99 research outputs found
Anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of crude root extract and solvent fractions of Cucumis ficifolius in mice model
No full textDesalegn Getnet Demsie,1,2 Ebrahim M Yimer,1 Abera Hadgu Berhe,1 Birhanetensay Masresha Altaye,3 Derbew Fikadu Berhe11Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia; 2Department of Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Adigrat University, Adigrat, Ethiopia; 3Department of Pharmacy, College of Medicine, Debre Berhan University, Debre Berhan, EthiopiaBackground: Societies in developing countries use traditional medicine as alternatives for management of pain and inflammation. The plant Cucumis ficifolius has been used in Ethiopia to treat many ailments including inflammation and pain. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of the crude root extract and solvent fractions of C. ficifolius.Methods: The analgesic activity of crude extract and solvent fractions of C. ficifolius was evaluated with acetic acid-induced writhing, hot plate, and formalin-induced paw licking tests. The anti-inflammatory effect of crude methanolic root extract and solvent fractions of C. ficifolius was evaluated using carrageenan-induced paw edema. The crude extract was given at 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg. Butanol and aqueous fractions were given at 100 and 200 mg/kg doses. The negative control groups were treated with distilled water (10 mL/kg). Standard drugs used wereacetylsalicylic acid(ASA) in acetic acid, formalin tests and carrageenan-induced paw edema and morphine (20 mg/kg) in hot plate test.Results: The crude extract, at its maximum dose, produced comparable analgesic activity (72.5%) to ASA in acetic acid writhing test. In the hot plate test, both the crude extract and solvent fractions exhibited a significant prolongation of nociception reaction time. Formalin test result indicated a significant reduction of mean lick time with maximal protection of 64% (early phase) and 83% (late phase). Aqueous and butanol fractions showed good analgesic activity in the three models. Inflammation was decreased by 69% with butanol (200 mg/kg); 71% (800 mg/kg) of crude extract and by 41% and 56% with the use of aqueous fraction at 100 and 200 mg/kg, respectively (p<0.001).Conclusion: The present study indicates that the crude methanolic root extract, as well as butanol and aqueous solvent fractions, showed anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities.Keywords: hot plate test, writhing test, paw edema, formalin test, carrageenan, 80% methano
The Importance of Agroforestry Systems for Mitigation of Climate Change in Tropical Africa
No full textThe most important agroforestry systems (AFS) in the region of tropics are spread woody plant diverse crops, farmhouse woody species planting, and multistory dwelling and also described the traditional AFS as Coffee Shade, home-gardens, woodlots, farm border plantation, and woody plants on grazing lands .those system highest potential to environmental management a humans have always demand from nature for environmental assets. This review shows that the traits of climate change mitigating the capacity of AFS in tropical Africa. The AFS has a vital role to reduce the external change of CO2 and mitigation through GHG sink from the atmosphere. According to several land-use carbon sequestration reports, the AFS has been known as having the best possible for carbon-capturing from the atmosphere compared to the whole other land uses. This land use has a significant quantity of carbon stored in the total biomass pool compared to mono-crops and or pasture. The aboveground biomass carbon in AFS is estimated to be 2.11 × 1091 Mg C yr-1 in the region of tropical Afric. The multi-strata AFS has the highest(16-36 Mgt ha-1 yr-1) carbon sequestration were reported, estimated that soil organic carbon (SOC) was highest Fruit-coffee agroforestry systems for 186.41 Mg ha-1, followed by 178.8 Mg ha-1 in the coffee-enset, and 177.8 Mg ha-1 in the Enset system at 0-60 cm depth in Tropical Africa. According to IPCC and several research results, nowaday AFS as part climate change mitigation strategy. Generally, conserving trees on agriculture land and pasture lands highly recommended as enhancing mitigation capacity of AFS in tropics. Keywords: Agroforestry, Carbon, sequestration climate change, mitigation, Tropics DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/13-5-02 Publication date:March 31st 202
The Global Cohort of Doctoral Students: Building Shared Global Health Research Capacity in High-Income and Low- and Middle-Income Countries
No full textDoctoral students in high- and low-income countries pursuing careers in global health face gaps in their training that could be readily filled through structured peer-learning activities with students based at partnering institutions in complimentary settings. We share lessons learned from the Global Cohort of Doctoral Students, a community of doctoral students based at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Haramaya University. University of Gondar, University of Botswana, and University of Rwanda College of Medicine and Health Sciences. Students in the Global Cohort program engage in collaborative research, forums for constructive feedback, and professional development activities. We describe the motivation for the program, core activities, and early successes.This work was funded by the Rose Traveling Fellowship and Deborah Rose Service Learning Fellowship at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. The funding sources had no role in the writing of the manuscript or decision to submit it for publication.Iyer, HS (corresponding author), Harvard TH Chan Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Epidemiol, Boston, MA 02115 USA.
