Functionalized carbon electrocatalysts in energy conversion and storage applications: A review.

Energy crises, along with environmental tampering, are currently a big topic on the global scene. The most promising strategy in the current research trend is the creation of ecologically pleasant renewable green alternative energy sources. Since adequate access to green, ecologically acceptable energy sources promotes industrialization and the well-being of human society.

The genomics and physiology of abiotic stressors associated with global elevational gradients in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Phenotypic and genomic diversity in Arabidopsis thaliana may be associated with adaptation along its wide elevational range, but it is unclear whether elevational clines are consistent among different mountain ranges. We took a multi-regional view of selection associated with elevation. In a diverse panel of ecotypes, we measured plant traits under alpine stressors (low CO partial pressure, high light, and night freezing) and conducted genome-wide association studies.

Pediatric and adolescent HIV viral load coverage and suppression rates in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in 12 PEPFAR-supported sub-Saharan African countries in 2019 and 2020.

The early period of the COVID-19 pandemic limited access to HIV services for children and adolescents living with HIV (C/ALHIV). To determine progress in providing care and treatment services, we describe viral load coverage (VLC) and suppression (VLS) (<1000 copies/ mL) rates during the COVID-19 pandemic in 12 United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)-supported countries. Data for children (0-9 years) and adolescents (10-19 years) on VLC and VLS were analyzed for 12 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries between 2019 (pre-COVID-19) and 2020 (during COVID-19).

Photocatalytic activity of the biogenic mediated green synthesized CuO nanoparticles confined into MgAl LDH matrix.

The global concern over water pollution caused by organic pollutants such as methylene blue (MB) and other dyes has reached a critical level. Herein, the Allium cepa L. peel extract was utilized to fabricate copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles.

Seed Germination Enhancement of Two Species ( (L.) Del. and (Tiegh.) Blatt.) Using Different Presowing Treatments in Ethiopia.

and are known to be multipurpose trees with various uses and values. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the seed germination behaviours of and under different presowing treatments. Hence, seeds were collected from the Central and Southern Ethiopian Rift Valley regions.

Citric Acid Catalyst-Assisted Bioactive Glass with Hydrogen Peroxide for Bioactivity and Biodegradability Using Sol-Gel Method.

In this study, carbon-free and completely soluble hydrogen peroxide (HO) was utilized in place of conventional surfactants as a pore-forming agent. Citric acid was also used in low concentration for the hydrolysis reaction. A sol-gel method was used to prepare bioactive glass (BG) specimens of HO-untreated BG, 1M, 2M, and 3M HO-treated BGs.

Graphene-based biosensors for detecting coronavirus: a brief review.

The coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease has affected the globe with 770 437 327 confirmed cases, including about 6 956 900 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) as of September 2023. Hence, it is imperative to develop diagnostic technologies, such as a rapid cost-effective SARS-CoV-2 detection method. A typical biosensor enables biomolecule detection with an appropriate transducer by generating a measurable signal from the sample.

-CN-CoO Z-Scheme Junction with Green-Synthesized ZnO Photocatalyst for Efficient Degradation of Methylene Blue in Aqueous Solution.

A simple wet chemical ultrasonic-assisted synthesis method was employed to prepare visible light-driven g-CN-ZnO-CoO (GZC) heterojunction photocatalysts. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electromicroscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), ultraviolet (UV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) are used to characterize the prepared catalysts. XRD confirms the homogenous phase formation of g-CN, ZnO, and CoO, and the heterogeneous phase for the composites.

Reproductive biology of wild and domesticated Ensete ventricosum: Further evidence for maintenance of sexual reproductive capacity in a vegetatively propagated perennial crop.

Loss of sexual reproductive capacity has been proposed as a syndrome of domestication in vegetatively propagated crops, but there are relatively few examples from agricultural systems. In this study, we compare sexual reproductive capacity in wild (sexual) and domesticated (vegetative) populations of enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman), a tropical banana relative and Ethiopian food security crop.

Herbal medicine used by the community of Koneba district in Afar Regional State, Northeastern Ethiopia.

Background: Pastoral communities of the Afar people in northeastern Ethiopia use medicinal plants for various health problems. However, very limited scientific documents are found addressing ethnomedicinal knowledge of the community.

Objective: This study aimed at documenting herbal medicine and the associated knowledge from Koneba district of Afar Regional State, Ethiopia.

Dispersal and competitive release affect the management of native and invasive tephritid fruit flies in large and smallholder farms in Ethiopia.

African horticulture is seriously affected by fruit flies, both native and invasive. Novel sustainable control methods need testing against the backdrop of smallholder-dominated farming of Africa. We evaluated the potential of male-specific attractants (parapheromones) laced with insecticide to suppress the alien invasive Bactrocera dorsalis and native Ceratitis capitata.

Micronutrient composition and microbial community analysis across diverse landraces of the Ethiopian orphan crop enset.

Enset (Ensete ventricosum) is a major starch staple and food security crop for 20 million people. Despite substantial diversity in morphology, genetics, agronomy and utilization across its range, nutritional characteristics have only been reported in relatively few landraces. Here, we survey nutritional composition in 22 landraces from three enset growing regions.

Afro-alpine flagships revisited: Parallel adaptation, intermountain admixture and shallow genetic structuring in the giant senecios (Dendrosenecio).

Distantly related lineages of the enigmatic giant rosette plants of tropical alpine environments provide classical examples of convergent adaptation. For the giant senecios (Dendrosenecio), the endemic landmarks of the East African sky islands, it has also been suggested that parallel adaptation has been important for within-lineage differentiation. To test this hypothesis and to address potential gene flow and hybridization among the isolated sky islands, we organized field expeditions to all major mountains.

Genetic structuring, dispersal and taxonomy of the high-alpine populations of the Geranium arabicum/kilimandscharicum complex in tropical eastern Africa.

The scattered eastern African high mountains harbor a renowned and highly endemic flora, but the taxonomy and phylogeographic history of many plant groups are still insufficiently known. The high-alpine populations of the Geranium arabicum/kilimandscharicum complex present intricate morphological variation and have recently been suggested to comprise two new endemic taxa. Here we aim to contribute to a clarification of the taxonomy of these populations by analyzing genetic (AFLP) variation in range-wide high-alpine samples, and we address whether hybridization has contributed to taxonomic problems.

Sweet vernal grasses (Anthoxanthum) colonized African mountains along two fronts in the Late Pliocene, followed by secondary contact, polyploidization and local extinction in the Pleistocene.

High tropical mountains harbour remarkable and fragmented biodiversity thought to a large degree to have been shaped by multiple dispersals of cold-adapted lineages from remote areas. Few dated phylogenetic/phylogeographic analyses are however available. Here, we address the hypotheses that the sub-Saharan African sweet vernal grasses have a dual colonization history and that lineages of independent origins have established secondary contact.

Assessment of selected nutrients and toxic metals in fruits, soils and irrigation waters of Awara Melka and Nura Era farms, Ethiopia.

The objective of the present study was to determine the levels of essential nutrients (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn) and toxic metals (Pb and Cd) in selected varieties of fruits (banana, grape, guava, mandarin and orange), farmland soils and irrigation waters to assess nutritional impact on health. The freeze dried fruits were digested using HNO3 and HClO4 and the levels of the elements determined using flame atomic absorption spectrometer. The highest amount of K (3480) and Mg (281) and the lowest amount of Na (6.

Colonization and diversification in the African 'sky islands': insights from fossil-calibrated molecular dating of Lychnis (Caryophyllaceae).

The flora on the isolated high African mountains or 'sky islands' is remarkable for its peculiar adaptations, local endemism and striking biogeographical connections to remote parts of the world. Ages of the plant lineages and the timing of their radiations have frequently been debated but remain contentious as there are few estimates based on explicit models and fossil-calibrated molecular clocks. We used the plastid region maturaseK (matK) and a Caryophylloflora paleogenica fossil to infer the age of the genus Lychnis, and constructed a data set of three plastid (matK; a ribosomal protein S16 (rps16); and an intergenic spacer (psbE-petL)) and two nuclear (internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and a region spanning exon 18-24 in the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB2)) loci for joint estimation of the species tree and divergence time of the African representatives.

Hydrogen sulphide in human nasal air quantified using thermal desorption and selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry.

The discovery that hydrogen sulphide (H2S) acts as a gasotransmitter when present at very low concentrations (sub-parts per billion (ppbv)) has resulted in the need to quickly quantify trace amounts of the gas in complex biological samples. Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) is capable of real-time quantification of H2S but many SIFT-MS instruments lack sufficient sensitivity for this application. In this study we investigate the utility of combining thermal desorption with SIFT-MS for quantifying H2S in the 0.

Concentration levels of metals in vegetables grown in soils irrigated with river water in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Samples of vegetables, water and soil were collected from four vegetable farms in Addis Ababa to evaluate the extent and trend of metal accumulation in these systems and health risk concerns to consumers. Vegetable samples were digested in HNO(3) and HClO(4), soil samples in Aqua Regia and water samples were pre-concentrated with methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) using the chelating agent ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC). All the samples were analyzed for Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Zn, Cd and Pb with flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer.

Hydrogen sulfide and asthma.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease, with hyper-responsive bronchoconstriction and airway remodelling, leading to extensive airway narrowing. The regulation of airway responsiveness and inflammation by endogenous hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) during the pathogenic development of asthma has been suggested. Hydrogen sulfide can be produced in the lung and airway tissues via the actions of two H(2)S-generating enzymes, cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) and/or cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE).

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants around 'Dheeraa' town, Arsi Zone, Ethiopia.

A study aimed at identifying plant species used and manipulated by the community for medicine was carried out around 'Dheeraa' town, Arsi Zone, Oromia Region, Southeast Ethiopia. The data were collected through a series of fieldworks conducted from October to December 2002. Random and systematic sampling methods were employed to select the study sites as well as the informants.

Microwave digestion of "residual fuel oil" (NIST SRM 1634b) for the determination of trace elements by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry.

A microwave procedure for the digestion of the NIST 1634b reference material "residual fuel oil" in closed pressurized vessels was developed in an attempt to facilitate routine analysis and obtain reproducible conditions or comparable results. The influence of sample size, reagent composition and volume, microwave power, and duration of heating on the digestion procedure was studied. Pressure and temperature inside the reaction vessels were monitored to determine the progression of the reaction and to develop optimal conditions.