Farmers' knowledge and perception of enset Xanthomonas wilt in southern Ethiopia

This is the final version. Available on open access from BMC via the DOI in this recordAvailability of data and materials: The dataset supporting the conclusions of this article is included within the article (“Additional file 1 Datasets”).Background: Enset Xanthomonas wilt (EXW) was first reported in 1939 and continues to threaten the sustainability of farming systems in south and southwestern parts of Ethiopia. The present study was conducted in the central zones of southern Ethiopia to assess farmers' knowledge and perception about EXW, its etiology and mode of transmission, and its implications for the management of EXW. Methods: A survey was conducted in 240 households across Hadiya, Kembata-Tembaro and Wolaita zones of southern Ethiopia using focus group discussions and a structured questionnaire to assess farmers' perceptions of causes and modes of EXW transmission, and their knowledge on symptom identification. In addition, EXW prevalence, incidence and severity were determined for each zone. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. Results: The results showed that a significant number of farmers are aware of EXW, its symptoms, etiology and transmission and spread, but they are not able to readily relate modes of spread to control methods. Since 2002, EXW became prominent in Hadiya, with the highest EXW incidence and severity, followed by Wolaita, and Kembata-Tembaro. Farmers identified EXW as the major cause for declining production and productivity of enset in the region. Conclusion: EXW has spread widely and rapidly in southern Ethiopia, with significant socioeconomic impacts in smallholders' livelihoods. There is a need for developing knowledge-based strategies and awareness-raising campaign for EXW management.This work was supported by the McKnight foundation, Africa RISING and Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI)

Landscape positions dictating crop fertilizer responses in wheat-based farming systems of East African Highlands

Improving fertilizer use efficiency has remained a challenge, particularly for small-scale farming in undulating ‘abnormal’ landscapes of East Africa. Milne's 1930s concept on ‘Catena’ was considered as a breakthrough in understanding soil variability and its implication on productivity in East African highlands. However, there is limited information on how the ‘Catena’ features could be used for fine tuning fertilizer recommendations. We initiated multiple on-farm replicated experiments in three wheat-growing districts (Endamohoni, Lemo and Worreilu) in the Ethiopian highlands in 2014, 2015 and 2016 to assess landscape positions affecting crop-nutrient responses, identify yield limiting nutrients across the ‘Catena’ (N, P, K, S and Zn) and quantify effects of landscape positions on resources use efficiency. We clustered farmlands across the ‘Catena’ (Hillslopes, Midslopes and Footslopes) based on land scape positions in the respective locations. Wheat yield was more strongly and significantly affected by landscape positions (P N92 P46) while differences between landscape positions diminish at lower rates. Yield benefits due to application of K was significant only in the dry years (P < 0.05), while there was hardly any yield benefit from the application of zinc and sulfur. The crop nitrogen recovery fraction and crop water productivity decreased with an increasing slope regardless of nutrient combinations. The results indicated that the landscape position could be considered as a proxy indicator for targeted fertilizer application, particularly in farms with undulating topographic features. Hillslopes are better served by the application of organic fertilizers along with conservation measures as applying higher rates of mineral fertilizer in hillslopes would rather increase the risk of downstream nutrient movement

The growth pattern of the human intestine and its mesentery

Supplemental Figures. 3D PDF CS14, CS16, CS20, CS23, and 9.0 and 9.5 WKS. Interactive 3D PDFs are provided for CS14, CS16, CS20, CS23, and 9.0 and 9.5 WKS. See the supplement “3D PDF operation manual” for instructions how to use the interactive PDF tools. The color codes correspond to those used in the Figures (Legend Table). (PDF 394 kb

Habitat characteristics or protected area size: What is more important for the composition and diversity of mammals in nonprotected areas?

The margins of protected areas are usually considered to have greater forest degradation, and given that most mammals live outside protected areas, researchers and conservation practitioners are increasingly recognizing that nonprotected areas must be incorporated into conservation strategy. However, the strategy used to manage these areas still involves increasing the size of protected areas, while not considering the habitat characteristics and requirements of the species. In this study, during a 3-year period, camera trap and habitat characteristic surveys were used to estimate composition, diversity, and habitat characteristics of mammals to determine habitat characteristics or increase the size of protected areas what should be considered first for mammals’ conservation in a nonprotected area near the Huangshan Mountains in Anhui Province, China. From June 2017 to October 2019, 18 species of mammals were recorded, more than in any other protected area nearby. The linear model analysis results showed that habitat characteristics of mammals were different and showed a significant correlation with their relative abundance. Most species were related to vegetation characteristics, except primates (Macaca thibetana), and rodents (Leopoldamys edwardsi). Therefore, to establish conservation policies for nonprotected areas, habitat characteristics should be of prime concern, followed by increasing the size of protected areas to provide effective refuge areas for species conservation

