Prevalence of intestinal parasites in small ruminants and their senstivity to treatments with ethnobotanical remedies in Cholistan, Pakistan

Livestock production contributes substantially to the livelihoods of poor rural farmers in Pakistan; strengthening pastoral communities plays an imperative role in the country’s thrive for poverty alleviation. Intestinal helminths constitute a major threat for pastoral livestock keepers in the whole country because chronic infestation leads to distinct losses in livestock productivity, particularly the growth of young animals. Synthetic anthelmintics have long been considered the only effective way of controlling this problem but high prices, side effects and chemical residues/toxicity problems, or development of resistance, lead to their very limited use in many pastoral systems. Additionally, poor pastoralists in remote areas of Pakistan hardly have access to appropriate anthelmintic drugs, which are also relatively expensive due to the long routes of transportation. The search for new and more sustainable ways of supporting livestock keepers in remote areas has given rise to studies of ethno-botanicals or traditional plant-based remedies to be used in livestock health care. Plant-based remedies are cheap or free of cost, environmentally safe and generally create no problem of drug resistance; they thus might substitute allopathic drugs. Furthermore, these remedies are easily available in remote areas and simple to prepare and/or administer. Cholistan desert is a quite poor region of Pakistan and the majority of its inhabitants are practicing a nomadic life. The region’s total livestock population (1.29 million heads) is almost twice that of the human population. Livestock husbandry is the primordial occupation of the communities and traditionally wealth assessment was based on the number of animals, especially goats and sheep, owned by an individual. Fortunately, about 60% of this desert region is richly endowed with highly adapted grasses, shrubs and trees. This natural flora has a rich heritage of scientifically unexplored botanical pharmacopoeia. Against this background, the present research project that was conducted under the umbrella of the International Center for Development and Decent Work at Kassel University, focused on a development aspect: in the Cholistan desert region it was firstly examined how pastoralists manage their livestock, which major health problems they face for the different animal species, and which of the naturally occurring plants they use for the treatment of animal diseases (Chapter 2). For this purpose, a baseline survey was carried out across five locations in Cholistan, using a structured questionnaire to collect data from 100 livestock farmers (LF) and 20 local healers (LH). Most of LF and LH were illiterate (66%; 70%). On average, LH had larger herds (109 animals) than LF (85 animals) and were more experienced in livestock husbandry and management. On average LF spent about 163 Euro per year on the treatment of their livestock, with a huge variability in expenditures. Eighty-six traditional remedies based on 64 plants belonging to 43 families were used. Capparaceae was the botanical family with the largest number of species used (4), followed by Chenopodiaceae, Poaceae, Solanaceae and Zygophyllaceae (3). The plants Capparis decidua (n=55 mentions), Salsola foetida (n=52), Suaeda fruticosa (n=46), Haloxylon salicornicum (n=42) and Haloxylon recurvum (n=39) were said to be most effective against the infestations with gastrointestinal parasites. Aerial parts (43%), leaves (26%), fruits (9%), seeds and seed oils (9%) were the plant parts frequently used for preparation of remedies, while flowers, roots, bulbs and pods were less frequently used (<5%). Common preparations were decoction, jaggery and ball drench; oral drug administration was very common. There was some variation in the doses used for different animal species depending on age, size and physical condition of the animal and severity of the disease. In a second step the regionally most prevalent gastrointestinal parasites of sheep and goats were determined (Chapter 3) in 500 animals per species randomly chosen from pastoral herds across the previously studied five localities. Standard parasitological techniques were applied to identify the parasites in faecal samples manually collected at the rectum. Overall helminth prevalence was 78.1% across the 1000 animals; pure nematode infestations were most prevalent (37.5%), followed by pure trematode (7.9%), pure cestode (2.6%) and pure protozoa infestations (0.8%). Mixed infestations with nematodes and trematodes occurred in 6.4% of all animals, mixed nematode-cestode infestations in 3.8%, and all three groups were found in 19.1% of the sheep and goats. In goats more males (81.1%) than females (77.0%) were infested, the opposite was found in sheep (73.6% males, 79.5% females). Parasites were especially prevalent in suckling goats (85.2%) and sheep (88.5%) and to a lesser extent in young (goats 80.6%, sheep 79.3%) and adult animals (goats 72.8%, sheep 73.8%). Haemonchus contortus, Trichuris ovis and Paramphistomum cervi were the most prevalent helminths. In a third step the in vitro anthelmintic activity of C. decidua, S. foetida, S. fruticosa, H. salicornicum and H. recurvum (Chapter 2) was investigated against adult worms of H. contortus, T. ovis and P. cervi (Chapter 3) via adult motility assay (Chapter 4). Various concentrations ranging from 7.8 to 500 mg dry matter/ml of three types of extracts of each plant, i.e. aqueous, methanol, and aqueous-methanol (30:70), were used at different time intervals to access their anthelmintic activity. Levamisol (0.55 mg/ml) and oxyclozanide (30 mg/ml) served as positive and phosphate-buffered saline as negative control. All extracts exhibited minimum and maximum activity at 2 h and 12 h after parasite exposure; the 500 mg/ml extract concentrations were most effective. Plant species (P<0.05), extract type (P<0.01), parasite species (P<0.01), extract concentration (P<0.01), time of exposure (P<0.01) and their interactions (P<0.01) had significant effects on the number of immobile/dead helminths. From the comparison of LC50 values it appeared that the aqueous extract of C. decidua was more potent against H. contortus and T. ovis, while the aqueous extract of S. foetida was effective against P. cervi. The methanol extracts of H. recurvum were most potent against all three types of parasites, and its aqueous-methanol extract was also very effective against T. ovis and P. cervi. Based on these result it is concluded that the aqueous extract of C. decidua, as well as the methanol and aqueous-methanol extract of H. recurvum have the potential to be developed into plant-based drugs for treatment against H. contortus, T. ovis and P. cervi infestations. Further studies are now needed to investigate the in vivo anthelmintic activity of these plants and plant extracts, respectively, in order to develop effective, cheap and locally available anthelmintics for pastoralists in Cholistan and neighboring desert regions. This will allow developing tangible recommendations for plant-based anthelminthic treatment of sheep and goat herds, and by this enable pastoralists to maintain healthy and productive flocks at low costs and probably even manufacture herbal drugs for marketing on a regional scale.

