Participatory variety selection and scaling: Small grain cereals

United States Agency for International Developmen

Human resource management practices in selected secondary schools of East Shoa zone

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the practices and challenges of Human Resource Management (HRM) in some selected government secondary schools in East Shoa Zone (sample size: 285 teachers and staff). To this end, descriptive survey method was employed. Accordingly, the study results reveal inappropriate planning of teachers and staff, lack of proper recruitment and selection procedures, poor performance appraisal system, absence of facilitating trainings, and high turnover of teachers as critical weaknesses and limitations to function properly, let alone to achieve quality education. The study recommends that HR planning must ensure the recruitment, selection and placement of talented and committed teachers and staff in schools. Besides, training and development should be continuous, comprehensive and result-oriented. The appraisal system should also align individual performance expectations with goals of schools

Participatory variety selection and scaling: Cool-season food legumes

United States Agency for International Developmen

Use of geographic information system and water quality index to assess suitability of groundwater quality for drinking purposes in Hewane areas, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

The study area Hewane is situated in the southern zone of Tigray Regional State, Hintalo Wajirat wereda. It is geographically located between 1444000 to 1454000m N and 550000 to 558000m E with an aerial extent of 47.66 sq. km. The study was conducted having an objective of assessing suitability of groundwater quality for drinking purposes through geographic information system (GIS) and water quality index (WQI). Ten groundwater samples were collected from the study area and 13 physicochemical parameters such as TDS, TH, Alkalinity, pH, EC, Temperature, Na+, K+, Mg2+,Ca2+, Cl-, HCO3- and SO42- were analyzed. Inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation method has been used to generate the spatial distribution of the groundwater physico-chemical parameters and water quality index map. To estimate the water quality index, 9 parameters have been considered: pH, Na+, K+, Mg2+,Ca2+, Cl-, HCO3-, SO42-, and TDS. The WQI estimated for the groundwater samples of the study area ranges from 86.1 to 180.5 at groundwater samples GWS_2 and GWS_5, respectively. Based on the analysis, most of the area under study falls 70% in poor water class and 30% in good water class. Hence, the result revealed that 70% of the groundwater samples of the study area are hardly suitable for drinkingpurposes without water quality management activities.Key words: spatial distribution, GIS, WQI, groundwater quality, Hewane, Tigray, Ethiopi

Pattern of Injury and Associated Variables as Seen in the Emergency Department at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Referral Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background: Traumatic injuries represent a significant and growing disease burden in the developing world, and now represent one of the leading causes of death in economically active adults in many low- and middle-income countries. This study was aimed at determining the patternof injuries and variables associated among patients visiting Emergency Department (ED) due to injury at Black Lion Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Methods: This was a prospective cross sectional hospital based study done with a systematic random sampling method. The study was done in Tikur Anbessa specialized referral hospital. The study was conducted in between February 1 to April 30, 2013. Results: A total of 3287 new patients were seen in the ED, of whom 989 (32.5%) reported to be injury victims, of them 321 patients were included in the study. The M: F ratio is3.58:1.  More than 41% of patients were aged between 20 and 29.The most  frequent cause of injury was Road Traffic Accident (RTAs), 123(38.3%), followed by stuck/hit by a person or object, 101(31.5%), and fall accident 68(21.2%).Further analysis showed that the odds of injury of assault to be increased for males (P= 0.037, AOR, 2.528, 95%CI (1.058-6.037),  patients with monthly income < 650 Ethiopian birr{(P= 0.002, AOR 2.91, 95% CI (1.493-5.705)},and age< 40 years old is significantly associated with injury of assault {(P= 0.004, AOR 3.27, 95%CI(1.451-7.375)}. Injury of assault is 61% less likely to be occurred in rural areas than the urban dwellers {(P= 0.002, AOR 0.39%CI (.219-.707)}.Conclusion: Appropriate interventions to reduce the occurrences of injuries should be instituted by the local authorities and other responsible body. There is also a need to educate the community members particularly risk groups on how to prevent injuries. Key Words: Injury, Variables associated with injury, Emergency departmen

