Prescribing pattern of drugs in pediatric wards of three Ethiopian hospitals

Abstract: The 193/94 prescribing pattern of drugs in paediatric wards of three hospitals in North-west Ethiopia was reviewed retrospectively. A total of 158 medical records from Gondar (G) Hospital, 197 medical records from Bahirdar (BD) Hospital, and 177 medical records from Debre Tabor (DT) Hospital were randomly selected. The mean age of the patients was 4.4, 4.0, and 4.6 in G, BD and DT Hospital, respectively. The average admission diagnosis per patient was 1.6, 1.4 and 1.35 in G, BD, and DT Hospitals, respectively. Infectious diseases and malnutrition were the main causes of morbidity in all the three hospitals. The average number of drugs prescribed per patient was four in G Hospital, 3.2 in BD Hospital, and 3.3 in DT Hospital. Antibiotics, particularly chloramphenicol and penicillin G were the most frequently prescribed individual drugs. In most cases the selection of the antibacterials was empirical. Over prescription of analgesics/antipyretics was recorded in DT Hospital. The need for an establishment of antibiotic policy and prescription audit is discussed to enlighten on the rational use of drugs. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 1999;13(2):135-140

Alleviating Poverty through the Use of Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition in Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract - This study assessed the impact of entrepreneurship skill acquisition on poverty in Kogi State of Nigeria. The study made use of primary data collected with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire, which were administered by well-trained enumerator to beneficiaries of entrepreneurship acquisition skills randomly sampled from six Local Government Area of the state. The data collected through the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequencies and percentages. The result shows that 65% of the respondents accepted that lack of entrepreneurship skills among youth is responsible for the high rate of poverty in Nigeria. The result also revealed that at least 60% of the people that benefitted from the skill acquisition programme can now afford the basic necessity of life. The study therefore recommended that since most of the people that benefited from the programme could afford the basic necessity of life, the government should begin to think of the way of developing the programme to the status of poverty eradication programme. Keywords     : Entrepreneur; Vocation; Skill acquisition; Poverty; Alleviation; OptimumPaper Type : Research Pape

Konzipierung und Realisierung eines Kommunikationsverfahrens zum Austausch von Modellierungsdaten und zur Erstellung und Aufrechterhaltung von Traceability zwischen verteilten Applikationen

Verteilte, miteinander vernetzte Softwaresysteme haben in den vergangenen Jahren immer mehr an Bedeutung gewonnen und durchdringen mittlerweile viele Aspekte unseres Lebens. Verteilte Systeme sind deswegen heutzutage eines der aktuellen Forschungsthemen bei der Softwareentwicklung. Da die SW-Anwendungen/Komponenten dabei häufig zwangsweise verteilt sind, wollen Benutzer auch von verschiedenen Orten aus auf gemeinsame Ressourcen, wie etwa eine Datenbank, zugreifen. Die TU Ilmenau hat im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojekts ein Softwaretool/PlugIn, Trace-Maintainer(TM) für das SW-Modellierungstool Enterprise Architect entwickelt. Dieses Tool kann zur Zeit nur im lokalen Rechnerbetrieb dafür eingesetzt werden, die Traceability-Links innerhalb des gesamten Entwicklungsprozesses für eine effektive, evolutionäre Entwicklung zunutzen. Um aber den gesamten Funktionsumfang des Tools ausschöpfen zu können, muss das Tool unbedingt in einer verteilten Rechnerumgebung arbeitsfähig gemacht werden. Das Tool ist keine eigenständige SW-Anwendung und muss zur Laufzeit mit verschiedenen anderen SW-Komponenten kommunizieren. Da alle diese SW-Komponenten und das Tool selbst in Zukunftim Internet vollständig voneinander unabhängig arbeiten müssen, tritt ein neues Problem auf – die Herstellung einer Kommunikation zwischen diesen SW-Anwendungen. Im Rahmen dieser Diplomarbeit wurde eine neue SW-Komponente für das Tool entwickelt, die die Kommunikation dieser SW-Komponenten im lokalen als auch im verteilten Rechnerbetriebeinfach unterstützt. Auf der Basis dieser grundlegenden Systemeigenschaft wurden noch eine Reihe weiterer Funktionalitäten wie Start-Stop-Mechanismus, Sessionverwaltung und Nachrichtenverteilung eingebaut, um die Zusammenarbeit der SW-Komponenten des Tools nach wie vor ohne Schwierigkeiten zu gewährleisten. Die neue SW-Komponente ist nach dem Prinzipvon Netzwerk-Hub und Hub-und-Spoke-System realisiert und erlaubt einen eventbasierten Nachrichtenaustausch zwischen den SW-Komponenten des Tools. Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit zeigt die Ergebnisse der Entwicklung von Programmkomponenten im Zusammenhang mit dem Entwurf eines modularen Nachrichtentransportsystems für TraceMaintainer. Durch die Vorstellung dieses Lösungsansatzes wird in dieser Diplomarbeit vermittelt, dass die Traceability-Link-Beziehungen auch in verteilten Rechnerumgebungen angewendet werden können.Ilmenau, Techn. Univ., Diplomarbeit, 201

Alleviating Poverty Through the Use of Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition in Kogi State, Nigeria

- This study assessed the impact of entrepreneurship skill acquisition on poverty in Kogi State of Nigeria. The study made use of primary data collected with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire, which were administered by well-trained enumerator to beneficiaries of entrepreneurship acquisition skills randomly sampled from six Local Government Area of the state. The data collected through the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequencies and percentages. The result shows that 65% of the respondents accepted that lack of entrepreneurship skills among youth is responsible for the high rate of poverty in Nigeria. The result also revealed that at least 60% of the people that benefitted from the skill acquisition programme can now afford the basic necessity of life. The study therefore recommended that since most of the people that benefited from the programme could afford the basic necessity of life, the government should begin to think of the way of developing the programme to the status of poverty eradication programme. Keywords : Entrepreneur; Vocation; Skill acquisition; Poverty; Alleviation; OptimumPaper Type : Research Pape

Student Engagement at the Higher Learning Institutions: the Case of Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates

- Universities in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), just like other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), strive to be at the forefront of academic excellence. Towards this end, HEIs endeavour to provide their students, their primary clientele with the most conducive learning environment in order to maximise their potentials and prepare them to the real world of work. Do the students really make the most of the learning experiences in the university? Are the students really actively engaged in the teaching programmes and learning activities provided by the university? What might be the implications of student engagement to curriculum, instruction, policy and decision making, and educational administration? This paper focused on the level of academic challenge provided to students. In this study, academic challenge was based on study time and course requirements for reading, writing, and application of higher-order thinking skills rather than on student judgments of the difficulty of the coursework (Carini and Kuh, 2003). Specifically, this investigation attempted to ascertain the types of engagement activities at the HEIs of Malaysia and the UAE. Interesting findings are presented, and recommendations are offered in light of student engagement in the context of higher education

Analysis of China's Agricultural Exports to Five Central Asian Countries

This paper uses the statistical description and the constant market share model to analyze the Chinese agricultural product export to Central Asian countries. It discovered that the establishments the SCO Shanghai cooperation organization and cooperation process promote agricultural exports; agricultural products from China to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan is mainly attributed to the scale factor; in recent years, competition factor becomes the more important one. Owing to the market fluctuating, it restricted the exporting process in a certain degree. We can enhance the process in organization, construction, agricultural technology and marketing research.Keywords: The five Central Asian Countries; Agricultural products; Export; Scale effect; Competition effec

Antitumor effect of a pyrazolone-based complex [Cu(PMPP-SAL)(EtOH)] against murine melanoma B16 cell in vitro and in vivo

