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Now days, the level of students' engagement in secondary school chemistry is low. The aim of this study was then to enhance student chemistry engagement through simulation-integrated 7E context-based instructional strategy and compared its efficacy with 7E context-based instructional strategy, simulation-integrated conventional teaching approach, and conventional teaching approach. For the quantitative part, 15-item chemistry engagement scale was utilized to collect data from 229 grade 10 students as part of a quasi-experimental pre/post-test non-equivalent control group design. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data. The study's findings revealed that, when compared to the other instructional strategies, the simulation-integrated 7E context-based instructional strategy was the most successful at raising students' overall engagement and its dimensions. This study implies that implementing a simulation-integrated 7E context-based instructional strategy can boost students' overall and individual levels of engagement in chemistry. Thus, to enhance chemistry learning, teachers may progressively move from the conventional approach to the use of simulation-integrated 7E context-based approach over the other strategies.

BACKGROUND: Injury is a major cause of death and disability in Ethiopia. ALERT Hospital, one of only three designated trauma centers in the country, has employed a basic trauma registry since its inception in 2016; however, these data had not been used. In joint efforts with the Federal Ministry of Health, we aimed to understand patient injury characteristics and predictors of mortality, to inform priorities in resource and training investments. METHODS: Data from 12 816 consecutive patients in the first 3 years of the trauma registry were reviewed retrospectively. Modified Early Warning Score was used at triage to indicate injury severity (red=critically injured, green=minor injury). No physiologic data for calculating Injury Severity Scores or in-hospital intervention data were available. Triage groups were compared and multivariate logistic regression conducted to determine predictors of in-emergency department (ED) mortality. RESULTS: Most patients presented with minor injuries with 64.7% triaged as yellow and 16.4% triaged as green, and most (75.9%) referred from another facility. Of those who were critically injured, only 31.0% arrived by ambulance. Most injuries were soft tissue (51.1%) and fractures (23.0%); when stratified by triage category, most critical (red) patients had sustained head injuries (52.7%). Arrival by ambulance (OR 2.20, p=0.017) and head injury (OR 3.11, p

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues among the current environmental problems and it affects the livelihood of the community by creating scarcity of renewable resources. Ethiopia is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa extremely vulnerable to climate change. This study was aimed to investigate climate-change-driven conflict by taking case from Northeast Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey study was employed and data was collected from the primary and secondary sources. The structured household survey, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data from selected samples. About 100 survey respondents, 10 KII and 3 FGD participants were involved in generating data which was analyzed by employing descriptive and qualitative analysis techniques. The finding revealed that climate change is occurring through increasing temperature and decreasing rainfall and frequent drought caused by deforestation, degradation of natural resources and urbanization. Consequently, the participants have experienced critical shortage of water, animal fed and most of them were food insecure. Similarly, a considerable number of residents were exposed to climate-change-induced conflict. The conflict in North Wollo was climate driven and interethnic whereby Amhara ethnic are conflicting with Afar ethnic over the resources around their border. It is recommended that employing the customary law and religious institutions are the most trusted and leading agents to resolve conflict. Area-specific and local-based climate change adaptation techniques including drought-resistant plant species and reducing the number of livestock were suggested as the solutions to solve the problems.

