Aspergilloma of the lungs: Operative experience from Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Ethiopia

Background: Pulmonary aspergilloma represents a potentially life-threatening disease caused by saprophytic growth of Aspergillus fumigates in pulmonary cavities. This is the first report of its operative treatment from Ethiopia.The aim of this study was to determine the clinical presentations, operative treatments and post operative outcome of patients with pulmonary aspergilloma.Methods: This was a retrospective review of patients’ record with post operative diagnosis of pulmonary aspergilloma treated over a period of three years between April 2005-March 2008 at The Tikur Anbessa hospital which is a teaching and referral hospital in Addis Ababa.Results: Eleven patients were included, 81.8% of whom were males. Cough and hemoptysis were the two most common presenting symptoms, occurring in 11(100%) and 10(90.9%). The chest x-ray features typical for aspergilloma was seen in only 4(36.4%). The left lung was involved in 8(72.75%) and the upper lobes were the most commonly affected lobes occurring in 10 (90.9%). The most frequent clinical indication for surgery was severe hemoptysis in 8 (72.75%). Left upper lobectomy was the most frequently performed surgery in 4(36.4%) and left pneumonectomy in 3(27.3%). Four significant complications occurred in the postoperative period and one patient died, making the postoperative mortality 9.1%. Histopathologic confirmation of the fungal ball was possible in 10 patients and the most common underlying cavitary disease was tuberculosis in 9(90%).Conclusion: Aspergilloma is not an uncommon disease in Ethiopia and the diagnosis should be considered in patients who present with hemoptysis or chronic non-resolving cough. Surgery for pulmonary aspergilloma accounted for 5.8% of all thoracotomies done at the hospital and we have adopted the policy of early surgical treatment for all cases. In our series, the commonest lung pathology behind the aspergillus lesions was cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis, similar to many reports. Since the typical x/ray finding is not present in all patients, we believe that a supportive x/ray finding is sufficient enough an investigation to decide on early surgery in patients who present with suggestive symptoms

Analisis Nilai Tambah Bawang Merah Lokal Palu Menjadi Bawang Goreng di Kota Palu

The role of agroindustry to maintain the primary product into processing products to increase the added value is required. One of the solutions made is to increase the added value of local Palu onion become fried onions. This study aims to determine the added value of being processing the local Palu onion into fried onion which was conducted on Triple C Fried Onion Industry, Raja Bawang Fried Onion Industry and SAL-HAN Fried Onion Industry. The samples determined by intentionally (purposive), considering that these 3 industries categorized as home industry, small industry and middle industry. Respondents in this study was the leadership and employees of the company with a number of respondents as many as 11 people. The results showed that the added value obtained from fried Onion Industry at home level (Triple C fried onions Industry) of Rp.33.846.09 kg , small scale (Raja Bawang Fried Onion Industry) of Rp .39.117,40/kg and middle scale (SAL-HA Fried Onion Industry) of Rp.39.760/k

Analisis Titik Pulang Pokok USAha Furniture Rotan Pada Industri Irma Jaya Di Kota Palu

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui berapa besarbiaya produksi yang digunkan oleh Industri Irma Jaya, mengetahui penerimaan yang diperoleh dalam kurun waktu satu bulan, mengetahui besarnya produksi yang dihasilkan dan biaya yang dikeluarkan untuk mencapai titik pulang pokok dan untuk mengetahui Margin of Safety pada Industri Irma Jaya agar tetap memperoleh laba.Responden dalam penelitian yakni pimpinan dan tenaga kerja Industri Irma Jaya.Data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini terdiri atas data primer dan data skunder.Analisis yang digunakan yaitu analisis titik pulang pokok. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa analisis titik pulang pokok untuk produk kursi mersi adalah 1 set dengan harga Rp 596.131,52/set, penerimaannya sebesar 5.691.315,15 total biayanya sebesar Rp 5.691.315,15 Margin of Safety (MoS) untuk produk kursi mersi adalah 90%, sedangkan hasil analisis titik pulang pokok untuk produk kursi keong adalah 2 set dengan harga Rp 531.760,695/set, penerimaannya sebesar Rp 10.635.213,80 dan total biayanya sebesar Rp 10.635.213,80 dan Margin of Safety (MoS)untuk produk kursi keong adalah 90%

