Forage Options for Tanzania Southern Highlands: Preliminary Assessment

In adequate quality and quantity, forages curtail animal production in sub-Saharan Africa. As such, the potential of livestock agriculture to contribute to household nutrition and incomes is usually compromised, against an increasing consumption of animal source foods. The growing consumption deserve forage interventions that can address the feeding gap, and contribute to improved livestock production, and subsequently livestock keepers’ prosperity. Using “Targeting Tools”, a web GIS system, we mapped the suitability of a wide array of grass and forage legumes for southern highlands. Using the maps, we selected context-specific varieties and procured available seeds/planting materials for pilot trials. Following farmers’ participatory approach, we established forage trials in three districts namely, Mufindi, Njombe and Rugwe of southern Tanzania highlands comprising of fourteen forage treatments. The test forages included; two Cenchrus purpureus (Syn. Pennisetum purpureum) cultivars, two Urochloa (Syn. Brachiaria) hybrids and Chloris gayana. Where applicable, we intercropped the grasses with three forage legumes- Lablab purpureus, Stylosanthes guianensis, and Desmodium intortum, while Tripsacum andersonii (Syn. Tripsacum laxum), a grass, was planted as a local check. We observed clear differences amongst the three districts and treatments. Dry matter accumulation (t ha−1) in the districts, and across the various forage treatments was in the order Rugwe>Mufindi>Njombe, even when accumulation kg DM day−1 was considered, in the early harvests. Most DM accumulation was by Napier grass intercropped with Lablab purpureus that was closely comparable to Chloris gayana-Desmodium intercrop. Further observations across more cuttings, farmer’ preference rankings and quality analysis are under way to inform reliable conclusions. The results would be applicable elsewhere with similar agricultural context and ecologies

Livestock Feeds Assessment in Southern Highlands in Tanzania

Importance of livestock in smallholder farms in Africa continue to be significant in households’ nutrition, incomes and for socio-cultural reasons. However, the sector faces various challenges including management, diseases and feeding among others. With the estimated doubling of demand for animal source foods especially in sub-Saharan Africa, due to rise in human population, efforts for improving livestock productivity are needed. Amongst the costs involved in cattle production, the feeding component takes 70% suggesting greater attention is required in feeding interventions for success to be realised. In an effort to contribute to improvement of livestock production in Southern Tanzania highlands, current feeding status was assessed in 3 districts (Mufindi, Njombe, Rugwe) following Feeds Assessment Tool protocol (FEAST https://www.ilri.org/feast). Information captured entailed; land size categories, livestock species reared, feed resources and seasonality, contribution of livestock to household incomes and most suited interventions were elucidated. In the three districts, dairy remains most prevalent amongst livestock species kept, and livestock in general is important for household incomes. Analysis suggest interventions on feeds and forages addressing protein and energy supply would be crucial, including forages suitable under cut and carry context, prevalent under smallholder farmers settings. Dry seasons are Characterized by inadequate feed resources. The information will guide selection of forage options to be tested through farmer participation, under Climate Smart Dairy Project (2019-2021) in the three districts. Identified farmer acceptable and productive forages will be recommended for the areas other similar ecologies, and by extension support forage development in Tanzania

Plastic straining and concomitant microstructure recrystallization of Ni-Cu alloy in the undercooled condition

Microstructure and microtexture of rapidly solidified undercooled Ni-Cu alloys were investigated. The characteristic undercooling of Ni80Cu20 alloy was determined as 45K, 90K and 160K. Dendrite deformation due to rapid solidification led to strong deformation microtexture. Due to recrystallization upon annealing after recalescence, many subgrains were formed in the microstructure. Further, annealing the quenched alloy at 900℃, new microtextures and subgrains were formed, which was due to recrystallization and dislocation network rearrangement. The results of comparative experiment proved the recrystallization mechanism of the microstructure refinement in the non-equilibrium solidification structure of the undercooled binary alloy

Microstructure transition and grain refinement mechanism of undercooled alloys

The solidification microstructures of undercooled Ni90Cu10 alloys under different undercoolings were studied systematically by means of melt coating and cyclic superheating. In the obtained undercooling range, the solidification structures of the two undercooled alloys have similar transformation processes, and there are two kinds of grain refinement structures under the conditions of low undercooling and high undercooling, respectively. The microstructures of the two grain refinement processes were analyzed in more detail by electronic backscattering diffraction technique. Under the condition of small undercooling, dendrite remelting is considered to be the main reason of grain refinement. However, under the condition of high undercooling, the existence of annealing twins and obvious migration of grain boundary are important evidences for the occurrence of recrystallization process

Development and clinical validation of inertial sensor-based gait-clustering methods in Parkinson’s disease

Background Gait symptoms and balance impairment are characteristic indicators for the progression in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Current gait assessments mostly focus on straight strides with assumed constant velocity, while acceleration/deceleration and turning strides are often ignored. This is either due to the set up of typical clinical assessments or technical limitations in capture volume. Wearable inertial measurement units are a promising and unobtrusive technology to overcome these limitations. Other gait phases such as initiation, termination, transitioning (between straight walking and turning) and turning might be relevant as well for the evaluation of gait and balance impairments in PD. Method In a cohort of 119 PD patients, we applied unsupervised algorithms to find different gait clusters which potentially include the clinically relevant information from distinct gait phases in the standardized 4x10 m gait test. To clinically validate our approach, we determined the discriminative power in each gait cluster to classify between impaired and unimpaired PD patients and compared it to baseline (analyzing all straight strides). Results As a main result, analyzing only one of the gait clusters constant, non-constant or turning led in each case to a better classification performance in comparison to the baseline (increase of area under the curve (AUC) up to 19% relative to baseline). Furthermore, gait parameters (for turning, constant and non-constant gait) that best predict motor impairment in PD were identified. Conclusions We conclude that a more detailed analysis in terms of different gait clusters of standardized gait tests such as the 4x10 m walk may give more insights about the clinically relevant motor impairment in PD patients

Market risk of BRIC Eurobonds in the financial crisis period

The market risk of returns for BRIC Eurobonds has not been thoroughly analyzed via nonparametric estimation methods. The significance of risk and jumps is examined in a monthly sampling frequency. A detailed comparison upon significance of risk and jumps between BRIC Eurobonds is provided. Comparison concerns risk and jumps during the international financial crisis period: February 2007 up to February 2010. Among the BRIC countries, Chinese Eurobonds are the most significant in terms of both risk and jumps. The most significant estimator is the monthly Yang & Zhang range across the set of BRIC Eurobonds. The shorter the expiry period, the higher is the significance of risk and jumps. This is evident in all BRIC Eurobonds. Risk and jumps estimates are higher for theoretical prices rather than for actual prices according to all risk and jump significance measures

The Breadth, but Not the Magnitude, of Circulating Memory B Cell Responses to P. falciparum Increases with Age/Exposure in an Area of Low Transmission

BACKGROUND: Malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum remains a major cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. Immunity against symptoms of malaria requires repeated exposure, suggesting either that the parasite is poorly immunogenic or that the development of effective immune responses to malaria may be impaired. METHODS: We carried out two age-stratified cross-sectional surveys of anti-malarial humoral immune responses in a Gambian village where P. falciparum malaria transmission is low and sporadic. Circulating antibodies and memory B cells (MBC) to four malarial antigens were measured using ELISA and cultured B cell ELISpot. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of individuals with malaria-specific MBC and antibodies, and the average number of antigens recognised by each individual, increased with age but the magnitude of these responses did not. Malaria-specific antibody levels did not correlate with either the prevalence or median number of MBC, indicating that these two assays are measuring different aspects of the humoral immune response. Among those with immunological evidence of malaria exposure (defined as a positive response to at least one malarial antigen either by ELISA or ELISPOT), the median number of malaria-specific MBC was similar to median numbers of diphtheria-specific MBC, suggesting that the circulating memory cell pool for malaria antigens is of similar size to that for other antigens