Fearless Friday: Senait Weldemariam

Senait Weldemariam ’16 is today’s Fearless Leader! Senait, originally from the Bronx, NY, is currently a senior at Gettysburg College who is majoring in History and minoring in Educational Studies. During her time here, she has been involved with the Black Student Union (BSU), the Gospel Choir, and the Latin American Student Association (LASA). Specifically, Senait has been involved with the BSU since her freshman year. [excerpt

Broadening Ontological and Epistemological Possibilities within Early Childhood Teacher Education for Sustainability

The dominant sustainability ethos and discourse within early childhood education pursue a normative ontological and epistemological direction aimed at empowering children’s agency and thus, building certain predefined moral values, knowledge, and skills. Likewise, mainstream early childhood teacher education programmes strive to build early childhood pre-service teachers’ sustainability knowledge and skills, especially to enhance their capacity to be transformative agents and motivators for change to engage children with sustainability challenges. In this conceptual article, drawing on posthuman concepts, I highlight the limits of such orthodox assumptions in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) teacher education and invite broader ontological and epistemic possibilities. I interrogate the human-centric assumptions that unintentionally perpetuate the deep-rooted binary thinking that separates humans from non-humans and other species. In doing so, I offer an expanded understanding of the underlying ontological and epistemic assumptions within teacher education for ECEfS. I conclude by indicating how posthuman theories serve as an impetus for epistemological and ontological multiplicities in early childhood teacher education for sustainability

Evaluation of Different Mulching Practices on Garlic (Allium sativum L.) Growth Parameters under Irrigated Condition in Fiche, North Shoa Ethiopia

An experiment to assess the effect of mulch on growth (days to maturity, plant height, leaf length and leaf number) of Garlic (Allium Sativum L.) were conducted in 2015/16 at Addis Ababa University Selale campus, on demonstration field, with the objective of; to identify optimum plant growth using different mulches for Garlic tested independently. The experiment was conducted using randomized complete block design with three replicates. The area occupied by a single plot was 1.5*2 m2 and with a spacing of 1 m and 0.5 m between blocks and plots, respectively. There were nine treatments. The spacing between plants was 10 cm and between rows was 30 cm. The analyzed result using ANOVA shows significance difference among the treatments. Plots treated with black polyethylene mulch and grass mulch enhanced maturity by about 114.6 and 116.73 days, respectively, while garlic treated with no mulch showed slightly delayed maturity of 125.36 days.  Maximum plant height (66.52 cm) was recorded in the plants mulched by black polyethylene mulch followed by grass mulch which records 62.37 cm and 52.36 cm, respectively. A highly significant variation (p<0.05) in the leaf length was observed at the different mulch treatments. Significantly maximum leaf number (15.36) was recorded in plants mulched with black polyethylene followed by grass mulch with 14.06 leaf number. Thus, black polyethylene and grass mulch performs better than the bare land in growth parameters evaluation of garlic crop under fiche condition. Keywords: Black polyethylene, Mulches, Allium Sativum, Growth, Gras

Invitro Antimicrobial Activity of Plumbago Zylanica L.

Beside the search for new plants; Plants investigated to have medicinal value for particular diseases has been also checked for extra pathogens and further in other  biological activities in a search for efficient and effective drug. In this study the in vitro antimicrobial capacity of Plumbago zeylanica L. root extracts were investigated against seven bacterial strains and one fungal strain. Antimicrobial activity was done   employing Agar disc diffusion and Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined involving broth dilution method. The chloroform crude extracts as well as fractions were more potent than ethanolic extracts.  From MIC findings S. entritidis, S. aureus , E.coli were withdrawn from growth at  0.2mg/mL,  1mg/ml and 2mg/ml respectively. In addition, nine pure compounds were isolated and one (PFr8) inhibited a bit higher than the standard drugs. Keywords: Plumbago zeylanica L, antimicrobial activity, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), fractionation, invitro tes

Natural Pesticide from Eucalyptus Camaldulensis Essential Oil and Its Synergetic Effect with Eucalyptus Globulus Essential Oils

The life, production (in quality and quantity) of plants is affected by many factors such as, rainfall, soil property and pests. In Tigray region cactus plant has been serving with many uses. But recently there happen a great concern to the people about the life of this cactus. The insect cochineal and a new and very harmful insect/pest are causing mass damage on cactus. It has been crucial issue until this day. Plant derived insecticides and pesticides have received wide attention than their corresponding synthetics’ for their several advantages. The essential oil used here was obtained by hydro distillation from fresh Eucalyptus camaldulensis leaf. The oil recorded high insecticidal activity both in laboratory and spray test. Death time for young male and female was 38±10, 80±15 min respectively. Corresponding sex adults die at 72±13and 86±14 at higher concentration (100µl/air). In three days spray of 600 µl/air oil all insects of all ages were eliminated. Keywords: Opnitia ficus indica, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Hydro Distillation, Essential Oil, Phytochemical Screening, Insecticida

The Nexus Between Urban Plan Implementation and Governance Culture of Ethiopia: The Cases of Dilla and Werabie Towns, Southern Region

The ultimate goal of urban planning and implementation is to ensure the improvement in the lives of urban society and the growth of the city, which in turn demands different attributes of good governance. Successful implementation of the urban plans requires strong political will, transparent legal framework, sound and flexible urban planning as well as finance. The research is conducted based on the practical experiences of two urban centers. Descriptive approach is followed as the research designing and Digital data collection is employed for capturing spatial data of land uses. Focused Group Discussions were thoroughly deliberated. Document review was cautiously performed in the perspective of the plan implementation. The findings of the critical analysis elicited there is strong nexus between the level of plan implementation and governance conception. To enjoy from the benefits of urbanization, inclusive planning, effective management, good governance and institutional setup are must. Keywords: governance, land use, plan implementation, Plan Violation, urban planning DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/11-9-01 Publication date: November 30th 202

Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange by Ag-N Co-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles

In this study synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic application of Silver, Nitrogen co-dopped Zinc Oxide nanoparticles has been made. Four series of zinc oxide catalyst, (ZnO, Ag-ZnO, N-ZnO and Ag-N-ZnO) were prepared. All these oxides nanocomposites were prepared by aqueous combustion synthesis method using Zn(CH3COO)2.2H2O, AgNO3 and N2H4CO as precursors. The as-synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by XRD and UV-Vis DRS techniques. From XRD analysis, it was clearly observed that the as-synthesized samples have ZnO predominantly N-ZnO and Ag–ZnO phases as well. The UV-Vis spectra study assured that the band gap decreased as N and Ag dopped to ZnO and hence the absorption band shifts toward the longer wavelength region (red shift). The experimental results showed that Methyl orange degradation depends on the doped elements. In all cases, the photocatalytic activity gradually increased with addition of doping elements N and Ag. As-synthesized Ag and N co-doped ZnO showed higher photoactivity than the Ag or N-doped ZnO as well as calcined ZnO in both UV and solar irradiation. Keywords: Degradation; Doping; Nanoparticles; Methyl orange; Photocatalysis; Zinc Oxide

Synthesis and Characterization of Iron (III) Oxide Nanomaterials for Photocatalytic Degradation of Congo Red

This paper reports the synthesis and characterization nano-sized Iron (III) oxide for photochemical degradation of reactive Congo red (CR). The Fe2O3 nanoparticles were prepared by simple aqueous combustion synthesis method using Fe(NO3)3.9H2O as an oxidant and N2H4CO as fuel at 1:1 ratio. The synthesized photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, FTIR and Uv-vis Spectroscopy. The synthesized samples were tested as photocatalysts for the decomposition of Congo red dye under UV irradiation. The impact of crystal size, loading catalyst and irradiation time on the rate of decomposition of Congo red dye was investigated. The experimental results show that CR degradation increased with increasing of crystal size, time and amount of loaded catalyst. Keywords: Characterization, Combustion Synthesis, Congo red, Photocatalysis, and UV irradiation

The Role of Marketing Mix Strategies on Brand Loyalty of Cable Products

This study was carried out with the intention of examining the role of the marketing mix on brand loyalty advertising and pricing play in building brand equity. The study focuses on a new cable brand (Belayab Cable) and attempts to find out the role of marketing mix elements on brand loyalty of Belayab Cable products. For this study, an accessible population of 62 Belayab Cable consumers who have used its products at least twice was selected randomly from stratified groups of three types of customers (Contractors, Traders, Electo Mechanical Engineers, and   Government,).  A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents by using a self-administered data collection system. In addition to the questionnaire, semi-structured interview questions are prepared to get information from the organization which is analyzed qualitatively. The STATA is used to process the primary data which were collected through questionnaires.  The findings showed that the role of product quality, price, and availability has a positive and significant role in brand loyalty. On the other hand, the price has no significant role in brand loyalty for the cable of a brand. Therefore, in order to maximize the effectiveness of marketing activities and have more loyal customers in cable industry companies should pay more attention to product quality, availability, and promotions. &nbsp