Research on WASH sector, environment and water resources in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Analysis of admissions to the pediatric emergency ward of Tikur Anbessa Hospital in addis Ababa, Ethiopia

No Abstract. The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development Vol. 21 (1) 2007: pp. 48-5

Proximate composition, mineral content and antinutritional factors of some capsicum (Capsicum annum) varieties grown in Ethiopia

This study was conducted to generate baseline information on the nutritional composition, mineral content and antinutritional factors of three capsicum varieties (Marako fana, Bako local and Oda haro) grown in Ethiopia. In relation to proximate composition, Marako fana, Bako local and Oda haro contained 9.2, 9.0 and 8.8% moisture; 11.9, 8.8 and 9.2% crude protein; 27.3, 26.0 and 28.6% crude fiber and 11.2, 9.5 and 9.2% fat (oleoresin) on wet weight basis. They also contained 1.7, 1.6 and 1.8 mg/100 g potassium; 27.2, 38.2 and 54.6 mg/100 g calcium and 7.2, 6.9 and 9.6 mg/100 g iron on wet weight basis. Tannin was found to be 0.142, 0.164 and 0.148 mg/100 g, respectively, while phytate was not detected in any of the samples. Analysis of variance and LSD (least significant difference) test revealed that protein and oleoresin of Marako fana were significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than Bako local and Oda haro. Potassium, calcium and iron contents of Oda haro were significantly higher (p less than 0.05). Based on these results Marako fana is preferable for large scale production of oleoresin, while Oda haro is nutritionally preferable because it contains high amounts of potassium, calcium and iron.KEY WORDS: Capsicum, Ethiopia, Composition, Mineral, Antinutrients Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2011, 25(3), 451-454

Breeding wheat for drought tolerance: Progress and technologies

AbstractRecurrent drought associated with climate change is among the principal constraints to global productivity of wheat (Triticum aestivum (L.) and T. turgidum (L.)). Numerous efforts to mitigate drought through breeding resilient varieties are underway across the world. Progress is, however, hampered because drought tolerance is a complex trait that is controlled by many genes and its full expression is affected by the environment. Furthermore, wheat has a structurally intricate and large genome. Consequently, breeding for drought tolerance requires the integration of various knowledge systems and methodologies from multiple disciplines in plant sciences. This review summarizes the progress made in dry land wheat improvement, advances in knowledge, complementary methodologies, and perspectives towards breeding for drought tolerance in the crop to create a coherent overview. Phenotypic, biochemical and genomics-assisted selection methodologies are discussed as leading research components used to exploit genetic variation. Advances in phenomic and genomic technologies are highlighted as options to circumvent existing bottlenecks in phenotypic and genomic selection, and gene transfer. The prospects of further integration of these technologies with other omics technologies are also provided

Analysis of growth curves of indigenous male Venda and Naked Neck chickens

The objective of this work was to estimate and compare the growth curve parameters for live weight of indigenous Venda and Naked Neck chickens and carry out some analyses to test the existence of differences in the growth pattern between these breeds. The data were collected from the two breeds of chickens that were reared from day-old to 21 weeks of age. Two hundred chickens (100 of each breed) were used. Three different non-linear models, namely Gompertz, Logistic and Richards, were used to define the growth curves of the chickens. Models were compared using Coefficients of determination (R2 values), A parameter values, the Durbin-Watson Statistic (DW) test for autocorrelation, computing difficulty based on the number of iterations needed for convergence and size of residual variances. The R2 were high for all models: 0.996, 0.990 and 0.997 for Gompertz, Logistic and Richards, respectively. Residual variances were 2240, 5924 and 1154 for Gompertz, Logistic and Richards, respectively. The Gompertz model was observed to be suitable for explaining the growth of the chickens. Breed differences were observed in the growth parameters of chickens. The Venda breed was observed to be late maturing and heavier at maturity while the Naked Neck was shown to have a higher growth rate, reaching maturity earlier but attaining a lighter mature weight. Keywords: Growth parameters, growth models, breed differences South African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 37 (1) 2007: pp. 21-2

Fall armyworm infestation and development : screening tropical maize genotypes for resistance in Zambia

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : All data are provided in the manuscript.SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL : TABLE S1: Artificial diet used for laboratory rearing of FAW. TABLE S2: Mean performance and AUPPCs of 63 tropical maize genotypes when evaluated under artificial FAW infestation. TABLE S3: Nature and magnitude of FAW damage revealed by 63 tropical maize genotypes evaluated under artificial FAW infestation. Supplementary FIGURE S1: Diets used for rearing FAW on petri dishes. S1A- Natural diet of maize leaves and stalks. S1BArtificial diet containing wheat, soy and other ingredients. Supplementary FIGURE S2: Rearing cage for adult FAW moths.Knowledge of fall armyworm (FAW) (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) rearing, infestation and development and precision screening protocols are preconditions for the successful introgression of resistance genes into farmer-preferred varieties. We aimed to determine FAWdevelopmental stages, screen tropical maize and select resistant lines under controlled conditions in Zambia. Field-collected FAWsamples constituting 30 egg masses and 60 larvae were reared using maize leaf- and stalk-based and soy- and wheat flour-based diets at 27 1 C, 60 5% relative humidity and 12 h day length. The resulting neonates were separated into sets A and B. The life cycles of set A and field-collected larvae were monitored to document the FAW developmental features. Set B neonates were used to infest the seedlings of 63 diverse tropical maize genotypes. Egg, larva, pupa and adult stages had mean durations of 2, 24, 20 and 12 days, respectively. Test maize genotypes revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) based on FAWreaction types, with lines TL13159, TL02562, TL142151, VL050120 and CML548-B exhibiting resistance reactions, while CML545-B, CZL1310c, CZL16095, EBL169550, ZM4236 and Pool 16 displayed moderate resistance. These genotypes are candidate sources of FAW resistance for further breeding. This study will facilitate controlled FAW rearing for host screening in the integration of FAW resistance into market-preferred maize lines.The Alliance for a Green Revolution (AGRA) through the African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) and the International Foundation for Science (IFS).https://www.mdpi.com/journal/insectsam2023Zoology and Entomolog

A Randomized Controlled Double Blind Trial of Ciclosporin versus Prednisolone in the Management of Leprosy Patients with New Type 1 Reaction, in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Leprosy Type 1 (T1R) reactions are immune-mediated events leading to nerve damage and preventable disability affecting hands, feet and eyes. Type 1 Reactions are treated with oral corticosteroids. There is little evidence on alternative treatments for patients who do not respond to steroids or experience steroid adverse effects. We report the results of a randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy and adverse effect profile of ciclosporin and prednisolone (CnP) in comparison to prednisolone only (P) in patients with new T1R in Ethiopia. Ciclosporin is a potent immunosuppressant. Outcomes were measured using a clinical severity score, recurrence rate, adverse events and quality of life. RESULTS: Seventy three patients with new T1R were randomized to receive CnP or P for 20 weeks. Recovery rates in skin signs was similar in both groups (91% vs 88%). Improvements in nerve function both, new and old, sensory (66% vs 49%) and motor (75% vs 74%) loss were higher (but not significantly so) in the patients on CnP. Recurrences rates of T1R (85%) were high in both groups, and recurrences occurred significantly earlier (8 weeks) in patients CnP, who needed 10% more additional prednisolone. Serious major and minor adverse events rates were similar in patients in the two treatment arms of the study. Both groups had a significant improvement in their quality of life after the study, measured by the SF-36. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first double-blind RCT assessing ciclosporin, in the management of T1R in Africa. Ciclosporin could be a safe alternative second-line drug for patients with T1R who are not improving with prednisolone or are experiencing adverse events related to prednisolone. This study illustrates the difficulty in switching off leprosy inflammation. Better treatment agents for leprosy patients with reactions and nerve damage are needed

