Factors Affecting Profitability of Insurance Companies in Ethiopia

The study was attempted to examine factors affecting profitability of insurance companies in Ethiopia for the period of 2014-2018, employed descriptive research design. The target populations were 17 insurance companies taken by census method. The study employed secondary sources of data from audited financial statement of National bank of Ethiopia. The study was used multiple regression models. The regression was run by using random effect model through Stata software version 14. The researchers found that the positive and significant relationship between ROA and liquidity, capital adequacy, real GDP as well as real effective exchange rate. Contrary, ROA has negative and significant relation with leverage, underwriting risk, premium growth. Besides, ROA has positive and insignificant relation with age and size whereas negative and insignificant relation with inflation. Thus, Insurance industry should give emphasis on liquidity ratio, and capital adequacy ratio to sustain its profitability.

Characterization of surface radar cross sections at W-band at moderate incidence angles

This paper presents the results of a recent flight campaign conducted over the Great Lakes region and reports the first observations of the W-band normalized backscattered cross section ( σ0 ) for V and H polarization and the linear depolarization ratios (LDRs) from different types of surfaces at moderate incidence angles (<70°). For sea surfaces, while the observed σ0 behaves as previously reported at small incidence angles, it features a marked decrease with increasing incidence angles between 20° and 50°. There is a strong dependence of normalized backscattered cross sections both on the wind speed and on the wind direction, with larger values found in the presence of higher wind speeds and when the radar antenna is looking upwind. This is in line with theoretical models (though models tend to overpredict the range of variability at a given incidence angle) and with observations at lower frequencies. The LDRs are steadily increasing from values certainly lower than −30 dB, at vertical incidence, to the values of about −10 dB, at the incidence angles of about 60°–70°, with a good matching between observations and theoretical predictions. On the other hand, land surface backscattering properties are not characterized by a strong angular dependence: σ0 and LDR values typically range between −20 and 0 dB and between −15 and −5 dB, respectively. This paper is relevant for spaceborne concepts of W-band radars, which envisage moderate incidence angles to achieve a broad swath needed for global coverage

Sizing ice hydrometeor populations using the dual-wavelength; radar ratio

Dual-wavelength (3.2 and 0.32&thinsp;cm, i.e., X- and W-radar bands) radar ratio (DWR) measurements in ice clouds and precipitation using Canada's National Research Council Institute for Aerospace Research airborne radar are compared to closely collocated particle microphysical in&nbsp;situ sampling data in order to develop relations between DWR and characteristic hydrometeor size. This study uses the radar and in&nbsp;situ data sets collected during the In-Cloud ICing and Large-drop Experiment (ICICLE) campaign in midlatitude frontal clouds. Since atmospheric particle scattering at X band is predominantly in the Rayleigh regime and the W-band frequency is the highest frequency usually used for hydrometeor remote sensing, the X&ndash;W-band combination provides a relatively strong dual-wavelength reflectivity difference. This study considers radar and in&nbsp;situ measurements conducted in relatively homogeneous cloud and precipitation conditions. Measurements show that under these conditions, the difference between the X-band radar reflectivities observed with vertical and horizontal pointing of the radar beam are generally small and often negligible. However, W-band reflectivities at vertical beam pointing are, on average, larger than those for horizontal beam pointing by about&nbsp;4&thinsp;dB, which is a non-Rayleigh scattering effect from preferentially oriented non-spherical particles. A horizontal radar beam DWR&ndash;mean volume particle size relation, Dv, provides robust estimates of this characteristic size for populations of particles with different habits. Uncertainties of Dv retrievals using DWR are around 0.6&thinsp;mm when Dv is greater than approximately 1&thinsp;mm. Size estimates using vertical radar beam DWRs have larger uncertainties due to smaller dual-wavelength signals and stronger influences of hydrometeor habits and orientations at this geometry of beam pointing. Mean relations among different characteristic sizes, which describe the entire particle size distribution (PSD), such as Dv, and other sizes used in various applications (e.g., the mean, effective, and median sizes) are derived, so the results of this study can be used for estimating different PSD characteristic sizes. &nbsp;</p

Measurements of Differential Reflectivity in Snowstorms and Warm Season Stratiform Systems

The organized behavior of differential radar reflectivity (ZDR) is documented in the cold regions of a wide variety of stratiform precipitation types occurring in both winter and summer. The radar targets and attendant cloud microphysical conditions are interpreted within the context of measurements of ice crystal types in laboratory diffusion chambers in which humidity and temperature are both stringently controlled. The overriding operational interest here is in the identification of regions prone to icing hazards with long horizontal paths. Two predominant regimes are identified: category A, which is typified by moderate reflectivity (from 10 to 30 dBZ) and modest +ZDR values (from 0 to +3 dB) in which both supercooled water and dendritic ice crystals (and oriented aggregates of ice crystals) are present at a mean temperature of −13°C, and category B, which is typified by small reflectivity (from −10 to +10 dBZ) and the largest +ZDR values (from +3 to +7 dB), in which supercooled water is dilute or absent and both flat-plate and dendritic crystals are likely. The predominant positive values for ZDR in many case studies suggest that the role of an electric field on ice particle orientation is small in comparison with gravity. The absence of robust +ZDR signatures in the trailing stratiform regions of vigorous summer squall lines may be due both to the infusion of noncrystalline ice particles (i.e., graupel and rimed aggregates) from the leading deep convection and to the effects of the stronger electric fields expected in these situations. These polarimetric measurements and their interpretations underscore the need for the accurate calibration of ZDR.United States. Federal Aviation Administration (Air Force Contract FA8721-05-C-0002

Global Precipitation Measurement Cold Season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx): For Measurement Sake Let it Snow

As a component of the Earth's hydrologic cycle, and especially at higher latitudes,falling snow creates snow pack accumulation that in turn provides a large proportion of the fresh water resources required by many communities throughout the world. To assess the relationships between remotely sensed snow measurements with in situ measurements, a winter field project, termed the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Cold Season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx), was carried out in the winter of 2011-2012 in Ontario, Canada. Its goal was to provide information on the precipitation microphysics and processes associated with cold season precipitation to support GPM snowfall retrieval algorithms that make use of a dual-frequency precipitation radar and a passive microwave imager on board the GPM core satellite,and radiometers on constellation member satellites. Multi-parameter methods are required to be able to relate changes in the microphysical character of the snow to measureable parameters from which precipitation detection and estimation can be based. The data collection strategy was coordinated, stacked, high-altitude and in-situ cloud aircraft missions with three research aircraft sampling within a broader surface network of five ground sites taking in-situ and volumetric observations. During the field campaign 25 events were identified and classified according to their varied precipitation type, synoptic context, and precipitation amount. Herein, the GCPEx fieldcampaign is described and three illustrative cases detailed

Mixed-methods approach in evaluating safe abortion care services at public health facilities in North Shewa zone, central Ethiopia: a multicenter institutional cross-sectional study

BackgroundOf the 55.7 million abortions that were performed globally, 25.1 million (45.1%) were not safe. Nearly 97% of these took place in developing countries. Approximately 71% of economically developed countries allow safe abortion care (SAC) services, whereas only 16% of developing countries permit it. In sub-Saharan Africa, 92% of mothers live in 43 countries where SAC services are restricted by law. Most Ethiopian women continue to self-terminate unwanted pregnancies in hazardous conditions. The aim of this evaluation was to assess input, care providers’ compliance with national guidelines, and clients’ satisfaction.MethodsA multicenter cross-sectional study design with a mixed-methods approach was used. Seven public health facilities were randomly selected where 75 health caseworkers were directly observed; 296 clients and 14 key informants were interviewed, respectively. A resource inventory checklist was used to assess all inputs. The overall SAC services evaluation was summarized from 40 indicators: 13 resource availability indicators, 14 healthcare workers' compliance to national guidelines indicators, and 13 clients' satisfaction toward SAC services indicators. A multivariate logistic regression model was fit to determine factors that affect client satisfaction at a p-value &lt;0.005.ResultsThere were 75 healthcare providers in the maternal and child health departments in the study area. Except for the interruption of water and electricity, maternal waiting area, counseling, and procedural room, all are available making 94% of resources availability. All healthcare workers were compliant in providing anti-pain medication during procedures, identifying clients if they were targeted for an HIV/AIDS test, and providing their test results as per the guideline. Nevertheless, they were poorly compliant in respecting the clients (9, 12%) and taking vital sign (33, 44%). The overall compliance was 62.3%, while only 51% were satisfied with waiting time and privacy of counseling room. The overall client satisfaction was 65%. The overall evaluation of SAC services was 72.9%.ConclusionResource availability was excellent, which was in line with national SAC expectations while the healthcare workers’ compliance to national guidelines was fair, which deviated from expectations. The clients’ satisfaction and the overall evaluation were good, which was below the hypothesized expectation

Treatment of organic resources before soil incorporation in semi-arid regions improves resilience to El Niño, and increases crop production and economic returns

We are grateful for support from the DFID-NERC El Niño programme in project NE P004830, “Building Resilience in Ethiopia’s Awassa region to Drought (BREAD)”, the ESRC NEXUS programme in project IEAS/POO2501/1, “Improving organic resource use in rural Ethiopia (IPORE)”, and the NERC ESPA programme in project NEK0104251 “Alternative carbon investments in ecosystems for poverty alleviation (ALTER)”. We are also grateful to Anke Fischer (James Hutton Insitute) for her comments on the paper.Peer reviewedPublisher PD