Dual Contraceptive Utilization and Associated Factors among People Living with HIV Attending ART Clinic in Fitche Hospital, Ethiopia

Background: HIV/AIDS continues to have disastrous medical, economic, social, and physical impacts on individuals, their communities and the nations of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa is at the epicenter of the epidemic and continues to carry the full brunt of its health and socioeconomic impact. Dual protection is a strategy that prevents both unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, is emerging as an important preventive approach in reproductive health. Evidence relating to dual contraceptive utilization and reproductive intentions among PLHIV is rare, despite the fact that more than 80% of PLHIV are of reproductive age. The aim of the study was to determine dual contraceptive utilization and associated factors among PLHIV attending ART clinic in Fitche Hospital. Methods: A facility based cross-sectional study design with both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was employed from February21-April 20th, 2013. The study participants were selected by using simple random sampling technique. A pre- tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify associated factors. Result:-The prevalence of dual contraceptive utilization of PLHIV in Fitche Hospital was 81(32%) with 95% CI of (26.4% -38.2%) had dual contraceptives users by themselves or their partners. With regarding to married/cohabited partner’s HIV status 143(70.4%) were HIV-Positive (concordant) and 60(29.6%) were Negative (discordant). This study identified that factors found to be associated with dual contraceptive utilization were:− Age at first marriage < 18 years (Early marriage) [AOR = 3.44,95% CI: 1.27- 9.29)], had more than 4 biological living children [AOR =10.24, 95% CI: 1.29- 81.06)], faced pregnancy since HIV diagnosis[AOR =2.05, 95% CI: 1.78- 5.46)],had no fertility desire [AOR = 8.58, 95% CI: 3.42- 21.52)] and had sexual practiced with Husband/wife [AOR =4.9, 95% CI: 1.59- 15.07)]were some of the factors significantly associated with dual contraceptive utilization Conclusion: The prevalence of dual contraceptive utilization of PLHIV in Fitche Hospital was 81(32%).In this study:- Age at first marriage, biological living children, pregnancy since HIV diagnosis, fertility desire and  sexual practiced were demonstrated significantly associated with dual contraceptive utilizations among PLHIV, therefore, these factors should be emphatically considered during PLHIV’s reproductive health program development Keywords: Dual contraceptive utilization, People living with HIV, Fitch

Factors contributing to positive and negative deviances in child nutrition

Abstract: A cross sectional study investigating factors leading to positive and negative deviance in child nutrition, was conducted between March and April 1996 at Zigbaboto, Gurage Zone. Among 400 children aged 6-59 months, 231 children were randomly selected and categorized into negative deviants (lower tercile), median growers (middle tercile) and positive deviants (upper tercile) based on local distribution of height for age. Over 20 variables presumed to affect nutritional status of children were then collected and analyzed to see their associations to each category. The prevalence of malnutrition was also determined using the NCHS standard. The results indicated that 46.8% were stunted, 44.2% were under-weight and 13.0% were wasted. Of the over 20 variables, only nine variables showed significant differences at least among two categories. Religion, maternal education, maternal age, and income distinguished negative deviants from median growers. Prenatal follow-up, age of the child, and duration of breast feeding distinguished median growers from positive deviants. Only two variables, maternal body mass index and maternal height differentiated both positive and negative deviants from median growers. In conclusion our study revealed that factors responsible for positive and negative deviances are not necessarily the converse of each other implying that indepth assessment of factors leading to optimum nutrition is required before intervention strategies are considered. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 1998;12(2):69-73

Correlation and Path Analysis Studies of Stalk Lodging Resistance, Grain Yield and Related Agronomic Traits in Different Maize Varieties

