Evaluation of Different Agricultural Lime Sources for their Agronomic Effectiveness, Yield of Food Barley and Faba Bean and Acid Soil Properties in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

አህፅሮት አሲዳማ አፈርን በኖራ ማከም የአፈርን ጤናማነትና ለምነት ቀጣይ ለማድረግ  ምርጥ የአፈር አያያዝ ዘዴ ሆኖ ተገኝቷል፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ የኖራ ፍቱን ውጤታማነት የሚለካው በምንጩ/የተገኘበት ቦታ፣ ስርቱ/ኬሚካላዊ ይዘቱ፣ የንፁህነትና የድቀት ደረጃውን ግምት ውስጥ በማስገባት ነው፡፡ የዚህ ጥናት ዓላማ በአገርቷ የተለያዩ ቦታዎች  የሚመረቱ ለእርሻ ግብዓት የሚዉሉ ኖራዎችን ብቃት ለመገምገም ነው፡፡ የኖራዎቹም የብቃት ማረጋገጫ የተሠራው በሆለታ ግብርና ምርምር ማዕከል የአፈር ላቦራቶሪ ነው፡፡ ከብቃት ማረጋገጫ ሥራው በኋላ በማዕከሉ የሙከራ ማሣና በሮብ-ገበያ የአርሶአደር ማሣ ላይ የኖራዎቹ ውጤት በአፈሩ ባህርይና በሰብል ምርት ላይ የሚያመጣው ለውጥ ተገምግሟል፡፡ ትርቲመንቶቹ አራት የኖራ ዓይነቶችና አንድ ኮንትሮል (ምንም ዓይነት ኖራ የሌለው) ሲሆኑ በራንደማይዝድ ኮምፕልት ብሎክ ዲዛይን በሦስት ድግግሞሽ ተሞክሯል፡፡ የጥናቱ ውጤት የሚያሳየው አራቱም ኖራዎች ለእርሻ ግብዓት የሚዉሉ መሆናቸው ነው፡፡ የጥናቱ ውጤት በተጨማሪ የሚያሳየው ስታቲስትካል ልዩነት ባለው መልኩ በኖራዎቹ መካከል በአፈር ባህርይና በሰብል ምርት ላይ ከፍተኛ ውጤት ባይገኝም፣ ከኮንትሮል (ምንም ዓይነት ኖራ ከሌለው) ጋር ስነፃፀር ከፍተኛ ውጤት ተገኝቷል፡፡ይህ ግኝት የሚያሣየው በአገርቷ የሚመረቱ የእርሻ ኖራዎች የአገርቷን አስዳማ አፈር ለማከም ምቹ እንደሆኑና ምርታማነትን እንደሚጨምሩ ታውቋል፡፡ ስለዚህ በምዕራብ፣ሰሜን ምዕራብ እና መካከለኛ የአገርቷ ክፍል የሚኖሩ የገንዘብ ውስንነት ያለባቸውና ከሩቅ ሥፍራ ኖራዎችን ለማጓጓዝ የማይችሉ አርሶአደሮች ከቅርባቸው ያለውን በመጠቀም አስዳማ አፈራቸውን ማከም እንደሚችሉ ነው፡፡   Abstract  The potentials of lime to restore soil health and fertility of the acidic soils is one of the best options of sustainable soil fertility management practices. However, the liming effects depend on its source, composition, purity, and fineness. The study initiated to evaluate the effectiveness of different lime materials produced in Ethiopia. Lime samples collected from different producing factories and were characterized at Holeta Agricultural Research Centre. Following characterization on station and on-farm experiments were conducted to evaluate crop and soil response for the different lime sources. The treatments comprised of four different lime materials and control laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications. The result showed that all lime sources fulfill the standards of agricultural lime. The result also showed that there were significant differences between and among lime sources on soil properties as well as crop yield but highly significant between the control treatments. This implies that the lime materials can be suitably used nationally to ameliorate soil acidity and increase crop productivity. Thus, the resource-poor farmers dwelling in western, northwestern, and central highlands who cannot afford to transport the lime sources from far distances can make use of the lime sources near to areas as there is no significant difference

The synergy between TB and HIV co-infection on perceived stigma in Ethiopia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The synergy between tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection on perceived stigma is not well studied. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of TB/HIV co-infection on perceived stigma in selected hospitals of Oromiya region, Ethiopia. A cross sectional study was conducted from February to April, 2009 in Adama, Nekemet and Jimma Specialized hospitals. Data were collected by trained HIV counselors. A structured questionnaire which consisted of socio-demographic variables, clinical information, perceived stigma, and depression was used to collect the data</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>A total of 591 participants were included in the study of whom 124 (20.9%) were co-infected with TB/HIV. The stigma items were highly reliable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93) and had strong inter dimension correlation. Respondents who were co-infected with TB and HIV were more likely to have perceived stigma compared to non-co-infected HIV patients, [OR = 1.4, (95% CI: 1.2, 2.0)]. Non-literate individuals [OR = 1.9, (95% CI: 1.2, 3.0)] and females [OR = 1.6, (95% CI: 1.2, 2.3)] had also more perceived stigma.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>TB/HIV co-infected patients, non-literate individuals and females were more likely to have high perceived stigma. Behavioral Change Communication should focus on these segments of the population to rectify the high perceived stigma.</p

Incidence, prevalence and mortality rates of malaria in Ethiopia from 1990 to 2015: analysis of the global burden of diseases 2015

Background: In Ethiopia there is no complete registration system to measure disease burden and risk factors accurately. In this study, the 2015 Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk factors (GBD) data were used to analyse the incidence, prevalence and mortality rates of malaria in Ethiopia over the last 25 years. Methods: GBD 2015 used verbal autopsy (VA) surveys, reports, and published scientific articles to estimate the burden of malaria in Ethiopia. Age and gender-specific causes of death for malaria were estimated using Cause of Death Ensemble Modelling (CODEm). Results: The number of new cases of malaria declined from 2.8 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI): 1.4-4.5million) in 1990 to 621,345 (95% UI: 462,230-797,442) in 2015. Malaria caused an estimated 30,323.9 deaths (95% UI: 11,533.3-61,215.3) in 1990 and 1,561.7 deaths (95% UI: 752.8-2,660.5) in 2015, a 94.8% reduction over the 25 years. Age-standardized mortality rate of malaria has declined by 96.5% between 1990 and 2015 with an annual rate of change (ARC) of 13.4%. Age-standardized malaria incidence rate among all ages and gender declined by 88.7% between 1990 and 2015. The number of disability-adjusted life years lost (DALY) due to malaria decreased from 2.2 million (95% UI: 0.76-4.7 million) in 1990 to 0.18 million (95% UI: 0.12-0.26 million) in 2015, with a total reduction 91.7%. Similarly, age-standardized DALY rate declined by 94.8% during the same period. Conclusions: Ethiopia has achieved a 50% reduction target of malaria of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The country should strengthen its malaria control and treatment strategies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND: Disorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021. METHODS: We estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined. FINDINGS: Globally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer. INTERPRETATION: As the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Trends of malaria cases (plasmodium species) in Gute Health Center, Wayu Tuka District, East Wollega Zone, (2013–2022): A cross‐sectional study

Abstract Background Malaria is one of the biggest public health challenges in Ethiopia that has hampered the country's economic growth and development, and the government is on track to reduce malaria prevalence by 80% by 2025. Objective As a result, the purpose of this study was to examine the trends in malaria prevalence in Wayu Tuqa District, Gute Health Center, over the last 10 years (2013–2022). Material and Methods A retrospective analysis was undertaken to identify the patterns of malaria cases in Wayu Tuqa District, Gute Health Center, from 2013 to 2022 by evaluating the malaria registration laboratory logbook. All socio‐demographic data, as well as the year, month, and malaria prevalence, were obtained using a predesigned data collection form from previous years. Results In this study, 3402 (22.50%) of the total 15,040 probable patients had malaria. P. falciparum was the most common species, accounting for 82.84% (2818) of the total, followed by P. vivax (16.00%) (547). Males and people over the age of 15 were the most affected demographics. Conclusion In this study, the highest number of malaria cases were observed in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Furthermore, the autumn season had the highest incidence of malaria cases, 40% (1339), while the spring season had the lowest prevalence, 16% (546). The general trend of plasmodium species at Gute Health Center over the previous 10 years (2013–2022) has not shown inconsistent trends. As a result, proper malaria prevention and control planning, implementation, and monitoring should be strengthened at all levels

Estimation of ODAP contents and heritability of quantitative traits in grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) accessions from North-Western Ethiopia

AbstractGrass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) is a popular legume in Ethiopia that serves as a protein source to replace chickpeas and field peas. It is a great way to address nutrition and food security in the growing population. However, one of the major issues is that it produces Oxalyl diaminopropionic acid (ODAP), which causes neurological disorders in humans and animals. The study aimed to measure the ODAP, heritability, and genetic advance of quantitative traits in northwest Ethiopian grass pea accessions. The field experiment was carried out during the 2019 rainy season, utilizing a 5x5 lattice design to assess the ODAP and non-yield quantitative traits of grass pea accessions at Ebonyi State University, Nigeria. This study showed a highly significant difference between accessions for all traits except petiole length. This finding discovered high heritability, genetic advance, genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation for ODAP, branch bearing length, number of secondary branches, days to flowering, plant height, and primary branch length. The average ODAP value was 0.44 percent, with values ranging from 0.17 to 0.90 percent. Only two of the 25 accessions 26627 and 238945 displayed safe ODAP values of <0.2. These findings may be important for the development of low-ODAP grass-pea cultivars

Bacterial profile, drug resistance pattern, clinical and laboratory predictors of ascites infection in cirrhosis patients

Abstract Ascites is a pathological collection of free fluid in the peritoneal cavity, which is a common complication in patients with cirrhosis, an advanced liver disease. Bacterial infection increases the mortality rate of hospitalized patients with cirrhosis, irrespective of the severity of the liver disease. Around 60% of patients with compensated cirrhosis developed ascites within 10 years during the course of their disease. The in-hospital mortality rate due to spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) could exceed 90%, but with early diagnosis and prompt antibiotic therapy, this rate has been shown to decrease to 20%. Here, we enrolled adult (age ≥ 18) patients with liver disease with evidence of cirrhosis who developed ascites and assessed the presence of spontaneous ascites fluid infection (SAFI) in these patients. Of the total 218 patients, 22.9% (50/218) develop ascites infection. The liver organ function tests like alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin were found to be significantly (P < 0.05) higher in patients with ascites fluid infection compared to patients with non-ascites fluid infection. Of the gram-negative bacteria, K. pneumonia and E. coli were isolated and found to be 100% resistant to amoxicillin and clavulanate. From the gram-positive bacterial isolates, S. aureus was only resistant to penicillin, whereas Str. viridans was resistant to ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, cefepime, and penicillin. On the other hand, clinical features such as a history of jaundice, low arterial blood pressure, and ultrasound results such as a shrunken liver and enlarged spleen were also independent predictors of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. In conclusion, given the high probability of death following SAFI, early detection, and treatment, as well as knowledge of the microbial agent, resistance profile, and predictive markers in various contexts, are essential for the timely diagnosis and management of SAFI in these patients

Estimation of ODAP contents and heritability of quantitative traits in grass pea (<i>Lathyrus sativus</i> L.) accessions from North-Western Ethiopia

Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) is a popular legume in Ethiopia that serves as a protein source to replace chickpeas and field peas. It is a great way to address nutrition and food security in the growing population. However, one of the major issues is that it produces Oxalyl diaminopropionic acid (ODAP), which causes neurological disorders in humans and animals. The study aimed to measure the ODAP, heritability, and genetic advance of quantitative traits in northwest Ethiopian grass pea accessions. The field experiment was carried out during the 2019 rainy season, utilizing a 5x5 lattice design to assess the ODAP and non-yield quantitative traits of grass pea accessions at Ebonyi State University, Nigeria. This study showed a highly significant difference between accessions for all traits except petiole length. This finding discovered high heritability, genetic advance, genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation for ODAP, branch bearing length, number of secondary branches, days to flowering, plant height, and primary branch length. The average ODAP value was 0.44 percent, with values ranging from 0.17 to 0.90 percent. Only two of the 25 accessions 26627 and 238945 displayed safe ODAP values of <0.2. These findings may be important for the development of low-ODAP grass-pea cultivars.</p