Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) analysis of wild and cultivated rice species from Ethiopia

The genetic diversity of three wild rice populations of Ethiopia along with three cultivated rice populations were studied using Inter simple sequence repeats (ISSRs) as a molecular marker. A total of 93 clear and reproducible bands were generated using four dinucleotides and two tetra nucleotides primers. Both UPGMA and neighbor joining trees were constructed for each individual and population using Jaccard’s similarity coefficient. The trees and PCO clearly indicated six distinct groups which are based on populations of origin. Oryza glaberrima, Oryza sativa and NERICA-3 clustered as a major group while Oryza barthii and Oryza longistaminata were clustered as the second major group. Such clustering of O. glaberrima with O. sativa and NERICA-3 is considered to be due to genetic admixture of O. glaberrima with O. sativa. The over all gene diversity and percent polymorphisms were found to be higher in wild rice (0.14; 38.3 respectively) than in cultivars (0.11; 28.3 respectively). The Shannon’s diversity index also confirmed the existence of higher diversity in wild rice populations than cultivated species. Furthermore, partitioning of the Shannon’s diversity showed that the majority of the variations were observed among population (63%). Similarly, AMOVA demonstrate highly significant (P = 0.00) genetic differences among populations (72.9) than within populations (27.1).Key words: Genetic diversity, wild rice populations, cultivated rice, Oryza sativa, Oryza glaberrima, NERICA, ISSR

Correlation studies and path coefficient analysis for seed yield and yield components in Ethiopian coriander accessions

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is an annual spice herb that belongs to the family Umbelliferae. Even though Ethiopia is a centre of primary diversity for the crop, the current knowledge about its biology, variety development and agronomy is neither complete nor conclusive under Ethiopian conditions. To contribute to filling some of the existing gaps, a field experiment was conducted during the main rainy season of 2007-2008 at Wondo Genet and Kokate, southern Ethiopia. Data for 15 agronomic and quality traits were measured and statistically tested. Moreof the traits were found having high correlation coefficients at genotypic level than the phenotypic level, demonstrating intrinsic associations among the traits. Seeds plant-1 and thousand seeds weight were associatedsignificantly and positively with seed yield plant-1 at phenotypic and genotypic levels. Essential oil and fatty oil contents were negatively associated with most of the trait studied. Path analysis revealed that days to end 50% flowering, longest basal leaf length, plant height, days to 50% maturity and seeds umbellet-1 exerted positive direct effect on seed yield plant-1, indicating that selection using these traits would be effective in improving seed yield in coriander.Key Words: Coriandrum sativum, essential oil, Ethiopia, fatty oi

Evaluation of disease incidence and severity and yield loss of finger millet varieties and mycelial growth inhibition of Pyricularia grisea isolates using biological antagonists and fungicides in vitro condition.

Objective: The aim of this study was to conduct a survey on the disease incidence and severity at 5 agroecological zones of Ethiopia. Moreover, the study was also designed to carry out pathogenicity test, estimate yield losses caused by test pathogen and in vitro evaluation of fungicides and biocontrol agents against finger millet blast isolates. Methodology and Results: The incidence of finger millet blast was assessed as the percentage of plants with visible symptoms in a field and greenhouse. Blast severity was also evaluated as the percentage of leaf area with symptoms. From the surveyed areas, maximum disease incidence and severity were recorded in west Wollega zone with 63.03 and 34.60%, and lowest disease incidence and severity was recorded in Awi zone with 46.7 and 15.7%, respectively. A total of 42 isolates of P. grisea were collected and isolated from infected finger millet plants and wild relatives from five agro-ecological zones of Ethiopia. The pathogenicity test conducted in greenhouse on three finger millet varieties also indicated that among P. grisea isolates, Pg.11, Pg.41 and Pg.40 showed the highest disease incidence on all the three varieties with 74.8, 69.5 and 66.5%, respectively. Moreover, the highest disease severity with 27.7 and 27.8% were observed by isolates Pg.11 and Pg.41, respectively. In vitro evaluation and testing of Trichoderma viride have showed maximum mycelial growth inhibition with 77.1% and 74.1% by isolates Pg.41 and Pg.22, respectively; while Pseudomonas fluorescens showed maximum mycelial growth inhibition by isolates Pg.40 (57.2%), followed by Pg.26 (56.1%). The efficacy tests of four fungicides evaluated for their antifungal activity showed Sancozeb (85.50- 88.40%) as the most effective fungicide to inhibit mycelial growth of P. grisea.Conclusion and application of findings: The highest percent of mycelial growth inhibition of P. grisea isolates was observed by T.harzianum and T. viride and followed by Pseudomonas fluorescens. Sancozeb was the most effective fungicide and also showed the highest mycelial growth inhibition on the isolate of P. grisea and followed by ridomil, bayleton, and curzate. From in vitro evaluation of the effectiveness of biological agents and fungicides against the mycelia growth of P.grisea isolates, fungicides were most effective for the control of blast disease of finger millet than biological agents.Keywords: Biocontrol, Blast disease, Eleusine coracana, Fungicide, Pyricularia grisea

The Qualified Legal Compliance Committee: Using the Attorney Conduct Rules to Restructure the Board of Directors

The Securities and Exchange Commission introduced a new corporate governance structure, the qualified legal compliance committee, as part of the professional standards of conduct for attorneys mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. QLCCs are consistent with the Commission\u27s general approach to improving corporate governance through specialized committees of independent directors. This Article suggests, however, that assessing the benefits and costs of creating QLCCs may be more complex than is initially apparent. Importantly, QLCCs are unlikely to be effective in the absence of incentives for active director monitoring. This Article concludes by considering three ways of increasing these incentives

Review and synthesis of a walking machine (Robot) leg mechanism

A walking machine (robot) is a type of locomotion that operates by means of legs and/or wheels on rough terrain or flat surface. The performance of legged machines is greater than wheeled or tracked walking machines on an unstructured terrain. These types of machines are used for data collections in a variety of areas such as large agricultural sector, dangerous and rescue areas for a human. The leg mechanism of a walking machine has a different joint in which a number of motors are used to actuate all degrees of freedom of the legs. In the synthesis of walking machine reported in this article, the leg mechanism is developed using integration of linkages to reduce the complexity of the design and it enables the robot to walk on a rough terrain. The dimensional synthesis is carried out analytically to develop a parametric equation and the geometry of the developed leg mechanism is modelled. The mechanism used is found effective for rough terrain areas because it is capable to walk on terrain of different amplitudes due to surface roughness and aerodynamics.publishedVersio

Tourism Potential & Challenges for Islamic Monastery Heritage Sites in Ethiopia: Tiru Sina Mosque

The main intent of this study is to investigate unusual Islamic monastery heritage sites by focusing on the potential resources and challenges for religious tourism development at Tiru Sina Mosque. To meet this objective a qualitative approach was utilised and data were collected through interviews with elderly religious fathers in addition to culture and tourism officers. Additional focus groups, discussions and deep personal observations were conducted. As the findings reveal, Tiru Sina Mosque is a unique Islamic monastic site with great potential for religious tourism development. This unique Islamic monastery heritage site has socio-cultural, economic, historical, religious and aesthetic values. The study also confirmed, even though the area is rich in cultural heritage, there are serious challenges that affect its development. The major problems are lack of awareness, poor handling systems for heritage, lack of infrastructural development, absence of coordination among stakeholders, shortage of skilled professionals, lack of cooperation and partnership among different stakeholders, heritage destruction and lack of conservation, and lack of risk management

Quality of postoperative pain management in Ethiopia: A prospective longitudinal study

Background The annual number of surgical operations performed is increasing throughout the world. With this rise in the number of surgeries performed, so too, the challenge of effectively managing postoperative pain. In Africa, there are scanty data available that make use of multicenter data to characterize the quality of postoperative pain management. In this study using a longitudinal data, we have attempted to characterize the quality of postoperative pain management;among patients scheduled for major elective orthopedic, gynecologic and general surgery. Methods This prospective longitudinal study evaluated the quality of postoperative pain management in patients undergoing elective general, gynecologic, and orthopedic surgery. We quantified the prevalence of moderate to severe postoperative pain with the International Pain Outcome Questionnaire and the corresponding adequacy of treatment with the pain management index. At four time points after surgery, we estimated pain severity, its physical and emotional interference, and patient satisfaction. Results Moderate to severe postoperative pain was present in 88.2% of patients, and pain was inadequately treated in 58.4% of these patients. Chronic pain (beta = 0.346, 95% CI: 0.212, 0.480) predicted patients' worst pain intensity. Gender was not associated with the worst pain intensity or percentage of time spent in severe pain. Patient's pain intensity did not predicted the level of satisfaction. Conclusions The prevalence of moderate to severe postoperative pain and its functional interference is high in Ethiopian patients. The treatment provided to patients is inadequate and not in line with international recommendations and standards

Morphological characteristics and genetic diversity of Ethiopian sesame genotypes

Sesame ( Sesamum indicum L.) is produced worldwide, although more than 96% of the world sesame seed is produced in Africa and Asia. The objective of this study was to determine morphological properties and identify the genetic diversity of cultivated sesame genotypes grown in different parts of Ethiopia. Three hundred sesame genotypes collected from diverse ecologies of Ethiopia and introduced from different African and Asian countries, were used in this study. Genotypes showed wide variability for most morphological traits, except for plant growth type, leaf glands, anther filament colour, anther connective tip gland, and anthocyanin colouration of the capsule. Genetic divergence using Mahalanobis D2 statistics was computed, and the genotype lines were grouped into six different clusters. Clustering was not associated with the geographical distribution; instead genotypes were grouped mainly based on morphological differences. The lowest divergence was noticed between cluster I and V (10.06). Maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between clusters IV and VI (D2 =342.56, followed by clusters I and VI (D2 =217.9783), and III with IV (D2 =190.8707). Maximum genetic recombination and variation in the subsequent generation, is expected from crosses that involve parents from the clusters characterised by maximum distances. Thus, maximum distances or varation could maximise opportunities for transgressive segregation, since unrelated genotypes would contribute unique desirable alleles at different loci.Le s\ue9same ( Sesamum indicum L.) est produit dans le monde entier, bien que plus de 96% de la graine de s\ue9same mondiale soit produite en Afrique et en Asie. L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait de d\ue9terminer les propri\ue9t\ue9s morphologiques et d\u2019identifier la diversit\ue9 g\ue9n\ue9tique des g\ue9notypes de s\ue9same cultiv\ue9s dans diff\ue9rentes r\ue9gions d\u2019\uc9thiopie. Trois cents g\ue9notypes de s\ue9same collect\ue9s dans diverses \ue9cologies d\u2019\uc9thiopie et introduits dans diff\ue9rents pays africains et asiatiques ont \ue9t\ue9 utilis\ue9s dans cette \ue9tude. Les g\ue9notypes ont montr\ue9 une grande variabilit\ue9 pour la plupart des caract\ue8res morphologiques, \ue0 l\u2019exception du type de croissance des plantes, des glandes foliaires, de la couleur du filament d\u2019anth\ue8re, de la glande de l\u2019extr\ue9mit\ue9 conjonctive de l\u2019anth\ue8re et de la coloration anthocyanique de la capsule. La divergence g\ue9n\ue9tique \ue0 l\u2019aide des statistiques de Mahalanobis D2 a \ue9t\ue9 calcul\ue9e, et les lign\ue9es g\ue9notypiques ont \ue9t\ue9 regroup\ue9es en six groupes diff\ue9rents. Le regroupement n\u2019\ue9tait pas associ\ue9 \ue0 la r\ue9partition g\ue9ographique; au lieu de cela, les g\ue9notypes ont \ue9t\ue9 regroup\ue9s principalement en fonction des diff\ue9rences morphologiques. La divergence la plus faible a \ue9t\ue9 observ\ue9e entre les grappes I et V (10,06). La distance maximale d\u2018 inter-grappes a \ue9t\ue9 observ\ue9e entre les grappes IV et VI (D2 = 342,56, suivie des grappes I et VI (D2 = 217,9783) et III avec IV (D2 = 190,8707). La recombinaison g\ue9n\ue9tique maximale et la variation dans la g\ue9n\ue9ration suivante est attendu de croisements qui impliquent des parents des grappes caract\ue9ris\ue9es par des distances maximales. Ainsi, les distances maximales ou la variation pourraient maximiser les possibilit\ue9s de s\ue9gr\ue9gation transgressive, puisque des g\ue9notypes non apparent\ue9s apporteraient des all\ue8les uniques souhaitables \ue0 diff\ue9rents locus