The prediction of seasonal and inter-annual climate variations and their impacts on the water resources in the eastern seaboard of Thailand

The research of this thesis dissertation covers developments and applications of short-and long-term climate predictions. The short-term prediction emphasizes monthly and seasonal climate, i.e. forecasting from up to the next month over a season to up to a year or so. The long-term predictions pertain to the analysis of inter-annual- and decadal climate variations over the whole 21st century. These two climate prediction methods are validated and applied in the study area, namely, Khlong Yai (KY) water basin located in the eastern seaboard of Thailand which is a major industrial zone of the country and which has been suffering from severe drought and water shortage in recent years. Since water resources are essential for the further industrial development in this region, a thorough analysis of the potential climate change with its subsequent impact on the water supply in the area is at the heart of this thesis research. The short-term forecast of the next-season climate, such as temperatures and rainfall, offers a potential general guideline for water management and reservoir operation. To that avail, statistical models based on autoregressive techniques, i.e., AR-, ARIMA- and ARIMAex-, which includes additional external regressors, and multiple linear regression- (MLR) models, are developed and applied in the study region. Teleconnections between ocean states and the local climate are investigated and used as extra external predictors in the ARIMAex- and the MLR-model and shown to enhance the accuracy of the short-term predictions significantly. However, as the ocean state – local climate teleconnective relationships provide only a one- to four-month ahead lead time, the ocean state indices can support only a one-season-ahead forecast. Hence, GCM- climate predictors are also suggested as an additional predictor-set for a more reliable and somewhat longer short-term forecast. For the preparation of “pre-warning” information for up-coming possible future climate change with potential adverse hydrological impacts in the study region, the long-term climate prediction methodology is applied. The latter is based on the downscaling of climate predictions from several single- and multi-domain GCMs, using the two well-known downscaling methods SDSM and LARS-WG and a newly developed MLR-downscaling technique that allows the incorporation of a multitude of monthly or daily climate predictors from one- or several (multi-domain) parent GCMs. The numerous downscaling experiments indicate that the MLR- method is more accurate than SDSM and LARS-WG in predicting the recent past 20th-century (1971-2000) long-term monthly climate in the region. The MLR-model is, consequently, then employed to downscale 21st-century GCM- climate predictions under SRES-scenarios A1B, A2 and B1. However, since the hydrological watershed model requires daily-scale climate input data, a new stochastic daily climate generator is developed to rescale monthly observed or predicted climate series to daily series, while adhering to the statistical and geospatial distributional attributes of observed (past) daily climate series in the calibration phase. Employing this daily climate generator, 30 realizations of future daily climate series from downscaled monthly GCM-climate predictor sets are produced and used as input in the SWAT- distributed watershed model, to simulate future streamflow and other hydrological water budget components in the study region in a multi-realization manner. In addition to a general examination of the future changes of the hydrological regime in the KY-basin, potential future changes of the water budgets of three main reservoirs in the basin are analysed, as these are a major source of water supply in the study region. The results of the long-term 21st-century downscaled climate predictions provide evidence that, compared with the past 20th-reference period, the future climate in the study area will be more extreme, particularly, for SRES A1B. Thus, the temperatures will be higher and exhibit larger fluctuations. Although the future intensity of the rainfall is nearly constant, its spatial distribution across the region is partially changing. There is further evidence that the sequential rainfall occurrence will be decreased, so that short periods of high intensities will be followed by longer dry spells. This change in the sequential rainfall pattern will also lead to seasonal reductions of the streamflow and seasonal changes (decreases) of the water storage in the reservoirs. In any case, these predicted future climate changes with their hydrological impacts should encourage water planner and policy makers to develop adaptation strategies to properly handle the future water supply in this area, following the guidelines suggested in this study.

