Inheritance of Seed Yield, Its Components and Harvest Index in Flax (Linum usitatissimum) Crosses

From a historical standpoint, flax or linseed is one of the oldest crops currently under cultivation. Flax is widely adapted to a range of climatic and edaphic conditions. Cultivation of flax in the U.S. started during the colonial period following the settlers westward migration to the Dakotas. In the U.S., flax is an important oilseed crop being used primarily as a drying oil for industrial coatings. At present, the major flax producing states are the Dakotas and Minnesota. The concentration of flax acreage in those states has been attributed to favorable climatic conditions. However, the average seed yield of flax in the north central states is comparatively low i.e. 501-564 kg/ha, compared to seed yield of 2500-3136 kg/ha attained in the Imperial Valley of California. Limitations to seed yield have been a major concern of researchers trying to develop high yielding flax cultivars. Researchers involved in flax improvement have provided some information on factors associated with low seed yield in flax. Lay et al suggested concentration on several physiological parameters to identify superior genotypes. Dybing stated that physiological or biochemical studies broaden the scope of understanding on the factors limiting flax seed yield. Comstock concluded that there is a wide enough array of genetic diversity in the Flax World Collection, which currently consists of over 3000 accessions, to meet any breeding objective. Yield is a complex trait influenced by a genotype, its environment and their interactions. Seed yield can be viewed as the product of seeds per boll, bolls per unit area and seed size. Progress for the improvement of seed yield may be more rapid by selecting for seed yield-correlated components. Usually, seed yield has a low heritability and is governed by a large number of genes. Its low heritability makes it difficult to attain fast and rapid yield improvement. Knowledge of the heritability of seed yield and its components, plus their correlations, is necessary to design a successful selection scheme for developing high yielding and stable cultivars. A knowledge of harvest index may also aid in identifying genotypes. with efficient translocating ability of the assimilate from leaves, stems and roots to the seed. This study was conducted using F 2 derived lines in F 6 from crosses of four flax lines differing in seed yield potential. The principle objectives of the study were: 1. To estimate the magnitude of genetic variation and heritability of seed yield, its components and harvest index in four flax crosses. 2. To determine the associations to seed yield of its components and harvest index

Knowledge, Perception, and Management Skills of Mothers with Under-five Children about Diarrhoeal Disease in Indigenous and Resettlement Communities in Assosa District, Western Ethiopia

As primary caregiver to under-five children in Ethiopia, mothers\u2019 knowledge, perception, and management skills are important to minimize the effects of morbidity and mortality associated with diarrhoeal diseases. A community-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Abramo and Megele 37 kebeles (the last administration division) in Assosa district of western Ethiopia in July 2010. Quantitative data were obtained by a structured questionnaire from 232 randomly-selected mothers having children aged less than five years regarding their knowledge, perception, and management. Qualitative data were also collected by arranging four focus group discussions involving mothers from the two communities. The prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases among under-five children was 33.2%, and the knowledge of mothers about the causes, transmission, and prevention of diarrhoea in the study area was 37.5%. The prevalence of diarrhoeal disease was higher in the settlement area whereas mothers\u2019 knowledge was better in the indigenous community; 62.9% of mothers were categorized as having good attitude on causes, transmission, and prevention of diarrhoeal disease. Community water source, water storage container, and knowledge of mothers remained a strong predictor of diarrhoeal morbidity after conducting logistic regression analysis (OR=8.4, CI 3.59-31.85; OR=2.2, CI 1.02-4.89; and OR=3.62, CI 1.23-4.71 respectively). Diarrhoeal morbidity was high in the study areas. On the contrary, knowledge and attitude of mothers, recognizing the danger sign of dehydration due to diarrhoea, and the prevention and management of childhood diarrhoeal diseases were not adequate. Information, education and communication strategy may help increase the knowledge and create positive attitude among mothers regarding the cause, prevention, and management of diarrhoea

Prescription auditing based on World Health Organization (WHO) prescribing indicators: A case of Dilla University referral hospital

Introduction: Rational use of drugs requires that patients receive medications appropriate to their clinical needs, in doses that meet their own individual requirements for an adequate period of time, at the lowest cost to them and their community. The issues of irrational use of medicines is global and that a global approach coordinated by WHO with more vigorous implementation of leadership and evidence based advocacy of rational use of medicine is essential Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive and quantitative study was conducted at Dilla University Referral Hospital to determine the current prescribing practices. 1440 prescription were selected using systematic random sampling and reviewed retrospectively for a 2-year period from from September 01/2016 to August 31/ 2018 using prescriptions and Prescription registry. Results: The average number of drugs prescribed per prescription was 1.813  ranging from 1 and 6. 1437(99.79%), 1287(89.38%), 1392 (96.67%), 1428 (99.17%) and 0(0%) of the analyzed prescriptions had name of the patient, date, medical record number, age and address of the patients respectively. Antibiotic and injection was prescribed in 842(58.47%) and 94(6.53%) of encounters respectively. The Percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name and from an essential drug list was 85.33% (n=2227) and 97.43% (n=2543), respectively. Of the total 2610 drugs, 2431(93.14%) drugs were actually dispensed. Conclusion: Polypharmacy, percentage of encounters with with injection and percentage of drugs from essential drug list was within acceptable range. The prescribing practice for antibiotics and generic medicines shows significant deviation from WHO. Keywords: Prescription auditing, WHO prescribing indicators,  Dilla University Referral Hospital

