Theoretical Study of Phase Transitions in Dilute Bose-Einstein Condensates

In this work, we study phase transitions in dilute Bose-Einstein Condensates theoretically. The Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) is applied to describe the properties of dilute Bose gases near zero temperature for various confining geometries. Then, using the harmonic trap, the Thomas Fermi equation has been investigated. The Bose-Hubbard Model has been also investigated using the mean field approach. It is indicated that Bose-Einstein condensation is a second order phase transition. We also presented an exactly solvable phase transition model in which the phase transition is purely statistically derived. It is found out that the mean field theory can be applied to a number of physical systems so as to study the phenomena of Berezinsky-Kosterlitz- Thouless (BKT) phase transitions. Keywords: Phase Transition, BEC, GPE, Bose-Hubbard Model, Berezinsky-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT), Mean Field equatio

Molluscicidal effects of endod (Phytolacca dodecandra) on fasciola transmitting snails

A study was conducted to investigate the molluscicidal effects of crude water suspension of unripe green Endod (Phytolacca dodecandra) berries (Type 44) on different developmental stages of Lymnaea natalensis and Lymnaea truncatula. Concentration of 20 ppm for exposure period of 24 hours induced 100 % mortality in young L. natalensis and L. truncatula snails, while higher concentration was required for mature snails of both species. The LC90 on L. natalensis with shell height of 5-9.8 mm., 10–2.9 mm. and 13–18.5 mm. was 19.8, 21.1, 22.8 ppm, respectively. With regards to L. truncatula the LC90 for snails with a shell height of 3.4-5.4 mm and 5.7–8.2 mm was 19.5 and 21 ppm, respectively. Study on time-concentration relationship revealed that exposing snails for one hour required a concentration of 48.9 and 72.5 ppm in young (6–12.4 mm.) and adult (12.5–18.5 mm.) L. natalensis to cause 90% mortality, respectively. In the case of L. truncatula snails (4.5–7.4 mm) 54.5 ppm was needed to produce 90 % mortality. However, both snail species were killed at about a concentration of 20 ppm between 6 and 24 hours of exposure times. Key words/phrases: Endod, fascioliasis, Lymnaea natalensis, Lymnaea truncatula, Molluscicide SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science Vol.25(2) 2002: 275-28

Development and evaluation of Indirect Hemagglutination Antibody Test (IHAT) for serological diagnosis and screening of bovine cysticercosis in Ethiopia

The study was conducted to develop and evaluate an Indirect Hemagglutination Antibody Test (IHAT) for the serological diagnosis of Cysticercus bovis in live animals. IHAT was set-up in-house and used to test serum samples of cattle against sheep red blood cell (SRBC) coated with crude extracts of C. bovis cyst. Serum samples for screening were collected from Addis Ababa abattoir (n=522), a dairy farm from the suburbs of Addis Ababa (n=101), and a traditional extensive farm (n=109). Postmortem inspection was conducted on a total of 522 animals slaughtered in Addis Ababa Abattoir, out of which 39 (7.5%) were positive for C. bovis.  Thirty-seven of these had viable C. bovis cysts. IHAT titres were determined from serially diluted sera, with a cut-off value set at a titre of 1:64. Cross reaction with other helminths was either absent or very low.  Sensitivity and specificity of the IHAT were 100% and at least 90%, respectively. Based on this test, 149 cattle (28.5%) from the Abattoir, 33 cattle (30.3%) from the extensive farm and 8 cattle (7.9%) from the dairy farm were positive for C. bovis. The difference in prevalence between the dairy farm and extensive farm was significant (

Productivity, land–use efficiency and competition in bread wheat-sweet lupine intercropping system under additive series in Northwest Ethiopia

Food production on continuously declining agricultural land to feed the ever-increasing population is a severe issue in Ethiopia. The present study was therefore initiated to evaluate inter and intra-row spacing on yield performance, land-use efficiency and competition in bread wheat-sweet lupine additive series intercropping system. Field experiments were conducted for 2 years in Adet and Debre Tabor experimental sites. The treatments consisted of three inter-rows spacing and 3 intra-rows spacing of sweet lupine. Moreover, the sole crop of wheat and lupine were also included as controls. The experiments were laid out in a factorial randomized complete block design with three replications. The results showed that the combination of 20 cm inter-row spacing with 10 cm intra-row spacing of sweet lupine in bread wheat-sweet lupine intercropping system gave the highest total yield of 4.36 t ha-1 and 4.75 t ha-1 at Adet and Debre Tabor respectively; the land equivalent ratio of 1.43 and 1.57 at Adet and Debre Tabor respectively. System productivity index of 4.96 and 5.88 at Adet and Debre Tabor respectively. Gross monetary value of 2511.26 and 2752.19 USD ha-1 at Adet and Debre Tabor experimental sites respectively. Gross monetary value was generally higher for intercrops than sole cropping systems in both locations; it is linked to intercropping yield and economic benefits compared to sole cropping. Farmers in the study area and areas with similar agroecology are recommended to intercrop sweet lupine with bread wheat at 20 cm inter-row spacing with 10 cm intra-row spacing of sweet lupine

Comparative diagnostic techniques in ruminant Fasciolosis: fecal sedimentation, indirect ELISA, liver inspection and serum enzyme activities

Different diagnostic tests have some disadvantages in diagnosing Fasciolosis. A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and to compare the different diagnostic techniques in ruminant Fasciolosis: ELISA, biochemical analysis, liver and coprological examination. Out of the 324 cattle, 350 sheep and 385 goats slaughtered at Bishoftu, ELFORA Export Abattoir, 125 (38.5%), 4 (1.1%) and 2 (0.5%) and 108 (33%) 4 (1.1%) and 2 (0.5%) were found to be positive for lesions of fasciolosis and Fasciola eggs, respectively. The results of different diagnostic techniques in randomly selected 134 cattle, 68 sheep and 22 goats samples were compared. Out of the 134 examined cattle, 100 (75%) were found to be positive for antibodies against Fasciola specific f2 antigens followed by 54 (41%) for lesions of Fasciolosis, 40 (30%) for Fasciola eggs and 56 (42%) and 100 (75%) of the samples had an increased level of serum enzyme GGT and LDH above the normal values, respectively. The overall assessment indicates the test agreement of ELISA findings with the results of fecal examination is weak (Kappa=0.236), ELISA findings with the results of liver lesions is moderate (Kappa=0.373), liver lesions with GGT determination is moderate (Kappa=0.332) and liver lesions with level of LDH is absent (Kappa=-0.066). However, there was a strong relationship (Kappa=0.758) between fecal examination and liver lesions. In small ruminants, the prevalence of Fasciolosis was lower both in coproscopy and indirect ELISA tests: only one out of 68 sheep was positive coproscopically and 3 were positive serologically; and one out of 22 goats tested was positive both at coproscopy and serological examinations. The sensitivity of ELISA was higher compared to the others techniques in diagnosing ruminant fasciolosis. Coprological examination should be repeated and supported by other diagnostic methods.Keywords: Coproscopy; ELISA; Fasciola; Liver enzymes; Ruminant

Cryptosporidium Infection in Dairy Cattle Calves and its Public Health Significance in Central Ethiopia

Cryptosporidium spp. are common intestinal protozoan parasites that causes diarrhoea in neonates and young calves. This longitudinal study was conducted at two large dairy cattle farms in central Ethiopia during February/2014 to June/2015 to determine the age-related distribution of Cryptosporidium species, to identify risk factors of the disease and to assess the public health significance of the parasite. Thirty calves born to these dairy farms were followed-up from birth to three months of age, and 270 faecal samples were collected and examined by the Modified Ziehl-Neelsen, PCR-RFLP and Sequencing. Cryptosporidium was detected from week 1 to 3 months of age with an overall prevalence of 14.8%, Peak of the infection was at two weeks of age when 12 of the 30 calves (40%) shedded oocysts. Cryptosporidium parvum and C. andersoni were identified in pre-weaned and post-weaned calves, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed clustering of the C. parvum isolates from this study with GenBank sequences for C. parvum bovine genotype IIa and IId subtypes. This study showed the predominance of the zoonotic C. parvum species in pre-weaned calves and demonstrated that this age group of calves pose the greatest risk for human infection. Due attention on the management of pre-weaned calves is recommended to prevent transmission of the infection to humans and lessen contamination of the environment by oocysts

Enzymatic and fecundity evaluation of Fasciola hepatica exposed to different doses of γ- irradiation in Ethiopian sheep

The upshot of γ-irradiated Fasciola hepatica infection on the activity of plasma glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) and γ-glutamyl  transpeptidase (GGT) was evaluated in 36 sheep infected with a single dose of 30, 60, 120, and 240 grays and those kept as negative and positive control over 17 weeks. During this period, serum and faecal samples, as well as body weight gains, were taken at weekly intervals. Furthermore, the effects of the irradiation dose (500) for oral vaccination and on the recovery of adult flukes were assessed following primary infection. Eggs were first detected in the faeces of infected sheep on week 8 post-infection. The parasite viability was severely  affected by doses of γ-irradiation of 120 Gy or 240 Gy. In the aforementioned doses, relatively low numbers of mature flukes of about 60 (17.1%) and 38 (10.8%) were recovered than the control group, respectively. The sensitized lambs also showed less hepatic damage  compared with the controls as indicated by lower levels of the serum enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase and γ- glutamyl transferase  significant body weight loss was observed between weeks 6 and 8 post-infection followed by a steady increase of the mean weight of  infected animals across time. In conclusion, vaccination of sheep with γ irradiated metacercariae of F. hepatica appeared to affect the number and development of the fluke population resulting in reduced hepatic damage during migration, reduced fecundity after patency, as measured by worm and egg counts, levels of serum glutamate dehydrogenase and γ- glutamyl transferase

Effects of Seedling Type and Age on The Yield and Yield-Related Traits of Transplanted Maize (Zea mays L.) in Burie District, Northwestern Ethiopia

አህፅሮት ይህ የመስክ ሙከራ የተሰራው በቡሬ ወረዳ እንደ ጎርጎሮሲያኑ የዘመን አቆጣጠር 2018 የክረምት ወቅት ሲሆን የዚህ ጥናት ዓላማዎችም የበቆሎን ችግኝ አፍልቶ በማዛመት የዕድገትና የምርት አሰጣጡ ላይ ያለውን ተፅዕኖ ለማየት ነው። ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ በቡሬ ወረዳ ክረምቱ ቶሎ የመውጣትና ርጥበቱ ቶሎ የመድረቅ በዚህም የተነሳ የበቆሎ ምርት መቀነስ የተለመደ እየሆነ መጥቷል። ይህ ሙከራ የተለያዩ ሁለት የችግኝ አፈላል ዘዴዎች (መደብ እና በፕላስቲክ ላይ) እንዲሁም አምስት (ከ1 እስከ 5 የእውነተኛ ቅጠል) የችግኝ የዕድገት ደረጃን እና የተለመደውን በቀጥታ መዝራት እንደ ማወዳደሪያነት በማካተት ራንደማይዝድ ኮምፕሌት ብሎክ ዲዛይን (RCBD) የሚባል ቴክኒክ በመጠቀም በሶስት ድግግሞሽ ተሰርቷል። በተለያዩ የምርት መለኪያ መንገዶች እና በኢኮኖሚያዊ አዋጭነት መሰረት በቆሎን በፕላስቲክ አፍልቶ ባለ አራት ቅጠል ሲሆን ማዛመት  ከሌላው የችግኝ ዓይነት እና የዕድገት ደረጃ  ብሎም በቀጥታ ከመዝራት በተሻለ የበቆሎ ምርትን ማሳደግ እንደተቻለ ተረጋግጧል፡፡ ሆኖም ሙከራው ለአንድ ዓመት ብቻ የተሰራ በመሆኑ ድጋሜ ተሰርቶ ልዩነቱን በደንብ ማረጋገጥ ቢቻል ጥሩ ነው።   Abstract The field experiment was conducted during the rainy season of 2018 in the Burie district to evaluate the effect of types and growth stages of seedlings on yield and yield-related traits of transplanted maize (Zea mays L.). In the District, terminal moisture stress and grain yield loss become the common challenges in maize production. The experiment was conducted in factorial combinations of two types of seedlings (bare-rooted and polybagged) and five levels of seedling’s growth stages (seedlings of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 true leaf/ves) pulse one control (direct-seeded). The treatments were laid down in RCBD with three replications. Data on yield and yield-related parameters were collected following standard procedures and subjected to analysis of variance using SAS software; and mean separation for significant treatments was done by LSD. Both main effects affected the number of grains cob-1, grain and stover yield highly significantly. Types of seedlings significantly affected the number of cobs plant-1, cob length, the number of grains row-1, and biomass yield. The number of cobs plant-1, cob length, number of grains row-1and biomass yield was also highly significantly affected by seedlings growth stages. The interaction effect was highly significant on a number of cobs plant-1, grain and stover yield and very highly significant on harvest index. The highest (10.7t ha-1) grain yield of maize was found from the transplantation of polybagged seedlings at four-leaf stages. This treatment combination also gave the highest net benefit with an acceptable range of marginal rate of return. Therefore, transplanting of polybagged seedlings at four true leaf stages is economically feasible and can be recommended tentatively for Burie District and similar agro-ecologies. However, to come up with a concrete recommendation, it is advised to repeat the study in similar agro-ecologies of maize production