Analisis Titik Pulang Pokok USAha Budidaya Lebah Madu “Jaya Makmur” di Desa Jono Oge Kecamatan Sigi Biromaru Kabupaten Sigi

This research was supposed to know amount of acquired profit and expended cost, to know a number of manufactured products and acquired income at breaking event point, and to know margin of safety therefore honey bee farming “Jaya Makmur” still got some profits. This research was coducted at honey bee farming “Jaya Makmur” in Jono Oge village, District of Sigi Biromaru, and Regency of Sigi on June to July 2015. Respondens are consisted of two person; they are the owner and the employee of honey bee farming “Jaya Makmur” were: (1) the acquired incomes of honey bee farming “Jaya Makmur” were: (a) for product of honey 850mg in amount of IDR 2.860.000/mount with production cost IDR 1.684.267/mount which generated profit in amount of IDR 1.175.733/mount. (b) for product of honey 400mg in amount of IDR 3.055.000/mount with production cost IDR 1.699.130/mount which generated profit in amount of IDR 1.355.870/mount. (2) the break event point for product of honey 850mg were achieve at production volume in total number 111 bottles with the price in amount of IDR 130.000/bottle, thus, the value of acquired income was IDR 1.430.000/mount. The break event point for product of honey 4050mg were achieve at production volume in total number 23 bottles with the price in amount of IDR 65.000/bottle the value of acquired income was IDR 1.495.000/mount. (3) margin of safety for product of honey 850mg was amount of 50.00% and for product of honey 450mg was in amount of 51.06%, which meant the maximum limited distance of decreasing sell of the second selling product was in ratio of MoS, therefore during the selling product was not decreased more than ratio MoS that meant this cultivation receive some profit

Stable isotope metabolomics of pulmonary artery smooth muscle and endothelial cells in pulmonary hypertension and with TGF-beta treatment.

Altered metabolism in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) and endothelial cells (PAECs) contributes to the pathology of pulmonary hypertension (PH), but changes in substrate uptake and how substrates are utilized have not been fully characterized. We hypothesized stable isotope metabolomics would identify increased glucose, glutamine and fatty acid uptake and utilization in human PASMCs and PAECs from PH versus control specimens, and that TGF-β treatment would phenocopy these metabolic changes. We used 13C-labeled glucose, glutamine or a long-chain fatty acid mixture added to cell culture media, and mass spectrometry-based metabolomics to detect and quantify 13C-labeled metabolites. We found PH PASMCs had increased glucose uptake and utilization by glycolysis and the pentose shunt, but no changes in glutamine or fatty acid uptake or utilization. Diseased PAECs had increased proximate glycolysis pathway intermediates, less pentose shunt flux, increased anaplerosis from glutamine, and decreased fatty acid β-oxidation. TGF-β treatment increased glycolysis in PASMCs, but did not recapitulate the PAEC disease phenotype. In TGF-β-treated PASMCs, glucose, glutamine and fatty acids all contributed carbons to the TCA cycle. In conclusion, PASMCs and PAECs collected from PH subjects have significant changes in metabolite uptake and utilization, partially recapitulated by TGF-β treatment

Factors associated with prelacteal feeding practices in Debre Berhan district, North Shoa, Central Ethiopia: a cross-sectional, community-based study

Abstract Background Prelacteal feeding is one of the major harmful newborn feeding practices and is top on the list of global public health concerns. The practice deprives newborns of valuable nutrients and protection of colostrum and exposes them to preventable morbidity and mortality. Studying the prevalence and factors influencing the prelacteal feeding practice of mothers will help program managers and implementers to properly address broad major public health problems. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the prevalence of prelacteal feeding practices and its associated factors among mother-infant dyads in the Debre Berhan district of North Shoa administrative zone, central Ethiopia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from January through to April 2014 among 634 mother-infant dyads. The data were entered into EPI Info version 3.5.1. (CDC, Atlanta, Georgia). All statistical analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) research IBM version 20.0. The prevalence of prelacteal feeding was determined using the ‘recall since birth’ method. Multi-variable logistic regression analysis was employed to control confounders in determining the association between prelacteal feeding practices and selected independent variables. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR), with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) and P < 0.05 was used to claim statistical significance. Results The prevalence of prelacteal feeding practice was 14.2% (95% CI: 11.00–17.00%). Slightly greater than half, 48 (53.3%) of prelacteal fed newborns were given butter. Home delivery was a major risk factor for practicing prelacteal feeding. Mothers who delivered their indexed infant at home practiced prelacteal feeding over four folds more than mothers who delivered in a health institution (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 4.70; 95% CI: 2.56–8.60, p-value = 0.001). Mothers who did not initiate breastfeeding within an hour were six times more likely to practice prelacteal feeding (AOR 5.58; 3.21–9.46, p-value = 0.001). Similarly, with regards to the occupation of mothers, farmers practiced prelacteal feedings (AOR 4.33; 95% CI: 1.73–10.81, p-value = 0.002) up to four folds more than their counterpart housewives. Mothers who can read and write are 54% less likely to practice prelacteal feeding than their counterpart, illiterate mothers, with (AOR 0.46; 95% CI: 0.22–0.98, p-value = 0.044). Conclusions In the Debre Berhan town of North Shoa administrative zone, central Ethiopia, almost one-sixth of mothers practiced prelacteal feeding. Therefore, improving access to information about appropriate newborn feeding practices, encouraging mothers to deliver their babies in health institutions and inspiring them to initiate breastfeeding within an hour of birth is recommended

Smallholder farmers’ legume technology adoption preferences and contributions to farmers’ performance: Evidences from N2Africa project

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundatio

The major Ethiopian milksheds : an assessment of development potential

The development potential of 8 milksheds in Ethiopia was assessed and ranked for potential for value chain development, as part of the MIDD project. Major criteria for ranking were market potential, production potential, presence of services, and commercialization level of the value chain. Highest ranking milk sheds were Addis Abeba, Adama-Asella, and Bahir Dar–Gondar milksheds

Genetic Patterns of Domestication in Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) and Wild Cajanus Relatives

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) is an annual or short-lived perennial food legume of acute regional importance, providing significant protein to the human diet in less developed regions of Asia and Africa. Due to its narrow genetic base, pigeonpea improvement is increasingly reliant on introgression of valuable traits from wild forms, a practice that would benefit from knowledge of its domestication history and relationships to wild species. Here we use 752 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) derived from 670 low copy orthologous genes to clarify the evolutionary history of pigeonpea (79 accessions) and its wild relatives (31 accessions). We identified three well-supported lineages that are geographically clustered and congruent with previous nuclear and plastid sequence-based phylogenies. Among all species analyzed Cajanus cajanifolius is the most probable progenitor of cultivated pigeonpea. Multiple lines of evidence suggest recent gene flow between cultivated and non-cultivated forms, as well as historical gene flow between diverged but sympatric species. Evidence supports that primary domestication occurred in India, with a second and more recent nested population bottleneck focused in tropical regions that is the likely consequence of pigeonpea breeding. We find abundant allelic variation and genetic diversity among the wild relatives, with the exception of wild species from Australia for which we report a third bottleneck unrelated to domestication within India. Domesticated C. cajan possess 75% less allelic diversity than the progenitor clade of wild Indian species, indicating a severe ‘‘domestication bottleneck’’ during pigeonpea domestication