BackgroundPost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common mental health problems that military personnel encounter. It could be lifelong and affect every aspect of military personnel, including their mental and physical health, family and social interactions, and their work. However, in Ethiopia, the magnitude and its associated factors have not been well investigated.ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine the prevalence of PTSD and its associated factors among military personnel, who were admitted at the Northwest Command Level Three Military Hospital, Bahir Dar, Northwest, Ethiopia, 2022.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 21 June to 21 July 2022, at the Northwest Command Level Three Military Hospital. A computer-generated simple random sampling technique was used to select a total of 627 participants. The 17-item Military Version Checklist was utilized to measure PTSD. The Patient Health Questionnaire, Brief Resilience Coping, and Critical War Zone Experience scale were utilized to measure depression, resilience, and combat exposure, respectively. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate binary logistic regressions with odds ratios and a 95% confidence interval were used. The level of significance of the association was determined at a p-value < 0.05.ResultsA total of 612 respondents participated, with a response rate of 97.6%. The prevalence of PTSD in this study was 21.9% (95% CI: 18.6, 25.2). In multivariable regression, female sex [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.3, 95% CI; 1.3, 3.87], combat personnel (AOR = 2.75, 95% CI; 1.44, 6.36), handling dead bodies (AOR = 2.5, 95% CI,1.24, 5.02), having 4–5 deployments (AOR = 2.94, 95% CI, 1.63, 5.32), having ≥6 deployments (AOR = 3.4, 95% CI, 1.95, 6.17), low resilience coping (AOR = 2.02, 95% CI; 1.16, 3.53), poor social support (AOR = 2.46, 95% CI, 1.39, 4.35), very high combat exposures (AOR = 4.8, 95% CI, 2.03, 11.93), and depression (AOR = 2.8, 95% CI, 1.68, 4.67) were significantly associated with PTSD.ConclusionPTSD is markedly prevalent among the Ethiopian military population, with key risk factors identified as being female, poor social support, low resilience coping skills, handling dead bodies, multiple deployments (four or more), high combat experiences, and depression. Healthcare professionals must prioritize the early diagnosis and intervention of PTSD in vulnerable groups of military personnel.

Abstract Introduction Intracranial hematoma is the collection of blood in various intracranial spaces. Knowledge of patterns, origins, causes and outcomes of ICH conditions is important for decision-making for urgent surgical interventions such as craniotomy and hematoma evacuations. No prior study was conducted in our setup. Hence, this study aimed to assess the patterns and management outcomes of intracranial hematomas in low-resource setting and tailored our management approach at Jimma University Medical center. Methods An institution-based prospective observational study was conducted at Jimma University Medical Center, Ethiopia, for six consecutive months from June to December 2020. Different data sources and interview methods were used and analyzed using SPSS version 24. A bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was conducted to determine the association between the variables. Results A total of 91 eligible patients were recruited during the study period, with a mean age of 34 years. The majority of patients were males [73 (80.2%)] and more common in reproductive age groups (62.6%), from rural areas (50.5%). About 93.4% of patients reported a history of trauma, and road traffic accidents & fighting account for 63.8% of the trauma cases. Sixty-five percent of patients arrive in the hospital within 24 h. Upon presentation, there were loss of consciousness (48.4%), convulsion (11%), aspiration (9.9%) and increased ICP (12%). The majority (49.5%) of the patients had a mild head injury. The focal neurologic deficits were hemiparesis (29.7%) and hemiplegia (5.5%). Acute epidural hematoma (68.1%) was a common finding, followed by sub-acute subdural hematoma. Of the total study participants, 11% had died. All the surviving patients were accessed at 30 days after discharge and re-assessed, 66 patients had good neurologic recovery (62 upper and 4 lower good recovery), 11 patients had moderate disability (7 lower and 4 upper-moderate disabilities), two patients had a severe disability, and two patients (among those with severe disability) had died. Conclusion Trauma was invariably the cause of intracranial hematoma, and patients with low GCS, papillary abnormalities, aspiration and increased ICP had an increased risk of dying from their illness. It is good to formulate policies to enhance injury prevention and bring about health-oriented behavioral change.

Extension professionals are expected to help disseminate agricultural technologies, information, knowledge and skills to farmers. In order to develop valuable and long-lasting extension services, it is essential to understand the methods of extension that farmers find most beneficial. This understanding helps adopt improved practices, overcome barriers, provide targeted interventions and continuously improve agricultural extension programs. Thus, assessing factors affecting farmers' choice of agricultural extension methods is essential for developing extension methods that comply with farmers' needs and socio-economic conditions. Therefore, we analyzed the factors affecting farmers' preferences in extension methods, using cross-sectional data collected from 300 households in two sample districts and 16 Kebelles in Ethiopia between September 2019 and March 2020. Four extension methods, including training, demonstration, office visits and phone calls were considered as outcome variables. We fitted a multivariate probit model to estimate the factors that influence farmers' choice of extension methods. The results of the study showed that the number of dependents in the household head, formal education and membership of Idir (an informal insurance program a community or group runs to meet emergencies) were negatively associated with farmers' choices to participate in different extension methods compared to no extension. On the other hand, the sex of the household head, farm experience, participation in non-farm activities, monetary loan access, owning a mobile phone, radio access and membership of cooperatives were found to have a statistically significant positive impact on farmers' choices of extension methods. Based on these findings, the government and the concerned stakeholders should take farmers' socio-economic and institutional traits into account when selecting and commissioning agricultural extension methods. This could help to develop contextually relevant extension strategies that are more likely to be chosen and appreciated by farmers. Furthermore, such strategies can aid policymakers in designing extension programs that cater to farmers' needs and concerns. In conclusion, farmers' socio-economic and institutional affiliation should be taken into consideration when selecting agricultural extension methods.

