Impact des proprietes physicochimiques des sols de culture du manioc sur l’abondance et la diversite des communautes de champignons mycorhiziens à arbuscules dans la zone agroecologique d’azaguie, Sud-Est de la Côte D’Ivoire

En Côte d’ Ivoire, la baissede la fertilité des terres de culture du manioc,  est à l’origine des rendements faibles. L’utilisation de l’effet bénéfique des  champignons mycorhiziens arbusculaires (CMA) pourrait améliorer  durablement ces rendements. Ce travail a pour but de mettre en évidence l’écologie, la diversité et la structuration des communautés de CMA  endogènes associés à la culture du manioc dans les sols de la zone  agroécologique d’Azaguié. Les études ont été menées à partir des sols de champs de manioc (Ahoua 1, Ahoua 2, Mbromé 1, Mbromé 2). Ces sols étaient très acides (pH inférieurs à 5,17), pauvres en bases échangeables (CEC inférieures à 17,1 cmol/kg), en phosphore assimilable (P.  assimilable inférieur à 30,71 ppm) et en matière organique. Il a été  dénombré 44 espèces de CMA reparties en treize genres. Les genres  Glomus (55,17 %) et Acaulospora (30,14 %) sont les plus abondants. Les densités des spores de CMA, sont inférieures à 14,68 spores.g-1. La proportion moyenne de spores non-viables (55 %) est élevée. Il a été noté des corrélations positives entre les communautés de CMA et le  magnésium (R = 0,65), la CEC (R = 0,69), l'argile (R = 0,74) et le limon grossier (R = 0,79). Par contre des corrélations négatives ont été obtenues avec le sable fin (R = -0,60) et le sable grossier (R = -0,59).Mots clés : Manioc, Azaguié, Côte d’Ivoire, champignons mycorhiziens à arbuscules.INFLUENCE OF CASSAVA SOILS PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES ONTHE ABUNDANCE AND DIVERSITYOF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRIZAL FUNGI  COMMUNITIES’ IN AZAGUIÉ AGROECOLOGICAL AREA, SOUTH-EAST CÔTE D’IVOIREIn Côte d’Ivoire, the decline in cassava soil fertility is causing low yields. The use of the beneficial effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can sustainably improve the yields. The aim of this study was to highlight the ecology, diversity and community structure of endogenous CMA associated with cassava. The studies were conducted using cassava field soils (Ahoua 1 Ahoua 2 Mbromé 1 Mbromé 2). These soils were very acidic (pH less than 5.17), with low exchangeable bases capacities values (CEC less than 17.1 cmol / kg), low available phosphorus levels (available P less than 30.71 ppm) and poor organic matter proportions. Thirteen AMF genera comprising 44 species were identified. The genera Glomus (55.17 %) and Acaulospora (30.14 %) were the most abundant. AMF spores densities were (8.42 and 14.68 spores.g-1). The proportion of non-healthy spores was 55 %. There were positive correlations between AMF communities and magnesium (R = 0.65 and 0.59), CEC (R = 0.69), clay (R = 0.74) and coarse silt (R = 0.79) and negative correlations were obtained with fine sand (R = -0.60) and coarse sand (R = -0.59).Key words : Cassava, Azaguié Côte d’Ivoire, abuscular mycorrhiral fungi

Mode-Coupling Model of Mott Gap Collapse in the Cuprates: Natural Phase Boundary for Quantum Critical Points

A simple antiferromagnetic approach to the Mott transition was recently shown to provide a satisfactory explanation for the Mott gap collapse with doping observed in photoemission experiments on electron-doped cuprates. Here this approach is extended in a number of ways. RPA, mode coupling (via self-consistent renormalization), and (to a limited extent) self-consistent Born approximation calculations are compared to assess the roles of hot-spot fluctuations and interaction with spin waves. When fluctuations are included, the calculation satisfies the Mermin-Wagner theorem, and the mean-field gap and transition temperature are replaced by pseudogap and onset temperature. The model is in excellent agreement with experiments on the doping dependence of both photoemission dispersion and magnetic properties. The magnetic phase terminates in a quantum critical point (QCP), with a natural phase boundary for this QCP arising from hot-spot physics. Since the resulting T=0 antiferromagnetic transition is controlled by a generalized Stoner factor, an ansatz is made of dividing the Stoner factor up into a material-dependent part, the bare susceptibility and a correlation-dependent part, the Hubbard U, which depends only weakly on doping. From the material dependent part of the interaction, it is possible to explain the striking differences between electron- and hole-doping, despite an approximate symmetry in the doping of the QCP. The slower divergence of the magnetic correlation length in hole doped cuprates may be an indication of more Mott-like physics.Comment: This replaces cond-mat/0308469. 50 eps figures, revtex [Version 1 had included old file

Intervention, recruitment and evaluation challenges in the Bangladeshi community: Experience from a peer lead educational course

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The incidence of Type 2 diabetes is increasing worldwide and diabetes is four times more common among ethnic minority groups than among the general Caucasian population. This study reflects on the specific issues of engaging people and evaluating interventions through written questionnaires within older ethnic minority groups.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The original protocol set out to evaluate an adapted version of the X-PERT^®patient program <url>http://www.xpert-diabetes.org.uk/</url> using questionnaires and interviews.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Questionnaires, even verbally completed, were unsuccessful and difficult to administer as participants found the questionnaire structure and design difficult to follow and did not perceive any benefit to completing the questionnaires. The benefits of attending the course were also poorly understood by participants and in many cases people participated in coming to the course as a favour to the researcher. Engaging participants required word of mouth and the involvement of active members of the community.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Peer led courses and their evaluation in older ethnic minority communities needs a very different approach for that in younger Caucasian patients. A structured approached to evaluation (favoured by western educational system) is inappropriate. Engaging participants is difficult and the employment of local well known people is essential.</p

Voice cues are used in a similar way by blind and sighted adults when assessing women’s body size

Humans’ ability to gauge another person’s body size from their voice alone may serve multiple functions ranging from threat assessment to speaker normalization. However, how this ability is acquired remains unknown. In two experiments we tested whether sighted, congenitally blind and late blind adults could accurately judge the relative heights of women from paired voice stimuli, and importantly, whether errors in size estimation varied with task difficulty across groups. Both blind (n = 56) and sighted (n = 61) listeners correctly judged women’s relative heights on approximately 70% of low difficulty trials, corroborating previous findings for judging men’s heights. However, accuracy dropped to chance levels for intermediate difficulty trials and to 25% for high difficulty trials, regardless of the listener’s sightedness, duration of vision loss, sex, or age. Thus, blind adults estimated women’s height with the same degree of accuracy, but also the same pattern of errors, as did sighted controls. Our findings provide further evidence that visual experience is not necessary for accurate body size estimation. Rather, both blind and sighted listeners appear to follow a general rule, mapping low auditory frequencies to largeness across a range of contexts. This sound-size mapping emerges without visual experience, and is likely very important for humans

It’s all about the money? A qualitative study of healthcare worker motivation in urban China

Background China’s healthcare reform programme continues to receive much attention. Central to these discussions has been how the various financial incentives underpinning reform efforts are negatively impacting on the healthcare workforce. Research continues to document these trends, however, qualitative analysis of how these incentives impact on the motivation of healthcare workers remains underdeveloped. Furthermore, the application of motivational theories to make sense of healthcare worker experiences has yet to be undertaken. Methods The purpose of our paper is to present a comparative case study account of healthcare worker motivation across urban China. It draws on semi structured interviews (n = 89) with a range of staff and organisations across three provinces. In doing so, the paper analyses how healthcare worker motivation is influenced by a variety of financial incentives; how motivation is influenced by the opportunities for career development; and how motivation is influenced by the day to day pressures of meeting patient expectations. Results The experience of healthcare workers in China highlights how a reliance on financial incentives has challenged their ability to maintain the values and ethos of public service. Our findings suggest greater attention needs to be paid to the motivating factors of improved income and career development. Further work is also needed to nurture and develop the motivation of healthcare workers through the building of trust between fellow workers, patients, and the public. Conclusions Through the analysis of healthcare worker motivation, our paper presents a number of ways China can improve its current healthcare reform efforts. It draws on the experience of other countries in calling for policy makers to support alternative approaches to healthcare reform that build on multiple channels of motivation to support healthcare workers

A Televised, Web-Based Randomised Trial of an Herbal Remedy (Valerian) for Insomnia

BACKGROUND: This trial was conducted as part of a project that aims to enhance public understanding and use of research in decisions about healthcare by enabling viewers to participate in research and to follow the process, through television reports and on the web. Valerian is an herbal over-the-counter drug that is widely used for insomnia. Systematic reviews have found inconsistent and inconclusive results about its effects. METHODS: Participants were recruited through a weekly nationally televised health program in Norway. Enrolment and data collection were over the Internet. 405 participants who were 18 to 75 years old and had insomnia completed a two week diary-keeping run-in period without treatment and were randomised and mailed valerian or placebo tablets for two weeks. All participants and investigators were blind to treatment until after the analysis was completed. FINDINGS: For the primary outcome of a minimally important improvement in self-reported sleep quality (> or = 0.5 units on a 7 point scale), the difference between the valerian group (29%) and the placebo group (21%) was not statistically significant (difference 7.5%; 95% CI-0.9 to 15.9; p = 0.08). On the global self-assessment question at the end of the treatment period 5.5% (95% CI 0.2 to 10.8) more participants in the valerian group perceived their sleep as better or much better (p = 0.04). There were similar trends favouring the valerian group for night awakenings (difference = 6.0%, 95% CI-0.5 to 12.5) and sleep duration (difference = 7.5%, 95% CI-1.0 to 16.1). There were no serious adverse events and no important or statistically significant differences in minor adverse events. INTERPRETATION: Based on this and previous studies, valerian appears to be safe, but with modest beneficial effects at most on insomnia compared to placebo. The combined use of television and the Internet in randomised trials offers opportunities to answer questions about the effects of health care interventions and to improve public understanding and use of randomised trials. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN72748991

Volitional exaggeration of body size through fundamental and formant frequency modulation in humans

Several mammalian species scale their voice fundamental frequency (F0) and formant frequencies in competitive and mating contexts, reducing vocal tract and laryngeal allometry thereby exaggerating apparent body size. Although humans’ rare capacity to volitionally modulate these same frequencies is thought to subserve articulated speech, the potential function of voice frequency modulation in human nonverbal communication remains largely unexplored. Here, the voices of 167 men and women from Canada, Cuba, and Poland were recorded in a baseline condition and while volitionally imitating a physically small and large body size. Modulation of F0, formant spacing (∆F), and apparent vocal tract length (VTL) were measured using Praat. Our results indicate that men and women spontaneously and systemically increased VTL and decreased F0 to imitate a large body size, and reduced VTL and increased F0 to imitate small size. These voice modulations did not differ substantially across cultures, indicating potentially universal sound-size correspondences or anatomical and biomechanical constraints on voice modulation. In each culture, men generally modulated their voices (particularly formants) more than did women. This latter finding could help to explain sexual dimorphism in F0 and formants that is currently unaccounted for by sexual dimorphism in human vocal anatomy and body size

Spontaneous Voice Gender Imitation Abilities in Adult Speakers

Background The frequency components of the human voice play a major role in signalling the gender of the speaker. A voice imitation study was conducted to investigate individuals' ability to make behavioural adjustments to fundamental frequency (F0), and formants (Fi) in order to manipulate their expression of voice gender. Methodology/Principal Findings Thirty-two native British-English adult speakers were asked to read out loud different types of text (words, sentence, passage) using their normal voice and then while sounding as ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ as possible. Overall, the results show that both men and women raised their F0 and Fi when feminising their voice, and lowered their F0 and Fi when masculinising their voice. Conclusions/Significance These observations suggest that adult speakers are capable of spontaneous glottal and vocal tract length adjustments to express masculinity and femininity in their voice. These results point to a “gender code”, where speakers make a conventionalized use of the existing sex dimorphism to vary the expression of their gender and gender-related attributes