7 research outputs found
Determinants of avocado commercialization among smallholder farmers in Shebediono Woreda, Sidama Zone SNNPRS of Ethiopia
No full textThis study describes the characteristics of household market participation in avocado production. It investigates the approach required to overcome determinants of market participation among smallholders of avocado farmers in Shebedino woreda, SNNPRS, Ethiopia. The primary sources of the data are farm household surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Two hundred twenty-eight households were selected using a purposive sampling technique. The data obtained were evaluated using Double-hurdle econometric models. The results of the binary probit model revealed that in the decision to sell, land size, family size, distance from the nearest market center, market information, access to media, and the total amount of avocado produced played a significant role. The truncated regression model indicated that the age of the household head, family size, market information and the total amount of avocado produced significantly affected the level of commercialization. The result showed that enhancing the efficient utilization of the existing limited farmland, family size, access to market information, and the total amount of avocado produced had a higher value and was seen as a critical opportunity to improve the lower-income farm households. As a result, better market information, family planning, and new technology like improved verity are required to increase demand for avocado produce and income generation. Concerned bodies need to establish a market center for the farmers around their home, increasing the probability of avocado market participation. The findings of this study may help in the development of appropriate policy intervention mechanisms to promote smallholder avocado commercialization in Sidama Zone
Determinants of avocado commercialization among smallholder farmers in Shebediono Woreda, Sidama Zone SNNPRS of Ethiopia
No full textThis study describes the characteristics of household market participation in avocado production. It investigates the approach required to overcome determinants of market participation among smallholders of avocado farmers in Shebedino woreda, SNNPRS, Ethiopia. The primary sources of the data are farm household surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Two hundred twenty-eight households were selected using a purposive sampling technique. The data obtained were evaluated using Double-hurdle econometric models. The results of the binary probit model revealed that in the decision to sell, land size, family size, distance from the nearest market center, market information, access to media, and the total amount of avocado produced played a significant role. The truncated regression model indicated that the age of the household head, family size, market information and the total amount of avocado produced significantly affected the level of commercialization. The result showed that enhancing the efficient utilization of the existing limited farmland, family size, access to market information, and the total amount of avocado produced had a higher value and was seen as a critical opportunity to improve the lower-income farm households. As a result, better market information, family planning, and new technology like improved verity are required to increase demand for avocado produce and income generation. Concerned bodies need to establish a market center for the farmers around their home, increasing the probability of avocado market participation. The findings of this study may help in the development of appropriate policy intervention mechanisms to promote smallholder avocado commercialization in Sidama Zone
Cost and Benefit Analysis of Dairy Farms in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia
No full textአህፅሮት ይህ ጥናት የወተት ላም የወጪ-ገቢ ትንተና ለማድረግ የታቀደ ነዉ፡፡ ጥናቱ ከ35 ትናንሽ እና 25 ትላልቅ የወተት ፋርሞች ላይ የተደረገ ነዉ፡፡ መረጃዉ ከአራት እስከ ስድስት ተከታታይ ወራት የተሰበሰበ ስሆን ይህን መረጃ ለማጠናከር የወተት ፋርሞች መልካም አጋጣሚዎችና ተግዳሮቶች ተሰብስቧል፡፡ መረጃዉ የተሰበሰበዉ ፋርሙ ዉስጥ ካሉት ሁሉም የዲቃላ የወተት ላሞች ነዉ፡፡ የዚህ ምርምር ግኝት እንደሚያመለክተዉ 80 ፐርሰንት የሚሆነዉ የወተተወ ላሞች ወጪ ምግብ ነዉ፡፡ ትናንሽ ፋርሞች ከትላልቅ ፋርሞች 35 ፐርሰንት የበለጠ ወጪ ያወጣሉ፤ ነገር ግን ትላልቅ ፋርሞች ከትናንሽ ፋርሞች በ55 ፐርሰንት የበለጠ ዓመታዉ ትቅም ያገኛሉ፡፡ ትልቁ የወተት ላሞች ገቢ ከወተት ስሆን የጥጃ ገቢም በተከታይነት ትልቅ ቦታ የሚሰጠዉ ነዉ፡፡ በዚህ ጥናት ግኝት መሰረት የትላልቅ ፋርሞች ያልተጣራ ማርጂን ከትናንሽ ፋርሞች በሦስት እጥፍ እንደሚበልጥ ተረጋግጧል፡፡ የጥቅም-ወጪ ንፅፅር 1.43 እና 2.24 ለትናንሽና ለትላልቅ የወተት ፋርሞች በቅድመ ተከተል እንደሆነ ጥናቱ ያመለክታል፡፡ ይህም ትላልቅ ፋርሞች ከትናንሽ ፋርሞች የበለጠ ትርፋማ እንደሆኑ ያሚያሳይ ነዉ፡፡ የማስፋፍያ መሬት እጥረት፣ የብድር አገልግሎት አለመኖር፣ የሞያዊ ድጋፍ አለመኖር፣ የመኖና የመድሃኒት ዋጋ ንረት፣ ከፍተኛ የወት ዋጋ መለያየት፣ የማዳቀል አገልግሎት ዉጤታማ ያለመሆን፣ የጽንስ መጨናገፍ በፋርሞቹ ባለቤቶች የተነሱ ተግዳሮቶች ናቸዉ፡፡ በዚህ መሰረት ምርታማነታቸዉ ዝቅተኛ የሆኑትን ላሞች ማስወገድ፤ የላሞች ቁጥር ማብዛት፣ በስልጠና የፋርሞቹን ባለቤቶችና የማዳቀል አገልግሎት የሚሰጡትን አካላት ማብቃትና የገብያ ትስስር ማጠናከር፣ አርሶ-አደሩን በመደራጀት የመኖ ማቀነባበርያ መትከል አስፈላጊ እንደሆነ ይህ ጥናት ምክረሃሳብ ያቀርባል፡፡ Abstract This study was conducted to estimate costs and gross profits of dairy farms under small and large diary management in central highlands of Ethiopia. Thirty-five small and 25 large farms were randomly selected. Quantitative data was collected from sampled households/farms for six to seven consecutive months. Qualitative data was also collected to supplement the quantitative data. All crossbreed milking cows of the sample households were included for the study. The result of the study showed that small commercial farms disbursed 38% more cost than large commercial dairy farms. More than 80% of the variable costs went to feed in both small and large dairy farms. The result also revealed that large dairy farms earned 55% more annual revenue than small farms. The larger revenue share was from milk sale followed by calf sale for both large and small dairy farms. The gross margin of large dairy farms was higher than the small counterparts by more than three folds. The benefit-cost ratio was 1.43 and 2.24 for small and large dairy farms, respectively, implying that large dairy farms are more profitable than small dairy farms. The benefits from both small and large dairying indicated that dairying is a beneficial business. Shortage of land, lack of credit, lack of technical support, lack of adequate market outlet, inefficiency of AI services, abortion, high price of feed and medicine were identified as the main constraints of dairy farming. It is suggested that the need to establish feed processing machines, cull unproductive cows, empower dairy farmers and key service providers through training, promoting, complementary technology packages and market infrastructures.
Magnitude and associated factors of intraoperative cardiac complications among geriatric patients who undergo non-cardiac surgery at public hospitals in the southern region of Ethiopia: a multi-center cross-sectional study in 2022/2023
No full textBackgroundIntraoperative cardiac complications are a common cause of morbidity and mortality in non-cardiac surgery. The risk of these complications increased with the average age increasing from 65. In a resource-limited setting, including our study area, the magnitude and associated factors of intraoperative cardiac complications have not been adequately investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude and associated factors of intraoperative cardiac complications among geriatric patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery.MethodsAn institutional-based multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted on 304 geriatric patients at governmental hospitals in the southern region of Ethiopia, from 20 March 2022 to 25 August 2022. Data were collected by chart review and patient interviews. Epi Data version 4.6 and SPSS version 25 were used for analysis. The variables that had association (p < 0.25) were considered for multivariable logistic regression. A p value < 0.05 was considered significant for association.ResultThe overall prevalence of intraoperative cardiac complications was 24.3%. Preoperative ST-segment elevation adjusted odds ratio (AOR = 2.43, CI =2.06–3.67), history of hypertension (AOR = 3.42, CI =2.02–6.08), intraoperative hypoxia (AOR = 3.5, CI = 2.07–6.23), intraoperative hypotension (AOR = 6.2 9, CI =3.51–10.94), age > 85 years (AOR = 6.01, CI = 5.12–12.21), and anesthesia time > 3 h (AOR =2.27, CI = 2.0.2–18.25) were factors significantly associated with intraoperative cardiac complications.ConclusionThe magnitude of intraoperative cardiac complications was high among geriatric patients who had undergone non-cardiac surgery. The independent risk factors of intraoperative cardiac complications for this population included age > 85, ST-segment elevation, perioperative hypertension (stage 3 with regular treatment), duration of anesthesia >3 h, intraoperative hypoxia, and intraoperative hypotension. Holistic preoperative evaluation, optimization optimal and perioperative care for preventing perioperative risk factors listed above, and knowing all possible risk factors are suggested to reduce the occurrence of complications
Author Correction: Performances and determinants of proficiency testing in clinical laboratory services at comprehensive specialized hospitals, northwest Ethiopia
No full textAn investigation of carbon footprint reductions achievable in Cape Town social housing considering rebound effects
No full textIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.Various life cycle studies have shown that solar water heaters (SWHs) have short greenhouse gas emission payback periods. Thus, it is believed that replacing electric geysers with SWHs will reduce a household’s carbon footprint. It is also believed that living in a well-located area close to jobs, schools, shops and public transport will reduce a household’s carbon footprint through reducing fuel consumption via private/public transport. These conclusions, however, do not take the rebound effect into account, where money saved from spending less on electricity or transport, is spent eventually, either on more electricity and transport, or on other goods and services with an associated carbon footprint
Role of chemerin, a novel adipochemokine, in the human microvascular endothelial cell (HMEC)-1 line
No full textChemerin is a newly identified adipokine and exerts its functional effects by
binding to its natural GPCR, known as CMKLR1. Chemerin is highly expressed in
the adipose tissue and in lower levels in other body tissues; and is known to play an
important role in adipocyte differentiation and metabolism. Chemerin circulates at
the normal physiological concentrations of approximately 3-4nM in humans, and
circulating chemerin levels positively correlate with various facets of metabolic
abnormalities; such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, high triglycerides,
hypertension, and associated risks of development of diseases of cardiovascular
system. Endothelial Cells (ECs) line the vasculature of the entire circulatory system
and form a direct contact with the bloodstream. In this project, the role of chemerin
in EC biology was proposed, and was studied in terms of activation of important
signalling Mitogen-activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) including Extracellular
signal-regulated Kinase (ERK) 1/2, ERK5, p38, Stress-activated Protein Kinase/c-
Jun NH2-terminal Kinase (SAPK/JNK); and Akt/Protein Kinase B (PKB) and
Adenosine Monophosphate Protein Kinase (AMPK)-α in a time- and concentrationdependent
manners. These signalling kinases regulate the activity of different
transcription factors which then regulate the expression of different genes. Chemerin
increased the expression of Hypoxia-inducible Factor (HIF)-1α, a hypoxia-inducible
transcription factor which is known to regulate the Vascular Endothelial Growth
Factor (VEGF) gene expression. Interestingly, VEGF165, the most potent
angiogenic isoform of VEGF protein expression was down-regulated by chemerin in
a concentration-dependent manner; whereas, chemerin upregulated the protein
expression of VEGF165b, an opposite anti-angiogenic counterpart of VEGF165.
Chemerin mediated EC proliferation, migration and capillary tube formation; which
are the key processes implicated in the process of normal and pathological
angiogenesis. Chemerin altered the protein expression levels of Cell Adhesion
Molecules (CAMs) including E-selectin, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 – increased the
activity of Nuclear Factor (NF)–kappa (κ) B pathway – and encouraged Endothelial-
Monocyte cell adhesion in a concentration-dependent manner. Nitric Oxide (NO),
not only keeps the vascular health in check by downregulating the expression levels
of adhesion molecules, but also acts as a potent vasodilator. Endothelial Nitric Oxide
Synthase (eNOS), an enzyme constitutively expressed in the endothelial cells
regulates the production of NO in the endothelium. Chemerin increased eNOS
activity by causing eNOS phosphorylation at Ser1177, and dephosphorylating at
Thr495 phosphorylation sites. Chemerin increased the protein expression of nonconstitutively
expressed enzyme, inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase (iNOS), which is
mainly induced during injury or inflammation and is known to produce 100- to
1000-times more NO compared to that of eNOS. However, interestingly, chemerin
failed to show any significant changes in the amounts of combined nitrite and nitrate
(NOx) levels in HMEC-1 cells; whereas, nitrite (NO2–) levels were decreased in a
concentration-dependent manner
