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A better understanding of climate-induced changes and support for adaptation strategies requires knowledged of the spatiotemporal dynamics of climatic variables. This study aims to assess long-term changes in annual and seasonal rainfall and temperature for agricultural water management in the upper Genale river basin, Ethiopia. To achieve this objective, long-term climate data from 13 stations between 1975 and 2018, as well as maximum and minimum temperatures for six stations were collected from the Ethiopian National Meteorological Service Agency (NMA). The characteristics of rainfall (onset, cessation, length of growing season, and crop water requirement) were assessed using the Coefficient of Variation (CV), Standard Rainfall Anomaly (SRA), and Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI). Additionally, the Mann–Kendall test and Sen's slope estimator were used to assess the trend and magnitude of changes in rainfall and temperature. The annual, winter, spring, summer and autumn CVs were 20%, 89%, 30%, 45%, and 32%, respectively. The standardized anomalies of annual and seasonal rainfall for the climate stations indicated that the basin had a drier season than a wet season. The mean length of the growing season in Belg and Kiremt ranged from 43 to 79 days and 38 to 170 days, respectively. On an annual, summer, and autumn season basis, most rainfall stations showed a non-significant trend. In contrast, in the spring season, rainfall showed a decreasing but statistically insignificant trend in all stations except Bensadaye, Bore, Telamokentise, and Yirba Muda stations. According to the analysis of the crop water requirements in the studied basin, supplemental irrigation is essential to reducing yield reduction and crop failure during spring and autumn. In these seasons, maize and sorghum varieties required supplementary irrigation up to 202 mm and 252 mm, respectively. Annual and seasonal maximum and minimum temperatures showed an increasing trend at all the stations except Hagre Selam station. Generally, there was a spatially and temporally variable trend in rainfall while the temperature trend was increasing irrespective of the temporal and spatial factors. Thus, this study contributes to a better understanding of climate change in the basin and these findings can be used in planning for adaptation measures against a changing climate.

Background: Acute kidney injury is an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in critically ill neonates. Although the magnitude of preterm neonates is high and a major risk for acute kidney injury, there is a paucity of information regarding the magnitude and associated factors of acute kidney injury among preterm neonates in the study area. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess magnitude and associated factors of acute kidney injury among preterm neonates admitted to public hospitals in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia, 2022., Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 423 preterm neonates admitted to public hospitals in Bahir Dar city from May 27 to June 27, 2022. Data were entered into Epi Data Version 4.6.0.2 transferred to Statistical Package and Service Solution version 26 for analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed. A binary logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with acute kidney injury. Model fitness was checked through Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test. Variables with a p-value < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant in the multiple binary logistic regression analysis., Result: Out of 423 eligible, 416 neonatal charts were reviewed with a response rate of 98.3%.This study revealed that the magnitude of acute kidney injury was 18.27% (95% CI = 15-22). Very low birth weight (AOR = 3.26; 95% CI = 1.18-9.05), perinatal asphyxia (AOR = 2.84; 95%CI = 1.55-5.19), dehydration (AOR = 2.30; 95%CI = 1.29-4.09), chest compression (AOR = 3.79; 95%CI = 1.97-7.13), and pregnancy-induced hypertension (AOR = 2.17; 95%CI = 1.20-3.93) were factors significantly associated with the development of neonatal acute kidney injury., Conclusion: Almost one in five admitted preterm neonates developed acute kidney injury. The odds of acute kidney injury were high among neonates who were very low birth weight, perinataly asphyxiated, dehydrated, recipients of chest compression, and born to pregnancy-induced hypertensive mothers. Therefore, clinicians have to be extremely cautious and actively monitor renal function in those neonatal population in order to detect and treat acute kidney injury as early as possible., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The rise in antibiotic resistance in bacteria has spawned new technological approaches for identifying novel antimicrobials with narrow specificity. Current antibiotic treatment regimens and antituberculosis drugs are not effective in treating Mycobacterium abscessus . Meanwhile, antimicrobial peptides are gaining prominence as alternative antimicrobials due to their specificity toward anionic bacterial membranes, rapid action, and limited development of resistance. To rapidly identify antimicrobial peptide candidates, our group has developed a high-density peptide microarray consisting of 125,000 random synthetic peptides screened for interaction with the mycobacterial cell surface of M. abscessus morphotypes. From the array screening, peptides positive for interaction were synthesized and their antimicrobial activity was validated. Overall, six peptides inhibited the M. abscessus smooth morphotype (IC 50 = 1.7 μM for all peptides) and had reduced activity against the M. abscessus rough morphotype (IC 50 range: 13-82 μM). Peptides ASU2056 and ASU2060 had minimum inhibitory concentration values of 32 and 8 μM, respectively, against the M. abscessus smooth morphotype. Additionally, ASU2060 (8 μM) was active against Escherichia coli , including multidrug-resistant E. coli clinical isolates, Pseudomonas aeruginosa , and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus . ASU2056 and ASU2060 exhibited no significant hemolytic activity at biologically relevant concentrations, further supporting these peptides as promising therapeutic candidates. Moreover, ASU2060 retained antibacterial activity after preincubation in human serum for 24 h. With antimicrobial resistance on the rise, methods such as those presented here will streamline the peptide discovery process for targeted antimicrobial peptides., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Background: Brucellosis is an important neglected bacterial zoonotic disease that has been affecting animals and humans for decades. Malaria has been considered major cause of illness in tropical areas, including Ethiopia. This study aimed to identify prevalence and risk factors of human brucellosis and malaria among patients with fever in malaria-endemic areas attending health institutes in Awra and Gulina district, Afar Region, Ethiopia., Methods: A purposive cross-sectional study was conducted among febrile patients who attended health institutes in Awra and Gulina district of Afar region from February to May 2019. 3-5 ml blood samples were collected, thick and thin blood films were prepared and examined for malaria; serum was separated and tested for anti-Brucella using Rose Bengal Plate Test, and the seropositives were subjected to ELISA. Data were entered using EpiData3.1 and analyses were performed using Stata SE 14., Results: A total of 444 febrile individuals (59.5% female) of age ranging from 2 to 83 years (mean = 26.1, SD =  ± 11.8) were participated in this study. The overall seroprevalence of brucellosis was 31.5% (95% CI; 27.4-36.0%) by RBPT and 15.8% (95% CI; 12.7-19.7%) by ELISA, as well as the prevalence of malaria (P. falciparum) was 4.3% (95% CI; 2.7-6.6%) among febrile patients. Malaria was more common in males (7.2% 95% CI; 4.2-12.1%) than in female (2.3% 95% CI; 1.0-5.0%, p = 0.01) and in non-married than in married (7.6% 95% CI; 4.1-13.6% vs. 2.9% 95% CI; 1.5-5.4%, p = 0.02). Being male (AOR = 2.41, 95%CI: 1.36-4.26, p < 0.002), drinking raw milk (AOR = 26.68, 95%CI: 3.22- 221.13, p = 0.002) and boiled milk (AOR = 17.52, 95%CI: 2.06-149.04, p = 0.009) and touching aborted fetus/discharges without protective (AOR = 2.56, 95%CI: 1.01-6.528.50, p = 0.048) were independently associated with brucellosis among febrile patients., Conclusion: The prevalence of brucellosis in fever patients in this study area is higher than malaria. Consumption of raw milk and contact with animal discharge can cause significant risk of Brucella infection. So, brucellosis disease must be sought in the differential diagnosis, like ELISA test that can be used to differentiate from other febrile diseases like malaria., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

We report observations of lateral mode confinement by a tapering nanoporous-GaN layer in the n-side cladding of a blue-emitting InGaN laser diode grown on the semipolar (202¯1¯) plane of bulk GaN. Little additional confinement occurred in the transverse direction, and the nanoporous layer did not serve as a current aperture. Nanoporous-GaN, with Si-doping of 8x10 18 cm -3 and 20% porosity had a bulk resistivity of 3 Ω-cm and a thermal conductivity of 4 W/m-K, in general agreement with data reported on c-plane VCSEL structures. An excess modal loss of 19 cm -1 was found.

