Evaluation of Two Estrus Synchronization Protocols in Dairy Cattle at North Shoa Zone Ethiopia

This study was initiated to change the hesitation of the farmer on the effectiveness of estrus synchronization under their (Ethiopian small holder) livestock management system using two synchronization protocols. Non-pregnant animals with normal reproductive tract and that fulfilled the preconditions for estrus synchronization were considered for treatment & assigned into two synchronization protocols (single PGF2α injection; and double PGF2α injection). Among 94 (27 heifer and 67 cows) synchronized cows using one and two injections of PGF2α protocols 26 heifers and 63 cows (89/94.7%) were exhibited estrus by visual observation and rectal palpation the remaining 5 (5.3%) did not illustrate heat. The overall pregnancy was 59.6 % with overall birth 94.3 %. High pregnancy was obtained in the double injection of PGF2α treatment group (63.1 %) than animals treated with one shot protocol 55.8 % there were statistically significant difference between treatments (p<0.05). Higher pregnancy was obtained from cross breed animals than local breeds. More over most of the animals come to estrus greater than 96 hrs. There was also significant difference between technicians on detecting the CL and conception. The estrus response, conception rate, pregnancy rate and calving rate was higher in both protocols so producers or farmers can use either the two protocols to achieve remarkable result but tight follow-ups and more resources are need to be exploited at farmer level

Correction: The effect of national antenatal care guidelines and provider training on obstetric danger sign counselling: a propensity score matching analysis of the 2014 Ethiopia service provision assessment plus survey.

After publication of this article [1], the authors reported that in the section ‘Sample size and selection process’ in the first sentence, the number ‘1237’ should have read ‘1327’. Moreover, reference [50] should have been replaced by [53]. References [54–87] were renumbered. The original article [1] has been corrected

Morphological and Molecular Identification and Categorization of Aspergillus Isolates Associated with Different Crops from Delhi Market, India

Aspergillus species infecting fruits (Apple &amp; Brinjal) and crop seeds (Maize, wheat, beans, groundnut, paddy andblack gram) collected from the market of Delhi during 2008 were identified by using morphological and molecularmethods. Sixty-five diseased specimens of fruits and crops were collected from the market and isolations of thepathogens were made. Twenty isolates of Aspergillus were separated on the basis of genus characters. The isolateswere further categorised into five different species based on their colony characters, viz. colony growth, color andtexture and microscopic observations,i.e. conidial head, conidiophore, vesicle, sterigmata and conidia. Randomamplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints using six arbitrary 10 mers primers clearly separated the species.Morphological grouping and speciation matched with the molecular grouping for most of the isolates. The randomprimer OPB11 gave reproducible and very stable result for strain delineation of five examined pathogenicAspergillus species (A. niger, A. flavus, A. parasiticus, A. terreus and A. ochraceus) in comparison to other primersand this primer was used to develop species specific marker to identify Aspergillus flavus as it gave monomorphicband for all the A. flavus isolates studied

Characterization of Menz and Afar indigenous sheep breeds of smallholders and pastoralists for designing community-based breeding strategies in Ethiopia

