Effects of Seedling Type and Age on The Yield and Yield-Related Traits of Transplanted Maize (Zea mays L.) in Burie District, Northwestern Ethiopia

አህፅሮት ይህ የመስክ ሙከራ የተሰራው በቡሬ ወረዳ እንደ ጎርጎሮሲያኑ የዘመን አቆጣጠር 2018 የክረምት ወቅት ሲሆን የዚህ ጥናት ዓላማዎችም የበቆሎን ችግኝ አፍልቶ በማዛመት የዕድገትና የምርት አሰጣጡ ላይ ያለውን ተፅዕኖ ለማየት ነው። ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ በቡሬ ወረዳ ክረምቱ ቶሎ የመውጣትና ርጥበቱ ቶሎ የመድረቅ በዚህም የተነሳ የበቆሎ ምርት መቀነስ የተለመደ እየሆነ መጥቷል። ይህ ሙከራ የተለያዩ ሁለት የችግኝ አፈላል ዘዴዎች (መደብ እና በፕላስቲክ ላይ) እንዲሁም አምስት (ከ1 እስከ 5 የእውነተኛ ቅጠል) የችግኝ የዕድገት ደረጃን እና የተለመደውን በቀጥታ መዝራት እንደ ማወዳደሪያነት በማካተት ራንደማይዝድ ኮምፕሌት ብሎክ ዲዛይን (RCBD) የሚባል ቴክኒክ በመጠቀም በሶስት ድግግሞሽ ተሰርቷል። በተለያዩ የምርት መለኪያ መንገዶች እና በኢኮኖሚያዊ አዋጭነት መሰረት በቆሎን በፕላስቲክ አፍልቶ ባለ አራት ቅጠል ሲሆን ማዛመት  ከሌላው የችግኝ ዓይነት እና የዕድገት ደረጃ  ብሎም በቀጥታ ከመዝራት በተሻለ የበቆሎ ምርትን ማሳደግ እንደተቻለ ተረጋግጧል፡፡ ሆኖም ሙከራው ለአንድ ዓመት ብቻ የተሰራ በመሆኑ ድጋሜ ተሰርቶ ልዩነቱን በደንብ ማረጋገጥ ቢቻል ጥሩ ነው።   Abstract The field experiment was conducted during the rainy season of 2018 in the Burie district to evaluate the effect of types and growth stages of seedlings on yield and yield-related traits of transplanted maize (Zea mays L.). In the District, terminal moisture stress and grain yield loss become the common challenges in maize production. The experiment was conducted in factorial combinations of two types of seedlings (bare-rooted and polybagged) and five levels of seedling’s growth stages (seedlings of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 true leaf/ves) pulse one control (direct-seeded). The treatments were laid down in RCBD with three replications. Data on yield and yield-related parameters were collected following standard procedures and subjected to analysis of variance using SAS software; and mean separation for significant treatments was done by LSD. Both main effects affected the number of grains cob-1, grain and stover yield highly significantly. Types of seedlings significantly affected the number of cobs plant-1, cob length, the number of grains row-1, and biomass yield. The number of cobs plant-1, cob length, number of grains row-1and biomass yield was also highly significantly affected by seedlings growth stages. The interaction effect was highly significant on a number of cobs plant-1, grain and stover yield and very highly significant on harvest index. The highest (10.7t ha-1) grain yield of maize was found from the transplantation of polybagged seedlings at four-leaf stages. This treatment combination also gave the highest net benefit with an acceptable range of marginal rate of return. Therefore, transplanting of polybagged seedlings at four true leaf stages is economically feasible and can be recommended tentatively for Burie District and similar agro-ecologies. However, to come up with a concrete recommendation, it is advised to repeat the study in similar agro-ecologies of maize production

Prevalence of antenatal depressive symptoms and associated factors among pregnant women in Maichew, North Ethiopia: an institution based study

Background: Antenatal depression is one of the common problems during pregnancy with a magnitude of 20% to 30% globally. It can negatively endanger women’s and off springs lives. As there are scarce reports on this area in Northern Ethiopia, it is important to carry out different studies that explore the magnitude of the problem and related factors in rural areas. The aim of this study is thus to assess the magnitude of antenatal depressive symptoms and associated factors among women at Maichew Town, North Ethiopia.Methods: A facility based cross sectional study was conducted among 196 pregnant women from April to June 2015. Pregnant women who had antenatal care follow-ups at the public health facilities were included in the study. Through proportional allocation to each facility, systematic random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. We used the local language version of Beck Depression Inventory to assess depressive symptoms with a cutoff point of 14 or more. Data was collected by trained Psychiatric Nurses; data entry and analysis were processed by SPSS window 20. The level of significance was determined using odds ratio and 95% confidence interval.Result: About 16.3% of the participants had never given birth before, and 46.4% and 42.3% were in the third and second trimesters of pregnancy respectively. Unwanted pregnancy was reported by 25.5% of the participants. Among those with previous pregnancy, 7.1% had previous obstetric complication. The magnitude of depression was 31.1%. Pregnant women with low level of income (AOR=3.66 (95%CI; 1.12, 11.96)), unmarried (AOR=4.07 (95% CI; 1.18, 14.04)) and house wives (AOR= 4.24 (1.38, 13.03)) were risk groups for depression.Conclusion: Antenatal depression is a common problem; thus screening activities of depression in antenatal care services should be emphasized with more concern to unmarried women, those with low level of income and house wives.Keywords: Antenatal depression, Mental Distress, Depression, Depression during pregnanc

Examining practices and challenges of authentic learning in Mathematics lessons in upper primary schools

The study aimed at examining the practice of employing authentic instruction and identifying predictors in upper primary mathematics lessons in Bahir Dar Special Administrative Zone, Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia. The study employed a mixed-methods exploratory sequential design. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and questionnaires from upper primary school mathematics teachers. The authentic learning questionnaire was pilot tested, and the internal consistency was found to be.766. Qualitative data from interviews and observations were analyzed using content analysis while quantitative data from observations were analyzed using a one-sample t-test; on the other hand, quantitative data from questionnaires were analyzed using a one-sample t-test and hierarchical multiple regression. The results revealed that there was lack of effort to practice authentic instruction; the instruction did not situate learning in a real-life setting. The dimension level analyses showed that all ten dimensions of the authentic instructional model were poorly practiced. The findings also revealed that among several challenges, four factors appeared to be significant predictors: lack of understanding and skills in authentic learning, less suitability of mathematics curriculum, inflexible and short schedule and period, and large class size. The researchers recommended that responsible government bodies and teacher training institutions exert greater effort to change the situation. Training should be given to teachers to improve their understanding and skills, and the curriculum should be suited for authentic learning

Assessment of barriers to the implementation of community-based data verification and immunization data discrepancies between health facilities and the community in Tach Gayint district, Northwest Ethiopia.

