In vitro antifungal activity of the soap formulation of the hexane leaf extract of morinda morindoides (morinda; rubiaceae)

Purpose: The aim of this study was to formulate the hexane extract of the leaves of Morinda morindoides (Baker) Milne-Redh (Rubiaceae) as soap and evaluate its antifungal activity against fungal isolates of human origin. Method: The hexane extract of Morinda morindoides was incorporated as an antifungal agent in soap (SMM) and tested against 4 strains of dermatophytes (Candida albicans, Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Aspergillus fumigatus) using basic soap (BS) as control. Agar dilution method at serial concentrations ranging from 125 mg/ml to 3.9 mg/ml was used for the determination of the antimicrobial parameters - MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) and IC50 (concentration producing 50 % inhibition) for these strains.Result: The growth of all fungal strains tested was inhibited by the Morinda morindoides extract soap (SMM) at MIC of 31.25 mg/ml. On the other hand, basic soap (control) inhibited Candida albicans at MIC of 125 mg/ml and at MIC of 62.50 mg/ml for the other 3 strains tested. Thus, SMM showed stronger antifungal activity against the strains tested than the control (basic soap). Conclusion: The hexane extract of Morinda morindoides leaves incorporated in soap exerted antifungal activity against the fungal strains tested. Thus, this soap formulation may find use in the treatment of dermatomycoses.Keywords: Morinda morindoides; Antifungal activity; Hexane extract; Soap; Dermatophyte

Neonatal Jaundice: awareness, perception and preventive practices in expectant mothers

Background: Neonatal jaundice (NNJ) is a preventable cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Improving mothers’ knowledge will help with early recognition of NNJ, prompt and appropriate intervention. This study highlights the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding neonatal jaundice among expectant mothers attending the antenatal clinics of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and Mamprobi Polyclinic in Accra.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 175 expectant mothers. Interviewer based questionnaire was used to obtain data on knowledge, attitude and practice concerning NNJ. The study was conducted between 1st and 17th November 2013 at two antenatal clinics in Accra.Results: Out of the 175 respondents, 135 (77.1%) had heard about NNJ but only 37 (27.4%) of them heard it from the hospital. Among those who had heard about NNJ, 98 (72.6%) knew at least one symptom of NNJ; 125 (92.6%) did not know the causes of jaundice or had the wrong information and there was no significant association with theirlevel of education (X2 =6.757, p=0.15). Only 7(5.2%) knew one or more correct forms of treatment of NNJ; 67(49.6%) knew one or more danger signs and 86(63.5%) knew one or more complications.Conclusion: Majority of expectant mothers attending antenatal clinics at a Teaching Hospital and a Polyclinic in Accra, Ghana are aware of NNJ but have poor knowledge about the causes, danger signs and treatment of NNJ, irrespective of their level of education or their parity.Keywords: Jaundice, new born, mothers, knowledge, AccraFunding: None declare

Position resolution and particle identification with the ATLAS EM calorimeter

In the years between 2000 and 2002 several pre-series and series modules of the ATLAS EM barrel and end-cap calorimeter were exposed to electron, photon and pion beams. The performance of the calorimeter with respect to its finely segmented first sampling has been studied. The polar angle resolution has been found to be in the range 50-60 mrad/sqrt(E (GeV)). The neutral pion rejection has been measured to be about 3.5 for 90% photon selection efficiency at pT=50 GeV/c. Electron-pion separation studies have indicated that a pion fake rate of (0.07-0.5)% can be achieved while maintaining 90% electron identification efficiency for energies up to 40 GeV.Comment: 32 pages, 22 figures, to be published in NIM

Prototype ATLAS IBL Modules using the FE-I4A Front-End Readout Chip

The ATLAS Collaboration will upgrade its semiconductor pixel tracking detector with a new Insertable B-layer (IBL) between the existing pixel detector and the vacuum pipe of the Large Hadron Collider. The extreme operating conditions at this location have necessitated the development of new radiation hard pixel sensor technologies and a new front-end readout chip, called the FE-I4. Planar pixel sensors and 3D pixel sensors have been investigated to equip this new pixel layer, and prototype modules using the FE-I4A have been fabricated and characterized using 120 GeV pions at the CERN SPS and 4 GeV positrons at DESY, before and after module irradiation. Beam test results are presented, including charge collection efficiency, tracking efficiency and charge sharing.Comment: 45 pages, 30 figures, submitted to JINS

Expected Performance of the ATLAS Experiment - Detector, Trigger and Physics

A detailed study is presented of the expected performance of the ATLAS detector. The reconstruction of tracks, leptons, photons, missing energy and jets is investigated, together with the performance of b-tagging and the trigger. The physics potential for a variety of interesting physics processes, within the Standard Model and beyond, is examined. The study comprises a series of notes based on simulations of the detector and physics processes, with particular emphasis given to the data expected from the first years of operation of the LHC at CERN

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson

Measurement of χ c1 and χ c2 production with s√ = 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

The prompt and non-prompt production cross-sections for the χ c1 and χ c2 charmonium states are measured in pp collisions at s√ = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using 4.5 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The χ c states are reconstructed through the radiative decay χ c → J/ψγ (with J/ψ → μ + μ −) where photons are reconstructed from γ → e + e − conversions. The production rate of the χ c2 state relative to the χ c1 state is measured for prompt and non-prompt χ c as a function of J/ψ transverse momentum. The prompt χ c cross-sections are combined with existing measurements of prompt J/ψ production to derive the fraction of prompt J/ψ produced in feed-down from χ c decays. The fractions of χ c1 and χ c2 produced in b-hadron decays are also measured

Measurement of the flavour composition of dijet events in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper describes a measurement of the flavour composition of dijet events produced in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV using the ATLAS detector. The measurement uses the full 2010 data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 39 pb−1. Six possible combinations of light, charm and bottom jets are identified in the dijet events, where the jet flavour is defined by the presence of bottom, charm or solely light flavour hadrons in the jet. Kinematic variables, based on the properties of displaced decay vertices and optimised for jet flavour identification, are used in a multidimensional template fit to measure the fractions of these dijet flavour states as functions of the leading jet transverse momentum in the range 40 GeV to 500 GeV and jet rapidity |y|<2.1. The fit results agree with the predictions of leading- and next-to-leading-order calculations, with the exception of the dijet fraction composed of bottom and light flavour jets, which is underestimated by all models at large transverse jet momenta. The ability to identify jets containing two b-hadrons, originating from e.g. gluon splitting, is demonstrated. The difference between bottom jet production rates in leading and subleading jets is consistent with the next-to-leading-order predictions