Sheep preference for and effect of browsing on regrowth of two salix species and chamaecytisus palmensis (H. Christ) Hutch

To evaluate the usefulness of two Salix species in pastoral systems, two experiments were conducted to determine 1) the effects of browsing intensity and frequency on the regrowth of the Salix species andChamaecytisus palmensis (H. Christ) Hutch and 2) sheep preference for them. The species responded well to browsing but the mean regrowth of S. kinuyanagi Kimura and C. palmensis was higher than that for S. matsudana x alba clone ‘Tangoio’. Across species, browsing twice during summer-autumn yielded more edible dry matter (DM) than browsing once and seemed the most practical management for the farmer. Heavy browsing increased woody stem DM in S. kinuyanagi but did not influence regrowth in S. matsudana x alba and C. palmensis. S. matsudana x alba was the most preferred species by sheep but declined dramatically in preference during autumn. It is suggested that C. palmensis must be grown alone to enhance its use while the Salix spp. could be mixed

Browse Shrubs and Trees as Fodder for Ruminants: A Review on Management and Quality

This paper reviews the main determinants of productivity and quality of forage from browse species and highlights the usefulness of browse plants as fodder sources. The effect of secondary plant metabolites on forage quality and the consequential effects on browse acceptability and intake are presented. Condensed tannin (CT) is emphasised due to its nutritional advantage if it occurred at an acceptable level (< 50 gCT/ kg DM). The practical implication of this limit has been questioned and it is speculated that it may vary with plant species as the function of CT depends on its structure and level of polymerisation. Gaps in our knowledge of browse plants are identified and areas requiring further research are indicated. Keywords: Browse yield, Cutting, Browsing, Condensed tannin, Ruminants Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 28 (1) 2008 pp. 65-7

Childbearing and Economic Work: The Health Balance of Women in Accra, Ghana

Objectives: This study aims to investigate (1) whether the health of working women with young children differs from that of working women without young children, and (2) which social factors mediate the relationship between economic and maternal role performance and health among mothers with young children. Methods: The analyses uses panel data from 697 women present in both waves of the Women's Health Study for Accra (WHSA-I and WHSA-II); a community based study of women aged 18 years and older in the Accra Metropolitan Area of Ghana conducted in 2003 and 2008-2009. Change in physical and mental health between the survey waves is compared between women with a biological child alive at WHSA-II and born since WHSA-I and women without a living biological child at WHSA-II born in the interval. To account for attrition between the two survey waves selection models were used with unconditional change score models being used as the outcome model. Results: We found in our sample of working women that those who had a child born between WHSA-I and WHSA-II who was still alive at WHSA-II did not experience a change in mental or physical health different from other women. Among working women with young children, educational status, relationship to the household head and household demography were associated with change in mental health at the 5 % level, whilst migration status and household demography was associated with change in physical health scores. Conclusion: The results suggest there are no health penalties of combining work and childbearing among women with young children in Accra, Ghana

Two Novel Parvoviruses in Frugivorous New and Old World Bats

Bats, a globally distributed group of mammals with high ecological importance, are increasingly recognized as natural reservoir hosts for viral agents of significance to human and animal health. In the present study, we evaluated pools of blood samples obtained from two phylogenetically distant bat families, in particular from flying foxes (Pteropodidae), Eidolon helvum in West Africa, and from two species of New World leaf-nosed fruit bats (Phyllostomidae), Artibeus jamaicensis and Artibeus lituratus in Central America. A sequence-independent virus discovery technique (VIDISCA) was used in combination with high throughput sequencing to detect two novel parvoviruses: a PARV4-like virus named Eh-BtPV-1 in Eidolon helvum from Ghana and the first member of a putative new genus in Artibeus jamaicensis from Panama (Aj-BtPV-1). Those viruses were circulating in the corresponding bat colony at rates of 7–8%. Aj-BtPV-1 was also found in Artibeus lituratus (5.5%). Both viruses were detected in the blood of infected animals at high concentrations: up to 10E8 and to 10E10 copies/ml for Aj-BtPV-1 and Eh-BtPV-1 respectively. Eh-BtPV-1 was additionally detected in all organs collected from bats (brain, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys and intestine) and spleen and kidneys were identified as the most likely sites where viral replication takes place. Our study shows that bat parvoviruses share common ancestors with known parvoviruses of humans and livestock. We also provide evidence that a variety of Parvovirinae are able to cause active infection in bats and that they are widely distributed in these animals with different geographic origin, ecologies and climatic ranges

Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and mortality of HIV, 1980–2017, and forecasts to 2030, for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017

