Levels of essential and non-essential metals in Rhamnus prinoides (Gesho) cultivated in Ethiopia

The objective of this study was to assess the levels of essential and toxic metals in leaf and stem of Rhamnus prinoides which are used for bitterness of local alcoholic beverages in Ethiopia and as traditional medicine in some African countries. Levels of essential metals (Ca, Mg, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) and toxic metals (Cd and Pb) in the leaves and stems of Rhamnus prinoides (Gesho) cultivated in Ethiopia were determined by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Known weights (0.5 g) of dried samples were digested with the optimized mixture of HNO3, H2O2 and HClO4 on a Kjeldahl apparatus with a reflux condenser. The efficiency of the optimized procedure was validated by spiking experiment and the percentage recovery for all the metals was in the range of 92–103% for leaf samples and 91–103% for the stem samples. The levels (mg/kg) of the metals were found to be: Ca (6304–22236), Mg (3202–5706), Cr (5.08–20.6), Mn (8.12–17.9), Fe (47.9–187), Co (22.2–42.1), Ni (12.8–27.3), Cu (6.5–73.0), Zn (12.2–43), Cd (0.81–3.10), and Pb (17.7–25.0) in the leaf samples and Ca (3601–5675), Mg (2635–5528), Cr (ND–16.3), Mn (2.16–3.98), Fe (22.0–124), Co (18.7–91.7), Ni (9.68–19.2), Cu (16.8–233), Zn (17.4–28.2), and Cd (ND–1.56) in the stem samples. However, the levels of Cr and Cd in stem samples at one and two sample sites, respectively, and the levels of Pb in stem samples at all sample sites were below the method detection limit. This study showed that the leaf and stem of R. prinoides (Gesho) are good sources of essential minerals and virtually free from toxic metal Cd but not from Pb in the leaf. KEY WORDS: Rhamnus prinoides, Gesho, Leaf, Stem, Minerals, Alcoholic beverages, Ethiopia Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2012, 26(3), 329-342.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v26i3.

Onchocerciasis in Gilgel Ghibe River valley Southwest Ethiopia

Objective: To determine the prevalence of onchocerciasis and the entomological transmission indices such as the parous rate and annual transmission potential (ATP).Setting: Gilgel Ghibe village, Gilgel Ghibe River Valley Southwest Ethiopia between April 1994 and March 1995.Subjects: Two hundred twenty eight subjects of the total 400 population in Gilgel Ghibe village were subjected to parasitological and clinical examinations.Method: Two skin snips per person were taken and examined for microfilariae of Onchocerca volvulus. Fly collections were done from dawn to dusk from human baits seated in pairs at four representative sites at the river bank and away from the river bank. Flies were dissected for parity and infections with O. volvulus larvae.Results: Among the 228 people examined, the prevalence of the disease was low (17%), being higher in males (19%) than in females (14%). The geometric mean of microfilarial density was 11.1 (range, 1-132) mf per skin snip. Itching followed by pigmentary changes were the most common clinical signs and symptoms. The predominant anthropophilic blackfly species was Simulium (Edwardsellum) damnosum s.l. The annual parous rate and ATP were 74.7% and 1669.5, respectively, being higher at the river bank than at sites further away suggesting a greater risk of infection by the river side.Conclusion: The low prevalence of onchocerciasis in Gilgel Ghibe area vis-a-vis the high ATP level could be due to the possible presence of bovine onchocerciasis in the area. Further studies employing molecular techniques are thus required to identify O. volvulus from other filariae in flies

Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among urban dwellers in southwest Ethiopia

No Abstract. The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development Vol. 21 (1) 2007: pp. 12-1

Trends and Correlates of Breast Cancer Screening among Florida Women: Analysis of 2001 and 2008 BRFSS Data

This study examined trends and correlates of breast cancer screening among women aged ≥40 years old by race/ethnicity using the 2001 and 2008 Florida Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Breast cancer screening was measured using both mammography and clinical breast examination (CBE). The total sample size was 10,386, with 4,938 women in the 2001 BRFSS and 5,448 in 2008. Significant disparities in breast cancer screening by race/ethnicity were found both in 2001 and 2008, with Hispanics having the lowest screening participation, compared to non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic Blacks. In 2008, non-Hispanic Black women had the highest percentage of timely mammography, CBE, and both mammography and CBE combined than non- Hispanic white and Hispanic women. Not having health insurance was a strong predictor of non-screening across all racial/ethnic groups. Whereas age, being married, and having a college education or higher were negatively correlated with lack of timely breast cancer screening among non-Hispanic Whites, poor health status was positively associated with lack of timely screening. Among Hispanics, the variables of having some college education or college degree or higher were positively associated with lack of CBE and with mammography and CBE. Our findings suggest that both an expansion of health insurance coverage as well as the timely promotion of screening across education and racial/ethnic segments may be important for breast cancer prevention

Beekeepers' honeybee colony selection practice in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.