RASopathies are a group of genetic syndromes caused by germline mutations in genes involved in the RAS/Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase signaling pathway, which regulates cellular proliferation, differentiation, and angiogenesis. Despite their involvement at different levels of this pathway, RASopathies share overlapping clinical phenotypes. Noonan syndrome is the most prevalent RASopathy, with an estimated incidence of 1 in 2500 live births, and it is typically inherited in an autosomal dominant manner, with 50% of cases involving gain-of-function mutations in the PTPN11 gene. De novo mutations are common, accounting for 60% of cases. The phenotype of Noonan syndrome includes characteristic facial and physical features, congenital cardiac defects, lymphatic and cerebrovascular anomalies, renal malformations, hematological abnormalities, developmental issues, and an increased risk of cancer. Severe congenital cardiac defects and lymphatic abnormalities significantly impact prognosis, contributing to increased morbidity and mortality. Recent therapeutic advancements have introduced trametinib, an MEK1/2 inhibitor, for treating Noonan syndrome patients with severe cardiac and lymphatic complications. To assess its efficacy, here, we present a case of a newborn with Noonan syndrome who exhibited refractory chylothorax, ventricular hypertrophy, and pulmonary stenosis who was treated with trametinib. The patient demonstrated significant improvement in chylothorax and left ventricular hypertrophy, though pulmonary stenosis persisted. This case further confirms trametinib’s potential as a therapeutic option for severe Noonan syndrome complications, emphasizing the need for further clinical trials to optimize treatment protocols and evaluate long-term outcomes.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 is highly infectious and patients with coronavirus diseases demonstrated a series of clinical symptoms caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. Without a break of the wave’s hematological profile of the patients is still ambiguous and differs from wave to wave. Objective: This study aimed to assess the hematological profile among coronavirus disease 2019 patients during the first and the second waves in Ethiopia. Methods: A multi-centered facility-based retrospective cohort study design was conducted at six coronavirus disease 2019 treatment centers. A total of 538 study participants were enrolled in the selected coronavirus disease 2019 treatment centers during the first and second waves of the pandemic. The demographic characteristics, underlying diseases, symptoms, and hematological parameters of patients were recorded. Data were entered into Epi-Data Manager 4.6 and analyzed using STATA 14.2. An independent sample t -test was used to assess the mean differences in hematological parameters across waves. Associations between categorical variables across waves were also determined using Chi-square and Fisher exact tests. Results: Among the total study participants, 240 (44.6%) and 298 (55.4%) patients were taken from wave-1 and wave-2, respectively. The average age of the study participants was 56.44 ± 16.25 years. The most frequent comorbidities in this study were hypertension, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, and asthma. The most presenting symptoms of COVID-19 infection across the two waves were presented. In the first wave, dry cough 166 (69.2%), fatigue 153 (63.75%), shortness of breath 148 (61.67%), and fever accounted 116 (48.33%), while during the second wave, dry cough 242 (81.2%), fatigue 244 (81.88%) shortness of breath 204 (68.47%) and fever account 180 (60.40%). White blood cells (WBC), neutrophils, and lymphocytes had shown increment during the first wave. Platelet count and platelet distribution width ( p

Background Injury is a major cause of death and disability in Ethiopia. ALERT Hospital, one of only three designated trauma centers in the country, has employed a basic trauma registry since its inception in 2016; however, these data had not been used. In joint efforts with the Federal Ministry of Health, we aimed to understand patient injury characteristics and predictors of mortality, to inform priorities in resource and training investments.Methods Data from 12 816 consecutive patients in the first 3 years of the trauma registry were reviewed retrospectively. Modified Early Warning Score was used at triage to indicate injury severity (red=critically injured, green=minor injury). No physiologic data for calculating Injury Severity Scores or in-hospital intervention data were available. Triage groups were compared and multivariate logistic regression conducted to determine predictors of in-emergency department (ED) mortality.Results Most patients presented with minor injuries with 64.7% triaged as ‘yellow’ and 16.4% triaged as ‘green’, and most (75.9%) referred from another facility. Of those who were critically injured, only 31.0% arrived by ambulance. Most injuries were soft tissue (51.1%) and fractures (23.0%); when stratified by triage category, most critical (‘red’) patients had sustained head injuries (52.7%). Arrival by ambulance (OR 2.20, p=0.017) and head injury (OR 3.11, p

