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Cervical cancer is one of the most common malignancies affecting women worldwide with large geographic variations in prevalence and mortality rates. It is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in Ethiopia, where vaccination and screening are less implemented. However, there is a scarcity of literature in the field. Therefore, the objective of this review was to describe current developments in cervical cancer in the Ethiopian context. The main topics presented were the burden of cervical cancer, knowledge of women about the disease, the genotype distribution of Human papillomavirus (HPV), vaccination, and screening practices in Ethiopia.Published literature in the English language on the above topics until May 2021 were retrieved from PubMed/Medline, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, and the Google database using relevant searching terms. Combinations of the following terms were considered to retrieve literature; Cervical cancer, uterine cervical neoplasms, papillomavirus infections, papillomavirus vaccines, knowledge about cervical cancer, genotype distribution of HPV and Ethiopia . The main findings were described thematically.Cervical cancer is the second most common and the second most deadly cancer in Ethiopia, The incidence and prevalence of the disease is increasing from time to time because of the growth and aging of the population, as well as an increasing prevalence of well-established risk factors. Knowledge and awareness about cervical cancer is quite poor among Ethiopian women. According to a recent report (2021), the prevalence of previous screening practices among Ethiopian women was at 14%. Although HPV 16 is constantly reported as the common genotype identified from different grade cervical lesions in Ethiopia, studies reported different HPV genotype distributions across the country. According to a recent finding, the most common HPV types identified from cervical lesions in the country were HPV-16, HPV-52, HPV-35, HPV-18, and HPV-56. Ethiopia started vaccinating school girls using Gardasil-4™ in 2018 although the coverage is insignificant. Recently emerging reports are in favor of gender-neutral vaccination strategies with moderate coverage that was found superior and would rapidly eradicate high-risk HPVs than vaccinating only girls.Cervical cancer continues to be a major public health problem affecting thousands of women in Ethiopia. As the disease is purely preventable, classic cervical cancer prevention strategies that include HPV vaccination using a broad genotype coverage, screening using a high precision test, and treating cervical precancerous lesions in the earliest possible time could prevent most cervical cancer cases in Ethiopia. The provision of a focused health education supported by educational materials would increase the knowledge of women about cervical cancer in general and the uptake of cervical cancer prevention and screening services in particular.

Background The serum lipid and immunohematological values of tuberculosis lymphadenitis (TBLN) patients is poorly documented relative to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) cases. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the serum lipid and immunohematological values of patients with TBLN in comparison with PTB (PTB) patients. Methods An institution-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Northwest Ethiopia from March to December 2021. The study participants were bacteriologically confirmed PTB (n = 82) and TBLN (n = 94) cases with no known comorbidity and whose ages was greater than 18 years and with no current pregnancy. Independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, box plot, and correlation matrix were used to analyze the data. Results The body mass index (BMI), CD4 + T cell count, and high-density lipoprotein-Cholesterol (HDL-C) values were significantly higher among TBLN cases compared with PTB cases. Additionally, the total white blood cell (WBC) count, hemoglobin (Hb), total Cholesterol (CHO) and creatinine (Cr) values were relatively higher among TBLN than PTB (P > 0.05). On the reverse, the platelet count and triacylglycerol (TAG) values were relatively higher among PTB than in TBLN cases. While the mean days of culture positivity were 11.6 days for TBLN, the mean days of culture positivity were 14.0 days for PTB. Anemia and serum lipid values showed no correlation with sputum bacilli load and time to culture positivity. Conclusion Tuberculous lymphadenitis patients were well-endowed with serum lipid, immunological and nutritional status compared with PTB cases. Hence, the high incidence rate of TBLN in Ethiopia could not be explained by low peripheral immunohematological values, malnutrition, Anemia, and dyslipidemia. Further study for identifying the predictors for TBLN in Ethiopia is highly desirable.

Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes differ by geographic location. With the advent of HPV vaccination and HPV-based cervical screening tests in Ethiopia, a nationwide dataset on the genotype distribution of HPV among women has paramount importance in the fight against cervical cancer. However, there is limited data in this regard in the northwest part of the country. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the genotype distribution of high-risk HPVs among women presenting with cervical abnormalities. Methods A health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Felege Hiwot Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (FHCSH), Bahir Dar–Ethiopia. Women aged ≥ 30 years who visited the hospital gynecology unit from 01 March 2019 to 30 October 2021 were included. Following general and pelvic examinations, a senior gynecologist collected cervical punch biopsies for histopathological examinations and cervical swabs for HR-HPV detection using the Abbott Alinity m system (Abbott Molecular, Des Plaines, IL, USA). Extended genotyping was carried out with the INNO-LiPA HPV Genotyping Extra II assay (INNO-LiPA; Fujirebio Europe, Ghent, Belgium) as per the manufacturer protocols at the Institute of Virology, Leipzig University Hospital, Germany. Results We included 355 women with a mean age of 46.4 ± 11.4 years. The majority of the participants, 277 (79.4%) were sexually active before the age of 18 years and 180 (51.6%) had multiple sexual partners. Forty-eight (13.5%) of the participants were HIV positive. The proportion of HR-HPV was 53.0% (n = 188; 95%CI: 47.8–58.1%). From these samples, 13 different HR-HPV types with a total of 258 sequences were identified. The detection of HR-HPV increased significantly with an increase in the age of the participants. The predominant identified HR-HPV was HPV16, 50.4% followed by HPV31 (9.7%), HPV33 (8.5%), HPV39, and HPV68 each (5.8%) and HPV18 (4.7%). Of the total HR-HPV-positive women, 23.9% (45/188) were infected with multiple HR-HPV types. All HPV16, HPV18, HPV35, and HPV45 genotypes (as a single or in coinfections) were found to be associated with either high-grade lesions or cervical cancer. Conclusions HR-HPV infection was reportedly higher among women in the present study area. Based on our findings, we strongly recommend the nonavalent HPV vaccine for immunization and any HPV-based screening method to take into consideration the predominant genotypes circulating in the country. The role of multiple HPV infections in high-grade cervical lesions entails further study in Ethiopia.

Allocentric and egocentric are two types of spatial coding. Previous studies reported the dorsal attention network's involvement in both types. To eliminate possible paradigm-specific confounds in the results, this study employed fine-grained cue-to-target paradigm to dissociate allocentric (aSC) and egocentric (eSC) spatial coding. Twenty-two participants completed a custom visuospatial task, and changes in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (O2-Hb) were recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator-regularized principal component (LASSO-RPC) algorithm was used to identify cortical sites that predicted the aSC and eSC conditions' reaction times. Significant changes in O2-Hb concentration in the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and post-central gyrus regions were common in both aSC and eSC. Results of inter-channel correlations further substantiate cortical activities in both conditions were predominantly over the right parieto-frontal areas. Together with right superior frontal gyrus areas be the reaction time neural correlates, the results suggest top-down attention and response-mapping processes are common to both spatial coding types. Changes unique to aSC were in clusters over the right intraparietal sulcus, right temporo-parietal junction, and left IPL. With the left pre-central gyrus region, be the reaction time neural correlate, aSC is likely to involve more orienting attention, updating of spatial information, and object-based response selection and inhibition than eSC. Future studies will use other visuospatial task designs for testing the robustness of the findings on spatial coding processes.

Sclerotinia rot and Phytophthora blight are devastating diseases of perilla that can cause huge loss of perilla production. Screening disease resistant genetic resources is necessary to develop disease-resistant cultivars and conduct related research. The objective of this study was to find suitable inoculation methods for screening of Sclerotinia rot and Phytophthora blight in perilla germplasm. Three different inoculation methods [i.e., detached leaf (agar plug placed on start point of vein, 1/3 point of leaf vein & front side, back side), stem tip, and soil drenching] with three-growth stages (two, four & six-leaf stage) at two different temperatures (20 & 25°C) were assayed for their effectiveness for screening using IT 229019 & Sang-yeop perilla germplasm. Based on disease lesion, 20°C in two-leaf stage with detached leaf method (start point of vein) was found to be an efficient method for screening of Sclerotinia rot whereas 25°C in two-leaf stage with stem tip was an effective method for screening of Phytophthora blight in perilla germplasm. However, stem tip method was laborious as it required more time. Therefore, detached leaf method (start point of vein & back side) was a simple and rapid method that could be preferably used for screening of Sclerotinia rot and Phytophthora blight in perilla germplasm.

