Evaluation of black cumin genotypes for yield and yield related parameters in bale mid altitude, southeastern Ethiopia

Fourteen black cumin genotypes were evaluated against standard checks for two consecutive years during 2018 to 2019 at Sinana, Goro and Gindhir to investigate high yielder and stable black cumin varieties. The mean total seed yield of genotypes across environment ranged from 24.54 to 16.07 Qt ha-1. The highest total seed yield was recorded from genotypes 242826-2 followed by 242826-2 (24.54 and 23.32 Qt ha-1) while the lowest total seed yield was obtained from local checks. These two genotypes have yield advantage of 22.41 and 14.96% over standard check Derbera. Based on their performance across location over standard checks these two genotypes will be promoted for variety verification for Bale mid altitude and similar agro ecologies. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 10(2): 35-37, December 202

Midwives' and obstetricians' perspectives about pregnancy related weight management in Ethiopia: A qualitative study.

BackgroundMidwives and obstetricians are key maternity care providers; they are the most trusted source of information regarding nutrition and gestational weight gain. However, their views, practices and perceived barriers to managing pregnancy related weight gain have not been studied in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to explore midwives' and obstetricians' observations and perspectives about gestational weight gain and postpartum weight management in Ethiopia.MethodsWe conducted face-to-face interviews with 11 midwives and 10 obstetricians, from January 2019 to March 2019. All interview data were transcribed verbatim. We analysed the data using thematic analysis with an inductive approach.ResultsWe identified three themes and associated subthemes. Midwives and obstetricians had limited knowledge of the optimal gestational weight gain. Almost all participants were unaware of the presence of the Institute of Medicine recommendations for optimal weight gain in pregnancy. According to the study participants, women in Ethiopia do not want to gain weight during pregnancy, but do want to gain weight after the birth. Counselling about gestational weight gain and postpartum weight management was not routinely provided for pregnant women. This is mostly because gestational weight gain counselling was not considered to be a priority by maternity care providers in Ethiopia.ConclusionsThe limited knowledge of and low attention to pregnancy related weight management by midwives and obstetricians in this setting needs appropriate intervention. Adapting a guideline for pregnancy weight management and integrating it into antenatal care is essential

Influence of gestational weight gain on baby's birth weight in Addis Ababa, Central Ethiopia: a follow-up study.

BACKGROUND: Gestational weight gain (GWG) is an important indicator of fetal well-being during pregnancy. Inadequate or excessive GWG could have undesirable effects on birth weight. However, information regarding the influence of GWG on birth weight is lacking from the Ethiopian setting. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the influence of GWG and other maternal-related factors on birth weight in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. DESIGN AND METHODS: A cohort of pregnant women who received the first antenatal care before or at 16 weeks of gestation in health centres in Addis Ababa were followed from 10 January 2019 to 25 September 2019. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and medical record reviews. We conducted a multivariable linear regression analysis to determine the independent effect of gestational weight on birth weight. RESULTS: Of the 395 women enrolled in the study, the participants' pregnancy outcome was available for 329 (83.3%). The mean birth weight was 3130 (SD, 509) g. The proportion of low birth weight (<2500 g) was 7.5% (95% CI 4.8% to 11.0%). Babies born to underweight women were 150.9 g (95% CI 5.8 to 308.6 g, p=0.049) lighter than babies born to normal-weight women. Similarly, babies whose mothers gained inadequate weight were 248 g (95% CI 112.8 to 383.6 g, p<0.001) lighter than those who gained adequate weight. Moreover, babies whose mothers had a previous history of abortion or miscarriages or developed gestational hypertension in the current pregnancy were 147.2 g (95% CI 3.2 to 291.3 g, p=0.045) and 310.7 g (95% CI 62.7 to 552.8 g, p=0.012) lighter, respectively, compared with those whose mothers had not. CONCLUSIONS: Prepregnancy weight, GWG, having had a previous history of abortion or miscarriages, and developing gestational hypertension during a current pregnancy were independently associated with birth weight. Pregnancy-related weight management should be actively promoted through intensive counseling during routine antenatal care contacts

Gestational weight gain and its effect on birth outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION:An increased metabolic demand during pregnancy is fulfilled by gaining sufficient gestational weight. Women who gain inadequate-weight are at a high-risk of premature birth or having a baby with low-birth weight. However, women who gain excessive-weight are at a high-risk of having a baby with macrosomia. The aim of this review was to determine the distribution of gestational weight gain and its association with birth-outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS:For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we performed a literature search using PubMed, Medline, Embase, Scopus, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases. We searched grey-literature from Google and Google Scholar, and region-specific journals from the African Journals Online (AJOL) database. We critically appraised the included studies using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. Two independent reviewers evaluated the quality of the studies and extracted the data. We calculated pooled relative-risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS:Of 1450 retrieved studies, 26 met the inclusion criteria. Sixteen studies classified gestational weight gain according to the United States Institute of Medicine recommendations. The percentage adequate amount of gestational weight ranged from 3% to 62%. The percentage of inadequate weight was >50% among nine studies. Among underweight women, the percentage of women who gained inadequate gestational weight ranged from 67% to 98%. Only two studies were included in the meta-analyses to evaluate the association of gestational weight gain with pre-eclampsia and macrosomia. No difference was observed among women who gained inadequate and adequate gestational weight regarding experiencing pre-eclampsia (RR, 0.71; 95% CI: 0.22, 2.28, P = 0.57). Excessive gestational weight gain was not significantly associated with macrosomia compared to adequate weight gain (RR, 0.68; 95% CI: 0.38, 1.22, P = 0.20). CONCLUSION:A substantial proportion of sub-Saharan African women gain inadequate gestational weight particularly high among underweight women. Future interventions would need to design effective pre-pregnancy weight management strategies

Heritability of glaucoma and glaucoma-related endophenotypes:Systematic review and meta-analysis

We have systematically extracted all available heritability (h2) estimates of glaucoma and related endophenotypes from the literature and summarized the evidence by meta-analysis. Glaucoma endophenotypes were classified into 10 clusters: intraocular pressure, anterior chamber size, central corneal thickness, cup-to-disc ratio, disc size, cup size, corneal hysteresis, retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, cup shape, and peripapillary atrophy. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed for each cluster. For clusters with n ≥ 10 h2 estimates, we also performed subgroup and meta-regression analyses. The literature search yielded 53 studies. The h2 of primary open-angle glaucoma ranged from 0.17 to 0.81, and was 0.65 for primary angle-closure glaucoma in a single study. The pooled endophenotype h2 estimates were intraocular pressure, 0.43 (0.38-0.48); anterior chamber size, 0.67 (0.60-0.74); central corneal thickness, 0.81 (0.73-0.87); cup-to-disc ratio, 0.56 (0.44-0.68); disc size, 0.61 (0.37-0.81); cup size, 0.58 (0.35-0.78); corneal hysteresis, 0.40 (0.29-0.51); retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, 0.73 (0.42-0.91); cup shape, 0.62 (0.22-0.90); and peripapillary atrophy, 0.73 (0.70-0.75). We identified mean age, ethnicity, and study design as major sources of heterogeneity. Our results confirm the strong influence of genetic factors on glaucoma and its endophenotypes. These pooled h2 estimates provide the most accurate assessment to date of the total genetic variation that can ultimately be explained by gene-finding studies

Patterns and predictors of gestational weight gain in Addis Ababa, Central Ethiopia: a prospective cohort study

Introduction Gaining excessive or inadequate gestational weight is associated with many adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. Inadequate gestational weight gain (GWG) increases the risk of fetal growth restriction, pre-term birth, and low birth weight. It is a public health concern in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to assess the patterns and predictors of GWG in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study among pregnant women who attended antenatal care in health centres in Addis Ababa, from January to September 2019. Data were collected by a structured questionnaire and checklists and analysed using Stata version-14. Weight at or before 16 weeks gestation was used as a proxy for pre-pregnancy weight. Women’s height and baseline weight were measured by data collectors, and we obtained weight at the end of the 24th and 36th weeks of gestation from women’s medical records. GWG was categorized as inadequate, adequate and excessive based on the United States Institute of Medicine criteria. Predictors of GWG were identified using multinomial logistic regression. Results A total of 395 pregnant women were enrolled in the study. GWG was assessed for 369 (93%) women. The median GWG was 8.7 kg with inter quartile ranges (25th, 75th percentiles) of 7.0 kg and 11.6 kg. More than two-third of the participants, 248 (67.2% [95% CI: 62.2, 72.0%]), gained inadequate weight; 103 (27.9% [95% CI: 23.4, 32.8%]) gained adequate weight; and 18 (4.9% [95% CI: 2.9%, 7.6%]) gained excessive weight. Three quarters (75%) of underweight women gained inadequate gestational weight, whereas 43% of overweight or obese women gained inadequate gestational weight. Being underweight (AOR = 3.30 [95% CI: 1.32, 8.24]) or normal weight (AOR = 2.68 [95% CI: 1.37, 5.24]) before pregnancy increased the odds of gaining inadequate gestational weight compared to overweight or obese women. Not having paid employment was associated with higher odds of gaining inadequate gestational weight compared to women employed outside the home (AOR = 2.17 [95% CI: 1.16, 4.07]). Conclusions Most pregnant women in Addis Ababa gain inadequate gestational weight. In particular, three quarters of underweight women gained inadequate gestational weight. Being underweight, normal weight or having no paid employment were associated with higher odds of inadequate GWG. Promoting adequate GWG in Addis Ababa among underweight and normal weight women may be an important public health initiative

Predictors of hospitalization among children on ART in Ethiopia: A cohort study

Background: Substantial progress has been made in the management of pediatric HIV infection in Ethiopia with the implementation of mother-to-child-prevention programs. Since the introduction of HAART in 2005, mortality among HIV-infected children has reduced while the rate of hospitalization was expected to rise. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to assess predictors of hospitalization in children on ART in seven university referral hospitals in Ethiopia.Methods: A prospective cohort study design was employed on children age 0-18 years as part of a multisite observational study. ART-experienced eligible and  ART-naïve children with HIV/AIDS were enrolled into the Advanced Clinical  Monitoring (ACM) till December 31, 2012 were included. From the database,  information on hospitalization and other independent variables were extracted. Analysis was done using both SPSS for Windows version 16.0 and STATA.  Descriptive analyses and modeling was done using logistic regression.Results: Of the 405 children on ART (174 experienced, 231 naive), 86 (20.7%)  were hospitalized for various reasons; two children were excluded since they were hospitalized for unrelated conditions (appendicitis and burn). Fifty one (60.7%) of  the eighty four admitted children were hospitalized in the first six months of ART  initiation. Of the independent variables, only the presence of opportunistic infections and duration on ART were significantly associated with hospitalization both on bi-variable and multivariable analyses (P-value &lt;0.05). As the duration on ART increased by one month, the risk of hospitalization decreased by 5.4%, which is statistically significant (P &lt; 0.001). Whereas the incidence (number) of OI’s increased by one, the risk of being hospitalized increased by 35.2% (P = 0.002). Of the individual opportunistic infections, pneumonia was found to be the only predictor of hospitalization (P-value = 0.002).Conclusion: This study showed that nearly two-third of the hospitalization was within 6 months of initiation of ART; and presence of OI and duration on ART were the only predictors of hospitalization.Key words: Hospitalization, Children, HIV/AIDS, HAAR

Development and validation of a questionnaire-based myopia proxy in adults:the LifeLines Cohort Study

Aims To build a questionnaire-based myopia proxy and to validate the proxy by confirming its association with educational attainment and a Polygenic Risk Score (PRS) for myopia. Methods Data were collected between 2014 and 2017 from 88 646 Dutch adults from the LifeLines Cohort. First, we performed principal component analysis (PCA) to responses of five refraction-status questions. Second, we measured the refractive state in a subset of LifeLines participants (n=326) and performed logistic regression using myopia (mean spherical equivalent</p

Development and validation of a questionnaire-based myopia proxy in adults:the LifeLines Cohort Study

Aims To build a questionnaire-based myopia proxy and to validate the proxy by confirming its association with educational attainment and a Polygenic Risk Score (PRS) for myopia. Methods Data were collected between 2014 and 2017 from 88 646 Dutch adults from the LifeLines Cohort. First, we performed principal component analysis (PCA) to responses of five refraction-status questions. Second, we measured the refractive state in a subset of LifeLines participants (n=326) and performed logistic regression using myopia (mean spherical equivalent</p

Exposure to High Levels of Noise Poses Hazards and Risks for Development of Hypertension and Heart Disease: Potential Roles of Unrecognized Ionized Hypomagnesemia and Release of Ceramides and Platelet-Activating Factor

It has been demonstrated in numerous human and animal studies that audiogenic stress (AS) can induce elevation of arterial blood pressure and cardiac damage and that noise –induced hearing loss may be associated with alterations in magnesium (Mg) metabolism. Our laboratories, over a period of approximately 40 years, have been investigating why AS causes high blood pressure and cardiac damage. This review focuses on a number of newer discoveries on why AS causes dysfunctions of the cardiovascular system (CVS) This review discusses the pivotal physiological and biochemical importance of Mg to body health and the fact that most Americans and Europeans are deficient in daily Mg intake which perforce can cause severe dysfunctions of the CVS. Our ongoing studies clearly provide a solid microcirculatory basis for how and why AS above 65dB(A) often induces elevated blood pressure and cardiac damage. We review a body of data that points to the fact that AS does the latter, but appears to do so because noise stress levels result in Mg deficiency followed by release of certain sphingolipids (e.g., ceramides) and generation and release of platelet- activating factor (PDF). It is our opinion that all people exposed to high degrees of noise stress should be monitored for cardiovascular functions, ionized Mg levels, blood ceramide levels and levels of PDF. Lastly, we believe all people exposed to high levels of AS (i.e., maintenance people and pilots on aircraft carriers, musicians [particularly at rock concerts], motorman and conductors on trains and subways, construction site workers, etc.) should have at least the equivalent daily intake of 500-600 mg of Mg/day