Combining ability for grain yield and resistance to maize streak virus in maize

Combining ability effects for grain yield, yield-related traits and resistance to maize streak virus (MSV) were determined using 10 parents, 45 single crosses and five standard hybrid checks. Genotypes were evaluated at three locations (Ngaramtoni, Inyala, and Igomelo) over two seasons (2012/13 and 2013/14) using a 6 x 10 simple lattice design with two replications. Data were collected for days-to-50% silking (DSL), days-to-50% anthesis (DA), reaction to MSV disease, plant height (PHT), ear height (EHT), number of ears per plant (EPT), husk cover of cobs (HSC) and grain yield (YLD). General combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects were significant (P < 0.05) for all traits except DA and DSL. Parental line TL2012-42 was the best general combiner for YLD, while the parents TL2012-41, TL2012-1 and TL2012-42 were the best combiners for maize streak virus resistance, with negative GCA effects of -10.9%, -10.8% and -10.7%, respectively. The highest SCA effect for grain yield (4.80) was detected in the hybrid TL2012-7/TL2012-38. Crosses such as TL2012-38/TL2012-55 and TL2012-25/TL2012-26 had negative SCA effects for their MSV reaction. The above parental lines and hybrids can be recommended for direct production, or breeding to enhance grain yield and MSV resistance in maize varieties for Tanzania

Structurally complex farms support high avian functional diversity in tropical montane Ethiopia

Of all feeding guilds, understorey insectivores are thought to be most sensitive to disturbance and forest conversion. We compared the composition of bird feeding guilds in tropical forest fragments with adjacent agro-ecosystems in a montane region of south-west Ethiopia. We used a series of point counts to survey birds in 19 agriculture and 19 forest sites and recorded tree species within each farm across an area of 40 × 35 km. Insectivores (~17 spp. per plot), frugivores (~3 spp. per plot) and omnivores (~5 spp. per plot) maintained species density across habitats, while granivores and nectarivores increased in the agricultural sites by factors of 7 and 3 respectively. Species accumulation curves of each guild were equal or steeper in agriculture, suggesting that agricultural and forest landscapes were equally heterogeneous for all bird guilds. Counter to most published studies, we found no decline in insectivore species richness with forest conversion. However, species composition differed between the two habitats, with certain forest specialists replaced by other species within each feeding guild. We suggest that the lack of difference in insectivorous species numbers between forest and agriculture in this region is due to the benign nature of the agricultural habitat, but also due to a regional species pool which contains many bird species which are adapted to open habitats

Variance components and heritability of traits related to Striga asiatica resistance and compatibility to Fusarium oxysporum F.Sp. Strigae in maize

Genetic gain in breeding maize for yield and yield components and Striga resistance is dependent on the magni-tude of genetic variation and heritability. The objective of this study was to determine variance components and heritability of yield and yield-related traits and Striga asiatica (L.) Kuntze resistance in maize involving a bio-control agent Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. strigae (FOS). Eighteen selected and genetically diverse maize populations were evaluated across nine testing environments in three sites under three levels of FOS treatment during the 2016/2107 growing season using an alpha lattice design with two replications. Variance components, heritability estimates and correlations among S. asiatica traits, grain yield and yield components of maize were calculated to provide a selec-tion guide. Significantdifferences (P0.5) were recorded for ear aspect (0.58), cob length (0.60), grain yield t ha-1 (0.61), grain yield plant-1 (0.65), cob diameter (0.83), 100 kernel weight (0.91); Striga counts (0.71) and Striga damage rating (0.75). Grain yield t ha -1 and its components were negatively corre-lated with Striga parameters under FOS treatments. Yield-related traits such as cob length, cob diameter, and 100 kernel weight were important in indirect selection for FOS compatible and Striga resistant maize genotypes. FOS could serve as an effective bio-control agent against S. asiatica in maize production using compatible genotype