Action Research on Enhancing SPSS Software Skill for Third Year Statistics Students at Mekdela Amba University

The role of Statistics plays in our daily lives are so vital such that it is important for every educator and learner to understand and know how to use and interpret it. Statistical software allows researchers/students/educators to avoid tedious mathematical mistakes and produce accurate figures in their work if they input all data correctly. The Research has been identified as one of the most important duties of students. The main objective of the research was enhancing skills of students regarding to basic data handling, organization, presentation and analyzing statistical data using SPSS statistical software for Mekdela Amba University third year Statistics students. Hence the total population is small we take the whole population as a sample. Students performance before and after the training were recorded. The recorded data were analyzed qualitatively and the result shows that the mean of student performance after the training is higher than before the training. Before the training 9 (31%), 8 (27.6%), 7 (24.1%) and 6 (20.7%) of students were score below 50% in the first, second, third and fourth categories respectively and after the training 29 (100%), 29 (100%), 27 (93.1%) and 26 (89.7%) of students were scored above 50 % in the first, second, third and fourth categories. The proposed actions for increasing the performance of students in SPSS were focuses on enhancing basic data handling, organization, presentation and analyzing statistical data using SPSS statistical software. Keywords: Skill, SPSS, Performance, Statistical Software DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/69-03 Publication date: January 31st 2023

Preparation of chitin nanofibers by surface esterification of chitin with maleic anhydride and mechanical treatment

Esterification with maleic anhydride significantly improved the mechanical disintegration of chitin into uniform 10-nm nanofibers. Nanofibers with 0.25° of esterification were homogeneously dispersed in basic water due to the carboxylate salt on the surface. Esterification proceeded on the surface and did not affect the relative crystallinity. A cast film of the esterified chitin nanofibers was highly transparent, since the film was free from light scattering

ISOLATES OF STDs CAUSATIVE AGENTS FROM SEX WORKERS ADDIS ABABA (A PRELIMINARY REPORT)

ABSTRACT: Cervical and vaginal discharge samples, collected from282 randomly selected prostitutes of Addis Ababa, were examined for Sill causative agents. The subjects represented 900 females included in the 1990 sero-survey-for HIV infection. The results of the laboratory tests indicated that 117 (41.5%) of the examined females had a single infection by one of the five organisms tested for, while the others 18.1 % had experienced mixed infections of two organisms, and 4.2% of three organisms. The five organisms included Neisseria gonorrhoea isolated from 78 subjects (28.1 %), Trichomonas vaginalis -from 56 (20.6%), Candida albicans -from 40 (14.7%), and Gardnerella vaginosis -associated clue cells -from 27 individuals (9.9%). The presence of syphilis infection was indicated by the TPHA test in 72 subjects, representing 37.3% of the study samples. Among the N. gonorrhea isolates, PPNG strains comprised 57 (73.0%). Resistant strains were obtained to penicillin in 100.0%, ampicillin in 96.0%, bactrim (sxt) in 80.7%, among the PPNG strains; 19.1% of the NPPNG strains to penicillin, 38.1% to kanamycin, 66.6% of a bactrim and 66.7% of ampicillin. Both groups were, however, sensitive to erythromycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, norfloxacin, spectinomycin and ceftriaxone. Significant correlation was observed between these results and the MIC values obtained for each drug

Protein/CaCO3/Chitin Nanofiber Complex Prepared from Crab Shells by Simple Mechanical Treatment and Its Effect on Plant Growth

A protein/CaCO3/chitin nanofiber complex was prepared from crab shells by a simple mechanical treatment with a high-pressure water-jet (HPWJ) system. The preparation process did not involve chemical treatments, such as removal of protein and calcium carbonate with sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid, respectively. Thus, it was economically and environmentally friendly. The nanofibers obtained had uniform width and dispersed homogeneously in water. Nanofibers were characterized in morphology, transparency, and viscosity. Results indicated that the shell was mostly disintegrated into nanofibers at above five cycles of the HPWJ system. The chemical structure of the nanofiber was maintained even after extensive mechanical treatments. Subsequently, the nanofiber complex was found to improve the growth of tomatoes in a hydroponics system, suggesting the mechanical treatments efficiently released minerals into the system. The homogeneous dispersion of the nanofiber complex enabled easier application as a fertilizer compared to the crab shell flakes

Automated distal coronary bypass with a novel magnetic coupler (MVP system)

AbstractObjectiveWe sought to assess the feasibility of performing sutureless distal coronary artery bypass anastomoses with a novel magnetic coupling device.MethodsFrom May 2000 to April 2001, single-vessel side-to-side coronary artery bypass grafting on a beating heart was performed in 39 domestic white pigs (35-60 kg) without the use of mechanical stabilization, shunts, or perfusion bridges. Animals were divided into 2 groups. Seventeen pigs underwent right internal thoracic artery to right coronary artery bypass grafting through a median sternotomy (group 1) with a novel magnetic vascular positioning system (MVP system; Ventrica, Inc, Fremont, Calif). Twenty-two pigs underwent left internal thoracic artery to left anterior descending artery grafting with the MVP anastomotic device through a left anterior minithoracotomy (group 2). This system consists of 2 pairs of elliptical magnetic implants and a deployment device. One pair of magnets forms the anastomotic docking port within the graft; the other pair forms an identical anastomotic docking port within the target vessel. The anastomosis is created when the 2 docking ports magnetically couple. Anastomotic patency was evaluated by means of angiography during the first postoperative week and at 1 month. Histologic studies were performed at different time points as late as 6 months.ResultsRight internal thoracic artery to right coronary artery anastomoses and left internal thoracic artery to left anterior descending artery anastomoses were successfully performed with the system in all animals. The self-adherent and self-aligning properties of the implants allowed for immediate and secure approximation of the arteries (total anastomotic time between 2-3 minutes). Anastomoses were constructed without a stabilization platform. Five nondevice-related deaths occurred postoperatively. One-week angiography, performed in 35 surviving animals, showed a patent graft and anastomosis in all cases. The patency rate at 1 month was 97% (33/34). Histologic studies as late as 6 months demonstrated neointimal coverage of the magnets without any significant luminal obstruction. Histology also confirmed the presence of viable tissue between magnets.ConclusionThe MVP anastomotic system uses magnetic force to create rapid and secure distal coronary artery anastomoses, which might facilitate minimally invasive and totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass surgery

Epidemiology of rubella virus cases in the pre-vaccination era of Ethiopia, 2009–2015

Abstract Background Rubella is a common mild rash illness caused by rubella virus. The majority of infections occur in children and young adults. The infection is the cause of a serious birth defect known as Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) when a woman acquires infection early in pregnancy. Ethiopia has not yet established rubella virus surveillance and has not yet introduced rubella vaccine into the routine immunization program. We characterize the epidemiology of laboratory confirmed rubella virus cases collected through measles surveillance from 2009 to 2015 to better understand the burden of the disease in the country. Methods A descriptive analysis was made to characterize rubella cases reported through the national measles case based surveillance system. The measles case definition was used to capture potential rubella cases. A suspected measles case was a person with generalized rash and fever with cough, or coryza or conjunctivitis. Those cases whose sera were negative for measles IgM antibodies were tested for rubella IgM antibody. A confirmed rubella case was a person who tested positive for rubella IgM. Only laboratory confirmed rubella cases were analyzed in this article. Results Between 2009 and 2015, a total of 28,284 serum/plasma samples were collected and tested for measles IgM antibody and 11,151 (39.4%) were found positive. A total of 17,066 measles IgM negative or indeterminate samples were tested for rubella virus IgM and 2615 (15.3%) were found positive during the same period. Of 2615 confirmed rubella cases, 52.2% were females. The age of confirmed cases ranged from one month to 42 years with a mean age of 7.3 years. Three-fourth of all confirmed rubella cases were aged less than 10 years. The number of laboratory confirmed rubella cases linearly increased from 83 in 2009 to 856 in 2013 but dropped to 222 and 319 in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Higher number of cases occurred in the hot dry season (January through June) and in the central and western part of Ethiopia with 127 lab-confirmed outbreaks in the study period. Conclusions Based on our analysis, rubella was found to be endemic throughout Ethiopia. Children below the age of 10 years were the most affected. The burden of rubella cases varied from year to year but had a seasonal peak in March. To better understand the magnitude of rubella prior to vaccine introduction, establishing rubella surveillance system, conducting sero-prevalence studies among child bearing age females and establishing CRS sentinel surveillance among young infants are critical