Improving the global exchange of germplasm for crop breeding

Author(s):  
Selim Louafi ◽  
◽  
Eric Welch ◽  

Different norms, rules and practices organize the exchange of germplasm to address broader global challenges such as advancement of science and innovation, food security, sustainable agriculture or global equity. Some of these institutions are now embedded in various treaties and national regulations. This chapter claims that these regulations are not as successful as they could be because they fail to effectively integrate the complexity of the exchange environment. In order to better understand how exchange could be improved, it is important to go beyond a legalistic approach to exchange and look at the broader socio-technical context in which these exchanges take place. By developing an analytical framework that includes several dimensions beyond the regulatory one, this contribution creates the foundation for a more comprehensive approach that acts upon the relationship between germplasm and the diversity of institutional logics, germplasm and its resource system, and germplasm and its social environment.

Author(s):  
Nguyen Thu Ha ◽  
Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen

The retail market in Vietnam continues to grow with the entry of foreign retail brands and the strong rise of domestic businesses in expanding distribution networks and conquering consumer confidence. The appearance of more retail brands has created a fiercely competitive market. Based on the outcomes of previous research results on brand choice intention combined with a customer survey, the paper proposes an analytical framework and scales to examine the relationship of five elements including store image, price perception, risk perception, brand attitudes, brand awareness and retail brand choice intention with a case study of the Hanoi-based Circle K convenience store chain. These five elements are the precondition for retail businesses to develop their brands so as to attract customers.


Author(s):  
Hubert J. M Hermans

In the field of tension between globalization and localization, a set of new phenomena is emerging showing that society is not simply a social environment of self and identity but works in their deepest regions: self-radicalization, self-government, self-cure, self-nationalization, self-internationalization, and even self-marriage. The consequence is that the self is faced with an unprecedented density of self-parts, called I-positions in this theory. In the field of tension between boundary-crossing developments in the world and the search for an identity in a local niche, a self emerges that is characterized by a great variety of contradicting and heterogeneous I-positions and by large and unexpected jumps between different positions as the result of rapid and unexpected changes in the world. The chapter argues that such developments require a new vision of the relationship between self and society.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
David A. Wiss ◽  
Marjan Javanbakht ◽  
Michael J. Li ◽  
Michael Prelip ◽  
Robert Bolan ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: To understand the relationship between drug use, food insecurity (FI), and mental health among men who have sex with men (MSM). Design: Cohort study (2014-2019) with at least one follow-up. Setting: Visits at 6-month intervals included self-assessment for FI and depressive symptoms. Urine testing results confirmed drug use. Factors associated with FI were assessed using multiple logistic regression with random effects for repeated measures. General structural equation modeling tested whether FI mediates the relationship between drug use and depressive symptoms. Participants: Data were from HIV-positive and high-risk HIV negative MSM in Los Angeles, CA (n=431; 1,192 visits). Results: At baseline, FI was reported by 50.8% of participants, depressive symptoms in 36.7%, and 52.7% of urine screening tests were positive for drugs (i.e., marijuana, opioids, methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy). A positive drug test was associated with a 96% increase in the odds of being food insecure (95% CI: 1.26-3.07). Compared to those with high food security, individuals with very low food security have a nearly 7-fold increase in the odds of reporting depressive symptoms (95% CI: 3.71-11.92). Findings showed 14.9% of the association between drug use (exposure) and depressive symptoms (outcome) can be explained by FI (mediator). Conclusion: The prevalence of FI among this cohort of HIV-positive and high-risk HIV-negative MSM was high; the association between drug use and depressive symptoms was partially mediated by FI. Findings suggest that enhancing access to food and nutrition may improve mood in the context of drug use, especially among MSM at risk for HIV-transmission.


2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
VICTOR AGADJANIAN

Data from three separate studies conducted in Maputo, Mozambique, in 1993 are used to analyse the relationship between the type of social environment in which women work and their fertility and contraceptive use. The analysis finds that women who work in more collectivized environments have fewer children and are more likely to use modern contraception than women who work in more individualized milieus and those who do not work outside the home. Most of these differences persist in multivariate tests. It is argued that collectivized work environments are most conducive to diffusion and legitimation of reproductive innovations. In contrast, individualized environments tend to isolate women and therefore may retard their acceptance of innovative fertility-related behaviour.


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