management of Foreign Body Aspiration in Pediatric Patients: An Experience from a Tertiary Hospital in Ethiopia

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Prevalence, Reasons, and Perceived Effects of Khat Chewing Among Students of a College in Gondar Town, Northwestern Ethiopia: A Cross‑sectional Study

Background: The estimate of the number of people chewing Khat globally ranges from 5 to 10 million people. Its use may result in a variety of effects due to the different compounds in it with effects on the gastro‑intestinal system and nervous system being the principal ones. Aim: To assess the prevalence, factors, and effects of Khat chewing among students of a college in Gondar town, northwestern Ethiopia. Subjects and Methods: An institution‑based cross‑sectional study was conducted from 15th to 20th of April 2009 on a total sample of 424 students who were selected using stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected by three of the principal investigators using a structured pretested data collection instrument and analyzed by Epi Info version 3.5.2. Results: The lifetime and current prevalence of Khat chewing among the respondents were 42% (168/400) and 32.5% (130/400), respectively. Sex (P < 0.01), religion (P < 0.001), and income (P < 0.01) showed statistically significant variation in Khat chewing. The commonest frequency of Khat chewing was once a day 33.1% (43/130) while alcohol (40.8% [53/130]) and cigarette (40.0% [52/130]) were the mostly used substances with Khat. More than half of the chewers (53.85% [70/130]) reported spending 1–4 h for one Khat chewing ceremony. Financially majority of the chewers reported spending up to 10 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) (1.13 United States Dollar) on Khat ( 54.6% [71/130]) and other substances (64.6% [84/130]). Nearly two‑thirds (62.3% [81/130]) of the chewers mentioned seeking concentration during study as their main reason for chewing. Among chewers, 83.1% (108/130) reported they faced problem associated to sleep disturbance, 82.3% (107/130) loss of appetite, and 80.8% (105/130) constipation. Conclusion: The prevalence of Khat chewing was fairly high among the students and the majority among them used other substances together with Khat. Spending of a significant amount of money and facing health problems were reported to be consequences of the habit. The college should take steps to make students aware of the ills of Khat chewing and associated habits.Keywords: College, Effects, Gondar, Khat, Prevalence, Reason

A comparison of selected parametric and imputation methods for estimating snag density and snag quality attributes

Snags (standing dead trees) are an essential structural component of forests. Because wildlife use of snags depends on size and decay stage, snag density estimation without any information about snag quality attributes is of little value for wildlife management decision makers. Little work has been done to develop models that allow multivariate estimation of snag density by snag quality class. Using climate, topography, Landsat TM data, stand age and forest type collected for 2356 forested Forest Inventory and Analysis plots in western Washington and western Oregon, we evaluated two multivariate techniques for their abilities to estimate density of snags by three decay classes. The density of live trees and snags in three decay classes (D1: recently dead, little decay; D2: decay, without top, some branches and bark missing; D3: extensive decay, missing bark and most branches) with diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 12.7 cm was estimated using a nonparametric random forest nearest neighbor imputation technique (RF) and a parametric two-stage model (QPORD), for which the number of trees per hectare was estimated with a Quasipoisson model in the first stage and the probability of belonging to a tree status class (live, D1, D2, D3) was estimated with an ordinal regression model in the second stage. The presence of large snags with DBH ≥ 50 cm was predicted using a logistic regression and RF imputation. Because of the more homogenous conditions on private forest lands, snag density by decay class was predicted with higher accuracies on private forest lands than on public lands, while presence of large snags was more accurately predicted on public lands, owing to the higher prevalence of large snags on public lands. RF outperformed the QPORD model in terms of percent accurate predictions, while QPORD provided smaller root mean square errors in predicting snag density by decay class. The logistic regression model achieved more accurate presence/absence classification of large snags than the RF imputation approach. Adjusting the decision threshold to account for unequal size for presence and absence classes is more straightforward for the logistic regression than for the RF imputation approach. Overall, model accuracies were poor in this study, which can be attributed to the poor predictive quality of the explanatory variables and the large range of forest types and geographic conditions observed in the data.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by Elsevier and can be found at: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/forest-ecology-and-managemen

Breeding implications of nodulation performance and root structure under natural inoculation for soil fertility enhancement and sustainable cowpea production

Open Access Journal; Published online: 08 Dec 2022Nitrogen deficiency is the most limiting abiotic stress factor affecting the grain yield of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. Breeding for high-yielding potential in association with high nitrogen fixation performance is the principal objective of cowpea breeding programs to improve both the productivity and production of this orphan crop in the region. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to determine the diversity of genotypes for nodulation capacity in two environments and to understand the root architecture and morphology of genotypes as well as grain yield and yield-related traits in 324 cowpea genotypes. The experiment was conducted in two different environments during the 2017 cropping season. The experiments were laid out in 18 × 18 simple lattice design. Grain yield exhibited highly significant and positive genotypic correlations with stem diameter, basal root length of 1st whorls, basal root branching density, taproot length and adventitious root length, demonstrating that selection of cowpea genotypes based on these traits could be effective to capitalize on grain yield under low nitrogen conditions. Days to flowering, days to maturity, stem diameter, 1st whorl angle, basal root length of 1st whorls, basal root branching density, taproot length, adventitious root diameter and adventitious root length had significant and positive genotypic correlations with days to maturity. The first ten principal components (PC) explained 65.13% of the total variation. Stem diameter, taproot width, and taproot length traits were important contributors to the variability in the first PC. The highest inter-cluster distance (D2) was recorded between clusters III and IV. However, clusters II and V recorded the minimum inter-cluster distance (78.96 units). The range of intra-cluster distance was 24.22–5,112.92 units, indicating that the high genetic distance displayed within and between clusters has to be exploited via crossing and selecting the most divergent parents for future cowpea improvement. Five clusters of cowpea genotypes were evident, and within the clusters, the genotypes had good nodulation potential with high grain yield traits, which could significantly contribute to SSA food and nutritional security. Moreover, it can contribute to resilience and improve crop production and sustainability under marginal environmental conditions

Podoconiosis and soil-transmitted helminths (STHs): double burden of neglected tropical diseases in Wolaita zone, rural southern Ethiopia

Background Both podoconiosis and soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections occur among barefoot people in areas of extreme poverty; however, their co-morbidity has not previously been investigated. We explored the overlap of STH infection and podoconiosis in Southern Ethiopia and quantified their separate and combined effects on prevalent anemia and hemoglobin levels in podoconiosis patients and health controls from the same area. Methods and Principal Findings A two-part comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia. Data were collected from adult patients presenting with clinically confirmed podoconiosis, and unmatched adult neighborhood controls living in the same administrative area. Information on demographic and selected lifestyle factors was collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Stool samples were collected and examined qualitatively using the modified formalin-ether sedimentation method. Hemoglobin level was determined using two different methods: hemoglobinometer and automated hematology analyzer. A total of 913 study subjects (677 podoconiosis patients and 236 controls) participated. The prevalence of any STH infection was 47.6% among patients and 33.1% among controls (p<0.001). The prevalence of both hookworm and Trichuris trichiura infections was significantly higher in podoconiosis patients than in controls (AOR 1.74, 95% CI 1.25 to2.42, AOR 6.53, 95% CI 2.34 to 18.22, respectively). Not wearing shoes and being a farmer remained significant independent predictors of infection with any STH. There was a significant interaction between STH infection and podoconiosis on reduction of hemoglobin level (interaction p value = 0.002). Conclusions Prevalence of any STH and hookworm infection was higher among podoconiosis patients than among controls. A significant reduction in hemoglobin level was observed among podoconiosis patients co-infected with hookworm and ‘non-hookworm STH’. Promotion of consistent shoe-wearing practices may have double advantages in controlling both podoconiosis and hookworm infection in the study area

Effects of Incorporating Dry Matter Intake and Residual Feed Intake into a Selection Index for Dairy Cattle Using Deterministic Modeling.

The inclusion of feed efficiency in the breeding goal for dairy cattle has been discussed for many years. The effects of incorporating feed efficiency into a selection index were assessed by indirect selection (dry matter intake) and direct selection (residual feed intake) using deterministic modeling. Both traits were investigated in three ways: (1) restricting the trait genetic gain to zero, (2) applying negative selection pressure, and (3) applying positive selection pressure. Changes in response to selection from economic and genetic gain perspectives were used to evaluate the impact of including feed efficiency with direct or indirect selection in an index. Improving feed efficiency through direct selection on residual feed intake was the best scenario analyzed, with the highest overall economic response including favorable responses to selection for production and feed efficiency. Over time, the response to selection is cumulative, with the potential for animals to reduce consumption by 0.16 kg to 2.7 kg of dry matter per day while maintaining production. As the selection pressure increased on residual feed intake, the response to selection for production, health, and fertility traits and body condition score became increasingly less favorable. This work provides insight into the potential long-term effects of selecting for feed efficiency as residual feed intake

Novel genetic parameters for genetic residual feed intake in dairy cattle using time series data from multiple parities and countries in North America and Europe.

Residual feed intake is viewed as an important trait in breeding programs that could be used to enhance genetic progress in feed efficiency. In particular, improving feed efficiency could improve both economic and environmental sustainability in the dairy cattle industry. However, data remain sparse, limiting the development of reliable genomic evaluations across lactation and parity for residual feed intake. Here, we estimated novel genetic parameters for genetic residual feed intake (gRFI) across the first, second, and third parity, using a random regression model. Research data on the measured feed intake, milk production, and body weight of 7,379 cows (271,080 records) from 6 countries in 2 continents were shared through the Horizon 2020 project GenTORE and Resilient Dairy Genome Project. The countries included Canada (1,053 cows with 47,130 weekly records), Denmark (1,045 cows with 72,760 weekly records), France (329 cows with 16,888 weekly records), Germany (938 cows with 32,614 weekly records), the Netherlands (2,051 cows with 57,830 weekly records), and United States (1,963 cows with 43,858 weekly records). Each trait had variance components estimated from first to third parity, using a random regression model across countries. Genetic residual feed intake was found to be heritable in all 3 parities, with first parity being predominant (range: 22-34%). Genetic residual feed intake was highly correlated across parities for mid- to late lactation; however, genetic correlation across parities was lower during early lactation, especially when comparing first and third parity. We estimated a genetic correlation of 0.77 ± 0.37 between North America and Europe for dry matter intake at first parity. Published literature on genetic correlations between high input countries/continents for dry matter intake support a high genetic correlation for dry matter intake. In conclusion, our results demonstrate the feasibility of estimating variance components for gRFI across parities, and the value of sharing data on scarce phenotypes across countries. These results can potentially be implemented in genetic evaluations for gRFI in dairy cattle