190 research outputs found
Field Redefinitions at Finite Density
The apparent dependence of nuclear matter observables on off-shell properties
of the two-nucleon potential is re-examined in the context of the effective
field theory (EFT) approach. Finite density (thermodynamic) observables are
invariant under field redefinitions, which extends the well-known theorem about
the invariance of S-matrix elements. Simple examples demonstrate how field
redefinitions can shift contributions between purely off-shell two-body
interactions and many-body forces, leaving both scattering and finite-density
observables unchanged. If only the transformed two-body potentials are kept,
however, the nuclear matter binding curves will depend on the off-shell part
(generating ``Coester bands''). The correspondence between field redefinitions
and unitary transformations, which have traditionally been used to generate
``phase-equivalent'' nucleon-nucleon potentials, is also demonstrated.Comment: 23 pages, RevTex, 9 ps figures, included with epsf.tex, minor change
Effect of processing method on the Proximate composition, mineral content and antinutritional factors of Taro (Colocasia esculenta, L.) growth in Ethiopia
Although taro is widely grown in Ethiopia, it is an underutilized crop and little is known about its proximate and micro-element composition and the antinutritional factors of the raw, boiled and fermented products. Boiling and fermentation processing techniques are widely used in the country, especially within the rural community of the Southern region where the crop grows widely. A cultivar of taro grown in the country was analyzed for proximate and mineral composition and antinutritional factors. An investigation was also made on the effects of boiling and fermentation on the nutritional contents. Protein, fat, fiber, total ash and utilizable carbohydrates, respectively were found to be 6.43, 0.47, 2.63, 4.82 and 85.65%, while the Gross Energy was 372.55 Kcal/100g. The contents of the micronutrients namely: Fe, Zn, Mg, Ca, Na, P and Mn were 5.86, 43.08, 7.24, 45.23, 13.81, 7.77 and 3.61 mg/100g, respectively. Phytate for the raw product was 115.43 while oxalate and tannin were 243.06 and 47.69 mg/100g, respectively. Cyanide was not detected in all the samples. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the contents of the proximate and mineral composition and antinutritional factors during boiling and fermentation. The protein content was lower by 9.37% and 8.46%, respectively, in the boiled and fermented products, under the sampling and processing conditions used in the study. The crude fat content was significantly different (p < 0.05) from the crude fat content of the boiled product which was 0.87%. On the other hand, analysis of variance conducted showed that the fiber content of raw sample was significantly different from the fermented samples. Fermentation resulted in a lower level of fiber which was 6.44% and phytates of about 84.75%. Boiling of taro resulted in a higher value of oxalate (70.9%). The data presented in this paper provide an evidence of the potential of Boloso I (which is one variety of taro) to serve as a nutrient dense product for the Ethiopian population provided that the techniques of its processing are optimized.Keywords: Ethiopia, Taro, Oxalates, PhytatesAfrican Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, Volume 13 No. 2 April 201
Taxon abundance, diversity, co-occurrence and network analysis of the ruminal microbiota in response to dietary changes in dairy cows
We thank Mari Talvisilta and the staff in the metabolism unit at Natural Resources Institute Finland for technical support, care of experimental animals and assistance in sample collection. We thank Paula Lidauer for ruminal cannulation surgeries, Richard Hill from Aberystwyth University, UK for performing qPCR and Aurélie Bonin from Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, CNRS, France for preparing archaea amplicon libraries for sequencing. Kevin J. Shingfield passed away before the submission of the final version of this manuscript. Ilma Tapio accepts responsibility for the integrity and validity of the data collected and analyzed. Funding: Study was funded by the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry as part of the GreenDairy Project (Developing Genetic and Nutritional Tools to Mitigate the Environmental Impact of Milk Production; Project No. 2908234). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Proximate composition, mineral content and antinutritional factors of some capsicum (Capsicum annum) varieties grown in Ethiopia
This study was conducted to generate baseline information on the nutritional composition, mineral content and antinutritional factors of three capsicum varieties (Marako fana, Bako local and Oda haro) grown in Ethiopia. In relation to proximate composition, Marako fana, Bako local and Oda haro contained 9.2, 9.0 and 8.8% moisture; 11.9, 8.8 and 9.2% crude protein; 27.3, 26.0 and 28.6% crude fiber and 11.2, 9.5 and 9.2% fat (oleoresin) on wet weight basis. They also contained 1.7, 1.6 and 1.8 mg/100 g potassium; 27.2, 38.2 and 54.6 mg/100 g calcium and 7.2, 6.9 and 9.6 mg/100 g iron on wet weight basis. Tannin was found to be 0.142, 0.164 and 0.148 mg/100 g, respectively, while phytate was not detected in any of the samples. Analysis of variance and LSD (least significant difference) test revealed that protein and oleoresin of Marako fana were significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than Bako local and Oda haro. Potassium, calcium and iron contents of Oda haro were significantly higher (p less than 0.05). Based on these results Marako fana is preferable for large scale production of oleoresin, while Oda haro is nutritionally preferable because it contains high amounts of potassium, calcium and iron.KEY WORDS: Capsicum, Ethiopia, Composition, Mineral, Antinutrients Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2011, 25(3), 451-454
First report of Rice yellow mottle virus on rice in Burundi
International audienceFirst Report of Rice yellow mottle virus on Rice in Burund
Integrating indigenous and exogenous communication channels and capabilities through community-based armyworm forecasting
Many development interventions have failed to generate the desired
impact among African resource-poor farmers for reasons including the
centralised and top-down approach, lack of active community
participation, and over-reliance on external information and technology
delivery strategies and channels. The migrant African armyworm,
Spodoptera exempta, is among the major challenges threatening
livelihoods of millions of farmers in East and Southern Africa.
Outbreaks occur suddenly and can devastate crops and pasture. National
and regional forecasting services have been operational since the 1960s
to provide warning of potential outbreaks. This system relies on
information from armyworm moth traps usually operated at district
level. These centralised services have a number of difficulties and
limitations which include: delays in communicating trap catch data to
the forecaster; forecasts are not village specific; forecasts do not
reach many farmers; lack of responsibility and local ownership of
traps. An innovative approach called community-based armyworm
forecasting (CBAF) was developed as a response to these limitations.
The new approach has been piloted and tested in several East African
countries and found to be effective. CBAF establishes a system that
allows each village to have its own traps and trained forecasters who
collect and interpret data, and provide village specific forecasts. A
recent project on CBAF piloted the approach in 10, 5 and 39 villages of
Malawi, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, respectively, in the 1 st year, and in a
further 25 and 38 villages of Malawi and Tanzania in the 2 nd year.
Discussion with stakeholders, field observations and assessments
conducted by the authors indicate that the initiative has generated a
number of benefits. It built local capacity, and because of the
location specific early warning it enabled farmers to combat the pest
more effectively. It was noticed by the authors that local
communication channels and folk media play an important role in CBAF,
complementing and enhancing the effectiveness of exogenous channels.
This paper discusses how CBAF makes effective use of different
communication channels and capabilities, and highlights preliminary
results.Tant d\u2019interventions de d\ue9veloppement n\u2019ont pas pu
g\ue9n\ue9rer un impact satisfaisant parmi les fermiers africains
sans resources pour de raisons multiples, dont l\u2019utilisation de
l\u2019approche coercitive et centralis\ue9e, le manque d\u2019une
participation active de la communaut\ue9 et le fait d\u2019avoir
plus d\u2019attachement aux informations, aux strat\ue9gies et
guides externes de vulgarization de technologies. Spodoptera exempta,
une chenille aussi nomm\ue9e \u201cchenille africain
migratrice\u201d est parmi les contraintes majeures aux moyens de
subsistance de milliers de fermiers d\u2019Afrique orientale et
australe. Son \ue9ruption est soudaine et peut d\ue9vaster des
cultures ainsi que des pasturages. Les services nationaux et
r\ue9gionaux de pr\ue9diction \ue9taient op\ue9rationnels
depuis 1960 pour fournir des alertes sur des irruptions potentielles
sur base d\u2019informations collect\ue9es sur des pi\ue8ges
tendus aux chenilles au niveau du district. Ces services
centralis\ue9s pr\ue9sentent un bon nombre de difficult\ue9s et
limitations entre autre, le retard dans la communication des
donn\ue9es de pi\ue8ges au pr\ue9visioniste, le manqu\ue9 de
sp\ue9cificit\ue9 des pr\ue9visions, la lenteur dans la livraison
des pr\ue9visions aux fermiers, le manque de responsabilit\ue9 et
d\u2019appropriation locale de ces pi\ue8ges. En r\ue9ponse \ue0
ces limitations, une approche innovatrice appell\ue9e pr\ue9diction
des chenilles au niveau communautaire (CBAF) \ue9tait initi\ue9e et
test\ue9e dans plusieurs pays d\u2019Afrique de l\u2019Est. Cette
approche s\u2019\ue9tait av\ue9r\ue9e efficace \ue0 point
qu\u2019il avait permis \ue0 chaque village d\u2019avoir ses
propres pi\ue8ges et des pr\ue9visionistes form\ue9s pour la
collecte et l\u2019interpr\ue9tation des donn\ue9es ainsi que pour
fournir des pr\ue9visions sp\ue9cifiques aux villages.Un projet
recent sur CBAF avait ex\ue9cut\ue9 cette approche dans 10, 5 et 39
villages de Malawi, Zimbabwe et Tanzanie, respectivement, dans la
premi\ue8re ann\ue9e, et dans plus de 25 et 38 villages de Malawi
et Tanzanie au cours de la deuxi\ue8me ann\ue9e. Des r\ue9unions
avec des partenaires ainsi que des observations et \ue9valuations sur
terrain par des auteurs indiquent combien l\u2019initiative avait
\ue9t\ue9 b\ue9n\ue9fique. Le renforcement de capacit\ue9
locale avait \ue9t\ue9 realis\ue9 et les alertes localement
sp\ue9cifiques ont permis aux fermiers de combattre avec plus
d\u2019efficacit\ue9 la peste. Il \ue9tait remarqu\ue9 que les
cha\ueenes de communication locale ansi que les \u201cfolk
media\u201d jouent un role important dans CBAF par leur
compl\ue9mentarit\ue9 et la promotion de l\u2019efficacit\ue9
des cha\ueenes exog\ue8nes. Cet article discute comment CBAF fait
bon usage de diff\ue9rentes cha\ueenes de communication et
comp\ue9tences, et met en \ue9vidence les r\ue9sultats
pr\ue9liminaires
Violence against women in relation to literacy and area of residence in Ethiopia
Objective: This study explores violence against women in a low-income setting in relation to residency and literacy. Setting: The study was conducted within the Butajira Rural Health Programme (a Health and Demographic Surveillance Site), which includes rural and semi-urban settings in south-central Ethiopia. Design: This is a community-based cross-sectional study and is part of the WHO Women's Health and Life Events multi-country study. It included 1,994 randomly selected married women. Methods: A standardised WHO questionnaire was used to measure physical violence, residency, literacy of the woman and her spouse, and attitudes of women about gender roles and violence. Analyses present prevalence with 95% confidence intervals and odds ratios derived from bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models. Results: In urban and rural areas of the study area, the women were of varying ages, had varying levels of literacy and had spouses with varying levels of literacy. Women in the overall study area had beliefs and norms favouring violence against women, and women living in rural communities and illiterate women were more likely to accept such attitudes. In general, violence against women was more prevalent in rural communities. In particular, violence against rural literate women and rural women who married a literate spouse was more prevalent. Literate rural women who were married to an illiterate spouse had the highest odds (Adj. OR=3.4; 95% CI: 1.7–6.9) of experiencing physical violence by an intimate partner. Conclusion: Semi-urban lifestyle and literacy promote changes in attitudes and norms against intimate partner violence; however, within the rural lifestyle, literate women married to illiterate husbands were exposed to the highest risks of violence
Enhancing wind erosion monitoring and assessment for U.S. rangelands
Wind erosion is a major resource concern for rangeland managers because it can impact soil health, ecosystem structure and function, hydrologic processes, agricultural production, and air quality. Despite its significance, little is known about which landscapes are eroding, by how much, and when. The National Wind Erosion Research Network was established in 2014 to develop tools for monitoring and assessing wind erosion and dust emissions across the United States. The Network, currently consisting of 13 sites, creates opportunities to enhance existing rangeland soil, vegetation, and air quality monitoring programs. Decision-support tools developed by the Network will improve the prediction and management of wind erosion across rangeland ecosystems. © 2017 The Author(s)The Rangelands archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information
Rapid Ethical Appraisal: A tool to design a contextualized consent process for a genetic study of podoconiosis in Ethiopia
Background: Obtaining genuine informed consent from research participants in developing countries can be difficult, partly due to poor knowledge about research process and research ethics. The situation is complicated when conducting genomic research on a disease considered familial and a reason for stigmatisation.
Methods: We used a Rapid Ethical Appraisal tool to assess local factors that were barriers to getting genuine informed consent prior to conducting a genetic study of podoconiosis (non-filarial elephantiasis) in two Zones of Ethiopia. The tool included in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with patients, healthy community members, field workers, researchers/Institutional Review Board (IRB) members, elders, religious leaders, and podoconiosis administrators who work closely with patients.
Results: Most patients and healthy community members did not differentiate research from routine clinical diagnosis. Participants felt comfortable when approached in the presence of trusted community members. Field workers and podoconiosis administrators preferred verbal consent, whereas the majority of patients and healthy community members prefer both verbal and written consent.
Participants better understood genetic susceptibility concepts when analogies drawn from their day-to-day experience were used. The type of biological sample sought and gender were the two most important factors affecting the recruitment process. Most researchers and IRB members indicated that reporting incidental findings to participants is not a priority in an Ethiopian context.
Conclusions: Understanding the concerns of local people in areas where research is to be conducted facilitates the design of contextualized consent processes appropriate for all parties and will ultimately result in getting genuine consent
Developing and validating a clinical algorithm for the diagnosis of podoconiosis
Background
Difficulties in reliably diagnosing podoconiosis have severely limited the scale-up and uptake of the World Health Organizationârecommended morbidity management and disability prevention interventions for affected people. We aimed to identify a set of clinical features that, combined into an algorithm, allow for diagnosis of podoconiosis.
Methods
We identified 372 people with lymphoedema and administered a structured questionnaire on signs and symptoms associated with podoconiosis and other potential causes of lymphoedema in northern Ethiopia. All individuals were tested for Wuchereria bancroftiâspecific immunoglobulin G4 in the field using Wb123.
Results
Based on expert diagnosis, 344 (92.5%) of the 372 participants had podoconiosis. The rest had lymphoedema due to other aetiologies. The best-performing set of symptoms and signs was the presence of moss on the lower legs and a family history of leg swelling, plus the absence of current or previous leprosy, plus the absence of swelling in the groin, plus the absence of chronic illness (such as diabetes mellitus or heart or kidney diseases). The overall sensitivity of the algorithm was 91% (95% confidence interval [CI] 87.6 to 94.4) and specificity was 95% (95% CI 85.45 to 100).
Conclusions
We developed a clinical algorithm of clinical history and physical examination that could be used in areas suspected or endemic for podoconiosis. Use of this algorithm should enable earlier identification of podoconiosis cases and scale-up of interventions
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