Insect pests’ incidence and variations due to forest landscape degradation in the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon: farmers’ perception and need for adopting an integrated pest management strategy

Group surveys were conducted in five villages in each of the three resource-use zones of the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon, to assess insect pests’ incidence and the variation due to forest landscape degradation in the agricultural production systems. 389 farmers were interviewed. The results show that: (1) In annual crop systems, insect pests in general rank together with vertebrate pests and diseases amongst the most important agronomic constraints. No differences were found between the intensification zones, except for weeds, which appeared to be a greater constraint in the slightly degraded area. Within the insect pest, the greatest damage to crops according to farmers originated from borers and scales, followed by variegated grasshopper. Only the termites showed a difference between zones - the problem being greatest in the high-degraded areas. (2) In the young perennial crop systems, all the categories of agronomic constraints were equally important. Within the insect pest, mirids were identified as the greatest constraint, followed by borers and caterpillars. There were more variations in the responses according to zones compared to annual crops. Termites and scales were relatively more important in the high-degraded area. In term of control strategy, we recommended an integrated pest management.Keywords: Farmers, pest, insect, annual crop, perennial crop, integrated pest managemen

Farmers' perception on the importance of variegated grasshopper (Zonocerus variegatus (L.)) in the agricultural production systems of the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon

BACKGROUND: Zonocerus variegatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae) is known as an agricultural pest in West and Central Africa. However, its importance in the agricultural production system in Cameroon has not been investigated. The study assesses farmers' perception on the importance of Z. variegatus in the agricultural production systems of the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon. METHODS: Research was carried out in 5 villages of each of three Agro-Ecological, Cultural and Demographic Blocks (AECD-Blocks) of the Forest Margin Benchmark Area (FMBA). In each village, a semi-structured survey was used; male and female groups of farmers were interviewed separately. RESULTS: Z. variegatus is present throughout the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon, where it is ranked as the third most economically important insect pest of agriculture. In the farmers' opinion, Z. variegatus is a polyphagous insect with little impact on young perennial crops. The length of the pre-farming fallow does not affect Z. variegatus pest pressure in the following crops. The increased impact of the grasshopper observed today in the fields, compared to what existed 10 years ago is as a result of deforestation and increase in surface of herbaceous fallow. The damage caused by Z. variegatus is higher in fields adjacent to C. odorata and herbaceous fallows than in those adjacent to forests and shrubby fallows. The fight against this grasshopper is often done through physical methods carried out by hand, for human consumption. The farmers highlight low usage of the chemical methods and a total absence of biological and ecological methods. CONCLUSION: Farmers' perception have contributed to understanding the status of Z. variegatus in the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon. The results are in general similar to those obtained in other countries

Approche décisionnelle géospatiale et multicritère dans l’identification des zones potentielles de recharge des eaux souterraines : cas du bassin versant du Mayo Bocki au Nord Cameroun

La présente étude a été effectuée pour déterminer les zones potentielles de recharge des eaux souterraines. Pour ce faire, la démarche  méthodologique était basée sur l’analyse multicritère associée aux techniques géospatiales. Les données utilisées étaient entre autres les images  satellitaires, les fonds cartographiques, les données pluviométriques et les niveaux statiques. Ces données ont permis d’exprimer sous forme de  carte thématique les facteurs régissant la recharge (pente, drainage, lithologie, fracturation, sol, pluviométrie et occupation du sol). L’analyse de  sensibilité par suppression d’un paramètre a permis d’établir l’ordre d’influence suivant : Lit > Sol > AACH > Df > Pl > Pe > Dd > OS. Le croisement de  tous ces paramètres après pondération a conduit à l’élaboration de la carte qui montre que les zones à ort potentiel occupent 3 % de la zone d’étude  pendant que les zones de faible à faible potentialité sont de l’ordre de 58 % dans le bassin. Les zones à potentialité moyenne quant à elles  représentent 39%. Ce support cartographique constitue indéniablement un outil d’aide à la décision pour les gestionnaires de l’eau.   This study was carried out to determine potential groundwater recharge areas. To do this, the methodological approach was based on multi-criteria  analysis associated with geospatial techniques. The data used were, among others, satellite images, base maps, rainfall data and static levels. These  data made it possible to express in the form of a thematic map the factors governing the recharge (slope, drainage, lithology, fracturing, soil,  rainfall and land use). The sensitivity analysis by deletion of a parameter made it possible to establish the following order of influence: Lit > Sol  > AACH > Df > Pl > Pe > Dd > OS. The crossing of all these parameters after weighting led to the development of the map of potential recharge zones  which revealed that the zones with high potential occupy 3% of the study zone while the zones with low to low potentiality are around 58% in  the basin. Areas with average potential represent 39%. This cartographic support is undeniably a decision-making tool for water managers

Numérotation des graphes sociaux basée sur les communautés pour la réduction des défauts de cache

Last version asked for publication 10th may; finally accepted in 6th April 2017; Accepted after minor changes in 17th October 2016,International audienceABSTRACT. One of social graph's properties is the community structure, that is, subsets where nodes belonging to the same subset have a higher link density between themselves and a low link density with nodes belonging to external subsets. Futhermore, most social network mining algorithms comprise a local exploration of the underlying graph, which consists in referencing nodes in the neighborhood of a particular node. The idea of this paper is to use the community structure during the storage of large graphs that arise in social network mining. The goal is to reduce cache misses and consequently, execution time. After formalizing the problem of social network ordering as a problem of optimal linear arrangement which is known as NP-Complet, we propose NumBaCo, a heuristic based on the community structure. We present for Katz score and Pagerank, simulations that compare classic data structures Bloc and Yale to their corresponding versions that use NumBaCo. Results on a 32 cores NUMA machine using amazon, dblp and web-google datasets show that NumBaCo allows to reduce from 62% to 80% of cache misses and from 15% to 50% of execution time.L'une des propriétés des graphes sociaux est leur structure en communautés, c'est-à-dire en sous-ensembles où les noeuds ont une forte densité de liens entre eux et une faible den-sité de liens avec l'extérieur. Par ailleurs, la plupart des algorithmes de fouille des réseaux sociaux comportent une exploration locale du graphe sous-jacent, ce qui amène à partir d'un noeud, à faire référence aux noeuds situés dans son voisinage. L'idée de cet article est d'exploiter la structure en communautés lors du stockage des grands graphes qui surviennent dans la fouille des réseaux so-ciaux. L'objectif est de réduire le nombre de défauts de cache avec pour conséquence l'amélioration du temps d'exécution. Après avoir formalisé le problème de numérotation des noeuds des réseaux sociaux comme un problème d'arrangement linéaire optimal qui est connu comme NP-Complet, nous proposons NumBaCo, une heuristique basée sur la struture en communautés. Nous présentons pour le score de Katz et Pagerank, des simulations comparant les structures de données classiques Bloc et Yale à leurs versions exploitant NumBaCo. Les résultats obtenus sur une machine NUMA de 32 coeurs à partir des jeux de données amazon, dblp et web-google montrent que NumBaCo contribue à diminuer les défauts de cache de 62% à 80% et le temps d'exécution de 15% à 50%

Tracking the Development of Muscular Myoglobin Stores in Mysticete Calves

For marine mammals, the ability to tolerate apnea and make extended dives is a defining adaptive trait, facilitating the exploitation of marine food resources. Elevated levels of myoglobin within the muscles are a consistent hallmark of this trait, allowing oxygen collected at the surface to be stored in the muscles and subsequently used to support extended dives. In mysticetes, the largest of marine predators, details on muscular myoglobin levels are limited. The developmental trajectory of muscular myoglobin stores has yet to be documented and any physiological links between early behavior and the development of muscular myoglobin stores remain unknown. In this study, we used muscle tissue samples from stranded mysticetes to investigate these issues. Samples from three different age cohorts and three species of mysticetes were included (total sample size = 18). Results indicate that in mysticete calves, muscle myoglobin stores comprise only a small percentage (17–23%) of conspecific adult myoglobin complements. Development of elevated myoglobin levels is protracted over the course of extended maturation in mysticetes. Additionally, comparisons of myoglobin levels between and within muscles, along with details of interspecific differences in rates of accumulation of myoglobin in very young mysticetes, suggest that levels of exercise may influence the rate of development of myoglobin stores in young mysticetes. This new information infers a close interplay between the physiology, ontogeny and early life history of young mysticetes and provides new insight into the pressures that may shape adaptive strategies in migratory mysticetes. Furthermore, the study highlights the vulnerability of specific age cohorts to impending changes in the availability of foraging habitat and marine resources

Opposite-side flavour tagging of B mesons at the LHCb experiment

The calibration and performance of the oppositeside flavour tagging algorithms used for the measurements of time-dependent asymmetries at the LHCb experiment are described. The algorithms have been developed using simulated events and optimized and calibrated with B + →J/ψK +, B0 →J/ψK ∗0 and B0 →D ∗− μ + νμ decay modes with 0.37 fb−1 of data collected in pp collisions at √ s = 7 TeV during the 2011 physics run. The oppositeside tagging power is determined in the B + → J/ψK + channel to be (2.10 ± 0.08 ± 0.24) %, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic

Measurement of the CP-violating phase phi_s in the decay Bs->J/psi phi

We present a measurement of the time-dependent CP-violating asymmetry in B_s -> J/psi phi decays, using data collected with the LHCb detector at the LHC. The decay time distribution of B_s -> J/psi phi is characterized by the decay widths Gamma_H and Gamma_L of the heavy and light mass eigenstates of the B_s-B_s-bar system and by a CP-violating phase phi_s. In a sample of about 8500 B_s -> J/psi phi events isolated from 0.37 fb^-1 of pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV we measure phi_s = 0.15 +/- 0.18 (stat) +/- 0.06 (syst) rad. We also find an average B_s decay width Gamma_s == (Gamma_L + Gamma_H)/2 = 0.657 +/- 0.009 (stat) +/- 0.008 (syst) ps^-1 and a decay width difference Delta Gamma_s == Gamma_L - Gamma_H} = 0.123 +/- 0.029 (stat) +/- 0.011 (syst) ps^-1. Our measurement is insensitive to the transformation (phi_s,DeltaGamma_s --> pi - phi_s, - Delta Gamma_s.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma)

The ratio of branching fractions of the radiative B decays B0 -> K*0 gamma and Bs0 -> phi gamma has been measured using 0.37 fb-1 of pp collisions at a centre of mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, collected by the LHCb experiment. The value obtained is BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) = 1.12 +/- 0.08 ^{+0.06}_{-0.04} ^{+0.09}_{-0.08}, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third is associated to the ratio of fragmentation fractions fs/fd. Using the world average for BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma) = (4.33 +/- 0.15) x 10^{-5}, the branching fraction BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) is measured to be (3.9 +/- 0.5) x 10^{-5}, which is the most precise measurement to date.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, 2 table

Search for CP violation in D+→K−K+π+D^{+} \to K^{-}K^{+}\pi^{+} decays

A model-independent search for direct CP violation in the Cabibbo suppressed decay $D^+ \to K^- K^+\pi^+$ in a sample of approximately 370,000 decays is carried out. The data were collected by the LHCb experiment in 2010 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb$^{-1}$. The normalized Dalitz plot distributions for $D^+$ and $D^-$ are compared using four different binning schemes that are sensitive to different manifestations of CP violation. No evidence for CP asymmetry is found.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Measurement of charged particle multiplicities in pppp collisions at s=7{\sqrt{s} =7}TeV in the forward region

The charged particle production in proton-proton collisions is studied with the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of ${\sqrt{s} =7}$TeV in different intervals of pseudorapidity $\eta$. The charged particles are reconstructed close to the interaction region in the vertex detector, which provides high reconstruction efficiency in the $\eta$ ranges $-2.5<\eta<-2.0$ and $2.0<\eta<4.5$. The data were taken with a minimum bias trigger, only requiring one or more reconstructed tracks in the vertex detector. By selecting an event sample with at least one track with a transverse momentum greater than 1 GeV/c a hard QCD subsample is investigated. Several event generators are compared with the data; none are able to describe fully the multiplicity distributions or the charged particle density distribution as a function of $\eta$. In general, the models underestimate the charged particle production