Determinants of HIV Testing Among Tuberculosis Patients on DOTS in East Wollega Zone, Ethiopia

The main aim of the study was to assess determinants of HIV testing among Tuberculosis patients on DOTS in East Wollega zone, Ethiopia. Institution based case control study was conducted from January – March 2011. Cases were tuberculosis patients who have not accepted HIV testing while the controls were those who have accepted HIV testing. A sample of 270 (90 cases and 180 controls) tuberculosis patients, with a ratio of two controls to one case, was used. Simple random sampling technique was used to recruit study subjects. Tuberculosis patients who was tested for HIV showed, 23(12.8%) of them were HIV positive and 157(87.2%) of them were HIV negative. The proportion of HIV infected individual was  10(13.2%) among males and 13(12.5%) among females. Among 23  patients, 19(16.4%) TB patients from urban and 4(6.2%) patients were from rural area. Tuberculosis patients having low knowledge about HIV and were more likely to reject HIV testing AOR 3.697 (CI 2.135, 6.402)  compared to those who are knowledgeable about HIV. Higher level of stigmatized attitude toward HIV and being from urban were also associated with rejecting HIV testing AOR 3.421(CI 1.870, 6.257) and AOR 5.692(CI 1.930, 16.783) respectively. Efforts to promote HIV testing utilization  require effective strategies to reduce stigmatizing beliefs towards HIV and PLWHA among TB patients. Health information dissemination regarding HIV testing and risky sexual behavior reduction should have to be targeted most at risk population like tuberculosis patients

Isolation and characterization of efficient Phosphate Solubilizing Bacillus (PSB) from different agro-ecological zones of Tigray soil, Ethiopia

Applications of biofertilizer have great practical importance for increasing fertility of the soil and reducing environmental pollution. Screening and characterizing phosphate solubilizing Bacillus (PSB) strains from different agroecologies of Tigray  soil and in vitro assessment for the adaptability under different abiotic stress would help in selecting the most efficient strain for use as biofertilizer. A total of 64 soil  samples were collected from different agro-ecological zones of Tigray and checked for the presence, capability and efficiency of PSB. Out of 64 soil samples 21 of them were phosphate solubilizing. These phosphate solubilizing strains again incubate at 37˚C for 48h on pikovskaya medium to see efficacy of phosphate solubilization.  Highest efficiency was recorded in MUB28, MUB47and MUB64 isolates and also  tolerant to acidity and alkaline up to pH4 and pH8, respectively. And difference was  recorded in saline tolerance among the strains: MUB47 is the most saline tolerance strain which tolerate saline up to 513mM of sodium chloride (NaCl) but MUB28 and MUB64 have tolerated saline up to 340mM of NaCl. The identification of efficient PSB candidate strains with salt & pH tolerant features in the soil sample could have an implication on the end-users to obtain the desired beneficial effect such as maintaining soil healthy, provision of adequate phosphorus from soil to the plant and improving crop yield of Tigray Agriculture. Based on the morphological, microscopic, biochemical and physiological characterization, it may be inferred that the diversity among these efficient PSB strains is low.Keywords: Biofertilizer, Phosphate solubilizing Bacillus, Efficiency, Diversity, Agroecology, Adaptability, Ethiopia

Risk Factors Associated with Poor Health Outcomes for Children Under the Age of 5 with Moderate Acute Malnutrition in Rural Fagita Lekoma District, Awi Zone, Amhara, Ethiopia, 2016

Background: Left untreated, moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) in children can lead to severe acute malnutrition, stunting, developmental delays, and death. Despite recent progress the prevalence of malnutrition remains high throughout Ethiopia. The ability to make accurate prognoses and develop effective treatment strategies for children with MAM is currently limited and, as result, a significant proportion of children with MAM fail to recover even with treatment. We seek to address this limitation by assessing the risk factors for poor outcomes among children under the age of 5 with MAM in a rural area of Ethiopia’s Amhara Region. This region is considered relatively food secure and does not have food supplementation treatment programs. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 404 randomly sampled children, 0–59 months old stratified by household food security status. We followed the study children for approximately 2 months, assessing their health status; and used bivariate and multivariate Cox-proportional hazard regression models to identify risk factors for poor health outcomes. Results: Household food security was significantly associated with low recovery from MAM: 191 (60%) of children in food-insecure and 129 (40%) of children in food-secure households had poor health outcomes. The risk factors found to be significantly associated with poor health outcomes included the duration of exclusive breastfeeding (AHR 1.50, 95%CI: 1.05, 2.15), dietary diversity (AHR 1.74, 95%CI: 1.18, 2.54), and maternal mid-upper arm circumference (AHR=1.36, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.86). Children from pregnancies that were wanted but unplanned had 80% higher incidence of poor health outcomes than others, and children from pregnancies that were both unwanted and unplanned had more than double the incidence of poor health outcomes compared to their counterparts. Conclusion: We found that without treatment, the majority of children from food insecure households and over a third of children from food secure households did not recover from MAM. Maternal factors particularly the mother’s ability to plan her pregnancy were the main determinants of recovery in this study. Together these findings support arguments for targeting of nutrition support programs to vulnerable households regardless of regional food security status, and for closely integrating robust family planning, and antenatal care services with nutrition interventions

The Role of Empowerment in the Association between a Woman’s Educational Status and Infant Mortality in Ethiopia: Secondary Analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys

BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic status at national, sub-national, household, and individual levels  explains a significant portion of variation in infant mortality. Women’s education is among the major  determinants of infant mortality. The mechanism through which a woman’s own educational status, over  her husband’s as well as household characteristics, influences infant mortality has not been well studied  in developing countries. The objective of this study was to explore the role of woman’s empowerment and household wealth in the association between a woman’s educational status and infant mortality.METHODS: The association between a woman’s educational status and infant death, and the role of woman’s empowerment and household wealth in this relationship,were examined among married women in Ethiopia through a secondary, serial cross-sectional analysis utilizing data on birth history of married women from three rounds of the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the association between woman’s education and infant death, and the possible mediation or moderation roles of woman empowerment and household wealth.RESULTS: Female education and empowerment were inversely associated with infant death. The results indicated mediation by empowerment in the education-infant death association, and effect modification by household wealth. Both empowerment and education had strongest inverse association with infant death among women from the richest households.CONCLUSION: The findings suggest an important role of female empowerment in the education-infant death relation, and the complexity of these factors according to household wealth. Woman empowerment programs may prove effective as a shorter term intervention in reducing infant mortality.KEYWORDS: Woman, Education, Empowerment, Infant Mortality, Demographic and Health Survey, Social Determinants, Mediation, Moderation, Ethiopi

The Question of the Redox Site in Metal-Metal Multiple-Bonded Metallocorrole Dimers

We have revisited the electrochemistry of metallocorrole dimers with low-temperature cyclic voltammetry and UV–visible–NIR spectroelectrochemistry, with the aim of determining the sites of the redox processes undergone by these compounds. The systems studied include the metal–metal triple-bonded complexes {Ru[TpOMePC]}2 and {Os[TpOMePC]}2 and the metal–metal quadruple-bonded complex {Re[TPC]}2, where TpOMePC and TPC refer to trianionic meso-tris(p-methoxyphenyl)corrole and meso-triphenylcorrole ligands. For all three compounds, the first oxidation potentials are found at 0.52 ± 0.04 V vs SCE in CH2Cl2/0.1 M TBAP and are accompanied by major changes in the optical spectra, especially the appearance of broad, low-energy bands, suggesting macrocycle-centered oxidation in each case. In contrast, the reduction potentials span an 800 mV range, occurring at E1/2 = −0.52 V for {Re[TPC]}2, −0.81 V for {Ru[TpOMePC]}2, and −1.32 V for {Os[TpOMePC]}2, with more modest changes in the optical spectra, implying a significant metal-centered character in the reduction process. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations largely (but not entirely) bear out these expectations. The combined experimental and theoretical data indicate that one-electron addition to the Re dimer involves the Re–Re δ* LUMO, while one-electron addition to the Ru dimer largely involves the Ru–Ru π* LUMO. In contrast, the calculations suggest that one-electron reduction of the Os dimer occurs largely on the corrole ligands, a phenomenon attributed to the relativistic destabilization of the Os–Os π* MOs

Adolescent Girls' Agency Significantly Correlates With Favorable Social Norms in Ethiopia-Implications for Improving Sexual and Reproductive Health of Young Adolescents.

PURPOSE: This study investigates the relationship between adolescent girls' agency and social norms regarding early marriage, girls' education, and nutrition in West Hararghe, Ethiopia. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving adolescent girls aged between 13 and 17 years in 2016. A two-stage cluster sampling procedure was followed to identify eligible respondents at the household level. A total of 114 clusters in four districts and 30 households from each cluster were randomly selected. Data were collected using a structured and pretested questionnaire. The agency composite score was measured based on 21 previously validated items. Descriptive and injunctive norm composite scores regarding education, marriage, and nutrition were constructed based on context-relevant items. The weighted mean and standard errors were calculated for the agency and social norms composite scores. The relationship between girls' agency and descriptive and injunctive norms were examined using a multivariable linear regression model that accounted for a complex sample survey design. RESULTS: A total of 3,186 adolescent girls participated in this study. The multivariable linear regression analysis revealed that adolescent girls' agency score significantly and favorably associated with education (β = .19, p .05) and nutrition (β = .12, p > .05) did not have a statistically significant association with girls' agency. The domains of agency scale related to the belief in women's health rights related to contraception use and the belief in women's right to refuse sex showed poor prosocial views. CONCLUSIONS: Favorable descriptive and injunctive norms around marriage were significantly associated with greater adolescent girls' agency, which indicates the need to incorporate interventions that address social norms in efforts aimed to enhance adolescent girls' sexual and reproductive health status. Furthermore, attention should be given to monitor which domain of agency is improved by the interventions

Anemia prevalence and etiology among women, men, and children in Ethiopia: a study protocol for a national population-based survey.

BACKGROUND: Anemia remains a public health challenge in Ethiopia, affecting an estimated 56% of children under age 5 years, 23% of women of reproductive age and 18% of adult men. However, anemia etiology and the relative contribution of underlying risk factors for anemia remains unclear and has hindered implementation of anemia control programs. METHODS/DESIGN: Anemia Etiology in Ethiopia (AnemEE) is a population-based cross-sectional survey of six regions of Ethiopia that includes children, women of reproductive age, and men from regionally representative households. The survey will include detailed assessment of anemia, iron, inflammatory and nutritional biomarkers, diet, comorbidities, and other factors. The objectives of AnemEE are 1) to generate evidence for decision-making on the etiology of anemia in Ethiopia among men, women and children and 2) to simulate the potential effect of iron fortification and other interventions on the prevalence of anemia and risk of iron overload. DISCUSSION: AnemEE will provide the most comprehensive evaluation of anemia etiology in Ethiopia to date due to its detailed assessment of diet, biomarkers, infections and other risk factors in a population-based sample. By generating evidence and simulating potential interventions, AnemEE will inform the development of high-impact anemia control programs and policies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04002466 . Registered on 28 June 2019. Retrospectively registered