Prevalence of ticks on local and crossbred cattle in and around Asella town, southeast Ethiopia

The prevalence of bovine tick species in and around Asella town was studied over a period of eight months from October 2007 to May 2008. Adult ticks were collected from 384 local and crossbred cattle which were kept under extensive management system and at different agro-ecological zones. A total of 6298 adult ticks were collected from half body part of cattle, and were identified to genera and species level. Five tick species of four genera were identified, in which two species belong to genus Amblyomma, and one species each in the genus Boophilus, Rhipicephalus and Hyalomma. Of all the total ticks collected, Amblyomma, Rhipicephalus, Boophilus and Hyalomma constituted 60.1%, 22%, 15.4% and 2.5%, respectively. The tick species encountered were A. variegatum (48.2%), Rhipicephalus evertsi-evertsi (22%), Boophilus decolaratus (15.4%), A. cohaerence (11.9%) and Hyalomma marginatum rufipes (2.5%). The burden of ticks on cattle had statistically significant difference (

Production system dynamism and parasitic interaction of swine in and around Holetta, Ethiopia

A study was conducted in and around Holleta from October 2007 to April 2008 to assess the system of production and the prevalence of gastrointestinal and ectoparasites of swine. A total of 1470 swine on 50 farms, 667 swine under extensive management and 823 swine in semi-intensive management were considered on the study. Swine were kept along with other livestock in 24% of the farms. A total of 388 swine with different age and sex groups were subjected to parasitological examination to study the prevalence of parasites. The result of faecal sample and skin scraping test revealed three species of gastrointestinal and one ecto-parasite. The findings were Ascaris suum (13.9%), Eimeria species (5.6%), Oesophagostomum species (6.7%) and Sarcoptes scabiei (16.2%). Mixed infection was observed on 13 swine, among them 2% were positive for Ascaris suum and Eimeria species, where as 1.14% were positive for Ascaris suum and Oesophagostomum species. There was variation in the distribution of these parasitic infections in different areas but not statistically significant. There was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) in the infection rate of gastrointestinal and ecto-parasites between male and female swine as well as among the age groups. The occurrence of Eimeria species and Oesophagostomum species was significantly different (

Selection criterion for improved grain yields in Ethiopian durum wheat genotypes

Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is the most important cereal crop grown in the intermediate and highland areas of northeastern Ethiopia. Durum wheat dominates in these areas where water logging is the major production constraint. Because of the predominant problem of water logging coupled with other various biotic and abiotic production hobbling factors, the average productivity of wheat in the northeastern region never exceeds 8.4 ha -1, which is below the national average of 14.4 ha -1 (ECSA, 2002). Screening of wide durum wheat germplasm has been undertaken to improve durum wheat grain yield. But, selection based on the performance of grain yield alone, a polygenically controlled complex character, is usually not very efficient. An experiment was conductedat Geregera testing site of Sirinka Agricultural Research Centre, during the 2003-cropping season with the objective of estimating the associations between yield and yield-related traits and to identify direct and indirect effects of characters for durum wheat grain yield improvement. The experimental material consisted of 44 indigenous durum wheat genotypes, which are randomly taken from the indigenous germplasm collections. Mean sum of squares for all the characters considered showed highly significant differences (

Genetic divergence in selected durum wheat genotypes of Ethiopian plasm

Wheat of both the tetraploid (Triticum durum Desf.) and hexaploid (Triticum aestivum L.), is the most important cereal crop in Ethiopia, ranking third in total production (17%) next to maize (Zea mays L.) and tef (CSA, 2002). Wheat covers a total arable land of 110,434 ha with average productivity of about 8.4 qt ha-1, which is below thenational average (14.4 qt ha-1). A field experiment was conducted at the Sirinka Agricultural Research Centre, northeastern Ethiopia, to estimate the genetic divergence among indigenous durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) genotypes of diverse origin, and clustering them into homogenous groups for the hybridisation programme. Genetic divergence analysis was done based on multivariate analysis using Mahalanobis’s D2 statistic, which grouped the durum wheat genotypes into ten clusters. The highest inter-cluster distance was between clusterll and cluster-lll (D2 = 57.15). There was no correspondence between geographic and genetic distances, i.e., germplasms, collected from the same geographic area were placed into different cluster groups and those collected from different geographic regions were placed into the same cluster. The presence of significant genetic variabilityamong the evaluated durum wheat genotypes suggests an opportunity for improvement of grain yield through hybridisation of genotypes from different clusters and subsequent selection from the segregating generations

Inspiration from Yewol for all of us

Five years ago, communities in the dry highlands of the Yewol mountains found it difficult to grow even their staple crops. In the rainy season, rainwater gushed down the slopes eroding the soil. Free grazing of cattle and unreliable rain affected the productivity so much that crops began to dwindle along with their livestock. Migration was the only way out for some. Food shortage stalked the residents and it still is a reality for some

Detour Polynomials of Generalized Vertex Identified of Graphs

تعد مسافة الالتفاف من أهم أنواع المسافات التي لها تطبيقات حديثة في الكيمياء وشبكات الكمبيوتر، لذلك حصلنا في هذا البحث على متعددات حدود الالتفاف وأدلتها لـ  nمن البيانات المنفصلة عن بعضها البعض بالنسبة للرؤوس ، n≥3. أيضًا وجدنا متعددات حدود الالتفاف وأدلتها لبعض البيانات الخاصة والتي لها تطبيقات مهمة في الكيمياء.The Detour distance is one of the most common distance types used in chemistry and computer networks today. Therefore, in this paper, the detour polynomials and detour indices of vertices identified of n-graphs which are connected to themselves and separated from each other with respect to the vertices for n≥3 will be obtained. Also, polynomials detour and detour indices will be found for another graphs which have important applications in Chemistry.

TLR3 and TLR4 expression in healthy and diseased human endometrium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an essential role in the innate immune system by initiating and directing immune response to pathogens. TLRs are expressed in the human endometrium and their regulation might be crucial for the pathogenesis of endometrial diseases.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>TLR3 and TLR4 expression was investigated during the menstrual cycle and in postmenopausal endometrium considering peritoneal endometriosis, hyperplasia, and endometrial adenocarcinoma specimens (grade 1 to 3). The expression studies applied quantitative RT-PCR and immunolabelling of both proteins.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>TLR3 and TLR4 proteins were mostly localised to the glandular and luminal epithelium. In addition, TLR4 was present on endometrial dendritic cells, monocytes and macrophages. TLR3 and TLR4 mRNA levels did not show significant changes during the menstrual cycle. In patients with peritoneal endometriosis, TLR3 and TLR4 mRNA expression decreased significantly in proliferative diseased endometrium compared to controls. Interestingly, ectopic endometriotic lesions showed a significant increase of TLR3 und TLR4 mRNA expression compared to corresponding eutopic tissues, indicating a local gain of TLR expression. Endometrial hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma revealed significantly reduced receptor levels when compared with postmenopausal controls. The lowest TLR expression levels were determined in poor differentiated carcinoma (grade 3).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data suggest an involvement of TLR3 and TLR4 in endometrial diseases as demonstrated by altered expression levels in endometriosis and endometrial cancer.</p

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Best Management Practices On Soil Erosion Reduction Using the SWAT Model: for the Case of Gumara Watershed, Abbay (Upper Blue Nile) Basin

This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of best management practices (BMPs) to reduce soil erosion in Gumara watershed of the Abbay (Upper Blue Nile) Basin using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The model was calibrated (1995–2002) and validated (2003–2007) using the SWAT-CUP based on observed streamflow and sediment yield data at the watershed outlet. The study evaluated four individual BMP Scenarios; namely, filter strips (FS), stone/soil bunds (SSB), grassed waterways (GW) and reforestation of croplands (RC), and three blended BMP Scenarios, which combines individual BMPS of FS and RC (FS & RC), GW and RC (GW & RC), and SSB and GW (SSB & GW). Mean annual sediment yield at the baseline conditions was estimated at 19.7 t ha−1yr−1, which was reduced by 13.7, 30.5, 16.2 and 25.9% in the FS, SSB, GW, and RC Scenarios, respectively at the watershed scale. The highest reduction efficiency of 34% was achieved through the implementations of the SSB & GW Scenario. The GW & RC, and FS & RC Scenarios reduced the baseline sediment yield by 32% and 29.9%, respectively. The study therefore concluded that the combined Scenarios mainly SSB & GW, and GW & RC can be applied to reduce the high soil erosion in the Gumera watershed, and similar agro-ecological watersheds in Ethiopia. In cases where applying the combined scenarios is not possible, the SSB Scenario can yield significant soil erosion reduction