Areas Of District Research Articles

Soil health assessment of croplands adjacent to industrial areas in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu

Soil health is a vital determinant of agricultural productivity and the supply of essential ecosystem services, including water retention, nutrient cycling and the support of microbial communities. However, industrial activities near croplands can adversely affect soil health through contamination by pollutants such as heavy metals, chemicals and waste materials. This study evaluates the soil health of agricultural lands adjacent to industrial areas in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, with an emphasis on physical, chemical and biological soil properties. A total of 128 soil samples were collected and categorized into three groups: Primary Impact Sites (PIS), Secondary Impact Sites (SIS) and Reference Soils (RS). The analysis revealed that soils in proximity to industrial zones exhibited significant degradation in key indicators, such as bulk density, water holding capacity (WHC), organic carbon (OC) content and microbial activity. Soils at Primary Impact Sites demonstrated the most pronounced decline, characterized by higher bulk density, reduced WHC and lower OC levels, indicative of poor structure of soil and diminished fertility. In contrast, soils at Secondary Impact Sites and Reference Soils exhibited better overall quality, with higher microbial activity and enhanced nutrient retention. The findings of this study emphasize the indirect effects of industrialization on agricultural productivity through soil degradation.

Evaluating artesunate monotherapy and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine as potential antimalarial options for prevaccination radical cures during future malaria vaccine field efficacy trials

BackgroundIn malaria vaccine clinical trials, immune responses after vaccination may be compromised due to immunosuppression caused by concurrent Plasmodium falciparum infection. This has a direct effect on the protective efficacy of the vaccine being evaluated. Therefore, parasite clearance prior to vaccination is being considered. Drugs with good safety and efficacy profiles and a short posttreatment prophylaxis period should be used. Two antimalarial drugs, artesunate (AS) as monotherapy and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHAPQ), have been evaluated in order to identify the most suitable option for use in future trials.MethodsA cohort of children aged 1.5–12 years living in the Banfora Health District area was recruited. They were randomly assigned to receive supervised curative doses of AS monotherapy for 7 days or DHAPQ for 3 days. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed 21 days after treatment to confirm clearance of infection, and only those with a negative PCR were included in the study cohort for a 6-month longitudinal follow-up. Cohort children were actively visited fortnightly to collect blood samples for P. falciparum detection via microscopy and PCR. Passive surveillance was also conducted at the local health facility to record incident malaria episodes that occurred between two active visits.ResultsA total of 513 children were treated. Among these patients, 458 (89.3%) were free of P. falciparum malaria infection on day 21: 87.3% (226/259) in the AS group vs 91.3% (232/254) in the DHAPQ group (p = 0.053). The mean time to first malaria infection by microscopy was 154.9 (2.9) days in the DHAPQ arm and 129.0 (3.9) days in the AS arm (p < 0.01). The incidence rates of clinical malaria episodes during the follow-up period were 0.507 (0.369–0.645) and 0.293 (0.190–0.397) in the AS and DHAPQ arms, respectively (p < 0.05).ConclusionsThese findings suggest that although both drugs are effective in clearing P. falciparum infections, AS is likely to cause no more than minimal interference with the evaluation of vaccine efficacy endpoints and could, therefore, be considered for use.Trial registration: NCT04601714.

ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF EXTERNAL TEMPERATURE ON THE SPECIFIC GAS CONSUMPTION OF HEAT SOURCES

The article examines the impact of outdoor temperature on the specific consumption of gas from heat sources, taking into account tariffs for district heating in the regions of Ukraine. The study is aimed at identifying patterns between external climatic conditions and gas consumption for heating, which allows optimizing energy consumption and increasing the efficiency of energy use. Data on district heating tariffs, population and area of Ukrainian regions were analyzed. The cluster analysis and hierarchical classification of regions were performed, which allowed us to identify groups with similar characteristics of gas consumption and heating tariffs. The ratio of population to area of regions and its impact on gas consumption and tariff policy is investigated.

