Deploying nutritious climate-smart potatoes.

Poster prepared for a share fair, Addis Ababa, May 201

Calcium deficiency and causation of rickets in Ethiopian children

Objective: To assess the role of calcium in the development of clinical rickets among Ethiopian children coming to Jimma Specialised Hospital outpatient, department. Design: Case control study. Settings: Jimma Specialised Teaching Hospital and surrounding urban and rural community in the catchment area. Subjects: One hundred and thirty five under five year old children (30 cases of rickets and 104 non-rachitic cases) who came for paediatric service in Jimma hospital. Results: The mean (±SD) level of calcium intake for cases and controls was 664.5 (± 102.7) mg and 645.8(± 144.4) mg, respectively. There was no statistically significance difference between the two groups in the mean level of calcium intake (t=0.659, P>0.05). Generally, in both cases and controls the majority of the study participants were taking calcium below the recommended daily calcium requirement of 800 mg for age group according to Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council. When adjusted for different co-variates including age, sex, breast feeding history, history of diarrhoea lasting longer than 14 days and 24 hours calcium intake children and religion, occupation, educational status and residence the mothers/care givers using logistic regression model, frequency of exposure to sunlight ( OR=1.55, 95%CI: 1.2, 2.0), being from rural areas(OR= 5.0, 95% CI: 1.1, 23.3) and age 12-23 months (OR= 4.5, 95%CI: 1.2, 16.5) were significantly associated with rickets(

On Visibility and Legitimisation of Languages: The ‘Linguistic Landscape’ in Adaama, Ethiopia

With a focus on the city of Adaama (formerly: Nazret), the biggest urban agglomeration in Oromia Regional State, the paper addresses the “linguistic landscape” which is indicative of the overall sociolinguistic situation of a polity. Language use in the public space has not only practical-instrumental, but also historical, political, juridical, and most of allpsycho-sociological dimensions, the latter relating to the symbolic value of written language use. The paper deals with multilingual graphic representations on public commercial and private sign-boards, advertisements, and notices in Adaama city, with an additionalfocus on the situation on the campus of Adama Science and Technology University. Under the chosen theoretical framework, it analyses language visibility in terms of language legitimisation, both in terms of peoples’ attitudes and based on official documents regarding language status and language use in present-day Ethiopia, such as the Education and Training Policy (1994), the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (1995), the Revised Constitution of Oromia Regional State(2001/2006), and the Higher Education Proclamation (2009). The primary focus of the paper is on the status, functions, and representations of AfanOromo, including a review of the major historico-political changes affecting this language from Imperial Ethiopa (before 1974), the Därg period (until 1991), and under the new Constitution of the FDRE (since 1995). The paper also deals with linguistic and graphic issues concerning the “orthographic” representations of the four languages used: Afan Oromo, Amharic, Arabic, and English, involving three different graphic systems: Fidäl (Abugida), Arabic, and Roman

Evaluation of alternative preservation treatments (water heat treatment, ultrasounds, thermosonication and UV-C radiation) to improve safety and quality of whole tomato

Previously optimised postharvest treatments were compared to conventional chlorinated water treatment in terms of their effects on the overall quality of tomato (‘Zinac’) during storage at 10 °C. The treatments in question were water heat treatment (WHT = 40 °C, 30 min), ultrasounds (US = 45 kHz, 80 %, 30 min), thermosonication (TS =40 °C, 30 min, 45 kHz, 80 %) and ultraviolet irradiation (UV-C: 0.97 kJ m−2). The quality factors evaluated were colour, texture, sensorial analysis, mass loss, antioxidant capacity, total phenolic content, peroxidase and pectin methylesterase enzymatic activities, and microbial load reduction. The results demonstrate that all treatments tested preserve tomato quality to some extent during storage at 10 °C. WHT, TS and UV-C proved to be more efficient on minimising colour and texture changes with the additional advantage of microbial load reduction, leading to a shelf life extension when compared to control trials. However, at the end of storage, with exception of WHT samples, the antioxidant activity and phenolic content of treated samples was lower than for control samples. Moreover, sensorial results were well correlated with instrumental colour experimental data. This study presents alternative postharvest technologies that improve tomato (Zinac) quality during shelf life period and minimise the negative impact of conventional chlorinated water on human safety, health and environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Global injury morbidity and mortality from 1990 to 2017: Results from the global burden of disease study 2017

Background Past research in population health trends has shown that injuries form a substantial burden of population health loss. Regular updates to injury burden assessments are critical. We report Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 Study estimates on morbidity and mortality for all injuries. methods We reviewed results for injuries from the GBD 2017 study. GBD 2017 measured injury-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. To measure non-fatal injuries, GBD 2017 modelled injury-specific incidence and converted this to prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs). YLLs and YLDs were summed to calculate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Findings In 1990, there were 4 260 493 (4 085 700 to 4 396 138) injury deaths, which increased to 4 484 722 (4 332 010 to 4 585 554) deaths in 2017, while age-standardised mortality decreased from 1079 (1073 to 1086) to 738 (730 to 745) per 100 000. In 1990, there were 354 064 302 (95% uncertainty interval: 338 174 876 to 371 610 802) new cases of injury globally, which increased to 520 710 288 (493 430 247 to 547 988 635) new cases in 2017. During this time, age-standardised incidence decreased non-significantly from 6824 (6534 to 7147) to 6763 (6412 to 7118) per 100 000. Between 1990 and 2017, age-standardised DALYs decreased from 4947 (4655 to 5233) per 100 000 to 3267 (3058 to 3505). Interpretation Injuries are an important cause of health loss globally, though mortality has declined between 1990 and 2017. Future research in injury burden should focus on prevention in high-burden populations, improving data collection and ensuring access to medical care

Use of multidimensional item response theory methods for dementia prevalence prediction : an example using the Health and Retirement Survey and the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study

Background Data sparsity is a major limitation to estimating national and global dementia burden. Surveys with full diagnostic evaluations of dementia prevalence are prohibitively resource-intensive in many settings. However, validation samples from nationally representative surveys allow for the development of algorithms for the prediction of dementia prevalence nationally. Methods Using cognitive testing data and data on functional limitations from Wave A (2001-2003) of the ADAMS study (n = 744) and the 2000 wave of the HRS study (n = 6358) we estimated a two-dimensional item response theory model to calculate cognition and function scores for all individuals over 70. Based on diagnostic information from the formal clinical adjudication in ADAMS, we fit a logistic regression model for the classification of dementia status using cognition and function scores and applied this algorithm to the full HRS sample to calculate dementia prevalence by age and sex. Results Our algorithm had a cross-validated predictive accuracy of 88% (86-90), and an area under the curve of 0.97 (0.97-0.98) in ADAMS. Prevalence was higher in females than males and increased over age, with a prevalence of 4% (3-4) in individuals 70-79, 11% (9-12) in individuals 80-89 years old, and 28% (22-35) in those 90 and older. Conclusions Our model had similar or better accuracy as compared to previously reviewed algorithms for the prediction of dementia prevalence in HRS, while utilizing more flexible methods. These methods could be more easily generalized and utilized to estimate dementia prevalence in other national surveys

Sugar-and-acid profile of Penjar tomatoes and its evolution during storage

The alcobaca mutation in the Penjar tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) variety alters the ripening process and confers a long shelf life (more than four months). Storage of Penjar tomatoes leads to a distinctive sensory profile valued by local consumers, who prefer aged tomatoes to fresh ones. To study chemical changes occurring during storage, we characterized the complete sugar-and-acid profile of 25 accessions at harvest and at 2 and 4 months after harvest. We found considerable variability in the sugar-and-acid profile within the Penjar variety, especially for fructose and glucose. Some accessions presented exceptionally high values for sugars, making them especially interesting for breeding programs. During postharvest, the concentration of glucose, fructose, and citric acid decreased, whereas the concentration of malic and glutamic acids increased. Data from this study offer novel insights into postharvest changes in tomato quality parameters and help elucidate the reasons for the appreciation of this variety by consumers.Postprint (published version