Assessment of Non-Traumatic Acute Abdominal Cases Treated Operatively at Wolaita Sodo Teaching and Referral Hospital, Southern Ethiopia

Background-Acute abdomen is an acute onset of abdominal disease entities that require immediate surgical intervention in most of the cases. Objective-The aim of this study was to determine the magnitude, causes, presenting features and outcome of non-traumatic surgical acute abdomen cases at Wolaita Sodo University Teaching and Referral Hospital, Southern Ethiopia. Methods- Hospital based  cross-sectional study design was conducted on 270 patients operated for non-traumatic surgical acute abdomen from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015. Results: - A total of 633 laparotomies were performed for both elective (210) and emergency (Traumatic (47) &Non-traumatic acute abdomen (376)) cases. A total of 376 laparatomies were on emergency non-traumatic acute abdomen, (59.4%) of all laparatomies. Out of 376 records, of which 270(71.8%) had adequate information for further analysis where retrieved atWSUTRH.  Out of 270 cases, 196 were males and 74 were females. The age ranged from 3 months to 66 years with a mean age of 26.5 years. Two hundred thirty eight (88.1%) patients were from rural and 32 (11.9%) were from urban dwellers.  Majority of patients, 63.3% (171) were presented within 2-5 days of illness before operation. The main presenting features were: abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation and abdominal distention; and they were reported among 99.3% (268), 92.2% (249), 62.6% (169), 53.3% (144) of the study subjects. The three top causes of non-traumatic surgical acute abdomen were bowel obstruction 49.3% (133), acute appendicitis 31.5% (85) and Peritonitis 19.2% (52). There were a total of 4% (11) deaths. Conclusion: Complications and deaths were more in cases from rural area due to delay in presentation. To alleviate this problem, creating awareness on acute abdomen to the general population in general has great importance

Queuing analysis and optimization of public vehicle transport stations: A case of South West Ethiopia region vehicle stations

Modern urban environments present a dynamically growing field where, notwithstanding shared goals, several mutually conflicting interests frequently collide. However, it has a big impact on the city's socioeconomic standing, waiting lines and queues are common occurrences. This results in extremely long lines for vehicles and people on incongruous routes, service coagulation, customer murmuring, unhappiness, complaints, and looking for other options, sometimes illegally. The root cause is corruption, which leads to traffic jams, stops and packs vehicles beyond their safe carrying capacity, and violates passengers' human rights and freedoms. This study focused on optimizing the time passengers had to wait in public vehicle stations. This applied research employed both data-gathering sources and mixed approaches. Then, 166 samples of key informants of transport stations were taken using the Slovin sampling formula. The time vehicles, including the drivers and auxiliary drivers ‘Weyala', had to wait was also studied. To maximize the service level at vehicle stations, a queuing model was subsequently devised ‘Menaharya’. Time, cost, and quality encompass performance, scope, and suitability for the intended purposes. The study also focused on determining the minimal response time required for passengers and vehicles queuing to reach their ultimate destinations within the transportation stations in Tepi, Mizan, and Bonga. A new bus station system was modeled and simulated by Arena simulation software in the chosen study area. 84% improvement on cost reduced by 56.25%, time 4 hours to 1.5 hours, quality, safety and designed load performance calculations employed. Stakeholders are asked to implement the model and monitor the results obtained

Reducing uncertainty in prediction of climate change impacts on crop production in Ethiopia