Background Understanding the patterns of HIV/AIDS epidemics is crucial to tracking and monitoring the progress of prevention and control efforts in countries. We provide a comprehensive assessment of the levels and trends of HIV/AIDS incidence, prevalence, mortality, and coverage of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for 1980–2017 and forecast these estimates to 2030 for 195 countries and territories. Methods We determined a modelling strategy for each country on the basis of the availability and quality of data. For countries and territories with data from population-based seroprevalence surveys or antenatal care clinics, we estimated prevalence and incidence using an open-source version of the Estimation and Projection Package—a natural history model originally developed by the UNAIDS Reference Group on Estimates, Modelling, and Projections. For countries with cause-specific vital registration data, we corrected data for garbage coding (ie, deaths coded to an intermediate, immediate, or poorly defined cause) and HIV misclassification. We developed a process of cohort incidence bias adjustment to use information on survival and deaths recorded in vital registration to back-calculate HIV incidence. For countries without any representative data on HIV, we produced incidence estimates by pulling information from observed bias in the geographical region. We used a re-coded version of the Spectrum model (a cohort component model that uses rates of disease progression and HIV mortality on and off ART) to produce age-sex-specific incidence, prevalence, and mortality, and treatment coverage results for all countries, and forecast these measures to 2030 using Spectrum with inputs that were extended on the basis of past trends in treatment scale-up and new infections. Findings Global HIV mortality peaked in 2006 with 1·95 million deaths (95% uncertainty interval 1·87–2·04) and has since decreased to 0·95 million deaths (0·91–1·01) in 2017. New cases of HIV globally peaked in 1999 (3·16 million, 2·79–3·67) and since then have gradually decreased to 1·94 million (1·63–2·29) in 2017. These trends, along with ART scale-up, have globally resulted in increased prevalence, with 36·8 million (34·8–39·2) people living with HIV in 2017. Prevalence of HIV was highest in southern sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, and countries in the region had ART coverage ranging from 65·7% in Lesotho to 85·7% in eSwatini. Our forecasts showed that 54 countries will meet the UNAIDS target of 81% ART coverage by 2020 and 12 countries are on track to meet 90% ART coverage by 2030. Forecasted results estimate that few countries will meet the UNAIDS 2020 and 2030 mortality and incidence targets. Interpretation Despite progress in reducing HIV-related mortality over the past decade, slow decreases in incidence, combined with the current context of stagnated funding for related interventions, mean that many countries are not on track to reach the 2020 and 2030 global targets for reduction in incidence and mortality. With a growing population of people living with HIV, it will continue to be a major threat to public health for years to come. The pace of progress needs to be hastened by continuing to expand access to ART and increasing investments in proven HIV prevention initiatives that can be scaled up to have population-level impact

Influence of leaf lifespan and leaf maturity on the potential forage value of Salix spp, (willows) and Chamaecytisus palmensis (Tagasaste) in New Zealand

Maintaining quality green foliage for use as supplementary fodder in dry summers is an attribute of browse species that could help moderate the dramatic effects of herbaceous feed shortage that affectanimal performance and profitability of pastoral systems. Two Salix species and Chamaecytisus palmensis were investigated to determine their leaf lifespan and measure the effect of leaf maturation on the nutritive value of the species. The Salix spp. (6.5 months) and C. palmensis (5.5months) had long leaf lifespans suggesting they were adapted to poor environments. Salix species tolerates wet and seasonally flooded sites and C. palmensis, dry and low fertility sites. The leaves of the species declined moderately in leaf nitrogen concentration at 3 months. Their long leaf lifespans, and reasonable nutritive values, that decline only slightly during the growing season, indicated that these browse species could potentially serve as supplementary fodder during dry summers

Influence of Cocoa Agro-Ecosystem on Fruit-Feeding Nymphalid Butterflies

Bia Biosphere Reserve was surveyed, with fruit-baited traps and line transects running from the forest to an adjacent cocoa farm, to assess how habitat change affects fruit-feeding butterfly species composition. Species richness, diversity and similarity indices were all computed using the EstimateS software. Differences in species abundance were tested using the Mann-Whitney U test. A total of 1,356 individuals belonging to 88 species were trapped during the entire study period. All the individual butterflies were fruit feeders (nymphalids) belonging to six (6) subfamilies of Nymphalidae except one (Gamia bulchozi) and so was not included in the subsequent data analysis. The species richness and diversity of the forest were higher (75.11±1.3 and 17.98±1.25) than that of the cocoa farm (69.55±1.28 and 15.61±1.17 respectively) and the similarity between the forest and the cocoa farm was very low (0.315). There were significant differences (

Cashew production in the northern part of Ghana

No Abstract. Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science No. 1, 2005: 175-17