Environmental regulation and competitiveness

The potential relationship between domestic environmental regulation and international competitiveness has evoked various speculations. The common neoclassical train of thought is that strict environmental regulation is detrimental to the competitiveness of industry, and that it induces phenomena such as ecological dumping, ecological capital flight, and regulatory ‘chill’ in environmental standards. A different view is that strict environmental regulation triggers industry’s innovation potential, and subsequently increases its competitiveness. The impact of environmental regulation on competitiveness has been analyzed in terms of international capital movements, new firm formation, and international trade. This paper focuses on a statistically rigorous analysis of international trade studies, using a technique that is known as meta-analysis. The paper presents a statistically supported evaluation of the literature, in order to assess what the main conclusions regarding the relationship between environmental regulation and competitiveness are when it comes to studies on international trade flows. The synthesis of the literature is subsequently used to present guidelines for future primary research in this area

Evaluation of direct colorimetric MTT assay for rapid detection of rifampicin and isoniazid resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

With the spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) strains there is an increasing need for new accurate and cost-effective methods for a rapid diagnostic and drug susceptibility testing (DST), particularly in low-income countries where tuberculosis is hyperendemic. A colorimetric assay using 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) has been suggested as a promising method for DST, especially to rifampicin. In this study, we standardized and evaluated the MTT assay for a rapid direct detection of rifampicin and isoniazid resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains from sputum specimens using Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) culture medium as a gold standard. The MTT assay sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for rifampicin were 100%, 86%, 100%, 99%, respectively. For isoniazid, the MTT assay had a 100% sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values. Interestingly, the MTT assay gave interpretable results within two weeks for 94% of the samples compared to 7-14 weeks for LJ media. Overall, an excellent agreement was observed between MTT assay and LJ proportion method (Kappa, 0.91 for rifampicin and 1.00 for isoniazid). In conclusion, the direct colorimetric MTT assay simultaneously detects susceptible and resistant strains of M. tuberculosis within three weeks. It significantly shortens the time required to obtain a DST result and could be a reliable alternative method for rapid detection of drug-resistant TB strains in high-TB-burden resource-limited settings

How gender- and violence-related norms affect self-esteem among adolescent refugee girls living in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests adolescent self-esteem is influenced by beliefs of how individuals in their reference group perceive them. However, few studies examine how gender- and violence-related social norms affect self-esteem among refugee populations. This paper explores relationships between gender inequitable and victim-blaming social norms, personal attitudes, and self-esteem among adolescent girls participating in a life skills program in three Ethiopian refugee camps. METHODS: Ordinary least squares multivariable regression analysis was used to assess the associations between attitudes and social norms, and self-esteem. Key independent variables of interest included a scale measuring personal attitudes toward gender inequitable norms, a measure of perceived injunctive norms capturing how a girl believed her family and community would react if she was raped, and a peer-group measure of collective descriptive norms surrounding gender inequity. The key outcome variable, self-esteem, was measured using the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. RESULTS: Girl's personal attitudes toward gender inequitable norms were not significantly predictive of self-esteem at endline, when adjusting for other covariates. Collective peer norms surrounding the same gender inequitable statements were significantly predictive of self-esteem at endline (ß = -0.130; p  =  0.024). Additionally, perceived injunctive norms surrounding family and community-based sanctions for victims of forced sex were associated with a decline in self-esteem at endline (ß = -0.103; p  =  0.014). Significant findings for collective descriptive norms and injunctive norms remained when controlling for all three constructs simultaneously. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest shifting collective norms around gender inequity, particularly at the community and peer levels, may sustainably support the safety and well-being of adolescent girls in refugee settings

Analysis of fruit and vegetable market chains in Alamata, Southern Zone of Tigray: the case of onion, tomato and papaya

