INTERACTION OF FORMAL EDUCATION WITH THE HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY IN RURAL ETHIOPIA: THE CASE OF THE WOYISSO-QANCAARA, EAST SHOWA ZONE OF OROMIA REGION

In recent years, there has been a dramatic rise in enthusiasm for formal education among the rural community of Woyisso-Qancaara. This means that formal education, as an institution that evolved in an alien culture, is coming into closer interaction with the social and economic realities of the inhabitants of Woyisso-Qancaara. Among the implications of this interaction is the ascription of a new status and role of a student on school-going children, which is disturbing the traditional household division of labor. It will be noted that by sending their children to schools, households are forced to incur the opportunity cost of forgoing the immediate use of the labor of their children. The paper describes some mechanisms by which households cope with the resulting labor shortfall. Other than forgoing the labor of their children, parents also needed to invest part of their income on the schooling of their children. The opportunity cost of forgoing labor and the actual cost of supporting schooling combine with the decrease in the average income of households and the rise in population to weaken the economy of households in Woyisso-Qancaara

Productivity Potential and Yield Gap Estimation of Pulse Crops in Ethiopian Agriculture

This study aims to provide a detailed analysis of the pulse crops yield gaps for extra grain in production in Ethiopia. The study covers the period 2006/07-2020/21. Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA) Agricultural Sample Survey (AgSS) and crop variety register issue of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) data were used for the analysis. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and econometric analysis. The descriptive analysis provides quantitative estimates of yield gaps to measure and compare yield potentials and actual yields. Pooled Mean-Group (PMG) model was used to analyze the impact of yield and area on production. After cereals, the second most important crop group (in terms of acreage) is pulses. The area cultivated of pulses is grown by 29.6 percent between 2006/07-2020/21, which is a faster growth compared to the oil crops area (-3.8 percent). Pulse production has grown significantly in the country over the past 16 years, rising from around 12.7 million quintals in 2006/07 to 32 million quintals in 2020/21 with growth rate of 151.7%. The production has more than doubled, because of a 64.3% increase in area under the crop and a 35.7% increase in yield during the same period. The average pulses yield level is very low (1.4 tons/ha) as compared to that of the estimated average potential (2.0 tons/ha) in the country for the studied crops. For the analyzed period, results shows 0.2 qt/ha, 8.5 qt/ha, 9.1 qt/ha, 5.7 qt/ha, 2.0 qt/ha, 16.7 qt/ha, and 7.9 qt/ha for chick-peas, faba beans, field peas, gibto, haricot beans, mung bean and, lentils yield gap existed when the national average yield was compared with that of the released cultivars potential under farmer management, respectively for the analyzed period 2020/21. Our findings suggest that if farmers had closed Yg, Ethiopia could have potential grain surplus of chick-peas, faba beans, field peas, gibto, haricot beans, mung bean, and lentils production by a respective 4, 427, 200, 8, 61, 67, and 80 thousand Mt, without expanding cropland area. Based on the Pooled Mean-Group (PMG) model result, if cultivated area and yield of crops are increased by 1% then the production growth will be increased by 1% and by 0.99% in the long run respectively. Overall, this study reveals that there are large yield gaps and that substantial benefit for food production are possible through closing these gaps, without the need for new technology and expanding cropland area. Keywords: pulse crops, cropland area, potential yields, actual yields, yield gaps, crop production, Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/68-01 Publication date:October 31st 202

Fibroplasia Ossificans Progressiva: A Case Report of a Rare Disease Entity

BACKGROUND: Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), also known as Myositis ossificans progressiva or Munchmeyer's disease, is an extremely rare and disabling genetic condition of congenital skeletal malformations and progressive heterotopic ossification (HO). The disease is characterized by congenital skeletal anomalies and progressive ectopic bone formation in connective tissues such as ligaments, muscles and tendons. The disease has an incidence of about 1 in 2 million population.CASE DETAILS: We report a case of a 2-year and 8-month old male child with an initial diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma based on fine needle aspiration (FNAC) of neck swelling.CONCLUSION: Fibroplasia ossificans progressive (FOP) characteristically manifests with bilateral malformation of the great toe and progressive heterotopic ossification (HO). Clinicians and radiologists should be aware of these to prevent permanent disability.KEYWORDS: Fibroplasia ossificans progressive, myositis ossifican

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Smear-Positive Tuberculosis in the Sidama Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease of public health concern, with a varying distribution across settings depending on socio-economic status, HIV burden, availability and performance of the health system. Ethiopia is a country with a high burden of TB, with regional variations in TB case notification rates (CNRs). However, TB program reports are often compiled and reported at higher administrative units that do not show the burden at lower units, so there is limited information about the spatial distribution of the disease. We therefore aim to assess the spatial distribution and presence of the spatio-temporal clustering of the disease in different geographic settings over 10 years in the Sidama Zone in southern Ethiopia. Methods A retrospective space–time and spatial analysis were carried out at the kebele level (the lowest administrative unit within a district) to identify spatial and space-time clusters of smear-positive pulmonary TB (PTB). Scan statistics, Global Moran’s I, and Getis and Ordi (Gi*) statistics were all used to help analyze the spatial distribution and clusters of the disease across settings. Results A total of 22,545 smear-positive PTB cases notified over 10 years were used for spatial analysis. In a purely spatial analysis, we identified the most likely cluster of smear-positive PTB in 192 kebeles in eight districts (RR= 2, p<0.001), with 12,155 observed and 8,668 expected cases. The Gi* statistic also identified the clusters in the same areas, and the spatial clusters showed stability in most areas in each year during the study period. The space-time analysis also detected the most likely cluster in 193 kebeles in the same eight districts (RR= 1.92, p<0.001), with 7,584 observed and 4,738 expected cases in 2003-2012. Conclusion The study found variations in CNRs and significant spatio-temporal clusters of smear-positive PTB in the Sidama Zone. The findings can be used to guide TB control programs to devise effective TB control strategies for the geographic areas characterized by the highest CNRs. Further studies are required to understand the factors associated with clustering based on individual level locations and investigation of cases

Organizational Constraints and Supports for Psychosocial Care of Ethiopian Children at Risk: The Case of Services in Addis Ababa

The dissertation describes from an institutional perspective psychosocial support services being provided to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Ethiopia\u27s capital Addis Ababa. Despite the presence of sufficient but fragmented legal, policy and strategic framework, Ethiopia\u27s social protection landscape has suffered from a historic dearth of interventions that address psychosocial risks and vulnerabilities. Over the past decade and half, however, psychosocial support services to OVC have been slowly defused into the Ethiopian society as elements of programming for care and support to the population. Consequently, there currently exists diversity in the types of psychosocial risks and vulnerabilities that interventions prioritize and the approaches they employ to address them. This dissertation describes some of the most institutionalized organizational forms adopted by child focused organizations and interventions in Ethiopia to addressed prioritized psychosocial risks and vulnerabilities. The dissertation particularly focuses on psychosocial support interventions in community setting, family and school settings as well as psychosocial supports to marginalized children, abused children and to children in contact with the Law. Several implications of the description to social work policy and direct practice are finally discussed

Hybrid Spectral Ray Tracing Method for Multi-scale Millimeter-wave and Photonic Propagation Problems

This thesis presents an efficient self-consistent Hybrid Spectral Ray Tracing (HSRT) technique for analysis and design of multi-scale sub-millimeter wave problems, where sub-wavelength features are modeled using rigorous methods, and complex structures with dimensions in the order of tens or even hundreds of wavelengths are modeled by asymptotic methods. Quasi-optical devices are used in imaging arrays for sub-millimeter and terahertz applications, THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS), high-speed wireless communications, and space applications to couple terahertz radiation from space to a hot electron bolometer. These devices and structures, as physically small they have become, are very large in terms of the wavelength of the driving quasi-optical sources and may have dimension in the tens or even hundreds of wavelengths. Simulation and design optimization of these devices and structures is an extremely challenging electromagnetic problem. The analysis of complex electrically large unbounded wave structures using rigorous methods such as method of moments (MoM), finite element method (FEM), and finite difference time domain (FDTD) method can become almost impossible due to the need for large computational resources. Asymptotic high-frequency techniques are used for analysis of electrically large quasi-optical systems and hybrid methods for solving multi-scale problems. Spectral Ray Tracing (SRT) has a number of unique advantages as a candidate for hybridization. The SRT method has the advantages of Spectral Theory of Diffraction (STD). STD can model reflection, refraction and diffraction of an arbitrary wave incident on the complex structure, which is not the case for diffraction theories such as Geometrical Theory of Diffraction (GTD), Uniform theory of Diffraction (UTD) and Uniform Asymptotic Theory (UAT). By including complex rays, SRT can effectively analyze both near-fields and far-fields accurately with minimal approximations. In this thesis, a novel matrix representation of SRT is presented that uses only one spectral integration per observation point and applied to modeling a hemispherical and hyper-hemispherical lens. The hybridization of SRT with commercially available FEM and MoM software is proposed in this work to solve the complexity of multi-scale analysis. This yields a computationally efficient self-consistent HSRT algorithm. Various arrangements of the Hybrid SRT method such as FEM-SRT, and MoM-SRT, are investigated and validated through comparison of radiation patterns with Ansoft HFSS for the FEM method, FEKO for MoM, Multi-level Fast Multipole Method (MLFMM) and physical optics. For that a bow-tie terahertz antenna backed by hyper-hemispherical silicon lens, an on-chip planar dipole fabricated in SiGe:C BiCMOS technology and attached to a hyper-hemispherical silicon lens and a double-slot antenna backed by silica lens will be used as sample structures to be analyzed using the HSRT. Computational performance (memory requirement, CPU/GPU time) of developed algorithm is compared to other methods in commercially available software. It is shown that the MoM-SRT, in its present implementation, is more accurate than MoM-PO but comparable in speed. However, as shown in this thesis, MoM-SRT can take advantage of parallel processing and GPU. The HSRT algorithm is applied to simulation of on-chip dipole antenna backed by Silicon lens and integrated with a 180-GHz VCO and radiation pattern compared with measurements. The radiation pattern is measured in a quasi-optical configuration using a power detector. In addition, it is shown that the matrix formulation of SRT and HSRT are promising approaches for solving complex electrically large problems with high accuracy. This thesis also expounds on new measurement setup specifically developed for measuring integrated antennas, radiation pattern and gain of the embedded on-chip antenna in the mmW/ terahertz range. In this method, the radiation pattern is first measured in a quasi-optical configuration using a power detector. Subsequently, the radiated power is estimated form the integration over the radiation pattern. Finally, the antenna gain is obtained from the measurement of a two-antenna system

A-5-year analysis of pediatric brain tumors in a tertiary care center, in a sub-saharan African country.

