Development of a polyclonal competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of antibodies to Ehrlichia ruminantium

A polyclonal competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (PC-ELISA) is described for detection of antibodies to Ehrlichia (Cowdria) ruminantium by using a soluble extract of endothelial cell culture-derived E. ruminantium as the antigen and biotin-labeled polyclonal goat immunoglobulins as the competitor. For goats, the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were both 100% with a cutoff of 80% inhibition (80 PI), with detection of antibodies for 550 days postinfection. For cattle, diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 86 and 100%, respectively, with a cutoff of 50 PI and 79 and 100% with a cutoff of 70 PI. Cross-reactions with high-titer experimental or field antisera to other Ehrlichia and Anaplasma species were observed at up to 68 PI in cattle and up to 85 PI in sheep, and therefore to exclude these cross-reactions, cutoffs of 70 PI for bovine serology and 85 PI for small-ruminant serology were selected. Application of the PC-ELISA to bovine field sera from South Africa gave a higher proportion of positive results than application of the murine macrophage immunofluorescent antibody test or indirect ELISA, suggesting a better sensitivity for detection of recovered cattle, and results with bovine field sera from Malawi were consistent with the observed endemic state of heartwater and the level of tick control practiced at the sample sites. Reproducibility was high, with average standard deviations intraplate of 1.2 PI and interplate of 0.6 PI. The test format is simple, and the test is economical to perform and has a level of sensitivity for detection of low-titer positive bovine sera that may prove to be of value in epidemiological studies on heartwater

Economic Globalisation, Democracy and Income in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Panel Cointegration Analysis

Sub-Saharan Africa has been characterised by low-income levels for decades. This paper analyses the impact of economic globalisation and democracy on income in sub-Saharan Africa using panel cointegration techniques. The paper considers a composite indicator for economic globalisation and several alternative indicators of democracy and highlights the essence of the simultaneous adoption of economic globalisation and democracy for sub- Saharan African countries. The empirical results based on a sample of 31 countries over the 1980-2005 period, clearly indicate that, whilst the total long run impact of economic globalisation on income has been beneficial, the total long run impact of democracy has been the bane of income in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper concludes that policy reforms should aim to improve democratic institutions in sub-Saharan Africa for its potential benefits to be realised

WALL CONTROL BLASTING AT THE ORPHAN BOY MINE – BUTTE, MONTANA

Blasting is often conducted to produce desirable fragment sizes to minimize production cost and energy consumption in downstream processes, including loading, hauling, and crushing. However, the venting of explosive energy in the rock formation sometimes causes unwanted damage beyond the desired perimeter of the blast area. Control blasting has mainly been used in surface mining operations to minimalize blast damage. To explore the applicability of control blasting in underground mining operations, protect the safety of students, faculty, and staff, prevent overbreak, and to ensure the stability of openings and workings, four experimental control blasts, comprising of three smooth blasts and one presplit blast were conducted at the Orphan Boy Mine (an underground mine at Montana Tech). Based on the half-barrels that resulted, the success of the three smooth blasting was less than 20%. The presplit blasting resulted in extensive fracturing of the adjoining rock mass. Fracturing, weathering, and jointing of the rock mass were observed as factors that limited the success of the control blasts. Future work could focus on establishing the effects of these geological conditions on controlled blasting at the Orphan Boy

Saving Honest Entrepreneurs through the Second Chance Policy in Ghana

This paper analyses the existing legal frameworks on insolvency in Ghana and how they sufficiently provide to save honest entrepreneurs during financial reforms. Financial sector reforms are a welcomed mechanism to foster financial sector efficiency for sustainable growth. During the period of decision-making in financial sector reforms, it is expected that some business concerns would have their lifespan terminated. Notwithstanding, recent episodes of financial deregulation have revealed unintended consequences of demobilising the sector which has affected innocent entrepreneurs. The aftermath of the financial sector reforms has passed the Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency Act, 2020 (Act 1015). This paper aims to address the issue of whether or not the existing legal framework benchmarked against the Capital Adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity (CAMEL) framework absolves honest entrepreneurs in such a period as against fraudulent entrepreneurs. The paper adopted the doctrinal legal research approach using distinct research tools including data from primary sources, statutes, journal articles, online resources and other obligatory tools. It finds that recent financial sector reforms did not segregate the fraudulent entrepreneur from honest entrepreneurs to make room for the CAMEL to save the latter. It concludes on how a second chance policy can be developed along with existing statutes to settle and save honest businesses in periods of economic volatility

Some effects of emphatic particles on Akan evidentials

Akan is one of the many languages which uses lexical verbs and verbal constructions to express evidentiality. In this paper, we discuss four verbs used as both evidential and non-evidential forms. Further, we discuss focusing strategies and the use of emphatic particles (EMPH) to support focused constituents. Our aim is to determine whether emphatic particles have any influence on evidential constructions containing them. It is observed that when the source of information ? the entity from whom knowledge is emanating is focused, different degrees of attenuation/accentuation is demonstrated depending on the pragmatically derived information associated with the EMPH. Although in normal conversations these particles add emphasis to focused constituents they are associated with, we note in this study that when certain emphatic particles are used in constructions containing evidential verbs, they not only give emphasis but also they become pointers of face threatening mechanisms - (im)politeness depending on the interpersonal relationship existing between the interlocutors.  Analysis in this study forms part of a bigger study on modality and evidentiality in Akan, based on self-created corpus from Akan literature, radio discussions, observation and constructed examples from researcher?s native competence