The Effect of Ethanol Production on Agricultural Production in the State of Alabama

This research assessed the economic effect of corn-based fuel ethanol production on agriculture and the state economy in Alabama. The results showed that in the short run a 15 million gallon per year plant will be profitable. This will have farm income and a multiplier affect in the rest of the state economy.ethanol, corn producers, farm income, price elasticity, economic impact, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The Design and Manufacturing of Essential oil Distillation Plant for rural poverty Alleviation in Ethiopia.

The paper presents economic value of the design and manufacturing of essential oil production plant as a strategy for rural poverty alleviation in rural Ethiopia. The level of technology for small scale essential oil industry is characterized for rural community in Ethiopia. The adaptation of oil distillation technology for essential oil production is proposed for small scale industrial entrepreneur. Steam distillation method is selected considering the constraints to meet the socio-economic level of the rural community. The distillation plant has been modelled based on local resources and the first prototype has been manufactured and tested. The study showed that the small scale manufacturing industry in the country do not have the capacity to manufacture the complete distillation plant system with the required precision for standard quality of oil at affordable cost. Thus, the design and the experiment in the use of a prototype small size distillation unit showed that the technology is appropriate for essential oil distillation with low cost and minimal decrease in oil quality. Keywords: Small scale essential oil industry, technology characterization, rural poverty alleviation, low cost manufacturing distillation unit. Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies and Management Vol. 1 (1) 2008: pp. 84-9

Genotype by Environment Interaction and Stability of Pod Yield of Elite Breeding Lines of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in Eastern Ethiopia

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) yield under small scale farming of eastern Ethiopia is low (1.04 t ha-1) and highly variable over years and locations. Eleven elite breeding lines of groundnut were tested at Babile and Likale, eastern Ethiopia, in 2007, 2008 and 2009 to identify high yielding and stable genotypes. Additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model, cultivar-superiority measure, and genotype plus genotype by environment variation (GGE) were used to analyze multi-environment data. In the analysis of variance, all sources of variations showed statistically significant differences except year by genotype interaction indicating the possibilities for identification of best performing genotypes with specific and broad adaptability in the tested sites. AMMI analysis showed highly significant (P<0.01) effect of genotypes, environments and their interactions on dry pod yield. Similarly, the first and the second interaction principal component axis (IPCA 1 and IPCA 2) were highly significant (P<0.01) and explained 58.57 and 23.18 % of the G×E sum of squares, respectively. The environment had 84.7% effect, thereby explained high differences in genotype response to the tested environments. Genotype and genotype by environment interaction (GEI) accounted 6.6 and 8.7 %, respectively. Genotypes BaHa-jidu (-0.099), ICG-9251 (0.013), ICG-8644 (0.055) and Roba (0.057) with the lowest IPCA 1 showed the general adaptation in the mega-environment-1 (Ba2007, Ba2008 and Ba2009) and mega-environment-2 (Li2007, Li2008 and Li2009). BaHa-gudo had the highest mean dry pod yield (t ha-1) in a mega-environment-2 and highest PCA 1 score (0.343). Genotypes BaHa-jidu and BaHa-gudo had the smallest superiority measure values and had the highest dry pod yield and stability. In GGE bi-plot, PC 1 and PC 2 explained 51.2 and 30.6% of genotype by environment interaction, respectively. ICGV-8749 and BaHa-gudo were vertex genotypes at mega-environment-1 and mega-environment-2, respectively, whereas BaHa-jidu was vertex genotype in both mega-environments.Keywords: AMMI; GGE bi-plot; Groundnut; Mega-environment; Stability; Environment; Eastern Ethiopi

Socio-demographic correlates of mental and behavioural disorders of children in Southern Ethiopia

Objective: To describe the magnitude and socio-demographic correlates of specific mental and behavioural disorders.Design: A cross-sectional survey.Setting: Butajira district, southern Ethiopia.Participants: The Amharic version of the Diagnostic Instrument for Children and Adolescents (DICA) was used to interview parents of 1,477 children.Main outcome measures: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Disruptive behaviour disorders, mood and anxiety disorders.Results: Using a multivariate logistic model, age was significantly associated with ADHD. Children between 10 and 14 years of age had more than three-fold increased risk of ADHD compared to younger children: adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (OR, 95%CI) = 3.17 (1.16, 8.67), p=0.02. Residence in urban area was also significantly associated with ADHD: adjusted OR (95% CI) = 2.84 (1.14-7.07), p=0.03. Disruptive behaviour disorders were significantly associated with increasing age: adjusted OR (95% CI)= 4.24 (1.43, 12.6). Mood and anxiety disorders were not significantly associated with any of the sociodemographic variable studied.Conclusion: The study shows that age and residence in urban areas are significant correlates of behavioural disorders in children

Natural occurrence and pathogenicity of Xanthomonas bacteria on selected plants

Peer Revie

Assessment of skin-to-skin contact (SSC) during the postpartum stay and its determinant factors among mothers at public health institutions in Ethiopia.

ObjectiveThe study aimed at assessing skin-to-skin contact (SSC) during the postpartum stay and its determinant factors among mothers at public health institutions in Ethiopia.ResultA total of 384 mothers-indexed newborns admitted in postnatal wards were interviewed. The prevalence of mothers' SSC practice to their newborns with in the first 1 h during the postpartum stay was 28.1%. Mothers education (AOR = 18.23 [95% CI 5.26, 63.52]), and number of ANC visits (AOR = 8.55 [95% CI 1.05, 69.54]) were independently associated with SSC practice of mothers to their infants

The Role of Current Emergency Radiology Practice: A prospective Cross-sectional Study Done at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital

Background: The role of radiogy in the management of emergency  patients is tremendous. Which imaging modality best evaluates specific clinical emergencies has evolved and continues to advance with clinical practice trends. The purpose of this study was to show the role of radiology in emergency patient handeling and compare specific clinical entities with the standard.Methods: A prospective cross sectional study was done to describe the pattern of duty hour emergency utilization at Tikur Anbessa Hospital Department of Radiology. A total of 384 patient’s data were collected for the period of Jananuary 1st to April 30th 2010. The data which weredemographic variables, clinical diagnosis, radiologic diagnosis, type of investigation used, type of anatomic area imaged, whether primary investigation used or not, recommendations made by the radiology residents were collected and tabulated.Results: There were 242 (63%) males and 142 (37%) females. Suspected fracture was the commonest clinical indication for referring patients to the department of radiology at the duty hours and accounted for 40.9% of all cases. Otherclinical diagnoses included pnumonia (21.6%), blunt  abdominal trauma (5.7%) and pulmonary edema (4.7%). Plain  radiographs were taken in 88% of patients sent for imaging. Among the sonographic studies done, 43.4% were for patients presenting with blunt abdominal trauma. Of all patients in 90.4% primary investigative  modalities were used. Comparison of clinical and radiologic diagnosis was made in most common clinical cases and in general 51.3% of radiologic interpretations were normal.Conclusion: Plain radiography was used as the cornerstone investigative modality for emergency imaging. Fracture and pneumonia constituted the commonest indications for emergency imaging in all age groups. Over half of radiologic investigations were normal. It was observed that lack ofappropriate investigative modalities such as CT scan, doppler and high frequency ultrasonography greatly affected the quality of service the department offered and also negatively affected the training process.Key words: Emergency, Radiology, Practic

Prevalence of premarital sexual practice and associated factors among undergraduate health science students of Madawalabu University, Bale Goba, South East Ethiopia: institution based cross sectional study

Introduction: Several studies in Sub- Saharan Africa have documented high and increasing premarital sexual activities among adolescents.  Younger people face social, peer and cultural pressure to engage in  premarital sex. As a result, significant numbers of adolescents are involved in sexual activities at an early age which exposes them to the risk of unintended pregnancy, early marriage, abortion and STIs/HIV/AIDS. This study was conducted to determine Prevalence of premarital sexual practice and associated factors among Health science students of Madawalabu University, Ethiopia. Methods: A Descriptive cross sectional survey was employed and three hundred twenty four students were randomly selected after proportional allocation according to their level of education. Data were collected by a self –administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS Version 16. A stepwise logistic regression with forward method was used to identify  independent predictors of premarital sexual practices at 95% CI and P value less than 0.05.Results: Of respondents 181 (59.9%) who had a boy or girl friends; about 129 (42.7%) have had premarital sexual intercourse. Out of sexually active respondents, 85 (66.4%) had one sexual partner, 44 (33.6%) had two or more sexual partners. The average age of starting sexual intercourses was 18.4 ±2.14years. Sixty three (20.9%) of respondents reported tobacco smoking and 117 (38.7%) reported consumption of alcohol consumption. Conclusion: Alcohol use, boarding, sex, educational level and discussion about sexuality were significantly associated with premarital sexual intercourses. So, there is the need to step up Reproductive health club at the university to bring behavior change among the students in order to detain the usual consequences of premarital sexual practices and risky sexual behavio

Previous utilization of service does not improve timely booking in antenatal care: Cross sectional study on timing of antenatal care booking at public health facilities in Addis Ababa

Background: Antenatal care is more beneficial in preventing adverse pregnancy outcomes when it is sought early in pregnancy. However, existing evidence from developing countries including Ethiopia indicate that few women seek antenatal care at early stage of their pregnancy.Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the timing of ANC booking and impact of previous antenatal care utilization on timing of first antenatal care booking in Addis Ababa governmental health institutions.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted to collect data from 630 pregnant women who were attending antenatal care service at 10 governmental health centers in Addis Ababa from March 1 to 30, 2008.Results: Past experience on antenatal care service utilization did not come out as a predictor for timely booking of antenatal care (OR=1.40, 95%CI: 0.91, 2.15). Multivariate analysis revealed that respondents who received advice on recommended time of booking, their pregnancy was planned and first pregnancy, were more likely to book timely compared to others (AOR=10.10, 95% CI: 4.54, 22.40; AOR=1.87, 95% CI:1.11, 3.23; (AOR= 1.86, 95% CI: 1.01, 3.44) respectively.Conclusions: Past utilization of antenatal care service did not come as a predictor for timely booking of the service, provided that advice on timely booking is the main factor. In order to improve the situation, strengthening of focused antenatal care, availing of clear service delivery guidelines and training of service providers are important

Pulsed Chronopotentiometry with Polymer-Based Potassium-Selective Electrodes

This research aimed to develop ion-selective electrodes selective to potassium for use in measuring potassium concentration in blood. Potassium is an important electrolyte within the body, orchestrating nerve excitation, muscular function, and heart rate. Excessive or insufficient potassium levels can cause breakdowns in these systems difficult to differentiate from other potential causes. Isolating potassium concentration as the sole cause necessitates selective measurement. Pulsed Chronopotentiometry with polymer-based membrane electrodes offered a versatile route of interrogation: membrane composition and magnitude of applied current can be altered to assess selectivity in a fast and controlled manner. All potential measurements recorded corresponded to known concentrations of potassium. Known concentrations were first used to construct calibration curves, then to explore depletion of ions at the membrane surface. The latter offers a method of measurement not requiring calibration. Both methods saw success when measuring potassium alone, while depletion proved difficult in presence of sodium