Pattern of childhood burn injuries and their management outcome at Bugando Medical Centre in Northwestern Tanzania

Burn injuries constitute a major public health problem and are the leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide. There is paucity of published data on childhood burn injuries in Tanzania, particularly the study area. This study was conducted to describe the pattern of childhood burn injuries in our local setting and to evaluate their management outcome. A cross sectional study was conducted at Bugando Medical Centre (in Northwestern Tanzania) over a 3-year period from January 2008 to December 2010. Data was collected using a pre-tested coded questionnaire and statistical analyses performed using SPSS software version 15.0. A total of 342 burned children were studied. Males were mainly affected. Children aged = 2 were the majority accounting for 45.9% of cases. Intentional burn injuries due to child abuse were reported in 2.9% of cases. Scald was the most common type of burns (56.1%). The trunk was the most commonly involved body region (57.3%). Majority of patients (48.0%) sustained superficial burns. Eight (2.3%) patients were HIV positive. Most patients (89.8%) presented to the hospital later than 24 h. The rate of burn wound infection on admission and on 10th day were 32.4% and 39.8% respectively.Staphylococcus aureus were more common on admission wound swabs, with Pseudomonas aeruginosa becoming more evident after 10th day. MRSA was detected in 19.2% of Staphylococcus aureus. Conservative treatment was performed in 87.1% of cases. Surgical treatment mainly skin grafting (65.9%) was performed in 44 (12.9%) of patients. The overall average of the length of hospital stay (LOS) was 22.12 ± 16.62 days. Mortality rate was 11.7%. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis; age of the patient, type of burn, delayed presentation, clothing ignition, %TBSA and severity of burn were found to be significantly associated with LOS (P < 0.001), whereas mortality rate was found to be independently and significantly related to the age of the patient, type of burn, HIV positive with stigmata of AIDS, CD4 count, inhalation injury, %TBSA and severity of burn (P < 0.001). Childhood burn injuries still remain a menace in our environment with virtually unacceptable high morbidity and mortality. There is need for critical appraisal of the preventive measures and management principles currently being practiced

Book Publishing Patterns in Uganda: Challenges and Prospects

This paper discusses the book publishing patterns in Uganda. The paper looks at the development of Ugandas book industry and assesses the factors that have impeded its growth. Current opportunities at the disposal of the industry are highlighted and the way forward outlined. Some of the factors identified as inhibiting publishing in Uganda are foreign policies, language barriers, economic status, high illiteracy rate, piracy, lack of government support, lack of national policy on book publishing, limited capital, lack of a virile national publishing association,etc. The paper also enumerates opportunities available for book publishing in Uganda,. This includes the establishment of the East African Book Development Council (EABDC), affiliation of the Uganda Publishers Association with African Publishers Network (APNET), African Book Collective (ABC and , increased enrollment of school children under the universal primary education (UPE) programme. (African Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science: 2002 12 (2): 177-188

Priority quality traits for gendered sweetpotato breeding in Mozambique

Introduction: Sweetpotato breeders strive to develop varieties that address productivity challenges farmers face in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, adoption of these varieties is low, partly attributed to limited attention to attributes desired by the end-users. Methods: This study sought to identify the key traits preferred by eight women processors and 426 consumers (180 male, 246 female) in Manhiça, Marracuene and Maputo districts, Mozambique. Processing diagnostics and consumer studies evaluated two local varieties (‘Lilas’, ‘N’santimuni’) and two improved varieties (‘Alisha’, ‘Irene’). Data from processors were analyzed using content analysis and summary statistics. Consumer hedonic data were analyzed using clustering and regression models, while Penalty analysis and Multiple correspondence analysis were performed for the Just-about-right and Check-all-that-apply tests respectively. Results: Processors prioritized mealiness, sweet taste, not fibrous, good sweetpotato smell, ease of peeling, easy to cook and good appearance for the boiled root. ‘N’santimuni’ was the most preferred variety for processing. Consumers preferred ‘N’santimuni’ and ‘Lilas’ because of their high dry matter, pleasant sweetpotato smell, firmness in the hand, smoothness when eating and sweet taste. ‘Alisha’ and ‘Irene’ were the most penalized for low scores on sweetness, mealiness, and firmness. Women consumed sweetpotato more frequently than men and had better discernment of sweet taste, homogeneity and colour. Also, youth and more educated consumers disliked improved varieties more than adults and lower income consumers. Discussion: Processors and consumers strongly indicated their preference and importance of quality attributes such as mealiness, sweet taste, firmness for boiled sweetpotato. However, such traits are rarely included in breeding designs. Breeding programs can thus be enhanced by studies of biophysical and chemical parameters of sweetpotato. This will enable quantification incorporation of these quality attributes

End-user preferences to enhance prospects for varietal acceptance and adoption in potato breeding in Uganda

Background Potato varieties have diverse biophysical characteristics, so it is important for breeders to have the capacity to choose those that meet the preferences of end users, such as mealiness, firmness, potato taste; among others. Combining user preferences with descriptive information on the sensory characteristics of boiled potatoes can contribute to the improvement of consumer-driven varieties. This study aims to factor in the preferences of end users to improve the prospects for varietal acceptance, adoption, and discrimination of genotypes in potato breeding. Results The priority quality traits of the boiled potatoes were determined by evaluating gender and livelihood using the G+ tool. Potato genotypes were discriminated by penetration and the procedure was repeatable between cooking replicates at 40 min of cooking. Instrument-based texture parameters, such as penetration peak force (hardness/firmness) and area (area under curve representing energy needed to penetrate) of boiled potato tubers, are significantly associated with sensory attributes such as fracturability and hardness in mouth. An attempt to discriminate genotypes using NIRS revealed that the average performances observed of the calibration for yellow color (r2 = 0.70), homogeneity of color (r2 = 0.48), moisture in mass (r2 = 0.40) as well as uniformity of texture (r2 = 0.56), suggested that these models could be used for initial breeding screening purposes. Conclusions The acceptance traits of the boiled potato can be integrated in the potato breeding program/product profile. NIRS shows great potential to predict potato color. The NIRS models are also promising for predicting some texture attributes

Prioritizing quality traits for gender‐responsive breeding for boiled potato in Uganda

Using quantitative, qualitative and sensorial data collected from western (Kabale) and central (Rakai) Uganda, this paper identifies and describes gender‐responsive traits preferred in varieties for the boiled potato market. These traits are aggregated into a product profile to support breeding programme design and decision‐making that will increase probability of variety acceptance. An interdisciplinary and participatory methodology was used to collect data on socio‐economic on trait preferences, processing and organoleptics and finally, to develop a lexicon through a sensorial panel. Characteristics that were important to both men and women, such as red skin and yellow flesh, are linked to market preferences. Women‐only preferred characteristics such as big size and mealiness are linked to processing efficiency and eating quality. Besides agronomic traits, breeders must consider factors such as gender roles, social norms, and market preferences traits that guide farmers and other food chain actors in their selection of new varieties

Sensory guided selection criteria for breeding consumer-preferred sweetpotatoes in Uganda

Prioritizing sensory attributes and consumer evaluation early in breeding trials to screen for end-user preferred traits could improve adoption rates of released genotypes. In this study, a lexicon and protocol for descriptive sensory analysis (DSA) was established for sweetpotato and used to validate an instrumental texture method for which critical values for consumer preference were set. The study comprised several phases: lexicon development during a 4-day workshop; 3-day intensive panel training; follow-up virtual training, evaluation of 12 advanced genotypes and 101 additional samples from two trials in 2021 by DSA and instrumental texture analysis using TPA double compression; and DSA, instrumental texture analysis and consumer acceptability tests on 7 genotypes in on-farm trials. The established sweetpotato lexicon comprising 27 sensory attributes enabled characterization and differentiation of genotypes by sensory profiles. Significant correlation was found between sensory firmness by hand and mouth with TPA peak positive force (r = 0.695 and r = 0.648, respectively) and positive area (r = 0.748, r = 0.715, respectively). D20, NAROSPOT 1, NASPOT 8, and Umbrella were the most liked genotypes in on-farm trials (overall liking = 7). An average peak positive force of 3700 gf was proposed as a minimum texture value for screening sweetpotato genotypes, since it corresponded with at least 46 % of consumers perceiving sweetpotatoes as just-about-right in firmness and a minimum overall liking of 6 on average. Combining DSA with instrumental texture analysis facilitates efficient screening of genotypes in sweetpotato breeding programs

Consumer Preference Testing of Boiled Sweetpotato Using Crowdsourced Citizen Science in Ghana and Uganda

Crowdsourced citizen science is an emerging approach in plant sciences. The triadic comparison of technologies (tricot) approach has been successfully utilized by demand-led breeding programmes to identify varieties for dissemination suited to specific geographic and climatic regions. An important feature of this approach is the independent way in which farmers individually evaluate the varieties on their own farms as “citizen scientists.” In this study, we adapted this approach to evaluate consumer preferences to boiled sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] roots of 21 advanced breeding materials and varieties in Ghana and 6 released varieties in Uganda. We were specifically interested in evaluating if a more independent style of evaluation (home tasting) would produce results comparable to an approach that involves control over preparation (centralized tasting). We compiled data from 1,433 participants who individually contributed to a home tasting (de-centralized) and a centralized tasting trial in Ghana and Uganda, evaluating overall acceptability, and indicating the reasons for their preferences. Geographic factors showed important contribution to define consumers’ preference to boiled sweetpotato genotypes. Home and centralized tasting approaches gave similar rankings for overall acceptability, which was strongly correlated to taste. In both Ghana and Uganda, it was possible to robustly identify superior sweetpotato genotypes from consumers’ perspectives. Our results indicate that the tricot approach can be successfully applied to consumer preference studies