Effect of Barley Bran, Linseed Meal and Their Mixes Supplementation on Carcass and Non-Carcass Components of Arsi-Bale Sheep Fed on Basal Diet of Faba Bean Haulms

Twenty five yearling male Arsi-Bale sheep breed with mean initial body weight of 19.8 ±1.29kg were used to evaluate the effect barley bran (BB), linseed meal (LSM) and their mixes supplementation on carcass, edible and non-edible offal components.  A complete randomized block design consisting of five treatments and five blocks was employed. The treatments were T1: ad libitum feeding of faba bean haulms, T2: ad libitum faba bean haulms + sole supplementation of BB, T3: ad libitum faba bean haulms + supplementation of 2BB:1LSM, T4: ad libitum faba bean haulms + supplementation of 1BB:2LSM and T5: ad libitum faba bean haulms + sole supplementation of LSM. To increase intake, haulms were chopped 2-5cm prior to offering. The supplement feeds were offered at 300 g/head per day in DM basis at 08:00 and at 16:00 hours by dividing the daily offer into two equal portions.  The feeding trial was conducted for 90 days. At the end of the feeding trail, sheep were fasted for 12 hours (with free access to water), weighed and slaughtered for carcass and non-carcass components analysis. Unsupplemented sheep resulted significantly lowest carcass (P<0.001), liver (P<0.05), kidneys and intestines (P<0.01) weights as compared to supplemented treatments. There were no significant differences (P>0.001) observed among supplemented groups. In conclusion, different proportion of concentrate supplements could affect the weight of both the carcass and non-carcass components. Keywords: Barley bran, carcass, faba bean haulms, linseed meal, offa

Application of remote sensing and GIS inland use/land cover mapping and change detection in a part of south western Nigeria

Mapping land use/land cover (LULC) and change detection using remote sensing and GIS techniques is an area of interest that has been attracting increasing attention. This paper is an attempt to assess the changes in land use/land cover in some parts of south-western Nigeria over a 16 year period. The study made use of LandSat imageries of 1986 and 2002. The images were classified using Maximum Likelihood classification method. The results show that disturbed/degraded forest constituted the most extensive type of land use/land cover in the study area. The increasing population and economic activities were noted to be putting pressure on the available land resources. This paper highlights the importance of remote sensing and GIS techniques in apprehending the situation in south-western Nigeria.Keywords: LULC, conversion, modification, forest reserve, change detection, classification scheme, encroachmen

A study of dynamic respone of a lighting pole during a downburst through time-domain analysis and full-scale structural monitoring

The effect of downbursts on structures has been a topic of study for the past two decades. Numerical and analytical methods for the calculation of downburst wind loads and the dynamic response of structures have also been proposed. However, the proposed methods have not been verified using full-scale structural response data. This research presents the response of a monitored lighting pole during two downburst events, with a comparison of responses estimated through time-domain analysis. It is shown that the overall trend of the time history of the mean response is in close agreement with the registered response, and the fluctuating component of the response is highly dependent on the assumed wind field coherence

Evaluation of the performance of bias-corrected CORDEX regional climate models in reproducing Baro–Akobo basin climate

The applicability of the regional climate model (RCMs) for catchment hydroclimate is obscured due to their systematic bias. As a result, bias correction has become an essential precondition for the study of climate change. This study aimed to evaluate the skill of seven rainfall and five maximum and minimum temperature RCM outputs against observed data in simulating the characteristics of climate at several locations over the Baro–Akobo basin in Ethiopia. The evaluation was performed based on raw and bias-corrected RCMs against observed for a long-term basis. Several statistical metrics were used to compare RCMs against observed using a pixel-to-point approach. In this finding, raw RCMs showed pronounced biases such as lower correlation and higher PBIAS in estimating rainfall and minimum temperature than maximum temperature. However, most RCMs after bias correction showed better performance in reproducing the magnitude and distribution of the mean monthly rainfall and temperature and improve all the statistical metrics. The Mann–Kendall trend test for observed and bias-corrected RCMs indicated a decreasing annual rainfall trend while the maximum and minimum temperature showed an increasing trend in most stations. In most statistical metrics, the ensemble mean resulted in better agreement with observation than individual models in most stations. In general, after bias correction, the ensemble adequately simulates the Baro–Akobo basin climate and can be used for evaluation of future climate projections in the region

Effects of combined application of phosphorus and sulfur fertilizers on agronomic traits and protein content of supplementary irrigated haricot bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) varieties in Raya Valley, Northern Ethiopia

