Evaluation under Laboratory Conditions of the Efficacy of Four Extracts of Spontaneous Plants from the Mzab Valley (Algeria) against the Date Palm Mite (Oligonychus afrasiaticus)

Trials were conducted to test the hydrosols of 4 spontaneous plants on the date palm mite, Oligonychus afrasiaticus, a key pest of date palm in Algeria. Extracts from those plants (basil, harmel, colocynth and hyssop) tested against date palm mite showed promising results. The quantities of essential  oils extracted from the 4 plants were extremely low, that is why only hydrosols were used. The results obtained change depending on the number of  sprays and the reading time after treatment. The hyssop extract caused a high mortality rate of 91%, followed by colocynth and basil extracts with  average mortality rates of 64% and 62%, respectively. The lowest mortality rate, 6%, occurred when applying harmel extract

Het land van herkomst : perspectieven op verbondenheid met Marokko, 1960-2010

Op 7 mei 2011 publiceerde het NRC Handelsblad een essay van Anil Ramdas, waarin hij zich een overtuigd criticus van het Nederlandse minderhedenbeleid betoonde. Hij verweet de overheid een te grote opdringerigheid in de omgang met de eigen culturen van migranten. Rond de eeuwwisseling, en in het bijzonder na ‘9/11’ en de moord op Theo van Gogh in 2004, was er sprake van een slingerbeweging naar het andere uiterste: ‘de overheid voelt zich nu geroepen om niet de eigen culturen te bevorderen, maar om de eigen culturen te bestrijden!’ In Het Land van Herkomst, waarin de banden van Marokkaanse migranten centraal staan, verklaart Bouras de veranderde houding van de Nederlandse overheid. Ook aan Marokkaanse zijde deden zich verschuivingen voor. Met de analyse van het Marokkaanse emigratiebeleid en levensverhalen van Marokkanen laat Bouras zien dat de aard en de omvang van de banden met Marokko in de periode tusse n 1960 en 2010 bepaald worden door meerdere factoren.LEI Universiteit LeidenCities, Migration and Global Interdependenc

Calculation of shear viscosity using Green-Kubo relations within a parton cascade

The shear viscosity of a gluon gas is calculated using the Green-Kubo relation. Time correlations of the energy-momentum tensor in thermal equilibrium are extracted from microscopic simulations using a parton cascade solving various Boltzmann collision processes. We find that the pQCD based gluon bremsstrahlung described by Gunion-Bertsch processes significantly lowers the shear viscosity by a factor of 3-8 compared to elastic scatterings. The shear viscosity scales with the coupling as 1/(alpha_s^2\log(1/alpha_s)). For a constant coupling constant the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio has no dependence on temperature. Replacing the pQCD-based collision angle distribution of binary scatterings by an isotropic form decreases the shear viscosity by a factor of 3.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

Sleep and psychological factors are associated with meeting discharge criteria to return to sport following ACL reconstruction in athletes

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to determine if sleep quality and psychological factors were associated with time to meet the discharge criteria to return to sport (RTS) following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL-R) among athletes experiencing better quality of sleep and psychological responses returning faster to full activity. METHOD: A cohort-study design included 89 athletes following ACL-R. Each participant completed a battery of questionnaires at 6 different time points: within 3 days of injury occurrence and at post-surgery (1.5m, 3m, 4.5m, 6m and when discharge criteria were met). Assessment included sleep quality and quantity, symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, psychological readiness to RTS and fear of re-injury. The primary outcome was the time needed to meet all discharge criteria to RTS. RESULTS: Sleep parameters and psychological factors were not associated with time to meet the discharge criteria to RTS. However, athletes that had low anxiety and insomnia scores at baseline and better sleep quality at 3m, 4.5m, 6m and at discharge were more adherent to the rehabilitation program and more likely to meet the RTS discharge criteria OR 1.2 (95% CI 1.0-1.34), 1.3 (95% CI 1.1, 1.7) and 2.0 (95% CI 1.1-3.4) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep quality and psychological factors were not associated with time to meet the discharge criteria to RTS but impacted whether athletes adhered and completed their rehabilitation program or not. Monitoring sleep quality and psychological factors of athletes before and following ACL-R surgery is important to identify athletes who could have difficulties in adhering to and completing their rehabilitation program to RTS

Prefrontal modulation of anxiety through a lens of noradrenergic signaling

Anxiety disorders are the most common class of mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million individuals annually. Anxiety is an adaptive response to a stressful or unpredictable life event. Though evolutionarily thought to aid in survival, excess intensity or duration of anxiogenic response can lead to a plethora of adverse symptoms and cognitive dysfunction. A wealth of data has implicated the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in the regulation of anxiety. Norepinephrine (NE) is a crucial neuromodulator of arousal and vigilance believed to be responsible for many of the symptoms of anxiety disorders. NE is synthesized in the locus coeruleus (LC), which sends major noradrenergic inputs to the mPFC. Given the unique properties of LC-mPFC connections and the heterogeneous subpopulation of prefrontal neurons known to be involved in regulating anxiety-like behaviors, NE likely modulates PFC function in a cell-type and circuit-specific manner. In working memory and stress response, NE follows an inverted-U model, where an overly high or low release of NE is associated with sub-optimal neural functioning. In contrast, based on current literature review of the individual contributions of NE and the PFC in anxiety disorders, we propose a model of NE level- and adrenergic receptor-dependent, circuit-specific NE-PFC modulation of anxiety disorders. Further, the advent of new techniques to measure NE in the PFC with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution will significantly help us understand how NE modulates PFC function in anxiety disorders

Contamination of common spices by aflatoxigenic fungi and aflatoxin B1 in Algeria

Spices are usually produced in areas where the climatic conditions are favourable to growth of toxigenic fungi and production of mycotoxins. This study assesses the occurrence of aflatoxigenic fungi and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in spices marketed in Algeria. A total of 44 spice samples (4 for each type of spice) composed of aniseed, black pepper, caraway, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, ginger, red pepper, saffron, sweet cumin, and sweet pepper were collected from four popular markets located in Algeria. Mycological analysis of the spice was by dilution plating while AFB1 contamination levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) after post-column derivatisation. The commonly isolated fungi were species of Aspergillus (56.4%), Penicillium (25.1%), Mucor (12.8%) and Eurotium (5.7%). Species belonging to Aspergillus section Flavi represented 28.9% of the total Aspergilli. The aflatoxin producing ability of isolates belonging to Aspergillus section Flavi was determined on coconut agar medium and confirmed by thin layer chromatography and HPLC-FLD. Ninety-four isolates (38.4%) of the 245 Aspergillus section Flavi examined produced aflatoxins. The most frequent chemotypes (84%) correspond to isolates able to produce both aflatoxin B and cyclopiazonic acid followed by the producers of only aflatoxin B. Twenty-three (63.9%) of the 36 spices contained AFB1 at levels ranging from 0.10 to 26.50 μg/kg. Two saffron (24.34 and 26.50 μg/kg) and two sweet cumin (14.65 and 19.07 μg/kg) samples were above the Algerian regulatory limit of 10 μg/kg. This work represents the first report about the occurrence of aflatoxigenic fungi and AFB1 in the common spices in Algeria

Nonequilibrium effects in hadronic fireball expansion

We consider a spherical volume of hot and dense hadronic matter (fireball) expanding into a vacuum. It is assumed that initially the fireball matter is in local thermal and chemical equilibrium with vanishing collective velocity. The time evolution of the fireball is studied in parallel within the GiBUU transport model and an ideal hydrodynamic model. The equation of state of an ideal hadronic gas is used in the hydrodynamic calculation. The same set of hadronic species is used in transport and fluid-dynamical simulations. Initial coordinates and momenta of hadrons in transport simulations have been randomly generated by using the Fermi and Bose distributions for (anti)baryons and mesons. The model results for radial profiles of densities and collective velocities of different hadronic species are compared at different times. We find that two considered models predict essential differences in time evolution of hadron abundances, which are especially pronounced for hyperonic species. This gives an evidence of a strong deviation from chemical equilibrium in expanding hadronic matter.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figure

Actinopolyspora algeriensis sp. nov., a novel halophilic actinomycete isolated from a Saharan soil

A halophilic actinomycete strain designated H19T, was isolated from a Saharan soil in the Bamendil region (Ouargla province, South Algeria) and was characterized taxonomically by using a polyphasic approach. The morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics of the strain were consistent with those of members of the genus Actinopolyspora, and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis confirmed that strain H19T was a novel species of the genus Actinopolyspora. DNA–DNA hybridization value between strain H19T and the nearest Actinopolyspora species, A. halophila, was clearly below the 70 % threshold. The genotypic and phenotypic data showed that the organism represents a novel species of the genus Actinopolyspora for which the name Actinopolyspora algeriensis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain H19T (= DSM 45476T = CCUG 62415T)

Developmental course of psychopathology in youths with and without intellectual disabilities

Background: We aimed to describe similarities and differences in the developmental course of psychopathology between children with and without intellectual disabilities (ID). Method: Multilevel growth curve analysis was used to analyse the developmental course of psychopathology, using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), in two longitudinal multiple-birth-cohort samples of 6- to 18-year-old children with ID (N=978) and without ID (N=2,047) using three repeated measurements across a 6-year period. Results: Children with ID showed a higher level of problem behaviours across all ages compared to children without ID. A significant difference between the samples in the developmental courses was found for Aggressive Behaviour and Attention Problems, where children with ID showed a significantly larger decrease. Gender differences in the development of psychopathology were similar in both samples, except for Social Problems where males with ID showed a larger decrease in problem behaviour across time than females with ID and males and females without ID. Conclusion: Results indicate that children with ID continue to show a greater risk for psychopathology compared to typically developing children, although this higher risk is less pronounced at age 18 than it is at age 6 for Aggressive Behaviour. Contrary to our expectations, the developmental course of psychopathology in children with ID was quite similar from age 6 to 18 compared to children without ID. The normative developmental trajectories of psychopathology in children with ID, presented here, can serve as a yardstick against which development of childhood psychopathology can be detected as deviant. © 2007 The Authors Journal compilation © 2007 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health