AGRICULTURE #AGRA INNOVATE #FOOD SECURITY.

Agriculture, what is it to you,and where do you fit? Thinking of agriculture,how to invest in agriculture or innovations in agriculture? see this. Agriculture is the new gold and at the conference/exhibition many companies showcased their products; biotechnology, food packaging and handling, vaccines, artificial insemination,liquid fertilizers ,cassava processing,packaging among st other innovation #smartfarming #smartagriculture #irrigation #rice #silos #storage. There is still so much more,join the train. There is so much more ; the agrainnovate conference still on till Friday 25/11/2016 @ Landmark center,lagos.

The sky’s the limit for CSU’s first paraplegic veterinary student.

Until the day he crashed into the Arizona desert going 90 miles an hour, the sky was the limit for Bernard Dime. He was an accomplished skydiver who was weeks away from enlisting in the US Army, and dead-set on making the elite Golden Knights Parachute Team. But the driven 25-year-old’s ambitious plans changed dramatically on one last practice jump before a canopy piloting competition, when something went wrong and he hit the ground, shattering his back. “I don’t remember the impact. I don’t remember the pain all that much, just brief moments laying on the ground and thinking I was going to die,” said Dime, now 29.He was airlifted to a hospital and learned he had burst-fractured the T12 and L1 vertebrae in his lower back, and suffered a spinal cord injury. He was permanently paralyzed. “You crash and then you wake up born again with a different body,” Dime said. But at the time, he didn’t feel born again. He felt like the life he had planned was over. During the following months of rehab, his energy went into learning how to shower, how to dress himself, how to live with his new body. “There were times I wished I was dead, I thought ‘my life is never going to be good again.’ That’s rock-bottom. That’s a scary place.” The young man who had counted on his physical fitness to carry him into a career as an elite skydiver, had to come to terms with the abrupt end of that dream. Lying in the hospital, he pondered his childhood dreams of being a musician (in his late teens, he was a guitarist in a touring band called The Real You whose music was featured on MTV) or a veterinarian (he volunteered at animal shelters as a child). But he faced months of acute recovery. “The hardest part is not learning to live with a new body and being in a wheelchair, you get over that. The hardest part for me was being in the hospital and realizing I was so close to a dream that I worked so hard for – for it to be totally taken away and there was nothing I could do about continue

CONTOUR NEXT ONE Bluetooth Connected Glucose Meter.

Ascensia Diabetes Care, a company based in Basel, Switzerland, won FDA clearance to bring to the U.S. market its CONTOUR NEXT ONE blood glucometer. The device has Bluetooth wireless connectivity that allows diabetics to upload their readings to a paired app on their iOS or Android smartphones. The CONTOUR DIABETES app provides historical charts of blood sugar levels and lets patients understand how their diet and physical activity impacts those. This works best if the patient religiously enters the details of his/or her food intake and all the activities that take place throughout the day. All the readings and entered information can be uploaded to the “cloud” and reviewed on a computer. Reports can be emailed to one’s physician or family members to make sure everyone is on the same page and helping to keep the symptoms of diabetes in check. The device works just fine on its own without the app, displaying readings on a built-in screen. An indicator on the left side of the device turns green, yellow, or red depending on how out of normal range the last reading was. Ascensia claims this is one of the most accurate blood glucose meters on the market, achieving ±8.4% accuracy on 95% of readings when it was compared against laboratory equipment in a small trial with human subjects. continue

Teenage Student Wins ATLAB's Gulf 3D Printing Olympiad with 3D Printed Mind-Controlled Bionic Arm.

Over 75 student teams recently competed in the first ever Gulf 3D Printing Olympiad, organized by technology-based learning solutions company ATLAB. The competition was aimed at inspiring young entrepreneurs by fueling their innovation and creativity through 3D printing. The theme was “Design Your First Consumer Product” and inspired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s vision of innovation. The competition was open to all students between the ages of 10-25 residing in the GCC (Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf). Participants were asked to design and print an innovative product, preferably something that could help people in their everyday lives. A 14-year-old student’s mind-blowing, and mind-controlled, creation was selected as the “Best Innovative Project” at the competition. Rishabh Java, from GEMS Millennium School-Sharjah, designed and 3D printed a low-cost, functional 3D printed bionic forearm. What’s more amazing is that the user can control the arm with his or her mind! It was built using Electroencephalography (EEG), an electrophysical monitoring method used to record electrical activity of the brain. The arm can perform simple tasks, such as shaking hands and picking up objects, making it a great replacement for patients with disabled hands. The bionic arm would allow them to regain their sense of touch by replacing their functionless arm with the bionic one, which can interface directly with the nervous system. continue

Veterinarian offers practical tips for reducing carcass condemnations.

