From the early 1950s, the USSR was the second largest contributor to the UN. Following UN rules, it gave much of its contribution in rubles, an infamously unconvertible currency that generally limited Soviet actions overseas. In the hands of UN officials, however, these ‘weak’ rubles became a powerful lever that made UN development projects more Soviet. Seeking to extract value from the ruble, officials increased the amount of UN development training held in the USSR, prioritized the purchase of Soviet equipment, and incentivized agencies to distribute Soviet manuals. Exploring the ruble lever contributes to our knowledge of the Soviet presence at the UN while foregrounding political economy as a key mechanism shaping UN practices more widely. Following the money in forms other than the dollar can reveal how economies of power at the UN intersect with global economic history, as well as the conceptual and contemporary challenges of international cooperation among wildly unequal economies.

The subject of protein quality assessment of foods and diets was addressed at the Codex Committee on Vegetable Proteins (1982–1989), FAO/WHO (1989, 2001) and WHO/FAO (2002) expert reviews. These international developments are summarized in this manuscript. In 1989, a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Protein Quality Evaluation reviewed knowledge of protein quality assessment of foods, and specifically evaluated amino acid score corrected for protein digestibility, the method recommended by the Codex Committee on Vegetable Proteins. The report of the Consultation published in 1991 concluded that the Protein Digestibility-corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) method was the most suitable approach for routine evaluation of protein quality for humans. The Consultation recognized that the amino acid scoring pattern proposed by FAO/WHO/UNU (1985) for preschool children was at that time the most suitable pattern for calculating PDCAAS for all ages except infants in which case the amino acid composition of human milk was recommended to be the basis of the scoring pattern. The rat balance method was considered as the most suitable practical method for predicting protein digestibility by humans. Since its adoption by FAO/WHO (1991), the PDCAAS method has been criticised for a number of reasons. The FAO/WHO (2001) Working Group on analytical issues related to protein quality assessed the validity of criticisms of the PDCAAS method. While recognizing a distinct regulatory use of protein quality data, the Working Group recommended that the PDCAAS method may be inappropriate for the routine prediction of protein quality of novel and sole source foods which contain high levels of anti nutritional factors; and that for regulatory purposes, the method should be revised to permit values of >100 for high quality proteins. In evaluating the recommendations of the Working Group, the WHO/FAO (2002) Expert Consultation on Protein and Amino Acid Requirements endorsed the PDCAAS method with minor modifications to the calculation method but also raised several issues. These included the calculation of scoring patterns; prediction of amino acid digestibility by faecal and ileal methods; reduced bioavailability of lysine in processed proteins; truncation of the amino acid score and consequent PDCAAS value; protein digestibility as a first limiting factor in determining the overall available dietary nitrogen; and the calculation of amino acid score for a dietary protein mixture. These concerns were considered particularly important in relation to the regulatory aspects of protein quality of foods, and their resolution was urgently recommended through a new separate expert review.

Cette communication présente une étude sur l'adaptation des trajets d'usinage au processus de fabrication par UGV. La définition d'un processus performant passe par la sélection conjointe d'une stratégie d'usinage et de conditions de coupe associées. Lors de la programmation d'un trajet d'usinage, le programmeur doit choisir une stratégie d'usinage et un mode de calcul des trajets adapté à la pièce à réaliser et qui n'introduit pas de phénomènes perturbateurs sur les éléments clés de la productivité du processus de fabrication : le comportement cinématique de la machine et le comportement mécanique de l'outil. Pour réduire l'influence de ces phénomènes, les éditeurs de FAO proposent de nombreuses solutions et options. Il devient alors difficile de choisir et de paramétrer une opération d'usinage. Après avoir analysé l'ensemble des difficultés posées par l'usinage de ce type de pièce, nous présentons une classification des problèmes. Selon le besoin, cette grille d'analyse facilite le choix de la stratégie d'usinage.

In light of the upcoming first International Technical Conference on Animal Genetic Resources (September 2007), experts have been interviewed to tell about their experiences in the management of animal genetic resources over the past fifty years. They identified three milestones in the history of Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR) management: the foundation of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (1973), the FAO/UNEP 1980 Technical Consultation on AnGR, and the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992). Conservation of AnGR started at grassroot level and eventually led to policies at governmental level. The passion of civil society organizations remains vital to conserve local livestock breeds. Technical and financial support will be crucial for the future of AnGR conservation. The next milestone will be a Global Plan of Action that is expected as one outcome of the International Technical Conference.

In response to the rapid loss of animal genetic resources, a world wide emergency program is proposed to create national genebanks on the basis of somatic cells. Contrary to other procedures, like storing deep frozen semen or embryos, collection and storage of somatic cells can be done cheaply and rapidly for any species. Only in this way can an emergency store of animal genetic resources be created fast enough to forestall the ongoing rapid erosion of animal biodiversity. While animals can already be produced from somatic cells for 10 species, this number will continue to rise in the future. A layered strategy is proposed which is based on collection and storage within individual countries, thus leaving execution of the program, responsibility and ownership of these national cryobanks with those countries. After a pilot study, more country genebanks could be created as funds become available. With a limited effort, the creation of a network of national genebanks of last resort are a realistic option.

FAO has in the past given much attention to the development, dissemination and use of methods to assess pre- and postharvest crop losses. The experience gained shows that losses vary with location, crop, pest and differ from year to year. The collection of data on a national or regional basis is expensive, since data have to be collected over a number of years. Therefore, loss assessment is now mainly used as a tool to develop loss reduction strategies and to assesss the cost-effectiveness of introduced methods.

A reservation is made with respect to the quoting of data on losses, without giving information on how these data were collected and interpreted, because data presented in that way can easily be misinterpreted.

Many useful crop preharvest loss assessment methods are presently available for the researcher, but there is, however, an urgent need for simple methods for use by extensionists and farmers in other situations. The developed methods to assess postharvest losses in grains are adequate.

FAO recognizes the value of, and attaches a high importance to the continuance of existing taxonomie identification services. It considers it desirable that there should be an increase in the number of institutions qualified both to provide authoritative identification and to conduct taxonomie research on pests of agricultural significance. Regrettably, direct support to taxonomie identification services in general cannot be provided by FAO. As components of ongoing projects, identifications and relevant taxonomie research can be financed in certain instances. Preference is given to the development of a self-help capability through production of identification keys and pictorial guides, in-depth taxonomie studies and training, rather than simply paying for routine identifications.