Journal of Science and Sustainable Development

School Enrichment for Successful Academic Performance and Superior Behavioral Characteristics: The Case of Ambo University Non-Boarding Special Secondary School

Mengistu Debele Gerbi — 2023-08-01

School enrichment is a key activity to enhance the quality of education. School enrichment activity is conceptualized as the provision of academic facilities that support students’ academic performance. The purpose of this study was to describe behavioral characteristics, academic performance, and school enrichment activities of Ambo University Non-Boarding Special Secondary School students. To this end, quantitative design through descriptive research method was employed. Scale for Rating Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students and Purdue Academic Rating Scale were used to generate data. 100 students (Male = 56, Female = 44) were selected through simple random sampling, 8 teachers were selected by purposive sampling, and 3 school leaders were selected by comprehensive selection. Students’ academic performances and behavioral characteristics were rated by subject teachers and principals. Results showed that leadership characteristic was the leading while creativity characteristic was the least behavior displayed by students. Rating of students’ academic performances revealed that students were excellent in Mathematics, English, and Science whereas strong averages in Social Studies. Mathematics performance (45.42 out of 60) was leading and in none of the subjects students fell under average performance. Enrichment activities at the school were appreciable with availability of 74.1%, but not full-fledged. STEM centers should be functional to enrich students’ learning process.

Effects of SQ3R Strategy on Grade 11 Students’ Reading Comprehension and Attitudes: The Case of Ambo Secondary School

Habtamu Walga Adaba — 2023-08-01

This study examined the effects of SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review) strategy instruction on students' reading comprehension and their attitudes toward using SQ3R at Ambo Secondary School Grade 11 students. Experimental and control groups participated in this study. The experimental group (N=68) participated in SQ3R instruction for four months while control group (N=72) did not participate the instruction. A quasi-experimental research design was used. Reading comprehension test and interview were used as data gathering instruments. Quantitative data was analysed by using T-test and interview results were analysed qualitatively. The result of this study indicated that SQ3R strategy instruction positively affected the students' reading comprehension. There was statistical difference between the students who participated in the intervention and those who did not, t (69) =-7.27, p=.001. Students participated in SQ3R intervention also had positive attitude toward using the SQ3R as active reading strategy. Hence, SQ3R should be included in the reading skills instruction to improve students’ reading comprehension, and their attitudes toward the SQ3R use.

School principals’ leadership frame as a factor to improve leadership effectiveness: The case of primary schools in Ambo City Administration

Mekonnen Kejela Fite — 2023-08-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the preferred leadership frame of Ambo City Administration primary school principals as perceived by principals themselves and teachers. The study also examined the relationship between principals’ demographic characteristics, the use of leadership frames, and the extent of principals’ effectiveness as a manager and as a leader. The study applied a descriptive research design and an entirely quantitative approach. The study involved 20 primary schools. In these schools, there were 60 primary school principals and 182 teachers who were included in the study by comprehensive and proportionate simple random sampling techniques respectively. Bolman and Deal’s (1997) Leadership Orientations Survey Questionnaire was the data collection tool. The results revealed that the school principals preferred leadership frame was the structural frame. This implies that Ambo City Administration primary school principals had a limited view of organization leadership as they emphasized on only the architecture of an organization. Furthermore, even though teachers only gave them grades of effective managers, most principals believed they were effective as both leaders and managers. Sex, leadership experience, and teaching experience were found to be factors for variations in the use of the leadership frame of principals. The researcher suggests that the principals need to view their leadership frame through all available leadership lenses in order to comprehend the complicated school environment and fulfill the various demands placed on them by the circumstances and in turn become effective.

In vitro lousicidal activity and phytochemical screening of methanolic extract of Brucea antidysenterica seed against Bovicola ovis in West Shewa Zone

Dagmawit Atalel — 2023-08-01

Lice are a common ectoparasite of sheep and have been identified as one of the leading causes of sheep production constraints and skin quality deterioration in Ethiopia. Despite the fact that Brucea antidysenterica has been traditionally used to treat ectoparasite infestations in Ethiopia, its efficacy has not been validated experimentally in the laboratory. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the lousicidal activity of B. antidysenterica against Bovicola ovis in vitro and to screen the phytochemical constituents of the extract. Brucea antidysenterica seed was collected, dried under shade, powdered, and macerated with 99.8% methanol. The phytochemical constituents of the extract were screened using different tests, such as the foam test, the ferric chloride test, Liebermann’s assay, the Bate-Smith and Metcalf assay, the hydrochloric acid test, the Libermann-Burchard test, and the Salkowski test. Adult lice were collected from sheep and identified under a stereomicroscope. An in vitro adult immersion test was started within an hour of lice collection. The extract was checked for its lousicidal activities with 200, 100, 50, 25, 12.5, and 6.25 mg/ml concentrations at different time intervals within 24 hrs. As positive and negative controls, 0.1% diazinon and 0.5% tween 20 were used, respectively. All tests were conducted in triplicate. Flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, phlobatannis, steroids, and tannins were detected in the extract of B. antidysenterica seed, but phenols and phytosterols were not. At 24 hours post-exposure, higher concentrations of the extract, 200, 100, 50, and 25 mg/ml, showed strong lousicidal activities similar to 0.1% diazinon. However, the lower concentration of the extract, 6.25 mg/ml, showed moderate activity. A significant increase in lice mortality started 30 min after post-exposure with 200, 100, and 50 mg/ml concentrations, while after 2 hrs post-exposure with 25 and 12.5 mg/ml concentrations of the extract and diazinon compared to the negative control. The extract's efficacy increased with increasing time after exposure and concentration. Methanolic seed extract of B. antidysenterica had shown a good killing effect on B. ovis, suggesting that it could be used as a future alternative to treat lice infestation

Surface Kinetic and Thermodynamic Behaviors of Cu-NiO/PANI Assisted Photodegradation of Tris(4-(Dimethylamino) Phenyl) Methylium Chloride (TDPM)

Tibebu Alemu — 2023-08-01

Bovine brucellosis: seroprevalence, risk factors and assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice of cattle owners in Lare and Jikawo districts of Gambella Region, Ethiopia

Bizunesh Mideksa Borena — 2023-08-01

Bovine brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that causes substantial economic losses and strongly impacts public health. Though it has been eradicated in many developed countries, it is still endemic in developing countries like Ethiopia: The study's objectives were to estimate the seroprevalence of bovine brucellosis, determine the risk factors, quantify and assess the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of cattle owners in a few selected areas of Ethiopia's Gambella region. Lare and Jikawo were the two districts of the Gambella Region selected purposively. Kebeles, study animals and peasant associations were randomly chosen. A total of 384 serum samples from 70 herds were collected and screened using the Rose Bengal Plate Test and confirmed using the Complement Fixation Test. A semi-structured questionnaire survey was used to assess the risk factors for the seroprevalence of bovine brucellosis and the knowledge, attitude and practice of farmers in the study areas about the disease. The seroprevalence of brucellosis was summarized using descriptive statistics, and the association between risk factors, and seroprevalence of brucellosis was evaluated using logistic regression. The principal findings of the current study showed that individual and herd level seroprevalence of brucellosis using the Rose Bengal Plate test was 6.8% (26/384) and 24.3% (17/70), respectively, and the respective confirmation by complement fixation test3.1% (12/384) and 12.9% (9/70). Among the risk factors, herd size and the presence of other species had statistically significant associations (p<0.05) with Brucella seropositivity. Female cattle with more parity and those with abortion history had higher odds of Brucella antibodies compared to their counterparts. Although the overall respondents' knowledge, attitude, and practice were 66.4%, most were unaware that the disease was zoonotic, the ability of the disease to cause abortion, and the mode of the disease's transmission. Most respondents also had a poor attitude toward the mode of disease transmission, and they have been practicing risky practices that predisposed them to brucellosis. In conclusion, the overall seroprevalence of brucellosis and cattle owners' knowledge, attitude, and practice in the current study were low. However, being a contagious disease, brucellosis can easily spread among cattle herds and poses a public health risk. Therefore, improvement of cattle owners’ knowledge, attitude, and practice and characterization of circulating Brucella species in the study areas are needed to design evidence-based disease control measures

Improving instructional technology using augmented and virtual reality

Charles Okechukwu Ugwunna — 2023-08-01

This study examined the effects of virtual and augmented reality (ar/vr) on educational technologies. Making a mobile AR/VR application that enables students to view and interact with computer hardware in a virtual lab environment is the project's main objective. One of the most popular object-oriented programming languages (OOP) for making mobile applications, especially for the Android and iOS platforms, is C#, which is used in the development of mobile AR/VR applications. The application created in C# will work with both iOS and Android Smartphones. This approach is built on a synthesis of several approaches and prior knowledge of both traditional and virtual reality programming. Because of the interactive environment known as the AR environment, hardware concepts can be more clearly conveyed with the help of three-dimensional graphics. The results of the study have implications for the application of AR/VR technology in education and highlight the need to provide money for its development and integration into curricula. The study's conclusions demonstrate how integrating AR and VR technology into the classroom can provide students with an immersive and interesting learning environment that will aid in their increased retention of the subject matter

Biosynthesization of ZnO/CuO Nanocomposites in Orange Peel Crude Extract for Antibacterial Activities

Tibebu Alemu — 2023-08-01

Nanoparticles (NPs) in particular ZnO and CuO are inorganic nanomaterials used in application areas such as electronics, communication, chemical/biological sensors, cosmetics, environmental remediation, biomedicinal industry, energy preservation, photocatalysis, and microbial growth inhibition. This study focused on the biosynthesis of ZnO NPs, CuO NPs, and ZnO/CuO nanocomposites (NCs) in orange fruit extract to investigate the growth inhibition of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The crystal structure, functional group, and energy band gap of as-synthesized NPs and NCs were characterized with the aid of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), and Ultra Violet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopic techniques, respectively. Consequently, the XRD results confirmed the formation of a hexagonal wurtzite phase, and the average crystallite sizes of the nanomaterials of 22.71-33.89, 16.46-33.04 and 16.76-26.89 nm for ZnO NPs, CuO NPs, and ZnO/CuO NCs synthesized with and without orange peel extract, respectively while the vibrational stretching obtained around 476 and 564 cm^-1 confirmed the presence of Zn-O, and Cu-O bond, respectively. The characteristic absorption spectrum observed at 285 nm supported the synthesization of ZnO/CuO NCs within a very narrow energy bandgap. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of the ZnO/CuO with orange peel extract (WE) NCs, ZnO (WE) and CuO (WE) were significantly higher as compared to that without orange fruit extracts (WoE) NPs/NCs. The results show that the NPs and NCs synthesized WE had a high potential growth inhibition zone against gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus) ranges from 16.67 to 12.00 mm and gram-negative bacteria (P. aeroginosa) ranges 16.00 to 12.30 mm. In this study, we have discovered that the green synthesized ZnO/CuO NCs can be introduced as a promising anti-bacterial agent and so applicable to cure microbial strain-based infectious diseases.

Cyclopia with spinal bifida, a rare major congenital anomaly: A case report

Dereje Lemma — 2023-08-01

Cyclopia is, the most extreme form of holoprosencephaly, a rare and lethal complex human malformation resulting from incomplete cleavage of prosencephalon into the right and left hemispheres occurring between the 18th and 28th day of gestation(Dufresne and Jelks 2011). Cyclopia occurs approximately 1.05 in 100,000 births including stillbirths. Cyclopia typically presents with a median single eye or partially divided eye in a single orbit, absent nose, and proboscis above the eye. Extracranial malformations associated with Cyclops are polydactyl, renal dysplasia and omphalocele. The aetiology of Cyclopia is largely unknown. A 26-year-old primgravida with a gestational age of 22weeks plus 4 days delivered a 525gram female abortus with a single median eye, absent nose, 1.3cm by 1.5cm solid mass at the lumbar area at Ambo University Referral Hospital, Ethiopia. On prenatal ultrasound evaluation, severe hydrocephalus with spinal defect (Chiari II malformation) was considered, and the result was revealed to the couple and options for management, including termination of pregnancy, were discussed. The couple accepted the termination of the pregnancy. Prenatal diagnosis of Cyclopia can be achieved by detailed anatomical scan with ultrasound and MRI which, are usually followed by amniocentesis for fetal karyotype determination, which is impossible in our setup because of the lack of accessibility of the service.