Selection of colonies plays an important role for successful harvesting of desired products from honeybees. The purpose of this study was therefore to assess local knowledge and experience of beekeepers in Tigray regional state of Ethiopia with regard to colony selection and management practices during purchase and multiplication. Respondent selection was carried out based on the existing conventional agroecological zones namely Dega (highland), Kolla (lowland) and Weinadega (midland). Four woredas (districts) from Dega zone, and three from each of Kolla and Weinadega zones were sampled. A total of 185 beekeepers were interviewed to understand the criteria they were using to select colonies. Preference ranking data were indexed using linear programming. The result indicated that beekeepers were using six local selection criteria namely worker bee population, body color, comb building direction, aggressiveness, honey yield history and age of the colony ordered according to their preference rank from 1 to 6. Beekeepers understood that selection of honeybee colonies was important because productivity, management easiness and agroclimatic adaptation of colonies are different for different colonies. As a result colonies with dominant black colored bees were chosen as first priority for their merits of better honey productivity, tolerance to absconding and multiplication easiness in Weinadega and Kolla agroecologies. However, red/yellowish colored bees were preferred in Dega agroecology

Why do people not attend for treatment for trachomatous trichiasis in Ethiopia? A study of barriers to surgery.

BACKGROUND: Trachomatous trichiasis (TT) surgery is provided free or subsidised in most trachoma endemic settings. However, only 18-66% of TT patients attend for surgery. This study analyses barriers to attendance among TT patients in Ethiopia, the country with the highest prevalence of TT in the world. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Participants with previously un-operated TT were recruited at 17 surgical outreach campaigns in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. An interview was conducted to ascertain why they had not attended for surgery previously. A trachoma eye examination was performed by an ophthalmologist. 2591 consecutive individuals were interviewed. The most frequently cited barriers to previous attendance for surgery were lack of time (45.3%), financial constraints (42.9%) and lack of an escort (35.5% in females, 19.6% in males). Women were more likely to report a fear of surgery (7.7% vs 3.2%, p<0.001) or be unaware of how to access services (4.5% vs 1.0% p<0.001); men were more frequently asymptomatic (19.6% vs 10.1%, p<0.001). Women were also less likely to have been previously offered TT surgery than men (OR = 0.70, 95%CI 0.53-0.94). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The major barriers to accessing surgery from the patients' perspective are the direct and indirect costs of surgery. These can to a large extent be reduced or overcome through the provision of free or low cost surgery at the community level. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00522860 and NCT00522912

Targeting the Role of Tyrosine in Amot Protein-Lipid Binding Events

poster abstractAngiomotins (Amots) are a family of adaptor proteins that have been shown to control cell proliferation and differentiation. Amots can selectively bind with high affinity to phosphoinositol containing membranes through the Amot coiled-coil homology (ACCH) domain. This binding event is linked to endocytosis, changes in cellular polarity, and apical membrane sequestration of nuclear transcription factors associated with development of cancerous phenotypes. Although the lipid selectivity of the protein has been well characterized, the residues involved in the ACCH domain binding these membranes have not been fully described. Understanding the structure-function relationship may provide pathways to modulate protein sorting and downstream signaling events inducing cellular differentiation, cancer cell proliferation, and migration. The fluorescent properties of the ACCH domain were previously used to characterize the binding event. However, the relative proximity of the five native tyrosines to the membrane may have led to differences in perceived lipid binding affinities based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer with fluorescently tagged lipids. A variety of short peptides correlating to the amino acid sequence of Amot surrounding these tyrosines were assayed and observed in different membrane mimicking environments. This was done to determine if each tyrosine had the ability to bury into the hydrophobic region of the membrane mimicked by the carbon chain lengths (alcohol study), or simply interacted with the hydrophilic head groups of the lipid (liposome study). In addition, the full length Amot80 ACCH domains (wild-type and tyrosine-to-phenylalanine mutants) were screened for trends in the varying environments. Interactions were characterized by shifts in maximum wavelengths for absorbance, excitation and emission peaks. A characterization of these shifts with respect to what is seen with the various tyrosine and phenalanine mutants may further our understanding of whether each tyrosine is buried within the protein or interacts with the head groups of the membrane

