Campylobacter enteritis among children in Dembia District, Northwest Ethiopia

Objective: To estimate the magnitude of Campylobacter enteritis in children below fifteen years of age.Design: A cross-sectional survey.Setting: Seven villages found in the outskirts of Kolla Diba town were covered. The town is located 35 kilometres away from Gondar teaching hospital.Participants: Stool specimens were collected from 153 children under fifteen years of age. Caretakers of the children were interviewed using a structured questionnaire.Main outcome measures: Culture result for Campylobacter, culture and biochemical test results for Salmonella and Shigella and direct microscopy results for parasites or ova measures.Results: The prevalence of Campylobacter species was 16/153 (10.5%) and the frequency of isolation was twice as much as Salmonella or Shigella species (5.2% each). Contact with cats and diarrhoea-sick person in the household was associated with isolation of Campylobacter species.Conclusion: Based on the finding and the evidence accumulated, clinical health professionals need to consider Campylobacter species as one of the major causes of diarrhoea in children

Fatty Acid Profile, Total Phenolic Content, and Antioxidant Activity of Niger Seed (Guizotia abyssinica) and Linseed (Linum usitatissimum)

Fatty acid composition and antioxidant content are major determinants of vegetable oil quality. Antioxidants are important food components, and there is an increasing interest of replacing synthetic antioxidants with those from natural sources for food industry. The objective of this study was to evaluate fatty acid composition, total phenolic, carotenoid and chlorophyll contents, and antioxidant capacity of different varieties of two oilseed crops. Five niger seed and eight linseed varieties were used. For the analysis of fatty acid composition of the seed oil, gas chromatography method was used. Standard methods were used for total phenolic, carotenoid and chlorophyll contents, and antioxidant properties. In niger seed oil, linoleic acid (C18:2) was the dominant fatty acid, accounting for 73.3% (variety Esete) to 76.8% (variety Ginchi) of the total fatty acids. In linseed oil, linolenic acid (C18:3) was the dominant fatty acid accounting for 55.7 (variety Chilalo) to 60.1 (variety Belaye-96). The total phenolic content ranged from 22.4 mg GAE/g (variety Esete) to 27.9 mg GAE/g (variety Ginchi) in niger seed and from 20.5 mg GAE/g (variety Belay-96) to 25.4 mg GAE/g (variety Ci-1525) in linseed. In niger seed, variety Fogera had the highest values for FRAP and radical scavenging activity. The carotenoid content also showed significant variation among the varieties ranging from 2.57 (Esete) to 8.08 (Kuyu) mu mol/g for niger and 4.13 (Tole) to 8.66 (Belay-96) mu mol/g for linseed. The FRAP assay showed that variety Fogera of niger seed and variety Chilalo of linseed came on top among their respective varieties with values of 57.2 and 30.6, respectively. Both niger seed and linseed were shown to be rich in bioactive compounds. However, significant variation was observed among the varieties of each crop and among the two crops in their total phenolic and carotenoid contents as well as ferric reducing potential and radical scavenging capacity. Principal component analysis revealed the presence of more than one group in both niger seed and linseed. Hence, genetic variation among the varieties should be utilized for improving their desirable characteristics through breeding. Both oil crops can be used as the source of antioxidants for replacing synthetic compounds

GIS-Based multi-criteria land suitability mapping for scaling faba bean varieties in Ethiopia.

Successful scaling of agricultural technology requires a spatial explicit framework for targeting the right variety at the right place. This entails a multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) approach, using a set of determining factors to delineate the scaling domains for faba bean ( Vicia faba L.) varieties in and identify potentially suitable land area in a specific region, and zone in Ethiopia. Meeting this challenge will require a solid spatial framework. Land suitability analysis is an evaluation and spatial decision making, involving several determining factors. The factors considered in this analysis include key biophysical parameters such as climate, topography, soil types and properties. The analysis was also focused on improved faba bean varieties viz., Dagm, Dosha, Gabelcho, Gora, Hachalu, Moti and Walki. The environmental factors\u2019 layers of a specific crop pixel values were classified and given a weight, and then compared among themselves for further ranking to account for their relative importance to delineate variety specific extrapolation domains. The geo-statistical analysis was carried out to estimate the extent of the scalable areas. The classification showed that, it was highly suitable for varieties 0.02 million hectares for Dosha; 0.19 for Gabelcho; 0.11 for Gora; 0.33 for Moti; 0.05 for Dagm; 0.14 for Hachalu; and 0.26 million hectares for Walki. Moderately suitable areas for these varieties covered 5.0, 9.4, 7.2, 15.3, 4.6, 8.8, and 7.5 million hectares, respectively across the country. The largest proportion for all varieties was moderately suitable; while the share of slightly suitable was very low, although there was quite variability within each of the faba bean variety in terms of its agro-ecology adaptation to the target environments. Such biophysical spatial frameworks become essential entry points for introducing variety specific product profiles and this can be further enhanced by incorporating socio-economic attributes accounting for return of the investment in targeting the technology.La mise \ue0 l\u2019\ue9chelle r\ue9ussie de la technologie agricole n\ue9cessite un cadre d\u2018 explicite spatial pour se concentrer sur la bonne vari\ue9t\ue9 au bon endroit. Cela implique une approche d\u2019\ue9valuation multicrit\ue8re (ECM), utilisant un ensemble de facteurs d\ue9terminants pour d\ue9limiter les domaines de mesurage pour les vari\ue9t\ue9s de f\ue9verole ( Vicia faba L.) et identifier les terres potentiellement appropri\ue9es dans une r\ue9gion et une zone sp\ue9cifiques en \uc9thiopie. Relever ce d\ue9fi exigera un cadre spatial certain. L\u2019analyse de l\u2019aptitude des terres est une \ue9valuation et une prise de d\ue9cision spatiale impliquant plusieurs facteurs d\ue9terminants. Les facteurs pris en compte dans cette analyse incluent des param\ue8tres biophysiques cl\ue9s tels que le climat, la topographie, les types de sol et leurs propri\ue9t\ue9s. L\u2019analyse a \ue9galement port\ue9 sur les vari\ue9t\ue9s am\ue9lior\ue9es de f\ue9verole, \ue0 savoir Dagm, Dosha, Gabelcho, Gora, Hachalu, Moti et Walki. Les couches de facteurs environnementaux d\u2019une valeur de pixel de plante sp\ue9cifique ont \ue9t\ue9 classifi\ue9es et pond\ue9r\ue9es, puis compar\ue9es entre elles pour un classement ult\ue9rieur tenant compte de leur importance relative dans la d\ue9limitation de domaines d\u2019extrapolation sp\ue9cifiques \ue0 une vari\ue9t\ue9. L\u2019analyse g\ue9o-statistique a \ue9t\ue9 r\ue9alis\ue9e pour estimer l\u2019\ue9tendue des zones \ue9volutives. La classification a montr\ue9 qu\u2019elle convenait parfaitement aux vari\ue9t\ue9s 0,02 million d\u2019hectares pour Dosha; 0,19 pour Gabelcho; 0,11 pour Gora; 0,33 pour Moti; 0,05 pour Dagm; 0,14 pour Hachalu; et 0,26 million d\u2019hectares pour Walki. Les zones moyennement adapt\ue9es \ue0 ces vari\ue9t\ue9s couvraient respectivement 5,0; 9,4; 7,2; 15,3; 4,6; 8,8 et 7,5 millions d\u2019hectares dans l\u2019ensemble du pays. La plus grande proportion de toutes les vari\ue9t\ue9s \ue9tait mod\ue9r\ue9ment appropri\ue9e; alors que la proportion de produits l\ue9g\ue8rement appropri\ue9s \ue9tait tr\ue8s faible, bien qu\u2019il y ait une assez grande variabilit\ue9 au sein de chaque vari\ue9t\ue9 de f\ue9verole en ce qui concerne son adaptation agro\ue9cologique aux environnements cibles. De tels cadres spatiaux biophysiques deviennent des points d\u2019entr\ue9e essentiels pour l\u2019introduction de profils de produits sp\ue9cifiques \ue0 une vari\ue9t\ue9, ce qui peut \ueatre encore am\ue9lior\ue9 en incorporant des attributs socio-\ue9conomiques permettant de rentabiliser l\u2019investissement dans la focalisation de la technologie

Immunogenicity and efficacy of non-adjuvant tissue culture-based rabies vaccine produced in Ethiopia

Rabies is 100% fatal, but it is preventable. More than 95% of human rabies cases occur in improperly treated individuals. This is partly due to the fact that modern post-exposure rabies prophylaxis is expensive and therefore not readily available in many endemic regions. Nervous tissue vaccine has been in use for more than 100yrs. These vaccines have now been superseded in purity, potency, immunogenicity and safety. The efficacy and immunogenicity of inactivated tissue culture rabies vaccine, produced in Ethiopia was evaluated. Twelve experimental dogs from local breed were duly conditioned during a quarantine period and assigned to two groups randomly. Animals in group I (cases) were vaccinated subcutaneously with 1 ml of our experimental vaccine. Dogs in group II served as non-vaccinated controls. The immune response of each dog was monitored for 90 days. On the day 90 after final sampling, all dogs were challenged in the masseter muscle with a rabies street virus of canine origin. To evaluate the titer of the rabies virus neutralizing antibodies (VNA), sera were analyzed by Fluorescent Antibody Virus Neutralization (FAVN) Test. Geometric Mean Titers (GMT) to rabies virus was determined at days 7, 15, 21, 30, 60 and 90. Geometric mean titers were equal to 1.59, 1.73, 2.19, 3.58, 3.17 and 3.35 IU/ml respectively. All dogs showed VNA titers higher than the 0.5 IU/ml mandated WHO recommended threshold. All vaccinated dogs, survived the challenge. In contrast, 83.3% of dogs in the control (non-vaccinated group), developed rabies and died. This study indicated that cell culture-based anti-rabies developed inhouse, with no adjuvant is efficacious and immunogenic

European Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Survey II: rationale and design

The Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) Survey II is a 6 months snapshot survey initiated by two ESC Associations, the European Heart Rhythm Association and the Heart Failure Association, which is designed to describe clinical practice regarding implantation of CRT devices in a broad sample of hospitals in 47 ESC member countries. The large volume of clinical and demographic data collected should reflect current patient selection, implantation, and follow-up practice and provide information relevant for assessing healthcare resource utilization in connection with CRT. The findings of this survey should permit representative benchmarking both nationally and internationally across Europ

European Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Survey II: rationale and design

The Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) Survey II is a 6 months snapshot survey initiated by two ESC Associations, the European Heart Rhythm Association and the Heart Failure Association, which is designed to describe clinical practice regarding implantation of CRT devices in a broad sample of hospitals in 47 ESC member countries. The large volume of clinical and demographic data collected should reflect current patient selection, implantation, and follow-up practice and provide information relevant for assessing healthcare resource utilization in connection with CRT. The findings of this survey should permit representative benchmarking both nationally and internationally across Europ