Consumer Preferences for Rice Quality Characteristics in Accra and the Effects of these Preferences on Price

Les préférences des consommateurs pour les qualités caractéristiques du riz à Accra ont des effets spécifiques sur le prix du riz. Des analyses statistiques de la rélation entre le revenu et l'éducation des  consommateurs et la qualité du riz qu'ils préfèrent, révèlent une rélation signifiante entre le revenu et l'éducation sur la forme et l' arôme. Aussi, le goût, le prix du détail et l' absence de la matière étrangère sont les qualités caractéristiques que la majorité des consommateurs préfèrent. Au contraire, la publicité, le conditionnement, le pourcentage du riz cassé ne sont pas les facteurs qui déterminent le choix des consommateurs à Accra. Une modèle hédonique de l'estimation du prix révèle que lesconsommateurs du riz à Accra paient beaucoup pour le gout, l' arôme et la forme. Les consommateurs paient aussi quelques primes pour le pourcentage inférieur du riz cassé et la pénurie d'un type du riz au marché. N'importe quel programme de la selection du riz pour lesmarchés ghannéens doit insister sur l'inhérente qualité caractéristique préférée par les consommateurs c-à-d le gout, la capacité de gonflement, l'arôme, la durée de la préparation et la forme. Les procésseurs et les vendeurs doivent viser à la réduction de la casse du grain et le niveau de la matière étrangère dans le produit final. Les vulgarisateurs doivent incorporer la production du riz de la qualité dans leur messages aux paysans, processeurs et marchands.Consumer preferences for quality characteristics of rice in Accra have specific effects on the price of rice. Statistical analysis of the relationship between income and education of consumers and the quality of rice they prefer, reveal a significant relationship between income and education on shape and aroma. Also, taste, retail price and absence of foreign matter are the quality attributes that most consumers prefer. Low percentage broken, type of packaging and advertisement are the factors least cited by consumers as influencing their choice of rice in Accra. A hedonic price estimation model reveals that consumers of rice in Accra pay highest premiums for taste, aroma and shape. Consumers also pay some premium for smaller percentage broken and scarcity of a type of rice in the market. Any breeding programme for rice for Ghanaian markets should  emphasize on the inherent quality characteristics consumers are sensitive to and these include taste, swelling capacity, aroma, cooking time, and shape. Processors and marketers should aim at reducing breakage of grain and levels of foreign matter in the final product. Extension systems should incorporate the production of quality rice in their messages to farmers, processors and traders

Downgrading Financial Service Delivery and Institutional Sustainability: A Case Study of Akwapim Rural Bank, Ghana

Rural financial markets in the developing world are faced with the problem of information asymmetry and are monopolistically competitive. Based on this, one policy option to enhance rural clients’ access is for formal financial institutions to mimic products and services of informal intermediaries. Empirical evidence on impact of mimicry on institutional sustainability can help improve policy choices, yet there is a dearth of studies on this. Using time series data to analyse trends in selected financial ratios and means this study examines the impact that the mimicking of an informal financial product by a formal financial institution (Rural Bank) has on the outreach and sustainability. The time series data was collected from the bank’s financial statements and returns to the central bank between 1996 and 2005. It was found that adoption of informal financial product enhanced outreach and sustainability of the bank. This study, demonstrates that the mimicry policy option if adopted by formal financial institutions can enhance availability of financial services to the productive poor and also lead to long-term sustainability of financial institutions.Key Words: Downgrading, Rural Finance, Informal Financial Products, Institutional Sustainability, Financial Products and Service

Le kyste hydatique du rein fistulisé dans les voies urinaires, prise en charge diagnostique et thérapeutique A propos de 14 cas

Objectif: l’hydatidose est une pathologie fréquente au Maroc et constitue un problème majeur de santé publique. La localisation rénale de cette parasitose est rare. Les formes s’accompagnant de plus d’une fistulisation dans les voies excrétrices présentent des particularités diagnostiques etthérapeutiques qui seront décrites dans cet article.Patients et méthodes: 14 patients présentant un kyste hydatique du rein fistulisé dans la voie excrétrice urinaire ont été inclus dans l’étude de 2002 à 2008. Les variables étudiées ont été : l’âge moyen, les antécédents, la symptomatologie clinique, l’imagerie, le traitement et l’évolution.Résultats: L’âge moyen était de 38 ans (21-54). La douleur lombaire a été retrouvée chez tous les patients et l’hydaturie chez 8 patients. L’échographie réalisée chez tous les patients a montré 6 cas de kyste hydatique de type III et 8 cas de type IV selon la classification de GHARBI. L’uroscanner a confirmé la nature hydatique de la masse et deux cas de rein non fonctionnel. L’hydaturie et la dilatation des cavités excrétrices ont été les principaux éléments orientant vers le diagnostic. Le traitement a consisté en une résection du dôme saillant et la fermeture de la fistule chez 12 patients; huit d’entre eux ont eu une néphrostomie per-opératoire après cure de la fistule et deux patients une montée de sonde urétérale double crosse en pré-opératoire, les deux autres n’ont pas été drainés. Les deux patients restant ont eu une néphrectomie. Les suites ont été marquées par une fistule stercorale colique chez un patient et deux cas d’infection de paroi.Conclusion: Tout kyste hydatique du rein doit avoir un bilan d’imagerie comportant un uroscanner avec des clichés tardifs à la recherche d’une fistulisation dans la voie excrétrice urinaire. Il est conseillé de mettre en place une sonde urétérale en préopératoire à visée diagnostique et thérapeutique.Mots clés : Rein, kyste hydatique, fistule dans les cavités excrétrices, drainage sonde urétérale double crosse, sutures en deux plan

DYSMENORRHEA AMONG FEMALE MEDICAL SCIENCES STUDENTS IN MACHS: PREVALENCE, PREDICTORS AND OUTCOME

Objective: This study intended to determine the prevalence, predictors, and outcome of dysmenorrhea among female medical sciences students at Mohammed Al-Mana College for Medical Sciences (MACHS), Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was adopted, and 292 female medical sciences students of MACHS were selected using stratified random sampling. A semi-structured and self- administrated questionnaire was used to collect personal and socio-demographic information from the selected female medical sciences students. The information about the menstrual history, stress, and smoking were also gathered. The data analysis was carried out using the descriptive statistics and Chi-square test. Results: The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 73.28% among female medical sciences students. Concerning the signs and symptoms of dysmenorrhea, the abdominal pain was predominant symptoms among 73.28% of the respondents, and it was found to be statistically significant (p≤0.05). Sleep disturbance was observed as the prominent outcome of dysmenorrhea, as reported by 64% of the respondents

Analysing scenarios for energy emissions reduction in South Africa

Global environmental pressure dictates that South Africa reduces its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while national objectives focus on economic development. South Africa is faced with the dilemma of simultaneously alleviating poverty, reducing unemployment, growing the economy and responding to international pressure to reduce GHG emissions. As a result, policies that promote energy emissions reduction without being harmful to economic growth and national developmental priorities are needed. Environmental fiscal reform presents one such option. The impact of this is still unclear for South Africa, and this paper explores this issue. Energy balance data on energy consumption, energy emissions and input-output data for South Africa are used to assess the economic and environmental effects of environmental reform in the energy sector. Despite the high reduction in energy emissions, a tax on coal is not selected as the best alternative given the high negative impact on the economy. A tax on oil results in a low reduction in energy emissions, which limits its use as an environmental policy. The scenario using a petroleum products tax results in small decreases in economic growth but it has low energy emissions reduction, hence, this alternative is not selected as an option. Energy subsidy reform offers the second highest reduction in real energy emissions and a low decrease in economic growth, and this scenario is therefore recognised as the best option for carbon dioxide reduction in South Africa. The electricity tax offers moderate reductions in real energy emissions and a moderate decrease in economic growth, and therefore, it is deduced that the electricity tax option could be another option for carbon dioxide emissions reduction in South Africa

Analysing scenarios for energy emissions reduction in South Africa

Global environmental pressure dictates that South Africa reduces its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while national objectives focus on economic development. South Africa is faced with the dilemma of simultaneously alleviating poverty, reducing unemployment, growing the economy and responding to international pressure to reduce GHG emissions. As a result, policies that promote energy emissions reduction without being harmful to economic growth and national developmental priorities are needed. Environmental fiscal reform presents one such option. The impact of this is still unclear for South Africa, and this paper explores this issue. Energy balance data on energy consumption, energy emissions and input-output data for South Africa are used to assess the economic and environmental effects of environmental reform in the energy sector. Despite the high reduction in energy emissions, a tax on coal is not selected as the best alternative given the high negative impact on the economy. A tax on oil results in a low reduction in energy emissions, which limits its use as an environmental policy. The scenario using a petroleum products tax results in small decreases in economic growth but it has low energy emissions reduction, hence, this alternative is not selected as an option. Energy subsidy reform offers the second highest reduction in real energy emissions and a low decrease in economic growth, and this scenario is therefore recognised as the best option for carbon dioxide reduction in South Africa. The electricity tax offers moderate reductions in real energy emissions and a moderate decrease in economic growth, and therefore, it is deduced that the electricity tax option could be another option for carbon dioxide emissions reduction in South Africa

Overexpression, purification and characterization of the Aspergillus niger endoglucanase, EglA, in Pichia pastoris>/i>

Cellulases are industrially important hydrolytic enzymes applicable in the bioconversion of cellulosic biomass to simple sugars. In this work, an endoglucanase from Aspergillus niger ATCC 10574, EglA, was expressed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris and the properties of the recombinant protein were characterized. The full length cDNA of eglA has been cloned into a pPICZαC expression vector and expressed extracellularly as a ~30 kDa recombinant protein in P. pastoris X-33. Pure EglA displayed optimum activity at 50°C and was stable between 30 and 55°C. The pH stability of this enzyme was shown to be in the range of pH 2.0 to 7.0 and optimum at pH 4.0. EglA showed the highest affinity toward β-glucan followed by carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) with a specific activity of 63.83 and 9.47 U/mg, respectively. Very low or no detectable hydrolysis of cellobiose, laminarin, filter paper and avicel were observed. Metal ions such as Mn2+, Co2+, Zn2+, Mg2+, Ba2+, Fe2+, Ca2+ and K+ showed significant augmentation of endoglucanase activity, with manganese ions causing the highest increase in activity to about 2.7 fold when compared with the control assay, whereas Pd2+, Cu2+, SDS and EDTA showed inhibition of EglA activity.Key words: Cellulase, endoglucanase, recombinant, Aspergillus niger, Pichia pastoris

