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Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects on the mental health of populations around the world, but there has been limited focus on the impact on people with existing mental health conditions. The aim of this study was to examine impact of the pandemic on mental health care and people with mental health conditions in Ethiopia. Methods A convergent mixed methods study was conducted. We systematically mapped information from publicly available reports on impacts of the pandemic on mental health care. Monthly service utilisation data were obtained for the main psychiatric hospital and analysed using segmented linear regression (2019 vs. 2020). In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 purposively selected key informants. Framework analysis was used for qualitative data. Findings from each data source were integrated. Results Despite national level recognition of mental health as a key aspect of pandemic response, this was not translated into action on the ground initially. Mental health-related stigma and discrimination was evident. Scarce mental health service settings were diverted to become COVID-19 treatment centres. Mental health care became narrowly biomedical with poorer quality of care due to infrequent follow-up. Households of people with pre-existing mental health conditions in the community reported worsening poverty and decreased access to care due to restricted movement, decreased availability and fear. Lack of reliable medication supplies increased relapse and the chance of becoming chained at home, abandoned or homeless. Caregiver burden was exacerbated. Within mental health facilities, prisons and residential units, infection control procedures did not adequately safeguard those with mental health conditions. Meanwhile, the needs of people with mental health conditions in COVID-19 quarantine and treatment facilities were systematically neglected. Only late in the day were integrated services developed to address both physical and mental health needs. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic had substantial negative impacts on the lives of people with mental health conditions in Ethiopia. Future emergency response should prioritise the human rights, health, social and economic needs of people with mental health conditions. Integration of mental and physical health care would both expand access to care and increase resilience of the mental health system.

Opals are widespread within Miocene volcanic sequences in the North Shoa province of Central Ethiopia. The opal occurs as cavity fillings in a 5 m thick seam of glassy rhyolitic ignimbrite that is sandwiched between basaltic lava flows. The opals occur over a large area (>25 km2). X-ray diffraction analyses show that they are CT-type. The opals contain lower concentrations of trace elements (up to 100 times) than the host rhyolite. Ratios of most trace elements are, however, similar in both the opals and rhyolites. The opals have high δ18O values (28.4–33.8‰) that imply a low temperature of formation, between 20.55 and 25.74 °C. We therefore propose that the opals precipitated from meteoric waters that had percolated through and interacted with the host rhyolite. Field evidence indicates that this weathering and alteration occurred immediately after emplacement of the rhyolites, but prior to the extrusion of the overlying basalt flows.

Background Urinary tract infection (UTIs) is a significant health problem in diabetic patients because of the multiple effects of this disease on the urinary tract and host immune system. Complicated UTIs occur most commonly in patients with abnormal genitourinary tract. Proper investigation and prompt treatment are needed to prevent morbidity and serious life threatening condition associated with UTI and diabetes co-morbidities. Objective To determine common uropathogens and antibiotic susceptibility patterns with associated risk factors among adult diabetic patients attending at St. Paul Specialized Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods A hospital based, cross-sectional study was conducted from April–July 2015. A total of 248 diabetic patients with asymptomatic and symptomatic UTI were investigated for common uropathogens. Clean catch mid-stream urine specimens were collected from each study subjects. Uropathogens were isolated and identified by using conventional standard techniques. Samples were cultured on Blood agar, MacConkey agar and Sabouraud Dextrose Agar. Antibiotic Susceptibility pattern was determined on Mueller-Hinton using Kirby –Bauer disc diffusion method. The collected data and the result of the laboratory were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results The overall prevalence of uropathogens among diabetic patients was 56/248(22.6%) of which 21/177(11.9%) and 35/71(49.3%) had asymptomatic and symptomatic UTI respectively. E. coli 13/56(23.2%), Coagulase negative Staphylococci (CONs) 7/56(12.5%), Enterococcus Spp.6/56 (10.7%), Candida albicans 10/56(17.9%) and Non-albicans Candida Spp. 9/56(16.1%) were the commonest isolated uropathogens. In this study uropathogens were significantly associated with being type II diabetes patient and having previous UTI history. Both gram positive and gram negative bacteria showed resistance to most tested antibiotics. Drug resistance to two or more drugs was observed in 81.1% of bacterial isolates. Conclusion High prevalence of uropathogens and increased rate of Multi-drug resistance was shown in this study. Therefore, continued surveillance on uropathogens prevalence and resistance rates is needed to ensure appropriate recommendations for the empirical treatment, develop rational prescription programs and make policy decisions.