The study was initiated with the objectives of analyzing fruit and vegetable marketing chains in Alamata District, southern zone of Tigray. Specifically the study attempts to assess structure-conduct-performance of fruit and vegetable marketing, analyze market supply determinants, and analyze the institutional support services of extension, input supply and credit. The study also analyzes profitability of fruit and vegetable production and marketing and identifies problems and opportunities in fruit and vegetable production and marketing. Data came from 140 horticulture producing households, 9 horticulture wholesale and 30 retailers. Cobb Douglas (logarithmic function) econometric estimation procedure was employed to identify factors that determine onion, tomato and papaya market supply of the farm households in the area. The net profit obtained by the different market chain actors is indicated as follows. From simple calculation, on the average, a producer profited 11,293.09ETB from onion, 8,823.02ETB from tomato, and 11,432.93ETB from papaya per hectare production (assuming an average price of 1.79 ETB, 0.99 ETB and 2.19ETB per kg prices, respectively). On top of these assemblers, wholesalers and retailers profitability from the aforementioned crops were 35.49 ETB from onion, 24.24 ETB from tomato and 16.80 ETB from papaya for assembles per quintal. Wholesalers and retailers also obtain a profit of 47.80 ETB from onion, 34.30 ETB from tomato and 41.60 ETB from papaya and 30.04 ETB from onion, 24.33 ETB from tomato and 16.50 ETB from papaya, respectively per quintal (assuming an average price of 3.71 ETB for onion, 2.89 ETB for tomato and 3.56 ETB for papaya per kg at retile level). However, this potential benefit is under challenges of imperfect marketing. The market conduct is characterized by unethical practices of cheating and information collusion that led to uncompetitive market behavior even though the calculated concentration ratio did not indicate oligoposony market behavior (24.56%). Therefore some corrective measures are required by the government as well as institutions like cooperatives. Among the different variables that were hypothesized as determining factors for volume of marketable supply the econometric result showed that, number of oxen owned and age of household head for onion while only number of oxen owned for tomato and quantity produced for papaya were significant. All had the expected sign as prior expected. According to the survey result an estimated volume of annual production of 3,552.50 Qt of onion 1,377 Qt of tomato and 255.33 Qt of papaya have been produced. The estimated marketed proportion according to the respondents was 98.99 percent of onion, 99.16 percent of tomato and 84.87 percent of papaya. The Alamata office of Agriculture and Rural Development is the main extension support giving institution. Three development agents are deployed in each Tabaias with the help of whom 1.42 percent of respondents got weekly extension service, 0 .71 percent have got extension service in two weeks, 0 .71 percent have got extension service any time required, 8.57 percent have got extension service with no regular program and the remaining 88.57 percent of respondents reported no extension contact at all. This weak extension support and limited seed supply system largely hinders production and productivity of the crops under study. On top of this, limited accessibility of chemicals, fertilizer and credit within the district are anther key constraints of production and marketing of the stud crops. Therefore it is essential to take some improvement measures by the government as well as private sectors

Determinants of farmers' tree-planting investment decisions as a degraded landscape management strategy in the central highlands of Ethiopia

Land degradation due to lack of sustainable land management practices is one of the critical challenges in many developing countries including Ethiopia. This study explored the major determinants of farm-level tree-planting decisions as a land management strategy in a typical farming and degraded landscape of the Modjo watershed, Ethiopia. The main data were generated from household surveys and analysed using descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression model. The model significantly predicted farmers' tree-planting decisions (χ2 =  37.29, df  =  15, P < 0.001). Besides, the computed significant value of the model revealed that all the considered predictor variables jointly influenced the farmers' decisions to plant trees as a land management strategy. The findings of the study demonstrated that the adoption of tree-growing decisions by local land users was a function of a wide range of biophysical, institutional, socioeconomic and household-level factors. In this regard, the likelihood of household size, productive labour force availability, the disparity of schooling age, level of perception of the process of deforestation and the current land tenure system had a critical influence on tree-growing investment decisions in the study watershed. Eventually, the processes of land-use conversion and land degradation were serious, which in turn have had adverse effects on agricultural productivity, local food security and poverty trap nexus. Hence, the study recommended that devising and implementing sustainable land management policy options would enhance ecological restoration and livelihood sustainability in the study watershed

Comparing the bio-fertilizer quality of co-composted municipal organic wastes of different mix ratio: evidence from Tigray, northern Ethiopia

Purpose: There is an increasing trend of using sewage sludge co-composting to produce bio-fertilizers for use in agriculture. However, existing studies on the quality of the produced compost came out with contradicting results, which hinder its sustainable utilization. Hence, this study aimed at assessing the quality of sludge based compost for agricultural use. Method: Four treatments, T1 (70% sludge, 15.3% wheat straw and 14.7% cattle manure), T2 (50% sludge, 14.8% wheat straw and 35.2% cattle manure), T3 (30% sludge, 20% wheat straw and 50% cattle manure) and T4 (20% sludge, 14.2% wheat straw and 65.8% cattle manure) having three replications were arranged in a randomized complete design. Matured compost samples, composted for 90 days, were analyzed for nutrient contents, pathogens and heavy metals concentration. Results: The nitrogen content of the produced compost was in the range of 1.74–2.0%, which is higher than the recommended 0.3%. It was significantly higher in the T1 treatment, a 0.24% increase compared to the T4 treatment. However, the phosphorous (202−222 ppm) and potassium (1801−2357 ppm) contents were classified into the very low category. Both elements were higher in the T4 treatment, a 9.9% and 31% increase, respectively as compared to that of T1. Furthermore, all treatments were free of the major disease causing bacteria and characterized by a very low heavy metal concentration. Conclusion: Overall, municipal sludge co-composting has yielded a bio-fertilizer with both pathogen-free and safe levels of heavy metal concentrations. However, further research is required to enhance the poor phosphorous and potassium contents. Research Highlights ·        Nt in the co-composted sludge was 1.74 – 2.0%, which is higher than the recommended 0.3%. ·        Nt in treatment T1 increased by 0.24% compared to the T4 treatment. ·        The highest phosphorous and potassium values were recorded on the T4 treatment. ·        All treatments were free of the major disease causing bacteria. ·        All treatments were characterized by a very low heavy metal concentration

Properties of an alkali-thermo stable xylanase from Geobacillus thermodenitrificans A333 and applicability in xylooligosaccharides generation

An extracellular thermo-alkali-stable and cellulase-free xylanase from Geobacillus thermodenitrificans A333 was purified to homogeneity by ion exchange and size exclusion chromatography. Its molecular mass was 44 kDa as estimated in native and denaturing conditions by gel filtration and SDS-PAGE analysis, respectively. The xylanase (GtXyn) exhibited maximum activity at 70 °C and pH 7.5. It was stable over broad ranges of temperature and pH retaining 88 % of activity at 60 °C and up to 97 % in the pH range 7.5–10.0 after 24 h. Moreover, the enzyme was active up to 3.0 M sodium chloride concentration, exhibiting at that value 70 % residual activity after 1 h. The presence of other metal ions did not affect the activity with the sole exceptions of K+ that showed a stimulating effect, and Fe2+, Co2+ and Hg2+, which inhibited the enzyme. The xylanase was activated by non-ionic surfactants and was stable in organic solvents remaining fully active over 24 h of incubation in 40 % ethanol at 25 °C. Furthermore, the enzyme was resistant to most of the neutral and alkaline proteases tested. The enzyme was active only on xylan, showing no marked preference towards xylans from different origins. The hydrolysis of beechwood xylan and agriculture-based biomass materials yielded xylooligosaccharides with a polymerization degree ranging from 2 to 6 units and xylobiose and xylotriose as main products. These properties indicate G. thermodenitrificans A333 xylanase as a promising candidate for several biotechnological applications, such as xylooligosaccharides preparation

Soil erosion modelling: A global review and statistical analysis

To gain a better understanding of the global application of soil erosion prediction models, we comprehensivelyreviewed relevant peer-reviewed research literature on soil-erosion modelling published between 1994 and2017. We aimed to identify (i) the processes and models most frequently addressed in the literature, (ii) the re-gions within which models are primarily applied, (iii) the regions which remain unaddressed and why, and (iv)how frequently studies are conducted to validate/evaluate model outcomes relative to measured data. To per-form this task, we combined the collective knowledge of 67 soil-erosion scientists from 25 countries. Theresulting database, named‘Global Applications of Soil Erosion Modelling Tracker (GASEMT)’, includes 3030 indi-vidual modelling records from 126 countries, encompassing all continents (except Antarctica). Out of the 8471articles identified as potentially relevant, we reviewed 1697 appropriate articles and systematically evaluatedand transferred 42 relevant attributes into the database. This GASEMT database provides comprehensive insightsinto the state-of-the-art of soil- erosion models and model applications worldwide. This database intends to sup-port the upcoming country-based United Nations global soil-erosion assessment in addition to helping to informsoil erosion research priorities by building a foundation for future targeted, in-depth analyses. GASEMT is anopen-source database available to the entire user-community to develop research, rectify errors, andmakefutureexpansion