Ethiopia, with an economy heavily reliant on agriculture, is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. It faces recurrent climate extreme events that result in devastating impacts and acute food shortages for millions of people. Studies that focus on their influence on agriculture, especially crop productivity, are of particular importance. However, only a few studies have been conducted in Ethiopia, and existing studies are spatially limited and show considerable spatial invariance in predicted impacts, as well as discrepancies in the sign and direction of impacts. Therefore, a robust, regionally focused, and multi-model assessment of climate change impacts is urgently needed. To guide policymaking and adaptation strategies, it is essential to quantify the impacts of climate change and distinguish the different sources of uncertainty. Against this backdrop, this study consisted of several key components. Using a multi-crop model ensemble, we began with a local climate change impact assessment on maize and wheat growth and yield across three sites in Ethiopia . We quantified the contributions of different sources of uncertainty in crop yield prediction. Our results projected a of 36 to 40% reduction in wheat grain yield by 2050, while the impact on maize was modest. A significant part of the uncertainty in the projected impact was attributed to differences in the crop growth models. Importantly, our study identified crop growth model-associated uncertainty as larger than the rest of the model components. Second, we produced a high-resolution daily projections database for rainfall and temperature to serve the requirement for impact modeling at regional and local levels using a statistical downscaling technique based on state-of-the-art GCMs under a range of emission scenarios called Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). The evaluated results suggest that the downscaling strategy significantly reduced the biases between the GCM outputs and the observation data and minimized the errors in the projections. Third, we explored the magnitude and spatial patterns of trends in observed and projected changes in climate extremes indices based on downscaled high-resolution daily climate data to serve as a baseline for future national or regional-level impact assessment. Our results show largely significant and spatially consistent trends in temperature-derived extreme indices, while precipitation-related extreme indices are heterogeneous in terms of spatial distribution, magnitude, and statistical significance coverage. The projected changes in temperature-related indices are dominated by the uncertainties in the GCMs, followed by uncertainties in the SSPs. Unlike the temperature-related indices, the uncertainty from internal climate variability constitutes a considerable proportion of the total uncertainty in the projected trends. Fourth, we examined the regional-scale impact of climate change on maize and wheat yields by crop modeling, in which we calibrated and validated three process-based crop models to guide the design of national-level adaptation strategies in Ethiopia. Our analysis showed that under a high-emissions scenario, the national-level median wheat yield is expected to decrease by 4%, while maize yield is expected to increase by 2.5% by the end of the century. The CO2 fertilization effect on the crop simulations would offset the projected negative impact. Crop model spread followed by GCMs was identified as the largest contributor to overall uncertainty to the estimated yield changes. In summary, our study quantifies the impact of climate change and demonstrates the importance of a multi-model ensemble approach. We highlight the significant impacts of climate change on wheat yield in Ethiopia and the importance of crop model improvements to reduce overall uncertainty in the projected impact.Äthiopien, dessen Wirtschaft stark von der Landwirtschaft abhängt, zählt zu den Ländern, die am stärksten vom Klimawandel betroffen sind. Immer wieder ist das Land mit extremen Klimaereignissen konfrontiert, die verheerende Auswirkungen haben und zu akuter Nahrungsmittelknappheit für Millionen von Menschen führen. Studien, die sich mit dem Einfluss des Klimawandels auf die Landwirtschaft und insbesondere auf die Pflanzenproduktivität befassen, sind von besonderer Bedeutung. Die wenigen Untersuchungen, die in Äthiopien durchgeführt wurden, sind räumlich begrenzt und zeigen eine hohe räumliche Invarianz in den vorhergesagten Auswirkungen. Sie weisen außerdem Diskrepanzen in deren Richtung und Stärke auf. Daher ist eine robuste, regional ausgerichtete und modellübergreifende Bewertung der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels dringend erforderlich. Für politische Entscheidungen und Anpassungsstrategien ist es unerlässlich, diese zu quantifizieren und die Quellen der Unsicherheit zu identifizieren. Unsere Studie besteht aus mehreren Schlüsselkomponenten. Wir begannen mit einer lokalen Bewertung der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf das Wachstum und die Erträge von Mais und Weizen an drei Standorten in Äthiopien unter Verwendung eines Multi-Crop-Modells. Zusätzlich quantifizierten wir den Anteil verschiedener Unsicherheitsquellen an der Vorhersage von Ernteerträgen. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen einen prognostizierten Rückgang der Kornerträge vonWeizen um 36 bis 40 % bis 2050, während die Auswirkungen auf Mais gering ausfielen. Ein erheblicher Teil der Unsicherheit in den prognostizierten Auswirkungen kann auf die Unterschiede in den Wachstumsmodellen der Pflanzen zurückgeführt werden. Wir stellten fest, dass die mit dem Pflanzenwachstumsmodell verbundene Unsicherheit größer ist als die der übrigen betrachteten Modellkomponenten. Anschließend erstellten wir eine hochauflösende Datenbank mit täglichen Projektionsdaten für Niederschlag und Temperatur, um die klimawandelbedingten Auswirkungen auf regionaler und lokaler Ebene modellieren zu können. Dafür verwendeten wir statistische Downscaling- Techniken auf der Grundlage modernster GCMs unter verschiedenen Emissionsszenarien, den so genannten Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). Die ausgewerteten Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Downscaling-Strategie den Bias zwischen den GCM-Ergebnissen und den Beobachtungsdaten erheblich reduziert und die Fehler in den Projektionen minimiert. Im dritten Schritt untersuchten wir die Stärke und die räumlichen Muster der Trends in den beobachteten und prognostizierten Klimaindizes auf der Grundlage herunterskalierter, hochauflösender täglicher Klimadaten. Sie können als Grundlage für künftige Folgenabschätzungen auf nationaler oder regionaler Ebene dienen. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen weitgehend signifikante und räumlich konsistente Trends bei den von der Temperatur abgeleiteten Extremindizes, während die niederschlagsbezogenen Extremindizes in Bezug auf die räumliche Verteilung, die Größenordnung und die statistische Signifikanzabdeckung heterogen sind. Die projizierten Änderungen der temperaturbezogenen Indizes werden von den Unsicherheiten in den GCMs dominiert, gefolgt von den Unsicherheiten in den SSPs. Im Gegensatz zu den temperaturbezogenen Indizes macht die Unsicherheit in der internen Klimavariabilität einen beträchtlichen Teil der Gesamtunsicherheit in den projizierten Trends aus. Viertens untersuchten wir die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die Erträge von Mais und Weizen auf regionaler Ebene durch Pflanzenmodellierung, wobei wir drei prozessbasierte Pflanzenmodelle kalibrierten und validierten, um das Design von nationalen Anpassungsstrategien in Äthiopien zu lenken. Unsere Analyse ergab, dass bei einem Szenario mit hohen Emissionen der mittlereWeizenertrag auf nationaler Ebene bis zum Ende des Jahrhunderts voraussichtlich um 4 % zurückgehen wird, während der Maisertrag voraussichtlich um 2,5 % steigen wird. Der CO2 Düngeeffekt würde die prognostizierten negativen Auswirkungen ausgleichen. Die Streuung der Pflanzenmodelle, gefolgt von den GCMs, wurde als größter Unsicherheitsfaktor der geschätzten Ertragsänderungen identifiziert. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass unsere Studie die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels in Äthiopien quantifiziert und die Bedeutung eines Multi-Modell-Ensemble-Ansatzes verdeutlicht. Sie zeigt die erheblichen Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die Weizenerträge in Äthiopien. Durch dieWeiterentwicklung und Verbesserung von Pflanzenmodellen könnte die Gesamtunsicherheit derprognostizierten Auswirkungen erheblichverringert werden

Micro watershed to basin scale impacts of widespread adoption of watershed management interventions in Blue Nile Basin

High population pressure, inappropriate agricultural policies, improper land-use planning, over-dependency on agriculture as source of livelihood and extreme dependence on natural resources are inducing deforestation, overgrazing, expansion of agriculture to marginal lands and steep slopes, declining agricultural productivity and resource-use conflicts in many parts of Blue Nile. Increased land degradation from poor agricultural practices and erosion results in increased siltation and the reduced water quality in the river basin. The rainfall, runoff and sediment are highly variable both in time and space. Poor water and land management upstream severely affect runoff characteristics and the quality of water reaching downstream. The result is a downward spiral of poverty and food insecurity for millions of people both within the upper catchment and downstream across international borders. Quantification of the erosion, sedimentation processes and evaluation of impacts of interventions are difficult tasks. This paper schematizes the Blue Nile Basin (BNB) at various spatial levels as micro watershed, watershed, sub-basin to basin. It is revealed that sediment in the river systems are temporally varying phenomenon and strongly related to the early onset of rainfall. The hydrographs of the systems shows that the peak of sediment reaches first followed by peak of rainfall and then runoff. Furthermore, the sediment cumulative curve shows that most of the sediment volume passes in the river in the first three months of the rainy season. The paper also considers a particular watershed to model runoff, sediment and impact of watershed intervention. The result shows that runoff can be reasonably simulated with calibration of R2=0.87 and validation of result of 0.82, and comparable sediment modelling results. The study also demonstrates, by undertaking spatial analysis using topographic, soil and land use parameters it is possible to identify the high sediment risk sub-watersheds. Impact of typical watershed intervention using various widths of vegetative filter and application on high erosion risk watersheds shows reduction of sediment yield from 52% to 74

Does Market Experience Attenuate Risk Aversion? Evidence from Landed Farm Households in Ethiopia

Risk preferences are important drivers of many relevant economic decisions of farm households. High risk aversion is a well-known trigger of "poverty traps" for farm households in developing countries. This paper analyzes the effect of market experience on risk aversion for a relatively large sample of landed farm households characterized by historically low mobility in Ethiopia. We measure risk aversion using lab-in-field experimental data, and relate it to actual market experience of household heads. We use an instrumental variable approach to address the issue of endogeneity due to possible self-selection into trade. We find that market experience attenuates risk aversion--farm households with greater market experience are more risk tolerant. Results are robust to using several alternative specifications, controlling for internal mobility, out-migration and other potential unobservables, and for violations to rational choice. Overall, this study provides strong empirical evidence that risk preferences endogenously change as a result of market experience, and can help design policies aiming to increase the productivity and efficiency of farm households.</p

Hip fracture types in Canadian men and women change differently with age: A population-level analysis

© the authors, publisher and licensee Libertas Academica Limited. Background: We have previously reported a gender difference in the occurrence of hip fracture type with age in our local population. In the current report, we have explored this phenomenon in a Canadian population using five years of data from a national administrative database. We have com-pared community-dwelling and institutionalized individuals to determine if frailty is important and has a differential effect on the type of hip fracture experienced.Methods: Hospitalization records from 2005 to 2009, in which the most responsible diagnosis, that is the diagnosis causing the admission to hospital, was a hip fracture, were obtained from the Discharge Abstract Database of the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Hip fracture type was identified using the Canadian Classification of Health Interventions and the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision, Canada (ICD-10-CA). Hip fracture proportions were calculated for the study period and stratified by age group and sex.Results: The relative proportion of intertrochanteric fractures in women rose from 35% in the youngest group (55-59 years) to 51% in the oldest group (84+ years; P, 0.0001). In men, the proportions remain relatively stable (47% and 44%, respectively). Community and institutionalized patients showed the same pattern.Conclusions: The change in the proportion of the two hip fracture types that occur in women but not men may point to differences in the etiology and consequently the approaches to prevention for the two fracture types. Level of frailty did not seem to be important

Vascular grafting strategies in coronary intervention

© 2014 Knight, Gillies and Mequanint. With the growing need for coronary revascularizations globally, several strategies to restore blood flow to the heart have been explored. Bypassing the atherosclerotic coronary arteries with autologous grafts, synthetic prostheses, and tissue-engineered vascular grafts continue to be evaluated in search of a readily available vascular graft with clinically acceptable outcomes. The development of such a vascular graft including tissue engineering approaches both in situ and in vitro is herein reviewed, facilitating a detailed comparison on the role of seeded cells in vascular graft patency

L’intégration des TIC en pédagogie dans les pays en voie de développement

Pour les pays en voie de développement tels que l’Éthiopie, la transformation du système éducatif par le numérique se heurte à des défis de taille, en raison, entre autres, d’un faible taux d’équipement en Internet et d’infrastructures de télécommunication fragiles. Cet article s’appuie sur les résultats d’une étude récente : seuls 20 % des établissements sont raccordés à Internet, et ce n’est que récemment que l’on a introduit les TIC dans l’enseignement secondaire, comme discipline du tronc commun, essentiellement pour apprendre aux élèves à utiliser les principaux logiciels et leurs applications de base. Les bénéfices des TIC pour favoriser l’éducation permanente, dans le secondaire et dans le supérieur, sont encore largement inexploités.For developing countries like Ethiopia, transforming the education system digitally brings huge challenges, due to sparse Internet penetration and fragile telecommunication infrastructures, among other things. This article draws on the findings of a recent study: only 20% of secondary schools are connected to the Internet, and information and communication technologies (ICT) have only recently been introduced into the core secondary curriculum, primarily to teach pupils the basics of everyday computer software. ICT’s potential to promote continuous learning both in secondary as well as higher education is still largely unexploited.Para unos países en vía de desarrollo tales como Etiopía, la transformación del sistema educativo por lo digital da con unos retos importantes con motivo —entre otros— de una tasa muy baja de equipamiento y de infraestructuras de telecomunicación frágiles. Este artículo se apoya en los resultados de un estudio reciente : sólo un 20 % de los establecimientos tienen conexión con internet, y solo fue recientemente cuando se introdujeron las TIC en la enseñanza secundaria como asignatura de tronco común, principalmente para aprender a los alumnos a utilizar los principales programas informáticos y sus aplicaciones de base. Los beneficios de las TIC para favorecer la educación permanente, en la enseñanza secundaria y superior no han sido aprovechados como lo merecen

Sol-gel derived tertiary bioactive glass–ceramic nanorods prepared via hydrothermal process and their composites with poly(Vinylpyrrolidone-Co-Vinylsilane)

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Bioactive glass (BG) nanoparticles have wide applications in bone repair due to their bone-bonding and biodegradable nature. In this work, nanometric rod-shaped ternary SiO2-CaO-P2O5 bioactive glass particles were prepared through sol-gel chemistry followed by a base-induced hydrothermal process at 130 ◦C and 170 ◦C for various times up to 36 h. This facile, low-temperature and surfactant-free hydrothermal process has shown to be capable of producing uniform nanorods and nanowires. One-dimensional growth of nanorods and the characteristics of siloxane bridging networks were dependent on the hydrothermal temperature and time. Hardened bioactive composites were prepared from BG nanorods and cryo-milled poly(vinylpyrrolidone-co-triethoxyvinylsilane) in the presence of ammonium phosphate as potential bone graft biomaterials. Covalent crosslinking has been observed between the organic and inorganic components within these composites. The ultimate compressive strength and modulus values increased with increasing co-polymer content, reaching 27 MPa and 500 MPa respectively with 30% co-polymer incorporation. The materials degraded in a controlled non-linear manner when incubated in phosphate-buffered saline from 6 h to 14 days. Fibroblast cell attachment and spreading on the composite were not as good as the positive control surfaces and suggested that they may require protein coating in order to promote favorable cell interactions