Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae) of the Mpala Research Centre and environs, Laikipia District, Kenya

The dung beetle fauna of the subfamily Aphodiinae occurring in the Laikipia District of Kenya was surveyed. In total, 14 genera and 29 species were found and these taxa are placed in identification keys. Known generic distributions are provided and species collection data listed

Hydrocarbon generation in relation to thrusting in the sub Andean zone from 18 to 22°S, Bolivia

Formation of the Bolivian eastern cordillera started at the end of the Oligocene and continues to the present day with thrusting affecting the Sub Andean Zone since late Miocene. The "classical" source rock is the Devonian, but the Silurian interval has some potential. Their initial original potential is not high but they are thick (700 m, Los Monos Fm) and may be thicker still due to stacking in thrust duplexes. The three phases of sedimentation during the Tertiary each start with conglomeratic deposits and are discordant over the previous one. Seismic data allow us to correlate these steps with three periods of tectonic accretion : Late Miocene (Tariquia Fm), Pliocene (Guandacay Fm) and Plio-Quaternary (Emborozu Fm). Modelling demonstrates two phases of hydrocarbon generation. A first phase from Devonian to Carboniferous is due to the deepening of the Palaeozoic basin. The second phase of maturation is due to the Tertiary deposits in the foreland and under the piggyback basins. The central aera (Santa Cruz) has never been more deeply buried than during the Palaeozoic and has been a high during the Tertiary. (Résumé d'auteur

Application de la Programmation Stochastique Discrète à l’évaluation de l’impact de la contrainte de crédit sur le revenu et la production agricoles dans la basse vallée de l’Ouémé

Malgré la mise en oeuvre des différentes politiques d’ajustement structurels découlant de l’option du libéralisme économique, l’économie béninoise peine toujours à décoller avec une agriculture à dominance familiale et traditionnelle, subvenant difficilement aux besoins des populations sans cesse croissantes. Les ménages agricoles ruraux vivent toujours dans des situations contraignantes de crédit qui sont souvent considérées comme faisant partie des contraintes majeures au développement agricole du pays. Ainsi, au regard de l’importance accordée au crédit dans les programmes de développement, cette étude s’est proposée d’analyser la vulnérabilité des exploitations agricole à la contrainte de crédit d’une part et, d’autre part, de faire une évaluation ex anté l’impact de la levée de cette contrainte sur la production et le revenu agricole de ces exploitations. L’étude a été réalisée dans la basse vallée de l’Ouémé et a utilisé les données empiriques collectées auprès de 54 exploitations agricoles. Ces données ont été complétées par les données secondaires de sources diverses. L’approche méthodologique adoptée a été la modélisation par la programmation linéaire stochastique discrète tenant compte des risques d’inondations. Le modèle de programmation élaboré a montré que les petites exploitations sont les plus vulnérables à la contrainte de crédit. Ainsi, le modèle a estimé respectivement à 2,62 ; 0,76 et 0,55 FCFA l’augmentation du revenu qui résulterait de l’apport d’un francs CFA supplémentaire du crédit formel pour les petites, moyennes et grandes exploitations. En ce qui concerne l’impact de la levée de la contrainte sur la production et le revenu agricoles, les prédictions du modèle ont montré que cette levée pourrait permettre d’accroître la production du piment de 66% tout en réduisant celle du niébé de 65%. Par ailleurs, l’impact de la levée de la contrainte de crédit sur le revenu agricole a été évalué à 21,26% pour les exploitations moyennes.Programmation linéaire, modélisation, production, revenu agricole, Bénin, Agricultural Finance,

HIVpositive people\u27s perspectives on Canadian criminal law and non-disclosure

The largest survey to date of people living with HIV regarding attitudes toward criminalization of HIV non-disclosure, this study investigates: sources of legal information available to HIV-positive people; perceptions of how criminal prosecutions and media coverage affect understanding of rights and responsibilities of self and others; and where HIV-positive people themselves stand on the role the criminal justice system should play. While mainstream media constructions of criminal iconography do affect PHA views, those who have higher levels of formal education, are active in the dating scene, and have been living longer with HIV hold less punitive views than those who do not. While the overall pattern of agreement on where to draw the line in criminal prosecution holds regardless of demographic characteristics, there is some statistically significant variation in degree of punitiveness according to sexual orientation and gender as well

Contextualized analysis of a needs assessment using the Theoretical Domains Framework: a case example in endocrinology

Background: The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) is a set of 14 domains of behavior change that provide a framework for the critical issues and factors influencing optimal knowledge translation. Considering that a previous study has identified optimal knowledge translation techniques for each TDF domain, it was hypothesized that the TDF could be used to contextualize and interpret findings from a behavioral and educational needs assessment. To illustrate this hypothesis, findings and recommendations drawn from a 2012 national behavioral and educational needs assessment conducted with healthcare providers who treat and manage Growth and Growth Hormone Disorders, will be discussed using the TDF. Methods: This needs assessment utilized a mixed-methods research approach that included a combination of: [a] data sources (Endocrinologists (n:120), Pediatric Endocrinologists (n:53), Pediatricians (n:52)), [b] data collection methods (focus groups, interviews, online survey), [c] analysis methodologies (qualitative - analyzed through thematic analysis, quantitative - analyzed using frequencies, cross-tabulations, and gap analysis). Triangulation was used to generate trustworthy findings on the clinical practice gaps of endocrinologists, pediatric endocrinologists, and general pediatricians in their provision of care to adult patients with adult growth hormone deficiency or acromegaly, or children/teenagers with pediatric growth disorders. The identified gaps were then broken into key underlying determinants, categorized according to the TDF domains, and linked to optimal behavioral change techniques. Results: The needs assessment identified 13 gaps, each with one or more underlying determinant(s). Overall, these determinants were mapped to 9 of the 14 TDF domains. The Beliefs about Consequences domain was identified as a contributing determinant to 7 of the 13 challenges. Five of the gaps could be related to the Skills domain, while three were linked to the Knowledge domain. Conclusions: The TDF categorization of the needs assessment findings allowed recommendation of appropriate behavior change techniques for each underlying determinant, and facilitated communication and understanding of the identified issues to a broader audience. This approach provides a means for health education researchers to categorize gaps and challenges identified through educational needs assessments, and facilitates the application of these findings by educators and knowledge translators, by linking the gaps to recommended behavioral change techniques

Why pinning by surface irregularities can explain the peak effect in transport properties and neutron diffraction results in NbSe2 and Bi-2212 crystals?

The existence of a peak effect in transport properties (a maximum of the critical current as function of magnetic field) is a well-known but still intriguing feature of type II superconductors such as NbSe2 and Bi-2212. Using a model of pinning by surface irregularities in anisotropic superconductors, we have developed a calculation of the critical current which allows estimating quantitatively the critical current in both the high critical current phase and in the low critical current phase. The only adjustable parameter of this model is the angle of the vortices at the surface. The agreement between the measurements and the model is really very impressive. In this framework, the anomalous dynamical properties close to the peak effect is due to co-existence of two different vortex states with different critical currents. Recent neutron diffraction data in NbSe2 crystals in presence of transport current support this point of view