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Effectiveness of Propofol versus Dexamethasone for Prevention of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgery in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital and Yekatit 12th Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
No full textBackground. Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) remain as common and unpleasant and highly distressful experience following ear, nose, and throat surgery. During ENT surgery, the incidence of PONV could be significantly reduced in patients who receive dexamethasone and propofol as prophylaxis. However, the comparative effectiveness of the two drugs has not been assessed. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of propofol and dexamethasone for prevention of PONV in ear, nose, and throat surgery. Methods. This study was conducted in 80 patients, with ASA I and II, aged 18–65 years, and scheduled for ENT surgery between December 20, 2017, and March 20, 2018. Patients were randomly assigned to Group A and Group B. Immediately after the procedure, Group A patients received single dose of intravenous (IV) dexamethasone (10 mg/kg) and Group B patients were given propofol (0.5 mg/kg, IV), and equal follow-up was employed. The incidence of PONV was noted at 6th, 12th, and 24th hour of drug administration. Independent t-test and Mann–Whitney test were used for comparison of symmetric numerical and asymmetric data between groups, respectively. Categorical data were analyzed with the chi-square test, and p value of < 0.05 was considered as level of significance. Results. The incidences of PONV throughout the 24-hour postoperative period were 35% in the propofol group and 25% in the dexamethasone group. Statistical significance was found in incidence of PONV (0% versus 22.5%) and use of antiemetic (0% versus 5%) between dexamethasone and propofol groups, respectively, at 12–24 hours. Over 24 hours, 5% in dexamethasone group and 12.5% in propofol group developed moderate PONV, while none of the participants felt severe PONV. Conclusions. Dexamethasone was more effective than propofol to prevent PONV with lower requirements of rescue antiemetics
Prevalence of in-hospital mortality among adult patients with diabetic ketoacidosis in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies
No full textBackgroundDiabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is one of the most common life-threatening acute metabolic complications of diabetes, typically associated with disability, mortality, and significant health costs for all societies. In Ethiopia, available studies on in-hospital mortality rates of people living with DKA have shown high variability. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aims to summarize and provide quantitative estimates of the prevalence of in-hospital mortality among adult people living with DKA treated in Ethiopian hospitals.MethodologyA systematic literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, Embase, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Africa-specific databases. Data were extracted in a structured format prepared using Microsoft Excel. The extracted data were exported to R software Version 4.3.0 for analysis. The I2 test was used to check the heterogeneity between primary studies with a corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). Based on the test result, a random-effects meta-analysis model was used to estimate Der Simonian and Laird’s pooled effect on in-hospital mortality.ResultThe review included a total of 5 primary studies. The pooled prevalence of in-hospital mortality among people living with DKA who received treatment in Ethiopia hospitals was found to be 7% (95% CI: 1-12). Most of the included studies reported that nonadherence to insulin treatment followed by infection was the most common triggering factor for the development of DKA.ConclusionThe prevalence of in-hospital mortality among people living with DKA was found to be 7%. This figure is unacceptably high compared to other published reports. Nonadherence to insulin treatment or antidiabetic medication and infection were identified as precipitating factors for developing DKA. Therefore, measures must be taken to improve medication adherence and decrease in-hospital mortality by providing ongoing health education on medication usage, effective in-hospital management of hyperglycemia, and increased access to high-quality care.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42023432594
Community Pharmacists’ Knowledge and Attitude Towards Opioid Pain Medication Use in Bahir Dar City, North-West Ethiopia
No full textChernet Tafere,1 Bereket Bahiru Tefera,2 Adane Yehualaw,1 Desalegn Getnet Demsie,3 Belayneh Kefale,4 Kebede Feyisa,5 Malede Berihun Yismaw,4 Endalamaw Aschale,4 Zenaw Debasu,4 Zewdu Yilma,1 Zegaye Agmassie,4 Ibrahim Abdela Siraj,1 Ashagrachew Tewabe Yayehrad,1 Sileshi Mulatu,6 Destaw Endeshaw7 1Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara, Ethiopia; 2Department of Social Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara, Ethiopia; 3Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara, Ethiopia; 4Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara, Ethiopia; 5Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara, Ethiopia; 6Department of Pediatrics and Child Health Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara, Ethiopia; 7Department of Adult health Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Chernet Tafere, Tel +251924524636, Email [email protected]: Opioid use is a major global public health problem, affecting 16 million individuals worldwide. According to a 2023 WHO report, out of the 600,000 substance-related deaths worldwide, 80% were attributed to opioid use. Pharmacists play a vital role in reducing unnecessary opioid exposure while facilitating access to non-opioid alternatives. To do so, pharmacists should have sufficient knowledge regarding opioid-containing medications and a positive attitude about opioid use problems.Objective: This study aimed to evaluate community pharmacists’ knowledge of opioid-containing medications and their attitude toward opioid use problems.Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered, structured questionnaire distributed to 105 community pharmacists from July 1– 30, 2023 in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia. The tool included demographic information and questions designed to assess participants’ knowledge and attitudes.Results: Out of the 105 pharmacists included in this study, majority were males (54.3%), nearly half held a bachelor’s degree (49.5%), and slightly above one-third had over a decade experience (39%). Regarding knowledge and attitude towards opioids, 62 individuals (59%) exhibited good knowledge, and 64 (61%) demonstrated less stigma toward opioid usage. Factors affecting knowledge include: education level (AOR (95% CI): 8.43 (1.76– 40.35) and 9.93 (1.04– 85.33) for bachelors and postgraduates respectively and age 1.45 (1.20– 1.77)]. Meanwhile, experience [AOR (95% CI): 4.64(1.20– 17.90) and 4.29 (1.23– 15.05)] for 5– 9 years and ≥ 10 years respectively and education level [AOR (95% CI): 4.08 (1.40– 11.93) for bachelors and 6.40 (1.42– 28.96)] for postgraduates were linked to attitude.Conclusion: A gap in knowledge and more stigmatizing behavior was observed among community pharmacists. These findings imply the importance of tailored educational interventions to address knowledge gaps and promote positive attitudes toward opioid usage among community pharmacists. Therefore, it is imperative to deliver up-to-date information on opioids, emphasizing their high addiction potential, to ensure pharmacists are well-equipped with the latest information.Keywords: opioids, pain management, community pharmacists, knowledge, attitude, Ethiopi
Structural and Thermal Properties of Ethiopian Eri and Mulberry Silk Fibres
No full textSilk fibre has received attention in the biomedical sector rather than textile production because of its excellent biocompatibility properties in the past century. Although silk fibre properties are different from area to area, it has created an opportunity in the biomedical sector to develop new silk-based medical textile products. This research work aimed to study the structural, physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of Ethiopian silkworm cocoon’s filament. Eri and mulberry silk fibre properties such as morphological structure, chemical properties, linear density, filament length, tensile strength, elongation, thermal property, and luster were measured using ES ISO and ASTM standard methods. Statistical analysis result showed that eri silk fibre from Arba Minch had water removal temperature between 100°C and 125°C with a degradation temperature of around 400°C and eri silk fibre from both Addis Ababa and Awassa had an almost similar water removal temperature around 100°C and degradation temperature around 420°C. Tensile strength and elongation of both eri and mulberry silk fibres had significant differences among each region. The highest tensile strength of 4.47 cN was observed from Addis Ababa, and the highest elongation of 20.01% was found from the Arba Minch eri silk fibre. The coarser linear density of 2.496 dtex from Arba Minch and finer count of 2.392 dtex were exhibited from Awassa. Arba Minch eri silk fibre had the highest filament length of 403.04 m and the least fibre length of 399.2 m recorded at Addis Ababa, and a better whiteness (Rd) value of 58.21 was observed at Arba Minch eri silk fibre. Bivoltine and multivoltine mulberry silk fibres had an average tensile strength of 8.01 and 11.83 cN, elongation of 10.3 and 12.1%, fineness of 3.2 and 3.16 dtex, and filament length of 1208.6 and 1028.26 m, respectively, in the same place of Arba Minch. The morphological structure of eri silk fibre from each region had an almost smooth and clean surface, but bivoltine and multivoltine mulberry silk fibres were somehow rough and had spots. According to the comparison results, Ethiopian silk fibres can be utilised more in the biomedical application and competitive in the global market
The potential of traditional agroforestry practices as nature-based carbon sinks in Ethiopia
No full textTraditional agroforestry practices have economic, social, and environmental benefits to sustain human and ecological systems. The demand for short-term economic benefit has derived from the traditional agroforestry practices towards monoculture cash crop production in the tropics. This study aimed to assess the greenhouse gas emission reduction capacity of traditional agroforestry systems concerning biomass and soil carbon stocks in the districts of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. From three agroforestry practices, namely, multistory, woodlots, and parkland, 300 smallholder farmers’ farms were randomly selected to carry out vegetation inventory and 180 farms for litter and soil sampling. The soil samples were taken the depths 0–20 cm, 20–40 cm, and 40–60 cm. The biomass of all woody plants was estimated using already developed allometric equations. The mean total biomass carbon sink of multistory is 40.7 ton ha−1 which was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than woodlot, 20.8 ton ha−1, and parkland 5.4 ton ha−1. The mean total ecosystem (biomass plus soil) carbon of the multistory, 199.5 ton ha−1 was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than woodlot, 134.4 ton ha−1, and parkland, 108.0 ton ha−1. Soil organic carbon stocks accounted for 72–88, 83–88, and 92–98% of the total ecosystem carbon is stored in multistory, woodlot, and parkland, respectively. The study revealed that agroforestry practices could contribute to carbon sinks in the biomass and soils making it one of the nature-based solutions to climate change mitigation. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions and hence enhances the climate change mitigation and adaptation roles of the existing land uses
A Uniformly Convergent Scheme for Singularly Perturbed Unsteady Reaction–Diffusion Problems
No full textIn the present work, a class of singularly perturbed unsteady reaction–diffusion problem is considered. With the existence of a small parameter ε,0<ε≪1 as a coefficient of the diffusion term in the proposed model problem, there exist twin boundary layer regions near the left end point x=0 and right end point x=1 of the spatial domain. The solutions found in such regions have abrupt changes if not fine meshes are used during the spatial domain discretization. Due to these reasons, the classical numerical methods are inefficient to overcome these challenges. To address the suggested problem, we developed and examined a uniformly convergent numerical scheme. The Crank–Nicolson approach for the temporal direction and nonstandard finite difference method for the spatial direction on uniform meshes are used to discretize the continuous problem domain. The uniform convergence analysis shows that the proposed scheme is second-order uniformly convergent in both temporal and spatial dimensions. Three model examples were given for simulation in order to support the reliability of the formulated scheme, and the obtained results verified that the theoretical analyses coincide with the practical examples. Further, the acquired numerical results demonstrate that the present approach performs better than some of the existing methods in the literature
The Relationship Between Socio-Economic Factors and Career Decision Making Among Secondary School Students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
No full textThe present study to examine the determinants of career decision making among secondary school students in Addis Ababa by examining the major determinant of career decision making and the relationship between parental influence, and peer influence, and academic career indecision making. The study used mixed research approach and the data were obtained using standardized and adapted Academic interest/ability inventory, perceived socioeconomic factors, and career decision scale measures from randomly selected 293 (122 males and 171 females) among Secondary School grade 11th and 12th students. To analyze the obtained data descriptive and inferential statistics were employed. The result of the study showed that academic interests/ability mainly positively determined career decision making of students (85(29%)) and also perceive socio economic factors as the major determinants negatively influenced career choice of students and 89(30.4%)) than other factors. The finding also indicated that career decision making had a significant negative relationship with perceived socio economic factors and academic interest/ability (r= -.179, - .256, n = 293, p =<0.05). Based on the study, several recommendations were made. The study recommended the training of parents, peers and teachers to enhance students’ career decision. It was also recommended that only trained career guidance teachers be allowed to teach career guidance. Lastly, the study also recommended a career guidance model to assist in helping students deciding suitable careers
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