HUBUNGAN PELATIHAN KADER DENGAN PENGETAHUAN KADER TENTANG PENEMUAN KASUS TUBERCULOSIS SECARA AKTIF

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 10 million people are sick with tuberculosis and 1.3 million people die from tuberculosis every year. It was recorded that only 59% were reported and the rest were not detected with bacteriological confirmation and were not reported. The coverage of TB patient discovery at the Pasar Minggu District Health Center was 14.35% (101 people out of 704 targets). TB case finding (active case finding) is one of the main strategies and is the first step in TB Control Program (P2TB) activities. Objective: to determine the characteristics, experience (length of work and training), knowledge of TB cadres and analyze the relationship between characteristics and experience and cadre knowledge. Method: quantitative research design with analytical observation, cross-sectional. Implementation in the Asoka Child-Friendly Integrated Public Space (RPTRA) in the Pasar Minggu District area, with implementation time from December 2022 to January 2023. Results: the majority of TB cadres are in the age group &gt; 45 - 60 years (pre-elderly). Cadres with a low level of education are 72%. There is a significant relationship between training and cadre knowledge (p-value = .006). Conclusion: Many TB cadres have no experience because they have worked for less than 5 years. Of all the cadres, there are still many who have not participated in training about TB and the knowledge of TB cadres is relatively low.

Innovation of Sago Into Dry Cakes (DA, DAK)

Before rice became widely known in its current form, sago was the staple food of Indonesian people. Sago is eaten in the form of papeda, a type of porridge, or other preparations. Sago is unique as a source of carbohydrates because it is produced in wetlands, a natural habitat for straw. This condition has benefits for the environment but is less economical and more difficult to distribute. Sago is popular among many people in Kitakagiri, and many foods are made from it. Dhadak is a typical food from the Masamba area in Kitakagiri district. Not many people know about this food. However, not many people know about Dhadak, a food made from sago and coconut. Dhadak is a typical Masamba regional dish and is one of the traditional dishes. This product is rarely available on the market and almost non-existent. Apart from being used as food and a complementary ingredient, sago has been proven to provide significant benefits to the ecological chain. Like the sago area, this area is a breeding ground for various types of living creatures, including wild boars, snakes, beetles and birds. Apart from that, from a health perspective, sago is one of the best plants that is able to convert the sun's photosynthetic energy through its leaves and channel it to nature. This means that being around trees can help people avoid lung disease and asthma.

Distribution characteristics, sources and risk assessment of heavy metal(oid)s in road dust from a typical lead-zinc mining area in South China.

Although the construction of green mines has effectively reduced soil pollution issues, dust contaminants continue to pose potential risks to human health and environment. This study investigated the concentrations, sources, and human health risks of metal(oid)s present in road dust across different functional zones of the largest lead-zinc mine in Guangdong Province, China, namely the Fankou lead-zinc mine. First, a systematic collection of 45 dust samples from six functional zones was conducted, focusing on the concentrations of ten heavy metal(oid)s (HMs), including As, Cd, Pb, and Zn etc. The results indicate that mining and smelting activities at the Fankou lead-zinc mine dictate the accumulation and distribution of HMs in the dust across the various functional zones. Except for Mn, Cr, and Thallium (Tl), the concentrations of other HMs significantly exceed the soil background values. These HMs primarily originate from mixed sources, including natural, traffic, and industrial activities. In particular, the presence of As, Cd, Pb, and Zn in the dust resulted in moderate to severe pollution, posing extremely high potential ecological risks. Furthermore, the bioavailable concentrations of HMs in the dust were analyzed using two in vitro gastrointestinal simulation methods: Physiologically Based Extraction Test (PBET) and Simplified Bioaccessibility Extraction Test (SBET), allowing for a further assessment of metal bioavailability and estimation of (non)carcinogenic risk probabilities for humans. The bioaccessible heavy metal contents extracted through SBET and PBET were relatively low, with most samples exhibiting bioaccessibility below 40%. In comparison to the total concentrations of HMs in the dust, the estimated non-carcinogenic risks (HQ and HI) and carcinogenic risks (CR) associated with bioavailability (PBET and SBET) for As, Cd, Cu, Sb, Pb, and Zn were significantly reduced, falling within safe values for both adults and children. However, the carcinogenic risk posed by total As remains a concern for local adults and children, indicating that the potential carcinogenic risk of As should not be overlooked. Therefore, additional protective measures should be considered to reduce resident exposure to dust, particularly in the core production areas of the mining district.

