Subjective Quality of Life and Perceived Adequacy of Social Support among the Elderly in Arbaminch Town

Cultural discourse in Ethiopia appears to retain mixed attitudes about life in the latter years. There is on the one hand, a portrayal of the elderly as socially valued, privileged, respected, and supported. On the other hand, there is a conception that links aging and retirement with sickness, inability, helplessness, and dependency (“ke areju aiyebeju”) and going down the hill. However, academic discourse is only emerging and there is a lot more to be done to uncover what it really feels like to be an elderly in Ethiopia. One such major concern pertains to the very general experiences of life of the elderly and associated factors. The purpose of this study was then to specifically assess the subjective quality of life and perceived adequacy of social support and the possible socio-demographic factors making differences in quality of life. Data were collected through questionnaire administered to a sample of 360 elderly (aged 60 and over) in Arbaminch Town. Data analysis was made through descriptive statistics, one-samplemean test, bivariate correlation analysis, multiple regression, and the forward stepwise variant of multiple regression analysis. Findings indicated that very few elderly had a high quality of life, but the majority had either low or moderate quality of life. Perceived adequacy of social support also took the same pattern contrary to the  expectation that the elderly in “developing nations” are believed to enjoy extended social support. Attempts to explain this profile of the elderly yielded that perceived social support and income were indeed the strongest predictors generally explaining about fifty percent of the variance in self-ratings of subjective quality of life. Hence, it was suggested that there is a need to explore other potent factors that would do the remaining fifty percent of the explaining. Other recommendations were also suggested to better address the problem in the future.Keywords: Elderly in Ethiopia, quality of life, Social Support, Subjective Quality of Life

The Toxicity of plant material, Drimia Altissima (Urginea Altissima), Against the Field Rat, Arvicanthis Abyssinicus: A potential non-synthetic rodenticide

Background: Rodents are important pests of public health and agricultural importance, capable of transmitting diseases to humans and causing crop damage. The present rodent control strategy depends primarily on synthetic rodenticides, which are highly toxic, affect non-target species, and are expensive. Naturally produced organic pesticides may be more desirable as they are less toxic to non-target animals and are  economically sustainable.Objective: The objective of the study is to explore the toxicity and palatability of the bulbs of Drimia altissima against the field rat, Arvicanthis abyssincus with the aim of developing locally based organic rodenticides.Method: This is a laboratory study for evaluating the toxicity of D. altissimia bait against the field rat, Arvicanthis abyssincus. In the study, field rats were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. The treatment groups received different concentrations of D. altissimia poison bait prepared in the lab. The control groups received the plain bait. Mortality was recorded during the test period.Results: Of the treatment groups, 80%-100% of the rats receiving the poison bait died, while none of the rats offered a choice between the plain bait and the poisoned bait died. It is estimated that 8% of the powdered bulb would produce 50% mortality.Conclusion: The powdered bulb of D. altissima resulted in rat mortality in the test but not in the control group. The liberation of the toxic substance from the poisoned bait might have been slowed by the presence of the plain bait in the choice test. The result of this study suggests that further work is needed for understanding the toxicological properties of the active agents in the bulb

The water quality degradation of upper Awash River, Ethiopia

Benthic macroinvertebrate based assessment of water quality in the upper Awash River, along the river course of about 500 kms was conducted on quarterly bases between September 2009 and August 2010. This paper reports the complete identification of macroinvertebrates together with measurements of physico-chemical parameters and heavy metal concentrations which were considered as a tool for assessing the water quality status of upper Awash river, Ethiopia. Benthic animals and water samples were collected from three different sampling sites located in the upper Awash River, and analyzed to evaluate stressor sources and the general stream water quality. The percentage abundance of families of various macroinvertebrates taxonomic groups was identified from all sites. Accordingly, Koka bridge site of the upper Awash River had low water quality status which is likely to be due to poor farming, untreated effluents from factories and poor provision of sanitation facilities to the riparian communities. Apparently, the concentrations of the selected nutrients and heavy metals did not differ significantly among the sampling sites (ANOVA, P > 0.05), presumably due to pollution of the whole stream reach by the catchment nutrient sources. Ten orders of benthic macroinvertebrates consisting of 36 families were identified. The highest family richness was observed in Ginchi, slightly impacted site (1) whilst the least faunal diversity was observed in Koka Bridge (7 families) indicating the effect of water quality class differences among the sampling sites.Key words: Macroinvertebrates, organic pollution, heavy metals, water quality, anthropogenic impact, upper Awash Rive

Stochastic Optimization for Network-Constrained Power System Scheduling Problem

The stochastic nature of demand and wind generation has a considerable effect on solving the scheduling problem of a modern power system. Network constraints such as power flow equations and transmission capacities also need to be considered for a comprehensive approach to model renewable energy integration and analyze generation system flexibility. Firstly, this paper accounts for the stochastic inputs in such a way that the uncertainties are modeled as normally distributed forecast errors. The forecast errors are then superimposed on the outputs of load and wind forecasting tools. Secondly, it efficiently models the network constraints and tests an iterative algorithm and a piecewise linear approximation for representing transmission losses in mixed integer linear programming (MILP). It also integrates load shedding according to priority factors set by the system operator. Moreover, the different interactions among stochastic programming, network constraints, and prioritized load shedding are thoroughly investigated in the paper. The stochastic model is tested on a power system adopted from Jeju Island, South Korea. Results demonstrate the impact of wind speed variability and network constraints on the flexibility of the generation system. Further analysis shows the effect of loss modeling approaches on total cost, accuracy, computational time, and memory requirement

