Background: Coffee is a well-known beverage that is widely used around the world. Despite the wide use of coffee in Ethiopia, there is a lack of extensive studies addressing the issues related to the caffeine content and hydrogen peroxide antioxidant activity of varieties of coffee types, particularly in Habru woreda, Ethiopia. Objective: This study aimed to determine the caffeine content and hydrogen peroxide antioxidant activity of raw and roasted coffee beans collected directly from Habru woreda, North Wollo zone of Ethiopia. Methods: The study was conducted in Bohoro, Girana, and Wurgisa kebeles of Habru woreda, Ethiopia, by collecting 500 g of green beans of Arabica coffee without considering their variety. Then, the collected beans were divided into raw and roasted coffee to perform aqueous and dichloromethane extraction of their caffeine content and hydrogen peroxide antioxidant activity using UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Results: The amounts of caffeine in aqueous and dichloromethane extraction were in the range of 124.01−191.27 ppm and 145.15−200.09 ppm in raw and roasted coffees, respectively. Using the IC 50 value, the hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity of the aqueous phase coffee bean extracts in Bohoro raw, Bohoro roasted, Wurgisa raw, Wurgisa roasted, Girana raw, and Girana roasted coffee were 32.17 ppm, 11.69 ppm, 26.14 ppm, 3.12 ppm, 24.83 ppm, and 11.06 ppm, respectively, while that of ascorbic acid was 6.91 ppm. Conclusion:The study showed that the highest amount of caffeine in both aqueous and dichloromethane solvent extraction was found in Bohoro's raw and roasted coffee beans. Also, the amounts of caffeine in all coffee bean samples were safe and the antioxidant activity was excellent. In most of the samples, significant variations in the concentration of caffeine in raw and roasted coffee bean samples were observed in the two extraction solvents.

One of the inputs for a high-quality education is using laboratory activities which are characteristic features of science teaching at all levels of education. Consequently, this study was carried out to investigate the perception and practice centered on assessing the practice of laboratory work and identifying the factors that affect its implementation. To achieve these objectives, data were collected from secondary school students and teachers. In doing this study, quantitative and qualitative research methods and a descriptive survey design were used. Stratified random sampling was used in the selection of study participants. The data were obtained through questionnaires, observation, and interviews. Based on the analyzed data, the findings of the study revealed that both students and teachers perceived that chemistry practical courses (experiments) are relevant to students learning. The findings of the study also showed that despite its relevance, the practice of laboratory work is very low. Furthermore, the lack of resources (such as laboratory equipment), the lack of time to practice laboratory work, and students’ lack of engagement in laboratory activities were the major factors that affect the implementation of laboratory work. Finally, recommendations were made based on the major findings to improve the practice of laboratory work.

A new teacher education package has been introduced in Ethiopia by the Ministry of Education, which is called the Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching (PGDT), for secondary schools since 2011, replacing the integrated curriculum teacher education program with the purpose of equipping trainees with the knowledge and skills needed. However, little research has been carried out on the effectiveness of the PGDT in relation to the previous (integrated curriculum) programme in the actual practices in secondary schools yet. This study, therefore, aims to assess the students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the teaching effectiveness of the PGDT and integrated curriculum graduate teachers in secondary schools in North Wollo Zone, Ethiopia. Data were gathered from participant students (n = 214) and teachers (n = 16) using purposive sampling. To gather data, questionnaires were employed. The data were analyzed quantitatively using mean, standard deviations, and one-sample t-test. The findings of the study revealed that students and teachers show slightly more positive perceptions of the effectiveness of PGDT, especially in subject matter knowledge; the scores are also significant. However, the results indicated that both the PGDT and integrated curriculum graduate teachers use the lecture method of teaching. Recommendations were forwarded for teacher development, instruction, and research on PGDT. Limitations and future directions of the study are also summarized and discussed.

Background: The 2019 novel Corona virus had received remarkable devotion for its increasing incidence and widespread prevalence. On January 31, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the COVID-19-19 outbreak had become public health emergency of the globe in 21th century. The nationwide infection and death from the outbreak in Ethiopia had risen significantly. On the other hand, Ethiopia and the world got a lesson from many countries like America, Spain, and China that the disease was deadly in its nature. The China’s health organization advised various treatments including traditional Chinese medicine. The aim of this study was to assess the attitude of health care professionals’ to integrate traditional medicine and modern medicine on controlling the COVID-19-19 epidemics in Northeast Ethiopia if traditional herbalists had remedy and the government (Ethiopian nutrition and drug approval agency) approved it after exhaustive investigation on the remedy. Methodology: An institution based cross-sectional study design was used to collect data from health facilities in Northeast Ethiopia. The attitude questions were prepared in Likert scale format and the health professionals were asked about the integration of traditional medicine and modern medicine, and adjunct effect of traditional medicine to control COVID-19-19 outbreak. The 11attitude scale questions were developed through literature review, expert comments, interview and focus group discussion. The internal consistency of the scale was also assessed using Cronbach's Alpha test. All health care professionals (737), who were working in the two towns (Woldia and Mersa) received the self-administered questionnaire and involved in this study. Results: Of the total 750health professionals (sampling frame) as per the zonal health department database, only 737health professionals involved in the study, and that gave a 98.3% response rate. Eight one (11%) health professionals strongly disagree on accepting traditional medicine to treat COVID-19-19, and 163(22.1%) professionals disagree to use traditional medicine on treating COVID-19-19. But 92(12.5%) professionals were neutral on accepting traditional medicine to treat COVID-19-19. On the other side 300(40.7%), and 101(13.7%) professionals selected agree and strongly agree options on accepting traditional medicine to treat COVID-19-19 item, respectively. One hundred thirteen (15.3%) health professionals strongly disagree regarding traditional medicine utilization to treat COVID-19, and 163(22.1%) health professionals disagree on recommending traditional medicine utilization to others. But 92(12.5%) health professionals were neutral regarding recommendation to treat COVID-19 using traditional medicine. On the other side, 300(40.7%) and 101(13.7%) health professionals agree and strongly agree to recommend traditional medicine utilization to control COVID-19 respectively. The mean value of attitude was calculated by considering all the 11attitude scale questions. The mean attitude score of health professionals in integrating traditional and modern medicine increases, when the health professionals profession is medical laboratory (B=0.23, p-value <0.005), or when the professionals employed in health center (B=0.46, p-value <0.001). However, the mean attitude score of health professionals on integrating traditional and modern medicine decreases, when the health professionals profession is pharmacy (B= -0.23, p-value <0.005), or when the health professionals profession is medical doctor (B= -0.83, p-value <0.001). Conclusion: The attitude of health care professionals in integrating traditional and modern medicine to control COVID-19 outbreak was neither good nor bad. More than 50% of health professionals held a neutral and above positive attitude towards agree or extremely agree in majority of the attitude questions. If the government develops a system to integrate modern medicine and traditional medicine to control the COVID-19-19 outbreak, health professionals will not pose significant challenge.

Background Traditional medicine is an approach that has unique knowledge and beliefs which incorporates plant, animal or mineral based medicines that applied alone or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses and maintain well-being. Suggestions from clinical practices and researches shown that integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine played an important role in China’s successful control of COVID-19. Despite such evidence, the Ethiopian minister of health prohibited traditional herbalists from using traditional remedies for COVID-19. However many of the traditional herbalists and the community requested the government frequently to try traditional medicine for COVID-19. The aim of this study was to explore perceptions, readiness, and recommendations of traditional herbalists on the effect of traditional medicine on COVID-19 and to select the promising remedies for pre-clinical study. Methods The study design used was an interpretive qualitative study. An in-depth interview was employed to gain access to the traditional herbalists’ experiences, perceptions, readiness and their recommendations. Traditional herbalists who lived in the North Wollo Zone were interviewed about the probable medicinal plants that can treat COVID-19. An inductive qualitative content analysis was conducted. Results From the in-depth interview with traditional herbalists, 4thematic frameworks were developed. Those major themes are;(1)perception of traditional medicine practitioners about COVID-19;(2) hypothesizing potential traditional remedies to treat COVID-19;(3)traditional practitioners recommendations for the community, and (4) integration of traditional and modern medicine. There was no pronounced difference in opinion among traditional herbalists about COVID-19 signs and symptoms, mode of transmission, and source of information about the epidemics.

A new hybrid nanomaterial has been developed by inducing catalytic silver nanoparticle on supramolecular BN nanosheets using supramolecular polymer as hybrid coordinator for photocatalytic removal of reactive blue dye (RB 221) from aqueous solution. In this study, adenine-bifunctionalized polypropylene glycol diacrylate (APPG) polymer was used for exfoliation and modification of BNNSs to decorate Ag nanoparticles that are prepared by sonication-assisted liquid phase exfoliation techniques. The synthesized materials are systematically characterized by various techniques such as FT-IR, UV-visible spectroscopy, Raman, FE-SEM, and HR-TEM. The layered structure of supramolecular polymer was observed over the exfoliated few layered BNNSs (2.0 to 3.5 nm). HR-TEM show that the silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were successfully decorated on supramolecular functionalized BN nanosheets. The significance of functionalization is that the adenine moieties induce the high amount of Ag NPs through Ag/adenine moiety coordination, thereby increasing the effectiveness of catalyst towards removal of RB 221 dye. The RB 221 dye removal efficiency of new synthesized nanomaterials such as BN/APPG/Ag (1 : 2.5), BN/APPG/Ag (1 : 1), APPG/Ag, and BN/Ag were 84.60 ± 1.26 % , 70.13 ± 0.034 , 65.60 ± 0.052 , and 35.0 ± 0.45 % , respectively. The photocatalytic dye degradation performance of catalyst increases with high amount of supramolecular polymer in the composites. Reusability of analysis revealed that regenerated BN/APPG/Ag catalyst could be tested in at least three consecutive cycles in which proving efficiency removal of the RB 221 was found to be 83.7 ± 0.8 , 63.8 ± 0.51 , and 54.60 ± 0.78 % after the first, second, and third cycles of reuse, respectively. In addition, the absorption peaks of the RB 221 in solutions undergo upshifts relative to the free dye indicating the reduction of RB 221 dye for only BNNSs containing composite catalysts. Overall, the findings of this work are promising and therefore propose that BN/APPG/Ag could be applicable for the removal of dyes repeatedly for wastewater treatment in environment as result of their reusability and versatility.