Assessment of the Enabling Rural Innovation (ERI) approach: Case studies from Malawi and Uganda

This paper presents lessons from applying an innovative action research approach for linking smallholder farmers to markets, in eastern and southern Africa. The Enabling Rural Innovation (ERI) approach aims to strengthen social organization and entrepreneurial capacity in rural communities. It focuses on fostering community‐based capacity for the inclusion of rural women and the poor in analyzing and accessing market opportunities. Using case studies from Malawi and Uganda the paper assesses the outcomes of ERI on rural communities with a focus on human capital, gender issues and investment in natural resource management. Results show that households are benefiting significantly from linkages to markets in terms of increasing household incomes, and accumulating assets. Skills in analyzing markets and in negotiating with traders have increased among smallholder farmers. The integration of gender in the approach has led to changes in gender decision making patterns at household and community level towards a more shared decision‐making process. The results however show a difference in skills between men and women, with women showing lower levels of skills acquisition. Farmer participatory research has increased investments in improved technologies such as fertilizer applications for soil fertility management.     

On the relationships among work characteristics and learning-related behavior: Does age matter?

This 3-wave longitudinal study examined (a) the causal direction of the relationships among psychosocial work characteristics (e.g., job demands, job control, and supervisor support) and indicators of learning-related behavior (e.g., motivation to learn and active problem solving), and (b) whether these relationships differed across age, by comparing the results for young (≤30), middle-aged (31–44) and older (≥45) workers. The results for the total sample revealed significant reciprocal causal relationships among job demands, job control, and learning-related behavior. Furthermore, significant age differences were found in the level of the work characteristics and learning-related behavior, as well as in the cross-lagged relationships among the variables. Compared to earlier—predominantly cross-sectional—results, the present study underlines the importance of taking a dynamic as well as a life-span view on the relationships between work and learning-related behavior. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of age on the associations between HR practices and both affective commitment and job satisfaction: A meta-analysis

Research on the association between high commitment Human Resource (HR) practices and work-related outcomes at the individual level rarely focuses on age differences. To fill this knowledge gap, a meta-analysis has been conducted to examine how the relationships between the availability of high commitment HR practices, as perceived by employees, and affective commitment and job satisfaction change with age. Drawing on Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC) theory and on Regulatory Focus theory, we identify a bundle of maintenance HR practices and a bundle of development HR practices, and hypothesize that the association between maintenance HR practices and work-related attitudes strengthens with age, and that the association between development HR practices and work-related attitudes weakens with age. Our meta-analysis of 83 studies reveals that, in line with social exchange and signaling theories, employees' perceptions of HR practices are positively related to their work-related attitudes, and that calendar age influences this relationship largely as expected. These results are discussed in light of the above mentioned theories. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Benefits and challenges of using an Assessment of Ecosystem Services approach in land-use planning

This research investigates the use of an Assessment of Ecosystem Services (AES) approach as a planning tool in Florida through the use of an online survey. Target respondents were professionals who had been involved in AES projects. The majority of the respondents perceive an AES approach as a comprehensive and holistic approach that results in better land-use planning decisions. However, AES does not appear to be widely used to guide planning decisions. Despite some challenges, respondents across multiple agencies and institutions in Florida are supportive of using AES in combination with traditional land-use planning tools. More rigorous testing and validation and clarification of guidelines for best practice could improve political and economic support and thereby facilitate the use of AES to guide land-use planning efforts.     

A chromosome 21-specific cosmid cocktail for the detection of chromosome 21 aberrations in interphase nuclei

Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with a 21q11-specific probe (CB21c1) consisting of three non-overlapping cosmids has been applied to interphase amniocytes of pregnancies at increased risk for fetal aneuploidy (N = 78) and to interphase lymphocytes, cultured and uncultured, of patients referred for Down syndrome (N = 19 and 28, respectively). In the uncultured amniocytes, six chromosome aberrations were detected: three cases of trisomy 21, a triploidy, a de novo 46,XX,t(21q21q), and a mosaic 46,XY/47,XY,+dic(21)(q11)/48,XY,+dic(21)(q11), +del(21)(q11). In 15 cultured and 20 uncultured blood samples, FISH correctly diagnosed trisomy 21 (full or mosaic) at the interphase level, which was confirmed in all cases by subsequent karyotyping. Because of specific and strong signals in interphase nuclei, CB21c1 appears to be a useful tool for the rapid detection of chromosome 21 abnormalities.