2,2′-Biimidazolium hexa­aqua­manganese(II) bis­(sulfate)

The title compound, (C6H8N4)[Mn(H2O)6](SO4)2, was obtained by cocrystallization of 2,2′-biimidazolium sulfate and bis­(tetra­butyl­ammonium) tetra­chlorido­manganate(II). The asymmetric unit contains one isolated (SO4)2− anion, one half of an octa­hedral [Mn(H2O)6]2+ dication and one half of a 2,2′-biimidazolium dication, each of which lies on an inversion centre. Mol­ecules are connected by a three-dimensional N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen-bond network

In vivo nematicidal potential of camel milk on Heligmosomoides polygyrus gastro-intestinal nematode of rodents

Following our previous fi ndings on the in vitro anthelmintic effect of camel milk on Haemonchus contortus, the current study aimed at investigating its in vivo effect. Investigations were carried out using mice infected with Heligmosomoides polygyrus which is a parasite commonly used to test the effi cacy of anthelmintics. Thirty six Swiss white mice of both sexes aged 5 – 6 weeks old, and weighing between 20 and 25 g were orally infected with 0.5 ml dose of 100, 1-week-old H. polygyrus infective larvae (L3 ). After the pre-patent period, infected animals were randomly divided into 6 groups of 6 animals each. The nematicidal effi cacy of camel milk was monitored through faecal egg count reduction (FECR) and total worm count reduction (TWCR). Four doses (8.25; 16.5; 33.0; 66.0 ml/kg body weight (bw)) for fresh camel milk and 22 mg/kg bw for albendazole were studied using a bioassay. Albendazole and 4 % dimethylsulfoxide were included in the protocol as reference drug and placebo, respectively. For all tested doses except 8.25 ml/kg bw, camel milk was effective in vivo against H. polygyrus reducing both faecal egg count and worm count (p < 0.05). The dose 66 ml/kg bw showed the highest nematicidal activity causing a 76.75 % FECR and a 69.62 % TWCR 7 day after initiating the treatment. These results support the possible use of camel milk in the control of gastro-intestinal helminthiasis

In silico characterization and evolution studies of alcohol dehydrogenase gene from Phoenix dactylifera L.cv Deglet Nour

The aim of our study was to isolate the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) mRNA from Phoenix dactifera, and examine the molecular evolutionary history of this nuclear gene with others ADH genes from palms and other plants species. The DnADH gene has been isolated in silico by BLAST2GO from a cDNA library of date palm cv Deglet Nour. The prediction of candidate’s mRNA and protein for ADH gene from khalas were performed in silico from whole genome shotgun sequence (ACYX02009373.1) using FGENESH prediction program. Nucleotide polymorphism using DnaSPv5 was examined in four palm ADH mRNA sequences across the entire 1.098 kb length of ADH mRNA. A primary conclusion of the present study is that nucleotide diversity for ADH between palm species is very low. In order to assess selective pressure, we calculated the ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous substitutions. We conclude that ADH palms genes appear to be under very different selective constraints. Phylogenetic analyses using PHYLIP and Notung 2.8 programs suggest that ADH genes of some plants species resulted from relatively ancient duplication events. In this study, we present for the first time a molecular characterization of ADH protein of P. dactylifera L cv Deglet nour and a phylogeny analysis between plants ADH.Keys word: Alcohol dehydrogenase, palms species, evolution, duplication

Field solution for the artificial insemination of Ethiopian sheep breeds: Reproductive package to effectively vehicle improved genetics from the communities to the communities

International Fund for Agricultural Developmen

Measuring the sales impact of improving inventory records: How improving the accuracy of inventory records can grow sales by 4-8%

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that retailers’ inventory records are inaccurate to a significant extent. And it is reasonable to assume that the higher the inventory record inaccuracy (IRI), the higher the impact on sales. But what does this mean in real terms? This report describes the outcome of a 3-year project (conducted with the participation of 7 of Europe’s largest retailers) the aim of which is to quantify the IRI problem and demonstrate the sales lift resulting from fixing it. A structured test-control type experiment is used, according to which test stores are subjected to stock counts at some particular point in time, whereas control stores are not, allowing us to measure the effect of reconciling (or not) the stock records on sales. The analysis covers approximately 1 Million stock keeping units (SKUs) sold in about 100 stores; such data is of a different order of magnitude to anything previously attempted in the academic and practitioner literature, leading to important, reliable and trustworthy conclusions. We find that about 60% of the SKUs analysed are affected by inventory record inaccuracies. We also find that positive IRI is as prevalent as negative IRI, with the same detrimental effects though on sales. Very importantly, correcting inventory inaccuracies is found to lead to approximately 4% to 8% of increased sales in the participating retailers. Interestingly, this applies to all retailers including the particularly ‘accurate’ ones. The results demonstrate that the biggest opportunity for improvement comes from high-volume expensive items, and detailed analysis by product category shows which categories should attract most attention. Finally, we discuss and show results on how inventory accuracy deteriorates over time following a stock count. This has implications for deciding how often and when stocktakes should take place. Our findings should be of great value to retailers to: i) inform their decisions on the appropriate levels of resource and investment against improving inventory records accuracy; ii) prioritise investments per product category and class; iii) appreciate the behaviour of positive and negative discrepancies; iv) discuss counting as a sales increase strategy rather than a cost-intensive necessity