Quality Assessment of the Commonly Prescribed Antimicrobial Drug, Ciprofloxacin Tablets, Marketed in Tigray, Ethiopia

An attempt was made to assess the quality and compare the physicochemical equivalence of six brands of ciprofloxacin tablets marketed in Tigray, Ethiopia. Six brands of ciprofloxacin tablets were used in the study. Identity, weight uniformity test, disintegration test, dissolution test and assay for the content of active ingredients were performed using the methods described in the British Pharmacopoeia. All the samples passed the identity, disintegration, and dissolution tests but Ciflox failed to release 80% of the drug content within 30 minutes as stipulated in the pharmacopoeia. This product therefore does not comply with the BP 2004 dissolution tolerance limits. All of the brands examined pass the assay for content of active ingredient. This work revealed that the six brands included in the study complied with the physicochemical quality parameters except Ciflox which failed to meet the pharmacopoeial specification for dissolution test. Nevertheless the six brands showed that there is significant difference in the drug release in vitro (

Feed marketing in Ethiopia: results of rapid market appraisal

Despite the large livestock population in Ethiopia, the sector’s contribution at the micro or macro level is well below its potential due to various reasons, notably feed shortage and diseases, compounded by inefficiencies in the livestock input and output markets. Feed marketing studies are scarce in Ethiopia. This study is aimed at assessing the feed marketing system in Ethiopia to generate a general understanding of the feed supply and demand characteristics, feed marketing, feed prices, market places, market actors, and market institutions. The types of fodder supplied in the country differ from place to place depending on the type of crops grown as conditioned by the agro-climatic conditions. Buyers and sellers have various perceptions about the quality of the fodder supplied to the market. There are competing uses of crop residues and hay in Ethiopia. Crop residues and hay are transported in a variety of ways. Most of the crop residues are retailed in the open market. Hay is mostly sold in situ. Agro-industrial by-products from flour and edible oil mills, grind mills and local brewery are sold in all of the study areas. There are about 15 feed mixers and millers in the country as observed during the study period. However, only five of them are manufacturing purely for sale; others produce for own consumption and to sell surpluses. Feed prices are rising sharply. Available price data indicated that there are significant price differences between farm gate and wholesale prices of crop residues and hay. Among the crop residues teff straw is most expensive. Among agroindustrial by-products, linseed cake is most expensive, followed by cotton seed cake. Most of the feed trading is informal. Implications to improve the feed marketing system are drawn

Isolation and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Staphylococcus aureus in patients with surgical site infection at Debre Markos Referral Hospital, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus, especially Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is a major health problem recognized as the most important nosocomial pathogen, often causing postoperative wound infections. Antibiotic resistance by MRSA has grown to be common, and resistance to almost all antibiotics has been found among these strains. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and associated risk factors of S. aureus in patients with surgical site infections in an Ethiopian hospital. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 1, 2011 to March 30, 2012 among patients with surgical site infections at Debre Markos Referral Hospital, Debre Markos, Ethiopia. All wound swabs obtained from patients with surgical site infections during the study period were cultured on mannitol salt agar media which is selective for S. aureus. Isolated strains of S. aureus were tested for antibiotic susceptibility patterns using standard disc diffusion technique, and interpretation of resistance was done based on Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute criteria. Univariate and multivariable analyses were used to assess the risk factors. RESULTS: Of the 184 surgical patients who had developed surgical site infection, S. aureus was isolated from 73 (39.7%) cases. Out of the 73 isolates of S. aureus, 36 (49.7%) were MRSA. Among the study participants, prevalence of MRSA was found to be 19.6%. The clinical isolates showed >80% level of resistance to ampicillin, amoxicillin, penicillin G, erythromycin, gentamicin and cotrimoxazole whereas <50% level of resistance was observed against clindamycin, oxacillin, tetracycline and vancomycin. MRSA strains showed resistance ranging from 5.6% (vancomycin) to 100% (cotrimoxazole). Of the following risk factors: sex, age, pus consistency, duration of operation, type of surgery, ward and hospital stay, laparotomy type of surgery was identified as a risk factor for infection by S. aureus. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of S. aureus and/or MRSA infection in surgical and gynaecology & obstetrics wards of Debre Markos Referral Hospital was found to be high. The majority of isolates were highly resistant to major antimicrobial agents