This study aimed at understanding of existing sheep breeding practices, identifying sheep breeding goals and characterizing the morphological and biometrical characters of Menz and Afar sheep breeds in their habitat as a step towards developing sustainable sheep breeding strategy. The study was conducted by implementing single visit questionnaire, observing and recording of sheep morphological characters, and by recording body weight and body measurements. The survey revealed that the mean sheep flock size per household was 31.6 in Menz and 23.0 in Afar area. Nearly half of the pastoralists in Afar area and one-fifth of smallholder farmers in Menz area do not have breeding ram. The survey revealed the predominance of uncontrolled mating, small flock size and less proportion of breeding male (especially in Afar sheep). Mixing of different sheep flocks within a village was varying by season in both production systems. When flocks are mixed, the inbreeding coefficient could be reduced by 86% in Menz and 78% in Afar sheep flocks. Menz and Afar rams were castrated at the age of 1.7 and 1.5 years, respectively. After castration sheep were kept for longer period of time, 1.9 years (range of 0.25 to 5 years) and 3.1 years (range of 1 to 6 years) for Menz and Afar sheep breeds, respectively. Appearance/conformation was the most important trait in choosing of breeding ram for both Menz and Afar sheep owners. Lambing interval and mothering ability in both crop-livestock and pastoral systems and milk yield in pastoral systems were important traits for the choice of breeding ewes. Sexual maturity age of Menz ram was 10.5 months whereas Afar ram attains sexual maturity at average age of 7.1 months. Age at first lambing, lambing interval, twining rate and lifetime productivity of Menz sheep were 470.1 days, 255.1 days, 1% and 9.3 lambs, respectively. The corresponding values for Afar sheep were 405.6 days, 270.5 days, 5%, 12.1 lambs, respectively. The average market age of male and female Menz sheep were 11.3 and 11.9 months, respectively. Afar sheep were marketed at average age of 6.7 and 8.4 months for male and females, respectively. Afar ewes had mean (standard deviation) milk yield of 224 (54) ml per day with lactation length ranging from 1.5 to 6.0 months. The purpose of keeping sheep in Menz area was to generate income followed by meat, manure, coarse wool and as means of saving, in that order. For Afar pastoralists milk production, meat consumption and income generation are the purposes for keeping sheep. In both production systems, feed shortage, frequent drought and disease were the most important sheep production constraints. Menz sheep are fat tailed (100%) and the tail was curved upward at the tip (99.5). Plain red, white and black coat colours were the dominant colours observed in Menz sheep with proportion of 29.3%, 21.6% and 15.8%, respectively. Almost all (99.1%) of the Menz ewes had no horn whereas most (92.3%) of the rams had horn. About 18.5% of the Menz rams had ruff (long hair around the neck region of the inner part) whereas females had no ruff. Menz rams had no wattle while 6.1% of the ewes had wattle. About 15.4% of the Menz sheep had rudimentary ear, 35.3% had short ear showing a tendency to incline downward and the remaining about half (49.3) of the sheep had larger and dropping/semi-pendulous ears. Afar sheep breed is fat tailed and the tail was curved upward having a wider tail both at the base and at the tip. The major (90%) coat colour of Afar sheep varies from white to light red; white with red patch along the back (41.9%), plain light red (30.9%), plain white (17.2%). Plain dark red accounted for 7% and the remaining few proportions were black, mixture of black and white; and dark grey. Almost all of the Afar sheep (99.2%) had straight head profile. Both sexes of Afar sheep breed are polled. About 2.4% of the female had wattle while all of the males had no wattle. The breed has no ruff, but dewlap is present in both sexes. Majority (78.6%) of the Afar sheep were short eared showing a tendency of inclination downwards and about 19.7% were with rudimentary ear. Long dropping ear found rarely (1.7%). Sex and age of the sheep had a significant (p<0.01) effect on body weight and many of the body measurements. Generally, body weight and measurements were higher for males and also increased as the age increased from the youngest or 0 pairs of permanent incisor (PPI) to the oldest age group (2 and above PPI). Body weight of mature (having 2 and above PPI) Menz ram and ewes were 24.9 ± 0.67 kg and 22.3 ± 0.13 kg, respectively. The corresponding values for Afar rams and ewes were 29.0 ± 0.84 and 24.5 ± 0.14 kg, respectively. Positive and highly significant (P<0.01) correlations were observed between body weight and most of the body measurements. Chest girth had consistently the highest correlation coefficient (0.81 to 0.97%) with body weight in all age groups of both sexes of Menz and Afar sheep. Chest girth also the first variable to enter in to the model of stepwise regression analysis in both males and females of Menz and Afar sheep breeds by explaining the highest variation than other measurement. Thus chest girth could be used for the prediction of body weight, could serve as indirect selection criteria for body weight or it could help to measure progress of selection. The prediction of body weight could be based on regression equation y = -23.42 + 0.67x for Menz rams, y = -23.29 + 0.67x for Menz ewes, y = -30.77 + 0.82x for Afar rams and y = -31.0 + 0.80x for Afar ewes, Where y and x are body weigh and chest girth, respectively. It was concluded that genetic improvement programs targeting smallholder farmers in mixed crop-livestock and in the pastoral production system need to incorporate trait preference of farmers/pastoralist, multipurpose role of sheep and the existing traditional herding and breeding practices

Amino-substituted naphthalene sulfonic acid/graphene composite as metal -free catalysts for oxygen reduction reactions

Composites of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and conducting polymers synthesized from 8-amino-2-naphthalene sulfonic acid (8-ANSA), 5-amino-1-naphthalene sulfonic acid (5-ANSA), 2-amino-1-naphthalene sulfonic acid (2-ANSA), and 4-amino-1-naphthalene sulfonic (4-ANSA) were prepared for use as an electrocatalyst in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The electrocatalytic activities were examined in oxygen saturated 0.1 M KOH solution using cyclic and linear sweep voltammetry. The best performing polymer composite was found to be GC/poly(8-ANSA)/rGO, with an enhanced electrocatalytic activity over the rGO only and poly(8-ANSA) only films. More than 100 mV positive shift in the onset potential and 1.6 times increase in current density were observed. The catalytic activity of 2-ANSA, 4-ANSA, 5-ANSA, and 8-ANSA was also validated by density functional theory (DFT). Our calculations predict a much better catalytic activity for 8-ANSA than that of 2-ANSA, 4-ANSA, and 5-ANSA.               KEY WORDS: Poly(amino naphthalene sulfonic acid), Reduced graphene oxide, Oxygen reduction reaction, Electrocatalyst Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2019, 33(2), 359-372.DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v33i2.1

Countdown to 2015: Ethiopia's progress towards reduction in under-five mortality: 2014 country case study

On September 13, 2013 the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) of Ethiopia and UNICEF announced that Ethiopia has successfully reduced the under-five mortality rate by two thirds between 1990 and 2012, which is the target for achieving Millennium Development Goal-4. In 1990, the under-five mortality rate in Ethiopia was one of the highest in the world at 205/1,000 live births. However, by 2012, this rate had declined to 68/1,000 live births with an average annual rate of decline of 5.0%. This exceeded the 4.3% annual rate of decline needed to reach MDG4 and was significantly higher than the decline rates observed in many sub-Saharan African countries and even other low and middle-income countries. In an effort to understand the story behind Ethiopia’s remarkable achievement of MDG-4, EPHI has conducted this in-depth Case Study which is supported by Countdown to 2015. The findings are believed to generate valuable lessons and guidance for other low-income countries in their quest for accelerating health improvements and reducing child deaths

Genotype x environment interaction and stability analysis for yield and yield related traits of Kabuli-type Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in Ethiopia

Chickpea is the major pulse crop cultivated in Ethiopia. However, its production is constrained due to genotype instability and environmental variability. This research was carried out to examine the magnitude of environmental effect on yield of chickpea genotypes and to investigate the stability and adaptability of genotypes under different agro-ecologies. Seventeen (17) genotypes were evaluated in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications in five locations. Various stability indices were used to assess stability and genotype by environment performances. Combined analysis of variance (ANOVA) for yield and yield components revealed highly significant (P≤0.01) differences for genotypes, environments and their interaction. The significant interaction showed genotypes respond differently across environments. At Akaki, Chefe Donsa, Debre Zeit, Dembia and Haramaya, top performing genotype were DZ-2012-CK-0001 (2933 kg/ha), Arerti (3219 kg/ha), Arerti (3560 kg/ha) DZ-2012-CK-0013 (2675 kg/ha) and Arerti (2019 kg/ha), respectively. The first two PCs explained 74.45% of the variance. Based on ASV value, DZ-2012-CK-0002 were most stable genotypes. As per AMMI biplot, Arerti and DZ-10-4 were most widely adapted genotypes. Dembia and Haramaya were most discriminative environments for genotypes. Debre Zeit and Chefe Donsa were favorable environment for genotype. Genotypes DZ-2012-CK-0004, DZ-2012-CK-0010, DZ-2012-CK-0013, DZ-2012-CK-0007 and DZ-10-4 are recommendable to Akaki, Chefe Donsa, Debre Zeit, Dembia and Haramya, respectively.Keywords: AMMI, ASV, clustering, phenologic traits, Kabuli, univariate statistics.Abbreviation: E, Environments; G, genotypes; RCBD, randomized complete block design.

The effect of national antenatal care guidelines and provider training on obstetric danger sign counselling: a propensity score matching analysis of the 2014 Ethiopia service provision assessment plus survey.

BACKGROUND: Most pregnant women in low and lower-middle-income countries do not receive all components of antenatal care (ANC), including counselling on obstetric danger signs. Facility-level ANC guidelines and provider in-service training are major factors influencing ANC counselling. In Ethiopia, little is known about the extent to which guidelines and provider in-service training can increase the quality of ANC counselling. METHODS: We examined the effect of national ANC guidelines and ANC provider in-service training on obstetric danger sign counselling for pregnant women receiving ANC using the 2014 Ethiopian service provision assessment plus (ESPA +) survey data. We created two analysis samples by applying a propensity score matching method. The first sample consisted of women who received ANC at health facilities with guidelines matched with those who received ANC at health facilities without guidelines. The second sample consisted of women who received ANC from the providers who had undertaken in-service training in the last 24 months matched with women who received ANC from untrained providers. The outcome variable was the number of obstetric danger signs described during ANC counselling, ranging from zero to eight. The covariates included women's socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric history, health facility characteristics, and ANC provider characteristics. RESULTS: We found that counselling women about obstetric danger signs during their ANC session varied according to the availability of ANC guidelines (61% to 70%) and provider training (62% to 68%). After matching the study participants by the measured covariates, the availability of ANC guidelines at the facility level significantly increased the average number of obstetric danger signs women received during counselling by 24% (95% CI: 12-35%). Similarly, providing refresher training for ANC providers increased the average number of obstetric danger signs described during counselling by 37% (95% CI: 26-48%). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that the quality of ANC counselling in Ethiopia needs strengthening by ensuring that ANC guidelines are available at every health facility and that the providers receive regular ANC related in-service training