Clinical characteristics of orbital tumours as seen in a tertiary eye center

Abstract: Clinical files of 93 patients with orbital tumours were examined. Primary orbital tumours accounted for 55% of cases and secondary tumours for 45%. The most frequently diagnosed primary orbital tumours were mucoceles (15%), lacrimal gland tumours (7.5%), and rhabdomyosarcoma (6.5%). The most common secondary orbital tumours were retinoblastoma (23.6%), and squamous cell carcinoma (10%). Commonly found physical signs, radiographic and ultrasonographic findings are reported. Most frequently employed surgical techniques for removal of the tumours was exenteration (64%). Orbitotomy through various approaches was employed in 36% of the patients. Agreement was obtained between the clinical and histopathologic diagnoses for the commonly encountered orbital tumours. Poor outcome is expected, because of late presentation in most patients. Discussion and recommendations on further management of cases is given. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 1997;11(3):201-206

Electrical resistivity tomography and magnetic surveys: applications for building site characterization at Gubre, Wolkite University site, western Ethiopia

A study aimed at evaluating the competence of the near surface formations as foundation materials has been undertaken at the site of the newly established Wolkite University Campus. Integrated geophysical surveys involving 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ert), Vertical Electrical Sounding (ves) and magnetic surveys have been used for the purpose. The ert and ves results show the presence of intermediate to low resistivity top soil, an even lower resistivity second layer of clay and/or high moisture content underlain by weathered and fresh bedrocks, and a number of vertical or near vertical discontinuities and weak zones in the site.  The magnetic anomaly plots, have mapped the weak zones resulting from subsurface structures and the Euler depth map and 2d magnetic modelling specially depicting the depth of the magnetic sources that are associated with the bedrock. The correlation of the magnetic anomaly plot and 2d inverse model resistivity sections are used for the identification of weak zones that need special building design consideration at the site. The work emphasizes the viability of high resolution electrical tomographic surveys in engineering site investigations to augment geotechnical investigations that depend on data from a limited number of points to characterize large areas and complex geologic settings

Integrated geophysical investigations to study thermal zones at Boku volcanic Centre, Main Ethiopian Rift

This paper presents the results of electrical and magnetic surveys carried out over the Boku fumarole sites (Main Ethiopian Rift). On the basis of observed thermal manifestations, surface alterations and geophysical results we suggest that the Boku thermal field is a vapour-dominated, dry type geothermal system tapping heat from the shallow acidic magma chamber of Quaternary volcanic rocks of the Rift floor. The cap rock is formed by the self-sealing process through hydro thermal alterations of the Plio-Quaternary volcanic rocks in the area as witnessed by the surface manifestations of calcite and silica that are suggestive of such an environment. The aquifer system consists of the Quaternary Rift floor ignimbrites that are fractured intensively. The necessary supply for the replenishment of the reservoirs is derived from the closed basin system of the Nazareth watershed and/or from the large open irrigated grounds of the Wonji plantation. The investigations have clearly mapped the Quaternary faults that are the major tectonic structures for the passage of the deep-seated vapour to the surface, and the recharging of the geothermal reservoir. Key words/phrases: Boku caldera, hydrothermal alterations, magnetic anomaly, vapour-dominated geothermal systems, vertical electrical sounding SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science Vol.25(2) 2002: 253-26

The association between substance abuse and HIV infection among people visiting HIV counselling and testing centres in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

No Abstract.Ethiopian Journal of Health Development Vol. 19 (2) 2005: 116-12

Investigation on public knowledge, attitude and practices related to pet management and zoonotic canine diseases in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Many infectious diseases are transmitted from animals to human and the other way. Despite this there is limited information about public knowledge on pet husbandry and diseases control practices in Addis Ababa. The objectives of this study are to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices towards pet husbandry, contact-related attitude and zoonotic diseases among dog-owning households in Addis Ababa. A cross-sectional questionnaire based study was conducted to assessthe public’s perception. A total of 252 dog-owning households from four sub-citiesof Addis Ababa were interviewed using structured questionnaire. Of the total 252respondents, majority of them (70.2%) did not take their dog to veterinary serviceon regular basis (at least once a year). Over half of the respondents (59.1%) fed rawmeat to their dogs and 79.3% of the owners obtained the meat from local unlicensedmarkets. The majority of the respondents (87%) in the current study believed therisk of acquiring zoonotic diseases from dogs. However, most of them (95.4%) knewonly rabies and only 4.6% of them knew parasitic diseases in addition to rabies.Only 61.9% of the respondents reported having ever received information aboutpet-associated diseases or precautions to reduce the risk of these diseases. Out ofthose who received information, 48% of them obtained from their friends and/orrelatives. Only 9% and 9.6% of them received information from veterinarians andhealth workers, respectively. The result suggests a need for awareness creation onproper pet management and zoonotic diseases prevention practices for pet-owninghouseholds, with concerted efforts by veterinary, human and public health  professionals.Keywords: Attitude, Canine zoonosis, Knowledge, Practice

Validity and reliability of the Amharic version of the Schwartz Center Compassionate Care Scale

Background Compassionate care is the sensitivity shown by health care providers to understand another person’s suffering and a willingness to help and to promote the well being of that person. Although monitoring of compassionate care is key to ensuring patient-centered care, there is no validated tool in the Ethiopian context that can be applied to measure compassionate care. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the structural validity and reliability of the 12-item Schwartz Center Compassionate Care Scale® (SCCCS) in the Ethiopian context. Methods The structural validity and reliability of the 12-item Schwartz Center Compassionate Care Scale® were investigated in a sample of 423 oncology patients in the adult Oncology department of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The internal consistency of the instrument was examined based on Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and the structural validity was evaluated by subjecting the items of the instrument to factor analysis. Statistical analysis was made using SPSS version 23.0. Results We have found that the Schwartz Center Compassionate Care scale is a two-factor structure (recognizing suffering and acting to relieve suffering). The scale has high overall scale reliability, which was 0.88, and subscale reliability of 0.84 for both recognizing suffering and acting to relieve suffering factors. Conclusions The Schwartz Center Compassionate Care Scale has high internal consistency and acceptable structural validity value. The tool can be used to measure compassionate care practice in the Ethiopian context.publishedVersio

Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of irradiated Salmonella Gallinarum against homologous challenge infection in Bovans brown chickens

Fowl typhoid is a systemic poultry disease caused by Salmonella Gallinarum (SG). It is responsible for significant economic loss, due to its severe  morbidity and mortality. An irradiated vaccine is one of the possible alternatives to prevent and control fowl typhoid. This study aimed to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity, and protective efficacy of irradiated SG using a randomized control trial in chicken. A field strain of SG was exposed to different doses of gamma irradiation to determine its effect on the viability of SG. Safety and immunogenicity were assessed by administering irradiated SG orally to 3 groups (5 each) of 5 weeks old Bovans brown chickens at 2400, 2500, and 2600 gray (Gy). The protective efficacy of 108colony forming units (CFU) of SG irradiated at 2400 Gy administered orally and subcutaneously was then evaluated using homologous challenge infection and compared with SG 9R commercial vaccine using 40, 5-week old Bovans brown chickens where the chickens were randomly assigned to 4 groups. Chickens in Group 1were exposed to 108 CFU of irradiated SG orally; Group 2 to the same dose subcutaneously; Group 3 to SG 9R strain commercial vaccine subcutaneously, Group 4 to phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) orally. Data related to survival, antibody response, and pathological lesions were recorded. Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Fisher’s exact tests were used to examine for statistical  significance. Irradiation at 2600 Gy caused complete inactivation of SG whereas SG exposed to 2400 Gy showed better immunogenicity and was safe for chickens. Antibody response in a group of chickens vaccinated with irradiated SG administered subcutaneously (SC) was significantly higher than  those vaccinated with the SG 9R vaccine on day 7 (p=0.003) and day 14 (p=0.002) post-immunization. Comparative evaluation of the protective efficacy based on the mortality rate of chickens after challenge showed that 2400 Gy irradiated SG vaccine administered SC and SG 9R vaccine-induced equal protection of 50% while the irradiated vaccine administered orally protected only 10% of chickens against homologous challenge infection. SG was not isolated from the liver, spleen, and feces of chickens that survived challenge infection until the end of the experiment. Irradiated SG administered SC is shown to be a promising vaccine against fowl typhoid. Further studies using a large sample size involving tuning of irradiation dose to improve immunogenicity and use of booster vaccination are recommended. Keywords: Chicken; Fowl typhoid; Gamma irradiation; Salmonella Gallinarum; Vaccin

Spatial Distribution of Enset Bacterial Wilt (Xanthomonas campestris Pv. musacearum) and its Association with Biophysical Factors in Southwestern Ethiopia

አህፅሮት የእንሰት አጠውልግ በሽታ በዛንቶሞናስ ካምቴስትሪስ ፓቶቫር ሙሳሴረም በሚባል የባክቴሪያ ተህዋስያን አማካኝነት የሚከሰትና በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ እንሰትን ከሚያጠቁ በሽታዎች ውስጥ ቀዳሚውን ስፍራ የያዘ አደገኛ በሽታ ነው፡፡ የዚህ ጥናት አላማ በደቡብ ምዕራብ እንሰት አብቃይ አካባቢዎች ላይ የዚህን በሽታ ስርጭትንና በሽታው በአካባቢው በሚለዋወጡ ከሥነ-ሕይዎታዊና ሥነ-አካላዊ ነገሮች ጋር ያለውን ዝምድና ለማጥናት ነው፡፡ ለዚህም በ10 ወረዳዎች ውስጥ በሚገኙ የ120 የእንሰት ማሳዎች ውስጥ የዳሰሳ ጥናት ተካሂዷል፡፡ በበሽታው የተጠቁ የእንሰት መጠን (Incidence) በአማካይ በወረዳዎች መካከል 23.67- 31.92 በመቶ ነው፡፡ እንደዚሁም የበሽታው የጥቃት መጠኑን በተመለከተ (Severity) ከፍተኛ የሆነ ጥቃት (62.50 በመቶ) በሰሜን ቤንች ወረዳ የተመዘገበ ሲሆን በአንድራቻ ወረዳ ዝቅተኛ የጥቃት መጠን (49.58 በመቶ) ተመዝግቧል፡፡ ሎጅስቲክ ሪግሬሽን ሞዴል እንደሚያስረዳው የእንሰት አጠውልግ በሽታ ስርጭቱ ከ25 በመቶ በላይ ሆኖ የመገኘት አጋጣሚው የእንሰት ማሳ የአፈሩ pH ከ5.5 - 7 መሆን፣ የእንሰት ሰብል ብቻ በአንድ ማሳ ውስጥ መትከል፣ በሽታ ተቋቋሚ ያልሆነ የእንሰት ዝርያ፣ ዝርያውን ከሌላ አርሶ አደር ማሳ መጠቀም እና ምንም ዓይነት አረም ማረምና የበሽታ መከላከያ ያልተካሄደበት ማሳ ናቸው፡፡ በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ የበሽታ ጥቃት መጠን ከ55በመቶ በላይ የመሆኑ አጋጣሚ የአየር ፀባይ የሰሜን-ቤንችንና የየኪ ወረዳዎችን የሚመስሉ አካባቢዎች፣ አረም በሚታረምበት ወቅት እንሰትን በገጀራ መቁረጥ፣ ተቋቋሚ ዝርያ ያልሆነ የእንሰት ተክል፣ የእንሰቱ ዕድሜ ከመካከለኛው እስከ ምርት ለመስጠት ያለው ጊዜ፣ የአርሶ አደሩ ለበሽታው ያለው ዝቅተኛ ግንዛቤ ናቸው፡፡ የዚህ ዳሰሳ ጥናት ግኝቶች እንደሚያመለክቱት የእንሰት አጠውልግ በሽታ በከፍተኛ ሁኔታ በደቡብ ምዕራብ ኢትዮጵያ አካባቢዎች ላይ የተሰራጨ ሲሆን የስርጭቱን መጠን ለመቀነስ እንሰትን እንደ አንድ አማራጭ የማሳው አፈሩ pH ከ5.5 እስከ 7 መካከል ውጪ መትከል፣ ከሌላ ሰብል ጋር አቀላቅሎ መትከል፣ በእንሰት ማሳ ውስጥ የምንጠቀምባቸውን የመገልገያ መሳሪያዎችን ማፅዳትና መጠቀም፣ በበሽታ የተጠቃውን ከማሳው ነቅሎ ማውጣትና ማቃጠል፣ የባለሙያ ምክር መጠቀም መቻል እና በአርሶ አደሮች መካከል የእንሰት ዝርያ መለዋወጥ እንዳይኖር  ማድረግ ናቸው፡፡             Abstract Enset (Ensete ventricosum) bacterial wilt (EBW), caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum, is one of the highly destructive diseases of enset  in Ethiopia. Field survey was conducted to determine the distribution of EBW and its association with biophysical variables in Southwestern Ethiopia. In the survey, 120 enset fields in 10 major enset growing districts were assessed. The mean disease incidence across districts ranged from 23.67 to 31.92%, and significantly different levels of disease severity were recorded among districts. Thus, among districts, the highest mean disease severity of 62.50% was recorded from Semen-bench, whereas Andiracha district showed the lowest (49.58%) mean severity. Logistic regression analysis indicated that EBW incidence of >25% had high probability of association with enset grown on soils with pH of 5.5-7, sole cropped, susceptible clones, using planting materials obtained from other farmers and enset fields with no weeding and EBW management practices. EBW severity of >55% had high probability of association with growing enset in Semen-bench and Yeki districts, weed management through machete slashing, growing local susceptible enset clones, vegetative to maturity growth stages, and low to medium levels of farmer’s awareness about EBW. Findings of this survey indicate that EBW is widely distributed and could be minimized through growing enset preferably on soils out of pH 5.5-7 ranges, intercropping system, proper weeding, access to disease-free planting material, disinfecting farm tools before using, rouging out and burning of infected plants, accessing of advisory services, and limiting free exchange of planting material among enset growers

Prediction of genetic gains for breeding objective traits and designing selection schemes for Washera and Gumuz indigenous sheep

In Ethiopia,there are 32.85 millions of sheep,more than 99 % of which are indigenous.However,the productivity of local sheep under traditional production system is low with high mortality of sheep.There are two ways of improving performance of sheep and goats,namely improving the enviroment of animals and/or improving there genetic potential.The aim of this study was to predict genetic gains of breedingobjective traits and select the best sheep selection scheme for Gumuz andWashera sheep. Body size(six month weight and yearling weight) and litter size were breeding objective traits identified by own flock animal ranking experiment and personal interview. Deterministic approach of ZPLAN computor program is used for modeling input parametres of Gumuz and Washera sheep and simulating breeding plans using gene flow method and selection index procedures. One-tier cooperative sheep breeding scheme were proposed whereby ram exchange between and within villages is the main means of genetic dissimination. Genetic gains predicted for six month weight of Gumuz and Washera sheep were 0.43 and 0.55 kg,respectively. Genetic gains predicted for yearling weight of Gumuz and Washera sheep were 0.55 and 0.60 kg,respectively. Genetic gains predicted for litter  size of Gumuz and Washera sheep were 0.08 and 0.09 lambs,respectively. The lower rate of inbreeding, the higher monetary genetic gain for aggregate genotype,higher return to investmnet and higher profit/ewe/year were quality measures of breeding program considered to prefer scheme 4 for both Gumuz and Washera sheep.Hence,for both Gumuz and Washera sheep populations a sheep selection scheme designed with 15 % selection proportion and one year ram use for breeding was recommended. Special emphasis need to be given to yearling weight with higher predicted genetic response and higher percentage return to investment