The rectangular channel louvered-fin compact heat exchanger (LFCHE) is the most efficient type that has been served in a radiator. However, with this type of heat exchanger, the pressure drop rises by three to four times as the heat transfer increases, which results in decreasing performance. This research is aimed to numerically investigate the louver edges (vertical, inclined, and horizontal) effect on LFCHE performance at different louver angle (θ) with air inlet velocities ranging from 1 to 30 m/s. A total of twelve models are made and simulated. The result revealed that the horizontal edge decreases the pressure drop up to 24.2% with a 1.01% increase in outlet air temperature over the base model (inclined edge). Thus, louver edge has design which results in higher and lower effect on pressure drop and temperature change, respectively. The research investigated the effects of louver edges using different performance evaluation criteria. At 10 m/s (Relp = 972.33) the horizontal edge increases the volume goodness (jf) factor up to 21.49% over the base model. Similarly, the horizontal edged fins resulted in maximum increment of jf-factor by 22% and 25% as compared with inclined edge for louver angles θ of 24 ° (at low Relp) and 20 ° (at high Relp), respectively. Generally, the horizontally edged LFCHE is proven to have higher performance in cooling the coolant with a minimum air side pressure drop.

Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) is an indigenous multipurpose plant in Ethiopia. More than 20 % of people in Ethiopia rely on enset for their subsistence livelihood. Its fermentation produces a starchy food named Kocho, which is yet poorly studied. In this study, physicochemical and microbial community dynamics of Kocho fermented from different enset varieties (Maziya, Genna, and Arkiya) were collected at Dawro Zone (Southern Ethiopia). Samples were collected at various fermentation times (days 1–60) for physicochemical and microbial (culture-dependent and culture-independent) characterization. Results showed that increasing fermentation time has a significantly strong positive (R2 = 0.768, p = 0.004) correlation between titrable acidity, and a significantly strong negative association with pH (R2 = −0.715, p = 0.009), moisture (R2 = −0.982, p Proteobacteria (7–53 %) > Cyanobacteria (7–24 %) were dominant phyla in the three enset varieties. Gamma (traditional starter culture) is dominated by Lactobacillus plantrum and Lactobacillus manihotivorans most probably the two species that play a significant role in initiating enset fermentation.

BackgroundAbout half of the world's populations are infected with Helicobacter pylori, which may create atherogenic lipid profiles and contribute to atherosclerosis and related cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, it has been connected to hematological symptoms like anemia. Even though the high prevalence of H.pylori and its associated complications, including cardiovascular disease and anemia, in Ethiopia, there is little data regarding the risk factors associated with H.pylori infection, such as hematologic parameters, electrolyte imbalances, and lipid profiles.MethodsA comparative cross-sectional study design with a consecutive sampling technique was employed at Jimma Medical Center among 108 dyspeptic patients. Five (5) ml of blood samples were collected from each participant, and serum was extracted and analyzed using a COBAS 6000 core for the lipid and electrolyte, and whole blood was used with a SYSMEX XN 550 to determine hematological parameters. Data were entered in to Epi-data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Simple descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used to present the socio-demographic characteristics of the study subjects. Student t-test was used for data comparison and p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsH.pylori infected patients had significantly decreased levels of red blood cell count (p = 0.002), hemoglobin (p = 0.012), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (p < 0.001), platelet count (p = 0.001), and sodium level (p = 0.006) when compared to the uninfected group. However, total cholesterol (p = 0.001), and low density lipoprotein (p = 0.021) were increased in H.pylori infected patients when compared to the uninfected group.ConclusionsThis study revealed that H.pylori infection can cause derangements of hematologic parameters, electrolyte imbalances, and alterations of lipid parameters which considered as risk factors for anemia and cardiovascular diseases.

