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Institution

University of Zimbabwe

EducationHarare, Harare, Zimbabwe
About: University of Zimbabwe is a education organization based out in Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The organization has 4378 authors who have published 6800 publications receiving 160720 citations. The organization is also known as: UZ & University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a biochar-based N-P-K fertilizer (BSRF) was developed and evaluated relative to a conventional fertilizer, demonstrating its low release behavior, and the BSRF-amended sandy soil had higher water retention capacity than that amended with a conventional chemical fertilizer.
Abstract: Biochar has excellent solute adsorption capacity, yet few studies have investigated its application as a nutrient carrier in the development of slow-release fertilizers. The current study developed a biochar-based N–P–K fertilizer (BSRF) and evaluated its nutrient release patterns relative to a conventional fertilizer. SEM and EDX analyses confirmed the coarse and highly porous microstructure of the biochar (SBC) that enabled it to effectively sorb NO3 −, PO4 3−, and K+ and form a nutrient-impregnated BSRF. BSRF had lower NO3 −, PO4 3−, and K+ release than the conventional chemical fertilizer, demonstrating its low release behavior. BSRF-amended sandy soil had higher water retention capacity than that amended with a conventional chemical fertilizer. BSRF has potential to reduce nutrient leaching, improve water retention, and hence increase crop nutrient and water use efficiencies. Future research should focus on understanding nutrient release mechanisms, synchronization of nutrient release with plant uptake, and applications of the BSRF in environmental remediation.

83 citations

Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: This chapter presents the nonconventional methods for the modification of starch and suggests that the effect of irradiation on starch gels is generally monitored by the changes in viscosity, reducing power, and reaction with iodine.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter presents the nonconventional methods for the modification of starch. Starch is the most readily available and abundant pure carbohydrate. Native starch forms a complex matrix and water plays an important role in its construction. It is widely accepted that water fills capillaries of the matrix as well as participates in the strengthening of the amylose helices in the granule. The observation indicates that water cooperates with high pressure in causing deterioration of the starch matrix. Simultaneously, the ascending portions of the compressibility curves show that the resistance of the starch matrix toward compression decreases as the volume of added water increases. It is observed that solid starch changes its electrical conductivity on compression. At constant temperature and humidity, there is a positive correlation between the tamping of starch layers in cylinders, containers, and silos and their electrical conductivity. For the irradiation of amylose, it has been shown that the solvent may stabilize the irradiated matrix. As with starch, monosaccharides and oligosaccharides exhibit peculiar behavior in their formation of free radicals on irradiation. It is suggested that the effect of irradiation on starch gels is generally monitored by the changes in viscosity, reducing power, and reaction with iodine.

83 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether and how the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) responded to spatial heterogeneity of vegetation cover based on data of the early 1980s and early 1990s.
Abstract: Based on the agricultural landscape of the Sebungwe in Zimbabwe, we investigated whether and how the spatial distribution of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) responded to spatial heterogeneity of vegetation cover based on data of the early 1980s and early 1990s. We also investigated whether and how elephant distribution responded to changes in spatial heterogeneity between the early 1980s and early 1990s. Vegetation cover was estimated from a normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI). Spatial heterogeneity was estimated from a new approach based on the intensity (i.e., the maximum variance exhibited when a spatially distributed landscape property such as vegetation cover is measured with a successively increasing window size or scale) and dominant scale (i.e., the scale or window size at which the intensity is displayed). We used a variogram to quantify the dominant scale (i.e., range) and intensity (i.e., sill) of NDVI based congruent windows (i.e., 3.84 km × 3.84 km in a 61 km × 61 km landscape). The results indicated that elephants consistently responded to the dominant scale of spatial heterogeneity in a unimodal fashion with the peak elephant presence occurring in environments with dominant scales of spatial heterogeneity of around 457–734 m. Both the intensity and dominant scale of spatial heterogeneity predicted 65 and 68% of the variance in elephant presence in the early 1980s and in the early 1990s respectively. Also, changes in the intensity and dominant scale of spatial heterogeneity predicted 61% of the variance in the change in elephant distribution. The results imply that management decisions must take into consideration the influence of the levels of spatial heterogeneity on elephants in order to ensure elephant persistence in agricultural landscapes.

82 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: The percentage distribution of the mental foremen in relation to the lower teeth in the adult Black Zimbabwean mandible was at variance with that of other population groups, however, the quantitative position of themental foremen was bilaterally symmetrical in theadult Black Zimbabwea mandible.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE To provide some anatomical information on the shape, size, and position of the mental foramen among Black Zimbabweans that could be used as reference material by dental and other health practitioners during clinical practice in Zimbabwe. DESIGN Cross sectional anatomical study. SETTING Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zimbabwe, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe. SUBJECTS 32 mandibles derived from adult Black Zimbabweans. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The shape of the mental foramen, its relation to the lower teeth and its position in relation to the mandibular symphysis, the posterior border of the ramus of the mandible, the lower border of the mandible, and the alveolar margin. RESULTS The shape of the mental foramen was round in 14 out of 32 mandibles (43.8%) and was oval in the remaining 18 (56.3%). The percentage of occurrence of the mental foramen was highest below the lower second premolar tooth on the right side (position 4) and posterior to it on the left side (position 5). In the vertical plane, the mental foramen lay slightly below the midpoint of the distance between the lower border of the mandible and the alveolar margin (44.1% and 45.5% for the right and left sides respectively). In the horizontal plane, it lay approximately one quarter (27.3% for the right and 27.4% for the left sides) of the distance from the mandibular symphysis to the posterior border of the ramus of the mandible. CONCLUSION The percentage distribution of the mental foremen in relation to the lower teeth in the adult Black Zimbabwean mandible was at variance with that of other population groups. However, the quantitative position of the mental foremen was bilaterally symmetrical in the adult Black Zimbabwean mandible. The latter observation is of clinical significance to dental and other health practitioners in Zimbabwe with regards to the achievement of effective mental nerve block anaesthesia and the prevention of damage to the mental nerve during surgical procedures on the lower jaw.

82 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A 2-year study was conducted in three rainfall zones of Zimbabwe to explore opportunities for harnessing biological nitrogen fixation of non-cultivated herbaceous legumes, which hitherto have been regarded simply as weeds, in order to improve soil productivity on smallholder farms as mentioned in this paper.

82 citations


Authors

Showing all 4433 results

NameH-indexPapersCitations
Didier Raoult1733267153016
Roy M. Anderson11652665549
Vikram Patel11665459717
Richard M. Cowling9639230042
Ken E. Giller9255536374
Leif Bertilsson8732123933
Johan Rockström8523657842
Alex Aiken7729520254
Frances M. Cowan7645619984
Robert J. Biggar7323118474
Charles A. Thornton7118217195
David Wilson6961818780
David Katzenstein6928021239
Bruce M. Campbell6722717616
David Sanders6549217119
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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Institution in previous years
YearPapers
202327
202289
2021485
2020393
2019291
2018326