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The present work focuses on the preparation of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) reinforced composites based on polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and polypropylene (PP). The effects of the CNCs content as reinforcement and the addition of maleic anhydride (MA) as a coupling agent on the mechanical and morphological properties of the composites were studied. In addition, the biodegradability of the composites was investigated. Samples were prepared using PP and PHB as matrixes and CNCs as reinforcement. Test samples were prepared using the injection molding machine. The studied parameters were microscopic analysis and tensile strength measurement. Tensile strength increased with increasing CNC, but it decreased slightly when 5 wt% of CNC was added. Tensile strength decreased with the addition of MA. Environmental impacts from the production of 100 g of PP and PHB were evaluated using the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The results showed that the environmental impacts of composites containing PHB biopolymer are higher than PP ones. KEYWORDS cellulose nanocrystals, injection molding, life cycle assessment, maleic anhydride, polyhydroxybutyrate, 1 | INTRODUCTION With increasing awareness of the consequences of fossil-based materials and increased demand for more environmentally friendly materials, the application of biobased composites has attracted more attention. Composites [...]

Abstract Stimuli-responsive hydrogels have garnered significant attention as a versatile class of soft actuators. Introducing anisotropic properties, and shape-change programmability to responsive hydrogels promises a host of opportunities in the development of soft robots. Herein we report the synthesis of pH-responsive hydrogel nanocomposites with predetermined microstructural anisotropy, shape-transformation, and self-healing. Our hydrogel nanocomposites are largely composed of zwitterionic monomers and asymmetric cellulose nanocrystals. While the zwitterionic nature of the network imparts both self-healing and cytocompatibility to our hydrogel nanocomposites, the shear-induced alignment of cellulose nanocrystals renders their anisotropic swelling and mechanical properties. Thanks to the self-healing properties, we utilized a cut-and-paste approach to program reversible, and complex deformation into our hydrogels. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrated the transport of light cargo using tethered and untethered soft robots made from our hydrogels. We believe the proposed material system introduce a powerful toolbox for the development of future generations of biomedical soft robots.

Unrestricted interest in Aloe species has grown rapidly, and a lot of research is currently being done to learn more about the properties of the various Aloe constituents. Organic compounds containing amine as functional group are present in a vivid variety of compounds, namely, amino acids, hormones, neurotransmitters, DNA, alkaloids, dyes, etc. These compounds have amine functional groups that have various biological activities, which make them responsible for medicinal potential in the form of pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmeceutical applications. Consequently, the present review work provides an indication of the amines investigated in Aloe species and their therapeutic uses. Various amine compounds of the Aloe species have effective biological properties to treat diseases. Generally, the genus Aloe has various active amine-containing compounds to combat diseases when humans use them in various forms.

Teff is a gluten-free cereal crop widely cultivated in Ethiopia and is a critical ingredient in making injera, a unique flatbread. However, there is a significant issue with adulteration of teff, impacting its safety and quality. This study evaluated economically-driven adulteration effects on teff grains' nutritional and microbial quality. A preliminary survey revealed that it is a common practice to adulterate teff grains with inexpensive and inedible materials throughout the supply chain in the study area. One hundred and thirty teff grain samples were collected from producers, collectors, whole-sellers, and retailers in the cities of Tulu bolo and Jimma to determine the types and extents of adulterants present and their effect on the nutritional and microbial quality of the grains. They were mixed separately to create composite samples representing different supply chain actors. Standard protocols were used to evaluate nutritional and microbial quality. The results showed significant differences among the supply chain actors regarding identified adulterants, nutritional content, and microbial quality. The study identified chaff, soil + sand, and dukkaa (a combination of nonedible substances separated from teff grains in milling houses and warehouses) as the significant adulterants, with mean ranges of 1.17–8.07%, 1.29–7.23%, and 8.93–37.13% respectively. The study also evaluated the proximate composition and microbial load of the teff samples collected from different supply chain actors. The ranges of values for moisture, protein, fat, ash, fiber, carbohydrate, and energy were 8.33–10.53%, 6.49–9.42%, 2.29–3.86%, 2.33–6.39%, 2.42–3.95%, 70.9–73.76%, and 333.52–361.9 kcal, respectively. The microbial load showed ranges of 6.92–7.98, 3.17–3.22, 1.78–2.04, 6.73–7.89, and 6.88–7.93 log CFU/g for Total Plate Count, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, mold, and yeast, respectively. The results showed an increase in teff adulteration from producers to Jimma retailers, indicating multiple-stage adulteration throughout the supply chain, posing a threat to product safety and quality. The study recommends good coordination among the bodies responsible for food safety, producers, and consumers to mitigate this issue effectively.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the level of health literacy and its associated factors among Jimma town public high school adolescents, Jimma, Oromia, Southwest Ethiopia, 2023.MethodsA facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2023 among 604 Jimma town public high school adolescents. A multistage sampling technique was employed to recruit study participants. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was entered into epidata 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 26.0 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were performed to identify factors associated with the level of health literacy. P-values less than 0.05 at 95% CI were used to declare statistically significant associations. The results were presented by text, tables and charts as necessary.ResultsFrom 634 total sample size about 604 participated. About 317 (52.5%) were males. The age of participants ranged from 14 to 19 years, with a mean age of 16.95+1.52. The finding revealed that only 35.26% (95% CI; 31.44, 39.09) of participants had desired health literacy, while 64.74% of them had limited health literacy levels. Age of 18-19 [AOR = 3.99(2.41, 6.60): pConclusionSince a significant number of students in our study area had limited health literacy, we recommend schools to integrate a school health service that contains health education services. Moreover, efforts should be undertaken to raise adolescent health literacy for middle adolescents, early adolescents, and students whose families were not employed.

L-proline tartrate (LPT), 1 and 2 mol% of lanthanum chloride- (LaCl3-) doped LPT single crystals have been synthesized and grown using a slow evaporation solution method at room temperature. The crystals have undergone different characterization studies to test their suitability for device fabrication. The single crystal X-ray diffraction studies have revealed that both 1 and 2 mol% of LaCl3-doped LPT single crystals have been crystalized monoclinic crystal structure and space group P21. The UV-Vis-NIR spectrum analysis has shown that pure, 1, and 2 mol% of LaCl3-doped LPT single crystals have good optical transparency in the entire visible and near IR region. The optical band gap energy for pure, 1 and 2 mol% of LaCl3-doped LPT single crystals to be 4.9, 5, and 5.1 eV, respectively. The energy dispersive X-ray analysis confirmed that LaCl3 has been incorporated into LPT crystal. The second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency for 1 and 2 mol% of LaCl3-doped LPT single crystals has been tested and found to be 1.27 and 1.6 times greater than that of the reference KDP crystal, respectively.

Urethral caruncles are the most frequent benign tumors of the female urethra. Most of them are found in postmenopausal women, and they are rare in childhood. Only a few pediatric cases have been published in the literature. In this report, we present a case series of three pediatric patients with a urethral caruncle.

IntroductionCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become the worst catastrophe of the twenty-first century and has led to the death of more than 6.9 million individuals across the globe. Despite the growing knowledge of the clinicopathological features of COVID-19, the correlation between baseline and early changes in the laboratory parameters and the clinical outcomes of patients is not entirely understood.MethodsHere, we conducted a time series cross-sectional study aimed at assessing different measured parameters and socio-demographic factors that are associated with disease severity and the outcome of the disease in 268 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 Patients.ResultsWe found COVID-19 patients who died had a median age of 61 years (IQR, 50 y – 70 y), which is significantly higher (p

Objective: Complex lung diseases are among the leading causes of death in Ethiopia. Access to thoracic surgery is limited, and before 2016 no thoracic surgeons were trained in minimally invasive surgery. A global academic partnership was formed between the University of Toronto and Addis Ababa University. We describe implementation of the first minimally invasive surgery training program in sub-Sahara Africa and evaluate its safety. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of open versus minimally invasive thoracic and upper gastrointestinal procedures performed at Addis Ababa University from January 2016 to June 2021. Baseline demographic, diagnostic, operative, and postoperative outcomes including length of stay and complications were compared. Results: In our bilateral model of surgical education, training is provided in Ethiopia and Canada over 2 years with a focus on capacity building through egalitarian forms of knowledge exchange. Program features included certification in Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery, high-fidelity lobectomy simulation, and hands-on training. Overall, 41 open and 56 minimally invasive surgery cases were included in the final statistical analysis. The average length of stay in the minimally invasive surgery group was 5.2 days versus 11.0 days in the open group (P

This study explores doctoral students' views about the support schemes and resources deployed to run PhD programs at one public university in Ethiopia. The research used questionnaire, interview and documentary evidence as principal data collection tools and involved 164 doctoral students at four purposely selected colleges of the university. The findings reveal that the human resource, facilities, support systems, financial assistance, climate (working environment), workshop and conference opportunities, provision of special trainings, and opportunities for publication of research papers are rated by doctoral candidates as highly deficient across all the four colleges. The findings of the study further indicate that the provisions of doctoral education at the sample university is far below the demands of PhD students for a diverse scheme of support which is regarded as critical to the quality of training they receive and the timely completion of their studies. It is argued that the provision of PhD programs will continue to be seriously hampered unless a significant improvement is made in terms of overhauling both the national direction set and the support mechanisms put in place.

There has been economic growth associated with the increase in exports. Even though figures show a correlation between exports and economic growth in Ethiopia, they cannot guarantee that the export sector has been supporting the Ethiopian economy's double-digit growth rate.Therefore, the main objective of this study was to identify whether there is a short-run or long-run causal relationship between imports, exports, and economic growth. A multivariate Granger causal framework and time series data (1988–2021) were employed. The Johansen Co-integration test is used to determine the presence of a co-integrating vector in the variables. Accordingly, there is a long-run relationship between economic growth, exports, and imports. In the study, the Granger Causality and Toda Ymamoto tests revealed that there is a long run bidirectional causal relationship between imports and economic growth (GDP), as well as a unidirectional causal relationship between economic growth (GDP) and exports in the long-run. This indicates that exports and imports cause economic growth both individually and jointly, lending support to export or import growth. Individual granger economic growth causes imports in both directions. That means GDP granger causes imports, and import granger causes GDP. As a result, the researchers conclude that in Ethiopia, there is a dynamic relationship between imports, exports, and economic growth. To boost Ethiopia's economic growth and development, the governmentshould develop export-led policies and ensure a higher level of exports.

Introduction: Ill health is one of the natural phenomena that can happen to human beings at any time due to either communicable or non-communicable diseases. Tuberculosis (TB) is one of those communicable diseases caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis which can be transmitted through droplet nuclei while coughing, sneezing, shouting, or singing. Infection with tuberculosis negatively affects the productive segment of the economy, resulting in a reduction in national productivity. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended early case detection, accurate diagnosis, and standardized treatment as a means to prevent new infections. In Ethiopia, detecting TB cases early, diagnosing, and treating these cases as per the guideline has been practiced for years through the Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) program which was started in 1997. Various researches on TB treatment outcomes and their predictors have been done in Ethiopia. However, almost all of the findings vary from each other even though the country has a standardized definition of the outcomes and data aggregation tools. Moreover, none of the findings and reports showed the magnitude of successful TB treatment outcomes in the study area.Objective: This research was intended to assess the prevalence of successful TB treatment outcomes among patients enrolled in a DOTS program in the east Gojjam zone, northwest Ethiopia.Result: Eighty six percent (86%) of all cases enrolled in the DOTS program were successfully treated in the East Gojjam zone, and sex, place of residence, educational status, smear result during entry to the DOTS program, and HIV test result were factors significantly affecting successful TB treatment outcomes in the study area.Conclusion and Recommendation: The magnitude of successful TB treatment outcome of this study is low compared to the national strategic plan. It is advisable to work on the identified factors to positively affect successful TB treatment outcomes in the study area.