Photocatalytic and biological oxidation treatment of real textile wastewater

Abstract In this study, the discoloration of wastewater containing azo dyes by chemical oxidation process combined with a biological treatment was evaluated and applied to real textile wastewater generated from one Ethiopian industrial site. The use of TiO2 as photocatalyst and the effect of the addition of H2O2 on color removal was first investigated. Photocatalysis was followed by aerobic biological treatment, and their combination resulted in a high extent of color removal (93.3%) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction (90.4%). This was reached without pH correction and with low energy consumption compared to the implementation of AOPs alone. This study performed with real textile wastewater allows the direct extrapolation of the data for the design of a cost-effective and applicable treatment procedure at a pilot scale. Graphic abstrac

Freedom of Expression and the Construing of Defamation Under the Ethiopian Civil and Criminal Law

Defamation is defined as the act of communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of a person, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation[1]. To constitute a defamation, an act must generally be intentional whether it is truth or false statement and must have been made to someone other than the person defamed. Some common law jurisdictions also distinguish between spoken defamation, called slander, and defamation in other media such as printed words or images, called libel[2]. Under this work defamation is seen from its liability aspects against the free use of freedom of expression. The laws in relation to freedom of expression such as the ICCPR, ICESCR, UDHR, and the municipal laws such as: the FDRE Constitution, the Press and Media laws, the Criminal and Civil laws of the country that expressly or tacitly dealing with freedom of expression and the consequence of defamation. DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/109-01 Publication date:May 31st 2021 [1]LeRoy Miller, Roger (2011). Business Law Today: The Essentials. United States: South-Western Cengage Learning. p. 127. ISBN 1-133-19135-5. [2] Linda L. Edwards, J. Stanley Edwards, Patricia Kirtley Wells, Tort Law for Legal Assistants, Cengage Learning, 2008, p. 390

The History of Expropriation in Ethiopian Law

Expropriation is a compulsory taking of land by the state for public purposeand upon advance payment of fair compensation. After describing its nature and basic contents, this article attempts to construct the history of expropriation in Ethiopia based on primary and secondary sources. It covers the historical and legislative period of pre-2005 Ethiopia. It is argued in this article that because of lack of urbanism in pre-twentieth century Ethiopia and because of the strong religious ethic of the kings not to abuse their power, there was no much expropriation practice of urban land in Ethiopia before the establishment of Addis Ababa in the late nineteenth century. Expropriation received formal recognition after the 1908 Addis Ababa Land Charter. In all the historical records that are found, there is evidence of payment of compensation upon expropriation of urban land although it might not be conclusive.Key words: Land, Expropriation, Compensation, History, Ethiopia

A consumer decision process model for the Internet

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This investigation attempts to improve understanding of the behaviour of internet consumers from an empirical basis. It reports on the results of studies into decision-making processes of consumers on the internet in the context of apparel retailing. Consumers consisting of a profile sample of working female consumers, aged between 18 and 45, in the ABC1 social group, are considered in terms of their decision making processes online. These observations are contrasted with the assumptions underlying a key reference model of traditional consumer behaviour, the Consumer Decision Process (CDP) model (Blackwell, Engel & Miniard, 2001). The research arrives at several key findings. A primary finding is that there are substantive differences between internet-based and traditional decision making purchases - especially when considering consumers’ behaviour in relation to so-called sensory products. A related finding is that many of the assumptions underlying the CDP model fail to explain many aspects of observed internet consumers’ behaviours in this respect. The observed incongruence is addressed by the thesis through fundamental revisions and extensions of the CDP model. Three key changes proposed include: the introduction of the concept of overlapping stages (where two decision-making stages can occur together); the notion of varying modalities of behaviour depending on a consumer's intentions, and the possibility of a shift in modality during the purchasing process. These notions are incorporated in a proposed model referred to as the Electronic Consumer Decision Process model (eCDP)

Utvikling og evaluering av 4-veis kryssing for hønseproduksjon i det sørlige Etiopia

