Adult Mosquito Populations and Their Health Impact around and far from Dams in Tigray Region, Ethiopia

Malaria control program in Ethiopia has a history of more than 40 years, but still now, malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Ethiopia. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of dam construction in the distribution of mosquito in intervention (dam nearby villages) and controlled (villages far from dam). Indoor adult mosquitoes were collected using 144 CDC light traps from 12 villages (6 from the intervention and 6 from the control villages) Community- based malaria parasitology was also done. Sampling was done in November 2005, December 2005, May 2006 and September 2006). A total of 1713 adult indoor mosquitoes were collected, of these, 1182 (69%) were Anopheles and 531 (31%) Culex. The prevalence of Anopheles was 45.77% in the intervention villages and 23.23% in the controlled villages (F p = 0.012). The prevalence of Anopheles increased twice in the intervention compared to the controlled villages. A total of 1436 children, 888 from intervention and 548 from control villages were examined for malaria parasitology. Only 57 children were found infected by Plasmodium species. Malaria prevalence rate was 3.97% (4.17% and 3.65% in intervention and control village, respectively)(x2 = 0.11, p= 0.7399). Among the 57 malaria positive cases in 32 (56.14%) we found P. vivax and in the 25 (43.86%) P. falciparum. We can tentatively conclude that the dams situated at 2000m and above do resulted two fold adult indoor mosquito, but do not seem to have resulted in a markedly higher incidence of malaria in the region. The study concludes that concerned authorities should take appropriate measures to improve health-care facilities for local communities when planning new irrigation schemes wherever they occur.Keywords: Anopheles, Culex, Dam, Intervention, Malari

In Vivo anti-malarial activities of Clerodendrum myricoides, Dodonea angustifolia and Aloe debrana against Plasmodium berghei

Background: Malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum is an acute disease which kills an estimated 863,000 people per year according to the WHO report of 2009. The fight against malaria is faced with the occurrence of widespread resistance of P. falciparum. The search for plant-derived antimalarial drugs has great importance in this regard. Thus this study evaluates the toxicity and antimalarial activity of extracts of Clerodendrum myricoides, Dodonia angustifolia and Aloe debrana.Method: Acute and sub acute toxicity studies of the extracts were carried out by giving up to 3000mg/kg to noninfected mice. Weight loss, change in general behavior and mortality were used as indicators of toxicity. Doses of 200, 400 & 600mg/kg/day of each extract of C.myricoides, D. dodonia and A.debrana were given orally to Plasmodium berghei infected mice following the four-day suppressive test procedure.Results: None of the extracts caused symptoms of toxicity at the given doses. Each extract showed variable level of parasitaemia suppression in dose related manner. Methanol extract of C. myricoides leaves exerted 82.50% suppression at the dose of 600mg/kg. The methanol extract of the root of D. angustifolia showed the highest (84.52%) suppression of parasitaemia at the dose of 600mg/kg. Furthermore, methanol extract of A. debrana induced 73.95% suppression, whereas its water extract exerted 54.36% suppression of parasitaemia.Conclusion: Crude extracts of C. myricoides, D. angustifolia and A.debrana caused strong activities against P. berghei indicating that they contain some chemical constituents that possibly lead to antimalarial drug development. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2010; 24(1):25-29

Larvicidal effects of Jatropha curcas L. against Anopheles arabiensis (Diptera: Culicidea)

Crude and column chromatographic fractions of methanol leaf extract of Jatropha curcas were tested for their larvicidal activities against laboratory reared late third instar larvae of Anopheles arabiensis. Crude methanol leaf extract of J .curcas had similar larvicidal activity to 0.5 ppm Temephos (positive control) at test concentrations ranging from 125 -1000 ppm while column chromatographic fractions (F1 and F2 ) of the crude methanol leaf extract of J.curcas showed similar larvicidal activities to 0.5 ppm Temephos at 62.5 and 125 ppm test concentrations. Column chromatographic fraction three (F3) showed similar larvicidal activity to 0.5 ppm Temephos at 125 ppm test concentration. The LC50 and LC90 values of crude methanol leaf extract of J.curcas were found to be 92.09 and 241.09 ppm, respectively. Toxic activities of column chromatographic fraction one (F1) (LC50=28.65 ppm; LC90 = 49.20 ppm) were nearly equal to that of column chromatographic fraction two [F2] (LC50= 30.40 ppm; LC90 = 49.80 ppm). Least toxicity on the test larvae was observed by column chromatographic fraction three [F3] (LC50 = 80.70 ppm; LC90 = 123.70 ppm). Thus, the larvicidal activity of crude methanol leaf extract was not due to the synergistic effects of its fractions. Further studies are recommended to identify larvicidal active ingredients from the active column chromatographic fractions of crude methanol leaf extract of J. curcas. Key words: Malaria vector control, Anopheles arabiensis, Botanical larvicides J. curca

Programmatic correlates of maternal healthcare seeking behaviors in Ethiopia

Background: Considerable improvement in maternal healthcare use has been observed since the inception of the health extension program (HEP) in Ethiopia in 2003.Objective: This paper evaluates the influence of HEP outreach strategies on maternal healthcare use.Method: Cross-sectional survey of 2,916 women with children 0 to 11 months from Amhara, Oromiya, Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s, and Tigray regions, obtained between December 2008 and January 2009, were analyzed using regression models to assess the impacts of HEP strategies on maternal health outcomes.Result: The analyses found that communities (i.e., kebeles) with relatively high prevalence of model families, higher rate of household visits by health extension workers, and higher rate of household visits by voluntary community health workers were associated with improved antenatal care use, tetanus toxoid vaccination coverage, and receiving postnatal care visits; but the strategies were not associated with deliveries attended by health professionals.Conclusion: Although the impacts of HEP strategies on maternal healthcare use were statistically significant, they were not optimum to reach the maternal mortality reduction targets of the government of Ethiopia. The HEP needs to review and strengthen its community based strategies in order to reach its goals. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2010;24 Special Issue 1:92-99

Calibrating spectral estimation for the LISA Technology Package with multichannel synthetic noise generation

The scientific objectives of the Lisa Technology Package (LTP) experiment, on board of the LISA Pathfinder mission, demand for an accurate calibration and validation of the data analysis tools in advance of the mission launch. The levels of confidence required on the mission outcomes can be reached only with an intense activity on synthetically generated data. A flexible procedure allowing the generation of cross-correlated stationary noise time series was set-up. Multi-channel time series with the desired cross correlation behavior can be generated once a model for a multichannel cross-spectral matrix is provided. The core of the procedure is the synthesis of a noise coloring multichannel filter through a frequency-by-frequency eigendecomposition of the model cross-spectral matrix and a Z-domain fit. The common problem of initial transients in noise time series is solved with a proper initialization of the filter recursive equations. The noise generator performances were tested in a two dimensional case study of the LTP dynamics along the two principal channels of the sensing interferometer.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review D (http://prd.aps.org/

Health Benefits of Reducing Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake in High Risk Populations of California: Results from the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Policy Model

Background Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) has risen over the past two decades, with over 10 million Californians drinking one or more SSB per day. High SSB intake is associated with risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and coronary heart disease (CHD). Reduction of SSB intake and the potential impact on health outcomes in California and among racial, ethnic, and low-income sub-groups has not been quantified. Methods We projected the impact of reduced SSB consumption on health outcomes among all Californians and California subpopulations from 2013 to 2022. We used the CVD Policy Model – CA, an established computer simulation of diabetes and heart disease adapted to California. We modeled a reduction in SSB intake by 10–20% as has been projected to result from proposed penny-per-ounce excise tax on SSB and modeled varying effects of this reduction on health parameters including body mass index, blood pressure, and diabetes risk. We projected avoided cases of diabetes and CHD, and associated health care cost savings in 2012 US dollars. Results Over the next decade, a 10–20% SSB consumption reduction is projected to result in a 1.8–3.4% decline in the new cases of diabetes and an additional drop of 0.5–1% in incident CHD cases and 0.5–0.9% in total myocardial infarctions. The greatest reductions are expected in African Americans, Mexican Americans, and those with limited income regardless of race and ethnicity. This reduction in SSB consumption is projected to yield $320–620 million in medical cost savings associated with diabetes cases averted and an additional savings of$14–27 million in diabetes-related CHD costs avoided. Conclusions A reduction of SSB consumption could yield substantial population health benefits and cost savings for California. In particular, racial, ethnic, and low-income subgroups of California could reap the greatest health benefits

Quantification of Methane Emissions from Indoor-Fed Fogera Dairy Cows Using Laser Methane Detector

Portable laser methane detectors (LMDs) may be an economical means of estimating CH4 emissions from ruminants. Here, we validated an LMD-based approach and then used that approach to evaluate CH4 emissions from indigenous dairy cows in a dryland area of Ethiopia. First, we validated our LMD-based approach in Simmental crossbred beef cattle (n = 2) housed in respiration chambers and fed either a high- or low-concentrate diet. We found that the exhaled air CH4 concentrations measured by LMD were linearly correlated with the CH4 emissions determined by infrared-absorption-based gas analyzer (r2 = 0.55). On the basis of these findings, we constructed an estimation equation to determine CH4 emissions (y, mg min−1) from LMD CH4 concentrations (x, ppm m) as y = 0.4259x + 38.61. Next, we used our validated LMD approach to examine CH4 emissions in Fogera dairy cows grazed for 8 h d−1 (GG, n = 4), fed indoors on natural-grassland hay (CG1, n = 4), or fed indoors on Napier-grass (Pennisetum purpureum) hay (CG2, n = 4). All the cows were supplemented with concentrate feed. Daily CH4 emissions did not differ among the three groups; however, a numerically greater milk yield was obtained from the CG2 cows than from the GG cows, suggesting that Napier-grass hay might be better than natural-grassland hay for indoor feeding. The CG1 cows had higher CH4 emissions per feed intake than the other groups, without significant increases in milk yield and body-weight gain, suggesting that natural-grassland hay cannot be recommended for indoor-fed cows. These findings demonstrate the potential of using LMDs to rapidly and economically evaluate feeding regimens for dairy cows in areas under financial constraint, while taking CH4 emissions into consideration

Global Monthly Water Scarcity: Blue Water Footprints versus Blue Water Availability

Freshwater scarcity is a growing concern, placing considerable importance on the accuracy of indicators used to characterize and map water scarcity worldwide. We improve upon past efforts by using estimates of blue water footprints (consumptive use of ground- and surface water flows) rather than water withdrawals, accounting for the flows needed to sustain critical ecological functions and by considering monthly rather than annual values. We analyzed 405 river basins for the period 1996–2005. In 201 basins with 2.67 billion inhabitants there was severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. The ecological and economic consequences of increasing degrees of water scarcity – as evidenced by the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo), Indus, and Murray-Darling River Basins – can include complete desiccation during dry seasons, decimation of aquatic biodiversity, and substantial economic disruption