Industries are among the largest global consumers of water, with a significant portion beingconverted into industrial wastewater. Paint factories, in particular, are major contributors toenvironmental lead pollution, releasing lead (II) through untreated effluents. Exposure to lead (II)poses serious health risks, including carcinogenic effects, neurological disorders, blood-relatedcomplications, and damage to vital organs such as the liver, kidneys, and lungs. While exten-sive research has focused on lead (II) removal from synthetic wastewater, limited studies haveaddressed the application of these methods to real industrial wastewater. This study aimed toevaluate the efficiency of Noug stalk activated carbon in removing lead (II) from paint factoryeffluent under optimized conditions. Laboratory experiments were conducted to assess the per-formance of Noug stalk activated carbon in treating wastewater from a paint factory. Statisticalanalysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 was employed, with a pairedsample t-test determining the significance of differences in lead (II) concentrations before andafter treatment, considering a p-value of

Given the Amharic language has a lot of perplexing terminology since it features duplicate homophone letters,fidel’s ሀ, ሐ, and ኀ (three of which are pronounced as HA), ሠ and ሰ (both pronounced as SE), አ and ዐ (bothpronounced as AE), and ጸ and ፀ (both pronounced as TSE). The WSD (Word Sense Disambiguation) model, whichtackles the issue of lexical ambiguity in the context of the Amharic language, is developed using a deep learningtechnique. Due to the unavailability of the Amharic wordnet, a total of 1756 examples of paired Amharicambiguous homophonic words were collected. These words were ድህነት(dhnet) and ድኅነት(dhnet), ምሁር(m’hur)and ምሑር(m’hur), በአል(be’al) and በዢል(be’al), አቢይ (abiy) and ዐቢይ(abiy), with a total of 1756 examples.Following word preprocessing, word2vec, fasttext, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TFIDF), andbag of words (BoW) were used to vectorize the text. The vectorized text was divided into train and test data. Thetrain data was then analysed using Naive Bayes (NB), K-nearest neighbour (KNN), logistic regression (LG), de-cision trees (DT), random forests (RF), and random oversampling technique. Bidirectional Gate Recurrent Unit(BiGRU) and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) improved to 99.99 % accuracy even with limiteddatasets.
Key Words: Amharic language, Homophone, Machine learning, Deep learning, Bidirectional, BiLSTM, BiGRU, TFIDF, BoW, Word embedding, Amharic word sense disambiguation

Establishing recipiency, an indispensable ingredient and manifestation of sustaining intersub-jectivity, constitutes the continuous monitoring of an ongoing turn in an interaction. The presentstudy intended to describe how interactants attending a freshman common course in an Ethiopianuniversity elicit and display recipiency in instances of Divergent L2 contexts exhibiting DIUs.Naturally occurring video-recorded classroom interactions of the purposively selected in-teractants have been analyzed in light of the Conversation Analytic framework to show howinteractants elicit and display recipiency. By deploying reactive tokens, incipient speakersnegotiate their rights to shape and reshape trajectories of an ongoing thereby displaying recipi-ency. This contributes to a better understanding of how interactures, in this case the establish-ment of intersubjectivity and L2 contexts, interplay and unfold in moments of DIUs. Also, viewinginteractants as incipient speakers, and thereby articulating turns in view of recipients is a con-dition for sustaining intersubjectivity through active engagement. This requires upholding un-wavering belief about recipients’ stake in an interactional exchange. Practically, being attentiveto recipients’ states in the different trajectories of interactional development, especially, in mo-ments of divergent L2 contexts that exhibit DIUs, would be illuminating. This is because the use ofresources to elicit and display recipiency and thereby consider incipient speakers’ levels ofrecipiency, on the part of floor-holding speaker, would enhance possibilities for intersubjectivity.
Keywords: Recipiency, DIUs, Intersubjectivity, Eliciting, Divergence

AbstractIntroduction Despite the existence of numerous blood donation centers globally, there remains a significant gapbetween the demand and supply of blood. In Ethiopia, replacement blood donation is more common than voluntarydonation. The National Blood Bank of Ethiopia collects approximately 200,000 units of blood each year, while thedaily requirement is 18,000 units. Donors’ knowledge and attitudes are vital for ensuring a steady blood supply. Thissystematic review and meta-analysis sought to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of Ethiopian residents regardingblood donation and the factors influencing them.Methods Relevant research articles were identified through searches of various databases. Data extraction andorganization were performed using Microsoft Excel, and the data were then analyzed using STATA/MP 17.0. Aweighted inverse variance random-effects model with a 95% confidence interval was employed to pool the data.Heterogeneity was examined with the Galbraith plot and Cochrane I² statistics. To identify sources of heterogeneity,meta-regression, subgroup analysis, and sensitivity analysis were conducted. Publication bias was assessed usingEgger’s test and managed with trim and fill analysis. The adjusted odds ratio was calculated to explore the relationshipbetween knowledge and attitudes towards blood donation, with a significance threshold of p < 0.05.Results The pooled prevalence of favorable attitudes towards blood donation was 65.95%. Moderators such as studyyear (p = 0.72), publication year (p = 0.877), and sample size (p = 0.291) were not significant, indicating they did notcontribute to heterogeneity. Studies from Northern Ethiopia reported the highest prevalence of favorable attitudes at69.95%, while research on healthcare workers also indicated a high proportion of favorable attitudes at 69.29%. Therewas a significant association between knowledge and attitudes towards blood donation (AOR = 2.03).Conclusion The pooled prevalence of favorable attitudes towards blood donation was 65.95%, with the highestlevels observed in Northern Ethiopia and among healthcare workers. A significant association between knowledgeand positive attitudes towards blood donation was found. To enhance attitudes towards blood donation, increasingpublic awareness and education about the importance and safety of donating blood is crucial.Keywords Blood, Blood donation, Knowledge, Attitude, Systematic review, Meta-analysis, Ethiopia

Background: People in Sekela District, like others in Ethiopia, have a long tradition of using medicinal plants totreat human and livestock ailments. However, medicinal plants and their associated indigenous knowledge arecurrently under threat. Thus, the study was carried out to compile ethnobotanical knowledge about medicinalplants in the district.Methods: A total of 352 informants from six study sub-districts (328 general and 24 key informants) were selectedrandomly and purposefully. Individual interviews, focus group discussions, guided field walks, and marketsurveys were used to acquire ethnobotanical data using semi structured interview questions. The informantconsensus factor (ICF), fidelity level, preference ranking, direct matrix ranking, medicinal use, and Analysis ofVariance were used.Results: A total of 121 medicinal plants belonging to 106 genera and 55 families were documented. The Aster-aceae family had the most species with 11 (9 %), followed by Lamiaceae with 8 (6.6 %), while leaves were themost utilized part with 56 (37 %). The majority of the remedies were made as a concoction (32, 17 %) anddelivered orally (98, 57 %). There was a statistically significant difference in indigenous knowledge on medicinalplants among genders, ages, marital status, educational levels, and occupations (p ˂ 0.05). The dermatologicaldisease categories had the highest ICF (0.92) in human ailments.Conclusion: The study revealed that Sekela District is rich in medicinal plants for treating human and livestockailments, and has indigenous knowledge to utilize these resources effectively. However, overgrazing, agriculturalexpansion, and improper harvesting techniques threaten medicinal plants. This signals the need to make sig-nificant efforts to raise public awareness about their conservation and sustainable use.
Keywords: Ailments; Ethnobotany; Indigenous knowledge; Sekela; Traditional medicinal plants

Background: People in Sekela District, like others in Ethiopia, have a long tradition of using medicinal plants totreat human and livestock ailments. However, medicinal plants and their associated indigenous knowledge arecurrently under threat. Thus, the study was carried out to compile ethnobotanical knowledge about medicinalplants in the district.Methods: A total of 352 informants from six study sub-districts (328 general and 24 key informants) were selectedrandomly and purposefully. Individual interviews, focus group discussions, guided field walks, and marketsurveys were used to acquire ethnobotanical data using semi structured interview questions. The informantconsensus factor (ICF), fidelity level, preference ranking, direct matrix ranking, medicinal use, and Analysis ofVariance were used.Results: A total of 121 medicinal plants belonging to 106 genera and 55 families were documented. The Aster-aceae family had the most species with 11 (9 %), followed by Lamiaceae with 8 (6.6 %), while leaves were themost utilized part with 56 (37 %). The majority of the remedies were made as a concoction (32, 17 %) anddelivered orally (98, 57 %). There was a statistically significant difference in indigenous knowledge on medicinalplants among genders, ages, marital status, educational levels, and occupations (p ˂ 0.05). The dermatologicaldisease categories had the highest ICF (0.92) in human ailments.Conclusion: The study revealed that Sekela District is rich in medicinal plants for treating human and livestockailments, and has indigenous knowledge to utilize these resources effectively. However, overgrazing, agriculturalexpansion, and improper harvesting techniques threaten medicinal plants. This signals the need to make sig-nificant efforts to raise public awareness about their conservation and sustainable use.
Keywords: Ailments; Ethnobotany; Indigenous knowledge; Sekela; Traditional medicinal plants

Abstract Mycotoxin contamination in stored sorghum grains poses significant threats to food safety, human health, and agricultural economies in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Ethiopia where poor post-harvest practices exacerbate fungal proliferation. This study, conducted in Dejen District, East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia, aimed to assess mycotoxin contamination levels, farmers' knowledge and management practices, isolate and characterize mycotoxigenic fungi, and evaluate the efficacy of microbial antagonists and botanicals as eco-friendly control measures. A cross-sectional survey of 212 farmers revealed low awareness (29% good knowledge) and practices (40.57% effective management), with significant associations to age, education, and village location (p < 0.05, logistic regression). Mycological analysis of 120 stored sorghum samples from underground pits identified diverse fungi, dominated by Aspergillus flavus (25%) and Fusarium spp. (20%), with low mycotoxin levels (aflatoxin B1 at 1.05 µg/kg, below EU limits). Six fungal antagonists; four Trichoderma (DMUA13, DMUA14) and two Penicillium isolates were isolated and screened via dual-culture assays, achieving 44.53–75.00% inhibition of radial growth against Aspergillus and Fusarium spp. (p < 0.05). Ethanol extracts of Clematis simensis and Laggera tomentosa leaves demonstrated dose-dependent antifungal activity against A. niger, reducing spore germination by up to 68.58% and 68.32% at 100 µg/mL, respectively, comparable to ketoconazole. These findings underscore knowledge gaps among farmers and highlight the potential of native Trichoderma/Penicillium isolates and plant extracts as sustainable biocontrol agents. Targeted education, improved storage, and integration of biological controls are recommended to mitigate mycotoxin risks, enhancing food security in resource-limited settings. This research provides baseline data for policy interventions and further field validation.

Abstract Mycotoxin contamination in stored sorghum grains poses significant threats to food safety, human health, and agricultural economies in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Ethiopia where poor post-harvest practices exacerbate fungal proliferation. This study, conducted in Dejen District, East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia, aimed to assess mycotoxin contamination levels, farmers' knowledge and management practices, isolate and characterize mycotoxigenic fungi, and evaluate the efficacy of microbial antagonists and botanicals as eco-friendly control measures. A cross-sectional survey of 212 farmers revealed low awareness (29% good knowledge) and practices (40.57% effective management), with significant associations to age, education, and village location (p < 0.05, logistic regression). Mycological analysis of 120 stored sorghum samples from underground pits identified diverse fungi, dominated by Aspergillus flavus (25%) and Fusarium spp. (20%), with low mycotoxin levels (aflatoxin B1 at 1.05 µg/kg, below EU limits). Six fungal antagonists; four Trichoderma (DMUA13, DMUA14) and two Penicillium isolates were isolated and screened via dual-culture assays, achieving 44.53–75.00% inhibition of radial growth against Aspergillus and Fusarium spp. (p < 0.05). Ethanol extracts of Clematis simensis and Laggera tomentosa leaves demonstrated dose-dependent antifungal activity against A. niger, reducing spore germination by up to 68.58% and 68.32% at 100 µg/mL, respectively, comparable to ketoconazole. These findings underscore knowledge gaps among farmers and highlight the potential of native Trichoderma/Penicillium isolates and plant extracts as sustainable biocontrol agents. Targeted education, improved storage, and integration of biological controls are recommended to mitigate mycotoxin risks, enhancing food security in resource-limited settings. This research provides baseline data for policy interventions and further field validation.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is highly infectious and poses significant global health challenges. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are particularly at risk of HBV infection due to occupational exposure through contact with infected blood or body fluids. To mitigate this risk, hepatitis B vaccination is recommended for all healthcare workers and is administered in three doses at 0, 1, and 6 months, aiming to reduce exposure and provide immunity against the virus. However, the effectiveness of the HBV vaccine remains uncertain in the study area.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate hepatitis B vaccine efficacy and factors affecting vaccine effectiveness among healthcare workers in all Hospitals of East Gojjam Zone Amhara Region, North West Ethiopia
Materials and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 healthcare workers from March 25, 2024, to November 30, 2024. Simple random sampling technique was used to recruit the study participants. Total sample size was allocated proportionally to each hospital. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. Moreover, venous blood samples (4–5 ml) were collected from the study participants, and serum samples were analyzed to measure and detect the concentrations of anti-hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and anti-hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Additionally, hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV DNA) was assessed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 25. Logistic regression model with 95% CI was used to show the statistical association. P value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
Results: The overall sero-prevalence of HBsAg among all study participants was 23/422 (5.5%) (95% CI: 3.0-8.0). In multivariable logistic regression, blood transfusion (AOR: 16.5, 95% CI: 1.53, 29.24) (P<0.011) and dental extraction (AOR: 13.5, 95% CI: 3.99, 45.57) (P<0.000) were significantly associated with HBsAg positivity. In addition, the overall sero-reactivity of anti-HBc was 30/422 (7.1%) (95% CI: 5.0-10.0). Injectable medication (AOR: 4.3, 95% CI: 1.73, 10.72) (P<0.002) was significant determinant for anti-HBc sero-positivity. Furthermore, of fully vaccinated healthcare workers, 346/422 (82.0%) (95% CI: 78.0- 86.0 %) of them were sero-protected (had anti-HBs titer ≥ 10 mIU/ml). The paradoxical sero-positivity of HBsAg and anti-HBs among fully vaccinated healthcare workers was 16(4.6%). Moreover, among HBsAg-positive individuals, HBV DNA was detected in 17 (73.9%) of them.
Conclusions and recommendations: The study identified intermediate HBV seroprevalence among vaccinated healthcare workers, indicating suboptimal vaccine efficacy. These findings emphasize the necessity of monitoring post-vaccination anti-HBs antibody levels to address gaps in protection.
Keywords: Hepatitis B vaccine effectiveness, Healthcare workers, Hospitals

This study suggests an enhanced version of the adaptive fuzzy fast terminal synergetic controller(AF-FTSC) for controlling the uncertain DC/DC buck converter based on the synergetic theory ofcontrol (STC) and newly developed terminal attractor technique (TAT). The benefits of the proposedSC algorithm involve the features of finite-time convergence, unaffected by parameter variations, andchattering-free phenomenon. A type-1 fuzzy logic system (T1-FLS) make the considered controllermore robust and is utilized to estimate the undefined converter nonlinear dynamics without resortingto the usual linearization and simplifications of the converter model. Taking a switching DC-DC buckconverter as a demonstration, the suggested AF-FTSC is thoroughly analyzed and executed on adSPACE ds1103 controller board. The outcomes of the experiment confirm the competence andapplicability of the suggested regulator.Keywords: Synergetic control, Fuzzy logic system, Fast terminal method, Finite-time convergence, DC/DCbuck converter