Choroidopathy and kidney disease: a case report and review of the literature

The patient was a 41 year-old Mexican American women who presented with a decrease in visual acuity along with periorbital and peripheral edema. She was diagnosed with bilateral serous retinal detachment and diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis. She improved considerably in hospital after treatment with corticosteroids

Correlation and path coefficient analyses of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) landraces in Ethiopia

Open Access Journal; Published online: 29 Dec 2018Understanding the nature and extent of association between yield and yield related traits is the prerequisite study for any underutilized crop improvements of sustainable genetic enhancement. However, there is a lack of sufficient information on seed yield and related trait correlation and path coefficient analysis of cowpea in Ethiopia. To fill the existing knowledge gap, the present study was conducted to determine the nature and extent of phenotypic and genotypic correlation and path coefficient analysis among 18 quantitative traits. A total of 324 cowpea landraces were tested in 18 × 18 simple lattice design at Melkassa Agricultural Research Center and Miesso sub center during 2016 cropping season. The magnitude of genotypic correlations was higher than phenotypic correlations in most traits at both locations; this implies that the traits under consideration were genetically controlled. Seed yield was positively and highly significantly correlated with most of the traits at phenotypic and genotypic levels, indicating the presence of strong inherited association between seed yield and the other 17 traits. Almost all traits genotypic direct and indirect effects were higher than the phenotypic direct and indirect effects; this indicated that the other traits had a strong genetically inherited relationship with seed yield. Genotypic path coefficient analysis revealed that days to flowering, biomass and harvest index at Miesso, and seed thickness, plant height, days to maturity and biomass at Melkassa had relatively high positive direct effect on seed yield. However, seed width and hundred seed weight had exerted negative direct effect on seed yield at each location. Phenotypic path coefficient analysis showed that biomass and harvest index had exerted high positive direct effect on seed yield at both locations. From these results it can be concluded from this study that seed yield in cowpea can be improved by focusing on traits pod length, seed length, seed thickness, seed width, biomass and harvest index at both locations. The information obtained from this study can be used for genetic enhancement of cowpea thereby developing high yielding varieties

Genotype by environment interaction and grain yield stability of drought tolerant cowpea landraces in Ethiopia

Open Access Article; Published online: 12 Apr 2022Cowpea is one of the most important indigenous food and forage legumes in Africa. It serves as a primary source of protein for poor farmers in drought-prone areas of Ethiopia. The crop is used as a source of food, and insurance crop during the dry season. Cowpea is adaptable to a wide range of climatic conditions. Despite this, the yield of the crop is generally low due to lack of stable and drought-tolerant varieties. In this study, 25 cowpea genotypes were evaluated in five environments using a lattice design during the 2017 and 2018 main cropping seasons. The objectives of this study were to estimate the magnitude of genotype by environment interaction (GEI) and grain yield stability of selected drought-tolerant cowpea genotypes across different environments. The additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model indicated the contribution of environment, genotype and GEI as 63.98, 2.66% and 16.30% of the total variation for grain yield, respectively. The IPCA1, IPCA2 and IPCA3 were all significant and explained 45.47%, 28.05% and 16.59% of the GEI variation, respectively. The results from AMMI, cultivar superior measure, genotype plus genotype-by-environment biplot yield stability index, and AMMI stability value analyses identified NLLP-CPC-07-145-21, NLLP-CPC-103-B and NLLP_CPC-07-54 as stable and high yielding genotypes across environments. Thus, these genotypes should be recommended for release for production in drought-prone areas. NLLP-CPC-07-143, Kanketi and CP-EXTERETIS were the least stable. The AMMI1 biplot showed that Jinka was a high potential and favorable environment while Babile was an unfavorable environment for cowpea production

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

Characterization and determinant factors of critical illness and in-hospital mortality of COVID-19 patients: A retrospective cohort of 1,792 patients in Kenya

Limited data is available on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), critical illness rate, and in-hospital mortality in the African setting. This study investigates determinants of critical illness and in-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients in Kenya. We conducted a retrospective cohort study at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Kenya. Multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard regression were employed to determine predictor factors for intensive care unit (ICU) admission and in-hospital mortality, respectively. In addition, the Kaplan-Meier model was used to compare the survival times using log-rank tests. As a result, 346 (19.3 %) COVID-19 patients were admitted to ICU, and 271 (15.1 %) died. The majority of those admitted to the hospital were male, 1,137 (63.4 %) and asymptomatic, 1,357 (75.7 %). The most prevalent clinical features were shortness of breath, fever, and dry cough. In addition, older age, male, health status, patient on oxygen (O2), oxygen saturation levels (SPO2), headache, dry cough, comorbidities, obesity, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), diabetes, chronic lung disease (CLD), and malignancy/cancer can predicate the risk of ICU admission, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) of 0.90 (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.88 – 0.92). Survival analysis indicated 271 (15.1 %) patients died and identified older age, male, headache, shortness of breath, health status, patient on oxygen, SPO2, headache, comorbidity, CVDs, diabetes, CLD, malignancy/cancer, and smoking as risk factors for mortality (AUC-ROC: 0.90, 95 % CI: 0.89 – 0.91). This is the first attempt to explore predictors for ICU admission and hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients in Kenya

Developing institutional capacity for reproductive health in humanitarian settings: A descriptive study

© 2015 Tran et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction. Institutions play a central role in advancing the field of reproductive health in humanitarian settings (RHHS), yet little is known about organizational capacity to deliver RHHS and how this has developed over the past decade. This study aimed to document the current institutional experiences and capacities related to RHHS. Materials and Methods. Descriptive study using an online questionnaire tool. Results. Respondents represented 82 institutions from 48 countries, of which two-thirds originated from low-and middle-income countries. RHHS work was found not to be restricted to humanitarian agencies (25%), but was also embraced by development organizations (25%) and institutions with dual humanitarian and development mandates (50%). Agencies reported working with refugees (81%), internally-displaced (87%) and stateless persons (20%), in camp-based settings (78%), and in urban (83%) and rural settings (78%). Sixtyeight percent of represented institutions indicated having an RHHS-related policy, 79% an accountability mechanism including humanitarian work, and 90% formal partnerships with other institutions. Seventy-three percent reported routinely appointing RH focal points to ensure coordination of RHHS implementation. There was reported progress in RHHSrelated disaster risk reduction (DRR), emergency management and coordination, delivery of the Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP) for RH, comprehensive RH services in post-crisis/recovery situations, gender mainstreaming, and community-based programming. Other reported institutional areas of work included capacity development, program delivery, advocacy/policy work, followed by research and donor activities. Except for abortion-related services, respondents cited improved efforts in advocacy, capacity development and technical support in their institutions for RHHS to address clinical services, including maternal and newborn health, sexual violence prevention and response, HIV prevention, management of sexually-transmitted infections, adolescent RH, and family planning. Approximately half of participants reported that their institutions had experienced an increase in dedicated budget and staff for RHHS, a fifth no change, and 1 in 10 a decrease. The Interagency RH Kits were reportedly the most commonly used supplies to support RHHS implementation. Conclusion. The results suggest overall growth in institutional capacity in RHHS over the past decade, indicating that the field has matured and expanded from crisis response to include RHHS into DRR and other elements of the emergency management cycle. It is critical to consolidate the progress to date, address gaps, and sustain momentum

A systems and partnership approach to agricultural research for development: Lessons from Ethiopia

In spite of the availability of several improved agricultural technologies generated by the research system in Ethiopia over the last four decades, adoption of these innovations by smallholder farmers has been very low. This has led to stagnation of agricultural productivity and low crop yields, exposing the country to recurrent food shortfalls and national food insecurity. The old approach to agricultural research emphasized developing new technologies mainly through onstation research that were then supposed to reach farmers through the public-sector extension system. The Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) has in recent years introduced a shift in agricultural research for development, which is based on the innovation systems approach that involved cultivating partnerships with several actors along the value chain, especially farmers, farmers’ cooperatives and input suppliers. This paper presents the methodology used to facilitate agricultural innovations and the diffusion of new technologies and illustrates the outcomes of this initiative with regard to technology adoption, productivity growth and the market orientation of production. The authors use examples from experiences in scaling up three grain legumes. Compared to the three-year baseline average (2003–05), crop output increased nationally by 89%, 85% and 97% in 2008 for common bean, chickpea and lentil respectively. Nationally, 53–59% of the output growth is attributable to yield growth due to technological change, while the balance is due to area expansion. These results affirm that the new approach has led to accelerated adoption of new and high-yielding or low-risk varieties

Developing and piloting location-specific fertilizer recommendation for wheat in Ethiopia

This report covers the progress of developing and piloting location-specific fertilizer and agroclimate advisory service for Wheat in Ethiopia. The report highlights the major activities implemented during the 2022 cropping season including (1) review of organic fertilizer recommendations for wheat; (2) generation of location-specific fertilizer rate (LSFR) for piloting; (3) developing kebele map for LSFR recommendation; (4) video preparation for demo training; (5) trainings organized on piloting LSFR advisory and map reading; (6) LSFR advisory reach and adoption; (7) Alliance and partners pilot trial field visits during the main wheat season; (8) field days organized ; and (9) certificate of appreciation awarded to Alliance and its partners. The main purpose of the report is to narrative the processes associated with the development of agroadvisory and its piloting in the highlands of Ethiopia