Dairy development in Ethiopia:

Ethiopia holds large potential for dairy development due to its large livestock population, the favorable climate for improved, high-yielding animal breeds, and the relatively disease-free environment for livestock. Given the considerable potential for smallholder income and employment generation from high-value dairy products, development of the dairy sector in Ethiopia can contribute significantly to poverty alleviation and nutrition in the country. Like other sectors of the economy, the dairy sector in Ethiopia has passed through three phases or turning points, following the economic and political policy in the country. In the most recent phase, characterized by the transition towards market-oriented economy, the dairy sector appears to be moving towards a takeoff stage. Liberalized markets and private sector investment and promotion of smallholder dairy are the main features of this phase. Milk production during the 1990s expanded at an annual rate of 3.0 percent compared to 1.63-1.66 percent during the preceding three decades. Review of the development of dairy sector in Ethiopia indicates that there is a need to focus interventions more coherently. Development interventions should be aimed at addressing both technological gaps and marketing problems. Integration of crossbred cattle to the sector is imperative for dairy development in the country. This can be achieved either through promotion of large private investment to introduce new technology in the sector such as improved genotypes, feed and processing, and promotion of integration of crossbred cattle into the smallholder sector through improving their access to improved cattle breeds, AI service, veterinary service, and credit. Similarly, government should also take the lead in building infrastructure and providing technical service to smallholders. Severe shortages, low quality and seasonal unavailability of feed likewise remain as major constraints to livestock production in Ethiopia. These constraints need to be addressed and technological change be promoted to increase milk production.Ethiopia, Dairy products industry, Livestock productivity Ethiopia, Africa sub-Saharan, East Africa,

Assessment of Magnitude and Associated Factors of Emergence Delirium in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit at Tikur Anbesa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Emergence delirium (ED) is known as an acute agitation and confusion occurring during or immediately following emergence from general anesthesia, in the Operation Room or post anesthesia care unit (PACU). ED results in significant morbidity and complications resulting in longer hospital stays. We studied the magnitude and risk factors of ED in the general surgical population.METHODS: An institution-based prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on patients who underwent surgical procedure at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia, from March 6 - May 1, 2017. Data was collected using patient interview and chart review. Patients with Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale ≥+1 at any time were considered to have emergence delirium/agitation. Categorical data was analyzed using the fishers exact test . Continuous data was analyzed using student t-test. Independent variables were analyzed using binary logistic regression. P-value of <0.05 was considered as cutoff point to test for statistically significance.RESULT: The overall magnitude of Emergence Delirium in this study was 31.7%. Older age (CI=4.266 – 12.095, P=0.001), substance abuse (OR =4.6, CI=1.962 – 10.863, P=0.001), preoperative anxiety (OR= 2.4, CI=1.140 – 5.244, P=0.02), benzodiazepine premedication (OR= 8, CI=2.788 – 23.21,P=0.001), excessive blood loss (OR=3.38, CI=1.789 – 6.412, P=0.001), postoperative pain (OR=3.37, CI=2.015 – 6.934, P=0.001) and longer PACU stay (CI=18.645 – 26.766, P=0.001) were positively associated with Emergence Delirium.CONCLUSION: The magnitude of emergence delirium is high and it is associated with older age, substance abuse, premedication with benzodiazepine, excessive blood loss postoperative pain and longer PACU stay.

Infection prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni and associated risk factors among schoolchildren in suburbs of Mekelle city, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Schistosomiasis due to infection with Schistosoma mansoniis a public health problem in both tropical and sub tropical countries. Thus, effective control of the disease requires determining its prevalence rate, identifying risk factors of infection and high-risk groups. Therefore, the objective of this study was to establish the prevalence of S. mansoni infection and associated risk factors among schoolchildren in suburbs of Mekelle city, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. For this purpose, a cross-sectional parasitological examination wasconducted on457 schoolchildren from November, 2010 to March, 2011. Stool samples were collected and examined by the Kato-Katz technique. Semi-structurered interview questionnaire were administered to the study subjectsto identify possible risk factors of infection with S. mansoni. Furthermore, malacological survey was conducted to check the presence of snail intermediate hosts of S. mansoni in the study area. The overall prevalence of S. mansoni in the schoolchildren was 23.9 %. Higher prevalence was detected in male children (30.71%) than in females (14.12 %) (÷ 2 = 16.642, P = 0.000). On the other hand, the highest (31.2%) prevalence was recorded in children with ages ranging from 10 - 14 years followed by thoseaged 5 - 9 (11.4 %) and 15 - 19 (9.8 %) years (÷ 2 = 23.865, P = 0.000), respectively. This study revealed the association of S. mansoni infection with older age groups, 10 -14 years (OR = 0.114, P = 0.001), time of residence in the study area (OR = 0.462, P = 0.011), water source (OR = 0.371, P = 0.020), previous history of schistosomiasis treatment (OR = 0.246, P = 0.000), frequency of water contact (OR = 26.958, P = 0.004), crossing water bodies (OR = 3.049, P = 0.001), working in an irrigated agricultural field (OR = 7.363, P = 0.000) and distance of home from water bodies (OR = 5.163, P = 0.000). Moreover, this study determined the presence of snail intermediate hosts of S. mansoni in the study areas . Hence, the study areas are considered important epidemiological foci for the transmission of S. mansoni. Therefore, it is necessary to undergo wide scalesurveillance and institute proper control and prevention strategies against infection with Schistosoma mansoni.Key words: S.mansoni, Schistosomiasis, Risk factors, Risk groups, Prevalence, Mekelle city, Tigray

Dietary practices and xenophthalmia in under-fives in Jimma town, Southwest Ethiopia

Objectives: To assess parent’s knowledge about children’s need for plant sources of vitamin A; to determine the dietary practice with regard to vitamin A intake; to estimate the prevalence of xerophthalmia and; to forward appropriate recommendations.Design: A cross-sectional study.Setting: The study was conducted in Jimma town, southwest Ethiopia, with a total population of about 88,867 from February to April 1995.Participants: Eight hundred and thirty one randomly selected children between the ages of six and 59 months formed the study population.Main outcome measures: The dietary intake of cheap and easily available vitamin A rich foods is assessed and prevalence of xerophthalmlia determined.Results: Only eighty per cent of the children were getting green vegetables, fruits or carrots once weekly or more. The major reasons given for not including vegetables, fruits and carrots in the diet were “cannot afford” (39%), “not available” (33%), and “child too young” (16%). Out of 628 children examined, four (0.6%) were found to have xerophthalmia; three (0.48%) classified as XlB and one (0.16%) as X2.Conclusion: The dietary intake of plant sources of vitamin A in the studied community is far from adequate. Moreover, vitamin A deficiency is found to be a significant public health problem in young children in Jimma town. Periodic vitamin A supplementation, preferablycombined with immunisation, should be a priority action, and parents need to be educated about vitamin A deficiency and its prevention

Influence of Time of Nitrogen Application on Productivity and Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Rain- fed Lowland Rice (Oryza sativa L.) in the Vertisols of Fogera plain, Northwestern Ethiopia

An experiment consisting of two fertilizer rates (69/10 and 46/20 kg N/P ha-1) and five nitrogen (N) application times (half at planting + half at tillering (control), half at planting + half at panicle initiation, one-third at planting + two-third at tillering, one-third at planting + two-third at panicle initiation and one-third at planting + one-third at tillering +one-third at panicle initiation) was conducted in factorial RCBD on the Vertisols of Fogera plain during the 2006 and 2007 cropping seasons. The objective of the experiment was to identify the best time of N application for maximum rain-fed lowland rice yield in the Fogera plain. Results showed significant difference in grain yield in response to the time of N application. The highest mean grain yield (4409 kg ha-1) was recorded when N was applied one-third at planting and two-third at the tillering stage of the crop. Nitrogen fertilizer rates and the interaction with its time of application showed non-significant differences for all parameters. The agronomic Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) was found to be higher for one-third at planting and two-third at tillering nitrogen application compared to the other treatments. Hence, application of nitrogen one-third at planting and two-third at tillering stage of rice, irrespective of the fertilizer rate, is recommended for rice production in the Fogera plain.Keywords: split application, yield, NUE,

Effect of Eucalyptus camaldulensis stand Conversion into Crop Production on Growth and Yield of Maize: the case of Koga Watershed Areas in northwestern Ethiopia

Farmers in the highlands of Ethiopia commonly plant eucalypts on their farmlands. However, growing eucalypt is becoming a great concern due to its alleged long-term site effect. In view of this, a study was conducted in Koga watershed, northwestern Ethiopia, to investigate whether croplands afforested with Eucalyptus camaldulensis can be reused for annual crop production after its removal. In this study, we compared growth and yield of maize between adjacent clear-felled E. camaldulensis stands and continuously cultivated farms at three paired sites. Plant height, leaf area, dry matter production and grain weight were evaluated as parameters for maize growth and yield. Maize plants grown on clear-felled eucalypt stands were taller and developed larger leaf areas than those grown on  continuously cultivated farms. Dry matter production and grain yield were also significantly higher in maize plants established on clear-felled eucalypt stands. Farmers also responded that the growth and yield of maize grown on the clear-felled eucalypt stands were better than those grown on continuously cultivated farms. The results suggest that contrary to the popular belief, agricultural lands afforested with eucalypts can be re-used for annual crop production.Keywords: Clear-felled stands, Croplands, Crop performance, Farmers’ perception, Ethiopia

A Poisson hierarchical modelling approach to detecting copy number variation in sequence coverage data.

BACKGROUND: The advent of next generation sequencing technology has accelerated efforts to map and catalogue copy number variation (CNV) in genomes of important micro-organisms for public health. A typical analysis of the sequence data involves mapping reads onto a reference genome, calculating the respective coverage, and detecting regions with too-low or too-high coverage (deletions and amplifications, respectively). Current CNV detection methods rely on statistical assumptions (e.g., a Poisson model) that may not hold in general, or require fine-tuning the underlying algorithms to detect known hits. We propose a new CNV detection methodology based on two Poisson hierarchical models, the Poisson-Gamma and Poisson-Lognormal, with the advantage of being sufficiently flexible to describe different data patterns, whilst robust against deviations from the often assumed Poisson model. RESULTS: Using sequence coverage data of 7 Plasmodium falciparum malaria genomes (3D7 reference strain, HB3, DD2, 7G8, GB4, OX005, and OX006), we showed that empirical coverage distributions are intrinsically asymmetric and overdispersed in relation to the Poisson model. We also demonstrated a low baseline false positive rate for the proposed methodology using 3D7 resequencing data and simulation. When applied to the non-reference isolate data, our approach detected known CNV hits, including an amplification of the PfMDR1 locus in DD2 and a large deletion in the CLAG3.2 gene in GB4, and putative novel CNV regions. When compared to the recently available FREEC and cn.MOPS approaches, our findings were more concordant with putative hits from the highest quality array data for the 7G8 and GB4 isolates. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, the proposed methodology brings an increase in flexibility, robustness, accuracy and statistical rigour to CNV detection using sequence coverage data