Subjective sleep quality and sleep habits of elderly inhabiting rural areas of Sambalpur district of Odisha, India.

Sleep is an important physiological process that is essential for human beings because it maintains the circadian rhythm appropriately. The sleep behavior in the older population of India has not been studied adequately. Further, there is no report on the sleep behavior of the elderly population of Odisha, India. Therefore, this study has been designed to examine the status of sleep quality in the elderly living in rural areas of the Sambalpur district of western Odisha, India. This study includes1992 elderly subjects above the age of 60 years (945 females and 1047 males) who participated voluntarily. Data collection was done using a socio-demographic form and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) inventory to determine the sleep quality and related factors that might alter the quality of sleep. The prevalence rate of sleep quality was assessed for both groups and the independence of attributes was tested statistically using the Chi-square test with ap-value ≤0.05 was considered significant. Of the 1992 elderly participants, 1384 (69.5%) showed good sleep quality, and 608 (30.5%) had poor sleep quality. The factors, "female gender, marital status such as married" and "drinking habits of alcohol" are the statistically significant associations with good sleep quality among the elderly participants. The overall prevalence of good-quality sleep was high among the elderly participants living in rural areas of the Sambalpur district of western Odisha. These results might serve as a baseline database for future research endeavors. Further, a longitudinal study that has been planned might help in identifying the underlying factors that sustain good-quality sleep in a majority of the studied population.

ANÁLISE MULTICRITÉRIO E GEOPROCESSAMENTO NA SELEÇÃO DE ÁREAS PARA ATERROS SANITÁRIOS NA ÁREA SUL DA RIDE/DF

Population growth and changes in consumption patterns are the main activities contributing to the increase in the generation of Urban Solid Waste (USW). With the significant increase in USW generation, these wastes, in most Brazilian cities, are disposed of in an entirely inadequate manner, such as in open-air dumps, putting the environment as a whole at risk. This situation is evident in the Integrated Region of the Federal District and Surrounding Areas (RIDE), a region consisting of 22 municipalities and the Federal District. This research aimed to select suitable areas for sanitary landfills in the southern part of RIDE/DF to assist in the management of USW in the region. For this, maps of land use and land cover on a multi-temporal scale were produced, and criteria were defined, which were weighted by experts through the application of questionnaires. The weights of the criteria were calculated using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology. The criteria, represented as geographic data layers, were standardized and combined using the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) method to produce the map of potential areas for sanitary landfills. Four alternatives for landfill areas were defined, and through multi-criteria methodology, alternative 1, located 27 km south of Luziânia, was selected. The results indicate that the proposed objectives were achieved, and the AHP method integrated with GIS provides a procedure for the precise location of areas for landfills that should meet the needs of all stakeholders.

PEMBERDAYAAN KADER KELUARGA SIAGA BANJIR DALAM MEMBANTU MENURUNKAN ANSIETAS DAMPAK BANJIR PESISIR SUNGAI DI KECAMATAN ASTAMBUL

Flood disasters have an impact not only materially and physically butpsychologically, namely anxiety, especially during repeated flood disasters. Theaim of this Community Service is to increase knowledge, skills and coordinationwith related parties in dealing with psychological problems of anxiety in floodproneresidents in the Astambul District area. The service method is carried outin three stages, namely preparation, implementation and evaluation. The resultsof Empowering Flood Alert Family Cadres in helping reduce anxiety about theimpact of flooding, the level of knowledge increased by 50%. Family cadres needto receive ongoing training in an effort to reduce anxiety about the impact offlooding so that the community gets maximum support from cadres.

