Lessons from upstream soil conservation measures to mitigate soil erosion and its impact on upstream and downstream users of the Nile River

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of soil bunds stabilized with vetiver grass (V. zizanioides) and tree lucerne (C. palmensis) on selected soil physical and chemical properties, bund height, inter-terrace slope and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) yield in Absela site, Banja Shikudad District, Awi administrative Zone of the Amhara National Regional State (ANRS) located in the Blue Nile Basin. The experiment had five treatments that included non-conserved land (control), a 9-year old soil bund stabilized with tree lucerne, a 9-year old soil bund stabilized with vetiver grass, a 9-year old sole soil bund, and a 6-year old soil bund stabilized with tree lucerne. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and mean values for the treatments were separated using the Duncan Multiple Range Test. Results of the experiment indicated that organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (N), bulk density, infiltration rate, bund height, and inter-terrace slope are significantly (p?0.05) affected by soil conservation measures. The non-conserved fields had significantly lower OC, total N, and infiltration rate; whereas higher bulk density as compared to the conserved fields with different conservation measures. However, no significant differences in bulk density were observed among the conservation methods. The field treated with 9-year old soil bund stabilized with tree lucerne or sole soil bund had significantly higher OC content than all other treatments. Fields having 6-year old soil bunds had lower OC and total N when compared to fields having 9-year old soil bunds irrespective of their method of stabilization. Fields with soil bunds stabilized with vetiver grass had the highest bund height and the lowest inter-terrace slope than fields with the remaining conservation measures. Barley grain and straw yields were significantly (P<0.05) greater in both the soil accumulation and loss zones of the conserved fields than the non-conserved (control) ones. In the accumulation zone, fields with the 9-year old soil bund stabilized with tree lucerne and those with the 9-year old sole soil bund gave higher grain yields (1878.5 kg ha-1 and 1712.5 kg ha-1, respectively) than fields having 9-year old soil bund stabilized with vetiver grass (1187 kg ha-1) and 6-year old soil bund stabilized with tree lucerne (1284.25 kg ha-1). When we compare the accumulation and the loss zones, the average grain yield obtained from the accumulation zones (averaged over all the Lessons from Upstream Soil Conservation Measures to Mitigate Soil Erosion and its Impact on Upstream and Downstream Users of the Nile River.Length: pp.170-183ErosionLand degradationSoil conservationBundsWater conservationSoil properties

Optimization of Transport Capacity for Fodder-Straw in Syria

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a Technical article from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 3 (2001): M. Gebreselassie, O. Kaufman, and J. Hahn. Optimization of Transport Capacity for Fodder-Straw in Syria. Vol. III, December 2001

Identifying research questions for HIV, tuberculosis, tuberculosis-HIV, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases through the World Health Organization guideline development process: a retrospective analysis, 2008-2018.

OBJECTIVES: World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for health programmes and healthcare delivery are the foundation of its technical leadership in public health and essential to decision-making globally. A key function of guideline development is to identify areas in which further evidence is needed because filling these gaps will lead to future improvements in population health. The objective of this study was to examine the knowledge gaps and research questions for addressing those gaps generated through the WHO guideline development process, with the goal of informing future strategies for improving and strengthening the guideline development process. STUDY DESIGN: We did a systematic, retrospective analysis of research questions identified in the published guidelines. METHODS: We analyzed guidelines published between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2018, by the Communicable Diseases Cluster in five disease areas: tuberculosis (TB), HIV, malaria, TB-HIV, and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Research questions were extracted independently by two researchers. We analyzed the distribution of research questions by disease and by topic category and did a qualitative assessment of optimum practice for research question generation during the guideline development process. RESULTS: A total of 48 guidelines were included: 26 on HIV, 1 on malaria, 11 on TB, 5 on TB/HIV, and 5 on NTDs. Overall, 36 (75%) guidelines encompassed a total of 360 explicit research questions; the remainder did not contain specific research questions. The number of research questions that focused on TB was 49, TB/HIV was 38, HIV was 250, and NTDs was 23. The number of research questions that focused on diagnosis was 43 (11.9%) of 360, prevention was 62 (17.2%), treatment was 103 (28.6%), good practice was 12 (3.3%), service delivery was 86 (23.8%), and other areas was 54 (15%). Research questions were often not formulated in a specific or actionable way and were hard to identify in the guideline. Examples of good practice identified by the review team involved the generation of specific and narrowly defined research questions, with accompanying recommendations for appropriate study design. CONCLUSIONS: The WHO must strengthen its approach to identifying and presenting research questions during the guideline development process. Ensuring access to research questions is a key next step in adding value to the guideline development process

The Potential of Medical Abortion to Reduce Maternal Mortality in Africa: What Benefits for Tanzania and Ethiopia?

BACKGROUND: Unsafe abortion is estimated to account for 13% of maternal mortality globally. Medical abortion is a safe alternative. METHODS: By estimating mortality risks for unsafe and medical abortion and childbirth for Tanzania and Ethiopia, we modelled changes in maternal mortality that are achievable if unsafe abortion were replaced by medical abortion. We selected Ethiopia and Tanzania because of their high maternal mortality ratios (MMRatios) and contrasting situations regarding health care provision and abortion legislation. We focused on misoprostol-only regimens due to the drug's low cost and accessibility. We included the impact of medical abortion on women who would otherwise choose unsafe abortion and on women with unwanted/mistimed pregnancies who would otherwise carry to term. RESULTS: Thousands of lives could be saved each year in each country by implementing medical abortion using misoprostol (2122 in Tanzania and 2551 in Ethiopia assuming coverage equals family planning services levels: 56% for Tanzania, 31% for Ethiopia). Changes in MMRatios would be less pronounced because the intervention would also affect national birth rates. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first analysis of impact of medical abortion provision which takes into account additional potential users other than those currently using unsafe abortion. Thousands of women's lives could be saved, but this may not be reflected in as substantial changes in MMRatios because of medical abortion's demographic impact. Therefore policy makers must be aware of the inability of some traditional measures of maternal mortality to detect the real benefits offered by such an intervention

Proteome Sampling by the HLA Class I Antigen Processing Pathway

The peptide repertoire that is presented by the set of HLA class I molecules of an individual is formed by the different players of the antigen processing pathway and the stringent binding environment of the HLA class I molecules. Peptide elution studies have shown that only a subset of the human proteome is sampled by the antigen processing machinery and represented on the cell surface. In our study, we quantified the role of each factor relevant in shaping the HLA class I peptide repertoire by combining peptide elution data, in silico predictions of antigen processing and presentation, and data on gene expression and protein abundance. Our results indicate that gene expression level, protein abundance, and rate of potential binding peptides per protein have a clear impact on sampling probability. Furthermore, once a protein is available for the antigen processing machinery in sufficient amounts, C-terminal processing efficiency and binding affinity to the HLA class I molecule determine the identity of the presented peptides. Having studied the impact of each of these factors separately, we subsequently combined all factors in a logistic regression model in order to quantify their relative impact. This model demonstrated the superiority of protein abundance over gene expression level in predicting sampling probability. Being able to discriminate between sampled and non-sampled proteins to a significant degree, our approach can potentially be used to predict the sampling probability of self proteins and of pathogen-derived proteins, which is of importance for the identification of autoimmune antigens and vaccination targets