Content Analysis of Common Billboard Advertisements in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Gaps, Weaknesses and Strengths of Billboard Advertisements

This study analyzed the contents of some common commercial billboard advertisements in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The contents analyzed include; photographs, messages, color and appeal strategy .As the demand to advertise products and services through billboards tend to grow the question over effective communication becomes a serious issue. This study thus, conducted to answer such questions raised in billboard advertisements. The gaps, weaknesses and strengths of billboard advertisements were deeply examined and findings were presented.Qualitative content analysis  and deep interview have  been used to analyze the contents .According to the analysis made , billboard ads  those planted alongside major roads in Addis Ababa  ,mostly used human photographs, particularly women's photograph and this was done without any connection women's had  to the product/service  being advertised. Apart from this, most billboard ads had been overlooked by the target consumers. This was observed as a key weakness and gap among the businesses those used billboard ads and ad agencies engaged in designing billboard ads. The study showed that, there were   billboard ads those achieved best communication through their messages, pictures and designs. Furthermore, the study indicated as there was ad agencies deficiency in designing, writing proper product and service messages. Significant weaknesses and gaps were found from the data collected, this includes, poor message structure, erroneous color choice and stumpy creativity.Concerning the documentary photographs, the findings indicated, there were mismatches found in those billboard ads selected for analysis. Beyond this, appeal strategies used   on the   billboard ads selected for analysis  were  weak ,thus , couldn’t  able to catch viewer's attention .The messages accompanied with the product /services were  also detailed, straightforward and embraced each information about the product. In association to the appeal strategy used most billboards used, an ornate design which means over decoration. This caused inconveniences over the billboards ads those selected for analysis. The result revealed that, Billboards those deployed in the city of Addis Ababa were unable to communicate the right information about the product /service being advertised. Keywords: Billboards, Products, services, Advertisements, Customers, Photographs, Messages, Communication and Commercials. DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/102-02 Publication date:October 31st 202

Flowable and Stable Concrete : Design, Characterization and Performance Evaluation

Flowable concretes, while possessing remarkable workability properties, are inherently susceptible to sedimentation and segregation, especially under the influence of external stress such as vibration and pumping pressure. This situation is further aggravated by the fact that the concrete production, transportation and casting processes are liable to fluctuations in the quality of the raw materials and the environmental conditions. Consequently, their application in the concrete construction sector is currently very limited. However, when the geometrical complexity, reinforcement density and dimensional enormity of today’s modern structures are considered, there remains no plausible option other than to use flowable concretes. Hence, dealing with the bottlenecks beforehand is of paramount importance for a reliable application of such concretes. Within the scope of this dissertation, three main aspects with regard to flowable and stable concrete are addressed: mix-design, characterization and performance evaluation. The newly developed Water Balance Mix-Design method (WBMD) guarantees not only the flowability and pumpability but also stability (under vibration and pressure) and robustness of concrete. This is achieved through a systematic design strategy which includes optimization of the aggregate compositions to enhance the lattice effect, determination of the minimum paste demand of the aggregates and quantifying the effective water demand of fines compositions by integrating the effects of superplasticizers (SP). The water balanced concretes (WBC) were composed by making use of different paste and aggregate compositions. Moreover, extra water was added to the mixtures in order to evaluate their robustness. The characterization of the fresh concrete properties was carried out using standard and new investigation methods. The flowability was investigated using slump flow tests (with and without tapping). The stability under vibration was evaluated using a modified wash-out test (WT), sedimentation - sieve - test (SST) and visual assessment of the sedimentation behavior on hardened concrete specimen. The pumpability and pump-stability were quantified by means of a pumping resistance simulator (PuReSi) and high pressure filter press (HPFP). Moreover, rheological characterization of the concretes was conducted using a rotational rheometer Viskomat XL while the extracted mortar and paste compositions were tested using Viskomat NT. A high level of shear loading was applied for the rheological investigations to reproduce the structural breakdown process that takes place when concretes are exposed to external stress. Based on the results of the investigations, a detailed analysis is presented with regard to the effects of the different constituent materials and design parameters on the fresh concrete as well as the rheological properties. Moreover, through a systematic assessment of the rheological properties of the subsequent phases of paste, mortar and concrete, a multiscale rheological model is developed for quantifying the structural breakdown process. The rheological studies are also applied for the characterization of the sedimentation behavior during the structural breakdown process and the quantification of the pumpability and pump-stability properties. Furthermore, new performance evaluation criteria are defined for flowable concretes on the basis of the results of the stability, rheological and flowability investigations, especially with regard to the stability properties under vibration and pressure. To this end, the rheological performance criteria as applied to the paste, mortar and concrete phases are integrated with the performance criteria derived from the stability and flowability investigations to produce a multiscale performance evaluation strategy. A combined analysis of the water balance criteria (WB) with the performance evaluation criteria has confirmed the adequacy of the WBMD for designing flowable concretes of reliable stability. Finally, a comprehensive model for flowable and stable concrete comprising micro, meso and macro scales is presented that encompasses the WBMD, the relevant characterization methods and the corresponding performance evaluation criteria

Factors Affecting the Profitability of Smallholder Common Bean Producers in Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

አህፅሮት ቦሎቄ ከዋና ዋናዎቹ የጥራጥሬ ሰብሎች የሚመደብ ሰብል ሲሆን ለሀገሪቱ ኢኮኖሚ እንዲሁም ለአርሶ አደሩ የምግብና የገቢ ምንጭ በመሆን ከፍተኛ አስተዋፅዖ ያደርጋል፡፡ በምስራቅና ደቡብ አፍሪካ ውስጥ ኢትዮጵያ በቦሎቄ ምርት የሦስተኛ ደረጃን ትይዛለች፡፡ በ2010 ዓ.ም. ሀገሪቱ 40 በመቶ የሚሆነውን የቦሎቄ ምርት ወደ አለም አቀፍ ገበያ ልካለች፡፡ ቦሎቄ ከፍተኛ የኢኮኖሚ ጠቀሜታ ያለው ሰብል ቢሆንም ሰፊ የሆነ የተሸሻሉ የቦሎቄ ዝርያዎች ስርጭት በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ቢከናወኑም በቅርብ ጊዜ በተለይም በመካከለኛው ስምጥ ሸለቆ ያሉ አርሶ አደሮች ወደሌሎች ሰብሎች ሲያዘነብሉ ይታያል፡፡ ከዚህ ችግር ጋር በተያያዘ ሁኔታ የቦሎቄ ምርት የትርፋማነት ጥናት አለመኖር የመረጃ ጉድለት ፈጥሯል፡፡ አብዛኞቹ ከዚህ በፊት የተደረጉ ጥናቶች የሰብሉን የትርፋማነትና አዋጭነት ጥናት ያላደረጉ ሲሆን ጥናቱ ይህንን ጉደለት ለመሙላት ታስቦ የተተገበረ ነው፡፡ የአርሶ አደሩ ትርፋማነት ለማጥናት ይረዳ ዘንድ የቦለቄ አምራች በሆኑ አካባባዎች አርሶ አደሮች በተለየ የመምረቻ ዘዴ ተለይተው የቅኝት ተሳታፊ ሆነዋል፡፡ የተሰበሰበውም መረጃ ቀለል ያሉ የመረጃ ቀመሮችና እና ለአዋጭነት አስተዋጽኦ ያለቸው ምክንያቶች ትንተና ተደርጎበታል፡፡ የጥናቱ ውጤት እንደሚያሳየው ከሆነ የአርሶ አደሩ ያልተጣራ ጠቅላላ ትርፍ በአማካይ 13486 ብር በሄክታር  ሲሆን ጠቅላላ የተጣራ ገቢ ደግሞ 8127 ብር በሄክታር ይሆናል፡፡ ለቦሎቄ ምርት ትርፋማነት አስተዋዕኦ ከሚያደርጉ አበይት ምክንቶች ውስጥ አርሶ አደሩ ከዋና ገበያ ያለው ርቀት፣ የአርሶ አደሩ የእድሜ ሁኔታ፣ የቤተሰቡ ቁጥር፤ ከግብርና ስራ ውጭ ያሉ ገቢዎች እና የማዳበሪያ ማግኛ ምንጮች አስፈላጊ ሆነው ተገኝተዋል፡፡ በአንጻራዊ መልኩ ሲታይ የወንድ አባወራ አርሶ አደሮች የተሻለ ትርፋማ ሲሆኑ፤ በግብርና ስራ ያለ ልምድ፤ በገበሬ ቡድን አባል መሆንና ምርቱ የተሸጠበት የገበያ ሰንሰለት ዓይነቶች አዎንታዊ በሆነ መልኩ ተጽዕኖ የሚሳድሩ ምክንያቶች ናቸው፡፡ ስለዚህም የቦለቄ አምራች አርሶ አደሮችን ትርፋማነት ለመጨመር፤ አዎንታዊ ምክንያቶችን ከፍ ማድረግና አሉታዊ ምክንያቶችን በመቀነስ የፖሊሲ እርምጃዎችን ማቀናጀት ያስፈልጋል፡፡   Abstract Common bean is one of the major pulse crops which played an important role in the Ethiopian national economy and to farmers as food and cash income. Ethiopia ranked third in common bean production in Eastern and Southern Africa. The country exported 40 percent of its total common bean production in 2010. Despite the wide dissemination of improved common bean varieties and its economic importance, there is a dearth of information on the profitability of smallholder farmers from common bean production. Most of the previous studies on common bean did little on the profitability of smallholder bean producers. This study is designed with the aim of assessing the profitability status of smallholder common bean producers and factors correlated with it. Sample bean producers were selected randomly using simple random sampling. The cross-sectional data collected from sampled households are analyzed using descriptive statistics and Ordinary Least Square (OLS). The result of the study shows that the mean common bean gross margin and net farm income was 13486 and 8127 Birr/ha respectively. Distance from the nearest market, Age, Family size, off farm income and fertilizer source are the factors influencing the profitability of smallholder common bean producers negatively. However, Gender, farm experience, group membership and target market channel had a positive significant influence on smallholder based common bean production profitability. Therefore, in order to enhance the profitability of smallholder households, among others, it is important to improve access to input and output market and collective actions by farmers. There is also a need to minimize the gender gap in the profitability through affirmative action such as the provision of special credit and access to modern technologies by female farmers.  &nbsp

QUANTITATIVE DETERMINATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF EXTRACTION CONDITIONS FOR EMBELIN IN EMBELIA SCHIMPERI BY UV-VIS SPECTROMETRY

Embelin is a unique chemical compound found in nature, composed of quinone moiety resembling Coq10 (Ubiquinones), having ketone and hydroxy groups with an aliphatic chain. An Optimum solvent for extracting Embelin from Embelia schimperi and its simultaneous determination of the content of Embelin in the extract has been performed using UV-VIS spectrometry. The identification of Embelin spot obtained from hot ethyl acetate extract of the seed is confirmed by Nuclear Magnetic Spectroscopy (NMR). A plot of peak absorbance versus concentration of Embelin was found to be linear over the range of 3-12 μg/ml. The limit of detection was 0.11μg/ml and the limit of quantitation was 0.37 μg/ml. Extraction conditions were also optimized for the best possible extraction of Embelin from the fruits of Embelia schimperi in different solvent polarity like n-hexane, carbon tetrachloride, diethyl ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, propanol and ethanol. The determination of Embelin in various solvent extract exhibited a mean content of 0.66-5.79 % w/w. Carbon tetrachloride and ethyl acetate was found to be best for the highest possible recovery of the analyte, Embelin. The developed UV method was validated in terms of precision, accuracy, stability, LOD and LOQ Keywords: Embelia schimperi, Embelin, spectrometry, extractio

COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and vaccine hesitancy in Ethiopia : a community-based cross-sectional study

The current healthcare system’s efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Ethiopia and limit its effects on human lives are being hampered by hesitancy toward the COVID-19 vaccine. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge levels, attitudes, and prevention practices of COVID-19, in the context of the level of vaccine hesitancy with other associated factors in Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional design with mixed-method data sources was employed. It comprised 1361 study participants for the quantitative survey, with randomly selected study participants from the studied community. This was triangulated by a purposively selected sample of 47 key informant interviews and 12 focus group discussions. The study showed that 53.9%, 55.3%, and 44.5% of participants had comprehensive knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 prevention and control, respectively. Similarly, 53.9% and 47.1% of study participants had adequate knowledge and favorable attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine. Only 29.0% of the total survey participants had been vaccinated with at least one dose of vaccine. Of the total study participants, 64.4% were hesitant about receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. The most frequently reported reasons were a lack of trust in the vaccine (21%), doubts regarding the long-term side effects (18.1%), and refusal on religious grounds (13.6%). After adjusting for other confounding factors, geographical living arrangements, the practices of COVID-19 prevention methods, attitudes about the vaccine, vaccination status, perceived community benefit, perceived barriers toward vaccination, and self-efficacy about receiving the vaccine were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy. Therefore, to improve vaccine coverage and reduce this high level of hesitancy, there should be specifically designed, culturally tailored health education materials and a high level of engagement from politicians, religious leaders, and other community members

Comparison Of 2D Numerical Schemes For Modelling Supercritical And Transcritical Flows Along Urban Floodplains

Urban floodplains usually have irregular geometry due to different obstacles, urban infrastructures and slope conditions. This may change the flow regime from subcritical to supercritical flow conditions, and vice versa. Implementation of the full momentum equation in 2D shallow water equations (SWEs) is not trivial in mixed flow conditions as subcritical and supercritical flows require different boundary conditions and hence different solution algorithms. Some models ignore the convective acceleration term (CAT) to simplify implementation of the momentum equation for mixed flow conditions. This work tried to investigate the effect of neglecting CATs by testing two 2D models which implement - full SWEs and completely reduced CAT. The models\u27 performances were then tested by setting up hypothetical case studies with changing flow regimes. Simulations results were compared to each other by setting the solutions of the method that solve the full equations as a reference. Findings of the numerical tests showed that, in the cases, results of the model which ignore CATs fully were very similar compared to solutions of the model which implement full SWEs. Hence, simplified models which ignore CATs may be used to model urban flood plains without significant loss of accuracy

Appropriateness and timeliness of care-seeking for complications of pregnancy and childbirth in rural Ethiopia: a case study of the Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia Partnership

Background: In 2014, USAID and University Research Co., LLC, initiated a new project under the broader Translating Research into Action portfolio of projects. This new project was entitled Systematic Documentation of Illness Recognition and Appropriate Care Seeking for Maternal and Newborn Complications. This project used a common protocol involving descriptive mixed-methods case studies of community projects in six low- and middle-income countries, including Ethiopia. In this paper, we present the Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia Partnership (MaNHEP) case study. Methods: Methods included secondary analysis of data from MaNHEP\u2019s 2010 baseline and 2012 end line surveys, health program inventory and facility mapping to contextualize care-seeking, and illness narratives to identify factors influencing illness recognition and care-seeking. Analyses used descriptive statistics, bivariate tests, multivariate logistic regression, and thematic content analysis. Results: Maternal illness awareness increased between 2010 and 2012 for major obstetric complications. In 2012, 45% of women who experienced a major complication sought biomedical care. Factors associated with care-seeking were MaNHEP CMNH Family Meetings, health facility birth, birth with a skilled provider, or health extension worker. Between 2012 and 2014, the Ministry of Health introduced nationwide initiatives including performance review, ambulance service, increased posting of midwives, pregnant women\u2019s conferences, user-friendly services, and maternal death surveillance. By 2014, most facilities were able to provide emergency obstetric and newborn care. Yet in 2014, biomedical care-seeking for perceived maternal illness occurred more often compared with care-seeking for newborn illness\u2014a difference notable in cases in which the mother or newborn died. Most families sought care within 1 day of illness recognition. Facilitating factors were health extension worker advice and ability to refer upward, and health facility proximity; impeding factors were time of day, weather, road conditions, distance, poor cell phone connectivity (to call for an ambulance), lack of transportation or money for transport, perceived spiritual or physical vulnerability of the mother and newborn and associated culturally determined postnatal restrictions on the mother or newborn\u2019s movement outside of the home, and preference for traditional care. Some families sought care despite disrespectful, poor quality care. Conclusions: Improvements in illness recognition and care-seeking observed during MaNHEP have been reinforced since that time and appear to be successful. There is still need for a concerted effort focusing on reducing identified barriers, improve quality of care and provider counseling, and contextualize messaging behavior change communications and provider counseling