Pyrazolone-based derivative metal complexes were reported to have cytotoxicity in some tumor cells. In this study, the antitumor effect of [Cu(PMPP-SAL)(EtOH)] (PMPP-SAL = N-(1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-propenylidene-5-pyrazolone)-salicylidene hydrazide anion) in murine melanoma B16 cells in vitro and in vivo was investigated. The result showed that [Cu(PMPP-SAL)(EtOH)] inhibited the survival of B16 cells in vitro, and the IC50 value was superior to cisplatin (DDP) (p < 0.001). B16 cell apoptosis was significantly higher in comparison to the control group (DMSO) (p < 0.01), and cell cycle arrest occurred at the G0/G1 phase. When challenged C57 BL/6J mice were treated with [Cu(PMPP-SAL)(EtOH)], a smaller volume of B16 solid tumors were reported than the control group (p < 0.01), with lower positive expression indices of CD 34, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) (p < 0.01). Moreover, the tumor growth was suppressed in mice due to the induction of apoptosis, as detected by the TUNEL assay (p < 0.001). In summary, [Cu(PMPP-SAL)(EtOH)] effectively inhibited the growth of B16 cells in vitro and in vivo due to the induction of apoptosis and the inhibition of intra-tumoral angiogenesis, demonstrating its therapeutic potential in melanoma treatment

Liver Cirrhosis of Unknown Etiology and Its Predictors in Eastern Ethiopia

Background: The global burden of liver cirrhosis is increasing, with 2.1 million incident cases and nearly 1.5 million deaths in 2019. Despite the enormous progress in our understanding of the etiology of liver cirrhosis, significant cases of the disease have been reported in Eastern Ethiopia due to unidentified causes. Hence, this study aimed to identify predictors of liver cirrhosis of unknown etiology in Eastern Ethiopia. Methods: A score of 7 out of 11 possible points on the ultrasound-based cirrhosis scale was used as a diagnostic criterion to include 127 liver cirrhosis patients. The study participants’ demographic, dietary, lifestyle, and clinical data were gathered using a structured questionnaire and standardized reporting forms. The associations between the outcome (known and unknown etiology) and indepen-dent variables were modeled using binary logistic regression analysis. Results: The etiology of liver cirrhosis was known in only 23% of patients and attributed to hepatitis B virus (21%), hepatitis C virus (0.8%), and alcohol abuse (0.8%). Sorghum consumption as a staple food (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) =3.8; 95% CI: 1.2, 12.5), splenomegaly (AOR = 4.0; 95% CI: 1.1, 14.4), and a family history of liver disease (AOR = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.91) were significantly associated with liver cirrhosis of unknown etiology. Conclusion: Sorghum consumption was found to be the determinant factor of liver cirrhosis of unknown etiology, suggesting it as a possible source of exposure to aflatoxin B1

Assessment of Self-Medication Practices Among Medical, Pharmacy, and Health Science Students in Gondar University, Ethiopia

The study was aimed at assessing the magnitude and factors of self-medication among medical, pharmacy, and health science students of GCMHS (Gondar College of Medicine and Health Sciences). A cross-sectional study with two-month illness recall was conducted. A Questionnaire consisting of demographic questions and questions on illnesses in the last two months prior to the interview and treatment strategies was prepared and administered to the 414 students, selected as the sample population, from the GCMHS students. Of a total of 414 students, 213 (51.5%) reported at least one episode of an illness, and 82 (38.5%) of them practiced self-medication. Most drugs for self-medication were obtained from the pharmacy or drug shops; and the most commonly used drugs were Paracetamol and NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Common reported illnesses were fever and headache (24.8%) followed by cough and common cold (23.9%). Prior experience and the non-seriousness of the illness were the top two reported factors for self-medication. Reading materials were the top reported source of information. In conclusion, self-medication was practiced with a range of drugs from the conventional anti-pains to antibiotics. Although the practice of self-medication is inevitable; drug authorities and health professionals need to educate students about the pros and cons of self-medication