Application of video processing methods for linguistic research

Evolution and changes of all modern languages is a well-known fact. However, recently it is reaching dynamics never seen before, which results in loss of the vast amount of information encoded in every language. In order to preserve such heritage, properly annotated recordings of world languages are necessary. Since creating those annotations is a very laborious task, reaching times 100 longer than the length of the annotated media, innovative video processing algorithms are needed, in order to improve the efficiency and quality of annotation process

Incidence and predictors of loss to follow-up among HIV-positive adults in northwest Ethiopia: a retrospective cohort study.

BackgroundDespite the rapid expansion of antiretroviral therapy services, 'loss to follow-up' is a significant public health concern globally. Loss to follow-up of individuals from ART has a countless negative impact on the treatment outcomes. There is, however, limited information about the incidence and predictors of loss to follow-up in our study area. Thus, this study aimed to determine the incidence rate and predictors of loss to follow-up among adult HIV patients on ART.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was undertaken using 484 HIV patients between January 30, 2008, and January 26, 2018, at Debre Markos Referral Hospital. All eligible HIV patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in this study. Data were entered into Epi-data Version 4.2 and analyzed using STATATM Version 14.0 software. The Nelson-Aalen cumulative hazard estimator was used to estimate the hazard rate of loss to follow-up, and the log-rank test was used to compare the survival curve between different categorical variables. Both bivariable and multivariable Cox-proportional hazard regression models were fitted to identify predictors of LTFU.ResultsAmong a cohort of 484 HIV patients at Debre Markos Referral Hospital, 84 (17.36%) were loss their ART follow-up. The overall incidence rate of loss to follow-up was 3.7 (95% CI 3.0, 5.0) per 100 adult-years. The total LTFU free time of the participants was 2294.8 person-years. In multivariable Cox-regression analysis, WHO stage IV (AHR 2.8; 95% CI 1.2, 6.2), having no cell phone (AHR 1.9; 95% CI 1.1, 3.4), and rural residence (AHR 0.6; 95% CI 0.37, 0.99) were significant predictors of loss to follow-up.ConclusionThe incidence of loss to ART follow-up in this study was low. Having no cell phone and WHO clinical stage IV were causative predictors, and rural residence was the only protective factor of loss to follow-up. Therefore, available intervention modalities should be strengthened to mitigate loss to follow-up by addressing the identified risk factors

Absorbable versus silk sutures for surgical treatment of trachomatous trichiasis in Ethiopia: a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Trachoma causes blindness through an anatomical abnormality called trichiasis (lashes touching the eye). Trichiasis can recur after corrective surgery. We tested the hypothesis that using absorbable sutures instead of silk sutures might reduce the risk of recurrent disease among patients with major trichiasis in a randomised trial. METHODS AND FINDINGS: 1,300 individuals with major trichiasis from rural villages in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia were recruited and assigned (1:1) by computer-generated randomisation sequence to receive trichiasis surgery using either an absorbable suture (polyglactin-910) or silk sutures (removed at 7-10 days) in an otherwise identical surgical technique. Participants were examined every 6 months for 2 years by clinicians masked to allocation. The primary outcome measure was recurrent trichiasis (≥one lash touching the eye) at 1 year. There was no difference in prevalence of recurrent trichiasis at 1 year (114 [18.2%] in the absorbable suture group versus 120 [19.7%] in the silk suture group; odds ratio = 0.90, 95% CI 0.68-1.20). The two groups also did not differ in terms of corneal opacification, visual acuity, conjunctival inflammation, and surgical complications. CONCLUSIONS: There was no evidence that use of absorbable polyglactin-910 sutures was associated with a lower prevalence of trichiasis recurrence at 1 year postsurgery than silk sutures. However, from a programmatic perspective, polyglactin-910 offers the major advantage that patients do not have to be seen soon after surgery for suture removal. The postoperative review after surgery using absorbable polyglactin-910 sutures can be delayed for 3-6 months, which might allow us to better determine whether a patient needs additional surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00522860