Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.): Land use/land cover changes and community-based management in east Shoa zone, Ethiopia
Abstract— Water hyacinth was officially reported in Ethiopia in 1956 at Koka Dam and Awash River and it is considered as a constraint to the development of the country. Thus, this study was undertaken to determine Water hyacinth and associated land cover/use changes, and capture perceptions regarding community-based management to enhance its proper control/eradication in Lume and Boa districts, east Shoa zone, Ethiopia using integrated approach. The method of study included Water hyacinth and associated land use/cover change analyses, focus group discussions, discussions with experts at the district, zone and region levels and undertaking consultative workshop. The land use/land cover change analyses revealed increased area coverage by Water hyacinth from about 145.53 ha in 1986 to 2319.48 ha in 2015 with decline in the area of water bodies and wetlands. The annual rate of increase in the area of the weed was about 51.51% while water bodies and wetlands declined by about 0.49% and 1.16%, respectively. Of the 10 group discussions undertaken in the study districts with the communities, 9 of them reported water hyacinth to increase in terms of area coverage since its appearance in their areas which concurs the results obtained from satellite image analyses and they reported the weed to be very harmful to their livelihood. Furthermore, the nine group discussants disclosed water hyacinth to be of no use to them. Recommendations included developing comprehensive management strategies and action plans, analysis and defining roles of each stakeholder, awareness creation, training, institutional linkages, co-management and reduction of nutrient load in water bodies.
Keywords— Co-management, control/eradication, Integrated approach, Lume and Bora districts.
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Improvement of Crop Production by Means of a Storage Effect
Abstract— This study summarizes the results of 30 years of our experiments with Vicia faba L seeds. Our long-term practical observations of different Vicia faba L. cultivars points out the method useful for the higher yield of seeds in terms of their viability and thus higher crop production.
Our experiments led to the following important findings regarding of seed viability:
- Individual and group variability of seeds;
- Storage condition before germination; and
- The condition of their germination.
All these three influential conditions is possible to optimalize by method of storage effect described in this our report resulting in the improvement of crop production. This is especially important in case of seeds that are rare and/or expensive, i.e. seeds that are genetically modified or with rearranged karyotypes.
Keywords— seed color, higher germination, improvement of viability, higher crop production.
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Temperature effect on seed germination of four plants in sand from coastal sand dunes in Greece
Abstract— In high temperatures of coastal sand dunes, salt may limit seed germination and thus strogly limit plant survival. The relationship between germination and sand dunes soil temperatures has never been evaluated. The effect of coastal dunes sands on plant germination at 20°C and 28°C was studied. Sand samples of coastal dunes from coastline regions in Greece were analyzed and used as substrates. The Si content (89-97%) is the representative one in all soils. The Si, Al and Mg contents in the Aegean Sea sand dunes were higher than the Ionian Sea. Pigweed germination at 28°C in sand from mainland Greece was higher than the corresponding one from insular Greece. Purslane germination at 28°C in sand from the Ionian Sea (52%-57%) was higher than the corresponding one from the Aegean Sea (49%-50%) and at 20°C it remained unaffected by the soil. Chervil and coriander germination at 20°C was very low, while no germination occurred in pigweed at 20°C and chervil and coriander at 28°C in all sand soils. The study has shown that the coastal dune soils favoured germination of pigweed and purslane at 28°C. These results indicate that those plants have adapted to the coastal sand dunes environment.
Keywords— sand elements, pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus), purslane (Portulaca oleracea), chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium), coriander (Coriandrum sativum).
