Knowledge and attitudes towards antiretroviral therapy among factory workers participating in a cohort on HIV and AIDS, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

This study investigates barriers that may pose a threat to a successful implementation of an antiretroviral treatment (ART) program in Ethiopia. As prelude to the provision of ART among factory workers participating in a cohort study on HIV and AIDS in Ethiopia, we measured knowledge and attitudes towards several aspects of ART and provided an educational intervention. The proportion of participants having good knowledge on issues concerning adherence was found reasonably good (67.7%), concerning the benefit of ART was intermediate (37.7%) and concerning eligibility was very low (16.8%). Knowledge concerning eligibility improved somewhat after the provision of the educational intervention. Only one third of HIV infected persons discloses their HIV status to their partner. Several aspects that could impact adherence to ART will be discussed, such as ART knowledge, social support, willingness to take ART, and disclosure of serostatus, taking the cohort study site into account. Results indicate a tremendous need to educate cohort participants before and during introduction of ART. Efforts to increase knowledge of ART, and especially knowledge of eligibility criteria to start ART, seem warranted, as well as encouragement to identify social support and disclose HIV serostatus, as these factors directly impact the success of an ART program.     

Low CD4 T cell counts before HIV-1 seroconversion do not affect disease progression in Ethiopian factory workers

BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-uninfected Ethiopians have lower CD4 T cell counts than do other populations in Africa and industrialized countries. We studied whether this unique immunological profile results in shorter survival times in HIV-1-infected Ethiopians. METHODS: Data from an open cohort study of 149 HIV-1-infected factory workers in Ethiopia for 1997-2002 were used. To estimate survival times, a continuous-time Markov model was designed on the basis of CD4 T cell counts and World Health Organization clinical staging. By use of a random-effects model, decline in CD4 T cell counts was compared between HIV-1-infected Ethiopian and Dutch individuals. RESULTS: Median survival times were in the range of 9.1-13.7 years, depending on the approach used. This range is similar to that for populations in industrialized countries before the advent of antiretroviral therapy. Ethiopians had a lower annual decline in CD4 T cell counts than did Dutch individuals, which remained when groups with similar CD4 T cell count categories were compared. Moreover, the slower decline in CD4 T cell counts was not due merely to lower HIV-1 RNA loads or an absence of syncytium-inducing/X4 HIV-1 subtype C strains in Ethiopians. CONCLUSIONS: Low baseline CD4 T cell counts do not imply shorter survival times in Ethiopians than in other populations, presumably because of a slower decline in CD4 T cell counts.     

Oxygen reduction reaction on Pt-skin Pt3V(111) fuel cell cathode: a density functional theory study

Pt-non-precious transition metals (Pt-NPTMs) alloy electrocatalysts have gained considerable attention to develop cheaper and efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this report, density functional theory (DFT) has been applied to study the catalytic activity of Pt-skin Pt₃V(111) electrocatalyst for ORR in PEMFCs. The results revealed that the ORR intermediates (O, OH and OOH) have lower binding energies on Pt-skin Pt₃V(111) compared to pure Pt(111) surface. The ORR on Pt-skin Pt₃V(111) surface proceed via OOH dissociation with an activation energy of 0.33 eV. The formation of OH is found to be the rate determining step with an activation energy of 0.64 eV, which is even lower than in pure Pt(111) surface (0.72 eV). This indicates a better performance of Pt-skin Pt₃V(111) for ORR compared to pure Pt(111) surface. Moreover, the DFT results revealed that the negative formation energy of the Pt₃V alloy and the positive dissolution potential shift of the surface Pt atoms revealed the better stability of Pt-skin Pt₃V(111) surface over pristine Pt(111) surface. Due to the improved activity and better stability, the new Pt₃V alloy electrocatalyst is very promising for the development of low-cost and efficient PEMFCs.

Pt-non-precious transition metals (Pt-NPTMs) alloy electrocatalysts have gained considerable attention to develop cheaper and efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs).     

Boron and pyridinic nitrogen-doped graphene as potential catalysts for rechargeable non-aqueous sodium–air batteries

In this work, we performed density functional theory (DFT) analysis of nitrogen (N)- and boron (B)-doped graphene, and N,B-co-doped graphene as potential catalysts for rechargeable non-aqueous sodium–air batteries. Four steps of an NaO₂ growth and depletion mechanism model were implemented to study the effects of B- and N-doped and co-doped graphene on the reaction pathways, overpotentials, and equilibrium potentials. The DFT results revealed that two-boron- and three-nitrogen (pyridinic)-doped graphene exhibited plausible reaction pathways at the lowest overpotentials, especially during the charging process (approximately 200 mV), thus, significantly improving the oxygen reduction and oxidation reactions of pristine graphene. In addition, pyridinic nitrogen-doped graphene meaningfully increased the equilibrium potential by approximately 0.30 eV compared to the other graphene-based materials considered in this study. This detailed DFT study provides valuable data that can be used for the successful development of low-cost and efficient graphene-based catalysts for sodium–air battery systems operating with non-aqueous electrolyte.

We performed density functional theory analysis of heteroatom doped graphene as potential catalysts for rechargeable non-aqueous sodium–air batteries. Pyridinic nitrogen and boron doped graphene exhibited too low overpotential reaction pathways.     

Sleep deprivation and associated factors among students of the Institute of Health in Jimma University,Southwest Ethiopia

Objective: Despite getting sufficient sleep being one of the most important things that we can do to keep our body and mind healthy, sleep deprivation has become a major public health concern. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of sleep deprivation and its associated factors among students of the Institute of Health in Jimma University.Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 10 to April 24 in 2019. Data were collected from 365 randomly selected participants and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS; version 23). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with sleep deprivation. The level of significance was declared at a P-value of <0.05. Results: A total of 365 participants participated, with a response rate of 97.6％. The study findings showed that 60.8％ of students had sleep deprivation and 68.2％ had sleep latency. Health problems (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.91 [95％ confidence interval {CI} = 1.01–3.58]), alcohol consumption [AOR = 0.42 (95％ CI = 0.2–0.89)], cigarette smoking [AOR = 0.31 (95％ CI = 0.09–0.93)], khat chewing [AOR = 0.47 (95％ CI = 0.12–0.82)], use of an electronic device before bedtime [AOR = 5.26 (95％ CI = 1.78–15.52)], and cumulative grade point average (CGPA) [AOR = 0.48 (95％ CI = 0.27–0.83)] were significantly associated with sleep deprivation. Conclusions: Sleep deprivation was common in the study area. This is mainly due to health problems, substance utilization, long-time use of an electronic device, and low CGPA. Therefore, a strategy and system should be established to limit substance use, enhance proper use of electronic devices, and create awareness on the impact of nonoptimal sleep.     

Effects of pesticide applications on respiratory health of Ethiopian farm workers

The effects of pesticide use on the respiratory health of agricultural farm workers were studied in 203 farm workers and 131 controls. The farm workers were sprayers, supervisors, technicians, and pest assessors. Pulmonary function was found to be remarkably poor among the non-smoker supervisors, followed by the non-smoker sprayers, as compared with that of the non-smoker controls. The means (SD) of FVC and FEV1 for supervisors and sprayers were 2.88 (0.41), 3.05(0.50) and 2.74(0.38), 2.89(0.54), respectively, p < 0.05. The non-smoker technicians had the most respiratory symptoms, with wheezing and breathlessness being the most frequent (35.7% in 14 technicians). Farm workers with various job experiences are subject to reduction of pulmonary function and frequent complaints of respiratory symptoms that could possibly lead to chronic respiratory health problems.     

Effects of ethanol extract of Moringa stenopetala leaves on guinea-pig and mouse smooth muscle.

The fresh leaf ethanol (LE) extract of Moringa stenopetala was tested in guinea-pig ileum and mouse duodenum and in uterus strips. There were significant dose and time dependent reductions of the acetylcholine (AC) response with initial stimulatory effects in both the guinea-pig ileum and the mouse duodenum preparations. Spontaneous rhythmic contractions were greatly reduced, suggesting an antispasmodic property of the crude LE extract. The LE extract showed some oxytocic activity on uterus strips of guinea-pigs and mice. The results are indicative of the traditional use of the leaves of Moringa stenopetala for stomach pain and to expel retained placentae by women.