Village chickens in Ethiopia are predominantly indigenous. They play an important role in the livelihood of farmers mainly by providing animal protein through meat and egg, as a source of income and family saving, and means of employment for landless farmers and women. They are believed to have valuable genetic attributes such as adaptation to harsh environment and some resistance to diseases and parasites, but they are poor in egg production and growth. In spite of their huge number and importance, very little scientific research and development activities have been done. Village chicken productivity should be improved not only genetically but also through better management practices. This study was conducted in Ethiopia to produce a chicken population through 4-way crossbreeding using two indigenous and two exotic chicken breeds. The final 4-way chicken crosses are considered to perform better than the indigenous chicken population in egg production and body weight under village management conditions. Although they were expected to survive better than the exotic chicken, mortality was high. The two indigenous ecotypes/breeds were Naked Neck (N) and Netch (W), a white feathered chicken, used to sire the two exotic breeds: Fayoumi (F), developed in Egypt, and Rhode Island Red (R), respectively. The pure breed exotic chickens were tested under on-station in a college farm and on-farm in farmers’ villages using women farmers. A local indigenous ecotype/breed called Sidancho was also tested on-farm together with the exotic breeds. The F1 produced by crossing R with W and F with N were tested only on-station. The F2 which were produced by crossing RW with FN, or their reciprocal, were tested in both on-station and on-farm management systems. Parameters measured were mortality, egg production and quality, and body weight and growth. Genotype by environment interaction was observed in first experiment for pure exotic breeds tested under the two management systems. F already performed better than R on-station, but on farm F performed much better than R, although the level of production was lower. F was better in egg production and survivability in both systems, but R weighed heavier and laid heavy eggs. No significant difference was observed between the F1 crosses on most of the traits measured on-station. No significant difference was found between the reciprocal crosses forming the F2. There was significant management effect on body weight and hen housed egg production of the F2. The F2 started laying eggs earlier under on-farm condition than on-station and produced more eggs during the early egg laying period. The condition was reversed on late egg laying production where on-station chickens laid more eggs than on-farm chickens. Chick mortality was lower for on-farm than on-station, maybe due to the use of hay-box chick brooder by the farmers. But high on-farm grown chicken mortality mainly due to predator and disease was observed. In general when the F2 was compared with the indigenous Sidancho, age at first egg was reduced by almost 2 months, egg number was improved by 35% and layer body weight was increased by 100 g. It is therefore concluded that productivity of village chickens can be improved by cross breeding and thereby can contribute to the betterment of livelihood of farmers through increased egg production. It is discussed whether this should be by use of cross breeding or the introduction of a synthetic line. However, genetic improvement should go hand in hand with better management practices such as improved housing, quality feed and disease control, so that the chickens may express their genetic potentials. Finally it was recommended that further study with more breeds together with economic analysis should be conducted to choose the best possible breed combination for both village as well as small-scale urban chicken production systems.På landsbygda i Etiopia domineres det tradisjonelle hønseholdet av gamle landraser. De utgjør et vesentlig bidrag til livsgrunnlaget for bøndene, både som en viktig animalsk proteinkilde ved forsyninger av kjøtt og egg til familien, men òg som inntektskilde og økonomisk reserve, samt sysselsetting av landløse bønder og kvinner. Landrasene har ord på seg for å ha verdifulle genetiske egenskaper slik som å være godt tilpasset marginale forhold og å ha stor resistens mot lokale sjukdommer og parasitter, men samtidig har de lav avdrått når gjelder egg- og kjøttproduksjon. Til tross for landrasenes store utbredelse og betydning, er det gjort lite forskning eller utviklingsarbeid på dem. Landrasenes produktivitet forventes å ha et potensial for forbedring ikke bare genetisk, men også ved endret driftspraksis. Studien som presenteres her ble gjennomført i Etiopia. En populasjon ble dannet ved å krysse to landraser og to importerte kommersielle høneraser. Den etablerte 4-veiskrysningen forventes å produsere mer egg og kjøtt under de rådende forhold på landsbygda enn landrasene. Videre var det forventet at de overlevde bedre enn de rene eksotiske linjene selv om dødeligheten var høy. De to landrasene som ble benyttet som farlinjer i den første krysningen var naked neck (N), en type med fjørløs hals, samt den hvite typen netch (W). De to importerte rasene (morlinjer) var den egyptiske fayoumi (F) og en tyngre kommersiell rase rhode island red (R). De rene importerte linjene ble testet både i en testingsstasjon på et landbruksuniversitet og på landsbygda med kvinnelige bønder under marginale forhold. En lokal landrase (sidancho) ble testet hos de samme bøndene samtidig med de to importerte linjene. Første generasjon (F1) var etter kryssing mellom R (♀) o g W (♂) o g m ellom F ( ♀) o g N ( ♂). D isse t o k ryssingene b le b are t estet p å teststasjonen. Neste generasjon (F2) ble dannet ved å krysse RW og FN resiprokt og disse ble testet både på stasjonen og hos bøndene. Egenskaper som ble undersøkt var mortalitet, eggproduksjon og -kvalitet, tilvekst og levende vekt. Samspillseffekter mellom genotype og miljø ble observert i det første forsøket for de importerte rene linjene som ble testet i begge driftsformene: på stasjonen og på landsbygda. F ga høyere produksjon enn R på stasjonen, men på landsbygda ble forskjellen mye større, selv om produksjonsnivået var lågere. F hadde høyere eggproduksjon og overlevelsesgrad i begge driftsformene, mens R veide mer og la større egg. Ingen signifikante forskjeller ble observert mellom F1-kryssingene i de fleste egenskapene som ble registrert på stasjonen. Det ble heller ikke registrert noen forskjeller mellom de resiproke kryssingene i F2. F2-hønene startet å legge egg tidligere under landsbygdforhold enn på stasjonen og la dermed flere egg i den tidlige verpeperioden. Forholdet var motsatt når det gjaldt eggproduksjon i siste del av verpeperioden hvor høns på stasjonen la flere egg enn de som var på landsbygda. Antall døde kyllinger var færre på landsbygda enn på stasjonen sannsynligvis som en følge av oppdrettsbokser med halm som de daggamle kyllingene fikk tilgang til hos bøndene. Voksne dyr hadde imidlertid høyere mortalitet i landsbygda enn på stasjonen, hovedsakelig på grunn av predasjon og sjukdom. Men når F2-dyr ble sammenliknet med sidancho under landsbygdforhold la F2-hønene sitt første egg nesten 2 måneder tidligere enn sidancho, antall egg økte med 35 % og hønene var 100 g tyngre. Man konkluderer derfor med at produktiviteten til landrasene under landsbygdforhold kan forbedres ved innkryssing av eksotiske linjer og slik oppnå økt eggproduksjon, og derigjennom bedre livsgrunnlaget til bøndene. Det diskuteres om dette bør skje ved kryssingsavl eller ved introduksjon av syntetisk linje. I alle fall bør genetisk forbedring gå hand i hand med bedre driftspraksis som bedre hus, bedre fôr og sjukdomskontroll, slik at kyllingene får uttrykke sitt genetiske potensial. Endelig tilrås det å teste ut flere linjer samtidig som økonomiske analyser utføres slik at den best mulige linjekombinasjonen kan velges for både landsbygdforhold og under små-skala hønsehold i urbane strøk.NORA

Pattern of admissions to the pediatric emergency unit of Tikur Anbessa Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2012- 2013 G.C)

Background: Patterns of disease vary across time depending on changes in human health activities and lifestyle, environmental factors and disease epidemiology. Health facility-based studies can provide information on the burden of disease within the community. Having information on the main causes of childhood morbidity and mortality enables planners to more effectively design, implement, and evaluate prevention-focused interventions.Objective: To describe the disease pattern of patients admitted in the pediatric emergency unit at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and identify the main causes of admissions and deaths.Methodology: A cross-sectional retrospective study of admissions to the pediatric emergency unit of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital was made for a period of one year from April 2012 to March 2013.Results: A total of 1796 patients were admitted from April 2012 to March 2013, out of which 1044 (58%) were males while 752 (42%) were females, a male to female ratio of 1.4:1. The mean age of the study subjects was 3.4 years for males and 3.7 years for females. The mean length of stay in the emergency unit was 4.7 days. Out of 1796 patients, 116 (6.5%) died. The most common cause of admission was severe pneumonia (24.7%) and also among the 116 deaths pneumonia was the leading cause of death (23.3%), followed by late onset sepsis (11.3%) and acute gastroenteritis (9.5 %).Conclusion: Interventions targeting prevention of pneumonia, sepsis, acute gastroenteritis, acquired heart disease and meningitis have paramount importance in reducing childhood illnesses and deaths. Since most of the causes of death in the unit could be avoidable by improving early case detection and management. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2016;30(2):86-91]Keywords: Pneumonia, Sepsis, Pediatrics Emergency, Mortalit

EFFECT OF COSTUS PICTUS D. DON ON CARBOHYDRATE HYDROLYZING ENZYMES

Objective: Costus pictus D. Don is a potent anti-diabetic plant used in folk as well as Indian traditional medicine. In the present study, 4 extracts namely, Fresh-aqueous, Fresh-hydroalcoholic, Dry-Aqueous and Dry-hydroalcoholic prepared from fresh as well as dried leaves of C. pictus were evaluated for their effect on alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes using In vitro assays. Methods: Alpha-Amylase inhibitory activity of C. pictus extracts was evaluated using Porcine pancreatic alpha-amylase (PPA) with starch as a substrate, whereas, alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity was evaluated using p-nitrophenyl-α-D-Glucopyranoside (PNPG) as a substrate. Results: Only Fresh-aqueous extract of C. pictus revealed potent alpha-amylase inhibitory (IC50= 9.90mg/ml) as well as alpha-glucosidase inhibitory (IC50= 2.51mg/ml) activities. In general, it exhibited strong inhibitory effect on alpha-glucosidase than alpha amylase. Conclusion: Present study does seem to justify usage of fresh leaves of C. pictus as a munching dilatory supplement for treatment of diabetes as Fresh-aqueous extract exhibited potent inhibitory effect on carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes