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Nowadays, substituting petroleum-based plastics with biodegradable polymers made from polysaccharides loaded with various reinforcing materials has recently gained attention due to the impact of conventional plastics wastes. In this study, polysaccharidic mucilage from Ethiopian cactus (Opuntia Ficus Indica) was derived using microwave-assisted extraction technique to develop biodegradable polymers that were inexpensive, readily available, simple to make, and ecofriendly. The effect of microwave power 300–800 W, solid-liquid (cactus-sodium hydroxide solution) ratio 1:5–1:25, sodium hydroxide concentration 0.1–0.8 mol/L, and extraction time 2–10 min on mucilage extraction were studied and the maximum yield of mucilage was attained at optimized parameters of 506 W, 1:20, 0.606 mol/L, and 9.5 min, respectively. Biodegradable polymers made with mucilage alone have poor mechanical characteristics and are thermally unstable. Thus, to overcome the stated problems, glycerol as a plasticizer and acid-leached kaolin crosslinked with urea as a reinforcing material were used. Moreover, the effect of acid-leached kaolin and glycerol on the physico-chemical properties of the films was studied, and a maximum tensile strength of 6.74 MPa with 18.45 % elongation at break, thermally improved biodegradability of 26 %, were attained at 10 % acid-leached kaolin and 20 % glycerol crosslinking with 2 % urea. But the maximum degradability of 53.5 % was attained at 30 % glycerol content. The control and reinforced biodegradable films were characterized using TGA, FTIR, SEM, and XRD to determine the thermal, functional group, morphology, and crystallinity of the bioplastics, respectively. These biodegradable plastics may be used for packaging application.

Background: Clinical practice is the means by which nursing students learn to apply the theory, facilitating integration of theoretical knowledge and practical skill in the clinical setting which becomes arts and science of profession. This correlation of theory and practice, and the building of meaningful experience, take place during clinical practice in the health care service. Even though, nursing students need to have clinical competency during practical setting, there were little available evidences regarding to their competency status in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess magnitude of clinical competency and its predictors among undergraduate nursing students studying in universities of Southern regional state of Ethiopia in 2021 G C. Methods: Multi-centered institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among 414 undergraduate nursing students studying in eight universities of Southern regional state of Ethiopia in 2021 academic year. Systematic random sampling technique after proportional allocation to each selected university was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using pretested structured questionnaire by face to face interview after written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Data were cleaned, coded and entered into Epidata version 3.01 and analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) software version 26. Descriptive statistic for all variables and bi-variable and multi-variables logistic regression analysis to identify factors associated with clinical competency was computed and expressed in odds ratio. The result was presented in the form of text, tables and figures and those variables with P-value of

Ag doped Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized via a co-precipitation method changing the concentration of Ag. The crystal structure, morphology, surface area, functional group, optical band gap, and thermal property were investigated by XRD, SEM, BET, FTIR, UV–Vis, and TGA/DTA techniques. The XRD results showed the formation of single-cubic Co3O4 nanostructured materials with an average crystal size of 19.37 nm and 12.98 nm for pristine Co3O4 and 0.25 M Ag-doped Co3O4 NPs. Morphological studies showed that pristine Co3O4 and 0.25 M Ag-doped Co3O4 NPs having a porous structure with small spherical grains, porous structures with sponge-like structures, and loosely packed porous structures, respectively. The pristine and 0.25 M Ag-doped Co3O4 NPs showed BET surface areas of 53.06 m2/g, and 407.33 m2/g, respectively. The band gap energy of Co3O4 NPs were 2.96 eV, with additional sub-bandgap energy of 1.95 eV. Additionally, it was discovered that the band gap energies of 0.25 M Ag-doped Co3O4 NPs ranged from 2.2 to 2.75 eV, with an extra sub-band with energies ranging from 1.43 to 1.94 eV for all as-prepared samples. The Ag-doped Co3O4 as prepared samples show improved thermal properties due to the doping effect of silver. The CV test confirmed that the 0.25 M Ag-doped Co3O4 NPs exhibited the highest specific capacitance value of 992.7 F/g at 5 mV/s in a 0.1 M KOH electrolyte solution. The energy density and power density of 0.25 M Ag-doped Co3O4 NPs were 27.9 W h/kg and 3816.1 W/kg, respectively.

The existing literature acknowledges the benefits of beekeeping as a livelihood diversification strategy and income source for farmers across the world. However, the impact of beekeeping on income at household level has rarely been quantified. Furthermore, the few existing studies provide conflicting evidence and the methods quantifying the impact of participating in beekeeping are not rigorous. In this study, we identify key determinants of such participation and quantify the impact of beekeeping on household income. We use a cross-sectional data set collected from 392 randomly selected households in north-western Ethiopia, employing the endogenous switching regression model with estimated treatment effects. Unlike the methods used by previous studies, the approach adopted here enabled the control of observed and unobserved heterogeneities that affect not only the decision to participate in beekeeping, but also income differences among households. The results show that there are important differences between beekeepers and non-beekeepers in terms of their skills and resource endowments. After these differences were controlled for, beekeeping participation was found to increase income by 3,418 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) per person, namely a 51% increase. Furthermore, it was estimated that households not participating in beekeeping could have increased their income by ETB 442 per person (an 11% increase) had they become beekeepers. These findings indicate that income gains from beekeeping participation are 22–44 percentage points higher than benefits reported by previous studies. Capitalising on the existing beekeeping policy, targeted beekeeping extension to farmers could contribute to closing gaps in skills and resource endowments and, hence, minimising differences in income.

Introduction: Birth asphyxia is a condition of impaired gas exchange in newborns when the Apgar score is < 7 in the first 5 min. It accounts 31.6% of all neonatal deaths, and the leading causes of neonatal mortality in Ethiopia. Identifying its determinant factors is very important to prevent the problem.Therefore, this study was aimed at identifying the determinant factors of birth asphyxia among newborns at Benishangul Gumuz region hospital. Methods and materials: The hospital-based unmatched case-control study was done from March 04 to July 16, 2019 in Benishangul Gumuz Region Hospitals. Total sample size is 275 with 69 cases and 206 controls. Newborns with an Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 min were taken as cases, and those with greater or equal to 7 were taken as controls. All asphyxiated newborns were enrolled as cases, where as in every three-step non-asphyxiated newborns were taken as controls. The data was entered into Epi Info 7 and exported to SPSS for analysis. Bivariable logistic regression analysis was used. Those variables with a p-value

Introduction: Acute malnutrition is a nutritional deficiency that results either from inadequate energy or protein intake. It is more prevalent in low- and middle-income countries. Even though efforts have been carried out at the global and national level, the burden is still intolerable and it attracts the attention of the government and researchers. Hence, this study aims to assess the magnitude of acute malnutrition and its associated factors among under-five children who attended Hamusit Health Centre from 1st September to 30th January 2021. Materials and methods: This institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st September to 30th January on 404 randomly selected under-five children who visited the health centre. Samples were selected using a simple random sampling technique, and the data were obtained using a pre-tested standardized questionnaire. For data entry and analysis, Epi-info 7 and SPSS 21 applications were used, respectively. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression were used to identify associated factors at a 95% confidence interval. Significance was considered at p-value

Introduction: Several kinds of researches are available on preterm mortality in the East Africa continent; however, it is inconsistent and inconclusive, which requires the pooled evidence to recognize the burden in general. Purpose: To collect and synthesis evidence on preterm mortality and identify factors in the East Africa continent. Methods: PubMed, Google Scholar, Hinary, Cochrane library, research gate, and institutional repositories were retrieved to identity eligible articles through Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The articles were selected if the publication period is between 2010-2021 G.C. Data were extracted by a standardized JBI data extraction format for mortality rate and stratified the associated factors. Then exported to STATA 14 for further analysis. I2 and Egger's tests were employed to estimate the heterogeneity and publication bias respectively. Subgroup analysis based on country, study design, year of publication, and the sample size was also examined. Result: This meta-analysis included 32 articles with a total of 21,405 study participants. The pooled mortality rate among preterm in the East Africa continent was found to be 19.2% (95% CI (confidence interval (16.0–22.4)). Regarding the study design, the mortality rate was found to be 18.1%, 19.4%, and 19.7% concerning the prospective cohort, retrospective cohort, and cross-sectional studies. The pooled odds of mortality among preterm with respiratory distress syndrome decreased survival by nearly three folds [AOR (Adjusted odds ratio = 3.2; 95% CI: 22, 4.6)] as compared to their counterparts. Similarly, preterm neonates presented with birth asphyxia were nearly three times higher in death as compared with preterm without birth asphyxia [AOR = 2.6; 95% CI: 1.9, 3.4]. Conclusion: Preterm mortality was found to be unacceptably high in Eastern Africa continent.Fortunately, the main causes of death were found to be respiratory distress syndrome and birth asphyxia which are preventable and treatable hence early detection and timely management of this problem are highly recommended to improve preterm survival.

Background: This study is aimed to assess the incidence of advanced opportunistic infections (OIs) and its predictors among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected children at Debre Tabor referral Hospital and University of Gondar Compressive specialized Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020. Methods: A retrospective follow-up study was conducted from June 1, 2010, to May 30, 2020. A total of 349 children under the age of 15 who had received Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) were included in the study. Data were entered into Epi info version 7.2 and then exported to Stata 14.0 for analysis. Kaplan Meier curve and Log-rank test were used to determine the median survival time and the discrepancy of different categorical variables. The Cox regression model was used to identify the predictors of advanced opportunistic infections. The Adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) at 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to declare statistical significance. Result: The incidence rate of advanced opportunistic infection was 5.53 per 100 (95% CI: 4.7, 6.9) Person per year observation (PYO). The median survival time was 113 months and the total follow-up periods were yielding 18882 months. Children presenting with treatment failure, Cotrimoxazole Preventive Therapy (CPT) non-user, low hemoglobin level (