Efficient Characterisation and Optimal Control of Open Quantum Systems - Mathematical Foundations and Physical Applications

Since no physical system can ever be completely isolated from its environment, the study of open quantum systems is pivotal to reliably and accurately control complex quantum systems. In practice, reliability of the control field needs to be confirmed via certification of the target evolution while accuracy requires the derivation of high-fidelity control schemes in the presence of decoherence. In the first part of this thesis an algebraic framework is presented that allows to determine the minimal requirements on the unique characterisation of arbitrary unitary gates in open quantum systems, independent on the particular physical implementation of the employed quantum device. To this end, a set of theorems is devised that can be used to assess whether a given set of input states on a quantum channel is sufficient to judge whether a desired unitary gate is realised. This allows to determine the minimal input for such a task, which proves to be, quite remarkably, independent of system size. These results allow to elucidate the fundamental limits regarding certification and tomography of open quantum systems. The combination of these insights with state-of-the-art Monte Carlo process certification techniques permits a significant improvement of the scaling when certifying arbitrary unitary gates. This improvement is not only restricted to quantum information devices where the basic information carrier is the qubit but it also extends to systems where the fundamental informational entities can be of arbitary dimensionality, the so-called qudits. The second part of this thesis concerns the impact of these findings from the point of view of Optimal Control Theory (OCT). OCT for quantum systems utilises concepts from engineering such as feedback and optimisation to engineer constructive and destructive interferences in order to steer a physical process in a desired direction. It turns out that the aforementioned mathematical findings allow to deduce novel optimisation functionals that significantly reduce not only the required memory for numerical control algorithms but also the total CPU time required to obtain a certain fidelity for the optimised process. The thesis concludes by discussing two problems of fundamental interest in quantum information processing from the point of view of optimal control - the preparation of pure states and the implementation of unitary gates in open quantum systems. For both cases specific physical examples are considered: for the former the vibrational cooling of molecules via optical pumping and for the latter a superconducting phase qudit implementation. In particular, it is illustrated how features of the environment can be exploited to reach the desired targets.

Femtosecond wavepacket interferometry using the rotational dynamics of a trapped cold molecular ion

A Ramsey-type interferometer is suggested, employing a cold trapped ion and two time-delayed offresonant femtosecond laser pulses. The laser light couples to the molecular polarization anisotropy, inducing rotational wavepacket dynamics. An interferogram is obtained from the delay dependent populations of the final field-free rotational states. Current experimental capabilities for cooling and preparation of the initial state are found to yield an interferogram visibility of more than 80%. The interferograms can be used to determine the polarizability anisotropy with an accuracy of about ±2%, respectively ±5%, provided the uncertainty in the initial populations and measurement errors are confined to within the same limits.

Meshing highly regular structures: The case of super carbon nanotubes of arbitrary order

Mesh generation is an important step inmany numerical methods.We present the “HierarchicalGraphMeshing” (HGM)method as a novel approach to mesh generation, based on algebraic graph theory.The HGM method can be used to systematically construct configurations exhibiting multiple hierarchies and complex symmetry characteristics. The hierarchical description of structures provided by the HGM method can be exploited to increase the efficiency of multiscale and multigrid methods. In this paper, the HGMmethod is employed for the systematic construction of super carbon nanotubes of arbitrary order, which present a pertinent example of structurally and geometrically complex, yet highly regular, structures. The HGMalgorithm is computationally efficient and exhibits good scaling characteristics. In particular, it scales linearly for super carbon nanotube structures and is working much faster than geometry-based methods employing neighborhood search algorithms. Its modular character makes it conducive to automatization. For the generation of a mesh, the information about the geometry of the structure in a given configuration is added in a way that relates geometric symmetries to structural symmetries. The intrinsically hierarchic description of the resulting mesh greatly reduces the effort of determining mesh hierarchies for multigrid and multiscale applications and helps to exploit symmetry-related methods in the mechanical analysis of complex structures.

The dynamics of local hiv-1 epidemics: the colombian and belgian cohorts

We aimed to characterize the HIV-1 epidemic of the Belgian and Colombian cohorts using an integrated approach that includes socio-demographic information, clinical data, and viral sequences, analyzed with statistical and phylogenetic approaches.

Innovative use of vodcast (Video-Podcast) to enrich learning experience in structures laboratory

Students may have difficulty in understanding some of the complex concepts which they have been taught in the general areas of science and engineering. Whilst practical work such as a laboratory based examination of the performance of structures has an important role in knowledge construction this does have some limitations. Blended learning supports different learning styles, hence further benefits knowledge building. This research involves an empirical study of how vodcasts (video-podcasts) can be used to enrich learning experience in the structural properties of materials laboratory of an undergraduate course. Students were given the opportunity of downloading and viewing the vodcasts on the theory before and after the experimental work. It is the choice of the students when (before or after, before and after) and how many times they would like to view the vodcasts. In blended learning, the combination of face-to-face teaching, vodcasts, printed materials, practical experiments, writing reports and instructors’ feedbacks benefits different learning styles of the learners. For the preparation of the practical, the students were informed about the availability of the vodcasts prior to the practical session. After the practical work, students submitted an individual laboratory report for the assessment of the structures laboratory. The data collection consisted of a questionnaire completed by the students, follow-up semi-structured interviews and the practical reports submitted by them for assessment. The results from the questionnaire were analysed quantitatively, whilst the data from the assessment reports were analysed qualitatively. The analysis shows that most of the students who have not fully grasped the theory after the practical, managed to gain the required knowledge by viewing the vodcasts. According to their feedbacks, the students felt that they have control over how to use the material and to view it as many times as they wish. Some students who have understood the theory may choose to view it once or not at all. Their understanding was demonstrated by their explanations in their reports, and was illustrated by the approach they took to explicate the results of their experimental work. The research findings are valuable to instructors who design, develop and deliver different types of blended learning, and are beneficial to learners who try different blended approaches. Recommendations were made on the role of the innovative application of vodcasts in the knowledge construction for structures laboratory and to guide future work in this area of research.

