Smallholder farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding agricultural inputs with a focus on agricultural biologicals.

There is a general drive to reduce pesticide use owing to the potential negative effects of pesticides on the environment and human health. The EU Commission, for example, through its "Farm to Fork Strategy," has proposed to decrease the use of hazardous chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030. In addition, smallholder farmers in low-income countries do not always follow pesticide safety precautions. This necessitates the introduction of low-risk crop protection strategies also suited for these farmers. Agricultural biologicals can substitute for, or at least partially replace hazardous chemical pesticides. While the market for and use of biologicals is growing quickly in industrialized countries, this practice remains limited in sub-Saharan Africa. To understand the reason behind the low adoption of biologicals, this study examined the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward biologicals among 150 smallholder farmers in the Chole district in Ethiopia. All farmers used chemical pesticides and/or inorganic fertilizers to protect crops, improve yields, and comply with government regulations. The use of biologicals was, however, restricted to one group of biologicals, bio-fertilizers, which approximately 60% of farmers used, and no use of biologicals for plant protection was reported. Even though the understanding of the concept of biologicals was deemed high among respondents, the majority (90%) did not identify biologicals as safer alternatives to conventional agricultural inputs. More than half of the respondents (54%) did not recommend biologicals as safer alternatives to their colleagues. Nevertheless, even if the responding farmers did not perceive biologicals as risk-free, they had a positive attitude towards biologicals when it came to producing healthy food and increasing crop yields and incomes. In comparison to the positive attitude, farmers' knowledge and practice of biologicals were generally low; thus, efforts are needed to create awareness among farmers.

Incidence of switching to second-line antiretroviral therapy and its predictors among children on antiretroviral therapy at general hospitals, Northern Ethiopia: A survival analysis.

BACKGROUND: With expanding access to pediatric antiretroviral therapy, several patients in the developing world were switched to the second-line regimen, and some require third-line medications. A delay in a second-line switch is associated with an increased risk of mortality and other undesired therapeutic outcomes, drives up program costs, and challenges the pediatric antiretroviral therapy service. Nevertheless, there remain limited and often conflicting estimates on second-line antiretroviral therapy use during childhood, especially in resource-limited settings like Ethiopia. Thus, this study intended to determine the incidence and predictors of switching to second-line antiretroviral therapy among children. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted by reviewing records of 424 randomly selected children on first-line antiretroviral therapy from January 2014 to December 2018 at public hospitals in the Central and Southern Zones of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Data were collected using extraction tool; entered into Epi-data; cleaned, and analyzed by STATA version-14. Kaplan-Meier curve, log-rank test, and life table were used for data description and adjusted hazard ratios and p-value for analysis by Cox proportional hazard regression. Variables at a P-value of ≤0.20 in the bi-variable analysis were taken to multivariable analysis. Finally, statistical significance was declared at a P-value of ≤0.05. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Analysis was conducted on 424 charts with a total person-time observation of 11686.1 child-months and an incidence switch rate of 5.6 (95%CI: 4.36-7.09) per 1000 child-month-observations. Being orphan [AHR = 2.36; 95%CI: 1.10-5.07], suboptimal adherence [AHR = 2.10; 95% CI: 1.12-3.92], drug toxicity [AHR = 7.05; 95% CI: 3.61-13.75], advanced latest clinical stage [AHR = 2.75; 95%CI: 1.05-7.15], and tuberculosis co-infection at baseline [AHR = 3.08; 95%CI: 1.26-7.51] were significantly associated with switch to second-line antiretroviral therapy regimen. Moreover, a long duration of follow-up [AHR = 0.75; 95% CI: 0.71-0.81] was associated with decreased risk of switching. Hence, it is better to prioritize strengthening the focused evaluation of tuberculosis co-infection and treatment failure with continuous adherence monitoring. Further research is also needed to evaluate the effect of drug resistance.

The reaction of secondary school and university students toward COVID-19-induced lockdown.

Background: The Coronavirus pandemic triggered a worldwide partial lockdown. The lockdown instigated the school's shutdown making the students follow their courses in the virtual modalities while staying at home. Methods: The data were collected using an online survey using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study involved anonymous as well as voluntary 77 secondary schools (Grades 9th to 12th) and 132 university students (class standing 1st to 5th year). Results: The lockdown introduced excruciating experiences for most of the students; however, it also created unanticipated opportunities to learn new skills and develop insights on how to mitigate unforeseen crises while remaining reasonably productive. The steps taken to reduce exposure to the coronavirus infection showed a gender discrepancy. Accordingly, males were disproportionately taken risks regardless of the curfew imposed, while females were deeply concerned about the lockdown-induced break of social connections. Students who were attending public schools, presumably from low-income families were found to be more productive during the lockdown compared to their private school counterparts. This shows that, in some instances, the Coronavirus pandemic is a blessing in disguise. The lockdown created mixed feelings; accordingly, the students reported significantly varied responses towards it. This also introduced some inconsistencies in the response of the students. Perceptions about the lockdown and its impact in most instances significantly varied among students, which unlocked the opportunities to learn new lessons on how to manage unprecedented crises. Conclusion: Policymakers need to take into account gender and living standard while developing strategies to mitigate unprecedented challenges.

COVID-19: socio-economic impacts and challenges in the working group.

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the lives of the global community, consequently, many parts of people's lives have been jeopardized. Therefore, there is a need to curb the spread of coronavirus. Accordingly, countries are enforcing partial or full-fledged lockdown to restrict all sorts of socialization. However, studies reported that people have despised the ordinances. The study assessed the economic, societal, and psychological impacts of the pandemic and the practice of abiding by curfews by staying and working from home. One hundred thirty-three government, private, and self-employed workers have anonymously and voluntarily completed an online survey. The change in lifestyle associated with the pandemic influenced the working group economically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. In addition to inflation in the prices of food and commodity, workers have spent unintended costs for the prevention of the COVID-19 such as hand sanitizer and facemask. Furthermore, staying home was unbearable for the majority of the respondents and led to stress, boredom, and confined feelings which forced them to leave their homes to liberate themselves. Nevertheless, flexibility in time management, reduced commuting, and being safe from COVID-19 made the lockdown advantageous for some of the respondents. Telecommuting is influenced by factors such as home suitability to work, availability of supplies, and the behavior of the workers. Home suitability to work and access to vital working facilities varied between government, private, and self-employed individuals. Government employees exceptionally lack appropriate homes and resources to work. Therefore, to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on people's life it is important to make timely adjustments to the enforced orders to make them more productive.

Risk Factors of Perinatal Asphyxia Among Newborns Delivered at Public Hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: Perinatal asphyxia determines the newborn's future health status and viability with risk factors yet to be completely understood. It measures the status of the healthcare delivery of an organization including antenatal, intranatal, and postnatal care. In Ethiopia, 31.6% of neonatal mortality was attributed to perinatal asphyxia. This study aimed to assess the risk factors of perinatal asphyxia. METHODS: An unmatched case-control study was conducted on 213 (71 cases selected using lottery method and 142 controls systematically) subjects in Addis Ababa from November 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire through face-to-face interviews, entered to Epi data version 4.4, and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Logistic regression was used for analysis. Variables with p< 0.25 in bivariate analysis were taken to multivariable analysis. Statistical significance was declared at P<0.05 and findings were presented using texts and tables. RESULTS: A total of 210 newborns (70 cases and 140 controls) and their mothers were included with an overall response rate of 98.5%. Antepartum hemorrhage [AOR=7.17; 95% CI 1.73-29.72], low birth weight [AOR=2.87; 95% CI 1.01-8.13], preterm birth [AOR=3.4; 95% CI 1.04-11.16], caesarean section delivery [AOR=2.75; 95% CI 1.01-7.42], instrumental delivery [AOR=4.88; 95% CI 1.35-17.61], fetal distress [AOR=4.77; 95% CI 1.52-14.92] and meconium-stained amniotic fluid [AOR=9.02; 95% CI 2.96-30.24] were significantly associated with perinatal asphyxia. Hence, efforts ought to go to improve the quality of antenatal and intra-natal services.

Living with COVID-19-triggered pseudoscience and conspiracies.

OBJECTIVE: This piece of work proposes a way for the wise management of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. METHODS: This work encompassed a review of relevant literature and synthesized the critical thoughts on the proper management of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. RESULT: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) overwhelmingly challenges the competency of the digital generation. Consequently, public had been left stranded, helpless and anxious, especially during the peak season of the pandemic. However, this crisis creates a conducive environment for pseudoscience and conspiracy theories to proliferate. Pseudoscience and conspiracy theories negatively impacted the effort made to contain COVID-19. CONCLUSION: This piece of work, however, argues that although pseudoscience and conspiracy theories are real threats to conventional science, effort needs to be made to develop a sort of database to archive and curate them for downstream use.

Phosphite alters the behavioral response of potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella) to field-grown potato.

BACKGROUND: The potato tuber moth (PTM) (Phthorimaea operculella) is a pest of solanaceous species that causes serious damage to potato tubers and tomato fruits. Control is mainly dependent on the use of synthetic chemicals, which pose a risk to the environment and health of farmers, especially in developing countries where application safety rules are often neglected. In this study we aimed at investigating the effects of a plant resistance inducer (PRI) potassium phosphite on PTM larval population density and PTM parasitoid levels, which can be used as biocontrol agents. We also tested whether intercropping with tomato, which is less attractive to PTM, provided a spatial border to further reduce PTM numbers. RESULTS: In two different locations over two seasons, we showed that foliar application of phosphite more than halved the PTM larval populations on potato, and that PTM parasitoid numbers were unaffected. No consistent reduction in PTM was achieved by intercropping potato with tomato. CONCLUSIONS: Phosphite reduced PTM numbers in the field without interfering with autochthonous parasitoids, indicating its suitability as part of an Integrated Pest Management strategy. Ex situ choice tests showed that phosphite-treated potato deterred PTM, which could be a reason for the control of PTM in the field. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Plant Resistance Inducers against Pathogens in Solanaceae Species-From Molecular Mechanisms to Field Application.

This review provides a current summary of plant resistance inducers (PRIs) that have been successfully used in the Solanaceae plant family to protect against pathogens by activating the plant's own defence. Solanaceous species include many important crops such as potato and tomato. We also present findings regarding the molecular processes after application of PRIs, even if the number of such studies still remains limited in this plant family. In general, there is a lack of patterns regarding the efficiency of induced resistance (IR) both between and within solanaceous species. In many cases, a hypersensitivity-like reaction needs to form in order for the PRI to be efficient. "-Omics" studies have already given insight in the complexity of responses, and can explain some of the differences seen in efficacy of PRIs between and within species as well as towards different pathogens. Finally, examples of field applications of PRIs for solanaceous crops are presented and discussed. We predict that PRIs will play a role in future plant protection strategies in Solanaceae crops if they are combined with other means of disease control in different spatial and temporal combinations.