Influence of Some Innovation Attributes on the Adoption of Growing Sunflower in Rahad Scheme

The vital economic importance of sunflower as one of the oil crops encouraged its introduction to the Sudan in the last twenty years. The production of sunflower crop began in Rahad scheme, as in other irrigated areas in the country, in 1992/93 growing season. Field survey was used to collect data from 100 sunflower growers (adopters) in Rahad Scheme (block 10) in 2002/2003 growing season selected from a total population of 1000-1100 farmers by using the simple random sample technique. An equal number of non-adopters was selected for comparison. The total number of interviewed farmers was 200. The collected data was statistically analyzed using the chi-square test. The results showed significant association (dependency) between adoption of growing sunflower (the innovation) and some of its attributes: Relative advantage on perceived production cost and income, compatibility with farmers need as cash crop and animal feed, complexity associated with use of technical package for sunflower. From the findings of this study, we can conclude that the adoption of this crop was dependent on some innovation attributes and the results were expected to reveal factors influencing adoption of the crop. The authors recommend that more attention should be given by agronomists to this crop in order to improve the yield of the crop and extension services should design special programs for the crop to promote its rate of adoption

Perinatal outcomes following Helping Babies Breathe training and regular peer-peer skills practice among village midwives in Sudan.

Over 80% of deliveries in Sudan occur in rural areas, attended by village midwives (VMWs). To determine the impact of Helping Babies Breathe training and regular peer-peer skills practice (HBBT(+RPPSP)) on VMW resuscitation practices and outcomes. In a prospective community-based intervention study, 71/82 VMWs, reporting to six East Nile rural medical centres, with previous experience in community health research, consented to HBBT(+RPPSP). Outcomes included changes in the resuscitation practices, fresh stillbirths (FSB) and early neonatal deaths <1 week (ENND). There were 1350 and 3040 deliveries before and after HBBT(+RPPSP), respectively, with no significant differences between the two cohorts regarding maternal age, education or area of birth. Drying of the newborn increased almost tenfold (8.4%, n=113 to 74.9%, n=1011) while suctioning of the mouth/nose decreased fivefold (80.3%, n=2442 to 14.4%, n=437) following HBBT(+RPPSP). Pre-HBBT(+RPPSP)9/18 (50%) newborns who had mouth-to-mouth ventilation died, compared with 13/119 (11%) who received bag-mask ventilation post-HBBT(+RPPSP). Excluding 11 macerated fetuses, there were 55 perinatal deaths: 14 FSB/18 ENND (6 months pre-HBBT(+RPPSP)) and 10 FSB/13 ENND (18 months post-HBBT(+RPPSP)). FSB rates decreased from 10.5 to 3.3 per 1000 births ((χ(2))=8.6209, p=0.003), while ENND rates decreased from 13.5 to 4.3 per 1000 live births ((χ(2))=10.9369, p=0.001) pre-HBBT(+RPPSP) and post-HBBT(+RPPSP), respectively. In a selected group of VMWs, HBBT(+RPPSP) was associated with improvements in newborn resuscitation and perinatal outcomes. HBBT(+RPPSP) could have immense benefits if propagated nationally to all 17 000 VMWs in Sudan.This study was funded by the Irish Aid Civil Society Grant scheme