Practice of Breast Self-Exam and Awareness of Breast Cancer Among Rural Women in Ernakulam District, Kerala: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting women worldwide. In India, breast cancer is now the most common cancer among women, accounting for 28% of all cancers. Despite good health indicators, breast cancer is a public health problem in Kerala with an annual incidence of 14.9/100,000 population. This study aims to estimate the proportion of women who practice breast self-exam (BSE) in rural areas of Ernakulam district and to assess the awareness of breast cancer in the same community. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in rural areas of Ernakulam district, among 267 females aged 20 to 70 years, selected by cluster sampling. After obtaining consent from the participants, data were collected using a pretested, self-designed semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Among the 267 study participants, 57.7% practice BSE. Among those respondents practicing BSE, only 16.9% practice it regularly at monthly intervals, 49.1% of the respondents had good knowledge on the practice of BSE, and 57.3% of the respondents had good awareness on breast cancer. Education, Occupation, and Socioeconomic status was associated with knowledge on practices of BSE and awareness of breast cancer with P value of &lt;0.05. There was a correlation between knowledge on practice of BSE and awareness of breast cancer. Conclusion: The regular practice of BSE is very low, though the knowledge of BSE scored Good in nearly half of the respondents. Educational programs stressing on the importance of regular practice of BSE are the need of the hour.

Anxiety Unveiled: A Cross-Sectional Study on High School Students in Rural Tamil Nadu

Background: Adolescence is a unique phase of human growth, marked by rapid cognitive, psycho-social, and physical development. Despite being a period of resilience, mental illnesses often begin during this stage. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of anxiety disorders among high school students in rural Tamil Nadu. Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in high schools in the rural areas of Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu. High school students aged 12 to 15 years of both genders were included using a systematic random sampling method. A total of 234 students were interviewed using the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS-Child) questionnaire to assess anxiety levels. Qualitative variables were described using mean and standard deviation, and ANOVA was applied to explore associations between anxiety and determining factors. Results: Panic/agoraphobia emerged as the most common anxiety disorder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia were higher in girls, while panic/agoraphobia, fear of physical injury, general, and separation anxiety were more prevalent in boys. Children with fathers in white-collar jobs showed higher panic/agoraphobia and general anxiety (Mean±SD: 12.13±4.5, p &lt; 0.02), while those from lower socioeconomic classes had more separation anxiety (Mean±SD: 6.86±2.7, p &lt; 0.02). Anxiety disorders were higher among children from joint or three-generation families. Conclusion: There is a significant prevalence of anxiety among adolescents, with clear correlations to sociodemographic factors. Enhancing protective factors and addressing modifiable risks at the school level is crucial to improving adolescent mental health services.

Challenge and Progress: Kutia Kondh's Development Journey

In the past, during India's Fifth Five Year Plan, a special category called Primitive Tribal Group (PTG) was created under Scheduled Tribes. These groups were characterized by living in a way similar to ancient times, relying on hunting and gathering for survival, having very few children or even decreasing population, and having very low levels of education compared to other tribal groups. However, in 2009, the Government of India decided to change the name from "Primitive Tribal Group" to "Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) " because some people felt that the word 'primitive' was disrespectful. Odisha, a state in India, has 13 communities classified as PTGs, and one of them is the Kutia Kondh community. This study looked at the Kutia Kondh people who live in villages managed by the Kutia Kondh Development Agency (KKDA) in Belghar, part of the Baliguda area in the Kandhamal district. The research compared important measures of progress for the Kutia Kondh community over two different time periods using surveys that examined their social and economic situations. The study also included information about the Kutia Kondh way of life gathered through ethnographic research. The study finds that the Kutia Kondh people are in a transition phase, balancing between their traditional way of life and modern influences. While socio - economic development initiatives have brought significant changes to their culture and lifestyle, many traditional practices still endure. However, when examining various factors, Kutia Kondh villages still lag behind in access to essential facilities like infrastructure, education, healthcare, and livelihood opportunities. Key concerns include inadequate infrastructure, limited connectivity, housing issues, lack of clean drinking water and electricity, poor education and healthcare services, and insufficient support for livelihood improvement. It's crucial to not only focus on development efforts to enhance their socio - economic status but also to preserve their unique culture and traditions. Efforts should be directed towards both improving living conditions and safeguarding their cultural heritage.

