•Myanmar has experienced extremely rapid agricultural mechanization since 2011.•Agricultural machinery is close to scale-neutral at point of use.•Small farm sizes do not hinder uptake due to ...availability of outsourcing services.•Demand for machines is driven by labor scarcity, timeliness, risk, drudgery aversion.•Supply of machine outsourcing services facilitated by reforms to trade, banking, land tenure.
The past decade has seen a resurgence of interest in the role of mechanization in agricultural development. This literature has given rise to debates over the design of institutions and policies to facilitate accelerated mechanization, the role of outsourcing services in overcoming problems of access to machinery, and questions regarding the future of smallholder agriculture. We contribute to these debates using two pairs of complementary demand side (farm household) and supply side (agricultural machinery retailer) surveys, implemented in Myanmar in 2016 and 2017 across two major agro-ecological zones. Our analysis provides evidence that extremely rapid agricultural mechanization took place during the period of political and economic reforms from 2011 to 2020. In both zones surveyed, use of machinery for land preparation, harvesting, and threshing was close to scale-neutral due to a dynamic outsourcing services market. Rather than representing a single transformational change, mechanization’s broad appeal to farm households results from an accumulation of incremental, overlapping, complementary advantages. These include labor savings, reduced drudgery, convenience, increased speed and timeliness of operations, improved ability to manage weather-related risks, and reduced loss of grain during harvesting. We provide examples of policies on trade, finance, and land tenure that contributed to this transformation with practical implications for ongoing policy debates on mechanization in other countries, and suggest some generalizable lessons.
The type specimens of
Auerswaldia
,
Auerswaldiella
,
Barriopsis
,
Botryosphaeria
,
Leptoguignardia
,
Melanops
,
Neodeightonia
,
Phaeobotryon, Phaeobotryosphaeria, Phyllachorella, Pyrenostigme, ...Saccharata
,
Sivanesania
,
Spencermartinsia
and
Vestergrenia
were examined and fresh specimens of
Botryosphaeriales
were collected from Thailand. This material is used to provide a systematic treatment of
Botryosphaeriales
based on morphology and phylogeny. Two new genera,
Botryobambusa
and
Cophinforma
are introduced and compared with existing genera. Four species new to science,
Auerswaldia dothiorella
,
A. lignicola
,
Botryosphaeria fusispora
and
Phaeobotryosphaeria eucalypti,
are also described and justified. We accept 29 genera in
Botryosphaeriales
, with
Macrovalsaria
being newly placed. In the phylogenetic tree, the 114 strains of
Botyrosphaeriales
included in the analysis cluster into two major clades with 80 %, 96 % and 1.00 (MP, ML and BY) support, with Clade A containing the family type of
Botryosphaeriaceae
, and Clade B containing
Phyllosticta
,
Saccharata
and
Melanops
species. This group may represent
Phyllostictaceae
. In Clade A the taxa analyzed cluster in eight sub-clades (Clades A1–8). Clade A1 comprises three distinct subclusters corresponding to the genera
Diplodia
(
Diplodia
Clade),
Neodeightonia
(
Neodeightonia
Clade) and
Lasiodiplodia
(
Lasiodiplodia
Clade)
.
Clade A2 clusters into three groups representing
Phaeobotryosphaeria
(100 %)
, Phaeobotryon
(100 %) and
Barriopsis
(94 %). Clade A3 incorporates 17 strains that cluster into three well-supported genera (
Dothiorella
(86 %),
Spencermartinsia
(100 %) and
Auerswaldia
(63 %); the position of
Macrophomina
is not stable. Clade A4 is a single lineage (100 %) representing the new genus
Botryobambusa
. Clade A5 is a well-supported subclade incorporating
Neofussicoccum
. Clade A6 represents the type species of
Botryosphaeria
, three other
Botryosphaeria
species and two other genera,
Neoscytalidium
and
Cophinforma
gen. nov. Clade A7 comprises two
Pseudofusicoccum
species and Clade A8 has two
Aplosporella
species. These sub-clades may eventually require separate families but this requires analysis of a much larger dataset. Our data advances the understanding of
Botryosphaeriales,
there is, however, still much research to be carried out with resolution of families and genera, linkage of sexual and asexual morphs and differentiation of cryptic species.
Studies on social capital and health outcomes have become common, but the relationship between neighborhood social capital and sleep duration by gender is still unclear. We examined the relationship ...between neighborhood social capital and sleep duration by gender in adults living in a rural community in Japan.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 12,321 residents aged ≥20 years in a town in Mie Prefecture in January-March 2013. Self-completed questionnaires were collected from the residents (n = 7782; valid participation rate, 63.2%). We used five items to assess the neighborhood social capital (Cronbach's α = 0.86). We summed up the scores of each item, and then divided the participants into four groups by quartile of total scores of neighborhood social capital (lowest, low, high, and highest). Sleep duration of < 7 h/day was defined as insufficient sleep duration according to previous studies. To adjust for potential confounders, we performed a multiple log-binominal regression analysis and estimated the prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for insufficient sleep.
Overall 42% of the men and 45% of the women had insufficient sleep. In the men, the lowest group of neighborhood social capital presented a 22% higher prevalence of insufficient sleep (PR 1.22; 95% CIs 1.08-1.38) compared to the highest group of neighborhood social capital. Similarly the low group of neighborhood social capital and the high group of neighborhood social capital had 20 and 19% higher prevalence of insufficient sleep (PR 1.20; 95% CIs 1.06-1.36; PR 1.19; 95% CIs 1.06-1.34, respectively) compared to the highest group of neighborhood social capital. For women there was no significant association between neighborhood social capital and insufficient sleep after controlling for all potential confounders.
Having lower neighborhood social capital was associated with insufficient sleep among Japanese adults, particularly in the men. This suggests that the context of neighborhood social capital by gender should be considered to promote healthier behaviors with regard to getting enough sleep.
Isolation followed by morphological identification was the traditional basis of all earlier endophyte studies. However, the use of molecular phylogenetics has become increasingly common in the ...identification of fungal endophytes, and during the period of 2007–2010 there were approximately 200 publications that reported data obtained using this approach. This new methodology involves using sequence data from isolates or whole DNA from plant substrates, which are amplified using fungus- specific primers. The data obtained are compared with sequences downloaded from public databases such as GenBank and then used to construct phylogenetic trees. The major problem with this approach is that much of the sequence data in these databases has been shown to be from isolates that were incorrectly named. In some species, as much as 86% of the sequences available are not from the organism whose name has been applied to the sequence in question. The use of these GenBank sequences to identify endophytic isolates by sequence similarity simply perpetuates the problem of wrong species identification, and any lists of endophytes established by such methods are likely to be highly erroneous. It is recommended that comparisons of sequence data be made using sequences from type species, and if such sequences are not available, then the data must be treated with caution.
Background 18Fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) CT imaging has been used in many inflammatory and infectious conditions to differentiate areas of increased ...metabolic activity. FDG uptake differs between areas of normal lung parenchyma and interstitial lung disease (ILD).ObjectivesIn this study, we investigated whether FDG-PET/CT parameters were associated with a change in the quality of life (QoL) in patients with ILD over 4 years of follow-up.MethodsPatients underwent PET-CT imaging at diagnosis and were followed up with annual QoL assessment using the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) until death or 4 years of follow-up. Maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) and Tissue-to-Background Ratio (TBR) were assessed against SGRQ overall and subscale scores.Results193 patients (94 patients in the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) subgroup and 99 patients in the non-IPF subgroup) underwent baseline FDG-PET/CT imaging and QoL assessment. Weak-to-moderate correlation was observed between baseline SUVmax and SGRQ scores in both ILD subgroups. No relationship was observed between baseline SUVmax or TBR and change in SGRQ scores over 4 years of follow-up. In the IPF subgroup, surviving patients reported a decline in QoL at 4 years post diagnosis whereas an improvement in QoL was seen in surviving patients with non-IPF ILD.ConclusionsWeak-to-moderate positive correlation between baseline SUVmax and SGRQ scores was observed in both ILD subgroups (IPF:rs=0.187, p=0.047, non-IPF: rs=0.320, p=0.001). However, baseline SUVmax and TBR were not associated with change in QoL in patients with IPF and non-IPF ILD over 4 years of follow-up. At 4 years post diagnosis, surviving patients with IPF reported declining QoL whereas improvement was seen in patients with ILD who did not have IPF.
Agrifood sector mechanization service providers (MSP) and mechanization equipment retailers (MER) have increasingly become the providers of mechanical technologies for smallholders in developing ...countries, including Myanmar. Evidence remains scarce on the effects of COVID‐19 on these MSPs and MERs. This study provides insights into the effects of COVID‐19 restrictions on MSPs and MERs in Myanmar, using unbalanced panel data from five rounds of phone surveys. Direct responses to COVID‐19 involving movement restrictions, market disruptions, and growing financial challenges had significant negative effects on revenue prospects, service delivery, and sales of machines and equipment. Negative revenue prospects during a particular period can further hurt revenue prospects in subsequent periods. This is consistent with the hypotheses that MSPs who had incurred high sunk costs in machines can engage in more desperate and, thus, potentially suboptimal business practices to recover the sunk cost. Overall, policies to minimize movement restrictions and various financial struggles and mitigate any pessimism at the beginning of the production season are all important to make sure MSPs and MERs continue to function effectively under COVID‐19.
In a recent study unusual taxa of epiphyllous ascomycota belonging to Chaetothyriaceae (Eurotiomycetes) were collected in northern Thailand. This family is poorly understood due to morphological ...confusion and lack of phylogenetic studies. This paper deals with three new species, Ceramothyrium thailandicum, Chaetothyrium brischofiacola and Phaeosaccardinula ficus, which are fully described and illustrated. A DNA sequence analyses of LSU and ITS rDNA genes shows that the new species cluster in the Chaetothyriaceae. This paper adds six sequences for Chaetothyriaceae to GenBank, providing much needed data for the family.
HIV-1 CRF01_AE viruses are highly prevalent in Southeast Asia. However, vulnerability sites in Env of CRF01_AE viruses have not been investigated sufficiently. We examined the sensitivity of CRF01_AE ...viruses from Japan and Vietnam, together with subtype B viruses from Japan, to neutralization and Fc-mediated signaling. Neutralization coverage of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs), 2G12 and b12, was significantly low against CRF01_AE viruses, compared with subtype B viruses. In contrast, the conventional antibody targeting the CD4 binding site (CD4bs), 49G2, showed better neutralization and Fc-mediated signaling activities against CRF01_AE viruses than subtype B viruses. Fc-mediated signaling activity of anti-CD4 induced (CD4i) antibody, 4E9C, was also detected against CRF01_AE viruses more than subtype B viruses. These results suggest that conventional antibodies against CD4bs and CD4i may play an important role in the control of CRF01_AE viruses.
•Compared with subtype B, CRF01_AE viruses were resistant to bnAbs, 2G12 and b12.•Abs to CD4bs and CD4i are relatively effective against CRF01_AE viruses.•Conventional Abs may play an important role in the control of CRF01_AE viruses.
Legume seed systems in many developing countries are characterized by low availability of certified seeds because the private sector is often absent, and the public sector has limited capacity to ...produce such seeds. Farmer seed enterprises (FSEs) are therefore increasingly promoted as alternative suppliers of certified and in some instances, quality declared and truthfully labelled seeds. In this study, we assess the commercial viability of FSEs that produce chickpea and green gram certified seeds by comparing average seed production cost, inclusive of opportunity costs and expected profits, with consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) price. The cost of seed production data come from a survey of 63 FSEs and the data on WTP are from the Becker, DeGroot, Marschak (BDM) bidding experiments conducted with 512 farmers from the Central Dry Zone of Myanmar. We find that the post-harvest storage cost during the 7–8 months between harvest and the next planting season contributes significantly to the total cost of producing seeds. Forty-seven percent of chickpea farmers and 53% of green gram farmers were willing to pay equal to or higher than the average minimum cost of producing certified seeds. which is as an upper bound estimate of potential market share for FSEs’ certified seeds. This potential customer base of FSEs can be further increased by reducing the cost, especially post-harvest and labor costs. What role government, private companies, and NGOs could play in reducing the cost and increasing the demand for certified seed are important policy research questions discussed in the paper.
Purpose
Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) show increased PET signal at sites of morphological abnormality on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). The purpose of this ...investigation was to investigate the PET signal at sites of normal-appearing lung on HRCT in IPF.
Methods
Consecutive IPF patients (22 men, 3 women) were prospectively recruited. The patients underwent
18
F-FDG PET/HRCT. The pulmonary imaging findings in the IPF patients were compared to the findings in a control population. Pulmonary uptake of
18
F-FDG (mean SUV) was quantified at sites of morphologically normal parenchyma on HRCT. SUVs were also corrected for tissue fraction (TF). The mean SUV in IPF patients was compared with that in 25 controls (patients with lymphoma in remission or suspected paraneoplastic syndrome with normal PET/CT appearances).
Results
The pulmonary SUV (mean ± SD) uncorrected for TF in the controls was 0.48 ± 0.14 and 0.78 ± 0.24 taken from normal lung regions in IPF patients (
p
< 0.001). The TF-corrected mean SUV in the controls was 2.24 ± 0.29 and 3.24 ± 0.84 in IPF patients (
p
< 0.001).
Conclusion
IPF patients have increased pulmonary uptake of
18
F-FDG on PET in areas of lung with a normal morphological appearance on HRCT. This may have implications for determining disease mechanisms and treatment monitoring.
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