Conventional agriculture systems of production often lead to environmental degradation, economic problems and even social conflict. The efficacy of agriculture systems conducive to the economic, ...environmental and social sustainability of farming operations has been demonstrated, yet the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices is not widespread. This qualitative study is based on a web-based survey instrument designed to elicit the barriers to adoption of sustainable agriculture practices (SAP) perceived by a positional and network sample of 269 change agents working with farmers in the US South. The analysis examines the general proposition that reluctance to change to SAP is an overused rationale of change agents that tends to mask real barriers that we endeavor to elicit in the survey. It was found that despite having support from technical assistance providers, farmers are rarely adopting SAP. Change agents often are not well prepared to attend to farmers' needs regarding SAP, particularly the needs of specific farming situations. Thus, farmers often struggle to obtain accurate information about the benefits of SAP. Government support programs often fail to encourage adoption due to lack of funding, inappropriate design and ineffective targeting of incentives. Reluctance to change is frequently mentioned by change agents, but more as a way of blaming farmers for nonadoption than explaining the often tangible reasons for their behaviors. Social barriers, land tenure, infrastructure and incompatibility are other significant impediments to adoption. Strategies such as improved management of the existing information, careful design of economic support programs and extension efforts addressed to change agents themselves could help overcome some of the barriers identified by change agents.
Farmers on the Canadian Prairies utilizing green manure sweet clover Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam. are concerned about the increased risk of wind erosion when sweet clover is terminated by high ...soil disturbance methods. This study was conducted to determine if the merits of green manure sweet clover could be maintained in a reduced tillage system. Sweet clover was undersown in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in Year 1 and then killed at the 80% flowering stage in Year 2 by mowing at a 30-cm height and removing topgrowth as hay, mowing at a 30-cm height and leaving residues on the soil surface, partial soil-incorporation with an offset disk, or complete soil-incorporation with a moldboard plow. Mowed sweet clover where the topgrowth was removed as hay often had more weeds than the other treatments but mowed sweet clover with residues left on the soil surface had similar or fewer weeds than disked sweet clover. Soil water content was similar with all sweet clover termination methods. Sweet clover hay resulted in 7 to 19% less available soil N than all other sweet clover treatments but mowed and disked sweet clover had similar soil N levels. Soil N was 21 to 33% greater with plowed sweet clover than with all other termination methods. Wheat yields were similar with mowed, disked, and plowed sweet clover in one experiment but were 14% lower with mowed sweet clover in a second experiment. Farmers contemplating switching to conservation tillage can be encouraged by these results indicating that mowed sweet clover with residues left on the soil surface and disked sweet clover provided similar benefits to the crop production system.
The study uses interval regression to investigate factors affecting farmers’ willingness to pay for soil testing services in Northern Haiti. The model reveals that factors such as the type of crops ...grown, group membership, farmers’ educational level, access to credit, gender, contact with extension services or any institution, type of soils, income level, participation in soil testing program and farm size affect the amount to be paid for soil testing services. These results imply that the training module on soil testing and financial support in form of subsidies or access to credit should be provided to farmers.
Defect Donor and Acceptor in GaN Look, D. C.; Reynolds, D. C.; Hemsky, J. W. ...
Physical review letters,
09/1997, Letnik:
79, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Octupole signatures in 124,125Ba Mason, P; Benzoni, G; Bracco, A ...
Journal of physics. G, Nuclear and particle physics,
10/2005, Letnik:
31, Številka:
10
Journal Article, Conference Proceeding
Recenzirano
The gamma decay of the nuclei 124,125Ba has been investigated with the EUROBALL array, using the reaction 64Ni+64 Ni at E_{beam} = 255 and 261 MeV. Six new E1 transitions have been found in the ...nucleus 125Ba, suggesting a significant role of octupole correlations in the origin of its parity doublets. The pi = 3-level of the nucleus 124Ba has been identified for the first time. Its excitation energy is in very good agreement with a prediction based on a microscopic model including octupole interactions.
The purpose of this study was to replicate and expand upon previous research that has examined the potential association between vegetarianism and disordered eating. Limitations of previous research ...studies are addressed, including possible low reliability of measures of eating pathology within vegetarian samples, use of only a few dietary restraint measures, and a paucity of research examining potential differences in body image and food choice motives of vegetarians versus nonvegetarians. Two hundred and fifty-six college students completed a number of measures of eating pathology and body image, and a food choice motives questionnaire. Interestingly, no significant differences were found between vegetarians and nonvegetarians in measures of eating pathology or body image. However, significant differences in food choice motives were found. Implications for both researchers and clinicians are discussed.
This book explores the Hungarian Communist Party's (HCP) political operation, which was intertwined with the history of the country itself. It is based on the official party publications, memoirs, ...the contemporary press, and research conducted in Hungarian, Austrian, French, and Italian archives.
One of the most effective strategies in biological systems to demonstrate resistance to cytotoxic drugs is the efflux of these compounds out of the cell, via membrane transporter proteins. This ...phenomenon is called multidrug resistance (MDR) and is a mediator of drug resistance observed in tumor cells and in microorganisms (
in vivo
and
in vitro
) 1. There are numerous resistance mechanisms and the MDR phenotype alone, can not completely explain this occurrence. In fact, several other related proteins are also overexpressed in resistant tumors. Furthermore apoptosis also play a vital role in resistance 2. Because apoptosis is a major modality by which different tumor cell types can be eliminated, the identification of new drugs able to induce the programmed cell death is an important goal in cancer therapy, and may provide new useful tools for the treatment of patients with drug resistance malignancies. In this context, plants could be potential sources for the isolation of new metabolites that could be used as lead molecules on the treatment of neoplasic diseases.
In our search for biologically active compounds from
Euphorbia
species, several ergostane and stigmastane steroids were isolated from the methanolic extract of
Euphorbia lagascae
, and its structures were deduced by the combination of physical and spectroscopic data (IR, MS, 1D and 2D NMR). The ability of some of the isolated steroids to modulate MDR reversion was investigated using mdr-1 (L5178) mouse lymphoma cell line. In addition, the apoptosis induction on the same cell line was also studied. 12H-benzophenothiazine was used as a positive control for apoptosis induction and verapamil for resistance reversal. The tested compounds were weak inducers of apoptosis in the studied mouse lymphoma cell line, but two of them were found effective on MDR reversion in a concentration dependent manner.
Acknowledgements
: The authors thank Dr. Teresa Vasconcelos (ISA, University of Lisbon, Portugal) for identification of the plant.
References
: 1. Borges-Walmsley, M.
et al
. (2003), Biochem. J. 376: 313–338. 2. Volm, M. (1998), Anticancer Res. 18: 2905–2917.
Pharmacologic treatment of chronic pain is challenging. Oral therapy may require multiple medications; each has side effects, dose limitations, and limited efficacy. Compounded topical formulations ...have evolved as potential treatment options. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of 2 compounded topical creams, "Cream I" and "Cream II," in patients with chronic extremity, joint, musculoskeletal, neuropathic, or other chronic topical pain conditions and compare their efficacy with Voltaren gel. The primary efficacy outcome was the change in visual numeric pain intensity score from pretreatment to posttreatment. The Cream I contained Flurbiprofen (20%), Tramadol (5%), Clonidine (0.2%), Cyclobenzaprine (4%), and Bupivacaine (3%). The Cream II contained Flurbiprofen (20%), Baclofen (2%), Clonidine (0.2%), Gabapentin (10%), and Lidocaine (5%). The Voltaren gel contained 1% diclofenac sodium. A total of 2177 patients were evaluated, 826 males and 1351 females. During their medical treatment, 1141 patients received Cream I, 527 patients received Cream II, and 509 patients received Voltaren gel. After treatment, the pain intensity score decreased by 3.11 ± 1.65 (37%) with Cream I (from 8.44 ± 1.19 to 5.33 ± 2.0, P < 0.001), by 2.93 ± 1.58 (35%) with Cream II (from 8.42 ± 1.27 to 5.50 ± 1.96, P < 0.001), and by 1.49 ± 0.73 (19%) with Voltaren gel (from 7.93 ± 0.81 to 6.44 ± 1.14, P < 0.001). Cream I and Cream II did not differ significantly in efficacy, and both were significantly more effective than Voltaren gel (P < 0.001). It is concluded that Voltaren gel had less efficacy than the compounded creams, which were effective and provided pain relief in the majority of the patients studied.
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