Integrating fish resources to agro-ecosystem analyses

In October 2005, a consortium of partners led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) proposed a project aimed at integrating fish resources management in agricultural management in the Tonle Sap area. This 2-years project assistance was accepted for funding by the Challenge Program on Water and Food and started in January 2008. The overall goal of this project is to improve allocation and use of water in combined farming and fishing systems in order to enhance food security of rural communities and water productivity. The general objectives of the Fisheries component are: 1) to contribute to the review of existing fisheries and aquaculture information, assessment and data collection systems and existing databases from a fisheries perspective 2) to determine key questions that could be asked at the commune level that would enable the identification of fisheries issues for different agroecosystem zones. These would include both threats and potential threats to fisheries based on key ecological variables and opportunities that fisheries and aquaculture could represent in local livelihoods.Research, Lake fisheries, Agropisciculture, Ecosystems, Analysis, Cambodia, Tonle Sap L.,

Biochar From Waste Banana Peels as Growth Promoter for Holy Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum) And Chili Pepper (Capsicum annuum)

Biochars are porous materials prepared by combustion of biomass under the presence of low oxygen levels. Its application as soil fertilizer has been shown to have positive effects on the plants by increasing the fertility and raising the soil pH, increasing nutrient cycling and moisture holding capacity, improving cation exchange capacity, and reducing the amount of pesticides and nutrients leaching to the surface and ground water (Laird 2008, Speratti 2017). In this study, waste banana peels of the Lakatan variety (Musa x paradisiaca) were pyrolized at temperatures 300, 400, 500 and 700 °C, the resulting basic char were obtained at 4-9% yield. The char from the different pyrolysis conditions were characterized and evaluated as growth promoter for holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum) and chili pepper (Capsicum annuum). The results show that the ability of the char to promote growth were found to be beneficial when the pyrolysis temperature of the char is lower (300 – 500 °C) for both plants. Conversely, the soil containing 1 wt% of char was found to be beneficial to the growth of chili compared to the control

Opioid modulation of GABA release in the rat inferior colliculus

Background: The inferior colliculus, which receives almost all ascending and descending auditory signals, plays a crucial role in the processing of auditory information. While the majority of the recorded activities in the inferior colliculus are attributed to GABAergic and glutamatergic signalling, other neurotransmitter systems are expressed in this brain area including opiate peptides and their receptors which may play a modulatory role in neuronal communication.Results: Using a perfusion protocol we demonstrate that morphine can inhibit KCl-induced release of [H-3] GABA from rat inferior colliculus slices. DAMGO ([D-Ala(2), N-Me-Phe(4), Gly(5)ol]-enkephalin) but not DADLE ([D-Ala2, D-Leu5]-enkephalin or U69593 has the same effect as morphine indicating that mu rather than delta or kappa opioid receptors mediate this action. [H-3]GABA release was diminished by 16%, and this was not altered by the protein kinase C inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide I. Immunostaining of inferior colliculus cryosections shows extensive staining for glutamic acid decarboxylase, more limited staining for mu opiate receptors and relatively few neurons co-stained for both proteins.Conclusion: The results suggest that mu-opioid receptor ligands can modify neurotransmitter release in a sub population of GABAergic neurons of the inferior colliculus. This could have important physiological implications in the processing of hearing information and/or other functions attributed to the inferior colliculus such as audiogenic seizures and aversive behaviour

Risk scoring for domestic violence in pregnancy

Most studies and work on domestic violence against women are aimed at helping victims. Studies aimed at detecting those at risk of domestic violence are few. Risk identification has important implications for early detection and prevention. A risk scoring tool was developed and tested on 466 antenatal clinic attendees at 3 levels of health care in Zaria, Nigeria. The prevalence of domestic violence was 11.8%.The sensitivity of the tool was 96.6% and specificity 11.8%.The positive predictive value and accuracy were 13.7% and 22.5%respectively. The tool has a high sensitivity and could be a good screening tool for identifying those at risk for domestic violence in pregnancy. Keywords:Domestic violence ;pregnancy;risk scoring tool Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice Vol. 11 (1) 2008: pp.18-2

On the accuracy of solving confluent Prony systems

In this paper we consider several nonlinear systems of algebraic equations which can be called "Prony-type". These systems arise in various reconstruction problems in several branches of theoretical and applied mathematics, such as frequency estimation and nonlinear Fourier inversion. Consequently, the question of stability of solution with respect to errors in the right-hand side becomes critical for the success of any particular application. We investigate the question of "maximal possible accuracy" of solving Prony-type systems, putting stress on the "local" behavior which approximates situations with low absolute measurement error. The accuracy estimates are formulated in very simple geometric terms, shedding some light on the structure of the problem. Numerical tests suggest that "global" solution techniques such as Prony's algorithm and ESPRIT method are suboptimal when compared to this theoretical "best local" behavior

Standalone General Purpose Data Logger Design and Implementation

This paper describes the design of a general purpose data logger that is compatible with a variety of transducers, potentially permitting the measurement and recording of a wide range of phenomena. The recorded data can be retrieved to a PC via an RS-232 serial port. The standalone general purpose data logger centered on a single microcontroller unit (MCU) the PIC18F4520. The circuit takes an input range of 15 – 30V DC in addition; an in-built 9V rechargeable battery provides backup power in the absence of an external source.  The microcontroller input form the Transduceroutput was conditioned within the allowable voltage range, the ADC calculates a binary value that is equivalent to its input (analog) voltage.  The in-built 10-bit ADC of the PIC18F4520 converts the analog input to a digital output by successive approximation, the 8 MSBs of the ADC are stored whereas the 2 LSBs are discarded which makes the output of the ADC varies from 0 to 255. Although the PIC18F4520 features 256 bytes of non-volatile EEPROM data memory, four AT24C256 2-wire serial EEPROM chips were used for data storage. The four chips were cascaded to form a memory bank that connects to the MCU via a common single 2-wire bus.The hardware employed to achieve the RS-232 serial interface was a 9-pin D-shell serial connector and a voltage level translator chip (Maxim’s MAX232). The connector simply allows the device to be coupled to a serial port of a PC using a standard serial cable. The TIMER1 module of the PIC18F4520 was configured such that its 16-bit register is incremented on the rising edge of the external clock signal applied to its input pin (pin 16). The input pins of the MCU that are dedicated to the switches are pulled up by resistors R11, R12, R13, R14, R15 and R16.  The push buttons temporarily pull down the input signal when depressed. The output devices consist of a “Liquid Crystal Display” (LCD) device, four general purpose LEDs, and a buzzer. The LCD displays the momentary status of the data-logger in terms of date, time, sampling rate and nature of logged data.  The LEDs are used to display the four MSBs of the measured data and the buzzer is used to raise an alarm if and when necessary but may be disabled in hardware by opening jumper J4. The design was implemented and simulated on Labcenterproteus and the components were mounted on a double layered PCB (Printed Circuit Board) that provides the tracks that make up the circuit.The prototype design realized was found to work satisfactorily.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i2.18

Haematological assessment of occupational exposure to lead handlers in Enugu Urban, Enugu State, Nigeria

No Abstract