Acute isovolemic haemodilution in elective prostatectomy: An Ethiopian study

Background: Major surgical procedures often produce significant haemorrhage that may require transfusion of blood in order to maintain an adequate circulation. This study was aimed at comparing the effect of Acute Isovolemic Haemodilution (AIH) with use of Homologous Blood Transfusion during elective major surgery.Methods: This was a study prospective undertaken in the sub regional hospital at ArbaMinch, Ethiopia over a 15 month period and involved 34 patients admitted for prostatectomy. The patients were divided into two groups, the control group who when indicated received homologous blood, and an AIH group who received some if not all of their own ‘freshly drawn blood’ which had been taken in the operation room immediately before surgery.Results: There were no differences between the postoperative Haematocrit levels in the two groups, but there were less complications and a shorter hospital stay in the AIH group than in the control group.Conclusion: This relatively small study showed that Acute Isovolemic Haemodilution is a safe technique, which should be used widely in Ethiopia and in other ‘developing countries’. AIH avoids the risks of using homologous blood for transfusion

Birds as Biodiversity and Environmental Indicator

Ecosystem monitoring can be carried out by ecological indicators to preserve and manage the natural environment. Since it is impractical to monitor all ecosystem components, a few individual species or groups of species can be used as indicators of wider conditions. Biological components chosen with this aim are called bioindicators. Bioindicators are organisms that are used to monitor the health of the environment, the presence of pollution and its effect on the ecosystem, the progress of environmental cleanup and test substances, and to detect changes in the natural environment,. Bioindicators are also the best tools to measure the progress made on biodiversity conservation, to assess the impacts and threats on biodiversity, to evaluate sustainability use of biodiversity. Birds are excellent bioindicators for the health of the environment and ecological/ environmental change. Generally, birds have been used as indicator species for a range of environmental parameters. They act as biodiversity indicators with a number of reasons. The cause-and-effect link between an environmental change and birds are direct and simple one. Keywords: Biodiversity, Bioindicators, Birds, Environmental change, Environmental healt

Comparative Analysis of Investment Incentives in Ethiopia and Other East African Countries

Ethiopia introduced various Economic Reform Programs including investment incentive reforms since 1992. The main reason Ethiopia introducing various investment incentive reforms including tax incentive is to create enabling environment for both domestic and foreign investors, and thereby create employment opportunity,  boost economic growth and broaden the tax base. However those government assumption and stated objectives were not achieved since the role of private investment in the overall development of the country is very low and it is also lag behind some East African countries. If this so, why the government of Ethiopia  introduce and implement various incentive packages requires investigation on how the tax incentives were design and implemented  and make comparative analysis with relatively better performing East African countries with nearly similar level of development. Owing to this,  this article tries to address those issues by employing both primary and secondary data. Keywords: Investment incentives, East African countries DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/12-7-02 Publication date: April 30th 202

The Effect of Finishing Material on Some Selected Physical Properties of C. lusitanica Grown at Arsi Forest Enterprise, Munesa District - Oromia – Ethiopia

Basic wood density (D) and initial moisture content (MC) are the two important wood properties for solid timber applications; especially structural timber application is strongly related to wood density. Other physical properties which are highly affect the basic density such as; dimensional stability, water absorption ability (WAA), and anti-swelling efficiency (ASE) are the dominant wood properties for the utilization of wood in different way. There are many technological factors that determine the quality and aesthetic values of the finished woodworking products. Finishing technology is among the factors that play a great role in determining the durability and visual value of the end product. In this study the effect of wood finishing materials were studied on the above listed physical properties of C. lusitanica species grown at Arsi Forest Enterprise- Munesa District – Ethiopia. A total of 10 trees from C. lusitanica stand were felled and a replicates of green sample discs having a dimension of about 3cm thick were taken from the butt, middle and top portion of the tree, to investigate moisture and density variation along the tree height. In addition to these discs, a total of 90 specimens from 10 trees (i.e. 3 specimens from each tree, 1 specimens from one portion of the tree) having a dimension of about [2 x 2 cm (cross section) and 3 cm long] were prepared from three trees were prepared for shrinkage, WAA and ASE analysis. The Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) were used to analyze the data using analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure and a least significant difference (LSD) method were used for mean comparison at P ≤ 0.05. All variables were evaluated along the tree height and among two different finishing treatments. Among all studied properties a significance difference exists in basic wood density wood shrinkage and water absorption ability among the three different tree portions and among the treatments. Basic wood density showed an increasing trend as the tree height increases, unlikely both tangential and radial shrinkage decreases as the tree height increases. Water absorption ability showed a less value in varnish treatments. In the other way, the initial moisture content and the anti-swelling efficiency of the species were revealed a significant difference along the tree height and different finishing materials. Keywords: Finishing material, tree position, wood physical properties, Cupressus lusitanica, Ethiopia

Review on the Role of Soil Microorganisms on Soil Physico-Chemical Properties and Plant Growth

The review summarizes the literature on the role of soil microorganisms on soil physico-chemical properties and plant growth. Most of investigators confirmed that Soil microbial activity is very important to improve soil health for Healthy crop growth because microorganisms play an important role in building a complex link between plants and soil. Soil microbes are a dynamic component of soil and performed many beneficial functions in the soil system. Microbes help in different biological transformation such as organic matter conversion and biological nitrogen fixation. Moreover, they enhanced the availability of nutrients to the plants. Typically, one gram of soil having more than 90 million bacteria help plants in nutrient uptake by conversion of unavailable nutrients into available form. Due to lack of knowledge regarding their importance, people think about the negative impact of microorganisms because in many cases microbes act as disease-causing agents. However, according to the agricultural point of view microbes are very well beneficial for plant growth. Now a day’s biotic stress is a big challenge for agrarian because dramatic increase in the human population is causing land degradation and reduces the microbial population which ultimately negatively affect the plant growth. Therefore, the present review describes the role of soil microbes in agricultural crop production. Keywords: Crop Production, Organic Matter, Soil Fertility, Soil Healthy, Soil Microbes DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/14-10-01 Publication date:July 31st 202

Cost and Benefit Analysis of Tax Incentives in Ethiopia

Ethiopia introduced various Economic Reform Programs including tax reforms since 1992 with the aim of encouraging trade, investment and hence development. Those reforms are geared towards promoting investment, supporting industrial development and broadening the tax base in the view of financing the need of government expenditure. However whether those government assumption and stated objectives were achieved is debatable and questionable. Therefore, one ways to address those issues is to analyze the cost and benefit analysis of tax incentives which is the objective of this article. To address those issues, this article employs both primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected through questionnaire from 800 respondents, and interview, and focus group discussion of officials and investors .  Secondary data is gathered from different publication, documents, financial and non financial reports; and Ethiopian Investment Agency(EIA) & Ethiopian Revenue and Tax Authority (ERCA)  rules, regulations and proclamations. Since measurement of the cost and benefit of tax incentives is hard, to arrive at the measurable definition of cost and benefit this article adopted the World Bank cost and benefit analysis framework of tax incentives. And the result revealed that, the objective of  tax incentives is failed to meet its intended objectives. This is because, the amount of employment created is not much with what is planned, and from investors who take tax incentives only 20% in number and 15% in the amount of capital they registered are operational. Furthermore, most of the investments are in areas where they can be commenced without any tax incentive and the amount of revenue forgone for one birr additional investment is about 7 birr on average. And we can conclude that; there is large revenue forgone with low; realized investment, output growth, created employment opportunities, and export growth. Thus, this  reduces the countries opportunities to invest in public infrastructure, public services, social support and poverty reduction programs. Keywords: cost and benefit, tax incentives DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/12-7-03 Publication date: April 30th 202

Birds as Biodiversity and Environmental Indicator

Ecosystem monitoring can be carried out by ecological indicators to preserve and manage the natural environment. Since it is impractical to monitor all ecosystem components, a few individual species or groups of species can be used as indicators of wider conditions. Biological components chosen with this aim are called bioindicators. Bioindicators are organisms that are used to monitor the health of the environment, the presence of pollution and its effect on the ecosystem, the progress of environmental cleanup and test substances, and to detect changes in the natural environment,. Bioindicators are also the best tools to measure the progress made on biodiversity conservation, to assess the impacts and threats on biodiversity, to evaluate sustainability use of biodiversity. Birds are excellent bioindicators for the health of the environment and ecological/ environmental change. Generally, birds have been used as indicator species for a range of environmental parameters. They act as biodiversity indicators with a number of reasons. The cause-and-effect link between an environmental change and birds are direct and simple one. Keywords: Biodiversity, Bioindicators, Birds, Environmental change, Environmental healt

Handling Practices, Evaluation of Adulteration and Microbial Quality of Raw Cow Milk around Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Background: Despite milk is a highly nutritious food, it can easily be contaminated with physical, chemical and microbiological hazards.Objective: The study was conducted to assess handling practices, evaluation of adulteration and microbial quality of raw cow milk collected from farmers and dairy cooperatives at Andassa, Sebatamit and Tis Abay kebeles around Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia. Method: The study involved both cross-sectional survey aimed at assessing the handling practices and a laboratory- based investigation aimed to determine adulteration and microbial quality of the milk.   A total of 94 respondents were selected using simple random sampling technique and interviewed using a semi structured questionnaires. A total of 39 samples of raw cow milk were collected from farmers and dairy cooperatives.Result: The mean fat content of raw milk obtained from farmers and dairy cooperatives were 4.23 % and 4.31% respectively and the mean specific gravity of raw milk obtained from farmers and dairy cooperatives were 1.029. The overall mean total bacterial count, coliform count, isolated E.coli and Staphylococcus count of raw milk samples obtained from farmers at Sebatamit (7.22±0.56, 4.70±0.79, 3.15±0.65 and 4.97±0.52 log10 cfu/ml, respectively), Andassa (6.91±0.68, 5.02±0.59, 3.42±0.78 and 4.95±0.47 log10 cfu/ml, respectively) and Tis Abay kebeles (6.83±0.68, 5.05±0.63, 2.98±0.55 and 4.95±0.55 log10 cfu/ml, respectively) and dairy cooperatives at Sebatamit (6.42 ± 0.42, 4.41 ± 0.85, 2.91 ± 0.59 and 4.83 ± 0.37 log10 cfu/ml, respectively), Andassa (7.38  ± 0.48, 4.87 ±  0.67, 3.38  ± 0.61 and  4.64 ± 0.32 log10 cfu/ml, respectively) and Tis Abay kebeles( 6.82 ± 0.34, 4.09 ± 0.69, 3.07 ± 0.65 and 4.75 ± 0.70 log10 cfu/ml, respectively). The result of this study indicated that, about 72.3% of the farmers at the study Kebeles use common towels to dry the udder and teats of each cow. Overall, about 66.2%, 21.1% and 12.6% of the farmers respectively used warm water, cold water and both warm and cold water alternatively for washing udder.Conclusion: The findings from this study suggest that the milk obtained from most farmers at the study area do not adulterate milk and some of the farmers had adulterated milk according to the East Africa raw cow milk standard. The results showed that the microbial quality of raw milk obtained from farmers and dairy cooperative were not satisfactory. Therefore, these findings highlight the need to implement improved hygiene practices to apply effective monitoring at all levels of dairy chain. Keywords: Raw Cow Milk, Hygienic Practices, Adulteration, Microbial Quality, Farmers, Dairy Cooperative.

Roles of Traditional Ecological Knowledge for Biodiversity Conservation

Indigenous peoples are actively engaged as partners in biodiversity conservation and biodiversity inhabit local areas. They have a broad knowledge base of the behavior of complex ecological systems in their own localities with a historical continuity of resource-use practices. Management of natural resources in the form of indigenous/ traditional technical knowledge is called “Traditional Ecological Knowledge”. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is a cumulative body of knowledge about the relationships living things (including people) have with each other and with their environment, which is handed down across generations through cultural transmission. Traditional ecological knowledge recognized as complementary and equivalent to scientific knowledge has increased its relevance globally. Traditional ecological knowledge is relevant for the maintenance and sustainable use of biodiversity. Maintenance of biodiversity includes the worldview and religious philosophy of indigenous peoples to develop a new environmental ethics and traditional practices of natural resource management tested on-site for many generations. However, sustainable utilization of biodiversity by TEK includes customary use of biological resources in accordance with traditional cultural practices. The roles of TEK for biodiversity conservation is considered at several levels such as traditional knowledge of animals, plants, soils and landscape for the sustainable use of resources; traditional resources management system with an appropriate set of tools, techniques and practices; social institutions or organization for coordination, co-operation, rule-making and rule enforcement and finally, environmental perception and gives meaning to social relations. Moreover, the application and effects of TEK on conservation and ecology are for ethnoecology, population ecology and species interaction and forest management. Beside these roles and integrating of TEK for biodiversity conservation, we recommend that: biodiversity managers and western scientists should be directly connected with knowledge holders and, communication styles should be understood, a foundation of trust to work should be established, and mutual benefits or incentives from knowledge sharing to collaborate biodiversity conservation should identified. Keywords: Biodiversity, conservation, Indigenous people, Traditional ecological knowledge