A framework for revitalisation of rural education and training systems in sub-Saharan Africa: Strengthening the human resource base for food security and sustainable livelihoods

Recent studies of the current state of rural education and training (RET) systems in sub-Saharan Africa have assessed their ability to provide for the learning needs essential for more knowledgeable and productive small-scale rural households. These are most necessary if the endemic causes of rural poverty (poor nutrition, lack of sustainable livelihoods, etc.) are to be overcome. A brief historical background and analysis of the major current constraints to improvement in the sector are discussed. Paramount among those factors leading to its present 'malaise' is the lack of a whole-systems perspective and the absence of any coherent policy framework in most countries. There is evidence of some recent innovations, both in the public sector and through the work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations (CSOs) and other private bodies. These provide hope of a new sense of direction that could lead towards meaningful 'revitalisation' of the sector. A suggested framework offers 10 key steps which, it is argued, could largely be achieved with modest internal resources and very little external support, provided that the necessary leadership and managerial capacities are in place. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strengthening the link between climate, hydrological and species distribution modeling to assess the impacts of climate change on freshwater biodiversity

To understand the resilience of aquatic ecosystems to environmental change, it is important to determine how multiple, related environmental factors, such as near-surface air temperature and river flow, will change during the next century. This study develops a novel methodology that combines statistical downscaling and fish species distribution modeling, to enhance the understanding of how global climate changes (modeled by global climate models at coarse-resolution) may affect local riverine fish diversity. The novelty of this work is the downscaling framework developed to provide suitable future projections of fish habitat descriptors, focusing particularly on the hydrology which has been rarely considered in previous studies. The proposed modeling framework was developed and tested in a major European system, the Adour-Garonne river basin (SW France, 116,000 km(2)), which covers distinct hydrological and thermal regions from the Pyrenees to the Atlantic coast. The simulations suggest that, by 2100, the mean annual stream flow is projected to decrease by approximately 15% and temperature to increase by approximately 1.2 °C, on average. As consequence, the majority of cool- and warm-water fish species is projected to expand their geographical range within the basin while the few cold-water species will experience a reduction in their distribution. The limitations and potential benefits of the proposed modeling approach are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fractal dimension and Shannon's entropy analyses of the architectural complexity caused by the inflammatory reactions induced by highly crystalline polyvinyl alcohol) microspheres implanted in subcutaneous tissues of the Wistar rats

The results of the histopathological analyses after the implantation of highly crystalline PVA microspheres in subcutaneous tissues of Wistar rats are here in reported. Three different groups of PVA microparticles were systematically studied: highly crystalline, amorphous, and commercial ones. In addition to these experiments, complementary analyses of architectural complexity were performed using fractal dimension (FD), and Shannon's entropy (SE) concepts. The highly crystalline microspheres induced inflammatory reactions similar to the ones observed for the commercial ones, while the inflammatory reactions caused by the amorphous ones were less intense. Statistical analyses of the subcutaneous tissues of Wistar rats implanted with the highly crystalline microspheres resulted in FD and SE values significantly higher than the statistical parameters observed for the amorphous ones. The FD and SE parameters obtained for the subcutaneous tissues of Wistar rats implanted with crystalline and commercial microparticles were statistically similar. Briefly, the results indicated that the new highly crystalline microspheres had biocompatible behavior comparable to the commercial ones. In addition, statistical tools such as FD and SE analyses when combined with histopathological analyses can be useful tools to investigate the architectural complexity tissues caused by complex inflammatory reactions. © 2012 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.