Subjective Quality of Life and Perceived Adequacy of Social Support among the Elderly in Arbaminch Town

Cultural discourse in Ethiopia appears to retain mixed attitudes about life in the latter years. There is on the one hand, a portrayal of the elderly as socially valued, privileged, respected, and supported. On the other hand, there is a conception that links aging and retirement with sickness, inability, helplessness, and dependency (“ke areju aiyebeju”) and going down the hill. However, academic discourse is only emerging and there is a lot more to be done to uncover what it really feels like to be an elderly in Ethiopia. One such major concern pertains to the very general experiences of life of the elderly and associated factors. The purpose of this study was then to specifically assess the subjective quality of life and perceived adequacy of social support and the possible socio-demographic factors making differences in quality of life. Data were collected through questionnaire administered to a sample of 360 elderly (aged 60 and over) in Arbaminch Town. Data analysis was made through descriptive statistics, one-samplemean test, bivariate correlation analysis, multiple regression, and the forward stepwise variant of multiple regression analysis. Findings indicated that very few elderly had a high quality of life, but the majority had either low or moderate quality of life. Perceived adequacy of social support also took the same pattern contrary to the  expectation that the elderly in “developing nations” are believed to enjoy extended social support. Attempts to explain this profile of the elderly yielded that perceived social support and income were indeed the strongest predictors generally explaining about fifty percent of the variance in self-ratings of subjective quality of life. Hence, it was suggested that there is a need to explore other potent factors that would do the remaining fifty percent of the explaining. Other recommendations were also suggested to better address the problem in the future.Keywords: Elderly in Ethiopia, quality of life, Social Support, Subjective Quality of Life

Lignin biosynthesis in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.): its response to waterlogging and association with hormonal levels

Phylogenetic relationships of wheat C3H and CCoAOMT genes with the homologs from other species. Phylogenetic trees of C3H (A) and CCoAOMT (B) were generated based on nucleic acid sequence similarity of wheat genes with 15 C3H and 19 CCoAOMT genes, respectively, of other monocot and dicot species identified from the NCBI nucleotide database [39] using MEGA program [41], and the trees were inferred using Maximum Likelihood method based on the Tamura-nei model. The percentage of replicate trees in which the associated taxa clustered together in the bootstrap test of 500 replicates is shown next to the branches. ●, wheat candidate gene; ▲, genes from dicot species other than Arabidopsis; *, wheat sequence used for the analysis. (PDF 175 kb

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of CuWO4 doped TiO2 photocatalyst towards carbamazepine removal under UV irradiation

Abatement of contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs) in water sources has been widely studied employing TiO2 based heterogeneous photocatalysis. However, low quantum energy yield among other limitations of titania has led to its modification with other semiconductor materials for improved photocatalytic activity. In this work, a 0.05 wt.% CuWO4 over TiO2 was prepared as a powder composite. Each component part synthesized via the sol-gel method for TiO2, and CuWO4 by co-precipitation assisted hydrothermal method from precursor salts, underwent gentle mechanical agitation. Homogenization of the nanopowder precursors was performed by zirconia ball milling for 2 h. The final material was obtained after annealing at 500◦C for 3.5 h. Structural and morphological characterization of the synthesized material has been achieved employing X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) N2 adsorption–desorption analysis, Scanning electron microscopy-coupled Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) for optical characterization. The 0250.05 wt.% CuWO4-TiO2 catalyst was investigated for its photocatalytic activity over carbamazepine (CBZ), achieving a degradation of almost 100% after 2 h irradiation. A comparison with pure TiO2 prepared under those same conditions was made. The effect of pH, chemical scavengers, H2O2 as well as contaminant ion effects (anions, cations), and humic acid (HA) was investigated, and their related influences on the photocatalyst efficiency towards CBZ degradation highlighted accordingly

Effect of Selected Conventional and Non-conventional Mineral Fillers with ‘Enset’ Fibers on Compaction Characteristics of Stone Mastic Asphalt Pavement (SMAP)

The content and type of ingredient materials are used to prepare the asphalt mix to affect the pavement surface's quality. This study aimed to investigate the compaction characteristics of Stone Mastic Asphalt Pavement (SMAP) mix using two different types of mineral fillers; namely, crushed stone and Ambo sandstone dust with local material enset fiber. Results indicated that the filler type and the content with or without fiber have a great effect on compaction characteristics of Stone Mastic Asphalt Pavement. The test results also showed that the addition of enset fiber in asphalt mix increases density, compaction energy, and strength of asphalt mix and reduces Marshall flow of the mixes. Besides, crushed stone dust and Ambo sandstone dust with enset fiber affect the Marshall property and compaction characteristics of the stone mastic asphalt mix differentially. The Ambo sandstone dust filler has a low density and has high binder absorption capacity compared with crushed stone dust filler in SMA mixes. In this study, the optimum binder content for the mixture by using Ambo sandstone dust (8%, 6.41%), (8.5%, 6.48%) & (10%, 6.43%) as well as the mixture using crushed stone dust filler at (8%, 5.84%), (8.5%,6.32%) & (10%,5.96%) was determined. The optimum fiber content obtained at 0.3% suggests that using enset fiber in stone mastic asphalt mixture improves the strength of asphalt pavements to resist external loads. The enset fiber at 0.3% better modifies stone mastic asphalt pavement properties. Finally, it is postulated that the performance of pavement is affected by filler type and content. Simultaneously, the Marshall property has a linear relationship with compaction characteristics. It showed the possibility of constructing stone mastic asphalt pavement in Ethiopia by using locally available materials

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Death, United States

Reports of secondary bloodborne transmission of vCJD add to the uncertainty about the future of the vCJD outbreak

Cellular and Cytokine Responses in the Granulomas of Asymptomatic Cattle naturally infected with Mycobacterium bovis in Ethiopia

Cells (CD3+ T cell and CD68+ macrophages), cytokines (IFN-γ+ and TNF-α+) and effector molecule (iNOS+) responses were evaluated in the lymph nodes and tissue of cattle naturally infected with Detailed post mortem and immunohistochemical examinations of lesions were performed on 16 cows positive for single intradermal cervical comparative tuberculin (SICCT) test which were identified from dairy farms located around the Addis Ababa City. The severity of the gross lesion was significantly higher (p=0.003) in culture positive (n=12) cows than in culture negative (n=4). Immunohistochemical techniques showed that in culture positive cows, the mean immunolabeling fraction of CD3+ T cells decreased as the stage of granuloma increased from stage I to stage IV (p<0.001). In contrast, the immunolabelling fraction of CD68+ macrophages, IFN-γ+, TNF-α+ and iNOS+ increased from stage I to stage IV (p< 0.001). In culture negative cows, early stages showed a significantly higher fraction of CD68+ macrophages (p=0.03) and iNOS+ (p=0.007) when compared to culture positive cows. Similarly, at advanced granuloma stages, culture negative cows demonstrated significantly higher mean proportions of CD3+ T cells (p< 0.001) compared to culture positive cows. Thus, this study demonstrates that following natural infection of cows with , as the stage of granuloma increases from stage I to stage IV, the immunolabelling fraction of CD3+ cells decreases while the immunolabeling fraction of CD68+ macrophages, IFN-γ+, TNF-α+ and iNOS+ increases. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2020 Tulu et al.

Temporal and spatial transcriptional regulation of phytohormone metabolism during seed development in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Plant hormones play important roles in seed development; however, transcriptional regulation of their metabolism and levels of the respective bioactive forms during barley seed development is poorly understood. To this end, this study performed a comprehensive analysis of changes in the expression patterns phytohormone metabolism genes and levels of the respective bioactive forms in the embryo and endosperm tissues. Our study showed the presence of elevated levels of abscisic acid (ABA), bioactive forms of gibberellins (GAs), jasmonate (JA) and cytokinins (CKs), auxin and salicylic acid (SA) in the endosperm and embryo tissues at early stage of seed filling (SF). The levels of all hormones in both tissues, except that of ABA, decreased to low levels during SF. In contrast, embryonic ABA level increased during SF and peaked at physiological maturity (PM) while the endospermic ABA was maintained at a similar level observed during SF. Although its level decreased high amount of ABA was still present in the embryo during post-PM. We detected low levels of ABA in the endosperm and all the other hormones in both tissues during post-PM phase except the relatively higher levels of jasmonoyl-isoleucine and SA detected at late stage of post-PM. Our data also showed that spatiotemporal changes in the levels of plant hormones during barley seed development are mediated by the expression of specific genes involved in their respective metabolic pathways. These results indicate that seed development in barley is mediated by spatiotemporal modulation in the metabolism and levels of plant hormones

Mixed-species allometric equations and estimation of aboveground biomass and carbon stocks in restoring degraded landscape in northern Ethiopia

Accurate biomass estimation is critical to quantify the changes in biomass and carbon stocks following the restoration of degraded landscapes. However, there is lack of site-specific allometric equations for the estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB), which consequently limits our understanding of the contributions of restoration efforts in mitigating climate change. This study was conducted in northwestern Ethiopia to develop a multi-species allometric equation and investigate the spatial and temporal variation of C-stocks following the restoration of degraded landscapes. We harvested and weighed 84 trees from eleven dominant species from six grazing exclosures and adjacent communal grazing land. We observed that AGB correlates significantly with diameter at stump height D 30 (R 2 = 0.78; P < 0.01), and tree height H (R 2 = 0.41, P < 0.05). Our best model, which includes D 30 and H as predictors explained 82% of the variations in AGB. This model produced the lowest bias with narrow ranges of errors across different diameter classes. Estimated C-stock showed a significant positive correlation with stem density (R 2 = 0.80, P < 0.01) and basal area (R 2 = 0.84, P < 0.01). At the watershed level, the mean C-stock was 3.8 (±0.5) Mg C ha−1. Plot-level C-stocks varied between 0.1 and 13.7 Mg C ha−1. Estimated C-stocks in three- and seven-year-old exclosures exceeded estimated C-stock in the communal grazing land by 50%. The species that contribute most to C-stocks were Leucaena sp. (28%), Calpurnia aurea (21%), Euclea racemosa (20.9%), and Dodonaea angustifolia (15.8%). The equations developed in this study allow monitoring changes in C-stocks and C-sequestration following the implementation of restoration practices in northern Ethiopia over space and time. The estimated C-stocks can be used as a reference against which future changes in C-stocks can be compared