Reproductive biology in the medicinal plant, Plumbago zeylanica L.

Plumbago zeylanica L. is an important medicinal plant traditionally used for the treatment of various diseases. Phenology from seed germination via vegetative growth to reproductive development wasstudied under glasshouse and nursery conditions. Seeds rapidly germinated on a mixture of nursery soil and cattle dung in a ratio of 3:1 filled in pots or on cultivated soil under nursery conditions as aprerequisite for vegetative and flowering phenological studies. Hypogeal germination characterizes the emergence of seedlings. Subsequent vegetative and flowering phenology between glass house andnursery field populations showed significant difference (

The burden of neglected tropical diseases in Ethiopia, and opportunities for integrated control and elimination

Background: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of chronic parasitic diseases and related conditions that are the most common diseases among the 2·7 billion people globally living on less than US$2 per day. In response to the growing challenge of NTDs, Ethiopia is preparing to launch a NTD Master Plan. The purpose of this review is to underscore the burden of NTDs in Ethiopia, highlight the state of current interventions, and suggest ways forward. Results: This review indicates that NTDs are significant public health problems in Ethiopia. From the analysis reported here, Ethiopia stands out for having the largest number of NTD cases following Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ethiopia is estimated to have the highest burden of trachoma, podoconiosis and cutaneous leishmaniasis in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the second highest burden in terms of ascariasis, leprosy and visceral leishmaniasis, and the third highest burden of hookworm. Infections such as schistosomiasis, trichuriasis, lymphatic filariasis and rabies are also common. A third of Ethiopians are infected with ascariasis, one quarter is infected with trichuriasis and one in eight Ethiopians lives with hookworm or is infected with trachoma. However, despite these high burdens of infection, the control of most NTDs in Ethiopia is in its infancy. In terms of NTD control achievements, Ethiopia reached the leprosy elimination target of 1 case/10,000 population in 1999. No cases of human African trypanosomiasis have been reported since 1984. Guinea worm eradication is in its final phase. The Onchocerciasis Control Program has been making steady progress since 2001. A national blindness survey was conducted in 2006 and the trachoma program has kicked off in some regions. Lymphatic Filariasis, podoconiosis and rabies mapping are underway. Conclusion: Ethiopia bears a significant burden of NTDs compared to other SSA countries. To achieve success in integrated control of NTDs, integrated mapping, rapid scale up of interventions and operational research into co implementation of intervention packages will be crucial

Adoption Factors For Mobile Financial Services: Laggards And Early Adopters In Low-Income Countries

This paper evaluated low-income countries and identified adoption factors for mobile financial services (MFS) that are not covered by TAM (Technology Acceptance Model). From the literature we identified enabler and bottleneck factors that impact MFS adoption in low-income countries. We analyzed laggard and early adaptor countries to compare the factors. In our conclusion we identified thirteen MFS adoption factors and categorized them in a 2x2 metrics using enablers and bottlenecks vs. exogenous and endogenous. Further, we used the early adopter and laggard countries to understand how the MFS adoption strategy differed between the two groups. Future direction is provided

Provenance of middle Stone Age obsidian artefacts from the central sector of the Main Ethiopian Rift Valley

The Gademotta/Kulkuletti sites, located in the central part of the Main Ethiopian Rift Valley, represent the earliest Middle Stone Age (MSA) sequences in the country. Here we present the geochemical provenance of obsidian archaeological artefact recovered through excavation at the site. The artefacts and source materials were characterized by EDXRF and electron microprobe. Results show that the artefacts were procured from two sources, one local, and one presumably more distant, implying that despite the local availability of good quality raw material, not all obsidians were procured from a nearby source

Short communication: Surgical Management of Urethral Obstruction in three Bullocks

Three typical cases of urolithiasis were reported for treatment at college of veterinary medicine, Mekelle clinics. All cases were of adult male bovine between 5-10 years of age group. The first and third case was of necrosis of penis and subcutaneous accumulation of urine in the prepuce and scrotal area, while the second case was of rupture of urinary bladder and subsequent uroperitoneam and uremia. The first and third case was operated for amputation of penis and drainage of urine from subcutaneous region and the second case was operated for post-scrotal urethrotomy and repair of ruptured urinary bladder through posterior left flank. The operative procedure for these cases including treatment of uremia is described in detail. All cases made an uneventful recovery. Keywords: Amputation of penis, necrosis of penis, obstructive urolithiasis, rupture of urinary bladder, uroperitoneam

Communicating employability: the role of communicative competence for Zimbabwean highly skilled migrants in the UK

