The role of livestock diversification in ensuring household food security under a changing climate in Borana,Ethiopia

While food insecurity is a growing concern across the developing nations, accentuated by climate variability and change, it could be even worse for pastoralists given their unpredictable exposure to climate risks. The Borana herders experience food insecurity as a result of recurring droughts causing huge losses of cattle, and are thus increasingly shifting from cattle pastoralism to multi-species herding. The present study examines the role of livestock diversification in combating household food insecurity using herders’ perceptions, a modified household food insecurity access scale (mHFIAS) and dietary diversity score. Herders perceived child growth, adult height and body condition to be decreasing as a result of declining milk production and changing dietary trends. Results also revealed a high level of seasonal food insecurity and low dietary diversity with the majority (81 %) consuming one to three food groups. Livestock diversification was a major factor affecting household food security. Households practising diversification had significantly fewer months of food deficit (2.3 vs. 3.8), lower mHFIAS (5.5 vs. 8.7) and a higher average off-take in the form of livestock sales (7.4 vs. 4.0) than non-diversified ones. Diversification improved dietary intake of specific food groups and the average number of meals consumed per day. While fruits, eggs and fish are not part of the Borana diet, a large number of respondents consumed no vegetables (93 %) or meat (96 %), potentiating the risk of micronutrient deficiencies. This study highlights the particular significance of livestock diversification, among other socio-demographic factors, in attaining food security under a changing climate in the study area.     

Bioinspired Magnetite Crystallization Directed by Random Copolypeptides

Control over magnetite (Fe₃O₄) formation is difficult to achieve in synthetic systems without using non‐aqueous media and high temperatures. In contrast, Nature employs often intrinsically disordered proteins to tightly tailor the size, shape, purity, and organization of the nanocrystals to optimize their magnetic properties. Inspired by such “flexible polyelectrolytes,” here random copolypeptides having different amino acid compositions are used as control agents in the bioinspired coprecipitation of magnetite through a ferrihydrite precursor, following a recently developed mineralization protocol. Importantly, the copolypeptide library is designed such that the amino acid composition can be optimized to simultaneously direct the size of the nanoparticles as well as their dispersibility in aqueous media in a one‐pot manner. Acidic amino acids are demonstrated to regulate the crystal size by delaying nucleation and reducing growth. Their relative content thus can be balanced to tune between the superparamagnetic and ferrimagnetic regimes, and high contents of negatively charged amino acids result in colloidal stabilization of superparamagnetic nanoparticles at high pH. Conversely, with positively charged lysine‐rich copolypeptides ferrimagnetic crystals are obtained which are stabilized at neutral pH and self‐organize in chains, as visualized by cryo‐transmission electron microscopy. Altogether, the presented findings give important insights for the future development of additive‐mediated nanomaterial syntheses.     

Effects of dietary α-lipoic acid enantiomers on hepatic fatty acid metabolism in rats

Effects of dietary α-lipoic acid enantiomers on hepatic and serum lipid concentrations and the activity and mRNA levels of enzymes involved in hepatic fatty acid metabolism were examined in rats. Rats were fed experimental diets containing 0 or 2.5 g/kg of α-lipoic acid enantiomers (a racemic mixture of R/S-, S- or R-α-lipoic acid) for 21 days. Various α-lipoic acid preparations decreased serum and liver concentrations of triacylglycerol, and also lowered serum concentrations of cholesterol and phospholipid and the concentration of cholesterol in the liver. α-Lipoic acid decreased the activity and mRNA levels of various hepatic lipogenic enzymes and also decreased the activities of carnitine acyltransferase and 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase and mRNA levels of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1a involved in fatty acid oxidation in the liver; however, R- and S-enantiomers of α-lipoic acid as well as well as a racemic mixture of R/S-α-lipoic acid were indistinguishable in altering these indices for lipid metabolism.     

Effect of repetitive elbow holding tasks with low‐level muscular exertion on perceived muscle discomfort

This study aimed to investigate the effect of task repetition on perceived muscle discomfort (PMD). The experimental trial consisted of fatigue and recovery periods. In the fatigue period, an elbow‐holding task was performed with an external load of 10%, 20%, and 30% of the premeasured maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) for 7.0, 4.5, and 3.0 min, respectively. In the recovery period, the participants released the load and rested until they felt no PMD. The trial was repeated six times sequentially (Trials 1–6). PMD at the end of the fatigue period increased with task repetition at all %MVCs. The interclass correlation coefficients between Trial 1 and the other trials were lower than those for the combinations of Trials 2–6, irrespective of %MVC. In the recovery period, the absolute sensitivity of PMD in the range of 0–10 (or the speed of recovery) of Trial 1 was faster than that of Trials 2–6. The findings of this study could lead to the development of work regimes that limit the risk of PMD in workers. Possible changes include allowing for a longer recovery time if the task requires a relatively large flexion angle, such as those performed in narrow spaces.     

Structural study of device quality silicon germanium thin films deposited by pulsed RF plasma CVD

Microstructures in silicon germanium thin films deposited by pulsed rf plasma CVD have been studied with the help of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). With lowering of the pulse duty cycle the size of the particles incorporated in the films from the plasma decreases. However, the particles become more symmetric in shape and crystalline in nature. At 75% duty cycle the films have the highest photosensitivity. The increase in SAXS scattering at 75% has been explained by the formation of uniform-size nanocrystallites of SiGe. Urbach energy variation with the duty cycle also suggests the formation of nanocrystallites.     

Drinking Ice-Cold Water Reduces the Severity of Anticancer Drug-Induced Taste Dysfunction in Mice

Taste disorders are common adverse effects of cancer chemotherapy that can reduce quality of life and impair nutritional status. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying chemotherapy-induced taste disorders remain largely unknown. Furthermore, there are no effective preventive measures for chemotherapy-induced taste disorders. We investigated the effects of a combination of three anticancer drugs (TPF: docetaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil) on the structure and function of mouse taste tissues and examined whether the drinking of ice-cold water after TPF administration would attenuate these effects. TPF administration significantly increased the number of cells expressing apoptotic and proliferative markers. Furthermore, TPF administration significantly reduced the number of cells expressing taste cell markers and the magnitudes of the responses of taste nerves to tastants. The above results suggest that anticancer drug-induced taste dysfunction may be due to a reduction in the number of taste cells expressing taste-related molecules. The suppressive effects of TPF on taste cell marker expression and taste perception were reduced by the drinking of ice-cold water. We speculate that oral cryotherapy with an ice cube might be useful for prophylaxis against anticancer drug-induced taste disorders in humans.     

Identification of ditches and furrows using remote sensing: application to sediment modelling in the Tana watershed,Kenya

Ridge-tillage is an agricultural practice where crops are planted on elevated ridges, with furrows in-between. Ridge-tillage has been shown to significantly reduce erosion from croplands, but data on the presence of ridge-tillage is sparse and challenging to collect at the landscape scale. Thus, water quality models often do not account for ridge-tillage in a spatially-explicit manner, potentially overlooking the important impacts of this practice. We have developed a novel method that exploits the spectral, radiometric and linearity shape characteristics to identify both drainage ditches and ridge-tillage furrows using remote sensing of 0.5 m satellite data. We applied the method to the Sasumua watershed in Kenya, where we had false positives in only 3% of randomly selected polygons, and we detected the majority of ditches in 59% of randomly selected polygons. We then assessed the potential value of including these data in sediment modelling, showing that representing these practices could reduce sediment export in the study area by roughly 80%. Being able to readily identify the presence of ditches and furrows could enable the development of more accurate water quality models, and help identify priority areas for intervention to improve water quality (and possibly crop yields) through changing agricultural practices or policies.     

Effects of solution heat treatment on grain growth and degree of sensitization of AISI 321 austenitic stainless steel

This work investigates the influence of solution temperature on grain growth and degree of sensitization of AISI 321 steel. Samples were solution treated at temperatures between 800 and 1,200°C for 80 min and sensitized at 600°C for 105 h. Optical microscopy and double loop electrochemical potentiodynamic reactivation (DLEPR) techniques were used to characterize and evaluate the degree of sensitization. The grain coarsening temperature (T_gc) found was 1,080°C, with occurrence of abnormal or discontinuous grain growth. Samples submitted to solution heat treatment below 1,080°C presented average grain diameter approximately equal to those presented by non-heat treated samples. The sensitization process at 600°C for 105 h became null when the samples were previously solution treated at 800 or 900°C, for 80 min. Sensitized and previously solution treated samples for temperatures greater than 1,075°C presented a decrease in sensitization intensity and an increase in transgranular precipitation.