Background: Tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) are the second most common group of cancers in childhood, exceeded by the leukemias. It is the most common pediatric solid tumor accounting for 20% of all childhood malignancies. The pattern and outcome of these tumors in children has not been studied in Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess the epidemiology and out-come of pediatric brain tumors in a tertiary care center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Methods: A retrospective review of medical records of children less than 15 years of age diag-nosed with primary brain tumor in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital Department of pediatrics from January 1, 2014 to January 1, 2019 was done. Treatment outcome was assessed clinically based on resolution of symptoms and absence of neurologic disabilityResults: There were 86 children with the diagnosis of brain tumor in the study period and 49/86 (57%) were males and the male to female ratio was 1.5:1. The age at presentation ranges from 2.4-14 years (mean 7.1 years). Headache was the commonest presentation among 65/86 (75.5%) children while early morning vomiting accounted for 57/86 (66.2%). Ataxia and gait abnormality contributed to 42/86 (48.8%). Among the 41 children whose pathologic result was available, the commonest tumor was medulloblastoma 13/41 (31.7%), followed by astrocytoma 8/41 (19.5 %) and craniopharyngioma 5/41 (12.1%). Six months and 5 years survival was 40% (35/86) and 2.3% (2/86) respectively.Conclusion: Medulloblastoma and astrocytoma were common brain tumors in children, we had the longest PSI and as a result, very low survival which calls for early diagnosis and treatment

Sonographic and Clinical Features of Typhlitis in Pediatric Cancer Patients on Chemotheaphy at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia, 2021

BACKGROUND: Typhlitis, (neutropenic enterocolitis), is a necrotizing enteropathy of the right colon, and is characterized by the clinical triad of fever, abdominal pain, neutropenia and imaging findings of right-side colonic inflammation. It is seen in the setting of severe neutropenia in immune suppressed patients who undergo treatment for malignancies, in those who have organ transplant(s) or congenital or other acquired immunosuppression. We report the clinical and imaging findings of typhlitis in pediatric cancer patients who had received chemotherapy in the largest tertiary center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia over a period of 20 months. METHODS: The medical records of hospitalized cancer patients on treatment and with suspected typhlitis and with ultrasound reports were screened (November 2018- July 2020). Retrospective analysis of the clinical and sonographic data of those with typhlitis was done. RESULTS: Typhlitis was identified in 4.2% (12/286) of the patients on chemotherapy. 11 (91.7%) had hematologic malignancies (leukemia, lymphoma), one had a solid tumor (Head and neck embryonal RMS). Most (83.3%) had abdominal pain, diarrhea and neutropenia. Fever was identified in 67.7%. All had ultrasound evidence of typhlitis. and treated with IV antibiotics. Neither complications requiring surgical intervention nor death were seen. CONCLUSION: The magnitude of disease was comparable to what had previously been reported in other studies. While the presence of clinical a triad should prompt suspicion for the diagnosis, sonography can be used for confirmation and follow up obviating radiation, with good access in a resource limited setting

Long-term outcome of smear-positive tuberculosis patients after initiation and completion of treatment: A ten-year retrospective cohort study

Background The status of tuberculosis (TB) patients since initiation of treatment is unknown in South Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to assess the long-term outcomes of smear-positive TB patients since initiation and completion of treatment, which includes TB recurrence and mortality of TB patients. Methods We did a retrospective cohort study on 2,272 smear-positive TB patients who initiated treatment for TB from September 1, 2002—October 10, 2012 in health facilities in Dale district and Yirgalem town administration. We followed them from the date of start of treatment to either the date of interview or date of death. Results Recurrence rate of TB was 15.2 per 1000 person-years. Recurrence was higher for re-treatment cases (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR), 2.7; 95% CI, 1.4–5.3). Mortality rate of TB patients was 27.1 per 1,000 person-years. The risk was high for patients above 34 years of age (aHR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.2–3.9), poor patients (aHR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.0–1.8), patients with poor treatment outcomes (aHR, 6.7; 95% CI, 5.1–8.9) and for patients treated at least 3 times (aHR 4.8; 95% CI, 2.1–11.1). The excess mortality occurred among patients aged above 34 years was high (41.2/1000 person years). Conclusion High TB recurrence and death of TB patients was observed among our study participants. Follow-up of TB patients with the risk factors and managing them could reduce the TB burden