Observe, judge, act — Veterinarian offers practical tips for reducing carcass condemnations.Poultry processors and regulators have the same objectives — minimize chicken condemnations and maximize food safety. Working as a team is the best way to safeguard consumer health and maintain profitability at the processing plant. “It should not be an adversarial or confrontational relationship,” said Douglas Fulnechek, DVM, senior technical service veterinarian for Zoetis. “You both have a role to play.” Fulnechek spent 28 years with the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) before entering private industry. He shared his insights into the regulatory and practical aspects of condemnation at the 2016 “Young Chicken Gross Pathology Workshop” held recently at the Georgia Poultry Laboratory in Gainesville, Georgia. Zoetis sponsored the event. Poultry carcasses are inspected during processing for signs of disease. In some cases, these conditions may result in carcasses being condemned because they are deemed not suitable for human consumption. To ensure that’s the case, FSIS requires condemned carcasses to be denatured using a colored dye so humans will never consume them. Fulnechek said several health conditions can lead inspectors to condemn a carcass, including: Septicemia/toxemia and airsacculitis, which are the two most common condemnations. Other conditions that affect the whole carcass like tumors, ascites, keratoacanthomas and other degenerative processes. It would be difficult to find a processor who has not asked, “What gives the government the right to take my chickens?” The answer, Fulnechek explained, lies in Mugler v. Kansas, a case that the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1887. According to the court: “All property in this country is held under the implied obligation that the owner’s use of it shall not be injurious to the community.” “Once that carcass goes into the condemned barrel — even if it was a perfect carcass — it doesn’t get to come back,” Fulnechek said. “However, decisions [to condemn carcasses] have to be supported by scientific fact. Congress laid out the rules that FSIS has to follow: ‘Such condemnations shall be achieved through uniform inspections and uniform applications.’” The word “uniform”, of course, is subject to interpretation. This is why the Poultry Products Inspection Regulations spell out condemnation requirements as clearly as possible. “I encourage the industry to look up these regulations, carefully read them and have a discussion with the veterinary supervisor in the plant, because they all have a similar theme,” Fulnechek said. This is where the human element comes into play. FSIS inspectors first make their observations, then make a judgment based on what they saw and take appropriate action, if necessary. Observation criteria Inspectors have a checklist of what they are looking for, including:1) Body condition (plumpness, muscling, keel prominence, cachexia). 2)Tissue hydration 3)Fat 4)Liver 5) Spleen 6)Cardiovascular system 7)Gastrointestinal tract Fulnechek elaborated on the checklist. “You do it this way every time,” he said. “You go through this system so that you don’t overlook something.” Questions that get asked: You talk about the body condition. Is it plump? (“Juicy” was one of the terms that my FSIS inspectors used.) Look at the muscling, the prominence of the keel. Determine if the bird has been off feed. Has it lost some muscle mass? Was it properly hydrated? Examine the color and composition of the fat. Can you see changes such as serious atrophy of the fat? continue

7 Vet Med Lessons From the Magical Creatures of Harry Potter.

With magic on my mind, I wanted to share lessons that apply to veterinary medicine that I learned from seven of the magical creatures Harry Potter encountered. Even those who aren’t as Potter-crazed as me can still benefit from these tips. 1. Hippogriffs – Some individuals take extra effort to gain their trust. Hippogriffs are half-horse, half-eagle creatures known for attacking when they are insulted. However, if their trust is gained, they will be fiercely loyal and protective. In veterinary medicine, our clients, patients, and co-workers can all be hippogriffs. Some people, and animals, require a gentle approach to win them over. For example, recently I saw a client who was not my biggest fan. Finally, during a stressful appointment, she snapped and let me have it. After allowing her to speak her mind, I calmly explained how I shared her frustration and also shared her desire to figure out how to manage her dog’s condition. By the end of the conversation, she actually apologized for her outburst and told me I had won her over by how I handled the entire situation. In explaining the issues without becoming confrontational or insulting her pride, I turned a client who intimidated me into a loyal hippogriff. 2. Blast-Ended Skrewts – Use caution when handling some creatures. Harry PotterBlast-ended skrewts are basically a designer breed that is created when two other magical creatures are cross-bred. They are noted as creatures that can burn, sting, and bite all at once. Okay, so maybe none of us work with any patients who can breathe fire and burn us, but we all have encountered animals who are dangerous to handle. The key to handling any creature, from blast-ended skrewts to tooth-fronted dogs, is to understand how best to approach them based on past experiences. If something works, record it and repeat it next time. If something doesn’t work, then make sure to write it down so that a different approach can be taken in the future. Don’t be a hero and ignore warnings from previous visits. Try not to make the same mistakes twice with your blast-ended skrewt patients. 3. Nifflers – Don’t let your search for riches become destructive. Harry PotterNifflers are rodent-like creatures that are gentle by nature but are attracted to anything sparkly and have even been known to destroy entire homes in their search for shiny objects. Unlike nifflers, most of us are not motivated by riches. If that is your sole motivation, you definitely chose the wrong profession! But like nifflers, sometimes finances can stress us out. Even if we aren’t in it for the money, we still work in a business with economic pressures: from achieving production bonuses to increasing ticket averages, or even making your student loan payments. Try not to let those financial pressures create tunnel vision. Focus on practicing medicine that makes you proud without damaging your emotional wellness. Appreciate the sparkle you come across without destroying your life as you attempt to obtain it. Don’t become a niffler. continue

Georgia signs four-year cooperation agreement with FAO.

Continuous improvement of Georgia’s agriculture, food safety, veterinary services and plant protection – and its response to climate change, biodiversity and other environmental issues – are the priorities set out in a new agreement with FAO signed here today. Georgian Minister of Agriculture Levan Davitashvili signed the “FAO Country Programming Framework for Georgia 2016-2020,” together with Raimund Jehle, Regional Strategic Programmes Coordinator for FAO in Europe and Central Asia and FAO Representative in Georgia. The four-year agreement aims at institutional, regional and sectoral development of agriculture and related subsectors. “The Country Programming Framework makes available FAO expertise and innovative international best practices in agriculture to support Georgia in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” Jehle said. “The agreement contributes continue