Among small ruminants, lungworms are important parasitic nematodes that infect the lower respiratory tract and are implicated in a high mortality and morbidity rate. However, the magnitude and its determinants of lungworm infection in the study districts are not known. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of lungworm infection and assess associated risk factors in selected districts, Wolaita Zone, southern Ethiopia. A total of 742 fecal samples collected from 443 sheep and 299 goats were examined, using modified Baermann techniques, to recover first-stage larvae from fecal samples. Lungworms were detected in 271 (36.52%) samples infecting 192 (43.34%) sheep and 79 (26.42%) goats, respectively. Lungworm species Dictyocaulus filaria, Protostrongylus rufescens, and Muellerius capillaris were recovered in 114 (15.36%), 68 (9.16%), and 57 (7.68%) fecal samples, respectively. Mixed infection by two or more above species was noted in 32 (4.31%) of the samples. Among the determinants examined, agroecological environment, management system, and season showed statistically significant differences (p0.05). The present study indicated that lungworm infection was a problem for sheep and goats in this study area. Thus, measures like deworming, early treatment, and improving animal husbandry should be practiced.

Wettability, typically estimated through the contact angle, is a fundamental property of surfaces with wide-ranging implications in both daily life and industrial processes. Recent scientific interest has been paid to the surfaces exhibiting extreme wettability: superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces, characterized by high water repellency and exceptional water wetting, respectively. Both chemical composition and morphology play a role in the determination of the wettability “performance” of a surface. To tune surface-wetting properties, we considered coatings of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) in this study. They are a new class of nanomaterials synthesized in flames whose chemistry, dimension, and shape depend on combustion conditions. For the first time, we systematically studied the wettability of CNP coatings produced in a controlled rich ethylene/air flame stabilized over a McKenna burner. A selected substrate was intermittently inserted in the flame at 15 mm above the burner to form a thin coating thanks to a thermophoretic-driven deposition mechanism. The chemical-physical quality and the deposed quantity of the CNPs were varied by opportunely combing the substrate flame insertion number (from 1 to 256) and the carbon-to-oxygen ratio, C/O (from 0.67 to 0.87). The wettability of the coatings was evaluated by measuring the contact angle, CA, with the sessile drop method. When the C/O = 0.67, the CNPs were nearly spherical, smaller than 8 nm, and always generated hydrophilic coatings (CA < 35°). At higher C/O ratios, the CNPs reached dimensions of 100 nm, and fractal shape aggregates were formed. In this case, either hydrophilic (CA < 76°) or superhydrophobic (CA ~166°) behavior was observed, depending on the number of carbon nanoparticles deposed, i.e., film thickness. It is known that wettability is susceptible to liquid surface tension, and therefore, tests were conducted with different fluids to establish a correlation between the flame conditions and the nanostructure of the film. This method offers a fast and simple approach to determining mesoscale information for coating roughness and topographical homogeneity/inhomogeneity of their surfaces.

Acacia decurrens (hereafter Acacia) agroforestry system has been expanding rapidly in the northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. The agroforestry system provides multiple eco-environmental services; however, there is inadequate quantitative evidence on its livelihood benefits. This study, therefore, investigated the livelihood benefits and challenges of Acacia-based agroforestry system in the Awi area, Northwest Ethiopia. Data was collected through household survey quetionnaires (296 randomly selected Acacia growers), focused-group discussions, interviews, and observations. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used for the data analysis. The findings showed that crop production, charcoal making, animal rearing, and fuelwood selling were the major sources of livelihood. Notwithstanding the complex challenges (Acacia pests/diseases, traditional charcoal-making, limited road access and market opportunities, negative human-health impacts, and high production cost), Acacia-based agroforestry positively affected farmers livelihoods. Comparatively, the natural, physical, financial, human and social capital indices of farmers were higher by 0.25, 0.24, 0.43, 0.25, and 0.06, respectively, in the post-than pre-Acacia periods. The overall livelihood index of farmers increased from 0.47 (pre-Acacia) to 0.71 in the post-Acacia period. The study concluded that this agroforestry practice has immense livelihood benefits, although diverse challenges question its sustainability. Therefore, short and long-term strategies should be designed to strengthen the opportunities and address the challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]