Most research in support of agricultural development and natural resource management in densely settled mountain ecosystems continues to emphasize component over system-level goals. Research by plant breeders, foreste...Most research in support of agricultural development and natural resource management in densely settled mountain ecosystems continues to emphasize component over system-level goals. Research by plant breeders, foresters and animal scientists is generally designed to maximize the yield of products within their particular area of expertise (edible plant parts, tree products and livestock products, respectively), while soil scientists aim largely to increase soil nutrient stocks. At landscape level the same dynamic holds within the agronomic sciences, while water engineers work independently to conserve water through its isolation from broader landscape dynamics, and other common property resources remain largely ignored. Opportunities to foster positive synergies between system components, and to integrate livelihood with conservation goals, are generally missed. This paper presents experiences of the African Highlands Initiative, an ecoregional program of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and a network of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), in operationalizing integrated research at farm and landscape scale. Following a discussion of the shortcomings of the conventional research paradigm that beg for strongerintegration and a review of the contributions of extant research paradigms that help us move in the right direction, the paper lays a conceptual foundation for integrated research. System components at farm and landscape level are delineated, and this somewhat arbitrary conceptual partitioning of agroecological systems shown to influence the current research paradigm as well as the partitioning of institutional mandates. Diverse meanings of systems integration are then discussed to illustrate the synergies that might be built into agricultural and natural resource research programs. The distinction between the logic of maximization and optimization is then utilized to distinguish between component and “system-level” goals. This conceptual overview is followed by several case studies to illustrate how these concepts can guide the formulation of integrated research objectives, methods and outputs at farm and landscape scale. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this alternative research paradigm for the structure, function and skill base of national and international agricultural research systems.展开更多
Objective：To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the treatment of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome （CP/CPPS）. Methods- The randomized controlled trials （RCTs） about the treatment for CP/CPPS all o...Objective：To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the treatment of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome （CP/CPPS）. Methods- The randomized controlled trials （RCTs） about the treatment for CP/CPPS all over the world were searched. MEDLINE （January 1966 to June 2007）, EMBASE （January 1988 to June 2007）, and 4 Chinese databases were electronically searched. The studies included in the refer- ences of eligible studies were additionally searched. Two reviewers independently screened the studies for eli- gibility, evaluated the quality and extracted the data from the eligible studies, with confirmation by cross- checking. Divergences of opinion were settled by discussion or consulted by the experts. Meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 4.2 software. Results： Twelve original studies involving 1 003 participants met inclusion criteria. Compared with placebo, alpha-blockers could improve the symptoms of CP/CPPS obvious- ly with WMD of NIH-CPSI, total score and pain score were -4.10 （95%CI： -6. 92 to -1.28） and -1.68 （95 %CI： -2.54 to -0. 82）. Antibiotics could not improve the symptoms obviously with WMD of NIH-CP- SI; total score and pain score were -2.71 （95%CI： -4. 78 to -0. 64） and -0.86 （95%CI： -2.07 to 0.36）. Flavoxate could not improve the NIH-CPSI total score obviously, but could relieve the pain, with WMD of NIH-CPSI total score and pain score being -2.96 （95%CI： -5.17 to -0. 74） and --2.31 （95%CI.. -4.05 to 0.03）. Prostat could improve the NIH-CPSI total score obviously, but could not relieve the pain, with WMD of NIH-CPSI total score and pain score being --7. 60 （95%CI.. -9. 97 to -5.23） and -2. 02 （95%CI： -4.07 to 0. 04）. Conclusion： Drug intervention could improve total symptoms of CP/CPPS in some degree, but no universally effective treatment is available that can prove significant lasting benefit for all the symptoms of CP/CPPS. Future RCT must use an appropriate sample size and optimal duration and fol- low-up of participants. It is important to improve the quality of internal original studies.展开更多
We discuss the concepts, research methods, and infrastructure of watershed science. A watershed is a basic unit and possesses all of the complexities of the land surface system, thereby making it the best unit for pra...We discuss the concepts, research methods, and infrastructure of watershed science. A watershed is a basic unit and possesses all of the complexities of the land surface system, thereby making it the best unit for practicing Earth system science. Watershed science is an Earth system science practiced on a watershed scale, and it has developed rapidly over the previous two decades. The goal of watershed science is to understand and predict the behavior of complex watershed systems and support the sustainable development of watersheds. However, watershed science confronts the difficulties of understanding complex systems, achieving scale transformation, and simulating the co-evolution of the human-nature system. These difficulties are fundamentally methodological challenges. Therefore, we discuss the research methods of watershed science, which include the self-organized complex system method, the upscaling method dominated by statistical mechanics, Darwinian approaches based on selection and evolutionary principles, hydro-economic and eco-economic methods that emphasize the human-nature system co-evolution, and meta-synthesis for addressing unstructured problems. These approaches together can create a bridge between holism and reductionism and work as a group of operational methods to combine hard and soft integrations and capture all aspects of both natural and human systems. These methods will contribute to the maturation of watershed science and to a methodology that can be used throughout land-surface systems science.展开更多
文摘Most research in support of agricultural development and natural resource management in densely settled mountain ecosystems continues to emphasize component over system-level goals. Research by plant breeders, foresters and animal scientists is generally designed to maximize the yield of products within their particular area of expertise (edible plant parts, tree products and livestock products, respectively), while soil scientists aim largely to increase soil nutrient stocks. At landscape level the same dynamic holds within the agronomic sciences, while water engineers work independently to conserve water through its isolation from broader landscape dynamics, and other common property resources remain largely ignored. Opportunities to foster positive synergies between system components, and to integrate livelihood with conservation goals, are generally missed. This paper presents experiences of the African Highlands Initiative, an ecoregional program of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and a network of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), in operationalizing integrated research at farm and landscape scale. Following a discussion of the shortcomings of the conventional research paradigm that beg for strongerintegration and a review of the contributions of extant research paradigms that help us move in the right direction, the paper lays a conceptual foundation for integrated research. System components at farm and landscape level are delineated, and this somewhat arbitrary conceptual partitioning of agroecological systems shown to influence the current research paradigm as well as the partitioning of institutional mandates. Diverse meanings of systems integration are then discussed to illustrate the synergies that might be built into agricultural and natural resource research programs. The distinction between the logic of maximization and optimization is then utilized to distinguish between component and “system-level” goals. This conceptual overview is followed by several case studies to illustrate how these concepts can guide the formulation of integrated research objectives, methods and outputs at farm and landscape scale. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this alternative research paradigm for the structure, function and skill base of national and international agricultural research systems.
文摘Objective：To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the treatment of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome （CP/CPPS）. Methods- The randomized controlled trials （RCTs） about the treatment for CP/CPPS all over the world were searched. MEDLINE （January 1966 to June 2007）, EMBASE （January 1988 to June 2007）, and 4 Chinese databases were electronically searched. The studies included in the refer- ences of eligible studies were additionally searched. Two reviewers independently screened the studies for eli- gibility, evaluated the quality and extracted the data from the eligible studies, with confirmation by cross- checking. Divergences of opinion were settled by discussion or consulted by the experts. Meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 4.2 software. Results： Twelve original studies involving 1 003 participants met inclusion criteria. Compared with placebo, alpha-blockers could improve the symptoms of CP/CPPS obvious- ly with WMD of NIH-CPSI, total score and pain score were -4.10 （95%CI： -6. 92 to -1.28） and -1.68 （95 %CI： -2.54 to -0. 82）. Antibiotics could not improve the symptoms obviously with WMD of NIH-CP- SI; total score and pain score were -2.71 （95%CI： -4. 78 to -0. 64） and -0.86 （95%CI： -2.07 to 0.36）. Flavoxate could not improve the NIH-CPSI total score obviously, but could relieve the pain, with WMD of NIH-CPSI total score and pain score being -2.96 （95%CI： -5.17 to -0. 74） and --2.31 （95%CI.. -4.05 to 0.03）. Prostat could improve the NIH-CPSI total score obviously, but could not relieve the pain, with WMD of NIH-CPSI total score and pain score being --7. 60 （95%CI.. -9. 97 to -5.23） and -2. 02 （95%CI： -4.07 to 0. 04）. Conclusion： Drug intervention could improve total symptoms of CP/CPPS in some degree, but no universally effective treatment is available that can prove significant lasting benefit for all the symptoms of CP/CPPS. Future RCT must use an appropriate sample size and optimal duration and fol- low-up of participants. It is important to improve the quality of internal original studies.
基金supported by Prof.Chen Fahurepresented by this paper was funded by the Major Research Plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.91225302,91425303)the Cross-disciplinary Collaborative Teams Program for Science,Technology,and Innovation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
文摘We discuss the concepts, research methods, and infrastructure of watershed science. A watershed is a basic unit and possesses all of the complexities of the land surface system, thereby making it the best unit for practicing Earth system science. Watershed science is an Earth system science practiced on a watershed scale, and it has developed rapidly over the previous two decades. The goal of watershed science is to understand and predict the behavior of complex watershed systems and support the sustainable development of watersheds. However, watershed science confronts the difficulties of understanding complex systems, achieving scale transformation, and simulating the co-evolution of the human-nature system. These difficulties are fundamentally methodological challenges. Therefore, we discuss the research methods of watershed science, which include the self-organized complex system method, the upscaling method dominated by statistical mechanics, Darwinian approaches based on selection and evolutionary principles, hydro-economic and eco-economic methods that emphasize the human-nature system co-evolution, and meta-synthesis for addressing unstructured problems. These approaches together can create a bridge between holism and reductionism and work as a group of operational methods to combine hard and soft integrations and capture all aspects of both natural and human systems. These methods will contribute to the maturation of watershed science and to a methodology that can be used throughout land-surface systems science.
