Agricultural research networks in sub-Saharan Africa: An analysis of the situation and its consequences

The purpose of this article is to compare the theory and reality of agricultural research networks in sub-Saharan Africa. Networking is a mode of organization that generally suits the new environmental conditions. The analysis of the agricultural research network environment in sub-Saharan Africa shows that when institutional networks started to proliferate, human and institutional conditions were not yet ripe. This explained some of the problems. Nowadays, conditions have improved. Despite all difficulties, networks have contributed to creating a scientific community, have participated in apportioning and even harmonizing research activities, and have made it possible to maintain research activities in countries going through a crisis. Marie de Lattre-Gasquet is a researcher from the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), in France. Within the external relations directorate of CIRAD, she has been responsible for the relationships between CIRAD and international organizations. She has also actively participated in the preparation of CIRAD’s long-term strategy. She worked for the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) in The Netherlands from 1983 to 1985. She holds a Master in International Management (AGSIM, Thunderbird Campus) and a Doctorate in Economy (Université de Paris X). He is mostly working on the agricultural research networks in sub-Saharan Africa. He holds a diploma from the Institut National d’Agronomie—Paris Grignon.     

Prior experience as a moderator of disaster impact on anxiety symptoms in older adults

As participants in a panel study, 234 older adults were interviewed before, as well as after, serious flooding occurred in southeastern Kentucky. Floods are not uncommon in this area, but these were more widespread than most, and resulted in both previously exposed and newly exposed subsamples of disaster victims. Flood impact was measured at both personal and community levels. With preflood symptoms controlled, there were modest flood effects on both trait anxiety and weather-specific distress in older adults without prior flood experience, but no flood effects in older adults who had been in floods before. Thus, the study provides support for the "inoculation hypothesis" and other conceptualizations that emphasize the advantage of being familiar or experienced with a stressor that is at hand. An implication is that "experienced" victims could be a valuable resource in prevention efforts.     

The influence of a secondary task and type of feedback on adaptation to lateral displacement of the visual array

Summary This experiment was designed to investigate the influence of a secondary attention-demanding force-production task on adaptation to prismatic displacement. Recent suggestions by Finke (1979) lead to the prediction that a secondary task executed during adaptation would interfere with the central component of adaptation (as measured by intermanual transfer), but not the peripheral component (adaptation specific to adapted limb). There were three secondary task conditions (no task, easy task, difficult task). Other factors investigated were: type of feedback (continuous, terminal), hand adapted (right, left) and prism orientation (base right, base left). While negative aftereffect was not influenced by the secondary task manipulation, intermanual transfer results provide partial support for Finke's model. Correlational analyses indicate the importance of task-specific parameters in determining the nature of perceptual-motor adaptation.     

A case of cortical deafness: Clinical and electrophysiological data

A patient suffering from a primary myocardiopathy is suddenly no longer able to recognize speech and environmental sounds, in spite of good peripheral hearing; he remains able to speak, read, and write. The C.T. scan shows lesions involving both supratemporal planes. The cortical sensory deficit documented by the absence of late acoustic evoked potentials leads to a diagnosis of cortical deafness rather than of auditory agnosia.     

Memory of a speaker's voice: Reaction time to same- or different-voiced letters

Subjects were presented with a sequence of two letters, each letter spoken in either a male or female voice. On each trial, the subject was required to indicate, as quickly as possible, whether the two letters had the same name. Reaction times (RTs) were faster for letters spoken in the same voice for both “same” and “different” responses, even when letters were separated by 8 s. These results are incompatible with the notion of physical and name codes in auditory memory since a “different” response should always be based on a comparison of letter names and should not be influenced by voice quality. It was also found that RTs were not influenced by the phonemic distinctive feature similarity of the letters.     

Language lateralization in English-French bilinguals

Forty English-French bilinguals divided into equal numbers of nonfluent and fluent subjects took part in a dichotic listening test involving both intralingual and interlingual conditions. No difference in lateralization was found between primary and secondary language in either condition. In the intralingual condition, however, fluent bilinguals showed a significantly lower right ear advantage than did their nonfluent counterparts. In the interlingual condition, French-dominant subjects were found to be more ambilateral than English-dominant subjects, while both groups tended to respond preferentially to French words. These results suggest that growing bilingual proficiency does increase left ear/right hemisphere participation, but in intralingual situations only. Moreover, when both languages are contrasted, French appears to be more salient than English.