Blended learning approach to include the innovative use of vodcasts (video-podcasts) to enrich students learning experience in structures laboratory

Students may have difficulty in understanding some of the complex concepts which they have been taught in the general areas of science and engineering. Whilst practical work such as a laboratory based examination of the performance of structures has an important role in knowledge construction this does have some limitations. Blended learning supports different learning styles, hence further benefits knowledge building. This research involves the empirical studies of how an innovative use of vodcasts (video-podcasts) can enrich learning experience in the structural properties of materials laboratory of an undergraduate course. Students were given the opportunity of downloading and viewing the vodcasts on the theory before and after the experimental work. It is the choice of the students when (before or after, before and after) and how many times they would like to view the vodcasts. In blended learning, the combination of face-to-face teaching, vodcasts, printed materials, practical experiments, writing reports and instructors’ feedbacks benefits different learning styles of the learners. For the preparation of the practical laboratory work, the students were informed about the availability of the vodcasts prior to the practical session. After the practical work, students submit an individual laboratory report for the assessment of the structures laboratory. The data collection consists of a questionnaire completed by the students, and the practical reports submitted by them for assessment. The results from the questionnaire were analysed quantitatively, whilst the data from the assessment reports were analysed qualitatively. The analysis shows that students who have not fully grasped the theory after the practical were successful in gaining the required knowledge by viewing the vodcasts. Some students who have understood the theory may choose to view it once or not at all. Their understanding was demonstrated by the quality of their explanations in their reports. This is illustrated by the approach they took to explicate the results of their experimental work, for example, they can explain how to calculate the Young’s Modulus properly and provided the correct value for it. The research findings are valuable to instructors who design, develop and deliver different types of blended learning, and beneficial to learners who try different blended approaches. Recommendations were made on the role of the innovative application of vodcasts in the knowledge construction for structures laboratory and to guide future work in this area of research.

Modern approaches to floristics and their impact on the region of SW Asia

Attitudes to floristics have changed considerably during the past few decades as a result of increasing and often more focused consumer demands, heightened awareness of the threats to biodiversity, information flow and overload, and the application of electronic and web-based techniques to information handling and processing. This paper will examine these concerns in relation to our floristic knowledge and needs in the region of SW Asia. Particular reference will be made to the experience gained from the Euro+Med PlantBase project for the preparation of an electronic plant-information system for Europe and the Mediterranean, with a single core list of accepted plant names and synonyms, based on consensus taxonomy agreed by a specialist network. The many challenges Ð scientific, technical and organisational Ð that it has presented will be discussed as well as the problems of handling nontaxonomic information from fields such as conservation, karyology, biosystematics and mapping. The question of regional cooperation and the sharing of efforts and resources will also be raised and attention drawn to the recent planning workshop held in Rabat (May 2002) for establishing a technical cooperation network for taxonomic capacity building in North Africa as a possible model for the SW Asia region.

Stille reactions of 2,3-bis(stannyl)butenoates: an unexpected regioselectivity

The palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of methyl (Z)-2,3-bis(tributylstannyl)butenoate with aryl iodides is regioselective, leading to 2-aryl-3-stannylated products; this selectivity is the opposite to that observed in the reaction between halides and 3,4-bis(stannyl)furan-2(5H)-one. Since the resulting butenoates can be converted into the corresponding furanones, the method provides useful flexibility in the preparation of functionalized butenoates and furanones.

Cycloadditions of chiral carbonyl ylides with imine dipolarophiles as a route to enantiomerically pure alpha-amino-beta-hydroxy acids

The preparation of enantiomerically pure threo-beta-amino-alpha-hydroxy acids via 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of imine dipolarophiles with the chiral isomunchnone derived from (5R)-5-phenylmorpholin-3-one 1 is described. The cycloadducts were obtained with excellent diastereofacial- and exo-selectivity. Subsequent hydrolysis and chemoselective exocyclic amide cleavage afforded the threo-beta-amino-alpha-hydroxy acids with recovery of the initial chiral auxiliary. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Rapid, uncatalyzed ring-opening polymerization of individual macrocyclic poly(arylene thioether ketone)s under dynamic heating conditions

Uncatalyzed, ring-opening polymerization of individual macrocyclic poly(arylene thioether ketone)s (1-4) and mixtures (5) under dynamic heating conditions has been demonstrated for the first time. High-molecular-weight, film-forming products were obtained after heating of the macrocycles up to 480 degreesC, with a heating rate of 10-20 degreesC /min. Depending on the macrocyclic structure and heat treatment conditions, the polymers obtained were amorphous or semicrystalline, soluble or slightly crosslinked. NMR analyses of the soluble polymers revealed their linear, highly regular structure. According to NMR, DSC, and TGA studies, the polymers obtained do not contain any residual macrocycles. The polymers with thio-p-arylene moieties in the main chain were thermally stabile. The catalyzed ring opening polymerization of 5 carried out in diphenyl sulfone solution is also reported for comparison. Using quantum mechanical calculations of the ring opening of macrocycles, a reaction mechanism is suggested. Preparation of nanosized poly(thioether ketone) fibrils by a replication method is described.