Retrospective review of antiretroviral therapy program data in accredited private hospitals in Addis Ababa City Administration, Ethiopia

Background: Ethiopia is committed to improving access to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care and antiretroviral therapy (ART) service. In May 2005, some private hospitals in Addis Ababa City Administration received accreditation to provide ART services to eligible patients.Objective: To examine and describe the achievements of the ART Program in accredited private hospitals.Methods: Descriptive retrospective analyses of reported ART Program Data from accredited private hospitals, between May 2005 and 31st December 2009. The aggregate data was obtained from Addis Ababa Regional Health Bureau and consisted of information about patients enrolled for care, those who started ART, and those presently are on ART.Results: During the study period, 10,849 patients were enrolled for care, 9,442 who had just started ART and 5,608 already on it across the study private facilities. In general close to 75% of the total patients enrolled for  care at five facilities. Although the majority (87%) had started treatment in the past, only 59.4% were currently on treatment. Overall, the program retained 66.4% of the patients (n=6,270) and attrition was 32% (n=3,021).Conclusions: Differences in patient enrollment for care, ART initiation and retention were observed across facilities. A significant number of patients discontinued treatment and their outcome status was unclear. A better monitoring and reporting of ART Program Data will improve program quality. An effective strategy is needed to enhance patient retention and tracing in the accredited private hospitals in Addis Ababa City Administration. [Ethiop J Health Dev. 2011;25(2):110-115

EC11-101 Spring Seed Guide

Welcome to the 2011 Spring Seed Guide. Corn, soybean, sorghum, and alfalfa are included in this seed guide. This circular is a progress report of variety trials conducted by personnel of the Agronomy Department, West Central, and Northeast Extension Centers, and their associated agricultural laboratories and the associates of the University of Wyoming at SAREC

Evapotranspiration Rates of Three Sweet Corn Cultivars under Different Irrigation Levels

Understanding plants’ response to different irrigation levels is essential for developing effective irrigation scheduling practices that conserve water without affecting plant growth and yield. The objective of this study was to evaluate the responses of three sweet corn (Zea mays var. saccharata) cultivars 1170, 8021, and Battalion under three irrigation levels (50%, 75%, and 100%). Irrigation treatments were based on soil moisture management allowable depletion. Replicated trials were conducted, in an open field using 1-gal containers, at the Tropical Research and Education Center, Homestead, FL. A drip system with microsprinklers was used for irrigation. Daily crop evapotranspiration (ETc) rates were measured using a digital scale based on differences in weights of soil containers and plants. Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) was calculated using the FAO-Penman-Monteith equation. Crop-coefficient (Kc) values for the three cultivars were calculated from measured ETc and calculated ETo. In addition, leaf area, stomatal conductance, and fresh biomass were measured. Total irrigation amounts corresponding to the 50%, 75%, and 100% treatments were 116, 162, and 216 mm, and total ETc values were 128, 157, and 170 mm, respectively. The two deficit irrigation treatments (50% and 75%) resulted in a reduction of ETc for the three cultivars compared with the 100% irrigation treatments. Results also showed that under 75% and 100% treatments, Kc values were usually greater than 1 for the three cultivars and reached as high as 1.5. Additionally, leaf area and fresh biomass weight in the 50% treatment were mostly lower than in the 75% or 100% treatments

Gall thrips Acaciothrips ebneri (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) from Ethiopia, a promising biological control agent for prickly acacia in Australia

Based on climatic and plant phenotype matching, native-range surveys were conducted in Ethiopia to identify prospective biological control agents for prickly acacia, a serious weed of grazing areas in northern Australia. Surveys identified a gall thrips, Acaciothrips ebneri (Karny) (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae), as a prospective biological control agent for prickly acacia, based on damage potential, field host range and geographic range in Ethiopia. The gall thrips was imported into a high security quarantine facility at the Ecosciences Precinct, Brisbane,Australia in December 2015 and host-specificity tests are in progress. If approved, the gall thrips would be the first gall insect to be released against prickly acacia in Australia.The Meat & Livestock Australia, Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation and Rural Research & Development for Profit Programme of the Australian Government (Department of Agriculture and Water Resources).http://www.journals.co.za/content/journal/entohttp://www.bioone.org/loi/afen2020-04-01am2018Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI

Footprint of publication selection bias on meta-analyses in medicine, environmental sciences, psychology, and economics

Publication selection bias undermines the systematic accumulation of evidence. To assess the extent of this problem, we survey over 68,000 meta-analyses containing over 700,000 effect size estimates from medicine (67,386/597,699), environmental sciences (199/12,707), psychology (605/23,563), and economics (327/91,421). Our results indicate that meta-analyses in economics are the most severely contaminated by publication selection bias, closely followed by meta-analyses in environmental sciences and psychology, whereas meta-analyses in medicine are contaminated the least. After adjusting for publication selection bias, the median probability of the presence of an effect decreased from 99.9% to 29.7% in economics, from 98.9% to 55.7% in psychology, from 99.8% to 70.7% in environmental sciences, and from 38.0% to 29.7% in medicine. The median absolute effect sizes (in terms of standardized mean differences) decreased from d = 0.20 to d = 0.07 in economics, from d = 0.37 to d = 0.26 in psychology, from d = 0.62 to d = 0.43 in environmental sciences, and from d = 0.24 to d = 0.13 in medicine