Archives-December  

Experiment was set up in 2013 at the experimental field of Savannah Agriculture Research Institute to evaluate the effect of split nitrogen application on growth and yield of lowland rice. It was made up of ten treatments laid out in split plot design with three replications. Treatments were made up of two low land rice varieties (Jasmine and Degang) randomly assigned to main plots and five levels of N fertilization (control, 60 kg NPK/ha, 60 kg NPK/ha + 30 kg N/ha, 60 kg NPK/ha + 15 + 15 kg N/ha and 60 kg NPK/ha +10 + 10 + 10 kg N/ha) randomly assigned to sub plots. Fertilizers used were NPK (15-15-15) and Sulfan (24% nitrogen). Variety x split N fertilization had no significant (P>0.05) effect on all parameters measured. Main effect of variety and split N fertilization significantly (P<0.05) affected most parameters measured, especially grain yield. Jasmine proved superior to Degang in grain yield. Application of 60 kg NPK/ha + 30 N/ha optimized rice growth and maximized yield similar to 60 kg NPK/ha + 15 kg N/ha + 15 kg N/ha and 60 kg NPK/ha + 10 kg N/ha + 10 kg N /ha + 10 kg N/ha. Application of 60 kg NPK/ha + 30 N/ha is recommended for increase rice yield and income of farmers, as split application at 15 + 15 kg N/ha and 10 + 10 + 10 kg N/ha attract additional labour cost.

The study aimed to assess the effect of supplier selection on the performance of Oryx Energies Kenya Limited. The objectives of the study were to determine the effect of supplier selection on the organization performance, to assess the effect of supplier qualification on organization performance, to find out the effect of contract award to the suppliers on organization performance. The study used Greg system theory, the Lean supplier competence model and Agency theory. The research used descriptive survey design because it collects data in order to answer questions concerning the current situation of subject. The study involved 231 officers in procurement department. The survey used stratified random sampling technique in order to achieve its purpose. A sample size of 92 respondents was reached through proportionate stratified sampling. The study used questionnaires which were self-administered to the respondents who were given a period of two weeks to fill them. The study adopted qualitative data analysis. The analyzed data was then presented in tables, charts and graphs so as to facilitate clear interpretation of results and assist in drawing of conclusions and discussions followed immediately explaining on the same. The descriptive statistical tool helped in describing the data and determining the respondents' degree of agreement with the various statements under each factor. Data analysis was done with the help of SPSS version 22.0. The study showed that all the variables had Cronbach Alpha of more than 0.9 this shows that the tool used to collect data set was reliable and consistent; All variables had skewness and kurtosis value within the acceptable range, which shows that the data was normally distributed. The study also concludes that that supplier contract award, supplier qualification and supplier identification have direct correlation with organization performance such that organization performance increases with each increment in the effectiveness of each factor. The study also conclude that the organization financial position has really been affected because the company relies so much on the supply chain in terms of cost cutting, it’s also clear that the organization takes long to implement the laid down policies. The study recommended that the management should introduce regular performance reviews and set up suppliers screening process this will help to keep tabs on their work and ensure they are fulfilling the organizations needs accordingly, the organization needs to have more than one supplier, and the supplier can be relied on in case of emergency orders. The researcher suggested that a similar study should be conducted in other related organizations in the oil business in other counties.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of behavioural activation (BA) in reducing depression symptoms in a sample of 186 children and adolescents from selected children’s homes in Kajiado County. This study was quasi-experimental and used the operant conditioning theory. This theory was ideal because children and adolescents are subject to various positive consequences that subtly shape their behaviour. The participants were purposively sampled and were between ages 9-17 both males and females with a mean age of 13. Participants with scores of 11 or higher on the depression subscale were randomly assigned into either experimental or control arms. The experimental arm received 10 sessions of BA with the control arm receiving treatment as usual (TAU). The participants completed a demographic questionnaire as well as CDI to assess for depression symptoms. Multiple linear regression analysis using SPSS Version 20 was used to identify factors independently associated with levels of depression symptoms. The mean score for the levels of depression was 18.6 (±5.6SD). The CDI scores reduction among the participants was significantly associated with time of follow-up (Estimate= -5.86; 95% CI: -8.91 to -2.81; p<0.001) and the intervention (Estimate= -1.86; 95% CI: -3.22 to -0.50; p=0.012). Based on these findings, BA is recommended for children and adolescents presenting with symptoms of depression. Further, this study will help curriculum developers to integrate mental health into the school curriculum. This will help in arresting the symptoms of depression among children and adolescents appropriately and timely.