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E-screen assay validation: evaluation of estrogenic activity by MCF7 cell culture bioassay, in drinking water from different watersheds in state of São Paulo, Brazil
Abstract— Natural and synthetic estrogens have been detected in rivers, lakes and estuaries in many parts of the world. Primary sources of these compounds are domestic and industrial effluents, which are not deleted after the water treatment. Estrogen has been the endocrine disruptor most researched to be very active biologically and be the etiologic agent of diverse types of cancer and other conditions such as endometriosis, precocious puberty, feminization, masculinization, sterility. In this context, we use water of 36 natural reservoirs or dams, in a bioassay to characterize their estrogenicity in culture of MCF7 cells and obtained high concentration of estrogen in samples taken in Ibiúna and Equestrian Santo Amaro / SP. However, certain concentration in our samples for most water samples from different regions was very close to the limit of quantification by bioassay and estrogen was in fmol. It has been shown that e – screen assay with MCF7 cells is a sensitive and stable tool for quantitative analysis of estrogenicity of water and can easily be developed and implemented for routine for estrogen quantification also in animal food and man, aqueous and plastics etc.
Keywords— endocrine disrupters, estrogen, breast cancer cells, (MCF7) bioassay: E-screen assay.
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Antifungal activity of lichen extracts and usnic acid for controlling the saprolegniasis
Abstract—Aquatic oomycetous fungi often cause serious damage to fresh water fishes. Antifungal activity of acetone extracts of three fruticose lichens namely, Cladonia amaurocraea, Cladonia rangiferina and Usnea longissima were investigated against three pathogenic oomycete fungi which can cause serious saprolegniasis: Saprolegnia parasitica, Achlya bisexualis and Pythium sp.. Usnic acid was also examined for antifungal activity against the pathogenic fungi. The minimum inhibitory concentration of usnic acid and lichen extracts for the tested fungi Saprolegnia parasitica and Achlya bisexualis were 2 mg L-1, 200 mg L-1 respectively. The higher concentration was needed to inhibit mycelial growth of Pythium sp.. The result suggests that the potential of using usnic acid and lichen extracts for controlling the saprolegniasis.
Keywords—antifungal activity, lichen, Oomycota, saprolegniasis, usnic acid.
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Simultaneous Estimation of Multiple Dairy Technologies Uptake
Abstract— The low productivity of the Ethiopian diary sector has been explained by the genetic potentials and management practices. Milk production and consumption largely rely on the indigenous cows. To enhance the contribution of dairy to household food security, nutrition and income, adoption of improved dairy breeds together with the component practices is indispensable. To study the adoption of the dairy technologies and the factors stimulating the choices, a cross-sectional household survey was conducted in the central and eastern Ethiopia. Results declare that the rate of adoption of improved breeds, artificial insemination and improved forage remained to be limited. The uptake of concentrate feeding is found to be relatively better. As the joint multivariate probit estimation confirmed, there is complementarity and interdependence in the uptake of improved breeds, artificial insemination, concentrate feeds and improved forages. Utilization of forage lagged behind to complement adoption of improved cows. Tobit model determination confirmed that the same factors are affecting the adoption decisions. The factors responsible for the joint adoptions, the number of cows owned and intensity of adoption include education status, household wealth, access to markets and district centers, contacts with extension and gender roles. Both the joint and individual analyses highlighted the need for strategies that could overcome the constraints and ensure better uptake of the technologies.
Keywords— productivity; adoption; joint estimation; complementarity; adoption intensity; responsible factors.
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Association of Hygiene Hypothesis with High prevalence of Allergy and Autoimmune Diseases: FMT industry
Abstract—Prevalence of Allergy and Autoimmune Diseases are high in developed countries, but not in developing countries. Helminth infection were associated with lower level of allergy but the mechanism is not yet clear. In hygiene countries like UK, Japan and Korea, Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) has gained interest as novel therapy and prevention and reach to medicine industrial manufactures. This study will support it by associate Hygiene Hypothesis (HyHy) and the high prevalence of Allergy and Autoimmune Disease. Systematic review and Bayesian network analysis in EBSCO host search engine were used. Result from dynaMed Evidence Based, Point-of-care Reference e Journals: Dentistry, Medical and Nursing has describe 9 literatures support the association of Hy-hy/parasite infection with Allergy and/ or Autoimmune Diseases: 2 publications of meta-analysis are chosen and supported by 5 cross sectional, longitudinal, cause-effect design, and 2 clinical and animal trial. Conclusions: Low-middle-high income countries has a life style of Hyhy pattern support FMT industrial medicine and travelling to developing countries with broad diversity bacteria and worm in therapeutic and prevention potential, supported by sub-saharan and tropical rainforest developing countries.
Keywords— Hygiene hypothesis, allergy, autoimmune diseases, FMT industrial medicine, traveling to developing countries.
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Scientific research contribution to fruticulture development
Abstract – This study aimed to evaluate the research contribution on development of peach, apple and guava crops in Campos das Vertentes region, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. It was developed in two stages: the first one by consulting web of science base, where articles about these three fruit were being sought. The search for articles related to selected fruits was performed by ten key identification variables for each one of the following technologies: cultivars, seedlings, dormancy, pruning, fruit thinning, fruit protection/bagging, irrigation, harvesting, post-harvest and commercialization. The second stage was carried out by means of interviews with the peach, apple and guava producers in Barbacena, São João Del Rei and Lavras respectively, which were selected for being development poles of this region. The results were tabulated separately for the first stage and the second stage, confronted the results of interviews with the search of articles. It was concluded that research and technology generation has contributed to the development of peach, apple and guava crops in Campo das Vertentes area.
Key words: Innovation, Research, Fruit growing.
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Biotermiticides to Protect the Soil Health
Abstract— Chemical termiticides are hazardous to biotic and abiotic factors in the environment and hence banned in US and European countries but are still in use in developing countries. They are applied in huge quantity reaching to potable water ways, food, and fodder and killing soil microbiological components. It has been observed from the study that these hazardous termiticides can be replaced by ecofriendly and cheap Biotermiticides made from the plant based oils. Four tree borne oils (CNSL(50-100%), Neemseed oil(10-25%), Karanj seed oil(10-25%) and Markingnut oil(10-25%) and three chemicals Chlorpyrifos(10-50%), Coppernaphthenate(10-50%) and (Boric acid(10-50%) were used in different proportions to formulate CNSL based termiticides. Specimen samples were treated and exposed to termites for 60 days. The mass loss after 60 days was noted and results were analyzed. Chlorpyrifos and Coppernaphthenate 100% have shown better termite control property than boric acid. Commercial termiticides their own might be effective against termite but except Chlorpyrifos and other two have shown not much promising results in CNSL based formulation when compared with the oil formulations. It was observed that CNSL(50-80%) + NO (10-25%) + BSL(10-25%) and CNSL(50-80%) + NO(10-25%) + KO(10-25%) formulations can act as an effective termiticides. All four oils if used 100% have shown good resistant against termites.
Keywords— CNSL- Cashew nut shell liquid, NO- Neemseed oil, KO- Karanj oil, BSL- Bhilawan shell liquid.
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Effect of Concentration of Silver Nanoparticles on the Uptake of Silver from Silver Nanoparticles in Soil
Abstract— The bioavailability and uptake of silver from silver nanoparticles in soil was investigated. Two species of insects, Acheta domesticus and Tenebrio molitor, and two species of plants, Helianthus annuus and Sorghum vulgare, were exposed to a range of concentrations of silver nanoparticles in soil. Silver nanoparticles were charactrized by techniques including transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and powder X-ray diffraction. The concentration of silver in insects and plants exposed to silver nanoparticles was measured using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. The results suggested an increase in the levels of silver in both insects and plants as a function of increasing concentrations of silver nanoparticles in soil. The translocation of silver to various parts of dicot plants such as stems and leaves was also observed. Such a result was not observed in the case of monocot plants. Results from this study suggests that silver nanoparticles would be available for uptake by insects and plants in terrestrial ecosystems.
Keywords— Silver nanoparticles, Acheta domesticus, Tenebrio molitor, Helianthus annuus, Sorghum vulgare, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry.