Simple intervention method to reduce fumonisin exposure in a subsistence maize-farming community in South Africa

In the Centane magisterial area of South Africa, high rates of oesophageal cancer have been associated with home-grown maize contaminated with fumonisins. The aim of this study was to implement a simple intervention method to reduce fumonisin exposure in a subsistence-farming community. The hand-sorting and washing procedures, based on traditional maize-based food preparation practices, were previously customised under laboratory-controlled conditions. Home-grown maize and maize-based porridge collected at baseline were analysed for fumonisin B1, B2 and B3. The geometric mean (95% confidence interval) of fumonisin contamination in the home-grown maize at baseline was 1.67 (1.21-2.32) mg kg-1 and 1.24 (0.75-2.04) mg kg -1 (dry weight) in the porridge. Fumonisin exposure was based on individual stiff porridge consumption and the specific fumonisin levels in the porridge (dry weight) consumed. Porridge (dry weight) consumption at baseline was 0.34 kg day-1 and fumonisin exposure was 6.73 (3.90-11.6) mu g kg-1 body weight day-1. Female participants (n = 22) were trained to recognise and remove visibly infected/damaged kernels and to wash the remaining maize kernels. The discarded kernels represented 3.9% by weight and the fumonisins varied from 17.1 to 76.9 mg kg-1. The customised hand-sorting and washing procedures reduced fumonisin contamination in the maize and porridge by 84 and 65%, respectively. The intervention reduced fumonisin exposure by 62% to 2.55 (1.94-3.35) mu g kg-1 body weight day-1. This simple intervention method has the potential to improve food safety and health in subsistence-farming communities consuming fumonisin-contaminated maize as their staple diet.

The state and industrial policy in Ireland: a case study of the Irish pharmaceutical sector

There is renewed interest in the state's role in the economic sphere but a lack of research on the viability and employment effects of alternative economic models, in particular from a ‘liberal market economy’ perspective. This article addresses this gap in the human resource management literature by undertaking a detailed case study of industrial policy in the Irish pharmaceutical sector. The proactive and resource-intensive industrial policy adopted by the Irish government and development agencies is found to have underpinned a significant strategic upgrading in this sector of the Irish economy. In turn this has facilitated the growth of high-wage, high-skill jobs. The findings highlight the potential for an active industrial policy to promote employment upgrading in liberal market economies.

Development of small and medium-sized enterprise horizontal innovation networks: UK agri-food sector study

Within the management literature, there is an emergent discourse on horizontal collaboration among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), whereby individual rivalries are overcome by the need for more resources and innovation, leading to increased competitiveness through joint product development. In particular, a number of these horizontal collaborations between SMEs have occurred within the agri-food sector. As a consequence, this article aims to explore the longitudinal development of horizontal innovation networks within an artisan bakers’ network as part of the UK SME agri-food sector. An interpretivist research approach was used, whereby the development and evolution of an artisan bakers’ horizontal network was studied over a 27-month period. The findings, as summarised in conceptual models which draw upon knowledge-based open innovation and social network constructs, illustrate that a complex three-stage life cycle development occurred within the bakers’ horizontal network.

Obesity and occupational injury:a prospective cohort study of 69,515 public sector employees

Obesity and overweight are suggested to increase the risk of occupational injury but longitudinal evidence to confirm this is rare. We sought to evaluate obesity and overweight as risk factors for occupational injuries.

The British are not coming! UK higher education and the nonprofit sector

The rationale for the growth of nonprofit management education in the United States has recently been charted by O'Neill (2005). Ten years previously, the United States and the United Kingdom were at similar levels of development. By 2006 the parallel lines had been broken. Why has nonprofit management education expanded in the United States while provision of graduate education for the voluntary sector in the United Kingdom has stood still? This article explores the factors that have prevented parallel growth in education provision. It argues that the university as an institution, both in terms of its nature and its power structures, is one of those factors. It presents the story of the closing of the world's first voluntary sector course at the London School of Economics and concludes with reflection on the likely future of voluntary sector management education provision in the United Kingdom.

Commission on the Voluntary Sector and Ageing: a policy review

This article comments on the English Commission on the Voluntary Sector & Ageing, a voluntary sector-led initiative aimed at making proposals for voluntary sector leaders and charitable organisations on how to approach the ageing population. By examining the work of the commission, the review contributes to debates on the implications of population ageing for the voluntary sector.