Bile Salt Hydrolase: A Microbiome Target for Enhanced Animal Health

Antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) use has been associated with the emergence of antibiotic-resistant human pathogens of animal origins. The global trend of restricting AGP necessitates the need to develop effective alternatives that will maintain safety and sustainability of food animals. Bile salt hydrolase (BSH) is an intestinal enzyme that is produced by diverse gut bacterial species and involved in host lipid metabolism. Recent studies suggest that BSH inhibitors are promising alternatives to AGP for enhanced growth performance and animal health. Using a high-purity BSH from a chicken Lactobacillus salivarius, a panel of BSH inhibitors has been identified. However, it is still unknown if these inhibitors also inhibit the function of the BSH from other bacterial species with significant sequence variation and substrate spectrum. In this study, we compared the BSH from L. salivarius to that from L. acidophilus BSH. Sequence alignment and structure modeling indicated the two BSH enzymes contain conserved catalytically important amino acid residues and domain. Using a high-purity BSH from L. acidophilus, we demonstrated that the previously identified BSH inhibitors also exhibited potent inhibitory effects on the L. acidophilus BSH. A large scale chicken experiment was conducted to examine the effect of dietary supplementation of riboflavin, a potent BSH inhibitor, on growth performance of broilers. Briefly, 300 one-day-old Hubbard broiler chicks were randomly assigned into three treatment groups (10 pens per group, 10 birds per pen) that received one of following diets: 1) a basal diet with no riboflavin added (control); 2) a basal diet + low dose of riboflavin (20 mg/kg); and 3) a basal diet + high dose of riboflavin (200 mg/kg). Dietary supplementation of riboflavin, regardless of dose, significantly increased BW gain by day 21 (P \u3c 0.0053). Significantly improved FCR was only observed for the chickens that received the low dose of riboflavin on day 21 (P \u3c 0.030). High performance liquid chromatography was used to determine the levels of riboflavin in various diets. The concentrations of total bile acids in the blood and ileal samples collected on day 14, 33, and 42 were not significantly changed in response to riboflavin treatment

Availability of Adequately Iodized Salt at Household Level and Associated Factors in Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, Iodine Deficiency Disorder has been recognized as a serious public health problem for the past six decades. In 2011, an estimated 12 million school-age children were living with inadequate iodine, and 66 million people were at risk of iodine deficiency. One out of every 1000 people is a cretin mentally handicapped, due to a congenital thyroid deficiency, and about 50000 prenatal deaths are occurring annually due to iodine deficiency disorders. Only 5.7% of the households were using iodized salt in Dire Dawa city Administration, which is below the legal requirement.This study assessed availability of adequately iodized salt at household level and associated factors in Dire Dawa town, East Ethiopia. Community based cross-sectional study was carried out among households in Dire Dawa town during March 16-26, 2015. Multistage sampling technique was used. Data were collected using a pretested and structured questionnaire by a face-to-face interview technique. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to check associations and control confounding. A total of 694 participants were participated. The availability of adequately iodized salt (≥15 parts per million) in the study area was 7.5% (95% CI; 5.6-9.5). Multivariate result showed that health information about iodized salt (AOR=8.96, 95% CI; 4.68-17.16) (p=0.03), good knowledge about iodized salt (AOR=9.23, 95% CI; 3.34-25.5) (p=0.01) and using packed salt (AOR=3.99, 95% CI; 1.48-10.73) (p=0.006) were associated with availability of adequately iodized salt at household level. Availability of adequately iodized salt at household level was very low. Hence, households should be sensitized about importance of iodized salt and its proper handling at the household level

əsti, un marqueur de politesse en amharique ?

Langue sémitique d'Ethiopie, l'amharique met en jeu différents types de marqueurs spécifiques à l'expression de la politesse, qu'il s'agisse de termes d'adresse, de formules rituelles, d'éléments grammaticaux comme les pronoms personnels ou de l'usage du pluriel. Après un aperçu de ces différents éléments, nous nous attacherons à l'étude du marqueur énonciatif, əsti, terme complexe qu'il faudra analyser et dont le rôle est, entre autres, d'atténuer une injonction en une requête, une suggestion ou un conseil, ajoutant ainsi une nuance de politesse par rapport au prédicat à l'impératif dont il modifie la portée. A titre d'exemple, la traduction de ce morphème peut être rendue en français par "un peu" comme dans "Viens un peu !" ou par "fais-moi plaisir !" comme dans "Fais-moi plaisir, viens demain !" en fonction du contexte et de la modulation prosodique qui accompagnent l'énoncé.Cette étude, qui s'inscrit dans le cadre théorique des opérations prédicatives et énonciatives (TOPE) élaborées par A. Culioli, portera donc sur les relations intersubjectives établies par l'impératif et la nature des modulations qu'introduit le morphème əsti

Small farmer credit and tenurial problems in Ethiopia

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how productive credit can be applied to the problems of Ethiopian small farming, both to raise the level of productivity and to improve the standard of living of the people. It is shown that for these purposes Ethiopia can be divided into two types of region - communal and individual tenure provinces. The communal tenure provinces have two key problems, tenurial and the pressures of population. The former has a deleterious effect upon individual investment incentives through the inalienability of land, and consequent proble~ of mortgage security and the insecurity of tenure. Population pressures affect the scope for producing saving and investment surpluses. Therefore for these communal tenure provinces certain policy recommendations emerge. These involve altering methods of obtaining loans together with an emphasis upon repayments being deducted from sale proceeds. Credit should first be confined to the provision of improvements of a land-saving nature and legislative intervention is also required to ensure the farmer use for this land for a minimum period after making these land-saving improvements. In the individual tenure provinces the key features revolve about problems of tenant's rentals. Population pressures are here lower, which allows the production of surpluses and also ensures that both and and labour-saving improvements increase the levels of production. For these provinces policy recommendations emphasise land reform. Or, if this is not practicable, they advocate tenure reform along the lines of fixed rents (at educed levels) instead of rents as a proportion of production: this latter with guarantees of tenure security. These reforms should ensure investment incentives as credit for labour-saving and land-saving devices will contribute immediate increases in productivity

Adherence to iron and folic acid supplementation and associated factors among antenatal care attendants in Northwest Ethiopia

Iron and folic acid supplementation is the key approach for anemia prevention and control during pregnancy. In Ethiopia only <1% of pregnant mothers ingest the ideal number of tablets. Although, adherence is the most important challenge, literature is dearth and the predictors are undoubtedly recognized. Institution based quantitative cross sectional study design triangulated with qualitative methods was employed among 395 systematically selected pregnant mothers attending antenatal care in Debre Markos town, Ethiopia. Data were collected using interviewer administered structured questionnaire. Data were entered into Epi data and exported to SPSS software. Bivariate and multivariable Logistic regression with the 95% confidence interval was computed. P-value < 0.05 was declared as statistically significant. Eight in-depth interviews were conducted. The data were entered and analyzed using open code software. Adherence rate was 55.5% (95%CI, 50.5%-60.4%). Pregnant mothers who had; history of anemia during current pregnancy [AOR:7.9, 95%CI (4.44-14.01)], primary education (AOR:4.0, 95%CI (1.88-8.54)], secondary education and above (AOR:3.6, 95%CI (1.20-6.94)], good knowledge of iron and folic acid supplementation [AOR:2.1, 95%CI (1.24-3.56)], and early registration for antenatal care (AOR:1.8, 95%CI (1.06-3.11)] were predictors of iron and folic acid supplementation adherence. The rate of adherence was low. Getting medical advice and fear of illness if missed were the primary reasons that enforce mothers to take the tablets. Hence, improving mothers’ knowledge regarding overall aspects of the tablet through better advice, community teaching and the mass media at large, would improve adherence

The Threat of Cholera in Africa

A multi-country cholera outbreak has occurred in several developing countries in Africa, Asia and Oceania since mid-2021. The current multi-country cholera outbreak has spread primarily in Africa. As of February 2023, cholera cases have been reported in approximately 25 countries, 15 (60%) of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the World Health Organization, 547,626 confirmed cases and 4,927 total deaths were recorded until August 2023. Of these, approximately 33.68% cases (184,474) and 64.2% deaths (3,165) occurred in African countries, and the number may increase in the coming months. Although various organizations and local administrations have made response efforts, the response capacity for multiple outbreaks is insufficient, and the outbreak has been exacerbated by a global lack of resources, cholera vaccine shortages, climatic effects, a lack of supplies and the occurrence of other health emergencies. Herein, the rapid review method was used, with emphasis on available and recent global information found in Google Scholar, PubMed and data publicly available from websites. This review article provides current alert information regarding the broad spread and upsurge characteristics of the ongoing cholera outbreak

Pleistocene aragonite crust diagenesis mimics microbialite fabrics (Danakil Depression, Ethiopia)

Fibrous aragonite crusts occur in two consecutive Pleistocene successions in the Danakil Depression (Afar, Ethiopia). Lateral transitions between pristine and altered fibrous aragonite crusts document changes in texture associated with diagenesis. Crusts formed as essentially abiotic seafloor precipitates at the transition from marine to evaporitic conditions. Diagenesis started with the dissolution of aragonite fans at the interface between single fans in non-laminated crusts and along lamination planes in isopachous, irregular, or crudely laminated crusts. Incomplete dissolution resulted in the development of secondary porosity within a matrix of undissolved aragonite fibers. Subsequently, the porosity was filled with calcite that systematically encased remaining aragonite crystals. This was followed by the dissolution of remnant aragonite fibers, producing a network of elongated inter- and intracrystalline pores that were eventually filled with low-Mg calcite. The stepwise substitution of fibrous aragonite by low-Mg calcite resulted in sparry, sparry-cloudy, sparry-micritic (including clotted micrite), and peloidal textures, which obscure the fibrous nature of the original deposits. Stable C- and O-isotope compositions suggest that early diagenesis was driven by meteoric and evaporative fluids. These observations unequivocally demonstrate destructive diagenesis, resulting in secondary textures, which mimic micritic and grumous (peloidal and clotted) textures associated with sparry microfabrics. This suggests that these textures, classically interpreted as primary microbial precipitates and used as evidence of biogenicity in ancient microbialites, might be diagenetic products in some cases, even though at some stage, microbial processes and/or degradation of organic matter could have been involved in the diagenetic process

Antimicrobial resistance surveillance in Ethiopia: Implementation experiences and lessons learned

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a global threat. High levels of AMR to commonly used antibiotics have been reported in East Africa. A situation analysis of AMR in Ethiopia also indicated high resistance levels. To prevent and contain AMR, Ethiopia established a national surveillance network. Objectives: This article describes the steps taken to prioritise AMR and establish the National Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System in Ethiopia, as well as present the challenges and lessons learned through implementation. Methods: In April 2017, Ethiopia had developed and approved the National AMR Surveillance Plan for laboratory-based AMR surveillance. The World Health Organization recommendations and Ethiopias’s current microbiology capacity were used to prioritise organisms for reporting. The surveillance system is comprised of a network linking the national reference laboratory with surveillance sentinel sites. Roll-out of the AMR surveillance network occurred in three phases in order to ensure successful implementation. Results: Electronic capture and transmission of data, supply chain for the microbiology laboratory and communication problems were challenges observed after implementation started. Support from Ethiopian Public Health Institute focal persons for data entry, regular scheduled communication establishment and procurement of supplies by the American Society for Microbiology were some of the measures taken to address the challenges. Conclusion: Ethiopia has demonstrated that setting up AMR surveillance in lower resource settings is possible with strong leadership and stakeholder engagement

Fear of Missing Out and Compliance with Restrictions on Socializing

Fear of missing out (FoMO) represents a fear of losing out on rewarding experiences that others might have. The Covid-19 pandemic has required great restrictions on social interactions, with many reporting experiences of loneliness. The recommendations for the general public have been followed to different extents, depending on the individual. It is possible that FoMO could decrease compliance with social distancing recommendations and that socially desirable responding (SDR) also is involved. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between university students' FoMO and self-reported compliance with Swedish recommendations on social gatherings during the past year of the Covid-19 pandemic. A second aim was to explore the influence of SDR on this relationship. The study population consisted of 162 university students that responded to an on-line survey containing the validated FoMO scale, the two-factor SDR scale BIDR-16 and questions exploring compliance with restrictive recommendations on social gatherings (CRG). Utilizing a cross-sectional quantitative study design, Pearson correlations and hierarchical regression analyses were performed to investigate these associations. The study results showed that there were no significant difference in CRG between high and low FoMO groups. Analyzed together with the two SDR variables, FoMO was related to worse attitudinal compliance (0.4%) and worse behavioral compliancy (2.9%). A higher level of efforts to be positively perceived by others was associated with higher attitudinal and behavioral compliance. A higher level of unintentionally embellishing one’s own self-assessment decreased behavioral compliance by relating to a higher number of reported events going against the guidelines.Fear of missing out (FoMO) representerar en rädsla för att missa givande erfarenheter som andra har. Covid-19-pandemin har inneburit stora restriktioner av sociala interaktioner och många rapporterar en upplevelse av ensamhet. Rekommendationerna som utfärdats för allmänheten har följts i olika utsträckning, beroende på individen. Det är möjligt att FoMO skulle kunna minska följsamhet av rekommendationer om att hålla socialt avstånd samt att socialt önskvärda responser (SDR) också är involverade. Studiens syfte var att undersöka relationen mellan universitetsstudenters FoMO och självrapporterad följsamhet av de svenska rekommendationerna kring sociala sammankomster under det senaste året av Covid-19-pandemin. Ett andra syfte var att utforska hur SDR influerade detta förhållande. Studiens population bestod av 162 universitetsstudenter som besvarade en enkät on-line; innehållande det validerade FoMO-formuläret, det tvåfaktorskaliga BIDR-16-formuläret som mäter SDR samt frågor kring följsamhet av restriktiva rekommendationer om sociala sammankomster (CRG). I en tvärsnittlig kvantitativ design studerades associationer med Pearson-korrelationer och hierarkiska regressionsmodeller. Studiens resultat visade att det inte var någon signifikant skillnad i CRG mellan hög och låg nivå av FoMO. Vid analys tillsammans med de två SDR-variablerna, relaterade högre FoMO till lägre följsamhet i attityd (0,4%) och lägre följsamhet i beteende (2.9%). En hög nivå av strävan efter att bli positivt utvärderad var förknippad med en högre nivå av attityd- och beteendemässig följsamhet. En högre nivå av omedvetet förskönande av egen självbild minskade följsamhet genom att relatera till ett högre antal angivna tillställningar som bröt mot rekommendationerna.

Fear of Missing Out and Compliance with Restrictions on Socializing

Fear of missing out (FoMO) represents a fear of losing out on rewarding experiences that others might have. The Covid-19 pandemic has required great restrictions on social interactions, with many reporting experiences of loneliness. The recommendations for the general public have been followed to different extents, depending on the individual. It is possible that FoMO could decrease compliance with social distancing recommendations and that socially desirable responding (SDR) also is involved. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between university students' FoMO and self-reported compliance with Swedish recommendations on social gatherings during the past year of the Covid-19 pandemic. A second aim was to explore the influence of SDR on this relationship. The study population consisted of 162 university students that responded to an on-line survey containing the validated FoMO scale, the two-factor SDR scale BIDR-16 and questions exploring compliance with restrictive recommendations on social gatherings (CRG). Utilizing a cross-sectional quantitative study design, Pearson correlations and hierarchical regression analyses were performed to investigate these associations. The study results showed that there were no significant difference in CRG between high and low FoMO groups. Analyzed together with the two SDR variables, FoMO was related to worse attitudinal compliance (0.4%) and worse behavioral compliancy (2.9%). A higher level of efforts to be positively perceived by others was associated with higher attitudinal and behavioral compliance. A higher level of unintentionally embellishing one’s own self-assessment decreased behavioral compliance by relating to a higher number of reported events going against the guidelines.Fear of missing out (FoMO) representerar en rädsla för att missa givande erfarenheter som andra har. Covid-19-pandemin har inneburit stora restriktioner av sociala interaktioner och många rapporterar en upplevelse av ensamhet. Rekommendationerna som utfärdats för allmänheten har följts i olika utsträckning, beroende på individen. Det är möjligt att FoMO skulle kunna minska följsamhet av rekommendationer om att hålla socialt avstånd samt att socialt önskvärda responser (SDR) också är involverade. Studiens syfte var att undersöka relationen mellan universitetsstudenters FoMO och självrapporterad följsamhet av de svenska rekommendationerna kring sociala sammankomster under det senaste året av Covid-19-pandemin. Ett andra syfte var att utforska hur SDR influerade detta förhållande. Studiens population bestod av 162 universitetsstudenter som besvarade en enkät on-line; innehållande det validerade FoMO-formuläret, det tvåfaktorskaliga BIDR-16-formuläret som mäter SDR samt frågor kring följsamhet av restriktiva rekommendationer om sociala sammankomster (CRG). I en tvärsnittlig kvantitativ design studerades associationer med Pearson-korrelationer och hierarkiska regressionsmodeller. Studiens resultat visade att det inte var någon signifikant skillnad i CRG mellan hög och låg nivå av FoMO. Vid analys tillsammans med de två SDR-variablerna, relaterade högre FoMO till lägre följsamhet i attityd (0,4%) och lägre följsamhet i beteende (2.9%). En hög nivå av strävan efter att bli positivt utvärderad var förknippad med en högre nivå av attityd- och beteendemässig följsamhet. En högre nivå av omedvetet förskönande av egen självbild minskade följsamhet genom att relatera till ett högre antal angivna tillställningar som bröt mot rekommendationerna.