Over 99% of cervical cancer cases are associated with genital infection by certain types of human papillomaviruses (HPVs). To outline optimal vaccination strategies and HPV based cervical cancer screening, synthesized data on the genotype distribution of HPV is fundamental that is otherwise missed in Ethiopia. The aim of this study is to compile the findings on HPV genotyping in Ethiopia. Published articles were systematically searched using comprehensive search strings from PubMed/Medline and SCOPUS. Further, Google Scholar and the Google databases were also searched manually for grey literature. The included studies in the review employed 859 women (age range 15–85 years) with different kinds of cervical abnormalities. A total of 534 HPV sequences were reported; the proportion of high risk HPVs was varied 80.4–100%. The top five identified genotypes were HPV 16 (45.3%; 95% CI 41.1–49.6%), HPV 52 (9.4%; 95% CI 7.2–12.1%), HPV 18 (8.2%; 95% CI 6.2–10.9%), HPV 58 (6.9%; 95% CI 5.1–9.4%) and HPV 45 (5.2%; 95% CI 3.7–7.5%). The combined prevalence of HPV 16/18 was at 53.6% (95% CI 49.3–57.8%). In this review, HPV 16 in particular, but also HPV 52 and 18, warrant exceptional consideration in vaccination and HPV based screening programs in Ethiopia. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first of its kind to establish the genotype distribution of HPV from different kinds of cervical lesions in Ethiopia although it was synthesized out of few studies. Hence, additional nationwide data are needed to strengthen our finding. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s13337-019-00527-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The genus Allium includes hundreds of plant species and is regarded as one of the most cultivated vegetables. It is an important source of novel therapeutic compounds known for their beneficial effects on human health; however, there could be differences in content, composition, type, and bioactivity of the phytochemicals found among the Allium plants. The main purpose of this study was to acquire insights on the variation in antioxidant profiles and phenolic content between Allium accessions in different species, as well as between similar species of several varieties. We collected 112 accessions from more than 20 countries, and grew them under similar agronomic conditions. The antioxidant potential was evaluated by using 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS), 1,1-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and reducing power (RP) assays. The total phenolic content (TPC) was studied using the Folin–Ciocalteu method. TPC varied from 3.43 (accession 199897) to 22.19 (accession 273483) µg gallic acid equivalent/mg dry weight (DW) of the aerial organs of Allium. The antioxidant activity of Allium samples ranged from 4.37 (accession 806595) to 57.46 (accession number 711971) µg Trolox equivalent/mg DW; 0.35 (accession 117246) to 9.53 (accession 711971) µg ascorbic acid equivalents/mg DW; 2.92 (accession 199890) to 21.20 (accession 803493) µgAAE/mg DW; and 0.80 (accession 117260) to 31.13 (accession 803527) µgAAE/mg DW using ABTS, DPPH, FRAP, and RP assays, respectively. Accessions 273483 (A. cepa), 283346 (A. cepa ‘cepa’), and 803527 (unknown species) had the highest TPC, FRAP, and RP values among those tested, while the highest ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities were recorded in accession 711971 (A. ramosum). Pearson’s coefficient of correlations indicated that variables (TPC, ABTS, DPPH, FRAP, and RP values) correlated significantly each other, with r-values between 0.585 and 0.894. Principal component analysis plots and hierarchical cluster analysis indicated significant variability in antioxidant activity and phenolic content among all the accessions studied, as well as within similar species. Based on our results from principal component and hierarchical cluster analysis, accession 283346 (A. cepa ‘cepa’), K139348 (A. fistulosum), and 711971 (A. ramosum) are potential sources of phenolics and natural antioxidants. The variability in total phenolic and antioxidant activity among the Allium accessions can be used by breeders, food technologists, nutritionist, and researchers for assessing breeding lines for genetic selection and for monitoring levels of these factors during food storage and processing.

Citrus fruit is a rich source of bioactive phytochemicals. Information on the fatty acid and tocopherol composition of locally grown citrus fruits in Korea is elusive. This work was aimed to study fatty acid, tocopherols, ascorbic acid, antioxidant potential, and selected phenolics from peel and pulp of six citrus species. The most dominant fatty acid was linoleic acid (15–45%), followed by linolenic, palmitic, and oleic acid. Stearic acid was highly abundant in yuzu peel (14.45%) and pulp (15.88%) compared to the other fruits. Unsaturated fatty acids (54–74%) contributed higher composition than saturated fatty acids (25–46%). Peel exhibited better antioxidant potential and contained higher phytochemicals than pulp. The concentrations of α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol were ranged from 22.96 (yuzu) to 86.93 (cheonhyeyang) and 38.59 (yuzu) ~83.03 (tangerine) μg/g DW, respectively. J-Redhyeyang peel exhibited highest total flavonoids (4.17 ± 0.10 mgQE/g DW) and DPPH radical scavenging activity (6.17 ± 0.03 mgTE/g DW). FRAP values were highest (20.05 ± 0.64 mgTE/g DW) in yuzu peel, while peel of cheonhyeyang was superior in total phenolic contents. Tangerine (3.02 ± 0.05 mg/g DW) and yuzu (7.49 ± 0.38 mg/g DW) had higher hesperidin concentrations in pulp and peel, respectively. Naringin was found in an appreciable amount in yuzu pulp (2.04 ± 0.09 mg/g DW) and peel (6.30 ± 0.19 mg/g DW) but not detected in all other fruit species. Our results indicate that citrus fruit peel is the rich source of antioxidant compounds, which can be used to prepare antioxidant rich food product.

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) is the traditional vegetable used as medicinal food in tropical and subtropical countries, including Korea, China, and India. The present work aimed to determine the content of carotenoids and fatty acid composition from pericarp and seed arils of ripened bitter melon fruits. Using HPLC–DAD, five major carotenoids in the pericarp and six carotenoids in seed arils of ripened bitter melon fruits were quantified. In pericarp, all-E-zeaxanthin was recorded in highest quantity (4.76 μg/g FW), followed by all-E-β-cryptoxanthin (2.68 μg/g FW) and all-E-violaxanthin (1.91 μg/g FW). All-E-lycopene was found as the most dominant carotenoid in red seed arils accounting for 273.15 μg/g (FW) with total carotenoid contents of 360.51 μg/g (FW). Using GC–FID, 11 fatty acids were identified in pericarp and seed arils. In pericarp, palmitic acid (C16:0) was found in highest quantity (29.53%) followed by linoleic acid (LA, C18:2, cis-9,12) (23.69%) and stearic acid (C18:0) (10.21%). In contrast, palmitic acid (39.28%), α-linolenic acid (ALA; C18:3, cis-9,12,15) (19.15%) and LA (15.28%) were the most dominant fatty acids in seed arils. The results of the present investigation revealed that the seed arils of ripened bitter melon fruits are rich sources of lycopene and PUFAs which can be used in food preparations as colorant and flavor enhancer to improve the health benefits, including lowering the risk of coronary heart disease, cancer, xerophthalmia and night blindness.

The effects of different extraction solvents (water, EtOH, MeOH, acetone, DMSO, and their mixture) and various drying methods (air, oven, microwave, and freeze drying) were investigated on total polyphenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and antioxidant activity of peel, pulp, and seeds of yuzu fruit. Mixed solvents exhibited better results compared to the absolute solvents. 50 % acetone exhibited the highest FRAP and CUPRAC value in peel and pulp and TPC in seeds of yuzu fruits. 80 % acetone which also gave nearly similar results with 50 % acetone (p > 0.05) showed the highest TPC in peels and pulp and highest CUPRAC values in seeds. Absolute acetone was the least desirable solvent employed for extraction in most of the samples. Drying methods also significantly affected the total polyphenols content, total flavonoid content and antioxidant potential of yuzu fruits. Oven drying resulted in declines of the TPC, TFC, FRAP, DPPH, and CUPRAC from 0.2 to 33.0 % relative to fresh samples while air drying resulted a decrease in the range between 2.5 and 30.6 %. Freeze dried samples showed the highest percent retentions of polyphenols content, flavonoid content, and antioxidants (70.6–122.1 %). Drying methods caused the highest loss of TPC, TFC, FRAP, and CUPRAC in pulp samples except DPPH radical scavenging activity. In overall, the extraction of secondary metabolites and antioxidants was highly dependent on the extraction solvent, type of sample and sample processing methods.

In the present investigation, extraction of antioxidants and flavonoids from the peels of yuzu fruit using a single factor experiment and a response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design was studied. Four independent variables were evaluated at five levels with total 29 experimental runs, including ethanol concentration (EtOH), ratio of liquid to material (L/S), extraction temperature (T), and extraction time (t). The total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoids content (TFC), two indicators of antioxidant capacity (FRAP and DPPH), and three individual major flavonoids in yuzu (hesperidin, naringin, and phloretin) served as the response functions. Quadratic polynomial equations were obtained by multiple regression analysis to predict the optimal extraction conditions. The regression analysis showed that >95 % of variations were explained by the models of different responses considered. The responses were significantly influenced by all studied factors. The Multiresponse optimized conditions targeted at maximizing all the responses were found to be EtOH = 65.550 %; T = 43.864 °C; t = 119.673 min; and L/S = 37.168 ml/g, with a desirability of 0.950. At the optimized conditions, the experimental values of FRAP (964.9 ± 23.1 mgTE/g DW), DPPH (453.0 ± 5.2 mgTE/g DW), TPC (1161.2 ± 25.2 mgGAE/g DW), (TFC393.4 ± mgQE/g DW), hesperidin (337.2 ± 4.0 mg/g DW), naringin (244.9 ± 1.1 mg/g DW), and phloretin (43.9 mg/g DW) were in a reasonable agreement with the predicted values. The extraction method was applied successfully to extract antioxidants and flavonoids from yuzu peels. It also allows a fast and cost-saving process for extraction of the studied phytochemicals, in addition to improvement of the quantity of the targeted extract.

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported that one of the authors’ names was spelled incorrectly. In this Correction the incorrect and correct author name are shown. The original publication of this article has been corrected.

Objective The present cross-sectional study was aimed at determining the magnitude of under diagnosis of intestinal schistosomiasis among patients requested for routine ova/parasite examination at Ayder referral hospital. Results A total of 280 stool samples were collected and only 5% of the patients were positive for ova of Schistosoma mansoni in the routine direct wet mount microscopy. On the other hand, 12.5% of the patients were positive for ova Schistosoma mansoni when the stool samples were processed by either Kato Kat or formol ether concentration techniques. Moderate test agreement (κ = 0.48) was recorded for wet mount. Formol-ether concentration (κ = 0.89) and Kato-Katz (κ = 0.92) showed excellent agreements with the ‘Gold’ standard. Direct wet mount technique exhibited the poorest sensitivity (35%) of detection of ova of Schistosoma mansoni. Hence, the Kato-Katz technique should be implemented in parallel with the direct wet mount microscopy for Schistosoma mansoni presumptive patients.

Extraction of antioxidants from aloe gel powder with water–ethanol solvents was studied using response surface methodology. The independent variables were solvent composition, temperature, extraction time, and the liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratio. The concentrations of potentially antioxidant compounds (aloin A and B, aloesin, total phenolics, and total carbohydrates) and a few indicators of antioxidant capacity (DPPH, FRAP, CUPRAC) served as the response functions. It was found that aloe gel contains both phenolic and non-phenolic antioxidants, and it was supposed that the phenolic fraction consists almost exclusively of chromones and anthrones. Different approaches to the optimization of extraction procedures are discussed, and here, the maximum recovery yield of antioxidants is achieved with 34 % ethanol at 60 °С and a L/S ratio of 46 in 1 h. The use of 90 % ethanol results in a higher antioxidant capacity of the product, but also results in a much lower extraction yield, decreasing the overall productivity of the process.

A comprehensive quantitative analysis of flavonoids, sugars, phenylalanine, and tryptophan have been carried out in different onion scales during storage at ambient temperature (20–23 °C) and relative humidity (60–80 %). Depending on the length of storage, dry matter content and composition shows variation inside the onion bulbs. Inner sprouts were observed on longitudinally cut bulbs after 2 months and visible sprouts appeared after 5 months of storage. The bulbs lost 20 to 30 % of their weight at the end of the storage. Higher dry matter content was observed in the inner scales. Significantly high content of quercetin in inner scales and high level of quercetin-3,4′-O-diglucoside and quercetin-4′-O-monoglucoside in outer scales was observed during a 7 months storage. During storage period, high content of fructose and glucose was observed in the middle scales while sucrose was high in the inner scales. There was no particular trend observed within analyzed amino acids. However, the content of phenylalanine was higher than tryptophan.

Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a global concern for both developing and developed countries. Currently it becomes more complex due to increasing levels of drug resistance and HIV co-infection. Delayed diagnosis and high case load are major factors contributing to continued transmission and failure to the treatment outcome. The study was conducted to determine the profile and treatment outcomes of TB patients at Felege-Hiwot Referral Hospital. Methods We analyzed the records of 1761 TB patients registered for treatment in Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital from July 2010 to June 2015. Data on patients’ socio-demographic characteristics, type of TB, HIV status and treatment outcome were analysed. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression models were used to present data. The odds ratio and the 95 % confidence intervals were calculated. A p-value of