Nile tilapia (\u3ci\u3eOreochromis niloticus\u3c/i\u3e) fried in recycled palm oil: implications for nutrition and health

Fish constitutes a occasional food for the Sidama people of Hawassa, the capital city of Ethiopia’s Sidama Region and the site of a large endorheic lake. Freshly-caught fish, especially Nile tilapia or koroso in Local name, are typically fried prior to consumption. Despite the sensory qualities, fried foods are not always advisable due to the impact of frying on the nutritional quality of food. This study was designed to assess the nutritional quality of Nile tilapia that had been fried in the same palm oil over six consecutive frying cycles. The raw fish were purchased from the Lake Hawassa fish market and fried at Hawassa University by simulating local preparation methods. A gas chromatography- mass spectrophotometer (GCMS) was used for the fatty acid profile analysis and a total of 22 fatty acids were elucidated. The nutritional quality indices of fatty acids was determined by calculating the recommended formula and JMP pro 13 was used for statistical analysis. The study results revealed that the tilapia fried in the oldest, most used oil, cycles 3–6, contained high amounts of saturated and trans fatty acids, as well as high atherogenic and thrombogenic indices; however, it was also lower in essential and cis fatty acids, the hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio, the per-oxidizability index, and the nutritive value index. Conversely, fish prepared earlier (cycles 1–3) with fresher oil were higher in essential fatty acids and cis fatty acids, while the hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio, the per-oxidizability index, and the nutritive value index were also high. Fish fried in an earlier cycle were also low in saturated and trans-fatty acids, with a lower atherogenic index, and thrombogenic index. Therefore, it can be concluded that repeatedly using the same frying oil to prepare Nile tilapia contributed to the loss of nutritional value. Results suggest that palm oil should be limited to no more than three frying cycles to maximize nutritional intake in of fish consumption

Magnetic Connectivity between Active Regions 10987, 10988, and 10989 by Means of Nonlinear Force-Free Field Extrapolation

Extrapolation codes for modelling the magnetic field in the corona in cartesian geometry do not take the curvature of the Sun's surface into account and can only be applied to relatively small areas, \textit{e.g.}, a single active region. We apply a method for nonlinear force-free coronal magnetic field modelling of photospheric vector magnetograms in spherical geometry which allows us to study the connectivity between multi-active regions. We use vector magnetograph data from the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun survey (SOLIS)/Vector Spectromagnetograph(VSM) to model the coronal magnetic field, where we study three neighbouring magnetically connected active regions (ARs: 10987, 10988, 10989) observed on 28, 29, and 30 March 2008, respectively. We compare the magnetic field topologies and the magnetic energy densities and study the connectivities between the active regions(ARs). We have studied the time evolution of magnetic field over the period of three days and found no major changes in topologies as there was no major eruption event. From this study we have concluded that active regions are much more connected magnetically than the electric current.Comment: Solar Physic

Enhancing Dynamical Seasonal Predictions through Objective Regionalization

Improving seasonal forecasts in East Africa has great implications for food security and water resources planning in the region. Dynamically based seasonal forecast systems have much to contribute to this effort, as they have demonstrated ability to represent and, to some extent, predict large-scale atmospheric dynamics that drive interannual rainfall variability in East Africa. However, these global models often exhibit spatial biases in their placement of rainfall and rainfall anomalies within the region, which limits their direct applicability to forecast-based decision-making. This paper introduces a method that uses objective climate regionalization to improve the utility of dynamically based forecast-system predictions for East Africa. By breaking up the study area into regions that are homogenous in interannual precipitation variability, it is shown that models sometimes capture drivers of variability but misplace precipitation anomalies. These errors are evident in the pattern of homogenous regions in forecast systems relative to observation, indicating that forecasts can more meaningfully be applied at the scale of the analogous homogeneous climate region than as a direct forecast of the local grid cell. This regionalization approach was tested during the July– September (JAS) rain months, and results show an improvement in the predictions from version 4.5 of the Max Plank Institute for Meteorology’s atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (ECHAM4.5) for applicable areas of East Africa for the two test cases presented