Quality of River Water in the District Area of Middle of Java

Quality of River Water in the District Area of Middle of Java

Spatial Analysis of School Accessibility in Tarutung District and Its Policy Implications

This study evaluates the accessibility of Junior High School (SMP) educational facilities in Tarutung District, North Tapanuli Regency, with a focus on addressing socio-economic disparities and geographic challenges. Using spatial analysis methods such as buffer and overlay analysis, combined with the Neighborhood Unit theory, the research identifies critical gaps in educational access. Findings reveal that 77.41% of the district's area falls outside the ideal accessibility radius for schools, highlighting significant inequities for students in remote and underserved areas. Contributing factors include inadequate public transportation and the uneven distribution of schools, compounded by the zoning system for student admissions, which prioritizes proximity without considering geographic and infrastructural barriers. This study recommends redistributing educational facilities, enhancing transportation infrastructure, and revising zoning policies to better address regional needs. The findings underscore the importance of integrating socio-economic and spatial considerations into educational planning. By improving accessibility, these recommendations aim to foster equitable and inclusive education. This research provides a foundation for future studies and policy initiatives in other regions facing similar challenges.

Retrospective study of congenital anomalies of cattle and goats in selected areas of Mymensingh and Netrokona districts of Bangladesh

Background: Ruminants, especially cattle and goats, are prone to a wide range of congenital anomalies influenced by dietary, genetic, or environmental factors. Understanding these anomalies is essential for improving animal health and productivity. This study aimed to identify congenital defects in calves and kids across three upazilas in Bangladesh and to analyze their occurrence concerning breed, sex, and season. Methods: Retrospective data on species, sex, breed, and season (summer, rainy, and winter) were collected from the register books of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH), Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh; Upazila Veterinary Hospital, Mymensingh Sadar, Mymensingh; and Upazila Veterinary Hospital, Kendua, Netrokona, spanning July 2013 to June 2023. Among 1159 cases, 1050 involved calves, and 109 involved kids. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square test in SPSS version 20. Results: The most prevalent congenital anomaly identified was umbilical hernia (52.6%), followed by dermoid cyst (21.4%), atresia ani (15%), persistent urachus (5.8%), knuckling (3.4%), and rectovaginal fistula (1.8%). Both cattle (55.8%) and goats (57.8%) showed a higher prevalence of anomalies in males. Specifically, atresia ani, dermoid cyst, and umbilical hernia were more common in male calves, with occurrences of 62.4%, 57.35%, and 52.9%, respectively, while persistent urachus was found predominantly in males (80.3%). Knuckling was slightly more prevalent in females (52.8%), and rectovaginal fistula occurred exclusively in females. Regarding breed, persistent urachus was more frequently observed in indigenous breeds (55.7%), while atresia ani and rectovaginal fistula showed high frequencies in indigenous calves, with 65% and 63.2%, respectively. Conversely, dermoid cyst, umbilical hernia, and knuckling were more common in crossbred animals, occurring at frequencies of 55.6%, 60%, and 55.6%, respectively. Seasonal variations also played a role, with atresia ani most frequent in the rainy season (35%), while all other anomalies showed their lowest occurrences during this season. Persistent urachus was most prevalent in winter (41%), while dermoid cyst, umbilical hernia, and rectovaginal fistula were most common in summer, with frequencies of 38.2%, 39.7%, and 42.1%, respectively. Additionally, cattle exhibited a higher occurrence of congenital anomalies in crossbred calves during summer, whereas Black Bengal kids were more affected during winter. Conclusion: Calves exhibited a higher occurrence of diverse congenital anomalies, with umbilical hernia being the most common, while kids were predominantly affected by atresia ani. Anomalies were more frequently observed in male animals and during the summer season.