AbstractIntroduction: While community-based data verification (CBDV) is critical for effective implementation of immunization programs, limited evidence exists detailing its implementation at the local levels thereby threatening data quality which is used to guide decision making.Aim: To explore the barriers to proper implementation of CBDV and determine the level of immunization data discrepancy between the health facilities and community levels in Tach Gayint district of Northwest Ethiopia.Methods: A Mixed methods approach was used. Interviews with twenty-six key informants’ (health experts) in immunization data, and an additional a sample of 324 infants were recruited. All health centers in the district (6) and 2 health posts from each health center (12 in total) were selected using Simple Random Sampling. Key informant interviewees were purposely included from all health facilities. For quantitative data, samples of infants were proportionally allocated for each health facility as per their DPT/Pentavalent-1 vaccine report. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data and descriptive quantitative analysis were performed using statistical software open-code v-4.02 and STATA v14.1 respectively.Results: Only few health facilities implemented CBDV and consider it to be their routine task. Also, barriers to effective implementation of CBDV such as lack of prioritization, poor capacity among health staff, and conflicting job roles were identified. The highest immunization data discrepancy among community and health facilities was observed for the measles-one vaccine (35.4%), and the minimum was for DPT/Pentavalent-1 (25.6%).Conclusion: This study revealed a poor level of CBDV implementation and barriers to its effective implementation which include lack of prioritizing CBDV, limited capacity among health staff in performing CBDV, and conflicting job roles among health staff. There was a high level of immunization data discrepancy for measles-1 and DTP/Pentalent-3 vaccines. Based on our finding, we make the following recommendations: building skills among health workers to perform CBDV, enhancing availability and use of standard CBDV tools, ensuring monitoring, and control mechanism, and setting clear definition of roles regarding CBDV, as well as closing the gap in level of immunization data discrepancy could help foster effective implementation of CBDV. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2021; 35(SI-3):09-15]Key words: Immunization, CBDV, Data discrepancy, Data qualit

Assessment of immunization data management practices, facilitators, and barriers to immunization data quality in the health facilities of Tach Gayint district, Northwest Ethiopia

AbstractIntroduction: Although data quality mainly depends upon the proper management of its primary sources, limited studies examined immunization data management practice in Ethiopia.Aim: To explore data management practices, facilitators, and barriers to immunization data quality among front-line immunization experts in the Tach Gayint district of Northwest Ethiopia.Methods: A mixed method study design was applied using document review and key-informant interviews. Quantitative data was collected through document review from 18 health facilities and 26 key-informant interviews, were conducted on experts of immunization for qualitative data. A STATA version 14.1 was used for quantitative data analysis. Qualitative data was transcribed verbatim and translated back into English. Data was coded, reduced, and searched for salient patterns. Thematic analysis was done using open-code version 4.02.Results: The Health Management Information System data recording tools were often lacking. The significant number (83.3%) of health facilities practiced immunization information display, while dissemination at the local level was low. The key informants mentioned that they were responsible for conducting regular Performance Monitoring Team (PMT) and Lots Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) as facilitators. Furthermore, a shortage of recording tools, limited supportive supervision, vertical reporting, impracticality of Lots of Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) at the health posts, poor implementation of Community Health Information System (CHIS), and mass vaccination were barriers identified to immunization data quality.Conclusion: We found that majority of health workers use locally developed tools instead of using the standard data recording and reporting tools. Regular Performance Monitoring Team meetings and Lots Quality Assurance Sampling assessment were found to be facilitators. Furthermore, limited supportive supervision, vertical reporting and poor implementation of Community Health Information System were barriers. Therefore, strengthening the use of standard recording and reporting tools, conducting regular supportive supervision, and implementing routine vaccination services are recommended to improve the data management practice. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2021; 35(SI-3):28-38]Key words: Immunization, Data management practice, Data quality, Information us

Malaria prevalence and mosquito net coverage in Oromia and SNNPR regions of Ethiopia.

