Spatial analysis in multi-environment trials of malt barley in Ethiopia

Selection of superior genotypes and measuring heritability are some of the basic objectives of plant breeding. For this purpose, plant breeders grow crops across environments. Understanding the pattern of response across environments is an integral component of selection of superior and stable genotypes. The objective of this study was to improve selection strategies in barley breeding of Ethiopia through modeling spatial field trend. A set of multi-environment trials (MET) data from the national variety trial series conducted over four years, was taken from the Ethiopian Barley Breeding Programme, spanning stages from early generation to national variety trial testing for yield, was used in this study. The trials were analysed in a linear mixed model framework. Then, fitting a one-stage model for MET data, including a correlated spatial process for field trend within each trial, and combining a factor analytic (FA) model for genotype by environment interaction was conducted. The genetic correlations from this MET analysis were then used to cluster the environments based on their similarity. Performance of genotypes across these environmental clusters indicate broad (Bekoji-2005 and Bekoji-2004) and specific adaptation (Sgonder-2007 and Sgonder-2006) of genotype to certain types of environments. In addition, analysis of this historical MET data shed light on how breeding programme design can be improved to capture responses across the target population of environments, as it can inform the adequacy of the current number of barley grown areas in Ethiopia and the improvement in measuring heritability.La s\ue9lection de g\ue9notypes sup\ue9rieurs et la mesure de l\u2019h\ue9ritabilit\ue9 font partie des objectifs fondamentaux de la s\ue9lection v\ue9g\ue9tale. Dans ce but, les selectionneurs de plantes font pousser des cultures dans tous les environnements. Comprendre le mod\ue8le de r\ue9ponse dans les environnements fait partie int\ue9grante de la s\ue9lection de g\ue9notypes sup\ue9rieurs et stables. L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait d\u2019am\ue9liorer les strat\ue9gies de s\ue9lection dans l\u2019\ue9levage d\u2019orge en \uc9thiopie en mod\ue9lisant la tendance des champs spatiaux. Un ensemble de donn\ue9es d\u2019essais multi-environnementaux (MET) de la s\ue9rie d\u2019essais de vari\ue9t\ue9s nationaux men\ue9s sur quatre ans a \ue9t\ue9 tir\ue9 du Programme de s\ue9lection \ue9thiopien de l\u2019orge, qui couvre les stades de la premi\ue8re g\ue9n\ue9ration aux essais de vari\ue9t\ue9s nationaux pour le rendement, a \ue9t\ue9 utilis\ue9 dans cette \ue9tude. Les essais ont \ue9t\ue9 analys\ue9s dans un cadre de mod\ue8le mixte lin\ue9aire. Ensuite, on a ajust\ue9 un mod\ue8le en une \ue9tape pour les donn\ue9es MET, y compris un processus spatial corr\ue9l\ue9 pour la tendance de terrain dans chaque essai, et combin\ue9 un mod\ue8le d\u2019analyse factorielle (FA) pour une interaction g\ue9notype par environnement. Les corr\ue9lations g\ue9n\ue9tiques de cette analyse MET ont ensuite \ue9t\ue9 utilis\ue9es pour regrouper les environnements en fonction de leur similarit\ue9. La performance des g\ue9notypes de ces groupes environnementaux indique une adaptation large (Bekoji-2005 et Bekoji-2004) et sp\ue9cifique (Sgonder-2007 et Sgonder-2006) \ue0 certains types d\u2019environnements. En outre, l\u2019analyse de ces donn\ue9es MET historiques a permis de mieux comprendre comment am\ue9liorer la conception du programme de s\ue9lection pour capturer les r\ue9ponses dans la population vis\ue9e d\u2019environnements, car elle peut contribuer \ue0 l\u2019ad\ue9quation du nombre actuel de zones de culture d\u2019orge en \uc9thiopie et \ue0 l\u2019am\ue9lioration de la mesure d\u2018 h\ue9ritabilit\ue9

Technology for NASA's Planetary Science Vision 2050.

NASAs Planetary Science Division (PSD) initiated and sponsored a very successful community Workshop held from Feb. 27 to Mar. 1, 2017 at NASA Headquarters. The purpose of the Workshop was to develop a vision of planetary science research and exploration for the next three decades until 2050. This abstract summarizes some of the salient technology needs discussed during the three-day workshop and at a technology panel on the final day. It is not meant to be a final report on technology to achieve the science vision for 2050

Chlamydia on children and flies after mass antibiotic treatment for trachoma.

There are various approaches to control trachoma. These include the elimination of the ocular strains of Chlamydia trachomatis that cause the disease and to decrease the spread of infection by other measures such as fly control. Here, we examined how these two are related (i.e., how treating children with antibiotics affects carriage of Chlamydia by flies). Flies were collected in villages that had received mass oral azithromycin distribution and were compared with flies in untreated villages. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect chlamydial DNA on the flies. Conjunctival swabs were also taken to assay for chlamydial prevalence in the children. Chlamydia was found on 23% of the flies in the untreated villages but only 0.3% in treated villages. Prevalence of trachoma in children proved to be an excellent predictor of the prevalence on flies (correlation coefficient, 0.89). Thus, treating children with antibiotics may drastically reduce the role of flies as a vector

The burden of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia from 1990 to 2016: evidence from the Global Burden of Diseases 2016 Study

BACKGROUND: The burden of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia has not been comprehensively assessed over the last two decades. In this study, we used the 2016 Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk factors (GBD) data to analyze the incidence, prevalence, mortality and Disability-adjusted Life Years Lost (DALY) rates of Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in Ethiopia over the last 26 years. METHODS: The GBD 2016 used a wide range of data source for Ethiopia such as verbal autopsy (VA), surveys, reports of the Federal Ministry of Health and the United Nations (UN) and published scientific articles. The modified United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Spectrum model was used to estimate the incidence and mortality rates for HIV/AIDS. RESULTS: In 2016, an estimated 36,990 new HIV infections (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 8775-80262), 670,906 prevalent HIV cases (95% UI: 568,268-798,970) and 19,999 HIV deaths (95% UI: 16426-24412) occurred in Ethiopia. The HIV/AIDS incidence rate peaked in 1995 and declined by 6.3% annually for both sexes with a total reduction of 77% between 1990 and 2016. The annualized HIV/AIDS mortality rate reduction during 1990 to 2016 for both sexes was 0.4%

Internationalization as a strategy for small and medium‐sized enterprises and the impact of regulatory environment: An emerging country perspective

This study focuses on identification, categorisation and comparison of regulatory barriers to internationalisation for the SMEs from an emerging market context. Primary data were collected to develop and validate a structural model to assess the salient regulatory barriers of internationalisation with a particular attention to the SMEs in Bangladesh. Structured questionnaire has been used to collect data from 212 SMEs operating in Bangladesh. The results indicate that both administrative and economic regulatory barriers are significant for the internationalisation of SMEs whereby administrative regulatory barriers are slightly more substantial. This study provides further discussion from both theoretical and methodological aspects. By developing and validating structural model, this study contributes to the literature on small business and regulation with particular attention to the emerging markets

Where Do We Go from Here? Prevalence of Trachoma Three Years after Stopping Mass Distribution of Antibiotics in the Regions of Kayes and Koulikoro, Mali

Trachoma, a blinding bacterial disease, is targeted for elimination by 2020. To achieve the elimination target, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends member states implement the SAFE strategy; surgery, mass administration of antibiotics, promotion of hygiene and facial cleanliness and water and sanitation as environmental improvements. We present results from evaluation surveys conducted in 2006 and 2009 from the regions of Kayes and Koulikoro, Mali. Prevalence of active trachoma in 2006 was below baseline intervention thresholds in all surveyed districts and the national program stopped antibiotic distribution. The prevalence of trachoma in 2009 remained well below levels in 1998. However, in 8 of 13 districts compared, the prevalence of active trachoma was higher in 2009 than 2006. Three years of antibiotic intervention did not equate in all districts to a sustained reduction of active trachoma. No surveillance activities were implemented after stopping interventions. Surgical interventions may have reduced the burden of blinding trachoma but there is an ongoing need for surgeries specifically targeting affected women. Four districts meet the WHO criteria for resuming district-wide mass antibiotic distribution. A community-by-community approach to elimination may be needed in other districts. The promotion of facial cleanliness and good hygiene behavior should be reintroduced

Importance of Coverage and Endemicity on the Return of Infectious Trachoma after a Single Mass Antibiotic Distribution

Trachoma, caused by ocular chlamydia infection, is the most common infectious cause of blindness in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the SAFE strategy (eyelid surgery, antibiotics, facial hygiene, environmental improvements) for trachoma control. Oral antibiotics reduce the transmission of ocular chlamydia, but re-infection of treated individuals is common. Therefore, the WHO recommends annual mass antibiotic treatments to the entire village. The success of treatment is likely based on many factors, including the antibiotic coverage, or percentage of villagers who receive antibiotics. However, no studies have analyzed the importance of antibiotic coverage for the reduction of ocular chlamydia. Here, we performed multivariate regression analyses on data from a clinical trial of mass oral antibiotics for trachoma in a severely affected area of Ethiopia. At the relatively high levels of antibiotic coverage in our study, coverage was associated with post-treatment infection at two months, but not at six months. The amount of infection at baseline was strongly correlated with post-treatment infection at both two and six months. These results suggest that in areas with severe trachoma treated with relatively high antibiotic coverage, increasing coverage even further may have only a short-term benefit

ACTiCLOUD: Enabling the Next Generation of Cloud Applications

Despite their proliferation as a dominant computing paradigm, cloud computing systems lack effective mechanisms to manage their vast amounts of resources efficiently. Resources are stranded and fragmented, ultimately limiting cloud systems' applicability to large classes of critical applications that pose non-moderate resource demands. Eliminating current technological barriers of actual fluidity and scalability of cloud resources is essential to strengthen cloud computing's role as a critical cornerstone for the digital economy. ACTiCLOUD proposes a novel cloud architecture that breaks the existing scale-up and share-nothing barriers and enables the holistic management of physical resources both at the local cloud site and at distributed levels. Specifically, it makes advancements in the cloud resource management stacks by extending state-of-the-art hypervisor technology beyond the physical server boundary and localized cloud management system to provide a holistic resource management within a rack, within a site, and across distributed cloud sites. On top of this, ACTiCLOUD will adapt and optimize system libraries and runtimes (e.g., JVM) as well as ACTiCLOUD-native applications, which are extremely demanding, and critical classes of applications that currently face severe difficulties in matching their resource requirements to state-of-the-art cloud offerings

Geographic variation and factors associated with female genital mutilation among reproductive age women in Ethiopia: A national population based survey

Background: Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a common traditional practice in developing nations including Ethiopia. It poses complex and serious long-term health risks for women and girls and can lead to death. In Ethiopia, the geographic distribution and factors associated with FGM practices are poorly understood. Therefore, we assessed the spatial distribution and factors associated with FGM among reproductive age women in the country. Method: We used population based national representative surveys. Data from two (2000 and 2005) Ethiopian demographic and health surveys (EDHS) were used in this analysis. Briefly, EDHS used a stratified, two-stage cluster sampling design. A total of 15,367 (from EDHS 2000) and 14,070 (from EDHS 2005) women of reproductive age (15-49 years) were included in the analysis. Three outcome variables were used (prevalence of FGM among women, prevalence of FGM among daughters and support for the continuation of FGM). The data were weighted and descriptive statistics (percentage change), bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out. Multicollinearity of variables was assessed using variance inflation factors (VIF) with a reference value of 10 before interpreting the final output. The geographic variation and clustering of weighted FGM prevalence were analyzed and visualized on maps using ArcGIS. Z-scores were used to assess the statistical difference of geographic clustering of FGM prevalence spots. Result: The trend of FGM weighted prevalence has been decreasing. Being wealthy, Muslim and in higher age categories are associated with increased odds of FGM among women. Similarly, daughters from Muslim women have increased odds of experiencing FGM. Women in the higher age categories have increased odds of having daughters who experience FGM. The odds of FGM among daughters decrease with increased maternal education. Mass media exposure, being wealthy and higher paternal and maternal education are associated with decreased odds of women's support of FGM continuation. FGM prevalence and geographic clustering showed variation across regions in Ethiopia. Conclusion: Individual, economic, socio-demographic, religious and cultural factors played major roles in the existing practice and continuation of FGM. The significant geographic clustering of FGM was observed across regions in Ethiopia. Therefore, targeted and integrated interventions involving religious leaders in high FGM prevalence spot clusters and addressing the socio-economic and geographic inequalities are recommended to eliminate FGM. © 2016 Setegn et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited