Editors\u27 Note

Dear colleagues, The International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning is undergoing some major changes. The layout of the journal has been overhauled, giving it a look that better aligns with the quality of the content. As we continue to struggle with SoTL “counting” as scholarship at some institutions, it is important to package our work in a way that reinforces its value. We hope you enjoy the new look! Articles are being assigned DOI (digital object identifier) numbers. All articles, past and present, will be tagged and linked to metadata as indexing is completed over the next year. Review Board membership is being updated. Reviewers play a critical role in maintaining the quality of publications, so it is important to keep a robust board with diverse expertise. Current board members will be notified and asked to verify their status and willingness to continue to serve. We will also be adding new members; nominations or self-nominations for the Review Board can be sent to [email protected]. While many things are changing, the scope of the journal will remain the same. We encourage everyone to continue to submit research articles or reflective SoTL essays. This is an exciting time for us and we welcome any feedback or suggestions that you may have concerning these changes! Respectfully, Delena Bell Gatch & Laura B. Regassa Editor

Editors\u27 Note

Dear colleagues, The International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning is undergoing some major changes. The layout of the journal has been overhauled, giving it a look that better aligns with the quality of the content. As we continue to struggle with SoTL “counting” as scholarship at some institutions, it is important to package our work in a way that reinforces its value. We hope you enjoy the new look! Articles are being assigned DOI (digital object identifier) numbers. All articles, past and present, will be tagged and linked to metadata as indexing is completed over the next year. Review Board membership is being updated. Reviewers play a critical role in maintaining the quality of publications, so it is important to keep a robust board with diverse expertise. Current board members will be notified and asked to verify their status and willingness to continue to serve. We will also be adding new members; nominations or self-nominations for the Review Board can be sent to [email protected]. While many things are changing, the scope of the journal will remain the same. We encourage everyone to continue to submit research articles or reflective SoTL essays. This is an exciting time for us and we welcome any feedback or suggestions that you may have concerning these changes! Respectfully, Delena Bell Gatch & Laura B. Regassa Editor

Editors\u27 Note

Transition

Systematic review and meta-analysis: prevalence of alcohol use among young people in eastern Africa.

OBJECTIVE: Systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies of alcohol use among young people (age 15-24 years) in eastern Africa to estimate prevalence of alcohol use and determine the extent of use of standardised screening questionnaires in alcohol studies. METHODS: Five databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health, Africa-wide, and PsycINFO) were searched for publications until 30th June 2013. Results were summarised using the guidelines on preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) and on quality assessment using the modified quality assessment tool for systematic reviews of observational studies (QATSO). Heterogeneity was assessed using the I(2) statistic (DerSimonian-Laird). RESULTS: We identified 2785 potentially relevant studies, of which 56 were eligible for inclusion. Only two studies (4%) used the standardised Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire, and six studies (13%) used the Cut down, Annoyed, Guilt, Eye opener (CAGE) questionnaire. The reported median prevalence of alcohol use was ever-use 52% [interquartile range (IQR): 20-58%], use in the last month 28% (IQR: 17-37%), use in the last year 26% (IQR: 22-32%), and problem drinking as defined by CAGE or AUDIT 15% (IQR: 3-36%). We observed high heterogeneity between studies, with the highest prevalence of ever use of alcohol among university students (82%; 95%CI: 79-85%) and female sex workers (66%; 95%CI: 58-74%). Current use was most prevalent among male sex workers (69%; 95%CI: 63-75%). CONCLUSIONS: Reported alcohol use and problem drinking were common among diverse groups of young people in eastern Africa, indicating the urgent need for alcohol-focused interventions in this population. Few studies have used standardised alcohol screening questionnaires. Epidemiological research to investigate alcohol-focused interventions in young people should aim to apply such questionnaires that should be validated for use in this population

How Mistimed and Unwanted Pregnancies Affect Timing of Antenatal Care Initiation in three Districts in Tanzania

Early antenatal care (ANC) initiation is a doorway to early detection and management of potential complications associated with pregnancy. Although the literature reports various factors associated with ANC initiation such as parity and age, pregnancy intentions is yet to be recognized as a possible predictor of timing of ANC initiation. Data originate from a cross-sectional household survey on health behaviour and service utilization patterns. The survey was conducted in 2011 in Rufiji, Kilombero and Ulanga districts in Tanzania on 910 women of reproductive age who had given birth in the past two years. ANC initiation was considered to be early only if it occurred in the first trimester of pregnancy gestation. A recently completed pregnancy was defined as mistimed if a woman wanted it later, and if she did not want it at all the pregnancy was termed as unwanted. Chisquare was used to test for associations and multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine how mistimed and unwanted pregnancies affect timing of ANC initiation. Although 49.3% of the women intended to become pregnant, 50.7% (34.9% mistimed and 15.8% unwanted) became pregnant unintentionally. While ANC initiation in the 1st trimester was 18.5%, so was 71.7% and 9.9% in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that ANC initiation in the 2nd trimester was 1.68 (95% CI 1.10‒2.58) and 2.00 (95% CI 1.05‒3.82) times more likely for mistimed and unwanted pregnancies respectively compared to intended pregnancies. These estimates rose to 2.81 (95% CI 1.41‒5.59) and 4.10 (95% CI 1.68‒10.00) respectively in the 3rd trimester. We controlled for gravidity, age, education, household wealth, marital status, religion, district of residence and travel time to a health facility. Late ANC initiation is a significant maternal and child health consequence of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies in Tanzania. Women should be empowered to delay or avoid pregnancies whenever they need to do so. Appropriate counseling to women, especially those who happen to conceive unintentionally is needed to minimize the possibility of delaying ANC initiation.\u

Investigation of the mechanical properties of Acacia tortilis fiber reinforced natural composite

The work presented in this paper is motivated by the fact that use of natural fiber materials for structural and non-structural applications have increased within the last two decades. In addition to the known benefits of composite materials as structural elements such as high specific modulus, high specific strength and low thermal conductivity, composites of natural fibers are eco-friendly materials and have minimum effect on environment and human health. However, the mechanical and structural performance of diverse natural fiber composites still need closer scrutiny. The objective of this study is to characterize the mechanical properties of a novel Acacia tortilis fiber reinforced polyester composite using experimental methods. In particular, the study focuses on determining the tensile and flexural properties of the composite at different fiber volume ratio, which was fabricated by hand lay-up methods. The results show that Acacia tortilis fiber reinforced polyester composites have generally competitive strength and Young’s modulus compared with common natural fiber reinforced composites such as sisal, kenaf, coir natural fiber reinforced composite materials. In addition, NaOH treated samples exhibited higher strength and Young’s modulus compared with their untreated counterparts, with few exceptions.publishedVersio

Fasciolosis: Prevalence, financial losses due to liver condemnation and evaluation of a simple sedimentation diagnostic technique in cattle slaughtered at Hawassa Municipal abattoir, southern Ethiopia

This study was carried out from November 2007 to April 2008 to determine the prevalence of fasciolosis and costs incurred due to liver condemnation and evaluate the sensitivity of direct sedimentation method for diagnosis of fasciolosis in cattle slaughtered at Hawassa Municipal abattoir. A total of 3251 adult indigenous cattle were slaughtered at the abattoir during the study period, of which 931 animals (28.63%) were found to be positive for fasciolosis. There was a statistically significant (χ2 = 33.10; p = 0.004) variation in prevalence between the study months where the highest (35.6%) and lowest (21.03%) prevalence were recorded in February and April, respectively. Fasciola hepatica (58.9%) was the predominant fluke identified compared to F. gigantica (10.6%). Mixed infections by both species and unidentified immature flukes were detected in 14.7% and 15.8% of the affected livers, respectively. The mean fluke burden in the affected livers was 55 flukes per liver. As to the severity of infection, 36.63%, 52.31% and 11.06% were lightly, moderately and severely affected, respectively. Moderately affected livers showed the highest mean fluke count (69 ± 1.91) followed by severely (48 ± 1.71) and lightly affected ones (25 ± 1.75) signifying the presence of acquired resistance and local tissue reaction as chronicity of infection supervenes. Taking liver examination as gold standard for diagnosis of fasciolosis, the sensitivity of the direct sedimentation technique was found to be 67.13% and the specificity 100% with substantial agreement (k = 0.74) between the two methods. The financial loss due to liver condemnation was estimated to be 106,400 Ethiopian birr (8312.5 USD) per annum. In conclusion, the observation of such a level of infection in the dry season, high fluke pathogenicity and substantial financial loss associated with condemnation of infected livers warrants the institution of appropriate control measures. Keywords: Cattle, fasciolosis, financial loss, Hawassa abattoir, prevalence, southern Ethiopi

Access to credit and heterogeneous effects on agricultural technology adoption: Evidence fromlarge rural surveys in Ethiopia

Modern agricultural technologies hold huge potential for increasing productivity and reducing poverty in developing countries. However, adoption levels of these technologies have remained disappointingly low in Africa. This paper analyzes the effect of access to credit on the likelihood of adoption and use intensity of chemical fertilizers using data from large rural surveys in Ethiopia. Using a heteroscedasticity-based identification strategy to address the endogenous nature of access to credit, we find that access to credit has significant positive effects on adoption and intensity of use of chemical fertilizers. However, important heterogeneities are observed. Credit obtained from formal sources is more important for the intensity of use than for the decision to adopt chemical fertilizers. Credit taken with the primary purpose of financing agricultural inputs is more likely to promote adoption of chemical fertilizers than credit taken per se. Furthermore, reported credit effects are larger when estimated against the sample of credit-constrained non-users as compared with the pool of the whole sample of credit non-users. The results remain robust to several sensitivity analyses. Our results yield useful implications for the design, promotion, and targeting of credit services to leverage their effect on adoption of agricultural technologies

Amphiregulin cooperates with bone morphogenetic protein 15 to increase oocyte developmental competence by gap junction-mediated enhanced metabolite supply

This study assessed the participation of amphiregulin (AREG) and bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) during maturation of bovine cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) on cumulus cell function and their impact on subsequent embryo development. AREG treatment of COCs enhanced blastocyst formation and quality only when in the presence of BMP15. Expression of hyaluronan synthase 2 was enhanced by follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) but not by AREG, which was reflected in the level of cumulus expansion. Although both FSH and AREG stimulated glycolysis, AREG treated COCs had higher glucose consumption, lactate production and ratio of lactate production to glucose uptake. Autofluorescence levels in oocytes, indicative of NAD(P)H and FAD++, were increased with combined AREG and BMP15 treatment of COCs. In contrast, these treatments did not alter autoflouresence levels when cumulus cells were removed from oocytes, even in the presence of other COCs, suggesting oocyte-cumulus gap-junctional communication (GJC) is required. FSH contributed to maintaining GJC for an extended period of time. Remarkably, BMP15 was equally effective at maintaining GJC even in the presence of AREG. Hence, AREG stimulation of COC glycolysis and BMP15 preservation of GJC may facilitate efficient transfer of metabolites from cumulus cells to the oocyte thereby enhancing oocyte developmental competence. These results have implications for improving in vitro oocyte maturation systems.Satoshi Sugimura, Lesley J Ritter, Melanie L Sutton-McDowall, David G Mottershead, Jeremy G Thompson and Robert B Gilchris

Cryptosporidium in Calves, Lambs and Kids at Haramaya, eastern Ethiopia

A cross sectional study was carried out from November 2010 to April 2011 to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in calves, lambs and kids and to assess potential risk factors in Haramaya, eastern Ethiopia. Hence, fecal samples from a total of 237 study animals (133 calves, 63 lambs and 41 kids) were tested with Sheather’s flotation technique and Modified Ziehl-Neelsen Staining. Accordingly, the overall prevalence was found to be 23.6% (56/237) with the prevalence of 27.8% (37/133) in calves, 22.2% (14/63) in lambs and 12.2% (5/41) in kids. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium significantly (p = 0.047) varied with species of study animals being three times higher likelihood of occurrence in calves compared to its chance of occurrence in kids (OR = 2.8, 95%CI = 1.0, 7.6). No significant difference in prevalence was observed between kids and lambs. The occurrence of the disease was also assessed among the species of animals by taking into consideration different demographic characteristic of the animals including breed, age and sex. For caprine, the prevalence was higher in the cross breed animals (28.6%) followed by the breed of Hararge highland (25%) with no report of the disease in Boer and Ogaden breeds. In ovine, no association was observed between the infection occurrence and the potential risk factors. Analysis of the risk factors in bovine revealed a significant (p = 0.044) difference in disease occurrence among age groups with almost three times more likelihood of the disease occurrence in calves under 3 months than older age category(OR = 2.9, 95%CI = 1.0, 8.2). In conclusion, this study demonstrated the importance of Cryptosporidium in young ruminants with a higher prevalence among calves than lambs and kids.Key words: Cryptosporidium; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Calves, Lambs, Kids, Haramaya, Ethiopi