RESULTS OF A FARM AND MARKET SURVEY FOR HMONG SPECIALTY CROP FARMERS IN THE MINNEAPOLIS, ST. PAUL METRO AREA

This report is part of a larger project, "Risk Management Education and Farm Management Development Program for Hmong Specialty Crop Farmers in the Minneapolis, St. Paul Metro Area," funded by the Risk Management Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The project was designed to assist Hmong farmers in the Twin Cities area in improving their production and management practices so they are able to increase their economic viability and reduce their exposure to risk. As part of the overall project, 62 Hmong farmers and 69 customers at farmers markets were surveyed to determine the local specialty crop production and market conditions. The findings of these 2 surveys are contained in the report. The median size of the 62 farms surveyed farms was 3 acres. Forty-two percent of those farmers responding reported total farm product sales between $3,000 and$8,999. Few farmers indicated they were familiar with crop insurance programs. Sixty-eight percent of the 19 farmers responding (or 21% of the 62 surveyed) said they were familiar with multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI). Only 12% of the 50 farmers responding had bought crop insurance in 2002. The most frequently indicated needs for future education programs were production oriented: weed control, insect control, fertilization, and pesticide safety. All of the 69 customers surveyed regularly bought some kind of vegetables or herbs. Over half of the customers bought potatoes, snap beans, peppers, sweet corn, carrots, cucumbers, basil, and winter squash. Eighty-eight percent of customers indicated they typically spend between $10 and$29 on vegetables and herbs during each visit to a farmers' market.Crop Production/Industries,

ODIN: A dataspace management system

ODIN is a system that supports the incremental pay-as-you-go integration of data sources into dataspaces and provides user-friendly querying mechanisms on top of them. We describe its main characteristics and underlying assumptions, including the user interactions required. Odin’s novelty lies in a largely automated bottom-up approach (i.e., driven by the sources at hand) that includes the user in the loop for disambiguation purposes. The on-site demonstration will feature an ongoing project with the World Health Organization (WHO). Online demo and videos: www.essi.upc.edu/dtim/odin/Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and associated factors among type 2 diabetic patients in southwest Ethiopia

Background: Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) among type 2 diabetic patients is completely ignored in developing regions like Africa paving the way for public health and economic burden in the region. Therefore, the main objective of this research was to evaluate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and associatedfactors among type 2 diabetic patients in Southwestern Ethiopia attending Diabetic Clinic of Jimma University Specialized Hospital (JUSH).Methods: Facility based cross-sectional study design was used. Anthropometry, fatty liver (using utrasonography), liver enzymes, and lipid profiles were measured among type 2 diabetic patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were assessed using standard questionnaires.Results: Ninety-six (96) type 2 diabetic patients were enrolled and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease prevalence was 73%. Of nonalcoholic fatty Liver disease documented patients, 35.4%, 31.3% and 6.3% exhibited mild, moderate and severe fatty liver diseases, respectively. Alanine aminotransferase (p ≤0.001), Triacyglycerol (p ≤0.001), total bilirubin (p ≤0.05), direct bilirubin (p ≤0.05) and diabetic duration (p ≤0.01) were significantly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease among type 2 diabetic patients. The Aspartate aminotransferase/ Alanine aminotransferase ratio among non alcoholic fatty liver disease patients was greater than one.Conclusions: The magnitude of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is high among study groups and it needs urgent action by healthcare systems. Therefore, targeted treatment approach inclusive of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease should be designed.Keywords: Africa, Ethiopia, Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Type 2 DM, Liver Enzymes, Lipid Profil

ARDI: automatic generation of RDFS models from heterogeneous data sources

The current wealth of information, typically known as Big Data, generates a large amount of available data for organisations. Data Integration provides foundations to query disparate data sources as if they were integrated into a single source. However, current data integration tools are far from being useful for most organisations due to the heterogeneous nature of data sources, which represents a challenge for current frameworks. To enable data integration of highly heterogeneous and disparate data sources, this paper proposes a method to extract the schema from semi-structured (such as JSON and XML) and structured (such as relational) data sources, and generate an equivalent RDFS representation. The output of our method complements current frameworks and reduces the manual workload required to represent the input data sources in terms of the integration canonical data model. Our approach consists of production rules at the meta-model level that guarantee the correctness of the model translations. Finally, a tool for implementing our approach has been developed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Barriers, facilitators and motivators of electronic community health information system use among health workers in Ethiopia

BackgroundThe electronic community health information system (eCHIS) has been implemented in Ethiopia to support health services delivered by community health workers. Despite the many benefits of digitizing community health information systems, the implementation of the eCHIS is challenged by many barriers resulting in low uptake. This study assessed the barriers, facilitators, and motivators of eCHIS use among health workers with focus on health extension workers (HEWs) in Ethiopia.MethodsPhenomenological approach was used to assess the barriers, facilitators and motivators of eCHIS use in Amhara, Harari, Oromia, Sidama, South West Ethiopia and Southern Nation Nationalities and People's regions of Ethiopia. Data were collected from 15–29 May 2022. A total of 54 face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted among HEWs, HEW supervisors, health information technicians and managers. The interviews were audiotaped using Open Data Kit, transcribed verbatim and translated into English. OpenCode 4.03 software was used for coding and categorizing the data. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.ResultsThe HEWs and other eCHIS users reported lack of infrastructure and resources; poor quality of training, follow-up, and supervision; parallel recording using the manual and electronic system; and HEWs' workload as barriers hindering eCHIS use. Data quality, retrievability, and traceability; tablet portability; encouragement from supervisors; and positive image in the community resulting from HEWs using tablets in their routine activities were the main facilitators of eCHIS use.ConclusionThe study identified various barriers that adversely affect the use of eCHIS. An integrated and coordinated approach to eCHIS implementation that encompasses removing the barriers, and reinforcing facilitators is required

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Mapping geographical inequalities in oral rehydration therapy coverage in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000-17

Background Oral rehydration solution (ORS) is a form of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhoea that has the potential to drastically reduce child mortality; yet, according to UNICEF estimates, less than half of children younger than 5 years with diarrhoea in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) received ORS in 2016. A variety of recommended home fluids (RHF) exist as alternative forms of ORT; however, it is unclear whether RHF prevent child mortality. Previous studies have shown considerable variation between countries in ORS and RHF use, but subnational variation is unknown. This study aims to produce high-resolution geospatial estimates of relative and absolute coverage of ORS, RHF, and ORT (use of either ORS or RHF) in LMICs. Methods We used a Bayesian geostatistical model including 15 spatial covariates and data from 385 household surveys across 94 LMICs to estimate annual proportions of children younger than 5 years of age with diarrhoea who received ORS or RHF (or both) on continuous continent-wide surfaces in 2000-17, and aggregated results to policy-relevant administrative units. Additionally, we analysed geographical inequality in coverage across administrative units and estimated the number of diarrhoeal deaths averted by increased coverage over the study period. Uncertainty in the mean coverage estimates was calculated by taking 250 draws from the posterior joint distribution of the model and creating uncertainty intervals (UIs) with the 2 center dot 5th and 97 center dot 5th percentiles of those 250 draws. Findings While ORS use among children with diarrhoea increased in some countries from 2000 to 2017, coverage remained below 50% in the majority (62 center dot 6%; 12 417 of 19 823) of second administrative-level units and an estimated 6 519 000 children (95% UI 5 254 000-7 733 000) with diarrhoea were not treated with any form of ORT in 2017. Increases in ORS use corresponded with declines in RHF in many locations, resulting in relatively constant overall ORT coverage from 2000 to 2017. Although ORS was uniformly distributed subnationally in some countries, within-country geographical inequalities persisted in others; 11 countries had at least a 50% difference in one of their units compared with the country mean. Increases in ORS use over time were correlated with declines in RHF use and in diarrhoeal mortality in many locations, and an estimated 52 230 diarrhoeal deaths (36 910-68 860) were averted by scaling up of ORS coverage between 2000 and 2017. Finally, we identified key subnational areas in Colombia, Nigeria, and Sudan as examples of where diarrhoeal mortality remains higher than average, while ORS coverage remains lower than average. Interpretation To our knowledge, this study is the first to produce and map subnational estimates of ORS, RHF, and ORT coverage and attributable child diarrhoeal deaths across LMICs from 2000 to 2017, allowing for tracking progress over time. Our novel results, combined with detailed subnational estimates of diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality, can support subnational needs assessments aimed at furthering policy makers' understanding of within-country disparities. Over 50 years after the discovery that led to this simple, cheap, and life-saving therapy, large gains in reducing mortality could still be made by reducing geographical inequalities in ORS coverage. Copyright (c) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe