Increasing Household Protein Consumption Through Minilivestock Production In Nigeria

Mini-livestock production can be a major contributor of a more balanced diet for both rural and urban settlements. The attributes of mini-livestock gives it the potential of increasing household protein consumption as well as being a source of income. Mini-livestock production can be practiced in rural and urban settlements considering its small size, low-cost management requirement and low capital investment. Mini-livestock production is sustainable and can be handled conveniently by women and children. The aim of this paper is to draw out the potentials of mini-livestock production and the need to harness these potentials in increasing household animal protein consumption in rural and urban households

Photochemistry and spectroscopy of small hydrated magnesium clusters Mg+(H2O)n, n = 1-5

Hydrated singly charged magnesium ions Mg+(H2O)n, n 5, in the gas phase are ideal model systems to study photochemical hydrogen evolution since atomic hydrogen is formed over a wide range of wavelengths, with a strong cluster size dependence. Mass selected clusters are stored in the cell of an Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer at a temperature of 130 K for several seconds, which allows thermal equilibration via blackbody radiation. Tunable laser light is used for photodissociation. Strong transitions to D1-3 states (correlating with the 3s-3px,y,z transitions of Mg+) are observed for all cluster sizes, as well as a second absorption band at 4-5 eV for n = 3-5. Due to the lifted degeneracy of the 3px,y,z energy levels of Mg+, the absorptions are broad and red shifted with increasing coordination number of the Mg+ center, from 4.5 eV for n = 1 to 1.8 eV for n = 5. In all cases, H atom formation is the dominant photochemical reaction channel. Quantum chemical calculations using the full range of methods for excited state calculations reproduce the experimental spectra and explain all observed features. In particular, they show that H atom formation occurs in excited states, where the potential energy surface becomes repulsive along the OH coordinate at relatively small distances. The loss of H2O, although thermochemically favorable, is a minor channel because, at least for the clusters n = 1-3, the conical intersection through which the system could relax to the electronic ground state is too high in energy. In some absorption bands, sequential absorption of multiple photons is required for photodissociation. For n = 1, these multiphoton spectra can be modeled on the basis of quantum chemical calculations.(VLID)4795218Version of recor

Electronic spectroscopy and nanocalorimetry of hydrated magnesium ions [Mg(H2O)n]+, n = 20-70: spontaneous formation of a hydrated electron?

Hydrated singly charged magnesium ions [Mg(H2O)n]+ are thought to consist of an Mg2+ ion and a hydrated electron for n > 15. This idea is based on mass spectra, which exhibit a transition from [MgOH(H2O)n-1]+ to [Mg(H2O)n]+ around n = 15-22, black-body infrared radiative dissociation, and quantum chemical calculations. Here, we present photodissociation spectra of size-selected [Mg(H2O)n]+ in the range of n = 20-70 measured for photon energies of 1.0-5.0 eV. The spectra exhibit a broad absorption from 1.4 to 3.2 eV, with two local maxima around 1.7-1.8 eV and 2.1-2.5 eV, depending on cluster size. The spectra shift slowly from n = 20 to n = 50, but no significant change is observed for n = 50-70. Quantum chemical modeling of the spectra yields several candidates for the observed absorptions, including five- and six-fold coordinated Mg2+ with a hydrated electron in its immediate vicinity, as well as a solvent-separated Mg2+/e- pair. The photochemical behavior resembles that of the hydrated electron, with barrierless interconversion into the ground state following the excitation.(VLID)4795200Version of recor

Networking across borders : the South Asian Research Network on gender, law and governance

In this article I focus on a subaltern approach to knowledge networks by examining the process of setting up such a network, the South Asia Research Network (SARN) on Gender, Law and Governance. I reflect on the construction of discourses about 'knowledge' and 'knowledge-makers' and the issues of access that emerge as a result of these discourses and practices. I outline three aspects of a 'politics of network(s)-ing': the politics of process; the politics of outcome; and the politics of framing. I conclude that the borders of which we need to be aware are not just national borders but also borders of power. Knowledge networks are politically heterogeneous and for subaltern networks to have sustainable organizations as well as critical politics they need to be self-reflective and deliberative