversity:applying the concept to indigenous soil and water conservation practices in eastern Kenya

Agrodiversity - diversity of cropping systems, crop species and farm management practices - has received increasing attention in recent years as a way of spreading risk and supporting food security in resource-poor farming systems. This paper discusses the dynamic aspects of indigenous soil and water conservation (ISWC) practices in a semi-arid part of Kenya. The objective is to situate ISWC within overall agrodiversity and show how the aim of improved ISWC can be achieved by addressing production constraints and cropping strategies. It is demonstrated that the identification of improved ISWC lies at the interface between land management and cropping strategies and that there is scope for much research on the integration of cropping and soil and water conservation practices. Moreover, interventions in the area of soil and water conservation must build on the existing agrodiversity and an understanding of the complex interaction between environmental and socio-economic factors giving rise to different farming systems and management practices

Egr2 and 3 control inflammation, but maintain homeostasis, of PD-1^high memory phenotype CD4 T cells

Data Availability: RNA-seq and ChIP-seq data are available from ArrayExpress under accession numbers E-MTAB-7795 and E-MTAB-7797, respectively, whereas TCR-seq data are available from the European Nucleotide Archive under study number PRJEB33211.The transcription factors Egr2 and 3 are essential for controlling inflammatory autoimmune responses of memory phenotype (MP) CD4 T cells. However, the mechanism is still unclear. We have now found that the Egr2+ subset (PD-1high MP) of MP CD4 T cells expresses high levels of checkpoint molecules (PD-1 and Lag3) and also markers of effector T cells (CXCR3 and ICAM-1). Egr2/3 are not required for PD-1high MP CD4 cell development but mediate a unique transcriptional programme that effectively controls their inflammatory responses, while promoting homeostatic proliferation and adaptive responses. Egr2 negative PD-1high MP CD4 T cells are impaired in homeostatic proliferation and adaptive responses against viral infection but display inflammatory responses to innate stimulation such as IL-12. PD-1high MP CD4 T cells have recently been implicated in rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis, and we have now found that Egr2 expression is reduced in PD-1high MP CD4 T cells from patients with active rheumatoid arthritis compared with healthy controls. These findings demonstrate that Egr2/3 control the inflammatory responses of PD-1high MP CD4 T cells and maintain their adaptive immune fitness.This work was supported by the Medical Research Council, UK (MR/N00096X/1), Barts Charity (MGU0463), and National Science Foundation of China (81774275)

Acompanhamento laboratorial da função renal de cães sadios tratados experimentalmente com doses terapêuticas de anfotericina B Laboratorial accompaniment of kidney funtion of health dogs experimentally treated with therapeutic dosages of amphotericin B

O presente trabalho objetivou avaliar a função renal de dez cães adultos saudáveis submetidos à administração de doses terapêuticas do antifúngico anfotericina B, cuja utilização tem sido limitada pelo seu elevado potencial nefrotóxico, e avaliar o método laboratorial mais sensível e precoce de diagnóstico de lesão renal. Foram realizadas, diariamente, urinálise, excreção fracionada de sódio e potássio, dosagem sérica de creatinina e uréia e atividade urinária de gama-glutamiltransferase (GGT). Concluiu-se que a anfotericina B provoca lesões nos túbulos proximal e distal, induzindo acidose tubular renal do tipo I e Diabetes insipidus nefrogênico em cães. Avaliação da função renal, preferencialmente por dosagens de creatinina, uréia e potássio séricos, é recomendada antes de cada aplicação do fármaco. A densidade urinária foi o parâmetro mais precocemente alterado pela lesão renal. A GGT urinária não foi eficaz para o diagnóstico precoce de lesão induzida por anfotericina B.<br>The objective of this experiment was to assess the renal function of ten healthy male adult dogs submitted to therapeutic doses of amphotericin B, whose use has been limited due to its high nephrotoxic potential, as well as to evaluate the more sensitive and early method to diagnose kidney lesions. The renal function was evaluated through daily urinalysis, fractioned excretion of sodium and potassium, serum concentration of creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and urinary activity of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). It was concluded that amphotericin b provokes lesions in both proximal and distal tubules, inducing type I renal tubular acidosis and nephrogenic Diabetes insipidus in dogs. Renal function evaluation, preferably by serum creatinine, BUN and potassium dosage is recommended before each drug application. Urinalysis proved to diagnose kidney lesions in its earliest stage through a modification of the density parameters. Urinary GGT was not effective as an earliest diagnose kidney lesions caused by amphotericin B