Psychotic symptoms and its association with substance use disorders among adult prisoners in correctional institution: a facility based cross-sectional study in Southwest Ethiopia

IntroductionThe prevalence of psychotic symptoms among prisoners is increasing rapidly throughout the world. It imposes considerable personal and public health burden. In recent years psychotic symptoms among prisoners has been widely emphasized and the current study aimed to assess psychotic symptoms and its association with substance use disorders among adult prisoners in correctional institution in Southwest Ethiopia.MethodFacility based cross-sectional study design was conducted in Jimma Correctional Institution among 336 prisoners selected by systematic random sampling method in June 2017. Data was collected by face to face interview using structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21.0. Multivariable logistic regression was computed to identify independent associated factors.ResultsThe prevalence of psychotic symptoms among prisoners was found to be 43%. Poor social support (AOR: 4.12, 95%CI: 1.39–12.66), alcohol use disorder (AOR: 4.03, 95%CI: 1.58–10.27), stressful life events (AOR: 2.19, 95%CI: 1.14–4.21), and common mental disorders (AOR: 5.53, 95%CI: 2.56–11.91) were independently associated with single psychotic symptom.ConclusionThis study showed high prevalence of psychotic symptoms. Psychotic symptoms were significantly associated with poor social support, alcohol use disorder, stressful life events and common mental disorders. It is essential to have screening mechanism and management practice for psychotic symptoms.     

Knowledge and Practice about Glasgow Coma Scale Assessment among Nurses Working in Adult Intensive Care Units of Federal Public Hospitals in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

BackgroundThe Glasgow Coma Scale is a dependable and objective neurological assessment instrument used for determining and recording a patient''s level of consciousness. Therefore, the knowledge, practice, and factors affecting Glasgow coma scale evaluation among nurses working in adult intensive care units of federally administered hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, were investigated.MethodsFrom April 4 to 24, 2020, 121 Adult Intensive Care Unit nurses at Ethiopian federal hospitals participated in an institutional-based cross-sectional survey with a standardized self-administered questionnaire. The information was entered into Epidata version 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 25.0 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were used to examine the relationships between independent and dependent variables.ResultAccording to this study, nurses working in the Adult Intensive Care Unit of federal hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, had poor knowledge (51.2%) and poor practice (62%) of the Glasgow Coma Scale''s basic theoretical notions and competencies. Furthermore, the education and gender of nurses were linked to their level of knowledge and clinical practice. Being a male and having a master''s degree were both significantly linked with knowledge(AOR = 4.13, 95% CI: (1.87–9.1)), (AOR=7.4, 95% CI: (1.4–38)) and practice (AOR = 2.7, 95% CI: (1.2–6)), (AOR = 10.4, 95% CI: (2.0–53)) respectively.ConclusionThe findings from this study showed that nurses had poor knowledge and application of practice-related clinical scenarios on the Glasgow Coma Scale.     

Investigation of Bamboo Fibrous Tensile Strength Using Modified Weibull Distribution

Ethiopia has a large coverage of bamboo plants that are used for furniture making and house building. So far, researchers have not studied the strength of Ethiopian bamboo fibers, which are utilized for composite applications. The current study measured the strength of bamboo fibers based on various testing lengths and calculated the predictive tensile strength using a modified Weibull distribution. Moreover, the quality of the extraction machine is evaluated based on shape and sensitivity parameters. This research paper incorporates the coefficient of variation of the fiber diameters, considering the defects distribution through the length for measuring the predictive strength of the fibers. The fiber diameters were calculated using the area weight methods, which had its density measured using a Pycnometer. It has been examined that as the testing gauge length and coefficient variation of fiber diameter simultaneously increased, the tensile strength of the bamboo fibers decreased. The shape parameter, sensitivity parameter, and characteristic strength of Injibara bamboo (Y. alpina) are 6.02–7.83, 0.63, and 459–642 MPa, whereas Kombolcha bamboo (B. oldhamii) are 5.87–10.21, 0.33, and 408–638 MPa, as well as Mekaneselam bamboo (Y. alpina) are 5.86–9.63, 0.33 and 488–597 MPa, respectively.     

Variations in helminth faecal egg counts in Kato-Katz thick smears and their implications in assessing infection status with Schistosoma mansoni

Examination of stool specimens by Kato-Katz (K-K) thick smears is the standard method recommended by the WHO for field diagnosis of intestinal schistosomiasis. However, there is increasing concern that this technique has low diagnostic sensitivity. In 326 study subjects, we compared the diagnostic yield of examining one, three or five Kato-Katz thick smears prepared from one stool specimen using 41.7 mg templates. In a subset of 169 subjects who had no demonstrable Schistosoma mansoni eggs in their first three Kato-Katz thick smears, we assessed the comparative advantage of examining an additional three Kato-Katz thick smears from another stool specimen, taken four weeks later, to that of cumulative yield obtained by examining all five Kato-Katz thick smears derived from the first stool specimen. For all helminth infections, single Kato-Katz thick smear-based prevalence estimates were significantly lower than those obtained from triplet or quintet Kato-Katz thick smears. Prevalence of S. mansoni infection based on single, triplet and quintet Kato-Katz thick smears from one stool specimen were 31.3%, 45.7% and 52.1%, respectively. Prevalence estimate of S. mansoni based on quintet Kato-Katz thick smears from the first day stool specimens was not different from cumulative estimate obtained with two triplet Kato-Katz thick smears from two stool specimens, 52.1% and 52.8%, respectively. In conclusion, either examination of quintet Kato-Katz thick smears from one stool specimen using 41.7 mg template or initial triplet Kato-Katz thick smears from one stool specimen, and if these are negative, followed by examination of additional triplet Kato-Katz thick smears from subsequent day stool specimen can adequately assess individuals for infection status with S. mansoni.     

High-throughput analysis of T cell–monocyte interaction in human tuberculosis

The lack of efficient tools for identifying immunological correlates of tuberculosis (TB) protection or risk of disease progression impedes the development of improved control strategies. To more clearly understand the host response in TB, we recently established an imaging flow cytometer-based in-vitro assay, which assesses multiple aspects of T cell–monocyte interaction. Here, we extended our previous work and characterized communication between T cells and monocytes using clinical samples from individuals with different TB infection status and healthy controls from a TB endemic setting. To identify T cell–monocyte conjugates, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were stimulated with ds-Red-expressing Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette–Guérin or 6-kDa early secreted antigenic target (ESAT 6) peptides for 6 h, and analyzed by imaging flow cytometer (IFC). We then enumerated T cell–monocyte conjugates using polarization of T cell receptor (TCR) and F-actin as markers for synapse formation, and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) nuclear translocation in the T cells. We observed a reduced frequency of T cell–monocyte conjugates in cells from patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (pTB) compared to latent TB-infected (LTBI) and healthy controls. When we monitored NF-κB nuclear translocation in T cells interacting with monocytes, the proportion of responding cells was significantly higher in active pTB compared with LTBI and controls. Overall, these data underscore the need to consider multiple immunological parameters against TB, where IFC could be a valuable tool.     

Progression of clinical tuberculosis is associated with a Th2 immune response signature in combination with elevated levels of SOCS3

In this study, we explored the local cytokine/chemokine profiles in patients with active pulmonary or pleural tuberculosis (TB) using multiplex protein analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage and pleural fluid samples. Despite increased pro-inflammation compared to the uninfected controls; there was no up-regulation of IFN-γ or the T cell chemoattractant CCL5 in the lung of patients with pulmonary TB. Instead, elevated levels of IL-4 and CCL4 were associated with high mycobacteria-specific IgG titres as well as SOCS3 (suppressors of cytokine signaling) mRNA and progression of moderate-to-severe disease. Contrary, IL-4, CCL4 and SOCS3 remained low in patients with extrapulmonary pleural TB, while IFN-γ, CCL5 and SOCS1 were up-regulated. Both SOCS molecules were induced in human macrophages infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vitro. The Th2 immune response signature found in patients with progressive pulmonary TB could result from inappropriate cytokine/chemokine responses and excessive SOCS3 expression that may represent potential targets for clinical TB management.     

Magnitude of post-operative mortality and associated factors among patients who underwent surgery in Wolaita Sodo teaching and referral hospital,SNNPR region,Ethiopia

BackgroundEach year 4.2 million people around the world die within 30 days of surgery and postoperative deaths account for 7.7 % of all deaths. So this study aimed to asses'' magnitude of postoperative mortality and associated factors among patients who underwent surgery in Wolaita Sodo University Teaching referral Hospital.MethodRetrospective cross sectional design was carried out from April 15–30 2019. Card review was done on 384 participants by using Systematic sampling technique. Entered to Epi Data; exported to SPSS for analysis. Variables with p-value < 0.25 in bivariate analysis were entered to multivariate logistic regression. Statistical significance is determined at p-value < 0.05.ResultsThe magnitude of postoperative mortality was 5.7%. Using surgical check list (AOR= 0.18; 95% CI 0.05 to 0.61), having comorbid condition (AOR= 4.45; 95% CI 1.39 to 14.19), and don''t having blood transfusion (AOR= 0.07; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.22) and general anesthesia (AOR= 4.37; 95% CI 1.17 to 16.30) are factors of post-operative mortality.ConclusionThe magnitude of postoperative mortality was high. Surgical check list, comorbidity, blood transfusion and general anesthesia are factors. The hospital should encourage using of surgical check list and work on comorbid patients to decrease the mortality.