Unwanted Pregnancy and Associated Factors among Pregnant Married Women in Hosanna Town, Southern Ethiopia

Of an estimated 210 million pregnancies that occur in the world each year, 38% are unplanned, out of which 22% end in abortion. In Ethiopia, the estimates of unintended pregnancy indicate that it is one of the major reproductive health problems with all its adverse outcomes. Women risk their lives in by seeking illegal abortions following unintended pregnancies. Thus, this study aims to determine the prevalence of unintended pregnancy and associated factors among pregnant married women residing in Hossana, Southern Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study involving both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods was carried out in Hossana from April 02 to 15, 2011. 385 pregnant married women randomly selected from the census were included for the quantitative data and took in-depth interviews for the qualitative. Descriptive, binary and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS version 16. Out of the total pregnancies, 131 (34%) were unintended and 254 (66%) were reported to be intended. A history of previous unintended pregnancy, the husband not wanting to limit family size, a desire for at least two children, the number of pregnancy 3–4 and parity of 5 and above were factors significantly associated with unintended pregnancy. With over one third of pregnancies unintended, having a previous unintended pregnancy, the number of previous pregnancies, and husbands’ disagreement over family size, and the desired number of children are factors that reproductive health programs should aim to focus on to reduce unintended pregnancy

Healthcare workers’ clinical knowledge on maternal and newborn care in Ethiopia: findings from 2016 national EmONC assessment

Background Improving maternal and newborn health indicators are key if Ethiopia is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. To do so, women need access to skilled attendance at birth and emergency obstetric and newborn care. To maximize their impact, understanding gaps in workers’ knowledge is required to remedy the weakness. This assessment determines knowledge levels of clinical management of maternal and newborn healthcare and factors that influence knowledge. Methods This study used data from the National Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care assessment conducted in 2016. Provider knowledge for MNH was assessed by interviewing providers. Respondents were scored on each question by calculating the number of correct responses provided out of the total possible answers, and standardizing this to a scale of 100. Mixed linear regression was used to determine individual and contextual factors associated with the score. Results A total of 3800 interviews with complete data were included in this study. Most respondents were diploma midwives (73%), BSc midwives (11%) and diploma nurses (10%). On average, midwives scored 60 out of 100 on the question regarding the primary aspects of focused antenatal care and elements of a birth plan. Half of the midwives and health officers, and one-third of nurses knew to provide a loading dose of magnesium sulphate. Midwives scored 90% on the steps of active management of third stage of labor. In the mixed linear regression, working in a private for profit facility, health center/clinic, rural area, or in a facility with a protocol on referral/counter referral predicted lower knowledge scores. More positive scores were associated with work environments that had a computer, internet, and protocols on safe abortion care, management of selected obstetric topics, integrated management of pregnancy, childbirth, postnatal, and newborn, care for low birth weight including kangaroo mother care, and treatment of infection in young infants. Conclusion With regard to most knowledge related questions, health officers and midwives scored similarly. Providers scored substantially better on routine intrapartum and newborn care than on aspects related to care for complications. A substantial proportion of providers indicated that they would never give a loading dose of magnesium sulphate