Femtosecond laser excitation of spin resonances in amorphous ferrimagnetic Gd(1-x)Co(x) alloys.

Using 100 fs laser pulses, a high-frequency exchange and a low-frequency ferromagnetic resonance mode have been excited and detected in an amorphous Gd(1-x)Co(x) (78≤x≤85) ferrimagnetic thin film, on both sides of its angular momentum compensation composition. The excitation efficiency of these modes strongly depends on the amount of laser-induced heating. Ways of selectively and efficiently exciting either one or both of these two coexisting magnetic modes by adjusting laser pulse intensity are demonstrated.

Factors affecting continuity and success of community-based reproductive health service programme in rural community of Northeast Ethiopia.

OBJECTIVE: To assess opportunities and threats towards the continuity and success of Community based reproductive health service programme in Northeast Ethiopia. DESIGN: Community based comparative cross sectional study. SETTING: Two districts of Amhara region, Ethiopia, classified as strong and weak community based reproductive health programme areas. SUBJECTS: Seven hundred and ninety two women aged 15-49 years residing in the selected districts of Amhara region. Community based reproductive health workers, programme coordinators and field supervisors were used as informants of qualitative data collection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Current use of modern contraceptive methods. RESULTS: Strong versus weak programme areas: knowledge about modern contraceptive method (MCM), was (90% and 86.8%), [OR (95% CI) = 2.87(1.68,4.91)], ever use of MCM (61.1% and 29.7%), [OR (95% CI) = 3.71(2.72, 5.07)] and current use of MCM (54.8% versus 19.7%), [OR (95% CI) = 4.95(3.53,6.95)]. Method interruption was significantly higher, 37.6% in weak than 10.9% in strongly performing programme area. Causes of defaulting in strong versus weak programme areas were: wanted more pregnancy (4% and 39.5%), fear of contraceptives' side effects (16% and 31.6%) and lack of method of choice (20% and 2.6%). Type of religion, husband approval, awareness of service existence and client satisfaction remained to be the predictors of current use of MCM in multivariate analysis. Qualitative study findings were found coherent with the quantitative results. CONCLUSION: Type of religion, husband approval, client satisfaction and awareness of service existence were the predictors of modern contraceptive methods utilisation in the study population.

Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among students in three eastern Ethiopian universities.

SETTINGS: Three universities located in eastern Ethiopia: Haramaya University, Haramaya; Dire-Dawa University, Dire-Dawa; and Jigjiga University, Jigjiga. OBJECTIVE: To determine the burden of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) among university students and to identify risk factors for the development of TB disease. DESIGN: All full-time university students were screened for symptoms of PTB and sputum was collected for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) examination and culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. RESULTS: Of 35 344 students screened, we identified 153 PTB cases that occurred over the 1-year study period, or 433/100 000 students. Of these, 117 (76%) PTB cases were found through passive case finding at student health centres, while 36 (24%) previously undiagnosed patients were identified through active case finding. Sixteen cases detected using active case finding (44%) were smear-positive. Living in a dormitory with 5 students and attending university for 2 years were both significantly associated with PTB (adjusted OR 2.49 and 3.79, respectively, P < 0.001). In persons who underwent drug susceptibility testing, 11 (30.5%) had resistance to at least one first-line anti-tuberculosis drug. CONCLUSION: We found a high burden of TB among university students in eastern Ethiopia. Screening for PTB upon university admission and at regular intervals should be considered to minimise TB transmission on university campuses.

Antimicrobial sensitivity of Neisseria gonorrhoea in Gondar, Ethiopia.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Neisseria gonorrheae and to obtain epidemiological information on resistance of Neisseria gonorrheae in Gondar town. DESIGN: A cross sectional study. SETTING: Gondar Health Centre. SUBJECTS: One hundred and seventy eight male patients presented with urethral discharge and who volunteered to participate in the study were included. RESULTS: A total of 142 strains of N. gonorrhoeae were isolated from 168 cultures received. The sensitivity of gonococcal isolates ranges from 98.6% to chloramphenicol to 7.7% to cotrimoxazole. Multiple drug resistance was reported in 87.5% of isolates and only four isolates were sensitive to all antibiotics. One strain of N. gonorrheae was resistant to as many as eight antibiotics (tetracycline, penicillin, ampicillin, kanamicin, methicilin, carbenicillin, cotrimoxazole and ceftriaxone). More than eighty five per cent of the isolated strains were penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG). CONCLUSION: Gonococcal resistance is a significant public health problem in Gondar region and the drugs recommended for treatment of gonococcal cases by the national sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) control programme need to be revised.

Cyanobacterial N2 fixation in presence of nitrogen fertilizers.

Anabaena oryzae ARM 570 was examined for its growth (chlorophyll and protein), heterocyst frequency, nitrogenase (acetylene reduction) activity, ammonia excretion, and glutamine synthetase and nitrate reductase in response to two levels of urea-N vis-à-vis N2-N. Growth of cyanobacterium increased with duration of incubation. Reduction in heterocyst frequency (40%) was observed at 30 ppm of urea-N, whereas at 60 ppm of urea-N, filaments were completely devoid of heterocysts and no nitrogenase activity was observed. Maximum excretion of ammonia occurred at 30 ppm of urea-N, which was concomitant with minimum glutamine synthetase activity. These results suggested that A. oryzae could be effectively utilized in cyanobacterial biofertilizer programme even in the presence of combined nitrogen, for improving N-budget in rice cultivation.

Response of Anabaena species to different nitrogen sources.

Nitrogenase activity, ammonia excretion and glutamine synthetase (GS) activity were examined in five strains of Anabaena (A. anomala ARM 314, A. fertilissima ARM 742, A. variabilis ARM 310, A. oryzae ARM 313 and A. oryzae ARM 570) in the presence of 2.5 mM NO3-N (KNO3), 2.5 mM NH-4-N [(NH4)2SO4] and diatomic nitrogen (N2). Ammonium-N was more inhibitory to nitrogenase activity as compared to NO3-N in all the strains. Maximum GS activity was exhibited in NO3-N medium, irrespective of the cyanobacterial strains studied. Uninduced release of ammonia was observed in all the species, with A. oryzae ARM 313 and Anabaena variabilis ARM 310 exhibiting maximum excretion of 0.25-0.31 and 0.27-1.23 mu moles NH4 mg Chl(-1) respectively on the 15th day of incubation. The glutamine synthetase activity of A. oryzae ARM 313 was relatively very high as compared to Anabaena variabilis ARM 310. There was no nitrate reductase activity in any of the Anabaena sp. grown on NH3-N or N2-N on the 15th day of incubation.

Transcranial alternating current stimulation reduces symptoms in intractable idiopathic cervical dystonia: a case study.

Idiopathic cervical dystonia (ICD) is a movement disorder often resulting in profound disability and pain. Treatment options include oral medications or other invasive procedures, whereas intractable ICD has been shown to respond to invasive (deep) brain stimulation. In the present blinded, placebo-controlled case study, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) has been applied to a 54-year old patient with intractable ICD. Results showed that 15 Hz tACS had both immediate and cumulative effects in dystonic symptom reduction, with a 54% reduction in the Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale (TWSTRS) total score, and a 75% in the TWSTRS Pain Scale. These effects were persistent at 30-days follow-up. This is the first report to demonstrate a significant and lasting therapeutic effect of non-invasive electrical brain stimulation in dystonia.

The relationship between transcranial current stimulation electrode montages and the effect of the skull orbital openings.

Due to its low electric conductivity, the skull has a major impact on the electric field distribution in the brain in transcranial current stimulation (tCS). However, the skull has several openings that are filled with higher conductivity soft tissues, and through which a significant fraction of the injected current may pass. We show that current entering the brain via the orbital openings increases the electric field intensity in the cortical regions near the orbit. Furthermore, this depends on the how far electrodes are placed from the orbital openings.

Modeling the electric field induced in a high resolution realistic head model during transcranial current stimulation.

Much of our knowledge about the electric field distribution in transcranial current stimulation (tCS) still relies on results obtained from layered spherical head models. In this work we created a high resolution finite element model of a human head by segmentation of MRI images, and paid particular attention to the representation of the cortical sheet. This model was then used to calculate the electric field induced by two electrodes: an anode placed above the left motor cortex, and a cathode placed over the right eyebrow. The results showed that the maxima of the current density appear located on localized hotspots in the bottom of sulci and not on the cortical surface as would be expected from spherical models. This also applies to the components of the current density normal and tangential to the cortical surface. These results show that such highly detailed head models are needed to correctly predict the effects of tCS on cortical neurons.

Epidemic of neurolathyrism in Ethiopia.

After a drought and famine, overconsumption of the drought-tolerant grasspea triggered an epidemic of neurodegenerative neurolathyrism in Northeast Ethiopia. Environmental, nutritional, and medical factors seem to affect the susceptibility.

Trichiasis Recurrence in North Ethiopia: a one Year Prospective Study of Trachomatous Trichiasis Surgery done by Integrated Eye Care Workers

Background: Blindness due to trachomatous trichiasis can be prevented by simple eyelid surgery that can be performed by trained nurses. Objective: To evaluate the post- operative outcome of posterior tarsal rotation done by integrated eye care workers (IECWs) at the twelfth postoperative month. Methods: A prospective study to evaluate trichiasis surgery for recurrence was conducted in Yilmana Densa District. Trained IECWs did transverse tarsotomy with lid margin rotation for 455 patients with trichiasis following the standard procedure. Post-operative follow-up evaluation was done at the 12th month by IECWs who neither took part in the operation nor knew the specific surgeons for the corresponding patients. Results: Out of 695 a total of 560 operated eyelids were available for follow-up just at the 12th month. In terms of persons; 79.3(361/455) patients came for follow-up evaluation. The recurrence rate among the operated eyelids was found to be 16.6. There was an increase in likelihood of having recurrence with increasing age of patients (X2=5.6; P=0.02). We also found a statistically significant difference in rates of recurrence among patients operated by different surgeons(X2 =12.8; P=0.005). Conclusion: Trichiasis recurrence following surgery done by non-ophthalmologists is low indica- ting the possibility of avoiding preventable blindness due to trachoma through the training of integrated eye care workers. Moreover; monitoring mechanism appeared essential to track the performance of IECWs

Levels of Outpatient Satisfaction at Selected Health Facilities in Six Regions of Ethiopia

Background: Satisfaction is one of the meaningful indicators of patient experience of health care services. Asking patients what they think about the care and treatment they have received is an important step towards improving the quality of care; and to ensuring that local health services are meeting patients' needs. Various studies have reported that satisfied patients are more likely to utilize health services; comply with medical treatment; and continue with the health care provider. Objective: to assess and estimate the perceived levels of satisfaction with health services rendered at government health facilities in selected regions of Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study that involved an exit interview was conducted in purposively selected government health centers and general hospitals in six regions of Ethiopia. Data were collected using structured questionnaire between June and September 2004. Variables used in the study were grouped and summarized into three components; namely providers' characteristics; services characteristics and cleanliness of the health facilities. Each variable was scored on a 5 point Likert-like scale; ranging from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied). The mean score 2.5 is considered as a cut-off point and scores equal and above 2.5 are taken as an indicator of users' perceived satisfaction. Both bivariate and multivariate methods of data analyses were used as deemed necessary. Results: All the three components of investigated variables have reliability coefficients ranging from 0.57 to 0.82. Results of bivariate analyses depicted that the percentage for high mean score satisfaction with health providers' characteristics ranged from 77.25to 93.23; with service characteristics 68.64to 86.48; and satisfaction with cleanliness ranged from 76.50to 90.57. Results of multivariate analysis showed that relatively more explanatory variables were found to be significant ininfluencing cleanliness (cleanliness of waiting place; examination room and medical equipment). Most of the explanatory variables in service characteristics were not statistically significant as compared to other components. Conclusion: The investigators believe that improved service delivery in health facilities could be achieved by to proper and sustainable implementation of the newly initiated civil service reform program in civil service institutionsin the country. Furthermore; periodic assessment of health services and further study; especially from the user's satisfaction perspective is recommended as a fundamental initiative in the improvement of the performance of health facilities