Reduced tillage, but not organic matter input, increased nematode diversity and food web stability in European long‐term field experiments

Soil nematode communities and food web indices can inform about the complexity, nutrient flows and decomposition pathways of soil food webs, reflecting soil quality. Relative abundance of nematode feeding and life‐history groups are used for calculating food web indices, i.e., maturity index (MI), enrichment index (EI), structure index (SI) and channel index (CI). Molecular methods to study nematode communities potentially offer advantages compared to traditional methods in terms of resolution, throughput, cost and time. In spite of such advantages, molecular data have not often been adopted so far to assess the effects of soil management on nematode communities and to calculate these food web indices. Here, we used high‐throughput amplicon sequencing to investigate the effects of tillage (conventional vs. reduced) and organic matter addition (low vs. high) on nematode communities and food web indices in 10 European long‐term field experiments and we assessed the relationship between nematode communities and soil parameters. We found that nematode communities were more strongly affected by tillage than by organic matter addition. Compared to conventional tillage, reduced tillage increased nematode diversity (23% higher Shannon diversity index), nematode community stability (12% higher MI), structure (24% higher SI), and the fungal decomposition channel (59% higher CI), and also the number of herbivorous nematodes (70% higher). Total and labile organic carbon, available K and microbial parameters explained nematode community structure. Our findings show that nematode communities are sensitive indicators of soil quality and that molecular profiling of nematode communities has the potential to reveal the effects of soil management on soil quality

The application of predictive modelling for determining bio-environmental factors affecting the distribution of blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) in the Gilgel Gibe watershed in Southwest Ethiopia

Blackflies are important macroinvertebrate groups from a public health as well as ecological point of view. Determining the biological and environmental factors favouring or inhibiting the existence of blackflies could facilitate biomonitoring of rivers as well as control of disease vectors. The combined use of different predictive modelling techniques is known to improve identification of presence/absence and abundance of taxa in a given habitat. This approach enables better identification of the suitable habitat conditions or environmental constraints of a given taxon. Simuliidae larvae are important biological indicators as they are abundant in tropical aquatic ecosystems. Some of the blackfly groups are also important disease vectors in poor tropical countries. Our investigations aim to establish a combination of models able to identify the environmental factors and macroinvertebrate organisms that are favourable or inhibiting blackfly larvae existence in aquatic ecosystems. The models developed using macroinvertebrate predictors showed better performance than those based on environmental predictors. The identified environmental and macroinvertebrate parameters can be used to determine the distribution of blackflies, which in turn can help control river blindness in endemic tropical places. Through a combination of modelling techniques, a reliable method has been developed that explains environmental and biological relationships with the target organism, and, thus, can serve as a decision support tool for ecological management strategies

Renal function of MDR-TB patients treated with kanamycin regimens or concomitantly with antiretroviral agents

SETTING: To compare renal insufficiency among mul-tidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients treated with kanamycin (KM) based regimens and those treated concomitantly with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) or other antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens in Namibia. DESIGN: Retrospective review of the treatment records and laboratory tests of patients initiated on MDR-TB treatment (January–December 2014). The glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) estimated pre- and post-treatment were compared using the analysis of variance test. Renal insufficiency was defined as an eGFR of,60 ml/ min/1.73 m2. Use of KM or TDF and association with renal insufficiency was assessed using Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox proportional hazards analysis. RESULTS: The baseline mean eGFR for the three groups was similar (P ¼ 0.24): 139.3 6 25.6 ml/min for the KM group (n ¼ 68), 131.1 6 25.7 ml/min for the KMþTDF group (n ¼ 44) and 134.2634.4 ml/min for the KMþOther group (n ¼ 23). After 8 months, the values had declined significantly to respectively 104.8 6 37.5 ml/min (P, 0.001), 101.5 6 38.3 ml/min (P, 0.001) and 111.5 6 41.7 ml/min (P ¼ 0.01). Co-treatment with KMþART was associated with an increased risk of renal insufficiency (hazard ratio [HR] 1.8, 95%CI 0.7–4.1, P ¼ 0.20 for KMþTDF, and HR 3.5, 95%CI 1.4–8.2, P ¼ 0.005 for KMþOther ART). CONCLUSION: Renal function declined at a similar rate in MDR-TB patients treated with KM-based regimens compared with patients treated concomitantly with TDF-based or other ART. The risk of renal insufficiency was greater for patients on ART