INSECTICIDES SOLD IN THE STREETS OF ADDIS ABABA FOR DOMESTIC USE AND THE POSSIBLE PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRACTICE

ABSTRACTChemical analyses were performed to identify the insecticides sold in the streets of Addis Ababa by peddlers. Parat"'ion, a very toxic substance, and malathion, were identified in a number of the unlabelled liquid samples, while packages of powder bearing the lable "DDT" were confirmed to contain thu insecticide. Thu study assesses the possible hazards resulting from street vendors selling insecticides and living advice on their use and concludes that the practice u hazardous to the public

Flow Regime Classification and Hydrological Characterization: A Case Study of Ethiopian Rivers

The spatiotemporal variability of a stream flow due to the complex interaction of catchment attributes and rainfall induce complexity in hydrology. Researchers have been trying to address this complexity with a number of approaches; river flow regime is one of them. The flow regime can be quantified by means of hydrological indices characterizing five components: magnitude, frequency, duration, timing, and rate of change of flow. Similarly, this study aimed to understand the flow variability of Ethiopian Rivers using the observed daily flow data from 208 gauging stations in the country. With this process, the Hierarchical Ward Clustering method was implemented to group the streams into three flow regimes (1) ephemeral, (2) intermittent, and (3) perennial. Principal component analysis (PCA) is also applied as the second multivariate analysis tool to identify dominant hydrological indices that cause the variability in the streams. The mean flow per unit catchment area (QmAR) and Base flow index (BFI) show an incremental trend with ephemeral, intermittent and perennial streams. Whereas the number of mean zero flow days ratio (ZFI) and coefficient of variation (CV) show a decreasing trend with ephemeral to perennial flow regimes. Finally, the streams in the three flow regimes were characterized with the mean and standard deviation of the hydrological variables and the shape, slope, and scale of the flow duration curve. Results of this study are the basis for further understanding of the ecohydrological processes of the river basins in Ethiopia

Why do women prefer home births in Ethiopia?

Background: Skilled attendants during labor, delivery, and in the early postpartum period, can prevent up to 75% or more of maternal death. However, in many developing countries, very few mothers make at least one antenatal visit and even less receive delivery care from skilled professionals. The present study reports findings from a region where key challenges related to transportation and availability of obstetric services were addressed by an ongoing project, giving a unique opportunity to understand why women might continue to prefer home delivery even when facility based delivery is available at minimal cost. Methods: The study took place in Ethiopia using a mixed study design employing a cross sectional household survey among 15–49 year old women combined with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Results: Seventy one percent of mothers received antenatal care from a health professional (doctor, health officer, nurse, or midwife) for their most recent birth in the one year preceding the survey. Overall only 16% of deliveries were assisted by health professionals, while a significant majority (78%) was attended by traditional birth attendants. The most important reasons for not seeking institutional delivery were the belief that it is not necessary (42%) and not customary (36%), followed by high cost (22%) and distance or lack of transportation (8%). The group discussions and interviews identified several reasons for the preference of traditional birth attendants over health facilities. Traditional birth attendants were seen as culturally acceptable and competent health workers. Women reported poor quality of care and previous negative experiences with health facilities. In addition, women’s low awareness on the advantages of skilled attendance at delivery, little role in making decisions (even when they want), and economic constraints during referral contribute to the low level of service utilization. Conclusions: The study indicated the crucial role of proper health care provider-client communication and providing a more client centered and culturally sensitive care if utilization of existing health facilities is to be maximized. Implications of findings for maternal health programs and further research are discussed

Variations in soil properties and native woody plant species abundance under Prosopis juliflora invasion in Afar grazing lands, Ethiopia

This research article published by Springer Nature, 2020Introduction Pastoralism and agro-pastoralism are the major modes of life in arid and semi-arid rangelands. However, rangeland quality and quantity are rapidly deteriorating due to a number of natural and human-induced factors, one of which is bush encroachment. Little is known on how bush encroachment affects the ecosystem functions and services expressed in terms of the native vegetation composition and structure, status of the soil seed bank, soil chemical and physical properties, and the abundance of mycorrhiza spores. Methods We assessed woody species in 64 plots distributed across four levels of Prosopis juliflora invasion (high, medium, low, and none) at two sites, Amibara and Gewane, in the Afar Region, Ethiopia. We collected composite soil samples to investigate the soil seed bank, mycorrhizal associations, and spore abundance. Results Plant biodiversity was generally low, with eight and four woody species in Gewane and Amibara, respectively. Prosopis juliflora was dominant in highly, moderately, and lowly invaded areas while Acacia senegal dominated the non-invaded areas. The average number of P. juliflora individuals ranged from 3/ha at non-invaded areas in Gewane to 4200/ha at highly invaded areas in Amibara while the total individual number of native woody species ranged from 0 to 88/ha at highly and lowly invaded areas, respectively. The population structure of trees/shrubs in all invasion areas showed an inverted J-shaped distribution, characterized by a high abundance of small individuals. Prosopis juliflora invasion was associated with high soil OC, Na, Ca, P, bulk density, and moisture content. Herbaceous seed numbers and species richness were highest in the moderately and highly invaded areas. All sampled tree species were associated with mycorrhiza but the percentage of root length colonization by different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus structures varied significantly (p < 0.05) across invasion categories and sites. Conclusions Our results revealed that although P. juliflora invasion negatively impacted the availability of native woody livestock forage species, it had a positive effect on most soil physical and chemical properties. Such variable effects call out for sustainable management practices when invaded areas are restored

μ-Bromido-bis{μ-2,2′-[4,7-diaza­decane-1,10-diylbis(nitrilo­methanylyl­idene)]diphenolato}tricopper(II) bromide dimethyl­formamide disolvate

The complex mol­ecule of the title compound, [Cu3Br(C22H28N4O2)2]Br·2C3H7NO, contains three copper atoms, two of which are five-coordinate within a square-pyramidal environment and linked by a bridging Br atom occupying the apical position in each square pyramid. The remaining Cu atom is four-coordinate but with considerable tetra­hedral disortion [the dihedral angle between the two chelate planes is 69.21 (7)°]. There are two mol­ecules of dimethyl­formamide (DMF) present as solvent mol­ecules, one of which is disordered over two equivalent conformations with occupancies of 0.603 (5) and 0.397 (5). The amine H atoms are involved in both inter- and intra­molecular hydrogen-bonding inter­actions with the Br and O atoms of the cation, as well as with the O atom of the ordered DMF mol­ecule

Development in Astronomy and Space Science in Africa

The development of astronomy and space science in Africa has grown significantly over the past few years. These advancements make the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals more achievable, and open up the possibility of new beneficial collaborations.Comment: Paper published in Nature Astronomy. Figures 1 and 2 are included in the published version, that can be seen at https://rdcu.be/2oE

CANCER NANOTHERANOSTICS: A NEW PARADIGM OF SIMULTANEOUS DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY

Despite  improvements  in  our  understanding  of cancer  and  the  emerging  concept  of personalized medicine for the treatment of this disease, it is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Although, in recent years, significant advances have been achieved in cancer therapy, many tumors are still challenging to treat and novel strategies are required to effectively combat this deadly disease. Nanotheranostics is a burgeoning field which makes use of nanotechnology for diagnosis and therapy of cancer. The recent advancement in the area of nanotechnology has enabled a new generation of different types of nanomaterials composed of either inorganic or polymer based nanoparticles to be useful for nanotheranostics applications such as to diagnose and treat diseases and monitoring the therapeutic response in vivo at molecular level; to enhance the control, evaluation and optimization of drug delivery and release; to target the drug by conjugating theranostic nanoplatformes with biological ligands. This review, therefore, summarizes the various nanocarriers developed so far for the simultaneous imaging and therapy, strategies for their targeted delivery, their potential applications and the challenges in their development and application for cancer therapy.   Key words: Cancer; Cancer therapy; Nanoparticles; Nanotheranostics

Owyhee Russet: AVariety with High Yields of U.S. No. 1 Tubers, Excellent Processing Quality, and Moderate Resistance to Fusarium Dry Rot (\u3ci\u3eFusarium solani var. coeruleum\u3c/i\u3e)

Owyhee Russet (AO96160-3) originated from a cross between A89384-10 and A89512-3 in 1996. Owyhee Russet was released in 2009 by Oregon State University, in cooperation with the USDA-ARS and the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Idaho and Washington and is a product of the Northwest Potato Variety (Tri-State) Development Program. Owyhee Russet has semi-erect medium sized vines with medium to late maturity. The tubers are long, with a tan skin, medium russeting, and attractive tuber appearance for fresh market. Owyhee Russet was evaluated in several locations across the Northwest for more than 15 years. Total yield of Owyhee Russet is similar to that of Russet Burbank and Ranger Russet but significantly higher than Russet Norkotah. U.S. No.1 tuber yield of Owyhee Russet is significantly higher than Russet Burbank and Russet Norkotah, resulting in substantially higher marketable yield. Owyhee Russet tubers have significantly higher specific gravity than Russet Burbank and Russet Norkotah. Fry color following tuber storage at 4°C and 9°C is significantly lighter for Owyhee Russet than the comparison varieties. Relative strengths include high yield with a very high proportion of U.S. No.1 tubers, good tuber appearance and excellent processing quality, resistance to cold sweetening, common scab and Fusarium dry rot. Weaknesses include susceptibility to foliar and tuber late blight and susceptibility to metribuzin herbicide injury. Allelic patterns of five SSR markers have shown that Owyhee Russet has a distinctive DNA genetic fingerprint from its russet type reference varieties which are Ranger Russet, Russet Burbank, and Russet Norkotah

Huckleberry Gold: A Specialty Market Potato Cultivar with Purple-Skin, Yellow-Flesh, High Tuber Antioxidants, and Resistance to Potato Cyst Nematode (H1) and Potato virus X (Nb and Rx1)

Huckleberry Gold is a purple-skin, yellow-flesh fresh market cultivar with similar culinary qualities to the market standard Yukon Gold. It has lower specific gravity, sucrose and vitamin C content, but a significantly higher level of tuber antioxidants than Yukon Gold. Notable disease resistant characteristics are Potato virus X resistance based on the presence of molecular markers for the PVX resistance genes, Nb and Rx1. In addition it also has the H1 gene present which confers resistance to the potato cyst nematode, Globodera rostochiensis, which has been confirmed by bioassay to pathotype Ro1. The size profile of Huckleberry Gold is smaller than Yukon Gold, allowing a better fit into specialty markets that are geared to smaller size for fresh use. Huckleberry Gold represents the first purple-skin, yellow-flesh cultivar to come from the Northwest (Tri-State) Potato Variety Development program.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The article is copyrighted by the Potato Association of America and published by Springer. It can be found at: http://link.springer.com/journal/12230Keywords: Solanum tuberosum, Variety, Globodera rostochiensis, PV

"AmaRosa," a Red Skinned, Red Fleshed Fingerling with High Phytonutrient Value

The diversity of traits in varieties of potato outside of its South American birthplace is a small subset of that available in the Andean center of origin. Among the traits that evoke most interest are skin and flesh pigments. Recent studies have pointed to the high antioxidant activity and potential healthful benefits from these pigments or other antioxidant compounds. The market for potatoes with unusual color patterns has been supplied largely by heirloom varieties of uncertain origin and the highly successful Yukon Gold. Interest has intensified and been transformed into a focused effort in the breeding of specialty varieties, remarkable for their unusual colors. The purpose of this paper is to describe a new potato variety in the Fingerling Class with red skin and red flesh.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The article is copyrighted by the Potato Association of America and published by Springer. It can be found at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1099-209x/Keywords: Fingerling, ORAC, Anthocyanin, Antioxidant