SURVEY OF IMMUNIZATION LEVELS AND FACTORS AFFECTING PROGRAM PARTICIPATION IN KEFFA, SOUTH- WESTERN ETHIOPIA

ABSTRACT: To date there has been no systematic study on factors affecting participation in EPI in Keffa (Presently Illubabor) region. Using the EPI methodology and a structured questionnaire, a survey of 212 children below 2 years and their respondents was carried out to determine the levels of immunization coverage and identify factors associated with program participation during the period December 1987 to April 1988. it was found that in EPI service sites, 65.6% of study children were fully immunized, 29.2% partially immunized and 5.2% not immunized at all. For index mothers, the coverage for the second dose of TT was 31.1%. Extrapolation of the findings to eligibles of the entire region suggested only about 8% of children and 7% of pregnant women were protected. Of the variables selected for examination, factors related to health workers, health institutions, and those concerning consumers have shown significant effects. It is suggested that realistic social-mobilization, the application of modern principles of management techniques, practical public education and regular monitoring and evaluation will improve immunization coverage

Performance trials on different rates and ratios of N and P fertilisation in Ethiopia to inform field-specific Maize-Nutrient-Management advisory

This report of the Scaling Readiness of Nutrient Management decision Support Tools project focuses on agronomic trials that serve to inform the development of scalable, field-specific advisory for maize farmers in Ethiopia. These trials were conducted to generate additional information required to make a mobile phone-based nutrient decision support tool – Maize-Nutrient-Manager – more scalable in the context of institutional limitations in fertilizer availability and distribution in Ethiopia. The focus of the trials is on establishing proper N:P ratio’s for different fertilization rates with the fertilizers available to farmers in West-Shewa and Jimma (two major maize belts in Ethiopia). The trials were conducted with additional funding from the TAMASA project and in collaboration with EIAR. As the latter institute is involved in conducting fertilizer trials and the development of recommendations, this collaboration also aimed at forming an appropriate entry point for institutionalization of the decision support tool that is being developed

Patterns of prescription in Jimma Hospital

Abstract: A total of 2170 prescriptions were recorded over a period of one year using structured questionnaire to systematically study drug-prescription patterns in Jimma Hospital. The prescription patterns demonstrated 94.8% for essential drugs and 75.2% for generic prescribing. The average number of drugs per prescription was 1.59 and the cost per prescription indicated 3.28 Birr. The proportion of prescriptions with antimicrobial combination accounted for 2.72%. The most frequently prescribed agents were antimicrobials 33.1%. The proportion of prescriptions with injection was 20.2%. Of the major diseases, Respiratory Tract Infections accounted for 13.6% of the prescriptions. The findings indicated that there were good signs of rational drug prescribing as noted by low average number of drugs per prescription and high proportion of generic prescribing that matched with prevalent disease patterns, although, there seemed to be problems with antimicrobial combinations and high frequency of injections. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 1997;11(3):263-267

Blessing Expressions in Rayya Tigrinya: Semantic and Pragmatic Aspects

The Rayya speech community, a speaker of the North Ethio-Semitic Tigrinya language and inhabiting the Southern Tigray Zone in Ethiopia, has a long tradition of blessings ingrained in their social fabric. A blessing, which is an inclusive, efficacious, and power-oriented speech act, deals with benedictions and compliments and is used to demonstrate the good disposition of the addressor to the addressee/s. In light of this, this study attempted to provide a descriptive account of the semantics and pragmatics of blessing expressions in Rayya Tigrinya, a variety of Tigrinya. Accordingly, blessing expressions’ denotative and connotative meanings used in general and particular contexts were presented and discussed. To this end, a total of twenty-four key partakers, ten males and fourteen females, aged 45-85, were purposefully selected. The obtained natural data via semi-structured interviews and participant observation were checked out and validated through introspection. The collected data were then described and analyzed through a linguistic descriptive method. The results revealed that blessing expressions are predominantly metaphorical, devoid of their literal meanings. Security, peace, love, health, wealth, success, happiness, lineage, and unity, all of which are basic, are the most general and recurrent subjects expounded in the blessing expressions used in both contexts. Throughout the given instances, blessing expressions are made either implicitly or explicitly appealing to the supernatural for the good wishes to be effective, which also makes them religious

Investigation of the interfaces of solid electrolyte based supercapacitors and batteries