Agailjhara in the Liberation War: Genocide and Mass Graves in Eyewitness Accounts.

The history of Bangladesh’s great liberation war is as much about sacrifice as it is about glory. The immense courage of Bengalis has played a key role in making this history. Every conscious man wants to know his own historical heritage. These issues include personal identity, social traditions, and personal legends. Agailjhara is an upazila located in remote areas of Barishal district. A quiet village surrounded by nature’s greenery. Due to geographical, social and communal reasons, firebombing, genocide, disappearances, torture and snatching of women took place in Agailjhara during the Great War of Liberation. As far as I know, no significant research work has been completed on the context of the Liberation War of this region. However, at present, people are talking about the 13 most brutal genocide by the Pak intrusing forces in this region. 7 mass graves remind the brutality of Pakistani forces. At the same time, hundreds of freedom fighters of Agailjhara fought bravely to face the Pakistani intruders and upheld the honor of the motherland. It is important to bring that glorious story to future generations. Today is the 53rd year of independence of Bangladesh. Even after so many years of independence, it was not possible to present the true history of the Liberation War to the new generation. Research on Agailjhara’s genocide and mass graves is an important issue in writing a correct and complete history of Bangladesh’s Liberation War.

Integration of Grain Legumes and Mbeya Manure Improves Maize Productivity on Smallholder Farms in Central Malawi

Legumes are integrated in maize-based systems to improve soil fertility and crop productivity. However, the ecosystem services from legumes vary. Crop rotation on-farm studies were conducted over two cropping seasons (2018/19 and 2019/20) in Mkanakhoti and Kaluluma Extension Planning Areas (EPAs) in Kasungu district, central Malawi. The main objective of this study was to evaluate maize response to legume cropping systems and mbeya manure. In the first season (2018/19), five treatments including sole groundnut (Gn), sole soybean (soy), sole pigeon pea (PP), and doubled-up legumes (legume + legume intercrop) - pigeon pea intercropped with groundnut (Gn+PP), and pigeon pea intercropped with soybean (Soy+PP) were grown. In the second season (2019/20), maize was planted on plots that had either sole or doubled-up legumes. These plots were split into two, one half was top dressed with 23kg N ha-1 only and the other half received 23kg N ha-1+1000kg ha-1 mbeya manure. The experiments were replicated in 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 seasons. Soil fertility was low and highly variable between farms in the study sites. Soil pH, total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), organic matter (SOM) and active carbon in topsoil (0-15cm) averaged 5.1±0.5, 0.19±0.18%, 31±19.6 ppm, 1.4±0.34 %, and 193±74 mg kg-1, respectively. Application of mbeya manure to maize increased leaf chlorophyll and plant height (p&lt;0.05). There were variations in maize yield responses to legumes with higher benefits obtained from maize rotated with doubled-up legumes than sole legumes. The results also showed that on non-responsive soils, overall, the use of mbeya manure in combination with legume systems increased the rotational maize grain yield by 88% over maize following legumes only (p&lt;0.05), with highest yields from doubled up legumes/maize rotations followed by groundnut/maize rotations. It is therefore recommended that on highly degraded soils, farmers can increase maize productivity through integrated soil fertility management involving a combination of 23kg N/ha and 1000kg/ha of mbeya manure applied to maize rotated with doubled-up legumes (Gn+PP or Soy+PP) and sole groundnut (Gn). Key words: Doubled-up legumes, crop rotation, groundnut, pigeon pea, soybean, maize, mbeya manure

Constraint Analysis and Suggestion of Respondents Regarding Dairy Management Practices in Semi-Urban and Rural Areas

India needs to increase milk production which can be possible by narrowing down the gap between the existing technology and their adoption. Ensuring domestic demand and enduring top most position in the world, India needs to produce 300-400 million tones of milk by 2050 (Vision 2050, 2015). The dairy is a business which provides the continuous source of income to the occupants and in case of landless person who are economically week, livestock farming is a better option. The research was based on a survey done in 2022-23 to analyzing constraint and suggestion of respondents regarding dairy management practices in semi-urban and rural areas of Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh. 15 respondents from each selected semi-urban and rural villages were randomly selected to constitute 120 samples (60 semi-urban + 60 rural). The perceived constraints have been studies under different aspects like: personal constraints, economical constraints, technological constraints and marketing constraints. The semi-urban respondents has perceived most serious type constraints viz., lack of poor economic condition of farmers, dysfunctional of animal insurance schemes, A.I. and BAIF centers are away from the village, lack of remunerative milk prices. Whereas rural respondents has perceived most serious type constraints viz., lack of interest of other family members, veterinary medicines are very costly for treatment of sick animals, A.I. and BAIF centers are away from the village, poor transportation also affects adversity in proper disposal of milk products. Suggestions as perceived by semi-urban respondents viz., ‘educational programmes regarding cattle breeds improvement for higher milk production should be initiated’ was ranked first whether in case of rural dairy farmers ‘government must provide marketing facilities at village level for selling the milk and milk products’ was ranked first.

Milk Value Chain Analysis: The Case of Urban and Peri-Urban Areas of Ambo and Dendi Districts, West Shewa Zone, Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia

This study was aimed at analyzing value chain of milk in Urban and Peri – Urban areas of Ambo and Dendi districts of West Shewa Zone. The study made use of both primary and secondary data collected from 146 smallholder farmers, 30 consumers, 10 Hotels and Cafeterias and 2 primary milk cooperatives through application of individual interview schedules, focus group discussions and key informant interview. The analysis was made using descriptive statistics and value chain analysis. The value chain analysis revealed that the major actors in the districts milk value chains are input suppliers, milk producers, collectors, processors and consumers. Accordingly, the value chain activities in the chain were input supply, production, processing, marketing and consumption. Four milk marketing channels were identified and relative to all other fresh milk marketing channels, producers get a higher proportion of total gross marketing margin when they sell milk to cooperatives. Profitability analysis result for dairy production indicated that, a dairy producer obtains average gross margin of 83.65per improved cow per day, in the study areas which shows that dairy production was a profitable venture for smallholder dairy producers. Milk value chain in the study areas was hindered by shortage of feeds, continuous increasing price of feeds, poor AI service provision, poor supply of genetically improved cattle breeds, limited availability of credit services, limited extension service provision, poor feeding and animal husbandry practices, low level of market linkage among the value chain actors, absence of milk processing plant and non-market oriented milk production. Therefore, policy aiming at increasing farmers’ access to modern inputs, feed conservation practices, adequate training provision to AI technicians, developing and improving infrastructure, cooperative development and improving extension services are recommended to accelerate the milk value chain’s development in the study areas.

Optimization of bus stop layout considering multiple factors including passenger flow direction.

Bus stop layout typically requires consideration of urban population distribution, traffic conditions, and passenger flow demand to establish an efficient foundation for the bus system's operation. Based on the above key factors, this paper introduces a strategic method to optimize the bus stop layout from a macro perspective in order to save passengers' travel time and improve the attractiveness of the bus system. This approach accounts for the matching degree between the Origin-Destination (OD) direction of passengers and their walking direction heading to bus stops. Initially, we take into account factors such as the population and area of traffic districts, and urban road conditions. Utilizing the hypernetwork multidimensional data clustering method along with GIS technology, we construct an alternative set of bus stops based on the hypernetwork framework. This set serves as a reference for the positioning of newly built and moved bus stops. Subsequently, we develop a two-stage model for bus stop layout decision-making. The first stage focuses on determining the bus stop layout at the traffic district level, taking into account multi-factors including the passenger flow matching degree. The second stage is designed to mitigate the negative impact of bus stop optimization on the overall service level of the urban bus system. A case study conducted in XT city demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach. Post-optimization, there is a 15.83% increase in the alignment between passenger flow direction and bus stop layout. Additionally, the average travel time for passengers is reduced by 7.55 minutes.