ASSOCIATION OF OBESITY WITH RS1421085 AND RS9939609 POLYMORPHISMS OF FTO GENE WITH T2DM IN EGYPTIAN FEMALES

Objective: Obesity has been described as a worldwide increasing health problem and risk factor of various disorders including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). So, our study aim to determine of common variants of fat mass and obesity associated gene polymorphisms rs1421085 and rs 9939609; confers risk of obesity and type 2 diabetic mellitus in Egyptian females.Methods: In this population rs1421085 and rs9939609 polymorphisms of fat mass and obesity (FTO) gene were genotyped in 105 obese patients and 100 healthy controls with ages 14-60 y were collected from Medicine Specialized Hospital, Mansoura University, Egypt during the period between Jul.-Oct. 2016, genotyping of SNPs was performed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay, fasting blood glucose, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA IR), body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) lipid profile was determined.Results: There was the significantly higher frequency of the AA compared to controls p=0.0001) of genotypers9939609. Also, cases have shown a significantly higher frequency of the C allele, p&lt;0.00001) of rs1421085 genotype polymorphisms increased the risks of obesity. On the other hand, there were no significant correlations between genotypes and obesity-related (anthropometric body composition) parameters. Only the fasting blood glucose was significantly higher in the TA p=0.004).Conclusion: The FTO rs9939609 and rs1421085 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was associated with increased risk of obesity in type 2 diabetic populations on Egyptian females

Does buffalo colostrum improve liver functions, immunity and controlling weight?

Colostrum, dairy products, rats, histology, ELISA, liver functionsThis is a comparative study between different dairy products, fed at 10% of rat’s diet. A series of immunological, histological, bacteriological and biochemical parameters were carried out. The rats which were fed on buffalo colostrum diets showed higher levels of serum immunoglobulin, an improvement of liver functions, histology of colon and liver tissues and lower percentage of body weight gain compared with other diet groups. Meanwhile the fermented milk diet showed the least improvement compared with the control group. Surprisingly no bifidobacteria was found in fermented milk supplemented with probiotic although the labels on the product indicated the presence of it

Cosmic Acceleration With A Positive Cosmological Constant

We have considered a cosmological model with a phenomenological model for the cosmological constant of the form \Lambda=\bt\fr{\ddot R}{R}, \bt is a constant. For age parameter consistent with observational data the Universe must be accelerating in the presence of a positive cosmological constant. The minimum age of the Universe is $H_0^{-1}$, where $H_0$ is the present Hubble constant. The cosmological constant is found to decrease as $t^{-2}$. Allowing the gravitational constant to change with time leads to an ever increasing gravitational constant at the present epoch. In the presence of a viscous fluid this decay law for $\Lambda$ is equivalent to the one with $\Lambda=3\alpha H^2$ ($\alpha=\rm const.$) provided \alpha=\fr{\bt}{3(\bt-2)}. The inflationary solution obtained from this model is that of the de-Sitter type.Comment: a more revised versio

Thermodynamics of Decaying Vacuum Cosmologies

The thermodynamic behavior of vacuum decaying cosmologies is investigated within a manifestly covariant formulation. Such a process corresponds to a continuous irreversible energy flow from the vacuum component to the created matter constituents. It is shown that if the specific entropy per particle remains constant during the process, the equilibrium relations are preserved. In particular, if the vacuum decays into photons, the energy density $\rho$ and average number density of photons $n$ scale with the temperature as $\rho \sim T^{4}$ and $n \sim T^{3}$. The temperature law is determined and a generalized Planckian type form of the spectrum, which is preserved in the course of the evolution, is also proposed. Some consequences of these results for decaying vacuum FRW type cosmologies as well as for models with ``adiabatic'' photon creation are discussed.Comment: 21 pages, uses LATE

Fermented Camel (Camelus dromedarius) and Bovine Milk Attenuate Azoxymethane-induced Colonic Aberrant Crypt Foci in Fischer 344 Rats

Abstract: Background and Objective: Camel milk is a folk remedy that includes valuable nutrients and bioactive zoochemicals. However, the chemopreventive potential of camel milk against colon carcinogenesis is poorly understood. This study was conducted to investigate the chemopreventive potential of camel (Camelus dromedarius) and bovine milk as well as the impact of fermenting these milks with Lactobacillus acidophilus and Streptococcus thermophilus against early colon carcinogenesis as measured by the reduction of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in azoxymethane (AOM)-treated Fischer 344 rats. Methodology: Each of 60 weanling male rats was assigned to one of 6 experimental diet groups: Fermented and unfermented camel milk with AOM, fermented and unfermented bovine milk with AOM and positive (PC, AOM only) and negative (NC, saline vehicle only) control groups. The animals were fed the corresponding diets for 3 weeks and then received two subcutaneous injections of AOM or vehicle for 2 consecutive weeks and they were then placed on the corresponding diets for 11 weeks. At termination, all rats were euthanized, colons were harvested and the ACF counts were determined for all tested groups. Immunohistochemical testing was then performed to examine cell proliferation and apoptosis in the camel milk groups. Results: Significant reductions (p<0.05) (48.4-62.1%) in the total ACF count were observed in the colons of the rats fed all milk diets compared with rats fed on PC. However, significant differences were not observed in the total ACF between the camel and bovine milk diets or between the fermented and unfermented milk diets. In addition, significant changes were not observed in the apoptotic index for the camel milk diet compared with the index values for PC and β-catenin was generally localized to the membrane in all examined specimens. Conclusion: By virtue of its bioactive components, camel milk exhibited a chemopreventive potential against early colon carcinogenesis, however, fermentation did not improve its chemopreventive potential

Another exact inflationary solution

A new closed-form inflationary solution is given for a hyperbolic interaction potential. The method used to arrive at this solution is outlined as it appears possible to generate additional sets of equations which satisfy the model. In addition a new form of decaying cosmological constant is presented.Comment: 10 pages, 0 figure

The differential effects of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids on seizure frequency in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy – A Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Abstract The omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are known to play an important role in maintenance and modulation of neuronal functions. There is evidence that omega-3 fatty acids may have anticonvulsant effects. The effect of DHA and EPA on seizure rate in patients with DRE was investigated. Methods: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial included ninety-nine (n=99) DRE patients, aged 5-16 (n=85) and 17-45 (n=14). After randomization, patients were given two, four or six capsules per day of DHA (417.8 mg DHA and 50.8 mg EPA/capsule, n=33), EPA (385.6 mg EPA and 81.2 mg DHA/capsule, n=33) or placebo (high oleic acid sunflower oil, n=33) for one year. The primary endpoint was the effect of treatment on rate of seizure. Random-effects negative binomial regression models were fitted to model the patients’ total count of seizures per month. The treatment effects on seizure incidence rate ratio was tested after controlling for the covariate effects of gender, age, rate of seizure per week at enrollment, type of seizure and number of AEDs combinations used at enrollment. Results: Fifty-nine patients (n=59) completed the study (59.6%).The average number of seizures per month were 9.7 ± 1.2 in the EPA group, 11.7 ± 1.5 in the DHA group, and 16.6 ± 1.5 in the placebo group. Age, gender and seizure type adjusted seizure incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of the EPA and DHA groups compared with the placebo were 0.61 (CI= 0.42-0.88, p=0.008, 42% reduction) and 0.67 (CI = 0.46-1.0, p= 0.04, 39% reduction), respectively. There was no difference in IRR between the EPA and DHA groups (p=0.56). Both treatment groups had a significantly higher number of seizure-free days compared to placebo (p<0.05). Significance: This study demonstrates that EPA and DHA are effective in reducing seizure frequency in patients with DRE

Evolution of the Scale Factor with a Variable Cosmological Term

Evolution of the scale factor a(t) in Friedmann models (those with zero pressure and a constant cosmological term Lambda) is well understood, and elegantly summarized in the review of Felten and Isaacman [Rev. Mod. Phys. 58, 689 (1986)]. Developments in particle physics and inflationary theory, however, increasingly indicate that Lambda ought to be treated as a dynamical quantity. We revisit the evolution of the scale factor with a variable Lambda-term, and also generalize the treatment to include nonzero pressure. New solutions are obtained and evaluated using a variety of observational criteria. Existing arguments for the inevitability of a big bang (ie., an initial state with a=0) are substantially weakened, and can be evaded in some cases with Lambda_0 (the present value of Lambda) well below current experimental limits.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures (not included), LaTeX, uses Phys Rev D style files (revtex.cls, revtex.sty, aps.sty, aps10.sty, prabib.sty). To appear in Phys Rev