Haricot bean is primarily grown in Ethiopia for human consumption and export earnings. A market demand for haricot bean, both in the domestic and export market, has triggered the production of haricot bean in selected areas of Ethiopia though its production is constrained by several factors such as poor soil fertility and erratic rainfall. This study was carried out to investigate the combined effect of phosphorus and sulfur fertilizers on yield, yield related traits and protein content of haricot bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) varieties at the research field of Mekoni Agricultural Research Center during 2016/17 cropping season. The experiment was laid out in split plot design where varieties were assigned to the main plots and fertilizer rates to the sub plots in three replications. Three phosphorus (P) rates (10, 20 and 30 kg ha-1) were combined with four sulfur (S) rates (15, 30, 45 and 60 kg ha-1) and applied in combination to Melka Awash-98 and Nasir varieties. Data on phenological, agronomic and quality traits were collected and determined. Partial budget analysis was carried out to assess the profitability of the applications. P-S fertilizer treatments were  significantly affected by varieties. Treatments were significantly affected by varieties and the imposed P and S rates. The interaction effect due to variety by fertilizer the two factors significantly affect days to flowering, plant height, hundred seed weight and protein content. Tallest plants, fewer days to flowering and maturity, many pods/plant, heavier seeds, higher grain yield ha-1 and better protein content were recorded where the fertilizer application rate was 20 kg ha-1P and 30 kg ha-1 S for both varieties. Grain yield ranged from 1520 to 3000 kg ha-1 depending on P-S fertilizer rates and varieties. Nasir variety seems to be superior over Melka Awash-98 for most traits except protein content. However, production of Melka Awash-98 under 20 kg ha-1P and 15 kg ha-1 S fertilization tend to be more economical as it resulted in highest net benefit return. Although not profitable, planting Melka Awash-98 using an application rate of 20 kg ha-1P and 30 kg ha-1 S could be suggested for use in the area to ensure earliness and high grain yield

Observations of precipitable water vapour over complex topography of Ethiopia from ground-based GPS, FTIR, radiosonde and ERA-Interim reanalysis

Water vapour is one of the most important greenhouse gases. Long-term changes in the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere need to be monitored not only for its direct role as a greenhouse gas but also because of its role in amplifying other feedbacks such as clouds and albedo. In recent decades, monitoring of water vapour on a regular and continuous basis has become possible as a result of the steady increase in the number of deployed global positioning satellite (GPS) ground-based receivers. However, the Horn of Africa remained a data-void region in this regard until recently, when some GPS ground-receiver stations were deployed to monitor tectonic movements in the Great Rift Valley. This study seizes this opportunity and the installation of a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) at Addis Ababa to assess the quality and comparability of precipitable water vapour (PWV) from GPS, FTIR, radiosonde and interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) over Ethiopia. The PWV from the three instruments and the reanalysis show good correlation, with correlation coefficients in the range from 0.83 to 0.92. On average, GPS shows the highest PWV followed by FTIR and radiosonde observations. ERA-Interim is higher than all measurements with a bias of 4.6 mm compared to GPS. The intercomparison between GPS and ERA-Interim was extended to seven other GPS stations in the country. Only four out of eight GPS stations included simultaneous surface pressure observations. Uncertainty in the model surface pressure of 1 hPa can cause up to 0.35 mm error in GPS PWV. The gain obtained from using observed surface pressure in terms of reducing bias and strengthening correlation is significant but shows some variations among the GPS sites. The comparison between GPS and ERA-Interim PWV over the seven other GPS stations shows differences in the magnitude and sign of bias of ERA-Interim with respect to GPS PWV from station to station. This feature is also prevalent in diurnal and seasonal variabilities. The spatial variation in the relationship between the two data sets is partly linked to variation in the skill of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model over different regions and seasons. This weakness in the model is related to poor observational constraints from this part of the globe and sensitivity of its convection scheme to orography and land surface features. This is consistent with observed wet bias over some highland stations and dry bias over few lowland stations. The skill of ECMWF in reproducing realistic PWV varies with time of the day and season, showing large positive bias during warm and wet summer at most of the GPS site

Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among urban dwellers in southwest Ethiopia

No Abstract. The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development Vol. 21 (1) 2007: pp. 12-1

Wind and structural response monitoring of a lighting pole for the study of downburst effects on structures

Wind excited response of structures due to downbursts has been studied using wind tunnel simulations, computational fluid dynamics applications, and analytical procedures in the previous two decades. However, the studies have not been validated with full-scale wind and structural response measurements. To fill this research gap, continuous wind-and-structural response monitoring of three slender structures was implemented through the European research council-funded project, THUNDERR. This paper focuses on one of the monitored structures, describing the monitoring system, the dynamic and aerodynamic properties, and the registered data during two downburst events. The wind-excited response of the monitored structure during two case studies of downbursts is analyzed. The correlation between the wind speed and structural displacement parameters was also studied and the square of mean wind speed was found to be highly correlated with the mean displacement and the standard deviation of the fluctuating displacement. The fluctuating components of wind speed and top displacement were found to be partially correlated. The simplicity of the selected structure, and the possibility of obtaining both the quasi-steady and resonant components of the structural response from strain registrations, will make this study a benchmark for the validation of methods and simulations of down burst wind load