Interfaces of solid electrolyte and electrode were studied for a possible supercaps assembling. Three different electrolytes with Au, Pt and LiCOO2 electrodes were treated in different arrangements

Maize-Nutrient-Manager: A mobile phone application for field-specific, balanced nutrient management advisory

To increase productivity and profitability, while limiting nutrient losses and related GHG-emissions, African smallholders need more tailored fertilizer advice. Yet, such advice critically hinges upon – largely lacking – field-level management data, as management is key to efficient fertilizer use. The Maize- Nutrient-Manager (MNM) mobile phone application enables collection of such data at scale, and directly converts this data into actionable advice for the farmer. Focusing on field-level management data, MNM can identify those management practices that are currently imperative for enhancing smallholder farmers’ efficient use of fertilizers in their locality, thereby increasing productivity while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This document describes the background, design principles and development process of then MNM mobile phone application, as well as its pilot use in advisory practice in the Mbozi and Momba districts of Songwe region, Tanzania

The Response of Hybrid Maize (Zea mays) to N and P Fertilizers on Nitisols of Yeki District, Sheka Zone

and Environmental Sciences, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia; 3CIMMYT, Addis Ababa አህፅሮትበኢትዮጵያ ዝቅተኛ የአፈርለምነት በተለይም ናይትሮጅን እና ፎስፎረስ፣ ለሰብል ምርታማነትን ለመጨመር ማነቆ የሆኑ ንጥረ ነገሮች ናቸው፡፡ በዘልማዳዊ ናትሮጂን እናፎስፎረስ ማዳበረያ ምክረሃሳብ ምክኒያት በኢትዮጵያ በብሔራዊ ደረጃ የተዳቀለ የበቆሎ ዝርያ ምርት ዘላቂ እና አጥጋቢ አይደለም፡፡ ስለዚህ የናይተሮጂን እና ፎስፎረስ ማዳበረያን መጠን እና አጠቃቀም በበቆሎ ምርት ላይ አጥጋቢ ምላሽ ለመፈለግ በደቡብ ምዕራብ ኢትዮጵያ የኪ ወረዳበ 2008 ዓ.ም ሁለት የተለያዩ ቦታዎች ላይ የመስክ ሙከራ አድረገን ነበር፡፡ ጥናቱ ሁለት ዓይነት ሙከራዎችን ያካተተ ነበር፤ የመጀመሪያው ጥናት ሰባት የተለያዩ የናይትሮጂን ማዳበሪያ ደረጃዎች ማልትም 0፤ 23፤ 46፤ 69፤ 92፤ 115 እና 138 ኪሎ ግራም በሄክታር ለእያንዳንዳቸው 30 ኪሎ ግራም ፎስፈረስ በሄክታር በመጨመር፤ ሁለተኛው ጥናት ደግሞ ሰባት የተለያዩ የፎስፈረስ ማዳበሪያ ደረጃዎችን ማለትም 0፤ 10፤ 20፤ 30፤ 40፤ 50 እና 60 ኪሎግራም በሄክታር እያንዳንዳቸው 92 ኪሎ ግራም ናይትሮጂን በሄክታር የያዘ ነበር፡፡ እነዚህ የናይትሮጂን እና የፎስፎረስ ደረጃዎች በአራት ረድፎች ውስጥ የተደረደሩ ሲሆን በእያንዳንዱ ረድፍ ሁለም የማዳበሪያ ደረጃዎች የዘፈቀዲዊ አኳኋን እንዱቀመጡተ ደርጓል፡፡ ውጤቶቹ የሚያሳዩት የናይትሮጂን እና የፎስፎረስ ደረጃዎች በበቆሎ ምርት፤ ፎስፎረስ እና ናይትሮጅን ንጠረ ነገሮችን የመጠቀም አቅም እና ዘዴ ላይ ከፍተኛ ተጽዕኖ ያሳደረ መሆኑን ነው፡፡ በአጠቃላይ ፎስፎረስ እና ናይትሮጅን ማዳበሪያ ደረጃዎች በከፍተኛ ፍጥነት ሲጨምሩ ፎስፎረስ እና ናይትሮጅን አጠቃቀም ፍጆታ ይቀንሳል፡፡ ፎስፎረስ እና ናይትሮጅን ማዳበሪዎችን መጨመር በሁለቱም ቦታዎች ላይ ከፍተኛ የሆነ የበቆሎ የጥራጥሬ መጠን፤ የ 1000 ጥራጥሬዎች ክብደት እና ከመሬት በላይ ምርት ጨምሩዋል፡፡ ከፍተኛ የሆነ ምርት ማለትም 8093 ኪሎ ግራም በቆሎ በሄክታር በቴፒእና 8158 ኪሎ ግራም በቆሎ በሄክታር በአዲስ አለም የማምረት አቅምከ 92  እና 69 ኪሎ ገራምና ይትሮጂን ማዳበሪያ በሄክታር በመጨመር በቅደም ተከተል ተገኝቷል፡፡ከፍተኛ ምርት ማለትም 8918 ኪ.ግ በሄክታር በቴፒ እና 8298 ኪ.ግ በሄክታር በአዲስአለም፤ በሁለቱም ቦታዎች 40 ኪ.ግ ፎስፎረስ በሄክታር በመጨመር ማግኘት ተችሉዋል፡፡ በሁለቱም ቦታዎች 69 ኪሎ ግራም ናይትሮጂን በሄክታር፤ እንዲሁም 30 እና 40 ኪሎ ገራም ፎስፎረስ በሄክታር በመጨመር በአዲስአለም እና ቴፒ በቅደም ተከተል በጣም ብዙ ትርፍ ተገኝቷል፡፡ Abstract Low soil fertility, particularly nitrogen(N)and Phosphorus(P) are among the most yield-limiting nutrients in Ethiopia. Due to blanket NP application at the national level, the response of hybrid maize in Ethiopia is inconsistent and not satisfactory. Hence, a field experiment was initiated to investigate the response of hybrid maize (Zea mays L.) to the application of N and P fertilizer rates and their use efficiency on Nitososl. The study comprised two sets of experiments set I had seven levels of N each with30 kg P ha-1(0, 23, 46, 69, 92, 115 and 138 kg N ha-1) while set II had seven levels of phosphorus each with 92 kg N ha-1(0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 kg P ha-1). Both sets of experiments were replicated in two locations. The treatments were laid out separately in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Results showed that N and P rates of application significantly influenced yield and yield components, uptake and nutrient use efficiency. Generally, N and P use efficiency decreased with increased N and P fertilizer rates. Application of NP significantly increased the number of Kernels Cob-1, 1000-kernel weight, and above-ground dry biomass by at both locations. The maximum maize grain yield of 8093 kg ha-1at Tepi and 8158 kg ha-1at Addis Alem were obtained from 92kg N ha-1and 69kg N ha-1, respectively. The maximum grain yields of 8918kg ha-1at Tepi and 8298 kg ha-1at Addis Alem were produced by the application of 40kg Pha-1for both sites. Applications of 69kg Nha-1 at both sites, and 30 and 40 kg P ha-1were found to be most profitable rates at Addis Alem and Tepi, respectively

Child health problems in Ethiopia

1. Global situation or child health The world population is growing at an alarming rate and particularly so in the developing nations. Over 80% of the world's children live in the developing world (1) where child mortality and morbidity rates are the highest. Each year about 14 million under-five children die from malnutrition and infection, i.e. , 40,000 daily or 2000 per hour, of which 98 % occur in the developing countries (1). The main causes of mortality in these countries are diarrhoeal diseases, pneumonia, perinatal and neonatal problems, measles, neonatal tetanus and malaria (Table 1), over 60% of which are preventable at low cost in these countries (2). In 1980, an estimated five million children under 5 years of age, died as a consequence of diarrhoeal disease (3). After the introduction of ORT, a quarter-century ago, over one million young lives are now being saved a year .Still over two million under-five children in the world's poorest neighborhoods die necessarily every year of diarrhoeal diseases (4

Research Based Mathematics Problem Solving and Proving skills Competences

Research findings indicate that addressing problem solving and proving activities each day in the class would affect the thinking and reasoning skills of the students. We discovered that the students became more adept at mathematics problem solving and proving mathematical statements as they practiced various types of mathematical problems and mathematical statements. We also discovered that students worked more diligently on problems of interest to them. Also, some problems are better solved individually, and some are more geared as a group activity. We also proved that they develop the expected skills competences as they practices solving various mathematics problems and proving various mathematical statements