22 research outputs found
Child labor, agricultural shocks and labor sharing in rural Ethiopia
No full textThe author studies the effect of an agricultural shock and a labor sharing arrangement (informal social network) on child labor. Albeit bad parental preference to child labor (as the strand of literature claims), poor households face compelling situations to send their child to work. This is, especially, true when they are hit by an income shock and face a binding adult labor constraint.The author used panel data from the ERHS and employed a fixed effects model to pin down causal relation between shocks, membership in a labor sharing arrangement and child labor. It was found that child labor is, indeed, a buffer stock. Though a labor sharing arrangement doesnÂ’t affect child labor at normal times, it helps households to lessen the pressure to rely on it when hit by idiosyncratic shocks. While almost the whole effect of these shocks is offset by participation in a labor sharing arrangement, the covariate shock is not. Even if this may well affect a childÂ’s academic performance, school attendance doesnÂ’t decrease. This differential effect of shocks on child labor in participant households might be because of the extra adult labor made available or due to mutual support that comes with these social networks.This paper is indicative of the importance of considering social networks in smoothing out consumption. Further, it highlights the difficulty to cope up with covariate shocks and hence, calls for development interventions that are particularly meant to address their impact.social networks;Ethiopia;shocks;child labor;labor sharing
Reversal of Burden of Proof in Case of the Crime of Illicit Enrichment: A Case Study
No full textThis thesis aims at addressing questions such as what is reversal of onus of proof; is there a
reversal of onus of proof in case of the crime of illicit enrichment; if any, its constitutionality. It
answers the constitutionality question of the onus imposed on those who are accused of the crime
of illicit enrichment under Ethiopian laws. The constitutionality test is made in view of the
fundamental rights of accused persons that are guaranteed under the FDRE Constitution. To this
end, this thesis embarks on by determining the existence or otherwise of reversal of onus of
proof in case of the crime of illicit enrichment. Apart from theoretical explications, the
discussion is backed up by examination of illustrative practical cases. Moreover, in addition to a
discussion on the legal frameworks that govern the crime of illicit enrichment, the thesis
examines the elements of and rationales behind criminalisation of illicit enrichment.
After discussing all the above issues, the author argues that, in Ethiopia, in case of the crime of
illicit enrichment, there is a reversal of onus of proof, and it infringes the constitutionally
guaranteed rights of accused persons, unambiguously, the PoI and protection against selfincrimination. However, contrary to Article 9(1) of the FDRE Constitution, the author
recommends not to nullify the proclamation‟s provision on the crime of illicit enrichment but to
amend some constitutional provisions; particularly, the provision on the PoI and the protection
against self-incrimination
Child labor, agricultural shocks and labor sharing in rural Ethiopia
No full textThe author studies the effect of an agricultural shock and a labor sharing arrangement (informal social network) on child labor. Albeit bad parental preference to child labor (as the strand of literature claims), poor households face compelling situations to send their child to work. This is, especially, true when they are hit by an income shock and face a binding adult labor constraint.
The author used panel data from the ERHS and employed a fixed effects model to pin down causal relation between shocks, membership in a labor sharing arrangement and child labor. It was found that child labor is, indeed, a buffer stock. Though a labor sharing arrangement doesn't affect child labor at normal times, it helps households to lessen the pressure to rely on it when hit by idiosyncratic shocks. While almost the whole effect of these shocks is offset by participation in a labor sharing arrangement, the covariate shock is not. Even if this may well affect a child's academic performance, school attendance doesn't decrease. This differential effect of shocks on child labor in participant households might be because of the extra adult labor made available or due to mutual support that comes with these social networks.
This paper is indicative of the importance of considering social networks in smoothing out consumption. Further, it highlights the difficulty to cope up with covariate shocks and hence, calls for development interventions that are particularly meant to address their impact
Readfish enables targeted nanopore sequencing of gigabase-sized genomes
No full text© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc. Nanopore sequencers can be used to selectively sequence certain DNA molecules in a pool by reversing the voltage across individual nanopores to reject specific sequences, enabling enrichment and depletion to address biological questions. Previously, we achieved this using dynamic time warping to map the signal to a reference genome, but the method required substantial computational resources and did not scale to gigabase-sized references. Here we overcome this limitation by using graphical processing unit (GPU) base-calling. We show enrichment of specific chromosomes from the human genome and of low-abundance organisms in mixed populations without a priori knowledge of sample composition. Finally, we enrich targeted panels comprising 25,600 exons from 10,000 human genes and 717 genes implicated in cancer, identifying PML–RARA fusions in the NB4 cell line i
Modeling coastal Güzelyurt (Morphou) aquifer in northern Cyprus for mitigation of groundwater depletion through managed aquifer recharge
No full text© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.Groundwater depletion is considered a global problem. Coastal aquifers in arid and semiarid areas of the Mediterranean basin constitute typical examples of depleted aquifers. Güzelyurt (Morphou) Aquifer, the most important water resource for northern Cyprus, faces the problems of groundwater depletion and degradation of water quality near the coast due to significant amounts of groundwater extraction to satisfy the high demand. Recently, a water supply project, which transfers 75 million m3 of water from Turkey to northern Cyprus has been completed in June 2016 as a long-term remedy for serious water shortage problems in the northern part of the island. This project presents a unique opportunity for mitigating the depletion of the aquifer through relieving the existing high stress and helping to restore water levels by recharging the aquifer artificially with the available excess water. The objectives of this study are to develop 3-D detailed conceptual and numerical models of the aquifer, and to assess the potential for managed aquifer recharge by simulating the hydraulic behavior of aquifer under predefined artificial recharge and stress scenarios. The developed numerical model, after calibration and validation, was run for simulations of three different managed aquifer recharge scenarios focusing on the feasibility of restoring water levels to its “natural state” within a reasonable time frame. In all scenarios, a reasonable recovery of the groundwater depression zone was observed in about 11–14 years. However, the simulations showed that the aquifer has returned to its “natural state” in 48–73 years
Distinct Clinical and Immunologic Profiles in Severe Malarial Anemia and Cerebral Malaria in Zambia
No full textBackground. The mechanisms of severe malarial anemia and cerebral malaria, which are extreme manifestations of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, are not fully understood. Methods. Children aged (n = 72), cerebral malaria (n = 28), or uncomplicated malaria (n = 66) were studied prospectively. Children with overlapping severe anemia and cerebral malaria were excluded. Results. Low interleukin 10 concentrations had the strongest association with severe anemia (standard β = .61; P \u3c .001) followed by high tumor necrosis factor α and sFas concentrations, low weight-for-age z scores, presence of stool parasites, and splenomegaly (standard β = .15-.25; P ≤ .031); most of these factors were also associated with lower reticulocytes. Greater parasitemia was associated with higher interleukin 10 and tumor necrosis factor α concentrations, whereas sulfadoxizole/pyrimethamine therapy and lower weight-for-age z scores were associated with lower interleukin 10 levels. Thrombocytopenia and elevated tissue plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 levels had the strongest associations with cerebral malaria (standard β = .37 or .36; P \u3c .0001), followed by exposure to traditional herbal medicine and hemoglobinuria (standard β = .21-.31; P ≤ .006). Conclusions. Predictors of severe malarial anemia (altered immune responses, poor nutrition, intestinal parasites, and impaired erythropoiesis) differed from those of cerebral malaria (thrombocytopenia, herbal medicine, and intravascular hemolysis). Improved preventive and therapeutic measures may need to consider these differences. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved
Inhibitory KIRs decrease HLA class II-mediated protection in Type 1 Diabetes.
No full textInhibitory killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (iKIRs) are a family of inhibitory receptors that are expressed by natural killer (NK) cells and late-stage differentiated T cells. There is accumulating evidence that iKIRs regulate T cell-mediated immunity. Recently, we reported that T cell-mediated control was enhanced by iKIRs in chronic viral infections. We hypothesized that in the context of autoimmunity, where an enhanced T cell response might be considered detrimental, iKIRs would have an opposite effect. We studied Type 1 diabetes (T1D) as a paradigmatic example of autoimmunity. In T1D, variation in the Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) genes explains up to 50% of the genetic risk, indicating that T cells have a major role in T1D etiopathogenesis. To investigate if iKIRs affect this T cell response we asked whether HLA associations were modified by iKIR genes. We conducted an immunogenetic analysis of a case-control T1D dataset (N = 11,961) and found that iKIR genes, in the presence of genes encoding their ligands, have a consistent and significant effect on protective HLA class II genetic associations. Our results were validated in an independent data set. We conclude that iKIRs significantly decrease HLA class II protective associations and suggest that iKIRs regulate CD4+ T cell responses in T1D. [Abstract copyright: Copyright: © 2024 Mora-Bitria et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Publisher Correction: SARS-CoV-2 Omicron is an immune escape variant with an altered cell entry pathway (Nature Microbiology, (2022), 7, 8, (1161-1179), 10.1038/s41564-022-01143-7)
No full text\ua9 The Author(s) 2022.In the version of this article initially published, the author affiliation information was incomplete, neglecting to note that Brian J. Willett, Joe Grove, Oscar A. MacLean, Craig Wilkie, Giuditta De Lorenzo, Wilhelm Furnon, Diego Cantoni, Sam Scott, Nicola Logan and Shirin Ashraf contributed equally and that John Haughney, David L. Robertson, Massimo Palmarini, Surajit Ray and Emma C. Thomson jointly supervised the work, as now indicated in the HTML and PDF versions of the article
Social protection, rural development and the role of public administration in Ethiopia: an examination of the potential for developing employment generation schemes
No full textOver fifty per cent of the population of Ethiopia live below the poverty line and are therefore food insecure. Increasingly viewed as an important component of poverty reduction, social protection policies, such as the promotion of labour intensive public works, can serve as a springboard for pro-poor growth and a foundation for social risk management. The research assesses the Ethiopian Employment Generation Scheme (EGS) in the context of Amhara and Tigrai regional states through comparative research into Maharashtran experience. The aim of the research is to assess the implementation of EGS programmes against the objectives of the national policy and to examine the role of public administration in delivering social protection through EGS thereby reducing poverty levels by supporting sustainable rural livelihoods. The national policy seeks to effectively harness a potential 150 million labour days on the basis of existing relief resources alone thereby creating livelihood assets. However, social protection is often considered to be a high cost, low returns component of democratic governance. Experience highlights poor performance in planning and implementation. Reforms must be based on informed and applied study of the areas explored in the research: policy frameworks; implementation; organisational responsibilities; programme efficiency, effectiveness and relevance; short and long term impact; and. sustainability. Such research necessitates a sensitive combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Research findings show that the national policy provides an appropriate pro-poor framework for employment provision and asset creation while essential supportive measures have been neglected. Grassroots administrations remain incapacitated and central support for reform is often lacking. The research establishes a clear set of conclusions and recommendations for reform acknowledging the requirement for a decentralised, demand driven approach to policy design and expenditure management which promotes the comparative advantage of the poor and mainstreams EGS into other strategies for poverty reduction
COVID-19 due to the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant compared to B.1.1.7 (Alpha) variant of SARS-CoV-2: a prospective observational cohort study
No full textThe Delta (B.1.617.2) variant was the predominant UK circulating SARS-CoV-2 strain between May and December 2021. How Delta infection compares with previous variants is unknown. This prospective observational cohort study assessed symptomatic adults participating in the app-based COVID Symptom Study who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 from May 26 to July 1, 2021 (Delta overwhelmingly the predominant circulating UK variant), compared (1:1, age- and sex-matched) with individuals presenting from December 28, 2020 to May 6, 2021 (Alpha (B.1.1.7) the predominant variant). We assessed illness (symptoms, duration, presentation to hospital) during Alpha- and Delta-predominant timeframes; and transmission, reinfection, and vaccine effectiveness during the Delta-predominant period. 3581 individuals (aged 18 to 100 years) from each timeframe were assessed. The seven most frequent symptoms were common to both variants. Within the first 28 days of illness, some symptoms were more common with Delta versus Alpha infection (including fever, sore throat, and headache) and some vice versa (dyspnoea). Symptom burden in the first week was higher with Delta versus Alpha infection; however, the odds of any given symptom lasting ≥ 7 days was either lower or unchanged. Illness duration ≥ 28 days was lower with Delta versus Alpha infection, though unchanged in unvaccinated individuals. Hospitalisation for COVID-19 was unchanged. The Delta variant appeared more (1.49) transmissible than Alpha. Re-infections were low in all UK regions. Vaccination markedly reduced the risk of Delta infection (by 69-84%). We conclude that COVID-19 from Delta or Alpha infections is similar. The Delta variant is more transmissible than Alpha; however, current vaccines showed good efficacy against disease. This research framework can be useful for future comparisons with new emerging variants. © 2022, The Author(s)
