The sintering and catalytic activity of supported silver films

Imperial Users onl

Use of Farmyard Manure on Mixed Pasture of Guine Grass (Panicum Maximum) and Stylo (Stylo Guianensis)

A field experiment was carried out to investigate the contribution of farmyard manure (FYM) in sustaining productivity and quality of Guinea-Stylo pasture under tin-mine slightly acidic soil at the Faculty of Agriculture research site, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of rates of FYM on the physiology, dry matter (DM) yield, nutrient quality, and some soil physico-chemical properties in Guinea (Panicum maximum cv. Green panic) and Stylo (Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Pauciflora) mixed pasture. Six levels of FYM (0 (control), 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 t FYMlha), and inorganic fertilizer (50 kg P and 50 kg m a ) , were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Guinea was transplanted from rootstocks, while Stylo seeds were sown between rows of Guinea grass at a seeding rate of 2 kglha. Four cuttings were taken at 5 weeks interval and compared for plant height, leaf: stem ratio (LSR) and DM yield. The first and the fourth cuttings were compared for plant height, photosynthetic rate (PR), leaf area index (LAI), stomatal conductance (SC), biomass yield, LSR, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents of both species. Beside plant analysis, some soil physical and chemical properties were measured at the first and the fourth cuttings. Application of FYM up to the rate of 50 tfha resulted significantly in higher vegetative growth of Guinea and increased rates of physiological processes compared to the control during the first and from that of inorganic fertilizer during the fourth cut. There was a significant increase in plant height, DM, CP, PR, LA1 and SC of Guinea grass with increasing rates of FYM applied. On the other hand, the DM yields and stomatal conductance of Stylo declined with increasing FYM rates of application. Increasing rates of FYM application significantly reduced the fiber content of both species. There was a significant linear decrease in NDF and ADF content of Guinea grass as well as Stylo with increasing rate of FYM applied. However, there was an increasing trend in fiber content of both species fiom the first cut to the fourth cut. In addition to its contribution on fodder productivity and quality, effects of FYM on soil physical and chemical properties were also evaluated. Soil analysis after the fmt and the fourth cut showed that application of FYM significantly decreased soil bulk density. Application of FYM up to 50 tlha also improved water retention characteristics, available water holding capacity, aggregation and aggregate stability of the soil, especially at the depth of 0-15 cm. However, application of inorganic fertilizer did not show a significant improvement in soil physical properties. Beside the effects of FYM on soil physical properties, its contribution on some soil chemical properties was also evaluated. The pH of manure amended soil was significantly higher than that of the control as well as from soil which received inorganic fertilizer, and the effect persisted up to the fourth cuttings. There was a significant linear increase in soil organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium with increasing rate of FYM applied. The results of this study indicated that FYM up to 50 t/ha can be applied to improve the fertility of the soil and productivity as well as nutrient quality of Guinea grass-Stylo mixed pasture

Participatory Assessment of Trade Limiting Diseases of Small Ruminants in Afar’s Small Ruminants’ Export Market Chain

Participatory epidemiological study was carried out from June 2013 to June 2014 to identify most economically important trade sensitive diseases which constraints trade and to quantify and rank the major diseases along the small ruminant market chain of export of small ruminants originated from Afar pastoral community.  A retrospective case control study design was used to collect data on trade sensitive disease problems in the market chains using epidemiological techniques of semi-structured interview, disease ranking and matrix scoring. Information was collect from producers, key informants and participants in the shoat export market chains. Purposive sampling was used to select 291 producers, 12 focus groups of traders and key informants that held in four districts selected districts with their respective markets and four quarantine stations to generate information about health problems along the market chain. Collected data was coded, managed and validated in excel spread sheet. The level of agreement between informant groups was assessed using the Kendal’s coefficient of concordance (W) calculated using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, 2007). About 72.2% of pastoralist offers shoat for sale to meet their urgent needs at any time during the year. Majority (51.9%) of the producers have no specific target to sale their shoat. Animal characteristics in terms of health, quality and other criteria required by importers were known only by 7.6% of the producers. Afars’ sheep are the most demanded by importers next to Somali black head but from total shoat presented for sale, sheep accounts only 20%. Majority of producers (40.9%) indicated that they present young male for sale and 28.2% of producers presented culled female shoat for sale. Pastoralist motioned PPR, Pasteurellosis, sheep pox, External parasite, Ovine Faciolosis and CCPP as most important diseases in terms of impact on livelihoods. Quarantine centers listed PPR, pasteurellosis, CCPP, sheep pox and external parasite most important disease of shoat in terms of impact on businesses. Most of the diseases motioned by quarantine centers as major diseases are also the major diseases prevailing at the producer level. Keywords: Trade sensitive, PPR, CCPP, Shoat Pox, Producer, Quarantine, key informan

Participatory Epidemiological Studies of Major Trade Constraint Diseases of Goats in Selected Districts of Afar Region

In Afar pastoral area, livelihoods depend, at least in part, on livestock. Small ruminants made by far the greatest contribution to livestock-based livelihoods in all study districts. This study was conducted to assess and analyze trade sensitive disease problems of goats of Afar pastoral community. Information was gathered from pastoralists from June 2013- June 2014. At producers’ level, 12 focus group discussion and interview with 291 pastoralists were held at the selected four districts of Afar pastoral areas. Majority of markets in Afar region performed below their capacity. About 72.2% of pastoralist offers goats for sale to meet their urgent needs at any time during the year. Majority (51.9%) of the producers have no specific target to sale their goats. Animal characteristics in terms of health, quality and other criteria required by exporters were known only by 7.6% of the producers. Afars’ sheep are the most demanded by exporters next to Somali black head but from total shoat presented for sale, sheep accounts only 20%. Majority of producers (40.9%) indicated that they present young male for sale and 28.2% of producers presented culled female shoat for sale. Pastoralist motioned PPR, Pasteurellosis, goat pox, External parasites and CCPP as most important diseases in terms of impact on livelihoods. There was no veterinarian performing pre-purchase inspection and selection for quality assurance and certification for live shoat at various points in market chain. Quarantine centers listed PPR, pasteurellosis, CCPP, goat pox and external parasites most important disease of shoat in terms of impact on businesses. Most of the diseases motioned by quarantine centers as major diseases are also the major diseases prevailing at the producer level. Keywords: Trade sensitive, PPR, CCPP, Goat Pox, Producer, Quarantine, key informant

Behavioral and socio-economic determinants of urban households' investment in energy efficient technologies: Evidence from Ethiopia

Wide uses of energy-efficient technologies have the potential to save a significant amount of electricity, which may allow deferral of construction of new power plants. However, in low-income countries, there is low use of energy-efficient technologies. This paper studies the behavioral and socio-economic determinants of urban households’ investment in energy efficiency improvements in Ethiopia. It considers multiple technologies and uses a multivariate probit model to take into account the sequential or simultaneous adoption of energy-efficient technologies. Using a random sample of 1,400 urban households from nine regions in Ethiopia, the study finds that most households (86%) adopt energy-efficient technologies and other energy conservation activities mainly to reduce energy expenditure. Interestingly, at least 12% of the respondents adopt these activities out of concern for the environment and future generations, which is encouraging. The multivariate probit regression result shows that households’ educational status, income or occupational status, access to credit, and age are significant determinants of households’ investment in energy-efficient technologies. The results illustrate there is a need for policies that incentivize or promote firms to sell energy-efficient products, for example, using installment (credit) and also a policy on the language of product specifications–using local language

The impact of trade liberalization on Ethiopian Export, Import and GDP

Following the 1970’s and 1980’s economic and debt crisis in the developing countries, major aid donors like World Bank and IMF change their aid policies to these countries. They recommend a policy package called Structural Adjustment program (SAP) which included reduction of trade barriers and opening of international trade to foreign competition, and amongst other long-term growth and development strategies. Ethiopia adopts SAP in 1992 as recommend by World Bank. Trade liberalization is one of policies in SAP, which the country adopts with the aim of expanding export, import and GDP of the country. The study has attempted to find out the impact of trade liberalization has brought in to the performance of ,export, import and GDP.The study uses Instrumental Variable (IV) and two stage least square (2SLS) estimation methods to estimate the impact of trade liberalization on the above variables using data from 1960-2006 . The study finds that even though trade liberalization has positive impact on both export and import of the country, its impact is more to import than to exports making the trade deficit of the country worse than before. This is consistent with descriptive analysis that the deficit of the country has grown from 7.4% in the pre-liberalization period to 19.34% post liberalization period. However, the study finds out no direct significant impact of trade liberalization on Ethiopian GDP growth

Cisplatin sensitivity of testis tumour cells is due to deficiency in interstrand-crosslink repair and low ERCC1-XPF expression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cisplatin based chemotherapy cures over 80% of metastatic testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT). In contrast, almost all other solid cancers in adults are incurable once they have spread beyond the primary site. Cell lines derived from TGCTs are hypersensitive to cisplatin reflecting the clinical response. Earlier findings suggested that a reduced repair capacity might contribute to the cisplatin hypersensitivity of testis tumour cells (TTC), but the critical DNA damage has not been defined. This study was aimed at investigating the formation and repair of intrastrand and interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) induced by cisplatin in TTC and their contribution to TTC hypersensitivity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed that repair of intrastrand crosslinks is similar in cisplatin sensitive TTC and resistant bladder cancer cells, whereas repair of ICLs was significantly reduced in TTC. γH2AX formation, which serves as a marker of DNA breaks formed in response to ICLs, persisted in cisplatin-treated TTC and correlated with sustained phosphorylation of Chk2 and enhanced PARP-1 cleavage. Expression of the nucleotide excision repair factor ERCC1-XPF, which is implicated in the processing of ICLs, is reduced in TTC. To analyse the causal role of ERCC1-XPF for ICL repair and cisplatin sensitivity, we over-expressed ERCC1-XPF in TTC by transient transfection. Over-expression increased ICL repair and rendered TTC more resistant to cisplatin, which suggests that ERCC1-XPF is rate-limiting for repair of ICLs resulting in the observed cisplatin hypersensitivity of TTC.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data indicate for the first time that the exceptional sensitivity of TTC and, therefore, very likely the curability of TGCT rests on their limited ICL repair due to low level of expression of ERCC1-XPF.</p

Behavioral and socio-economic determinants of urban households’ investment in energy efficient technologies: evidence from Ethiopia

Wide uses of energy-efficient technologies have the potential to save a significant amount of electricity, which may allow deferral of construction of new power plants. However, in low-income countries, there is low use of energy-efficient technologies. This paper studies the behavioral and socio-economic determinants of urban households’ investment in energy efficiency improvements in Ethiopia. It considers multiple technologies and uses a multivariate probit model to take into account the sequential or simultaneous adoption of energy-efficient technologies. Using a random sample of 1,400 urban households from nine regions in Ethiopia, the study finds that most households (86%) adopt energy-efficient technologies and other energy conservation activities mainly to reduce energy expenditure. Interestingly, at least 12% of the respondents adopt these activities out of concern for the environment and future generations, which is encouraging. The multivariate probit regression result shows that households’ educational status, income or occupational status, access to credit, and age are significant determinants of households’ investment in energy-efficient technologies. The results illustrate there is a need for policies that incentivize or promote firms to sell energy-efficient products, for example, using installment (credit) and also a policy on the language of product specifications–using local language