Measuring technical efficiency and technological gaps of beef farmers in three regions of Botswana: An application of meta-frontier approach

Differences in resource endowment between regions influence the technologies used in livestock production and cause location-specific effects on production and technical change. Access to technologies may differ within regions due to different farm characteristics. Against this background, the study applied a stochastic meta- frontier model followed by a Tobit regression to estimate technical efficiency and meta-technology ratios and assess factors influencing efficiency of beef farms across three regions in Botswana. Results show that the average technical efficiency level is 0.496 for the whole sample and 0.194, 0.331 and 0.318 for beef farms in South East, Central and Chobe regions, respectively. Considerable scope is identified for improving beef production in Botswana, and targeting is enabled by the differential results across the farm types. Policy analysis using models that assume different beef farm types operate under similar technology present a misleading picture. Considering the importance of livestock sector in poverty reduction, there is a need for appropriate and targeted policies directed towards enhancing efficiency. Especially, such policies should be targeted on provision of technology related services such as controlled breeding methods

In vitro antileishmanial and antischistosomal activities of anemonin isolated from the fresh leaves of Ranunculus multifidus forsk

Leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) infecting the world's poorest populations. Effectiveness of the current antileishmanial and antischistosomal therapies are significantly declining, which calls for an urgent need of new effective and safe drugs. In Ethiopia fresh leaves of Ranunculus multifidus Forsk. are traditionally used for the treatment of various ailments including leishmaniasis and eradication of intestinal worms. In the current study, anemonin isolated from the fresh leaves of R. multifidus was assessed for its in vitro antileishmanial and antischistosomal activities. Anemonin was isolated from the hydro-distilled extract of the leaves of R. multifidus. Antileishmanial activity was assessed on clinical isolates of the promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania aethiopica and L. donovani clinical isolates. Resazurin reduction assay was used to determine antipromastigote activity, while macrophages were employed for antiamastigote and cytotoxicity assays. Antischistosomal assays were performed against adult Schistosoma mansoni and newly transformed schistosomules (NTS). Anemonin displayed significant antileishmanial activity with IC50 values of 1.33 nM and 1.58 nM against promastigotes and 1.24 nM and 1.91 nM against amastigotes of L. aethiopica and L. donovani, respectively. It also showed moderate activity against adult S. mansoni and NTS (49% activity against adult S. mansoni at 10 microM and 41% activity against NTS at 1 microM). The results obtained in this investigation indicate that anemonin has the potential to be used as a template for designing novel antileishmanial and antischistosomal pharmacophores

Index Evaluation of Clinical Efficacy of Immunomodulatory and Osteotropic Therapy for Chronic Generalized Periodontitis of Varying Severity: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background. The significant prevalence of chronic generalized periodontitis, the severity of its course, the increase in the number of complicated forms and short-term remissions cause a constant search for new methods and means of its treatment. When choosing the most effective methods of therapy, specialists mostly prefer a complex effect on the main pathogenetic links of the disease, while often losing sight of the body's own defenses, especially in terms of pharmacotherapeutic support and immunity strengthening. This study presents the results of a study of the clinical efficacy of the treatment of chronic generalized periodontitis by means of the developed therapy complex, including the use of immunomodulatory and osteotropic drugs.Objective — to study clinical efficacy of the developed complex immunomodulatory and osteotropic treatment for chronic generalized periodontitis.Methods. A prospective cohort study was conducted in 154 patients aged 20 to 75 with periodontitis of varying severity. Conventional examination of patients was carried out in specialized dental clinics DentoProma (Krasnodar) and Dentalife (Stavropol) based at the Dentistry Department, Stavropol State Medical University (Russia). The study period was 24 months. The patients were divided into a main group of 118 participants and a control group of 36 participants. The comprehensive treatment plan, prescribed to all patients, included proper oral hygiene education, individual and professional dental hygiene, topical anti-inflammatory agents, Vector therapy, open flap debridement, flap surgery, relevant splinting prosthetics (if necessary). The authors developed a comprehensive therapy, which included administration of the immunomodulatory agent Hepon (Immapharma Company, Russia), glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulfate sodium. All patients of the main and control groups were additionally ranked into subgroups depending on the severity of diagnosed periodontitis: slight (subgroup 1), moderate (subgroup 2) and severe (subgroup 3). The major focus of the study was to establish efficacy of the developed therapy which was defined by the degree of resolution of the inflammatory process and increase in the period of remission. Reflecting the presence and degree of inflammation, dental plaque index and oral hygiene status were considered to be the target indicators. Analysis and statistical processing of the obtained data were carried out using Microsoft Excel (Microsoft, USA).Results. The analysis of the data revealed that the immediate clinical results of the developed complex therapy both in the main group and in the control group were approximately identical. According to the follow-up data obtained one month after the treatment, additional prescription of complex osteotropic treatment to the patients with chronic generalized periodontitis contributed to rapid resolution of infection in the gingival tissues and provided stable treatment results.Conclusion. Introduction of the complex clinical and hygienic treatment promoted resolution of the inflammatory process in the gingival tissues of all patients who received immunomodulatory and osteotropic therapy

Toward the inclusion of environmental considerations in Livestock Master Plans

To meet future global demand for food, the productivity of food systems will need to increase, land and other natural resources will need to be used more sustainably, and negative impacts on the environment will need to be minimized while opportunities are sought to restore lands that have already lost nutrients and/or biodiversity (Herrero et al., 2021). The livestock sector plays a key role in fulfilling human food needs because it provides high amounts of protein and micronutrients per unit of product (Herrero et al., 2021). In developing countries, livestock systems substantially contribute to increasing livelihood resilience for many smallholders and offer ways to lift people out of poverty by providing regular income and employment (World Bank, 2009). In addition, these systems provide other benefits to society, such as traction, soil nutrients from manure, and risk management (Havlík et al., 2014; Mehrabi et al., 2020; Thornton and Herrero, 2010). In recent decades, livestock have been one of the fastest-growing agricultural subsectors, driven by the growing demand for livestock products because of population growth, higher income, and urbanization in developing countries (Herrero et al., 2021; Thornton, 2010). Because of this, along with natural resource use, environmental impacts from livestock have increased, making this sector an important contributor to climate change; nutrient mining; water, energy, and land use; biodiversity loss; and pollution of water streams and soils, among other negative environmental impacts. Therefore, reductions in environmental burdens and sustainable natural resource use by the livestock sector will be necessary as production increases to meet future food demand

Advances in water resources research in the Upper Blue Nile basin and the way forward: A review

The Upper Blue Nile basin is considered as the lifeline for ∼250 million people and contributes ∼50 Gm3/year of water to the Nile River. Poor land management practices in the Ethiopian highlands have caused a significant amount of soil erosion, thereby threatening the productivity of the Ethiopian agricultural system, degrading the health of the aquatic ecosystem, and shortening the life of downstream reservoirs. The Upper Blue Nile basin, because of limited research and availability of data, has been considered as the “great unknown.” In the recent past, however, more research has been published. Nonetheless, there is no state-of-the-art review that presents research achievements, gaps and future directions. Hence, this paper aims to bridge this gap by reviewing the advances in water resources research in the basin while highlighting research needs and future directions. We report that there have been several research projects that try to understand the biogeochemical processes by collecting information on runoff, groundwater recharge, sediment transport, and tracers. Different types of hydrological models have been applied. Most of the earlier research used simple conceptual and statistical approaches for trend analysis and water balance estimations, mainly using rainfall and evapotranspiration data. More recent research has been using advanced semi-physically/physically based distributed hydrological models using high-resolution temporal and spatial data for diverse applications. We identified several research gaps and provided recommendations to address them. While we have witnessed advances in water resources research in the basin, we also foresee opportunities for further advancement. Incorporating the research findings into policy and practice will significantly benefit the development and transformation agenda of the Ethiopian government