A novel approach to realize DFB gratings on GaN based laser diodes is presented and continuous-wave single longitudinal mode operation is achieved. The first order gratings were fabricated on the surface of indium tin oxide (ITO) on top of the laser ridge, which combines the benefits of simplified fabrication, easy scalability to wider ridges, and no regrowth or overgrowth. Under continuous-wave operation, the laser emits with a full FWHM of 5 pm, a SMSR of 29 dB and output power from a single facet as high as 80 mW. To the best of authors' knowledge, this is also the first demonstration of a DFB-LD on semipolar InGaN/GaN system.

The benefits of utilizing transparent conductive oxide on top of a thin p-GaN layer for continuous-wave (CW) operation of blue laser diodes (LDs) were investigated. A very low operating voltage of 5.35 V at 10 kA/cm 2 was obtained for LDs with 250 nm thick p-GaN compared to 7.3 V for LDs with conventional 650 nm thick p-GaN. An improved thermal performance was also observed for the thin p-GaN samples resulting in a 40% increase in peak light output power and a 32% decrease in surface temperature. Finally, a tradeoff was demonstrated between low operating voltage and increased optical modal loss in the indium tin oxide (ITO) with thinner p-GaN. LDs lasing at 445 nm with 150 nm thick p-GaN had an excess modal loss while LDs with an optimal 250 nm thick p-GaN resulted in optical output power of 1.1 W per facet without facet coatings and a wall-plug efficiency of 15%.

Objective: There is a scarcity of reference interval studies on the elderly in Africa. This study establishes reference interval for the elderly for some commonly used biochemical parameters. In this study, 255 conveniently sampled, healthy elderly, participants meeting Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI C28-A3) guidelines were enrolled. The results obtained may have utility in clinical diagnosis, patient management and research., Results: In general, the consensus reference interval established in this study tended to be higher than reference interval from Caucasian populations; but lower than those obtained from reference interval studies in several African countries. This pattern was observed in a number of analytes including Alanine aminotransferase; aspartate aminotransferase; alkaline phosphatase; sodium; potassium among others. Significant sex-related variations were also observed in total bilirubin; direct bilirubin; indirect bilirubin; albumin; sodium; chloride; plasma carbon dioxide, creatinine and anion gap. The results demonstrate that reference interval for Eritrean urban population differs from those derived from other African or North American populations. In this regard, the use of reference interval values obtained from Caucasian populations may result in misdiagnosis.

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the effect of time on written guidelines for laboratory testing in an intensive care unit by comparing the numbers of tests performed with those performed three years previously., Methods: In 1995, guidelines were developed for blood test ordering in the Waikato Hospital intensive care unit, which when implemented resulted in a decrease in all blood tests performed by 16.6% in a group of general intensive care patients and by 25.9% in a group of post cardiac surgery patients. We repeated this study on similar groups of patients to see if the guidelines were still effective. Data on age, APACHE II score, diagnosis, and ventilation time were collected. Comparisons were made of tests performed per patient and per ventilation time in hours., Results: In the general intensive care patient group, there was an increase of 2.1% tests performed per patient, but a decrease in tests performed per ventilation time of 5.6%. In the postoperative cardiac surgery patient group, the total number of tests performed per ventilation time decreased by 4%. The arterial blood gases performed per patient increased by 10.7% in the general intensive care patient group, and decreased by 14.3% in the postoperative cardiac surgery patient group. However, when the number of arterial blood gases performed per ventilation time were compared with the 1995 study, there was no difference in the general intensive care patient group, while there was a reduction by 8.3% in the postoperative cardiac surgery patient group., Conclusions: Three years after the implementation of guidelines for laboratory testing in an intensive care unit, there was no return to the level of testing recorded before the guidelines were introduced. The number of tests per ventilation time decreased by 4% in postoperative cardiac surgery patients and decreased by 5.6% in the general intensive care patients. In our study written guidelines remained effective three years after their introduction.