HIV rapid test performance among health facilities enrolled in HIV rapid test quality improvement initiative (RTQII) in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: As the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) rapid testing services expanded to reach the global target that 95% of people living with the virus will know their status by 2030, ensuring the quality of those services becomes critical. This study was conducted to assess the performance of HIV Rapid testing at sites in health facilities that were enrolled in the Rapid Test Quality Improvement Initiative (RTQII) in Ethiopia. METHODS: Characterized HIV proficiency testing (PT) panels of Dried Tube Specimen (DTS) were prepared, verified, and distributed to testing sites from August to December 2019. In addition on-site evaluation of HIV testing sites (HTSs) was conducted using a checklist to assess testing conditions. For proficiency testing, the study included 159 HIV testing sites (HTSs) in 41 Health facilities (HFs) in five administrative regions and two city administrations. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS version 20 and chi-square test was applied to identify the association between acceptable performance and contributing factors. Testing sites with 100% PT score as well as conducting the test with adherence to the National HIV Testing Algorithm were considered acceptable. RESULTS: The overall acceptable performance (100% PT score with the correct algorithm followed) was found to be 62% while 12% scored 80% and 11% scored between 20 and 60%. The rest 15% were not considered as acceptable due to failure to adhere to the National HIV Testing Algorithm. Testing sites that participated in External Quality Assessment/Proficiency Testing schemes have shown better performance than those that did not participate with 70% and 56% performance respectively (p = 0.057).

Cassava starch-based hot melt adhesive for textile industries.

The textile industry uses a lot of adhesives to join materials together, and many of these adhesives use petroleum-based ingredients that are harmful to the environment. To replace petroleum-based adhesives with a more environmentally friendly option for the textile industry, this study set out to create and evaluate a hot-melt adhesive derived from cassava starch. By adding kaolin clay as a filler and tannin as a tackifier in different ratios of starch, the created adhesive was enhanced. Tannic acid to starch ratios of 2:1, 6:1, and 10:1 w/w and kaolin to starch ratios of 3:1, 5:1, and 7:1 w/w were used to investigate the effects of clay and tackifier, respectively. The adhesives's viscosity, moisture content, tensile strength, and shear strength were then measured. The presence of kaolin and tannic acid in starch-based adhesives favored a good interaction between the adhesive's ingredients. The adhesive's maximum shear strength was measured at 4.93 ± 0.11 Mpa when dry and 0.263 ± 0.21 Mpa when wet. The current data indicate that the optimal tensile strength was determined to be 3.45 ± 0.22 MPa. This result showed that hot melt adhesives based on cassava starch would be a good environmentally friendly substitute for petroleum-based adhesives, and more study in this field is necessary.