This survey was conducted to quantify the effect of addition of Avizyme® multi enzyme to the body composition of western white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)carrying the experiment based on initial average weight of 2.5±0.5 (gr). The experiment was conducted based on absolute casual program including 7 and 3 repetition for each attendants including a control attendants (free- canola, free Avizyme® -multi enzyme and 30% of fish meal) and six attendants at the level of 15,30,45 percent plant protein along with 0.5% Avizyme® multi enzyme and free-Avizyme® multi enzyme In the begging of the period, 525 shrimps were casually introduced in 21 plastic tanks of 50 liter each (25 shrimp in each tank). Shrimps were fed three times a day at 8, 14, 20 o'clock for about 8 weeks in a water with average temperature of 31.60 ± 0.60C0and water salinity of 41 ± 0.8 (ppm).In the begging of culturing process, 40 Shrimps were randomly selected and also at the end, from each repeat 10 shrimps were captured and after de-skinning and freezing they transferred to the laboratory for analyses of body. The results at the end 60 days of period showed that from humidity characteristic point of view and the shrimp body protein, no meaningful statistical differences were observed between the Control and testing attendants (P>0.05). But, From the protein characteristic aspect, fiber and body ash there were meaningful differences based on this, the lipid characteristic in testing attendants 1,2,3 with enzyme and similar attendants without enzyme and the control attendant, there were meaningful differences (P<0.05). The body ash characteristic between attendants 2 with 5 and 3with 6 in relation to control attendant was meaningful statistic differences.

An experimental study was conducted under dryland conditions to determine the influence of conventional and conservation tillage systems as well as seed rate on grain yield and yield components of a wheat cultivar in the central region of Iran. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with three tillage and four seed rate treatments with three replications. Tillage treatments comprised of conventional tillage (CT: moldboard+disk), reduced tillage (RT: chisel plow+disk), and no-till (NT: direct drilling with plow no-till drill), while the seed rate treatments were 80, 100, 120, and 140 kgha^-1. Average grain yield was 1804, 1754 and 1789 kgha^-1 for CT, RT and NT, respectively. The highest wheat yield was obtained from CT and NT treatments with seed rate of 100 kgha^-1 and the lowest yield was obtained in RT treatment with seed rate of 80 kgha^-1. The trend of wheat yield with seed rate (number of plants per hectare) was approximately similar to the parabolic response curve of grain yield versus number of plants per unit area which increases quickly to a maximum and slowly decreases at higher plant densities. To achieve the maximum yield of dryland wheat in central region of Iran, applying no-till system with seed rate of 100 kgha^-1 was recommended.

The study of radiation defects created in biomaterials, such as bones can be used in dating with importance to paleontology and archaeology. A preliminary attempt has been made to date the bone samples recently excavated from the archaeological site Gudnapur in Karnataka state, India. Each sample was divided into five sets which were given an artificial dose (AD) by using ? irradiation of 50 Gy, 300 Gy, 800 Gy, 1500 Gy and 3200 Gy. All the samples show similar EPR spectra having g-values 2.0026, 2.0025 and 2.0013 corresponding to orthorhombic CO2- and axial CO2- respectively. These signals have been used for the age estimation of the archaeological bone samples assuming the dose rate to be 6.8 mGy/a. The calculated ages of the samples are 36 ± 24 ka, 12 ± 87 ka and 19 ± 83 ka. These samples correspond to the upper stage of the Pleistocene epoch respectively and in good agreement with age predicted by archaeological Department. X-ray diffraction studies revealed the transformation of the mineral components partially into fluoroapatite form with addition of goethite, quartz phases and with preserved collagen remains. The aim was to establish their degree of preservation and possibilities of inferring the life conditions from them.

The combination of cystitis and emphysematous pyelonephritis is a serious but rare, the prognosis is related to renal damage. CT is the gold standard that allows the diagnosis and establishes a radiological classification with prognostic value. The therapeutic approach is based on The Early antibiotic treatment is systematic. Percutaneous drainage is the first step therapy in most cases,but should not delay a possible rescue nephrectomy. We report a case of emphysematous pyelonephritis associated with emphysematous cystitis in a 26 year old woman. Early diagnosis allowed conservative treatment with appropriate antibiotic therapy and urinary drainage catheter. The outcome was favorable.

The objective of the present study was to minimise the unwanted side effects of olanzapine (OZ) drug by kinetic control of drug release by entrapping OZ into gastro resistant, biodegradable waxes such as beeswax (BW), cetostearyl alcohol (CSA), spermaceti ( SP) and fat cetyl alcohol ( CA) microspheres using meltable emulsified dispersion cooling induced solidification technique utilizing a wetting agent. Solid, discrete, reproducible free flowing microspheres were obtained. The yield of the microspheres was up to 94.0%. Microspheres had smooth surfaces, with free flowing and good packing properties, indicating that the obtained angle of repose, % Carr’s index and tapped density values were well within the limit. More than 97.0% of the isolated spherical microspheres were in the particle size range of 312-330 µm as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) photographs. The drug loaded in microspheres was found to be stable and compatible with waxes as confirmed by DSC and FTIR studies. The release of drug was controlled for more than 8 h. Intestinal drug release from microspheres was studied and compared with the release behaviour of commercially available formulation Olanex®. The release kinetics followed different transport mechanisms. The drug release performance was greatly affected by the materials used in microsphere preparations, which allows absorption in the intestinal tract.

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the correlated factors of landslide using certainty factor (CF) Model in Latyan catchment, north Tehran, Iran. At ?rst, a landslide inventory map was prepared using aerial photographs and the extensive ?eld survey. For this purpose, 208 landslides were mapped and out of which 145 (70 %) were randomly selected for building landslide susceptibility models, while the remaining 63 (30 %) were used for validating the models. In this study, 10 conditioning factors with their classes were evaluated. These factors including: slope; slope aspect; altitude; plan curvature; lithology; land use; distance from faults, rivers and roads and topographic wetness index (TWI). The validation of landslide susceptibility map was carried out using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results shows that the slope class 20 ?–30 ?(0.10640), slope aspect northwest (0.53335), the altitude 1800 - 2000 m (0.40805), curvature concave (0.00788), geology Jd (0.86675), Land Use forest (0.94588), distance from faults 6500–9500 m (0.47110), distance from river 0–200 m (0.25148) and distance form roads 0–500 m (0.24822) have the highest CF values. The result of ROC curve also shows that the certainty factor model has high value of AUC (0.832) which indicates the model employed in this study reasonably good accuracy in predicting the landslide susceptibility of Latyan catchment.

The amino acid composition of the yolk and albumen of the egg of guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) was determined on a dry weight basis. The total essential amino acid ranged from (g/100 g crude protein, cp): 48.0-46.1 or from 49.3-49.2 % respectively of the total amino acid. The amino acid scores showed lysine ranged from 1.27-1.31 (on provisional essential amino acid scoring pattern) and 1.21-1.24 (on suggested requirement of the essential amino acid of a pre-school child). The predicted protein efficiency ratio was 3.74-2.59, the essential amino acid index range was 1.44-1.38 and the calculated isoelectric point range was 5.69-5.48. The correlation coefficient (rxy) was positive and significant at r = 0.05 for the amino acids, amino acid scores and the isoelectric point in the two samples.