Twelve maize varieties of different years of release were grown at Bako in a plot size of 15.3 m2 using the RCBD design under rain fed condition at Bako.  The objectives were to assess the degree of variation of maize genotypes for stalk lodging resistance and to estimate correlation among stalk lodging,  grain yield, and yield related traits. There were significant differences among genotypes for stalk lodging (P<0.01). Even though there were significant  difference (P<0.01) for grain yield among genotypes most of the genotypes performed below their potential, except BH-541 due to the late onset of  rainfall and terminal drought stress, which disfavours the full expression of genetic potential. A relatively high value of phenotypic coefficients of  variation was observed for stalk water content, grain moister content, ear height, and stalk lodging percentage. The correlation values though high, were  non-significant for most of genotypes due to the small number of experimental material tested. The dependent characters yield and stalk lodging  correlated negatively at phenotypic and environmental level. Both grain yield and stalk lodging showed positive direct effect with grain moisture content  (1.3817, 1.7844), ear height (6.9566, 8.9841), major stalk diameter (0.4912, 0.6344), minor stalk diameter (0.0912, 0.1178), ear length (0.4152, 0.5362) and  stalk water content (0.4386, 0.5664) at phenotypic level. Correlations of grain yield with major stalk diameter (rp=0.7056) and with ear length (rp=0.5999)  was positive and in a desirable direction, while Correlations of stalk lodging with major stalk diameter (rp=-0.3713) and with ear length (rp=-0.4332) was  negative and in a desirable direction, so improving these traits directly improved grain yield and decrease stalk lodging but restricted simultaneous  selection of other indirect traits would be important especially when we practice direct selection through major stalk diameter and ear length; hence, the  positive contributor traits grain moister content, ear height, minor stalk diameter, stalk water content ignored while plant height, ear height to plant  height ratio should be considered. Among the genotypes, BH-541 was found to be ideal since it has the highest values for both major stalk diameter and  ear length.&nbsp

Enhancing first year chemistry student’s participation in practical chemistry course

In this study, enhancing student’s participation in practical analytical chemistry course at Haramaya University with various reasons was conducted. The data were collected from I year chemistry undergraduate students of class size 56 of which 23 were females and 33 were males. The class was arranged in to two groups for laboratory class and the experiment was conducted once per week in analytical laboratory. The research used mainly three kinds of data collection techniques namely questionnaire and laboratory report and demonstration result to gather the required qualitative and quantitative data for improving the participation of first year chemistry students. From the result, it was found that students were interested towards the practical analytical courses on the basis of condition such as, necessity of the chemistry with life, their participation in the laboratory, getting experience from the laboratory and performing the experiment in group. The results of the study support the notion that, students were more interested to a group work rather than individual work since they share idea, read their manual before coming to laboratory which contributed to their own participation in learning practical chemistry courses. The research has also shown that student’s activity through experimental demonstration in group increases student’s participations in the laboratory effectively by achieving better results than using laboratory report writing methods. The findings also revealed that some of the causes of students’ negative attitudes towards learning practical Chemistry were mainly due to problems in preparing a flow chart for the experiments by themselves and lack of exposure to well-equipped laboratory for conducting demonstrations. In view of the findings and conclusions drawn in the study, Chemistry laboratories should be adequately equipped to ensure a smooth running of the practical classes and students should be encouraged to participate on practical chemistry courses and appropriate motivation should be given so that they will develop positive attitude towards the practical sessions

Cultivation of micro-algae for Production of Biodiesel: An optimized Process

Microalgae are considered as one of the potential source of biodiesel for the future. The search to obtain the potential strains from the algal diversity capable of producing oil is critical for sustainable production of biodiesel. In the present study, microalgae biomass with oil/lipid accumulation capability and their morphological features was isolated from Lake Abaya and Chamo. The algal biomass was cultivated in vitro and media optimization for maximum biomass was done using different basal media, BG-11 medium, and Chu -10. In addition the various carbon sources, nitrogen sources, pH and temperature were considered in this study for optimization. Green algae Oedogonium, Chlorella and Cladophora species were observed to be dominant species and the maximum oil per dry algal biomass was found to be from Oedogonium sp. Thus from the present study for the cultivation of the selected algae, BG-11 medium supplemented with tryptone (0.2%) sucrose (2%) and pH- 6 with incubation temperature of 300C was found to be suitable.  These results suggest that Oedogonium sp. has several desirable features that make it a potential candidate for biodiesel production