Commercialization of vegetable production in Alamata Woreda, Northern Ethiopia: processes and impact

The Raya valley in Tigray where Alamata Woreda is located, has fertile soil, suitable climate and rich water resources to grow various crops including vegetables. Surface water from seasonal rivers/streams and small dams and ground water extracted from deep and shallow wells with various water lifting devices are the two main sources of water for irrigation in the Woreda. A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) study conducted by the Woreda stakeholders and facilitated by IPMS identified (irrigated) vegetables as a potential marketable commodity in 2005. Using the commodity value chain approach, production, input supply and marketing problems and opportunities were identified. Major problems were lack of interest partly as a result of market failure in the past, lack of agronomic and irrigation knowledge and skills resulting in lack of use of advanced agronomic inputs (e.g. seeds) and underutilization of modern irrigation facilitates (most of the deep wells established were not used and/or underutilized). Different extension approaches were used including study tours to change the mind-set and to acquire knowledge for experts and farmers. Following various production interventions, market linkages were created which resulted in better prices (from 0.70Birr/kg before 2005 to 3-5Birr/kg in the following years). Farmer to farmer communications, trainings, workshops and media coverage facilitated the further dissemination of knowledge and skills between PAs in Alamata and neighboring Woredas. As a result of these interventions, the area of irrigated onion, pepper and tomato tripled in size from 351 ha in 2004/05 to 1113 ha in 2008/09. The lion share of this increase was due to a ten fold increase in onion area from 84 ha in 2004/05 to 824 ha in 2008/09. Most of this increase took place in the spate irrigated areas where plots previously used for cereal crops (sorghum and teff) were converted to vegetables. Both women and men farmers benefited from the intervention. Many farmers managed to construct houses in town and were able to own different assets. The further expansion of the (irrigated) vegetable production in Alamata is feasible. However, more attention needs to be paid to improving productivity, especially in the spate irrigated areas since no clear evidence was found that area increase was accompanied by productivity increase, indicating lack of adequate institutional and farmers’ knowledge and skills. Also adverse weather conditions during the 2008 harvesting season, resulted in considerable crop spoilage and lower prices – indicating the risk associated with this commodity under rain-fed conditions. Finally, potential salinity problems should also be taken into account

Recognizing farmers' knowledge in development initiatives: Indigenous bee-keeping in Alaba Special Woreda, Southern Ethiopia

Woreda agriculture and rural development (OoARD) strategic plan identify honey as one of the priority commodities of the woreda. The OoARD and development partners are exerting effort to boost honey production by introducing modern bee-keeping practice. The success of current development effort in apiculture, to improve the living standard of low income farmers, is dependent on indigenous knowledge because it is the cultural base and starting point of the practice. Thus, recognizing and documenting indigenous beekeeping practice in the woreda is a pre-requisite to sustain honey production and strengthen existing development effort. This paper documents history of bee-keeping the social, medicinal and economic value of honey in Southern Ethiopia, Alaba special woreda. It examines features of indigenous bee-keeping practice and its link with modern bee-keeping in the study area. The study is based on group discussion, community ranking and key informants and household interview. Purposive sampling was used for PA selection from honey producing areas. Community data validation was undertaken at the end of the study. Findings show that knowledge of apiculture in Alaba originated from adjacent woreda and was adopted first in Besheno and surrounding area. Indigenous value of honey is reflected in the generations’ lore, its medical, economic and social value. Honey is used in various social events including conflict resolution, blessing, weeding and religious ceremony. The indigenous feature of beekeeping in Alaba and its value reflects the importance of apiculture and its cultural base for economic development. Early introduction of modern apiculture in the study area has not taken in to account the role and significance of indigenous knowledge in development process. On the bases of the findings, recommendations were suggested to integrate modern and indigenous apiculture development

