The Quite [sic] Revolution: An analysis of the change toward below-replacement-level fertility in Addis Ababa

Rural-urban differentials in fertility behaviour are neither new nor surprising, but a difference of over four children per woman as observed between rural Ethiopia and the country's national capital, Addis Ababa, in 1990 is rare, possibly unique. Reported fertility in Addis Ababa in 1990 was about 2.6 children per woman. By the mid-1990s, it declined further to 1.8 children per woman. This study investigates the dimensions, components and causes of this remarkable reproductive change. ¶ The study specifically asks and seeks to answer the following questions. Is the decline real, or is it merely an illusion created by faulty reporting? If it is real, how has it come about? Did it result from a change in the onset of reproduction or a decline in the proportion of women reaching high parities or both? And in what context has such a fundamental, even revolutionary, change taken place in a country and a continent that are mostly yet to join the global transition to a small family-size norm. ¶ Data for the study were drawn from two national population censuses, undertaken in 1984 and 1994, two fertility surveys, conducted in 1990 and 1995, and a number of supplementary sources, including a qualitative study conducted by the investigator. Results from the study confirm that the trend of declining fertility and the recent fall to below-replacement-level are indeed real. As the analysis shows the decline was largely driven by changes in the marriage pattern, and supplemented by the increased propensity of fertility control observed across all birth orders and age groups. All socio-economic groups in the city have had a decline in cohort fertility and this was brought about both by shifts in population composition (a composition effect) and increased intensity of fertility control within each group (a rate effect). The institutional and cultural factors that are believed to have prompted these changes are discussed in the thesis in some detail

Leadership Perspective: Country Development and Transition to Free Market Economy

In the following essay, the author will examine the need for a clear understanding of the transition process and economic development in Ethiopia. The country’s move towards a free market economy will be critically analyzed as an important step to fight poverty. This will also raise the question of what policies need to be changed to make the nation competitive. A case method is taken into consideration to examine various experiences from African and Asian developing nations. The analysis will be from leadership perspective and takes a business approach to examining the issues and primarily utilizes free market transitional theories. The following factors are carefully examined in the study of transition to market economy: 1- Porter’s Diamond 2) Higher education 2) Present policy and changes needed to accommodate this transition process. In conclusion, a summary of suggestions and recommendations will be presented. The recommended ideas will specifically take into consideration the present economic status of the country and will outline how leaders may proceed through the process of transition

Genetic Diversity Studies on Yield and Its Related Traits in Korarima (Aframomum Corrorima (Braun) Jansen)) Germplasms

Genetic diversity studies was undertaken on 25 korarima germplasm collected from different agro ecological areas of Ethiopia to help in identifying elite germplasm accession with the greatest novelty at Jimma agricultural research center during the year of 2011 from August to December. The experiment was superimposed on those which were planted in a 5x5 simple lattice design with two replications and five accessions per incomplete block. Nine plants per plot were planted with a spacing of 1.8m both between rows and plants.  The germplasms were grown under Sesbania shade trees. Cluster analysis revealed that the 25 korarima germplasm were grouped in to four clusters. Distance among these clusters is significantly different for all the cluster combination. This indicates that there is an opportunity to bring about improvement through hybridization of germplasm  from different clusters and subsequent selection from the segregating generations. Principal component analysis indicated that six principal components explained about 80.51% of the total variation. Differentiation of germplasms into different cluster was because of cumulative effect of number of characters. The present study generally implied the presence of significant genetic variability among the tested genotypes. Thus, there is an excellent opportunity to bring about improvement through direct selection and hybridization which involves crossing of genotypes from different clusters. Keywords: korarima (Aframomum corrorima), genetic diversity, genetic divergence, yield per plant

MATERNAL EDUCATION AND CHILD SURVIVAL IN ADDIS ABABA

ABSTRACT: Maternal education is found to be positively associated with child survival and its impact was generally more critical in the step from primary to secondary schooling than from the illiterate to literate group. Although once income/wealth is controlled, differences in maternal education resulted relatively little variation on child survival. The result also demonstrated that given the level of maternal education its proportionate effect on child survival improved as one ascends from the lowest to the highest income/wealth category. The findings have important implications for policy and further research

Chinese Economic Development and Leadership Strategy: The Challenges of Creating Competitive Advantage

In the last three decades China’s economic development have achieved great many things some of which are 73 or more companies among the Global Fortune 500 (E & Y Report, 2012). This progress accelerated the country second to the US in its ranking. In addition, Chinese companies are expected to represent close to one fifth of all Global 500s by the 2020. The economy consistently grew 10 percent for the past decades and is anticipated to recover from the recent global financial crisis faster than some Western nations (Ju and Mirza, 2012). The economic growth has created debate among two camps; the skeptics are projecting the bust is near, while the cohorts claim to foresee continuity in the general direction. The purpose of this paper is therefore, to examine China’s economic development in light of an assertive strategic leadership that created sustainable economic development and distinguish the challenges of implementing a strategy to create competitive advantage through multiple economic systems; a market lead economy and a robust state developmentalism. The main question is; could it be possible for China to continue on the path of economic development and create a competitive advantage? If so, what are the opportunities and the challenges? Examination of the questions by using Institutional theory, leadership strategy, economic growth and institutional development theories indicated that continuity of the economic development depends on an assertive leadership and liberalization. Also, China should look into its own brand, and create unique or differentiated products, methods and processes that can sustain economic development. The local sector has similar characteristics as western market lead economy; that the managers are motivated by financial incentives that are received when their decision lead to an overall profit

Respiratory Limitations to Exercise Tolerance and Performance in Obese Adolescent Patients

Obese adolescents (OB) have an increased O2 cost of exercise, attributable in part to an increased O2 cost of breathing. The increased O2 cost of breathing could entail a \u201ccompetition\u201d between respiratory and locomotor muscles for the finite available O2, leading to fatigue and premature exhaustion. This would contribute to the inactivity which represents one of the main causes of obesity, impeding the increased level of physical activity which is one of the cornerstones of the treatment of the disease. In order to interrupt this vicious circle, we followed two approaches, attempting to relieve the respiratory limitation in obese adolescents performing cycling/walking exercises. In the first approach, respiratory muscles were acutely unloaded via normoxic helium-O2 (HeO2). Helium [He] has a lower density compared to nitrogen, and thereby HeO2 breathing requires less respiratory muscle work than air breathing. This unloading lowered the O2 cost of exercise and perceived exertion during moderate- and heavy-intensity cycling of relatively short duration (12 min). Following these findings, respiratory muscles were acutely unloaded by switching the inspired gas from ambient air (AIR) to normoxic HeO2 (AIR+HeO2) during constant work rate (CWR) cycling to exhaustion, in order to specifically evaluate the effects of the proposed intervention on exercise tolerance. The intervention extended exercise duration/improved exercise tolerance during both moderate (below the gas exchange threshold,GET) cycling exercises. In the second approach, a standardized program of respiratory muscle endurance training (RMET) was superimposed on a standard multidisciplinary body mass reduction program; RMET decreased perceived exertion and O2 cost of exercise during heavy-, but not during moderate-intensity cycling exercise, and improved peak cycling capacity. We then evaluated the hypothesis that the benefits of RMET on the O2 cost of exercise and exercise tolerance would be more pronounced during walking on a treadmill compared to the effects described during cycling, and/or could be observed also at low intensities. Indeed, in OB a 3-wk RMET program markedly lowered the O2 cost of moderate- and heavy-intensity walking and improved exercise tolerance. By contrasting the vicious circle of obesity \u2192 early fatigue \u2192 reduced exercise tolerance \u2192 reduced physical activity \u2192 obesity, the intervention more specifically directed to the respiratory function, such as RMET programs, could represent a useful adjunct in the control of obesity. Longer periods of RMET should be investigated