Genetic improvement of grain yield and quality in rice (Oryza sativa L.) in South Sudan.

Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Breeding. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2017.Abstract available in PDF file

The mental health treatment gap in South Sudan

No Abstract

The efficacy of revenue collection strategies in local government: the case of Yei River County, South Sudan

The study explores the Efficacy of Revenue Collection Strategies in Local Government as a Public Sector management tool for service provision in Yei River County – Republic of South Sudan. The main research question being pursued sought to find out the extent to which Revenue collection strategies can be an effective tool for public sector management and service provision in Yei River County. The study used both quantitative data (obtained through questionnaire survey) and qualitative data (through in-depth responses from County staff). The findings of the study seem to indicate that ineffective revenue collection strategies are being utilised by the local government officials. Some members of the communities and traders were still ignorant as to why they should be paying taxes which makes many of them to evade paying taxes. The study also reveals some challenges such as corrupt practices, poverty and illiteracy as some of the hindrances to effective revenue collection. However, there is a degree of success in revenue collection in the County as evidenced by the ongoing development activities such as urban road repairs which were financed by local taxes. A lot needs to be done in order to improve revenue collection in this County of Yei River County if services are to be delivered effectively and efficiently to the people. It is therefore strongly recommended that there is a need to put in place good educative measures to ensure that the citizens are informed about why they should be paying taxes to the County other than evading taxes and above all, the County need to strengthen the County Revenue Authority for better revenue collection

Patterns of Species Richness and Abundance in Badingilo National Park in South Sudan

The study was carried out to determine patterns of birds’ species richness, alpha and beta diversities; and abundance in Badingilo national park using a 10 m fixed-radius point count method. A total of 2670 individuals were recorded from 182 points in the park. The highest expected number of species (Jack1 estimator) was observed in the Riverine habitat and least was in the Agriculture and Human settlement habitat type. The total number of species observed in the park was 63; however Jack1 estimator indicated that there were 68 species in the park. The majority of the birds observed during the study were resident species, few migratory and Palaearctic bird species. Few birds observed in the park were abundant. The most abundant species was the village weaver (381 individuals), and the rarest species were black-bellied bustard, barn owl, black scimitar bill and tree pipit (one individual each)

Reaction of rice cultivars to a virulent rice yellow mottle virus strain in Uganda

Rice ( Oryza spp.) has long been an important food staple for many traditional rice growing communities. Key developments in efforts to improve rice production such as the development of NERICA varieties have been widely recognised. Nonetheless, emerging diseases such as the Rice Yellow Mottle Virus sobemovirus (RYMV) undermine dissemination of new technologies and sustained productivity of the crop. The RYMV is highly variable and several resistance-breaking strains have been identified. Appropriate sources of resistance to RYMV should be identified and characterised in order to pyramid genes for both complete and partial resistance. In this study, reaction of nine (9) rice cultivars to RYMV virulent strain in Uganda was determined. Four upland and three lowland NERICA varieties, an O. Sativa lowland variety, Gigante and IR64 were observed. Isolates of RYMV were collected from three "hot-spots" in Uganda (Lira, Luweero and Iganga). The isolate from Iganga was most virulent on RYMV susceptible cultivar (IR64), and thus used to constitute study treatment evaluated in the study. Cultivars were potted and raised in a screenhouse experiment arranged in a randomised complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates. Significant differences for relative area under disease progress curve (RAUDPC) (P 640.01) were detected among the cultivars. Similarly, significant positive correlations (P 640.05) were observed between mean disease score and percentage reduction in grain weight and between percentage grain weight and reduction in plant height. Susceptible cultivars were characterised based on premature death, and significantly reduced grain weight and plant height (P 640.01 and P 640.05), respectively. These results demonstrated the aggressive nature of the specific RYMV strain, and provided evidence with regard to the importance of grain weight and plant height in evaluating RYMV disease resistance.Le riz ( Oryza spp.) a \ue9t\ue9 depuis longtemps un aliment de base pour plusieurs communaut\ue9s cultivatrices de riz. Les d\ue9veloppements-cl\ue9s dans l\u2019effort d\u2019am\ue9liorer la production rizicole, tel que le d\ue9veloppement des vari\ue9t\ue9s NERICA, ont \ue9t\ue9 largement reconnus. N\ue9anmoins, l\u2019apparition des maladies telle que le virus de la panachure jaune de type sobemovirus contraint la diss\ue9mination des nouvelles technologies et la productivit\ue9 soutenue de la culture. Le virus de la panachure jaune du riz est tr\ue8s variable et plusieurs souches virulentes ont \ue9t\ue9 identifi\ue9es. De sources appropri\ue9es de r\ue9sistance \ue0 la maladie de la panichure jaune du riz devront \ueatre identifi\ue9es et caract\ue9ris\ue9es afin de pyramider les g\ue8nes pour une r\ue9sistance complete et/ou partielle. Dans cette \ue9tude, la r\ue9action de 9 cultivars de riz au virus virulent de la panachure jaune en Ouganda \ue9tait d\ue9termin\ue9e. Quatre vari\ue9t\ue9s NERICA de montagne et trois vari\ue9t\ue9s NERICA des bas-fonds, ainsi qu\u2019une vari\ue9t\ue9 des bas-fonds de type O. sativa, Gigante et IR64, \ue9taient observ\ue9es. Les isolats du virus de la panachure jaune du riz \ue9taient collect\ue9s des \u201czones dangereuses\u201d de l\u2019Ouganda, notamment Lira, Luwero et Iganga. L\u2019isolat de l\u2019Iganga \ue9tait le plus virulent au cultivar IR64 susceptible au virus de la panachure jaune et donc \ue9tait utilis\ue9 pour constituer le traitement \ue9valu\ue9 dans cette \ue9tude. Les cultivars \ue9taient cultiv\ue9s en pots dans une serre et arranges en blocs al\ue9atoires complets avec trois r\ue9p\ue9titions. Des diff\ue9rences significatives pour la surface relative sous la courbe progressive de la maladie (P 640.01) \ue9taient d\ue9tect\ue9es parmi les cultivars. De fa\ue7on similaire, des corr\ue9lations positives significatives (P 640.05) \ue9taient observ\ue9es entre les moyennes des cotations de la maladie et le pourcentage de r\ue9duction du poids des grains, et entre le pourcentage du poids des grains et la r\ue9duction de la hauteur de plant. Les cultivars susceptibles \ue9taient caract\ue9ris\ue9s sur base de la mort pr\ue9matur\ue9e, et la r\ue9duction significative du poids des grains et la hauteur de plant (P 640.01 et P 640.05), respectivement. Ces r\ue9sultats ont d\ue9montr\ue9 la nature aggressive du virus de la panachure jaune et fournissent l\u2019 \ue9vidence de l\u2019omportance du poids en grains et la hauteur de plants dans l\u2019\ue9valuation de la r\ue9sistance \ue0 la maladie de la panachure jaune du riz

Differential expression of mycobacterial antigen MPT64, apoptosis and inflammatory markers in multinucleated giant cells and epithelioid cells in granulomas caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The development of granulomas is a major histopathological feature of tuberculosis. Very little information is available concerning the physiology and functions of different cell types in the tuberculous granulomas. The aim of this study was to compare the epithelioid cells (ECs) and multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) in the granulomas caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex organisms. Lymph node biopsies from 30 cases of lymphadenitis were studied for expression of the secreted mycobacterial protein MPT64, caspase 3 as a marker of apoptosis, apoptosis-related proteins (Fas Ligand, Fas and Bax) and inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-10, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), tumour necrosis factor-α and interferon-γ) by immunohistochemistry. MGCs more often contained M. tuberculosis secretory antigen MPT64 (p < 0.001) and expressed more TGF-β (p = 0.004) than ECs. The total number of apoptotic MGCs was higher than the number of apoptotic ECs (p = 0.04). Interestingly, there was a significant negative correlation between apoptosis and MPT64 expression in MGCs (r = −0.569, p = 0.003), but not in ECs, implying that the heavy antigen load would lead to inhibition of apoptosis in these cells. When compared with ECs, higher percentage of MGCs expressed Fas Ligand and Fas (p < 0.004). The role of MGCs may thus be different from surrounding ECs and these cells by virtue of higher mycobacterial antigen load, more TGF-β and reduced apoptosis may contribute towards persistence of infection

Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology functional impairment among people with severe and enduring mental disorder in rural Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Purpose: Evidence regarding functional impairment in people with severe mental disorders (SMD) is sparse in low and middle-income countries. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with functional impairment in people with enduring SMD in a rural African setting. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the baseline of a health service intervention trial. A total of 324 participants were recruited from an existing communityascertained cohort of people with SMD (n= 218), and attendees at the Butajira General Hospital psychiatric clinic (n= 106). Inclusion criteria defined people with SMD who had ongoing need for care: those who were on psychotropic medication, currently symptomatic or had a relapse in the preceding two years. The World Health Organization Disability Assessment schedule (WHODAS-2.0) and the Butajira Functioning Scale (BFS), were used to assess functional impairment. Multivariable negative binomial regression models were fitted to investigate the association between demographic, socio-economic and clinical characteristics, and functional impairment. Results: Increasing age, being unmarried, rural residence, poorer socio-economic status, symptom severity, continuous course of illness, medication side effects and internalized stigma were associated with functional impairment across self reported and caregiver responses for both the WHODAS and the BFS. Diagnosis per se was not associated consistently with functional impairment. Conclusion: To optimize functioning in people with chronic SMD in this setting, services need to target residual symptoms, poverty, medication side effects and internalized stigma. Testing the impact of community interventions to promote recovery will be useful. Advocacy for more tolerable treatment options is warranted

Impact of district mental health care plans on symptom severity and functioning of patients with priority mental health conditions: the Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) cohort protocol

Background: The Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) sought to implement mental health care plans (MHCP) for four priority mental disorders (depression, alcohol use disorder, psychosis and epilepsy) into routine primary care in five low- and middle-income country districts. The impact of the MHCPs on disability was evaluated through establishment of priority disorder treatment cohorts. This paper describes the methodology of these PRIME cohorts. Methods: One cohort for each disorder was recruited across some or all five districts: Sodo (Ethiopia), Sehore (India) , Chitwan (Nepal), Dr. Kenneth Kaunda (South Africa) and Kamuli (Uganda), comprising 17 treatment cohorts in total (N = 2182). Participants were adults residing in the districts who were eligible to receive mental health treatment according to primary health care staff, trained by PRIME facilitators as per the district MHCP. Patients who screened positive for depression or AUD and who were not given a diagnosis by their clinicians (N = 709) were also recruited into comparison cohorts in Ethiopia, India, Nepal and South Africa. Caregivers of patients with epilepsy or psychosis were also recruited (N = 953), together with or on behalf of the person with a mental disorder, depending on the district. The target sample size was 200 (depression and AUD), or 150 (psychosis and epilepsy) patients initiating treatment in each recruiting district. Data collection activities were conducted by PRIME research teams. Participants completed follow-up assessments after 3 months (AUD and depression) or 6 months (psychosis and epilepsy), and after 12 months. Primary outcomes were impaired functioning, using the 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS), and symptom severity, assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (depression), the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUD), and number of seizures (epilepsy). Discussion: Cohort recruitment was a function of the clinical detection rate by primary health care staff, and did not meet all planned targets. The cross-country methodology reflected the pragmatic nature of the PRIME cohorts: while the heterogeneity in methods of recruitment was a consequence of differences in health systems and MHCPs, the use of the WHODAS as primary outcome measure will allow for comparison of functioning recovery across sites and disorders