Yield gaps, nutrient use efficiencies and response to fertilisers by maize across heterogeneous smallholder farms of western Kenya

The need to promote fertiliser use by African smallholder farmers to counteract the current decline in per capita food production is widely recognised. But soil heterogeneity results in variable responses of crops to fertilisers within single farms. We used existing databases on maize production under farmer (F-M) and researcher management (R-M) to analyse the effect of soil heterogeneity on the different components of nutrient use efficiency by maize growing on smallholder farms in western Kenya: nutrient availability, capture and conversion efficiencies and crop biomass partitioning. Subsequently, we used the simple model QUEFTS to calculate nutrient recovery efficiencies from the R-M plots and to calculate attainable yields with and without fertilisers based on measured soil properties across heterogeneous farms. The yield gap of maize between F-M and R-M varied from 0.5 to 3 t grain ha-1 season-1 across field types and localities. Poor fields under R-M yielded better than F-M, even without fertilisers. Such differences, of up to 1.1 t ha-1 greater yields under R-M conditions are attributable to improved agronomic management and germplasm. The relative response of maize to N-P-K fertilisers tended to decrease with increasing soil quality (soil C and extractable P), from a maximum of 4.4-fold to -0.5- fold relative to the control. Soil heterogeneity affected resource use efficiencies mainly through effects on the efficiency of resource capture. Apparent recovery efficiencies varied between 0 and 70% for N, 0 and 15% for P, and 0 to 52% for K. Resource conversion efficiencies were less variable across fields and localities, with average values of 97 kg DM kg-1 N, 558 kg DM kg-1 P and 111 kg DM kg-1 K taken up. Using measured soil chemical properties QUEFTS over-estimated observed yields under F-M, indicating that variable crop performance within and across farms cannot be ascribed solely to soil nutrient availability. For the R-M plots QUEFTS predicted positive crop responses to application of 30 kg P ha-1 and 30 kg P ha-1 + 90 kg N ha-1 for a wide range of soil qualities, indicating that there is room to improve current crop productivity through fertiliser use. To ensure their efficient use in sub-Saharan Africa mineral fertilisers should be: (1) targeted to specific niches of soil fertility within heterogeneous farms; and (2) go hand-in-hand with the implementation of agronomic measures to improve their capture and utilisation

Evaluating the effectiveness of IPTi on malaria using routine health information from sentinel health centres in southern Tanzania

BACKGROUND\ud \ud Intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in infants (IPTi) consists of the administration of a treatment dose of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) at the time of routine vaccinations. The use of routine Health Management and Information Services (HMIS) data to investigate the effect of IPTi on malaria, anaemia, and all-cause attendance in children aged 2-11 months presenting to 11 health centres in southern Tanzania is described.\ud \ud METHODS\ud \ud Clinical diagnosis of malaria was confirmed with a positive blood slide reading from a quality assurance laboratory. Anaemia was defined using two thresholds (mild [Hb<11 g/dL], severe [Hb<8 g/dL]). Incidence rates between IPTi and non-implementing health centres were calculated using Poisson regression, and all statistical testing was based on the t test due to the clustered nature of the data.\ud \ud RESULTS\ud \ud Seventy two per cent of infants presenting in intervention areas received at least one dose of IPTi--22% received all three. During March 2006-April 2007, the incidence of all cause attendance was two attendances per person, per year (pppy), including 0.2 episodes pppy of malaria, 0.7 episodes of mild and 0.13 episodes of severe anaemia. Point estimates for the effect of IPTi on malaria varied between 18% and 52%, depending on the scope of the analysis, although adjustment for clustering rendered these not statistically significant.\ud \ud CONCLUSIONS\ud \ud The point estimate of the effect of IPTi on malaria is consistent with that from a large pooled analysis of randomized control trials. As such, it is plausible that the difference seen in health centre data is due to IPTi, even thought the effect did not reach statistical significance. Findings draw attention to the challenges of robust inference of effects of interventions based on routine health centre data. Analysis of routine health information can reassure that interventions are being made available and having desired effects, but unanticipated effects should trigger data collection from representative samples of the target population

On Non-Linear Actions for Massive Gravity

In this work we present a systematic construction of the potentially ghost-free non-linear massive gravity actions. The most general action can be regarded as a 2-parameter deformation of a minimal massive action. Further extensions vanish in 4 dimensions. The general mass term is constructed in terms of a "deformed" determinant from which this property can clearly be seen. In addition, our formulation identifies non-dynamical terms that appear in previous constructions and which do not contribute to the equations of motion. We elaborate on the formal structure of these theories as well as some of their implications.Comment: v3: 22 pages, minor comments added, version to appear in JHE