Skilled migration is an increasingly important topic for both policy and research internationally. OECD governments in particular are wrestling with tensions between their desire to use skilled migration to be on the winning side in the ‘global war for talent’ and their pandering to and/or attempts to outflank rising xenophobia. One aspect that has received relatively little attention is skilled migration from the African Commonwealth to the UK, a situation in which skilled migrants have relatively high levels of linguistic capital in the language of the host country. We focus here on the case of Zimbabwe. In spite of its popular image as a failed state, Zimbabwe has an exceptionally strong educational tradition and high levels of literacy and fluency in English. Drawing on 20 in-depth interviews of Zimbabwean highly skilled migrants, we explore the specific ways in which the communicative competences of these migrants with high formal levels of English operate in complex ways to shape their employability strategies and outcomes. We offer two main findings: first, that a dichotomy exists between their high level formal linguistic competence and their ability to communicate in less formal interactions, which challenges their employability, at least when they first move to the UK; and second, that they also lack, at least initially, the competence to narrativise their employability in ways that are culturally appropriate in England. Thus, to realise the full potential of their high levels of human capital, they need to learn how to communicate competently in a very different social and occupational milieu. Some have achieved this, but others continue to struggle

Phosphorylation via PKC Regulates the Function of the Drosophila Odorant Co-Receptor

Insect odorant receptors (ORs) have a unique design of heterodimers formed by an olfactory receptor protein and the ion channel Orco. Heterologously expressed insect ORs are activated via an ionotropic and a metabotropic pathway that leads to cAMP production and activates the Orco channel. The contribution of metabotropic signaling to the insect odor response remains to be elucidated. Disruption of the Gq protein signaling cascade reduces the odor response (Kain et al., 2008). We investigated this phenomenon in HEK293 cells expressing Drosophila Orco and found that phospholipase C (PLC) inhibition reduced the sensitivity of Orco to cAMP. A similar effect was seen upon inhibition of protein kinase C (PKC), whereas PKC stimulation activated Orco even in the absence of cAMP. Mutation of the five PKC phosphorylation sites in Orco almost completely eliminated sensitivity to cAMP. To test the impact of PKC activity in vivo we combined single sensillum electrophysiological recordings with microinjection of agents affecting PLC and PKC function and observed an altered response of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) to odorant stimulation. Injection of the PLC inhibitor U73122 or the PKC inhibitor Gö6976 into sensilla reduced the OSN response to odor pulses. Conversely, injection of the PKC activators OAG, a diacylglycerol analog, or phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) enhanced the odor response. We conclude that metabotropic pathways affecting the phosphorylation state of Orco regulate OR function and thereby shape the OSN odor response

Characterization of the inflammatory cell infiltrate and expression of costimulatory molecules in chronic echinococcus granulosus infection of the human liver

Background: The local immune responses to chronic echinococcal infections in various organs are largely unknown. Since the liver is the most frequently involved organ in such infections in human we aimed to characterize the inflammatory as well as immune cell infiltrate around hydatid cysts in the liver and compared to common inflammatory processes of the liver. Method: Surgical samples from the liver of 21 cystic echinococcosis (CE) patients were studied and the distribution of different types of inflammatory and immune cells were determined by immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, expression levels of costimulatory CTLA4, CD28, CD80 and CD86 molecules were measured at RNA level by PCR. Liver biopsy samples from patients with steatohepatitis (SH, n = 11) and chronic hepatitis (CH, n = 11) were used as non-inflammatory and chronic inflammatory controls, respectively. The composition and density of the inflammatory and immune cell infiltrates have been compared by using morphometry. Results: CD3+ T cells predominated the inflammatory infiltrate in all pathological processes, while in CE samples CD20+ B cells, in CH samples CD68+ macrophages were also frequent. Both myeloperoxidase (MPO) + leukocytes and CD68+ macrophages were found to be significantly decreased in CE as compared to either SH or CH samples. Concerning T cell subtypes, only CD8+ T cells were found to be significantly decreased in SH samples. CD1a + dendritic cells were almost completely missing from CE biopsies unlike in any other sample types. There were no differences detected in the mRNA expression of costimulatory molecules except decreased expression of CD28 in CE samples. Conclusion: In the hydatid lesions of the liver of chronic echinococcal infections T cell-mediated immunity seems to be impaired as compared to other types of chronic inflammatory processes, suggesting an immunosuppressive role for Echinococcus granulosus, which deserve further attentions

Tuber yield components of potato (Solanum tuberosum l.) as influenced by earthing up and inflorescence removal

Inappropriate agronomic practices, such as earthing up and inflorescence removal, are responsible for the great discrepancy between the potential and achievable yields of potato in Ethiopia. To assess the effects of the combination on the tuber yield and yield components of potato, a factorial combination of four earthing up rounds (without, one, two, and three rounds) and three inflorescence removal levels (without removal, bud removal, and flower removal) was used in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The number of marketable, unmarketable, and total tubers per hill; and the marketable, unmarketable, and total tuber yields significantly differed in terms of the combined effects of factors. The maximum marketable tuber number (10.07 count/hill), the maximum total tuber number (13.17 count/hill), the marketable tuber yield (31.49 t/ha), and the total tuber yield (33.08 t/ha) were associated with bud removal combined with three rounds of earthing up. Thus, this combination of treatments can be advised for potato production