The impact of COVID-19 on the tuberculosis control activities in Addis Ababa.

The first COVID-19 case was reported in Ethiopia on 13 March 2020 and series of announcements of set of measures, proclamation and directives have been enacted to fight the coronavirus pandemic. These have implications for the regular health services including the TB control program. This brief communication assesses the impact of the COVID-19 response on the TB control activities of Addis Ababa health centers based on research project data.

Evaluation of Giant African Pouched Rats for Detection of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Patients from a High-Endemic Setting.

Background: This study established evidence about the diagnostic performance of trained giant African pouched rats for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum of well-characterised patients with presumptive tuberculosis (TB) in a high-burden setting.

Methods: The TB detection rats were evaluated using sputum samples of patients with presumptive TB enrolled in two prospective cohort studies in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. The patients were characterised by sputum smear microscopy and culture, including subsequent antigen or molecular confirmation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and by clinical data at enrolment and for at least 5-months of follow-up to determine the reference standard.

Using trained pouched rats to detect land mines: another victory for operant conditioning.

We used giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) as land mine-detection animals in Mozambique because they have an excellent sense of smell, weigh too little to activate mines, and are native to sub-Saharan Africa, and therefore are resistant to local parasites and diseases. In 2009 the rats searched 93,400 m(2) of land, finding 41 mines and 54 other explosive devices. Humans with metal detectors found no additional mines.

Sequential injection spectrophotometric determination of ritodrine hydrochloride using 4-aminoantipyrine.

A sequential injection spectrophotometric determination of ritodrine hydrochloride is described. The method is based on the condensation of aminoantipyrine with phenols in the presence of an alkaline oxidizing agent to yield a pink coloured product the absorbance of which is monitored at 503nm. Different sequential injection analysis (SIA) parameters including reagent concentrations have been optimised and used to obtain the analytical figures of merit.

Amperometric determination of bonded glucose with an MnO(2) and glucose oxidase bulk-modified screen-printed electrode using flow-injection analysis.

A screen-printed amperometric biosensor based on carbon ink double bulk-modified with MnO(2) as a mediator and glucose oxidase as a biocomponent was investigated for its ability to serve as a detector for bonded glucose in different compounds, such as cellobiose, saccharose, (-)-4-nitrophenyl-beta-d-glucopyranoside, as well as in beer samples by flow-injection analysis (FIA). The biosensor could be operated under physiological conditions (0.1M phosphate buffer, pH 7.

(Bio)sensors based on manganese dioxide-modified carbon substrates: retrospections, further improvements and applications.

An overview is presented which summarizes our accomplishment in the development of sensors and biosensors based on heterogenous carbon electrodes modified with manganese dioxide. Brief account of each sensor and biosensor has been given and example of real sample applications provided where appropriate.

Sequential injection spectrophotometric determination of phenylephrine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical preparations.

A fully automated sequential injection spectrophotometric method for the determination of phenylephrine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical preparations is reported. The method is based on the condensation reaction of the analyte with 4-aminoantipyrine in the presence of potassium ferricyanide. The absorbance of the condensation product was monitored at 503nm.

Determination of isoxsuprine hydrochloride by sequential injection visible spectrophotometry.

An automated sequential injection (SI) spectrophotometric method for the determination of isoxsuprine hydrochloride is described. The method is based on the condensation of aminoantipyrine with phenols (isoxsuprine hydrochloride) in the presence of an alkaline oxidizing agent (potassium hexacyanoferrate) to yield a pink colored product, the absorbance of which is monitored at 507 nm. Chemical as well as physical SI parameters that affect the signal response have been optimized in order to get better sensitivity, higher sampling rate and better reagent economy.

Sequential injection spectrophotometric determination of etilefrine hydrochloride.

A simple, fast, economical and automated sequential injection spectrophotometric method for the determination of etilefrine hydrochloride is developed. The method is based on the condensation reaction of etilefrine hydrochloride with 4-aminoantipyrine in the presence of alkaline potassium hexacyanoferrate and the absorbance of the colored product measured at 503 nm. Aspiration order, flow rate, reaction coil diameter, reaction coil length, concentration of 4-aminoantipyrine and potassium ferricyanide, as well as aspiration volume of reagents and sample has been optimized.