The business case development process in the delivery of NHS infrastructure

There is a lack of knowledge base in relation to experiences gained and lessons learnt from previously executed National Health Service (NHS) infrastructure projects in the UK. This is in part a feature of one-off construction projects, which typify healthcare infrastructure, and in part due to the absence of a suitable method for conveying such information. The complexity of infrastructure delivery process in the NHS makes the construction of healthcare buildings a formidable task. This is particularly the case for the NHS trusts who have little or no experience of construction projects. To facilitate understanding a most important aspect of the delivery process, which is the preparation of a capital investment proposal; steps taken in developing the business case for an NHS healthcare facility are examined. The context for such examination is provided by the planning process of a healthcare project, studied retrospectively. The process is analysed using a social science based method called ‘building stories’, developed at the University of California-Berkeley. By applying this method, stories or narratives are constructed around the data captured on the case study. The findings indicate that the business case process may be used to justify, rather than identify, trusts’ requirements. The study is useful for UK public sector clients as well as consultants and professionals who aim to participate in the delivery of healthcare infrastructure projects in the UK.

Mechanical effects of plant cell wall enzymes on xyloglucan/cellulose composites

Xyloglucan-acting enzymes are believed to have effects on type I primary plant cell wall mechanical properties. In order to get a better understanding of these effects, a range of enzymes with different in vitro modes of action were tested against cell wall analogues (bio-composite materials based on Acetobacter xylinus cellulose and xyloglucan). Tomato pericarp xyloglucan endo transglycosylase (tXET) and nasturtium seed xyloglucanase (nXGase) were produced heterologously in Pichia pastoris. Their action against the cell wall analogues was compared with that of a commercial preparation of Trichoderma endo-glucanase (EndoGase). Both 'hydrolytic' enzymes (nXGase and EndoGase) were able to depolymerise not only the cross-link xyloglucan fraction but also the surface-bound fraction. Consequent major changes in cellulose fibril architecture were observed. In mechanical terms, removal of xyloglucan cross-links from composites resulted in increased stiffness (at high strain) and decreased visco-elasticity with similar extensibility. On the other hand, true transglycosylase activity (tXET) did not affect the cellulose/xyloglucan ratio. No change in composite stiffness or extensibility resulted, but a significant increase in creep behaviour was observed in the presence of active tXET. These results provide direct in vitro evidence for the involvement of cell wall xyloglucan-specific enzymes in mechanical changes underlying plant cell wall re-modelling and growth processes. Mechanical consequences of tXET action are shown to be complimentary to those of cucumber expansin.

Antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory activity of mango seed kernel by product

The antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory properties of extracts of mango seed kernel (Mangifera indica L.), which is normally discarded when the fruit is processed, were studied. Extracts contained phenolic components by a high antioxidant activity, which was assessed in homogeneous solution by the 2,2-diphenyt-1-picrylhydrazyl radical and 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothialozinesulfonic acid) radical cation-scavenging assays and in an emulsion with the ferric thiocyanate test. The extracts also possessed tyrosinase inhibitory activity. Drying conditions and extraction solvent were varied, and optimum conditions for preparation of mango seed kernel extract were found to be sun-drying with ethanol extraction at room temperature. Refluxing in acidified ethanol gave an increase in yield and the obtained extract had the highest content of total phenolics, and also was the most effective antioxidant with the highest radical-scavenging, metal-chelating and tyrosinase inhibitory activity. The extracts did not cause acute irritation of rabbit skins. Our study for the first time reveals the high total phenol content, radical-scavenging, metal-chelating and tyrosinase inhibitory activities of the extract from mango seed kernel. This extract may be suitable for use in food, cosmetic, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.