Background The Abbott RealTime MTB is an assay for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) complex DNA from respiratory specimens in combination with the Abbott RealTime RIF/INH assay for the detection of genetic resistance markers for isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RIF) from MTB positive isolates. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the performance of the Abbott RealTime MTB and RIF/INH assays. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 289 study subjects presumptive to have pulmonary tuberculosis at Nigist Eleni Mohammed Memorial Hospital, South Ethiopia from April 2017 to June 2018. Two morning expectorated sputum specimens were collected from each study participant. One sample was tested directly by Xpert MTB/RIF assay at Nigist Eleni Mohammed Memorial Hospital and the other sample was used for smear microscopy, TB culture, Abbott RealTime MTB, and Abbott RealTime INH/RIF assays at International Clinical Laboratories, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The diagnostic performance of the Abbott RealTime MTB and INH/RIF assays were calculated against MGIT liquid culture and phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) as the gold standard. Results For the detection of MTB the Abbott RealTime MTB assay exhibited sensitivity 92.4% (95% CI 83.6–96.9), specificity 95.4% (95% CI 91.1–97.7), PPV 89.0% (95% CI 79.7–94.5) and NPV 96.9% (95% CI 93.0–98.7). For the detection of RIF resistance MTB, Abbott RealTime MTB RIF/INH concurred with phenotypic DST and Xpert MTB/RIF, while for the detection of INH resistance MTB, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of the Abbott MTB RIF/INH assay was 84.2% (95% CI 60.4–96.6), 100% (95% CI 89.7–100), 100% and 91.9% (95% CI 80.0–96.9), respectively. Conclusions The Abbott RTMTB and RIF/INH assays revealed high sensitivity and specificity in MTB diagnosis and provided reliable INH and RIF resistance profiles. This assay has a similar diagnostic performance to the Xpert MTB/RIF assay with the advantages of high-throughput.

Background:Objective of the study was to investigate the response of groundnut genotypes to combined application of phosphorus and zinc on yield and nutritional contents. A field experiment was conducted at Sheka-Tekli in 2017/18 cropping season. Methods:The treatments were consisted of three groundnut genotypes (ICGV00308, ICGV91114 and Sedi) as main plot and four combined PZn fertilizer levels (00), 10 kg P/ha +0.50 g Zn/L, 20 kg P/ha +1 g Zn/L and 30 kg P/ha+1.5 g Zn/L as sub plot were assigned in split plot design with tree replications.Result: The result indicated that yield and yield components respond significantly to the main and interaction effects. The highest significant seed yield (2,529 kg/ha) and protein content (37.79%) were obtained in response to the application of P30Zn1.5 fertilizer on sedi variety in the loamy sand soil The percentage of crude protein and fat content had significantly affected by interaction components. Most of the yield component traits showed strong positive correlation with seed yield. While the lowest seed yield was recorded from ICGV00308 without fertilizer. The highest fat content (43.95%) was gained from genotype ICGV00308 at P30Zn1.5 fertilizer. From the interaction of sedi with P30Zn1.5 fertilizer was recorded highest protein content. Based on economic analysis the highest MRR (380.58%) was obtained from ICGV00308 genotype at P10Zn0.5 fertilizer. Conclusion: From the result of the study, application of PZn fertilizer increases seed yield of groundnut. Therefore, based on the MRR result ICGV00308 genotype at P10Zn0.5 fertilizer was optimum for groundnut production in the study area and similar agro-ecologies.

Background Adequate phosphorus (P) and foliar zinc (Zn) in groundnut required for obtaining Zn-enriched grain and optimum yield. However, it was very low in the area. Due to that objective of the study was to investigate the response of groundnut genotypes to combined application of phosphorus and zinc on yield and nutritional contents. A field experiment was conducted at Sheka-Tekli in 2017/18 cropping season. Methods The treatments were consisted of three groundnut genotypes (ICGV00308, ICGV91114 and Sedi) as main plot and four combined PZn fertilizer levels (00), 10 kg P/ha + 0.50 g Zn/L, 20 kg P/ha + 1 g Zn/L and 30 kg P/ha + 1.5 g Zn/L as sub plot were assigned in split plot design with tree replications. Result The result indicated that yield and yield components respond significantly to the main and interaction effects. The highest significant seed yield (2529 kg/ha) and protein content (37.79%) were obtained in response to the application of P30Zn1.5 fertilizer on sedi variety in the loamy sand soil. The percentage of crude protein and fat content had significantly affected by interaction components. Most of the yield component traits showed strong positive correlation with seed yield. While the lowest seed yield was recorded from ICGV00308 without fertilizer. The highest fat content (43.95%) was gained from genotype ICGV00308 at P30Zn1.5 fertilizer. From the interaction of sedi with P30Zn1.5 fertilizer was recorded highest protein content. Based on economic analysis the highest MRR (380.58%) was obtained from ICGV00308 genotype at P10Zn0.5 fertilizer. Conclusion From the result of the study, application of PZn fertilizer increases seed yield of groundnut. Therefore, based on the MRR result ICGV00308 genotype at P10Zn0.5 fertilizer was optimum for groundnut production in the study area and similar agro-ecologies.

Background Lymphoedema caused by lymphatic filariasis (LF) or podoconiosis can result in physical disability and social exclusion, which is exacerbated by painful acute dermatolymphangioadenitis (ADLA) episodes. These conditions have a significant impact on patients, however, little is known about the indirect effects on their caregivers. This study, therefore, aimed to determine the impact on caregivers for patients with leg lymphoedema in a co-endemic district of Ethiopia. Methodology/Principal findings A cross-sectional survey of lymphoedema patients and their caregivers was conducted using semi-structured questionnaires in the Southern Nation Nationalities Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. Lymphoedema patient information on clinical severity (mild, moderate, severe), frequency of ADLAs, their socio-demographic characteristics and the identity of main caregiver(s) was collected. Caregiver information on socio-demographic characteristics, types of care provided, their quality of life (QoL) measured across nine domains, and productivity was collected, with key indicators compared in the presence and absence of patients’ ADLAs. A total of 73 patients and 76 caregivers were included. Patients were grouped by mild/moderate (n = 42, 57.5%) or severe (n = 31, 42.5%) lymphoedema, and reported an average of 6.1 (CI± 2.18) and 9.8 (CI± 3.17) ADLAs respectively in the last six months. A total of 48 (65.8%) female and 25 (34.2%) male patients were interviewed. Caregivers were predominately male (n = 45, 59.2%), and spouses formed the largest caregiving group for both female and male patients. In the absence of an ADLA, most caregivers (n = 42, 55.2%) did not provide care, but only one caregiver did not provide care during an ADLA. In the absence of an ADLA, the average time (hour:minute) spent by mild/moderate (00:17, CI: ± 00:08) and severe (00:10, CI: ± 00:07) patient caregiver per task was minimal. The time mild/moderate (00:47, CI: ± 00:11) and severe (00:51, CI: ± 00:16) patient caregivers spent per task significantly increased in the presence of an ADLA. In addition, caregivers’ QoL was negatively impacted when patients experienced an ALDA, and they had to forfeit an average of 6 to 7 work/school days per month. Conclusion/Significance Lymphoedema and ADLAs impact negatively on patients’ and their caregivers’ lives. This emphasises the importance of increasing access to effective morbidity management and disability prevention services to reduce the burden and help to address the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, target 5.4, which seeks to recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work., Author summary Lymphatic filariasis and podoconiosis can result in chronic severe lymphoedema of the limbs, which is aggravated by frequent painful episodes of acute bacterial infection known as ‘acute attacks’. The debilitating impact of these conditions on patients are well documented, however, the extent to which the hardship extends to their caregivers is unknown. To address this knowledge gap, a survey of 73 lymphoedema patients and their caregivers was conducted in an endemic region of Ethiopia. Patients were found to be predominately female and caregivers predominately male, mostly spouses. Caregivers provided a wide range of care, and the type, frequency and time spent on tasks significantly increased when patients experienced an acute attack. Caregivers reported a negative impact on their quality of life and provided care for an average of 15 days and forfeited an average of 7 days of work or school per month. This study has revealed a previously hidden burden of lymphoedema that not only affects patients, but their caregivers who are mostly family members. This emphasises the importance of increasing access to effective morbidity management and disability prevention programmes to reduce the burden and help to address the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, target 5.4, which seeks to recognise and value unpaid and domestic work.

Poor soil fertility, moisture stress, and shortage of early maturing varieties are the major groundnut production constraints in the study area. This study was executed to evaluate the effect of Diammonium phosphate (DAP) and gypsum application, tied ridging and supplementary irrigation on groundnut production. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications in two sites. DAP as a source of phosphorous and gypsum as source of calcium were applied at planting and pod setting stages, respectively. While tied ridging and supplementary irrigation were applied at early flowering and during cessation of rainfall, respectively. Phenological, yield, and yield components data were recorded. Analysis of variance indicated that the integrated agronomic management options showed a significant positive effect on plant height, pods per plant, dry biomass weight, dry pod weight, kernel seed yield and 100-seed weight of groundnut at both experimental sites. Between both experimental sites, the highest kernel yield (980 kg/ha) was recorded when supplementary irrigation + tied ridge + fertilizer were practiced while the lowest yield (290 kg/ha) was recorded in the control. Key words: Agronomic practices, yield and yield components, moisture stress, groundnut.

Increasing costs of chemical fertilizers, environmental concerns of their application and demand for protein foods, placed an extensive interest in growing of legume crops for human nutrition, and soil fertility replenishment. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizers on parameters of phenology, growth performance, grain yield, yield components, grain protein content of groundnut, and residual soil nitrogen content in the northern Ethiopia during the growing season of 2017. Three levels of N (0, 15 and 30 kg ha−1) and four levels of P2O5 (0, 23, 46 and 69 kg ha−1) were set in factorial combinations of randomized complete block design with three replications. Results showed that an average total biomass yield increased by 22.5% for separate individual application of 15 kg N ha−1 and by 16.6% for 46 kg P2O5 ha−1 compared to control plots. Haulm yield increased by 29.17% for plots treated with N fertilization compared to control plots. Average pod yield increased by 85.4% for a combined application of 15 kg N ha−1 and 46 kg P2O5 ha−1 fertilizers compared to the control plots. Plots fertilized with the highest combined rates of N and P have attained lower grain yield compared to the combined application of 15 kg N ha−1 and 46 kg P2O5 ha−1. The highest grain protein contents were obtained for a combined application of 30 kg N ha−1 and zero P, and 15 kg N ha−1 plus 46 kg P2O5 ha−1. The highest N harvest index was obtained for control treatments and for plots treated with combined application of 15 kg N ha−1 and 46 kg P2O5 ha−1. Residual soil N content increased by 119% on plots with combined application of 15 kg N ha−1 and 46 P2O5 ha−1 compared to control plots. Based on our results, combined application of 15 kg N ha−1 and 46 kg P2O5 ha−1 was recommended for increasing grain yield, grain protein content and residual soil nitrogen. The results of this study are crucial to improve groundnut productivity, grain protein content and also to provide implication on soil fertility management in a crop rotation system., Biological nitrogen fixation, Groundnut, Nitrogen and phosphorus, Grain protein content, Residual soil nitrogen; Food science; Agricultural science

In the last years, wireless communications in industrial scenarios are becoming an increasingly important market. Some of these communications have tight reliability requirements, but harsh propagation conditions in industrial scenarios represent a major challenge. In this paper, multi-connectivity is explored as a solution for assuring high reliability in industrial scenarios. Several multi-connectivity techniques are compared, using real channel measurements from two factories. Multi-connectivity comes at the cost of a reduced throughput in the mobile broadband services on the same network. In this paper, this impact is quantified to assess for the cost of implementing multi-connectivity.

The upcoming 5th generation (5G) wireless technology application areas bring new communication performance requirements, mainly in terms of reliability and latency, but also in terms of radio planning, where further detailed characterization of the wireless channel is needed. To address these demands, we developed an agile multi-node multi-antenna wireless channel sounding system, using multiple software defined radio (SDR) devices. The system consists of 12 testbed nodes which are controlled from a centralized testbed server. Each node features a control host computer and 2 multi-antenna universal software radio peripheral (USRP) boards. By managing the transmission and reception of reference signals among all the distributed testbed nodes, the system can measure the channel conditions of all multiple independent radio links. At the same time, the distributed architecture of the testbed allows a large number of spatially distributed locations to be covered with only a few redeployments of the testbed nodes. As a consequence of this, the system favors the collection of a large number of distributed channel samples with limited effort within a short dedicated measurement time. In this paper, we detail the general testbed design considerations, along with the specific sounding signal processing implementations. As further support to the system design, we also include the results from different verification and calibration tests, as well as a real measurement application example.

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was used to study the genetic variation among 80 F. verticillioides isolates from kernels of Ethiopian maize, collected from 20 different maize growing areas in four geographic regions. A total of 213 polymorphic fragments were obtained using six EcoRI/MseI primer combinations. Analysis of the data based on all 213 polymorphic AFLP fragments revealed high level of genetic variation in the F. verticillioides entities in Ethiopia. About 58% of the fragments generated were polymorphic. The genetic similarity among F. verticillioides isolates varied from 46% to 94% with a mean Dice similarity of 73%. Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Average (UPGMA) analysis revealed two main groups and four subgroups. The principal coordinate analysis (PCO) also displayed two main groups that agreed with the results of UPGMA analysis, and there was no clear pattern of clustering of isolates according to geographic origin. Analysis of molecular variance: (AMOVA) showed that only 1.5% of the total genetic variation was between geographic regions, while 98.5% was among isolates from the same geographic regions of Ethiopia. Eighty distinct haplotypes were recognized among the 80 isolates analyzed. Hence, breeding efforts should concentrate on quantitative resistance that is effective against all genotypes of the pathogen.

Increasing costs of chemical fertilizers, environmental concerns of their application and demand for protein foods, placed an extensive interest in growing of legume crops for human nutrition, and soil fertility replenishment. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizers on parameters of phenology, growth performance, grain yield, yield components, grain protein content of groundnut, and residual soil nitrogen content in the northern Ethiopia during the growing season of 2017. Three levels of N (0, 15 and 30 kg ha−1) and four levels of P2O5 (0, 23, 46 and 69 kg ha−1) were set in factorial combinations of randomized complete block design with three replications. Results showed that an average total biomass yield increased by 22.5% for separate individual application of 15 kg N ha−1 and by 16.6% for 46 kg P2O5 ha−1 compared to control plots. Haulm yield increased by 29.17% for plots treated with N fertilization compared to control plots. Average pod yield increased by 85.4% for a combined application of 15 kg N ha−1 and 46 kg P2O5 ha−1 fertilizers compared to the control plots. Plots fertilized with the highest combined rates of N and P have attained lower grain yield compared to the combined application of 15 kg N ha−1 and 46 kg P2O5 ha−1. The highest grain protein contents were obtained for a combined application of 30 kg N ha−1 and zero P, and 15 kg N ha−1 plus 46 kg P2O5 ha−1. The highest N harvest index was obtained for control treatments and for plots treated with combined application of 15 kg N ha−1 and 46 kg P2O5 ha−1. Residual soil N content increased by 119% on plots with combined application of 15 kg N ha−1 and 46 P2O5 ha−1 compared to control plots. Based on our results, combined application of 15 kg N ha−1 and 46 kg P2O5 ha−1 was recommended for increasing grain yield, grain protein content and residual soil nitrogen. The results of this study are crucial to improve groundnut productivity, grain protein content and also to provide implication on soil fertility management in a crop rotation system.

Chickpea is an economically important pulse produced by millions of smallholder farmers as a source of food, income and nutrition in Ethiopia. Mold infection and mycotoxin production can potentially lead to significant losses of chickpea during storage. Under laboratory conditions we tested comparative effects of hermetic and traditional storage structures on mold infection, germination and mycotoxin levels of chickpea. Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags, Super GrainPro (SGP) bags, and small metal bins were compared to the traditional and popularly used chickpea storage structures such as polypropylene (PP) bags and jute bags over a six-month storage period. Oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, chickpea temperature and moisture, seed infection with molds and percentage germination and mycotoxins levels were determined every two months for six months. In PICS bags, SGP bags and metal bins chickpea temperature and moisture changed very little during storage, whereas in jute and PP bags significant temperature and moisture increases were observed. Oxygen levels in PICS and SGP bags decreased from 20% to 8–10% in six months and carbon dioxide levels increased from 0.4% to 10% in PICS bags and from 0.1% to 17% in SGP bags. In jute and PP bags, oxygen levels were around 20% but carbon dioxide levels increased from 0.05% to 0.1–0.2%, perhaps due to mold activity. Mold infection decreased over time in chickpea stored in PICS bags, SGP bags, and metal bins, and seed germination was high (82–92%). Mold infection increased and seed germination decreased in chickpea stored in jute and PP bags. Increases in levels of aflatoxin, fumonisin, deoxynevalenol, and ochratoxin were observed only for chickpea stored in metal bins, and in jute and PP bags. Our study showed that PICS and SGP bags can effectively arrest mold growth, mycotoxin accumulation and preserve germination of chickpea during six months of storage.

One of the 5G use cases, known as ultra-reliable communication (URC), is expected to support very low packet error rate on the order of 10^(−5) with a 1 ms latency. In an industrial scenario, this would make possible replacing wiredconnections with wireless for controlling critical processes. Industrial environments with large metallic machinery and concrete structures can lead to deep shadowing and severe fading in the radio propagation channel, and thus pose a challenge for achieving the outage levels in connection with URC. In this paper, we present and analyze the large-scale propagation characteristics of two different industrial environments - open production space and dense factory clutter - based on measurements conducted at 2.3 and 5.7 GHz. By including a large number of spatially distributed samples, as per our experimental approach, we show the importance of properly characterizing the large-scale fading outage for URC. For instance, we show that based on a simple one-slopedistance dependent path loss model, the conventional log-normal model for large-scale shadow fading is by far too simple for this environment. Our results show that at the 10^(−4) percentile, the tail of the shadow fading distribution can deviate by up to 10-20 dB from the log-normal model with respect to theaverage NLOS values (around 6 dB and 8 dB at 2.3 and 5.7 GHz, respectively). The simplicity of the one-slope path loss model, and its ability as we show, to express the trends with respect to scenarios, frequencies, and antenna heights, makes it an attractable option. However, there is a need for further experimental insight, possibly in combination with deterministic analysis, to get a better understanding of the large-scale fading for the study of URC in industrial environments.

Crop production in arid and semi-arid environments is strongly affected by temporal variation of water availability during the growth period. In-situ water harvesting techniques such as tied ridges and mulching improve water availability over time and may improve crop yield. A field experiment was conducted in 2013 and 2014 in the Gule sub-watershed, Northern Ethiopia to study the effect of combining in-situ water harvesting techniques on on-site water regime, i.e., runoff and soil-moisture content. Five treatments with tied ridges, straw mulch, tied ridges and straw mulch together, straw mulch plus effective microorganisms and a combination of tied ridges, straw mulch and effective microorganisms and an untreated control were tested. Combined tied ridges and straw mulch with and without effective microorganisms significantly reduced average runoff per event by 78 and 88%, respectively, compared to the control. Tied ridges alone reduced runoff by 56% and straw mulch with and without effective microorganisms reduced runoff by 49 and 53%, respectively. Average soil-moisture content over the two years was significantly higher (22.4%) in combined tied ridges and straw mulch than the control (19.9%). Tied ridges or straw mulch alone significantly reduced runoff and improved soil-moisture content, but the two combined were more efficient. The findings suggest that combining straw mulch and tied ridges enhance water infiltration into the soil and improve water availability during the growing season, thereby protecting crops from dry periods.

Land degradation, mainly due to soil erosion and nutrient losses, is a global problem for sustainable agriculture. Farmlands in the Ethiopian highlands are susceptible to water erosion because of steep slopes and extensive cultivation. A field experiment was conducted in the Gule sub-watershed in northern Ethiopia to assess the efficacy of in situ water harvesting techniques in reducing soil and nutrient losses. The research was carried out on a sandy clay loam soil under semi-arid conditions. Soil erosion and nutrient losses were monitored during the rainy season (June to September) in 2013 and 2014. Five treatments with tied ridges, wheat-straw mulch and effective microorganisms, alone or in combination, and an untreated control were tested. Combined tied ridges and straw mulch, with and without effective microorganisms, significantly reduced average soil loss over the two rainy seasons by 82 and 90% respectively compared with the control. Tied ridges alone reduced average soil loss by 60%. Straw mulch with and without effective microorganisms decreased average soil loss by 81 and 85% respectively. Combined tied ridges and straw mulch significantly decreased average total nitrogen and total phosphorus losses by 82 and 83% respectively. Average nutrient losses were also significantly decreased by tied ridges (59% for nitrogen, 52% for phosphorus) and straw mulch (63% for nitrogen, 68% for phosphorus). Our results indicated that in situ water harvesting techniques can effectively reduce soil and nutrient losses from farmland and were more efficient when the techniques were combined

This study explored male and female secondary school EFL teachers’ attitudes, reasons and beliefs about the functions of code-switching to L1 (Amharic) in their classes. The participants of the study were all the available (38 male and 19 female) English language teachers in seven secondary schools in Bahir Dar City and satellite towns. A questionnaire with 55 items was used to gather data. The results revealed that the majority of female and male EFL teachers claimed 90% use of English and 5-10% Amharic in their English classes. 73.68 % female and 10.53 % male teachers had positive attitudes towards L1 use and their acknowledgement of its benefits also reflected their attitudes. Male teachers claimed that they frequented inter-sentential codeswitching while female teachers did intra-sentential type. Teachers’ reasons for codeswitching include their poor English competence, students’ poor English comprehension, and teachers’ interest to communicate with students and students’ anxiety reduction. The majority of male teachers preferred to use L1 for ‘secondary acquisition’ and ‘disciplinary functions, while the majority of female teachers preferred it for ‘rapport building (socializing)’ macro functions, and for defining new vocabulary and explaining grammar sub-functions. From the findings, it was concluded that English teachers use Amharic for different purposes. Male and female teachers, however, have why and when they use it. The disparity may suggest that there is dearth of pedagogical orientation and decision making concerning how they could use the L1 judiciously.Keywords: Code-switching, L1, Macro-function, sub-function, attitude, reason, belief

Upcoming applications, such as autonomous vehicles, will pose strict requirements on the vehicular networks. In order to provide these new services reliably, an accurate understanding of propagation in the vehicular scenarios is needed. In this context, this paper presents a measurement-based evaluation of large vehicle shadowing at 5.8 GHz in V2X scenarios. The receiver antenna height is fixed to average vehicular height (1.5 m), while the transmitter antennas are located at different heights (1.5, 5, and 7 m) in order to investigate both V2V and V2I scenarios. A truck was used to obstruct the LOS between transmitter and receiver, and a large number of geometrical combinations of the scenario were explored. The statistical analysis of the measurement shows how in the V2V case, the experienced shadow levels are approximately 5 dB higher than in the V2I scenarios, where the shadow levels depend on the transmitter antenna height, reaching maximum values of 21-23 dB. The statistical analysis also shows that the differences in shadow level due to the non-symmetries of the obstacle truck are in the order of approximately 2 dB. A simple 3D ray-tracing simulation is validated against the measurements, showing a good match with a RMSE of 4.1 dB. Based on both measurements and ray-tracing data, a simple deterministic shadowing model, useful for implementation in system level simulators, is presented, as a first step towards a more dynamic and scalable shadowing model.

Full duplex transmission is envisioned as one of the potential breakthrough for a $5^{th}$ Generation (5G) radio access technology. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of full duplex transmission in a network of dense small cells by using real channel measurements. A large measurement campaign is carried out in an indoor office and an open hall scenario, and such measurements are then fed to a system level simulator for offline analysis. Cell throughput results show that the promised 100\% performance gain of full duplex over traditional half duplex transmission is significantly jeopardized by the increase of the intercell interference due to the simultaneous transmission and reception, and is further reduced in case of low cell activity factor.

5G is targeting a peak data rate in the order of 10 Gb/s and at least 100 Mb/s data rate is generally expected to be available everywhere. For fulfilling such 5G broadband targets, massive deployment of small cells is considered as one of the promising solutions. However, inter-cell interference leads to significant limitations on the network throughput in such deployments. In addition, network densification introduces difficulty in network deployment. This paper presents a study on the benefits of advanced receiver in a practical uncoordinated dense small cells deployment. Our aim is to show that advanced receivers can alleviate the need for detailed cell planning. To this end we adopt a hybrid simulation evaluation approach where propagation data are obtained from experimental analysis, and by which we analyse how MIMO constellation and network size impacts to the aim. The experimental data have been obtained using a software defined radio (SDR) testbed network with 12 testbed nodes, configured as either access point or user equipment. Each node features a \(4 \times 4\) or a \(2 \times 2\) MIMO configuration. The results demonstrate that advanced receivers with a larger MIMO antenna configuration significantly improves the throughput performance in a practical dense small cells network due to the interference suppression capability. In addition, the results prove that the operators can rely on uncoordinated deployment of small cells, since the resulting interference can be suppressed by the advanced receiver processing with sufficiently capable MIMO antenna configuration.