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.BACKGROUND: Malaria transmission in Ethiopia is unstable and seasonal, with the majority of the country's population living in malaria-prone areas. Results from DHS 2005 indicate that the coverage of key malaria interventions was low. The government of Ethiopia has set the national goal of full population coverage with a mean of 2 long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) per household through distribution of about 20 million LLIN by the end of 2007. The aim of this study was to generate baseline information on malaria parasite prevalence and coverage of key malaria control interventions in Oromia and SNNPR and to relate the prevalence survey findings to routine surveillance data just before further mass distribution of LLINs. METHODS: A 64 cluster malaria survey was conducted in January 2007 using a multi-stage cluster random sampling design. Using Malaria Indicator Survey Household Questionnaire modified for the local conditions as well as peripheral blood microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests, the survey assessed net ownership and use and malaria parasite prevalence in Oromia and SNNPR regions of Ethiopia. Routine surveillance data on malaria for the survey time period was obtained for comparison with prevalence survey results. RESULTS: Overall, 47.5% (95% confidence interval (CI) 33.5-61.9%) of households had at least one net, and 35.1% (95% CI 23.1-49.4%) had at least one LLIN. There was no difference in net ownership or net utilization between the regions. Malaria parasite prevalence was 2.4% (95% CI 1.6-3.5%) overall, but differed markedly between the two regions: Oromia, 0.9% (95% CI 0.5-1.6); SNNPR, 5.4% (95% CI 3.4-8.5), p < 0.001. This difference between the two regions was also reflected in the routine surveillance data. CONCLUSION: Household net ownership exhibited nearly ten-fold increase compared to the results of Demographic and Health Survey 2005 when fewer than 5% of households in these two regions owned any nets. The results of the survey as well as the routine surveillance data demonstrated that malaria continues to be a significant public health challenge in these regions-and more prevalent in SNNPR than in Oromia

Balanced fertilization increases wheat yield response on different soils and agroecological zones in Ethiopia

The response of wheat to the application of different rates of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and sulfur (S) under balanced fertilization on different soil types and agroecologies has not been well studied in Ethiopia. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to (1) determine soil-specific responses of wheat to N, P, K, and S under balanced fertilization; (2) quantify agroecology-specific N, P, K, and S response of wheat under balanced fertilization; and (3) determine nutrient use efficiency of wheat on different soil types under balanced fertilization. Trials were conducted on farmers’ fields across 24 locations covering 4 soil types and 5 agroecological zones (AEZs) from 2013 to 2017. The mean grain yields of wheat significantly varied with applied N and P fertilizer rates with soil types and AEZs. With balanced application of other nutrients, the optimum N rates for wheat were 138 kg N ha−1 on Cambisols and Luvisols, 92 kg N ha−1 on Vertisols, and 176 kg N ha−1 on Nitisols, while the optimum P rate was 20 kg P ha−1 on Cambisols and Vertisols. The nutrient dose–response curve did not reveal consistent pattern for K and S applications on all soil types. The agronomic efficiency of wheat decreased with increasing rates N and P on all soil types. The highest agronomic efficiency of N (15.8 kg grain kg−1 applied N) was recorded with application of 92 kg N ha−1 on Vertisols, while the highest agronomic efficiency of P (49 kg grain kg−1 applied P) was achieved with application of 10 kg P ha−1 on Cambisols. We conclude that applications of 92–138 kg N ha−1, 20 kg P ha−1, 18 kg K ha−1, and 10 kg S ha−1 under balanced application of zinc and boron could be recommended depending on soil type for wheat production in the study areas

Prevalence of human papillomavirus and Helicobacter pylori in esophageal and gastroesophageal junction cancer biopsies from a case-control study in Ethiopia

peer reviewe

Mapping disparities in education across low- and middle-income countries

Analyses of the proportions of individuals who have completed key levels of schooling across all low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2017 reveal inequalities across countries as well as within populations. Educational attainment is an important social determinant of maternal, newborn, and child health(1-3). As a tool for promoting gender equity, it has gained increasing traction in popular media, international aid strategies, and global agenda-setting(4-6). The global health agenda is increasingly focused on evidence of precision public health, which illustrates the subnational distribution of disease and illness(7,8); however, an agenda focused on future equity must integrate comparable evidence on the distribution of social determinants of health(9-11). Here we expand on the available precision SDG evidence by estimating the subnational distribution of educational attainment, including the proportions of individuals who have completed key levels of schooling, across all low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2017. Previous analyses have focused on geographical disparities in average attainment across Africa or for specific countries, but-to our knowledge-no analysis has examined the subnational proportions of individuals who completed specific levels of education across all low- and middle-income countries(12-14). By geolocating subnational data for more than 184 million person-years across 528 data sources, we precisely identify inequalities across geography as well as within populations.Peer reviewe