Retrospective Assessment of Black Leg in Kafta Humera Woreda

Retrospective study was conducted with the objective of assessing the vaccination coverage of Kafta Humera through observation of different woredas against black leg from records of the Humera veterinary clinic in Tigray region of Ethiopia, from 207/8-2012/13. The result revealed that there was vaccination program against black leg every year in the woreda. At the same time, there was a reduction in diseased animals and death rate from time to time. But there are some cases still existing with high rates of infection in Begait cattle (a breed common in northern Ethiopia). This indicates that the disease is still persisting in the area and strengthening the existing vaccination program and immediate detection of diseased animals and treating them is essential to mitigate the disease in the area.Keywords: Black leg, Humera, Cattle, Tigray, Ethiopia

Brief Note: The Effect of Alpha-Chlorohydrin on the Fertility of Male Rats

Author Institution: Center for Environmental Research and Services, Bowling Green Universit

MESUROL AS A BIRD REPELLENT ON GRAPES IN OHIO

Schafer and Brunton (1971) determined that methiocarb [3,5-dimethyl-4-(methylthio)phenol methylcarbamate] was efficaceous as a bird repellent, reporting low R50 and LD50 values for several bird species. Guarino (1972) suggested that bird damage to corn, soybeans, rice, sorghum, cherries, and grapes could be reduced by spraying with methiocarb. Crase and DeHaven (1976) concluded that methiocarb could be an effective broad-spectrum bird repellent and crop protectant. Bollengier et al. (1973), Stone et al. (1974), Ali (1978), Teklehaimanot (1978), and Jackson et al. (1978) reported that bird damage to blueberries was significantly lower in methiocarb-treated fields than in the untreated fields. Rogers (1974) describes Mesurol as a conditioning repellent that has post-ingestional effects. Guarino (1972) reported that house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus), and starlings (Sturnus vulgarus) constituted 51.5% and 28.8%, respectively, of the birds observed in grape fields in California. In New Hampshire, robins (Turdus migratorius), primarily, and starlings, catbirds, (Dumetella carolinensis), and scarlet tanagers (Piranga olivacea) fed heavily on grapes (Guarino 1972). The birds damaged the upper, exposed clusters more than those on lower, covered branches. Crase et al. (1976) estimated the amount of bird damage to grapes in the U.S.A. at $4.4 million. Peck damage was reported higher than pluck damage. Larger birds, such as starlings and robins, were observed taking the whole berry, while smaller birds (finches, sparrows, and bluebirds) were pecking holes in the individual berry (Crase et al., 1976). Crase (1975), while reporting a high ratio of pecked to plucked fruit in treated fields, observed a higher proportion of plucked in the untreated area; house sparrows (Passer-domesticus) were the most prevalent species. He suggested that birds may be first pecking, and, if no effect is detected, they would take the whole grape. Previous observations in California had indicated Mesurol treatments to vineyards were efficaceous (Crase 1975, 1976; Crase et al. 1976). Bailey and Smith (1979) obtained twice the yield on vines protected from blackbirds (Turdus merula) and silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) in South Australia with this compound. While failures have been reported in protecting cherries (Stickley and Ingram 1973) and blueberries (Dolbeer et al. 1973), their experimental designs may have been deficient. The objective of the present study was to evaluate methiocarb bird repellency in five selected grape fields in Ohio. The methiocarb formulation used was 75% wettable powder (WP), which is registered as Mesurol. These experiments were conducted under an experimental use permit (#3125-EUP-140). Additional details are found in Kassa and Jackson (1978)

Current status of intestinal Schistosomiasis and soiltransmitted helminthiasis among primary school children in Adwa Town, Northern Ethiopia

Background: Epidemiological baseline information on the prevalence and intensity of parasitic infections in a given locality is a prerequisite for development and evaluation of sound control strategies.Objective: To determine the current status of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis among primary school children in Adwa Town, northern Ethiopia.Methods: A cross-sectional epidemiological study was carried out in eight primary schools in Adwa Town between October and November 2007. Fecal samples of 386 school children in the age group 7-18 were collected andmicroscopically examined using the Kato-Katz and formol-ether concentration methods. A questionnaire was used to identify determinants for Schistosoma mansoni and soil-transmitted helminth infections.Results: The most prevalent intestinal parasitic infection among primary school children in Adwa Town as determined by Kato-Katz (58.7%) and formol ether concentration (60.6%) methods was intestinal schistosomiasis, with an overall intensity of 95.8 eggs per gram of stool. The prevalence of S. mansoni infection was higher in males (70.7%) than in females (57%), as determined by both methods. Less common parasites observed included Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm species, Hymenolepis nana, Strongyloides stercoralis, and Entamoeba histolytica/dispar.Conclusion: The residents of Adwa Town represent a high-risk community with respect to intestinal schistosomiasis. Hence, mass praziquantel administration to school-age children and all adults considered to be at risk is required once a year until the level of infection falls below the level of public health importance. There is also a need to supplement chemotherapy with other measures such as environmental sanitation and health education to make the impact of chemotherapy sustainable

The impact of agricultural policies on smallholder innovation capacities: the case of household level irrigation development in two communities of Kilte Awlaelo Woreda, Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia

Agricultural production in Ethiopia is characterised by subsistence orientation, low productivity, low level of technology and inputs, lack of infrastructures and market institutions, and extremely vulnerable to rainfall variability. It has a rapidly increasing population currently close to 74 million and yet about 39 percent of the population lives on absolute poverty of less than a $1 a day poverty line while close to 80 percent falls below US$2 a day poverty line. The government of Ethiopia has formulated policies and strategies to guide over all development with focus to rural and agricultural development. The agricultural strategy emphasizes commercializing subsistence agriculture through capacity building of various actors, development and adoption of high yielding technologies, diversification of high value commodities, and sustainable use of natural resources. Irrigation development is one of the major pillars of the rural development strategy. In more recent years, the priority of irrigation development has shifted from large-scale approaches to smallscale and household level interventions. This research was conducted in two communities of Kilte Awalelo district, in Tigray regional state where household level irrigation intervention has been introduced at a massive-scale aiming at achieving food security and poverty alleviation among the rural poor. The research has investigated the impact of agricultural policies on innovation capacities of smallholders in the case of household level irrigation. Data was collected using qualitative methods which incorporated semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and opinions of key informants. The main findings of the research indicate that irrigation promotion has expanded in terms of area and number of beneficiaries after a change in strategy from largescale to household level. However, the policy is dominated by top-down approaches reflected in highly centralised planning and blanket intervention processes. These approaches have highly affected the innovation capacity of smallholders which led to the failures of the household level irrigation interventions. The study findings indicate that attitudinal problems are the major factors for the top-down policy practices. Investigations on community responses to top-down policy interventions have shown that while majority community areas attempt to implement policy strategies without making significant adaptations, few communities respond in a creative way and attempt to develop local level innovations to address their demands. According to the research findings, the key factor for such differences is attributed to the competences and commitments of local level leadership. However, it was found that local level innovations are negatively affected by the top-down macro-policy hence innovation enabling environment both at local and macrolevel is key to the success of innovation capacity. The research suggests the need to introduce new way of policy intervention that takes into consideration the contemporary context for agriculture and innovation thinking approach

Schistosomiasis mansoni and soil-transmitted helminthiasis in Bushulo village, southern Ethiopia

Background: Schistosomiasis mansoni and soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STHs) are considerable medical and public health problems in Ethiopia. However, information is limited on the epidemiology of these infections in different localities even though it is needed to plan effective prevention and control measures. Objective: This study was designed to determine the prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni and soil-transmitted helminth infections in school children and residents in Bushulo village near Lake Awassa (Hawassa), southern Ethiopia. Methods: Cross-sectional epidemiological and parasitological studies were conducted on schistosomiasis mansoni and STHs in Bushulo village in May and June 2007. A total of 419 participants (353 school children and 66 other residents) were included in the study. The principal investigator interviewed the study subjects about demographic status using structured questionnaires. Moreover, experienced nurse took history and conducted physical examination to assess symptoms and signs related to chronic S. mansoni infection. A single stool sample was collected from each participant and processed using the Kato-Katz technique. Experienced laboratory technician read all slides at Bushulo Health Center. Results: The overall infection rates of schistosomiasis mansoni, trichuriasis, ascariasis and hookworm infection were 73.7%, 41.5%, 37.2% and 28.4%, respectively. Other parasitic infections observed were caused by Hymenolepis nana (1.7%), Taenia species (1.4%), and Enterobius vermicularis (1.4%). Children in the age range 10-14 years and those attending at St. Paul’s School had higher rates of T. trichiura and S. mansoni, respectively. Intensity of infection was higher for A. lumbricoides in the age range 5-9 years. The overall prevalence of any STHs was 67.3%. The rates of single, dual, triple and quadruple infections were 29.6%, 32%, 20.3% and 7.4%, respectively. Conclusion: The high prevalence and intensity of schistosomiasis mansoni and soil-transmitted helminthiasis makes periodic deworming programme urgent to reduce morbidity and transmission of helminthiasis in the area. Provisions of sanitary facilities and clean water supply as well as health education are also critically needed to sustain the impact of chemotherapy

Low-Temperature Orientation Dependence of Step Stiffness on {111} Surfaces

For hexagonal nets, descriptive of {111} fcc surfaces, we derive from combinatoric arguments a simple, low-temperature formula for the orientation dependence of the surface step line tension and stiffness, as well as the leading correction, based on the Ising model with nearest-neighbor (NN) interactions. Our formula agrees well with experimental data for both Ag and Cu{111} surfaces, indicating that NN-interactions alone can account for the data in these cases (in contrast to results for Cu{001}). Experimentally significant corollaries of the low-temperature derivation show that the step line tension cannot be extracted from the stiffness and that with plausible assumptions the low-temperature stiffness should have 6-fold symmetry, in contrast to the 3-fold symmetry of the crystal shape. We examine Zia's exact implicit solution in detail, using numerical methods for general orientations and deriving many analytic results including explicit solutions in the two high-symmetry directions. From these exact results we rederive our simple result and explore subtle behavior near close-packed directions. To account for the 3-fold symmetry in a lattice gas model, we invoke a novel orientation-dependent trio interaction and examine its consequences.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

On modeling and measuring viscoelasticity with dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy

The interaction between a rapidly oscillating atomic force microscope tip and a soft material surface is described using both elastic and viscous forces with a moving surface model. We derive the simplest form of this model, motivating it as a way to capture the impact dynamics of the tip and sample with an interaction consisting of two components: interfacial or surface force, and bulk or volumetric force. Analytic solutions to the piece-wise linear model identify characteristic time constants, providing a physical explanation of the hysteresis observed in the measured dynamic force quadrature curves. Numerical simulation is used to fit the model to experimental data and excellent agreement is found with a variety of different samples. The model parameters form a dimensionless impact-rheology factor, giving a quantitative physical number to characterize a viscoelastic surface that does not depend on the tip shape or cantilever frequency.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure