Boom and bust: Is Stavanger becoming the New Detroit? - A comparative empirical analysis of a cornerstone economy

Master's thesis in Economic analysisThe purpose of this thesis is to examine whether Stavanger Region are showing indications of being on the same path as Detroit. An Error Correction Model is estimated on two datasets concerning Stavanger Region and Detroit. Each dataset consists of employment as the dependent variable and other macroeconomic variables. The model distinguishes between short - term and long - term dynamics. The sample period is 1999 - 2013 and 2003 - 2014 regarding Stavanger Region and Detroit respectively. The oil and gas industry in Stavanger Region and the automobile industry in Detroit are both vital in terms of regional economic growth

Behavioural and insecticidal effects of organophosphate-, carbamate- and pyrethroid-treated mosquito nets against African malaria vectors.

Three insecticides - the pyrethroid deltamethrin, the carbamate carbosulfan and the organophosphate chlorpyrifos-methyl - were tested on mosquito nets in experimental huts to determine their potential for introduction as malaria control measures. Their behavioural effects and efficacy were examined in Anopheles gambiae Giles s.s. (Diptera: Culicidae) and Anopheles funestus Giles s.s. in Muheza, Tanzania, and in Anopheles arabiensis Patton and Culex quinquefasciatus Say in Moshi, Tanzania. A standardized dosage of 25 mg/m(2) plus high dosages of carbosulfan (50 mg/m(2), 100 mg/m(2) and 200 mg/m(2)) and chlorpyrifos-methyl (100 mg/m(2)) were used to compare the three types of insecticide. At 25 mg/m(2), the rank order of the insecticides for insecticide-induced mortality in wild An. gambiae and An. funestus was, respectively, carbosulfan (88%, 86%) > deltamethrin (79%, 78%) > chlorpyrifos-methyl (35%, 53%). The rank order of the insecticides for blood-feeding inhibition (reduction in the number of blood-fed mosquitoes compared with control) in wild An. gambiae and An. funestus was deltamethrin > chlorpyrifos-methyl > carbosulfan. Carbosulfan was particularly toxic to endophilic anophelines at 200 mg/m(2), killing 100% of An. gambiae and 98% of An. funestus that entered the huts. It was less effective against the more exophilic An. arabiensis (67% mortality) and carbamate-resistant Cx quinquefasciatus (36% mortality). Carbosulfan deterred anophelines from entering huts, but did not deter carbamate-resistant Cx quinquefasciatus. Deltamethrin reduced the proportion of insects engaged in blood-feeding, probably as a consequence of contact irritancy, whereas carbosulfan seemed to provide personal protection through deterred entry or perhaps a spatial repellent action. Any deployment of carbosulfan as an individual treatment on nets should be carried out on a large scale to reduce the risk of diverting mosquitoes to unprotected individuals. Chlorpyrifos-methyl was inferior to deltamethrin in terms of mortality and blood-feeding inhibition and would be better deployed on a net in combination with a pyrethroid to control insecticide-resistant mosquitoes

Um modelo de gerência de segurança baseado em objetos distribuídos

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico.Este trabalho explora a gerência de segurança no âmbito de gerenciamento de sistemas distribuídos. Nesse contexto um mecanismo de autenticação e de autorização foi implementado. A implementação considera as tecnologias da Internet (Java, WWW and Applet Java) e sistemas distribuídos baseados em objetos distribuídos segundo o OMG-CORBA (Object Management Group - Common Object Request Broker Architecture). O mecanismo implementado foi validado pela sua aplicação no protótipo SETWeb (Sistema de Extrato Telefônico via Web) que faz parte do SSTCC ( Sistema de Segurança para Telecomunicação Contra Clonagem de Celulares )

M. ulcerans infection diagnosis by fine needle aspiration

Date du colloque&nbsp;: 04/2009</p

Experimental hut evaluation of bednets treated with an organophosphate (chlorpyrifos-methyl) or a pyrethroid (lambdacyhalothrin) alone and in combination against insecticide-resistant Anopheles gambiae and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes

BACKGROUND: Pyrethroid resistant mosquitoes are becoming increasingly common in parts of Africa. It is important to identify alternative insecticides which, if necessary, could be used to replace or supplement the pyrethroids for use on treated nets. Certain compounds of an earlier generation of insecticides, the organophosphates may have potential as net treatments. METHODS: Comparative studies of chlorpyrifos-methyl (CM), an organophosphate with low mammalian toxicity, and lambdacyhalothrin (L), a pyrethroid, were conducted in experimental huts in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. Anopheles gambiae and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes from the area are resistant to pyrethroids and organophosphates (kdr and insensitive acetylcholinesterase Ace.1(R)). Several treatments and application rates on intact or holed nets were evaluated, including single treatments, mixtures, and differential wall/ceiling treatments. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: All of the treatments were effective in reducing blood feeding from sleepers under the nets and in killing both species of mosquito, despite the presence of the kdr and Ace.1(R )genes at high frequency. In most cases, the effects of the various treatments did not differ significantly. Five washes of the nets in soap solution did not reduce the impact of the insecticides on A. gambiae mortality, but did lead to an increase in blood feeding. The three combinations performed no differently from the single insecticide treatments, but the low dose mixture performed encouragingly well indicating that such combinations might be used for controlling insecticide resistant mosquitoes. Mortality of mosquitoes that carried both Ace.1(R )and Ace.1(S )genes did not differ significantly from mosquitoes that carried only Ace.1(S )genes on any of the treated nets, indicating that the Ace.1(R )allele does not confer effective resistance to chlorpyrifos-methyl under the realistic conditions of an experimental hut

Influence de Thonningia sanguinea (THOS) sur la productivité d’un élevage de poules pondeuses

L’élevage des poules a connu ces dernières années un développement rapide dans nombre de pays d’Afrique grâce à une assistance sanitaire des animaux. L’objectif de ce travail était d’évaluer l’influence de Thonningia sanguinea (codifié THOS) sur le rendement des poules pondeuses dans un élevage. Pour ce faire, nous avons étudié les effets de THOS sur l’indice de consommation (IC), le poids moyen des animaux, le taux de ponte, le poids et l’épaisseur de la coquille des oeufs. Pour chaque paramètre étudié, deux lots dont l’un traité avec THOS (lot expérimental) et l’autre non traité (lot témoin) ont été constitués. Le traitement s’est étendu sur deux semaines au cours desquelles chaque poule traitée a reçu quotidiennement 500 mg de THOS. Les résultats obtenus ont montré que THOS active la croissance pondérale et améliore la qualité et la quantité de la ponte. Dans ces conditions, il pourrait donc être utilisé comme un excellent produit vétérinaire pouvant contribuer à l’augmentation de la productivité dans un élevage.Mots clés: poule pondeuse, THOS, amélioration, productivité, Côte d’Ivoir

L’impact du capital humain sur le développement financier dans l’Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africain (UEMOA)

This article studies the impact of human capital on financial development in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). The objective of this study is to show That human capital has a positive impact on economic growth by stimulating financial development. The most important aspect of human capital in our work refers to the knowledge and skills possessed by individuals and accumulated during schooling, and experiences and which are useful for the production of goods, services and new acquisitions. Using a panel VAR model for annual data from 1995 to 2013, our results show that a positive human capital shock promotes financial development. Indeed, the primary school enrollment rate and health expenditure significantly influence the development of the financial system in the union. However, the variance decomposition analysis shows that there is a weight of about 1% to 3% between the human capital variables. This in fact demonstrates that there is a link but which could be demonstrated by the quality of education and health. These results could also suggest that while the length of schooling is important for developing countries to catch up with advanced countries, it is on the other hand essential to invest in the quality of education to better express the link. Keywords : Human capital, financial development, schooling rate, health expenditure, panel VAR JEL Classification : J24 ; G1 ; R15 Paper type : Empirical researchCet article étudie l’impact du capital humain sur le développement financier dans l’Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africain (UEMOA). L’objectif de cette étude est d’analyser l’influence du taux de scolarisation primaire et des dépenses de santé sur le développement financier. De manière spécifique, l’effet du taux de scolarisation primaire, des dépenses de santé sur les passifs liquides, les crédits au secteur privé et la capitalisation boursière dans la zone UEMOA. En utilisant un modèle VAR en panel pour des données annuelles de 1995 à 2013, nos résultats montre qu’un choc positif du capital humain favorise le développement financier. En effet, le taux de scolarisation primaire et les dépenses de santé influencent significativement le développement du système financier dans l’union. Toutefois, l’analyse de la décomposition de la variance montre qu’il existe un poids d’environ 1% à 3% entre les variables du capital humain. Cela démontre en fait qu’il existe un lien, mais qui pourrait se démontrer par la qualité de l’éducation et de la santé. Ces résultats pourraient suggérer également que si la durée de scolarité est importante pour le rattrapage des pays en développement sur les pays avancés, il est par contre essentiel d’investir dans la qualité de l’éducation pour plus exprimer le lien. Mots clefs : Capital humain, développement financier, taux de scolarisation, dépense de santé, VAR en panel Classification JEL : J24 ; G1 ; R15 Type de l’article : Recherche appliqué

Breast location of tuberculosis: a case report and literature review

Breast tuberculosis (TB) is a rare localization of extra-pulmonary TB. We report the first case observed in our daily activities to show the difficulties in the diagnosis and the good evolution in the treatment. In spite of the fact that it is rare, breast TB should not be ignored, especially in a country with high TB endemicity

Efficacity of ternidazole-neomycin sulfate-nystatin and prednisolone association in syndromic management of vaginitis in low and middle incomes countries

Background: Vaginitis is a frequent and treated based on clinical evaluation in our countries in absence of microbiological laboratories. Evaluate the effectiveness of the management of vaginitis by ternidazole, neomycin sulfate, nystatin, prednisolone association.Methods: A five-month prospective study was carried out in three health facilities in Abidjan. Two-hundred and thirty-three patients with clinical signs of vaginitis were included after signed consent. Pregnant and breast-feeding patients, hypersensitivity or idiosyncrasy to ternidazole, neomycin sulfate, nystatin, prednisolone association were not included. Patients were divided into reference group (n=200) for which a microbiological analysis of vaginal secretions was carried out 2-4 days before treatment and control group (n=33) for which treatment was initiated straightaway. Evaluation criteria were clinical symptoms, microbiological balance carried out 10 to 14 days after treatment and occurrence of side effects. Statistical tests used were Khi2 and exact Fisher test (p&lt;0.05).Results: Pathological leucorrhoea was differently observed in both group (p=0.001). During the follow-up visit, the persistence of symptoms was not different (p=0.99). This combination has demonstrated its efficacy in cases of Candida albicans vaginitis, bacterial vaginosis, trichomonas vaginalis vaginitis, and mixed vaginitis. A significantly improvement of symptoms (p=0.001) and low rate of biologically proven recurrence was observed in both groups. No allergic reactions linked was reported.Conclusions: In our countries this therapeutic combination appears to be an option for treated mixed vaginitis in first intention without preliminary samples of vaginal secretions

The Activityof the Pyrrole Insecticide Chlorfenapyr in Mosquito Bioassay: Towards a More Rational Testing and Screening of Non-neurotoxic Insecticides for Malaria\ud vector control

The rapid selection of pyrethroid resistance throughout sub-Saharan Africa is a serious threat to malaria vector control. Chlorfenapyr is a pyrrole insecticide which shows no cross resistance to insecticide classes normally used for vector control and is effective on mosquito nets under experimental hut conditions. Unlike neurotoxic insecticides, chlorfenapyr owes its toxicity to disruption of metabolic pathways in mitochondria that enable cellular respiration. A series of experiments explored whether standard World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for evaluation of long-lasting insecticidal nets, developed through testing of pyrethroid insecticides, are suitable for evaluation of non-neurotoxic insecticides. The efficacy of WHO recommended cone, cylinder and tunnel tests was compared for pyrethroids and chlorfenapyr. To establish bioassay exposure times predictive of insecticidetreated net (ITN) efficacy in experimental hut trials, standard three-minute bioassays of pyrethroid and chlorfenapyr ITNs were compared with longer exposures. Mosquito behaviour and response to chlorfenapyr ITN in bioassays conducted at night were compared to day and across a range of temperatures representative of highland and lowland transmission. Standard three-minute bioassay of chlorfenapyr produced extremely low levels of mortality compared to pyrethroids. Thirty-minute day-time bioassay produced mortality closer to hut efficacy of chlorfenapyr ITN but still fell short of the WHO threshold. Overnight tunnel test with chlorfenapyr produced 100% mortality and exceeded the WHO threshold of 80%. The endogenous circadian activity rhythm of anophelines results in inactivity by day and raised metabolism and flight activity by night. A model which explains improved toxicity of chlorfenapyr ITN when tested at night, and during the day at higher ambient temperature, is that activation of chlorfenapyr and disruption of respiratory pathways is enhanced when the insect is more metabolically and behaviourally active. Testing according to current WHO guidelines is not suitable for certain types of nonneurotoxic insecticide which, although highly effective in field trials, would be overlooked at the screening stage of evaluation through bioassay. Testing methods must be tailored to the characteristics and mode of action of each insecticide class. The WHO tunnel test on nightactive anophelines is the most reliable bioassay for identifying the toxicity of nove