Effect of Temperature and Relative Humidity on Development and Survival of Angoumois Grain Moth, Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) on Stored Maize

The effects of different rearing temperatures (26oC, 30oC, 32oC and 35oC) and of different relative humidities (55, 65, 70 and 85 per cent) on the development and survival of Angoumois grain moths, Sitotroga cerealella (Olive.) were investigated on maize under laboratory conditions during the period from May 2013 to January 2014. Temperature was the main factor affecting egg incubation period, larval-pupal development time, and adult survivorship. The highest number of eggs was laid at 30oC (172.50/female). The shortest incubation period occurred at temperatures of 32oC and higher, but they increased sharply as temperature decreased. Larval-pupal development time was shortest at 30oC. Survivorship was optimal at 30-32oC, but decreased sharply at 26 and 35oC. Male longevity was significantly more (7.17 days) at 2

Mortality of Sitophilus granarius (L.) and Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) Adults Exposed to Different Concentrations of Filter Cake in Stored Wheat

አህፅሮትየሲልከን ውሁድ ያሊቸው ግዑዝ ብናኞች የተከዘነ እህልን ከጎተራ ነፍሳት ከመከሊከል አንጻር ከኬሚካሎች ይልቅ ሇአካባቢ ተስማሚ ሇጤናም ጉልህ ጉዳት የማያስከትለ አማራጮች እየሆኑ መጥተዋል፡፡ ከዚህ ጋር ተያይዞ አንድ የሲሉከን ውሁድ ያሇው የማጣሪያ ኬክ ብናኝ በጎተራ ነፍሳት ሊይ የሚኖረውን የመቆጣጠር አቅም ሇመፈተሽ በጎተራ ነቀዝ እና በትንሹ እህል ቦርቧሪ ጥንዚዛ ሊይ ጥናት ተደርጓል፡፡ ጥናቱ የተከናወነው 1ኪ.ግ.፣ 0.75ኪ.ግ.፣ 0.5ኪ.ግ.፣ እና 0.25ኪ.ግ. የማጣሪያ ኬክ ብናኝ በአንድ ኩንታል ስንዴ ሊይ በመጨመር ሲሆን የብናኙን ውጤታማነት ሇመቆጣጠር ምንም ብናኝ ያልተደረገበት ስንዴ ከጎን ተጠንቷል፡፡ ጥናቱ ባጠቃሊይ ሇ14ቀናት የተከናወነ ሲሆን ብናኝ ባሇው ስንዴ ውስጥ የገቡ ጉልምስ ነፍሳት የደረሰባቸው የሞት መጠን ተገምግሟል፡፡ በዚህም መሠረት በጎተራ ነቀዞች ሊይ በሶስት ቀናት ብቻ ከ41.3% እስከ 70.0% የጉልምሶች ሞት የተከሰተ ሲሆን ይህ በትንሹ እህል ቦርቧሪ ጥንዚዛ ጉልምሶች ሊይ ከ73.3% እስከ 93.3% ሞት አስከትሏል፡፡ ከ14 ቀናት በኋሊ ሲታይ በጎተራ ነቀዝ ጉልምሶች ሊይ እስከ 98.7% ሞት ያስከተሇ ሲሆን በትንሹ እህል ቦርቧሪ ጥንዚዛ ሊይ ግን እስከ 100% ሞትን አስከትሏል፡፡ ስሇዚህ በዚህ ጥናት ሊይ የተካተቱ የነፍሳት ዝሪያዎችን በማጣሪያ ኬክ ብናኝ ከሞሊጎደል መቆጣጠር እንደሚቻል መመልከት ይቻሊል፡፡AbstractSilica based inert dusts are eco-friendly alternatives to control stored grain insect pests due to environmental and health concerns associated with use of synthetic insecticides. A study was conducted to determine the efficacy of filter cake (a silica-based inert dust) on the granary weevil, Sitophilus granarius (L.) and lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) in stored wheat. Filter cake dust of ≤0.4 mm particle size was admixed with 500 g of wheat seed to provide nominal rates of 10000, 7500, 5000, and 2500 ppm (mg/kg), while the control treatment consisted of wheat seeds that were untreated. The bioassays were carried out using a liter-sized plastic jars in completely randomized design with three replications. Experiments were maintained at 23.1±1.7oC and 61.0±4.3% relative humidity. Mortality data were collected at 3, 7, and 14 d after treatment. Results indicated that mean mortality rate at 3 d after treatment ranged from 41.3 to 70.0% in S. granarius and 73.3 to 93.3% in R. dominica. Mean mortality of S. granarius adults at 14 d in filter cake treatments was 84.0 to 98.7%, whereas that of R. dominica was 98.3 to 100%. The present results show that filter cake dusts can be used to control these two species in stored wheat. Filter cake has potential in protection of wheat from S. granarius and R. dominica infestations in storage

Major Insect Pests and their Associated Losses in Quantity and Quality of Farm-Stored Wheat Seed

አህጽሮትበተከዘነ ስንዴ ላይ በጎተራ ነፍሳት ሰበብ ጉልህ ብክነት ይደርስ ወይም አይደርስ እንደሆነ ብዙ ክርክር አሇ፡፡ የችግሩን አገር አቀፋዊ ይዘት ሇመረዳት ከአማራ፣ ከኦሮሚያ፣ ከደብብህ፣ እና ከትግራይ ክልሎች በተመረጡ አምስት የስንዴ አብቃይ ወረዳዎች ላይ የስንዴ ናሙናዎችን ከአርሶ አደር መጋዘኖች በመሰብሰብ የዳሰሳ ጥናት እ.አ.አ. በ2016 በሰኔ ወር ተከናውኗል፡፡ ከእናንዳንዱ አርሶ አደር ቤት አንድ ኪሎግራም በመውሰድ በድምሩ 150 ናሙናዎች ተሰብስበው ተፈትሸዋል፡፡ ከናሙናዎቹ ላይም የጎተራ ነፍሳት አይነቶች፣ በነፍሳት ምክንያት የደረሰ የክብደት መቀነስ በመቶኛ፣ በነፍሳት ምክንያት የደረሰ የመቦርቦር ችግር እና በመጨረሻም የዘር ብቅሇት ደረጃ መረጃዎች ተሰብስበው ተተንትነዋል፡፡ በተገኘው መረጃ መሰረት ከስድስት ያላነሱ የጎተራ ነፍሳት አይነቶች የታዩ ሲሆን በነፍሳት የተበሳ/የተቦረቦረ የስንዴ ፍሬ ቁጥር በየወረዳው በአማካይ በመቶኛ ከ3.6 እስከ 13.6 መሆኑ ታይቷል፡፡ በተመሳሳይ መልኩ በነፍሳት ምክንያት በዘር ላይ የደረሰ የክብደት መቀነስ በየወረዳው በአማካይ በመቶኛ 1.5 ነበር፡፡ በተጨማሪም አማካይ የዘር ብቅሇት በአማካይ በመቶኛ 72.3 ብቻ ሆኖ ታይቷል፡፡ በአሁኑ የዳሰሳ ጥናት ውጤት መሠረት በአርሶ አደሮች በተከዘነ የስንዴ ዘር ላይ በጎተራ ነፍሳት ምክንያት የሚደርሰው ጉዳት በዓይነትም በጥራትም ረገድ ከተጠበቀው በላይ መሆኑን ሇመረዳት ይቻላል፡፡ ስሇዚህም አግባብነት ያላቸው የተከዘነ ስንዴ መጠበቂያ አሰራሮች ሇአርሶ አደሮች መተዋወቅና በክዘና ደረጃ የሚደርሰውን ብክነት የመቀነስ ሥራ መሠራት አሇበት፡፡AbstractThere is considerable debate over the importance of losses associated with insect pests of stored wheat at the farm level in Ethiopia. A survey was conducted to assess the most significant insects and losses of farm-stored wheat in five districts in Amhara, Oromiya, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples, and Tigray regional states of Ethiopia during 2016. One kg samples of stored wheat seed were collected over a period of eight months from 150 farmers. The samples were kept in the laboratory for approximately six weeks to allow the population of insects present to develop and emerge as adults. After adult emergence, the resultant weight loss, seed damage, and loss of seed germination were determined. Major primary insect pests identified were the granary weevil, Sitophilus granarius, Sitophilus spp., and the Angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga cerealella. Secondary pests such as Tribolium spp., the India meal moth, Plodia interpunctella, and Liposcelis spp. were detected in a few samples. Wheat experienced mean percentage kernel damage that ranged from 3.6 to 13.6%. Mean weight loss due to insects was 1.5%, while mean seed germination was only 72.3%. The present survey indicated that farmers are incurring a considerable loss in the quantity and quality of stored wheat due to insects. Hence, there is an urgent need to devise appropriate tactics for protecting the losses in farm-stored wheat in Ethiopia

Co-producing Gender-responsive Climate Services for Enhanced Food and Nutrition Security and Health in Ethiopia and Tanzania (COGENT) – Consultative Workshop for Ethiopia

The COGENT-Climate Services Consultative Workshop was conducted on May 27-28, 2022 in Yirba town, Boricha woreda. [Add some information on the aim and objectives, how many participants, from which institutions]. COGENT represents an inter-disciplinary approach to improving household food security and nutrition-related health outcomes among women and children in the face of climate change in selected areas of Ethiopia. Over the past decades, growing investments have been made in developing climate services that can help reduce societal vulnerabilities and enhance adaptation and resilience to the impacts of climate variability and change. The development of climate services rests on several assumptions. First, that providing more, and better climate information will enhance the uptake of this information into decision-making. Second, that the application of climate services will lead to improved development outcomes. COGENT aims to advance understanding of the key mechanisms that facilitate production of usable climate information, with the potential to improve the quality of climate services across other African contexts. It works to strengthen the long-term capacities of local institutions to undertake high-quality, policy-relevant research while simultaneously building new interdisciplinary networks and collaborative experience and expertise within the climate research community

Antenatal care utilization and nutrition counseling are strongly associated with infant and young child feeding knowledge among rural/semi-urban women in Harari region, Eastern Ethiopia

There is a gap in evidence linking antenatal care (ANC) utilization, nutrition counseling, and knowledge of pregnant women about infant and young child feeding (IYCF), particularly in low-income settings. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the association between ANC follow-up and nutrition counseling with IYCF knowledge. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 390 pregnant women in the rural kebeles of the Harari region from January to June 2019. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews on tablet computers. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were employed. An adjusted odds ratio (with 95% CI) was used to determine the strength of association between IYCF knowledge with ANC follow-up and nutrition counseling by adjusting for educational status, occupation, gravida, and distance to the nearest health center. Overall, 54.4% [95% CI 49.2, 59.2] of currently pregnant women were knowledgeable about IYCF of which only 20% started ANC follow-up and 24.4% received nutrition counseling. Out of 288 multigravida women, only 51.4% had ANC follow-up during their last pregnancy. In the adjusted model, ANC follow-up during the current pregnancy (AOR 1.85, 95% CI 1.07–3.22), those who received nutrition counseling (AOR 1.92, 95% CI 1.09–3.38), literate in education (AOR 1.71, 95% CI 1.07–2.73), multigravida (AOR 1.96, 95% CI 1.12–3.43), and far from the nearest health center (AOR 0.95, 95% CI 0.93–0.97) were significantly associated with the mothers IYCF knowledge. Thus, health care providers should encourage mothers to attend ANC during pregnancy and provide nutrition counseling about the IYCF