Heterostructured composite of NiFe-LDH nanosheets with Ti4O7 for oxygen evolution reaction

Developing oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst based on earth-abundant materials holds great promise for ascertaining water-splitting to surmount its deprived kinetics. In this regard, NiFe-LDH (layered double hydroxide) receives considerable attention owing to their layered structure. However, they still suffer from poor electronic conductivity and structural stability. We combined NiFe-LDH nanosheets with Magnéli phase Ti4O7 into a heterostructured composite. A series of analyses reveal that decorating Ti4O7 facilitates charge transfer to enhance the conductivity of NiFe-LDH-Ti4O7. During electrochemical measurement, Ni2+ is transformed to metastable Ni3+ (Ni (OH)→ NiOOH) before the OER onset potential. Thus, the presence of Ni3+ as the main active sites could improve the chemisorption of OH− to facilitate OER. As a result, the NiFe-LDH-Ti4O7 catalyst delivers as low as onset potential (1.43 V). Combining the holey structure (NiFe-LDH and Ti4O7) and the defect engineering generated on NiFe-LDH-Ti4O7 as a synergistic effect improves the OER performance. The inclusion of Ti4O7 in the composite leads to more vacancy sites, as evidenced by the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis. The obtained defective structure with a low coordination environment would improve the electronic conductivity and facilitate the adsorption process of H2O onto metal cations, thereby increasing the intrinsic catalytic activity of NiOOH. The strong coupling of NiFe-LDH and Ti4O7 also increases the stability, and the heterostructured composite helps maintain the structural robustness of the LDH

Scalable Synthesis of Micron Size Crystals of CH3NH3PbI3 at Room Temperature in Acetonitrile via Rapid Reactive Crystallization

From application point of view, scalable, facile and rapid synthesis method for mass production of a homogeneous and phase pure CH3NH3PbI3 micron size crystal at the industry level is still highly required, although it has been claimed that the CH3NH3PbI3 crystals can be prepared by solution-annealing the precursors at elevated temperature or prolonged reaction time. Herein, polycrystalline CH3NH3PbI3 micron size crystals can be prepared by reactive crystallization of PbI2 and CH3NH3I in a stoichiometric ratio at room temperature. TXM (Transmission X-ray Microscopy), optical microscope, TEM and TEM-EDX analysis were used to confirm the nature of the CH3NH3PbI3 product. Moreover, Ostwald ripening of iodide ion into PbI2 is proposed as the key step to form 3D PbI3−, followed by the intercalation of CH3NH3+ for this reactive crystallization. Interestingly, this result suggests that industry level mass production of micron CH3NH3PbI3 crystals is possible with this novel synthesis method

Electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide on gold–copper bimetallic nanoparticles: Effects of surface composition on selectivity

In this work, bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) of Au and Cu are synthesized for the electrochemical reduction reaction of CO2 (CO2RR). It is known that the binding strength between the reduction intermediates and the electrocatalyst affects the selectivity of products, but how to correlate the performance with the surface composition, structure, and properties of a bimetallic electrocatalyst, instead of stoichiometric or bulk composition remains less discussed. AuCu and AuCu3 NPs with the size around similar to 8 nm were prepared. By excluding the size effect, the work studies the effects of surface composition and heteroatomic interaction on the selectivity and faradaic efficiency of the reduction products. Based on X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), one can quantify the alloying extent and surface compositions of electrocatalysts, which are supposed to have the pivotal effects on the reaction pathways and the corresponding reduction products. It is found that high activity and notably improved CO selectivity of Au-Cu bimetallic NPs can be attributed to the heterometallic coordination and their electronic interactions. The reduction products were analyzed by gas chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Nearly 60 mA cm(-2) of current density was recorded at -0.91 V vs. RHE, and selectivity of 78 +/- 4.3% CO was obtained using AuCu. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd