Evaluating changes in reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a plausible mechanism underlying the effect of noise on dopamine release

Excessive exposure to noise has been implicated in hearing loss but the mechanism by which this happens remains unknown. Dopamine, an important neurotransmitter involved in learning and reward-related behaviors has also been reported in the central auditory pathways, suggesting its role in auditory processes. For example, dopamine is found in the inferior colliculus, a principal integration center for auditory responses, and is reported to modulate auditory processes. A recent study has shown that loud noise exposure decreases gene expression for tyrosine hydroxylase (a rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of dopamine) in the inferior colliculus, implying diminished dopamine levels. On another hand, excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a major contributor to noise-induced hearing loss. ROS can also modulate neuronal processes, including synaptic dopamine release. Thus, we hypothesize that loud noise would trigger overproduction of ROS and in turn attenuate dopamine release in the inferior colliculus. The present work evaluates changes in the ROS, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as a plausible mechanism underlying the effect of noise on the dopamine system in the inferior colliculus. Following noise exposure (118 dB sound pressure level at 1/3 octave band for four hours) synaptic changes in H2O2 were assessed with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) in brain slices from adult Sprague Dawley rats and compared to their controls (triangular waveform at a carbon-fiber microelectrode surface between +0.2 V and +1.3 V at a scan rate of 400 V/s). Furthermore, intracellular changes in H2O2 was evaluated using H2O2 assay (National Diagnostics) following noise exposure. Overall, the combination of FSCV and H2O2 assay revealed changes that suggest ROS mediates noise induced alterations in the dopamine system in the inferior colliculus

Land Use Land Cover Change within Kakum Conservation Area in the Assin South District of Ghana, 1991-2015

Kakum Conservation Area is roughly 1187km2, extending over large portions of forest reserves in the Assin South District of Ghana. The district hosts the remaining biodiversity hotspots within highly fragmented rainforest of West Africa. Although the conservation has been gazetted as protected area, it has since been impacted by illegal chainsaw logging, expanding agricultural land use and built construction to meet the housing needs of the rapidly growing population of the district. However, there is paucity of data on the magnitude, rate and types of land cover change occurring in the district. This study seeks to address these by examining the magnitude, the rate and direction of change in land cover between 1991 and 2015. The study objective was achieved using supervised classification and post classification change detection of remotely sensed Landsat satellite imagery of the district taken in 1991, 2001 and 2015. The results show that, within the study period, the population of the area increased by 2.9%, thick forest decreased by 8.2km2, light forest increased by 5.3km2 and built environment increased by 2.9km2 per annum. These results are considered potential hindrance to sustainable development, including biodiversity conservation in the forest reserves and climate change mitigation in general. There is therefore need for measures to end deforestation and stimulate reforestation of the lost forest cover. The district needs to initiate an enquiry into the effectiveness of the current forest reserve management practices and sustainability of land use systems in the district

Resettlement Programme Implementation: The Effect on Livelihoods of People in Mining Communities in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, Ghana

Research affirms the assertion that mining-induced displacement and resettlement (MIDR) impoverishes livelihoods.  Particular of such impoverishments include; landlessness, joblessness, and social disarticulation. This thus threatens the sustainable and human-centered development the world seeks to attain. However, policy documents and researchers such as the World Bank’s Involuntary Resettlement Sourcebook (2004) and Sonnenberg and Münster (2001) propose the preparation of resettlement programmes as an intervention for the mitigation of the adverse effects of resettlement. Despite the introduction of resettlement programmes, relocation and resettlement continues to impoverish the livelihoods of affected population. This paper assesses the extent to which resettlement programmes have affected livelihoods of people in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality. The paper first identifies some models and theories that underpin the preparation of resettlement programmes. It then proceeds to assess the effect of resettlement programme on livelihoods of affected households. Thirdly, it identifies the effect on societal ties. Fourtly, the paper identifies the challenges of an effective resettlement programme implementation. Lastly, the study makes plausible recommendations and way forward for an effective resettlement programme implementation. The study thus concludes that for the extractive industry to be beneficial to both the national and local economies there should be commitment to implementation strategies of resettlement programmes. Control measures should be put in place to manage all participation challenges of resettlement programmes. In this way, the primary aim of resettlement programmes would be achieved without blemish. Keywords: Mining-Induced Displacement and Resettlement (MIDR), Resettlement Programme, Impoverishment, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, Affected Household

Contribution of the Hospitality and Tourism Sector to the Development of Local Communities in the Hohoe Municipality, Ghana.

Tourism is now one of the world’s largest industries and one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. Its high growth and development rates, considerable volumes of foreign currency inflows actively affect various sectors of economy, which positively contributes to the development of own tourist industry. Many researchers have asserted that, all tourism indicators show a consistent trend of growth in terms of contribution to GDP, foreign exchange earnings etc. In view of its potential, the government of Ghana over the years has instituted measures to salvage the industry from possible collapse. However, the performance of the sector is constrained by a number of factors in view of the fact harnessing potentials of the industry to become the leading foreign exchange earner in Ghana has not been fully realised.   The paper investigated the contributions of the tourism industry to the growth and development of the Hohoe Municipality which is a host to most of the vibrant tourist attractions in the Volta Region. To achieve the objectives of the study, primary data was collected from three communities with tourist attractions in the Municipality (i.e. Tafi Atome monkey sanctuary; Mt. Afadjato and Tagbo falls, Liati Wote; and Wli falls).   The study revealed that, the municipality received GH¢122,877.90 in 2008 as tourism revenue with an average annual growth rate of 162.2 % per annum. However, in 2011, the figure reduced to GH¢18,122.5 due to lack of marketing and promotion as well as institutional bottlenecks. The paper recommends capacity building for the local communities as well as including tourism marketing and promotion, private sector participation in building a vibrant and diverse tourism in the Municipality and Ghana in general. Key words: Development, growth, Tourism Marketing, Arrivals, MDG

Electronic inhomogeneity and Ag:Sb imbalance of Ag1−yPb18Sb1+zTe20 high-performance thermoelectrics elucidated by 125Te and 207Pb NMR

Using magic-angle spinning 125Te and 207Pb NMR, we have discovered the presence of two phases of approximately tenfold different free-electron concentration, n, in high-performance thermoelectrics Ag1−yPb18Sb1+zTe20 (“LAST-18”), proven by pairs of Knight-shifted NMR peaks and biexponential spin-lattice relaxation. The ratio of the phases is typically 2:1 with n ≈ 2 × 1019 cm−3 and 0.2 × 1019 cm−3, respectively, determined from the spin-lattice relaxation times. 125Te NMR spectra show that both phases contain similar concentrations of Sb. The low-n component is assigned to Ag-rich regions with Ag-Sb pairing (but not AgSbTe2), the dominant high-n component to PbTe:Sb resulting from the excess of Sb relative to Ag. The electronic inhomogeneity observed here must be considered in the search for a better understanding of high performance thermoelectric materials

Opioid Overdose Deaths in Vermont: Effectiveness of Buprenorphine Provider Density on Mortality Rates

Background Since 2017, there has been an increase in the frequency of mortality related to opioids in Vermont. Buprenorphine is a great alternative to traditional opioids because of its efficacy in treating opioid use disorder (OUD), however, it is underutilized by providers due to needing a specific waiver to prescribe it. This project looks at two different angles: is the number of Buprenorphine providers associated with the number opioid related deaths per county?; and does a rural setting in Vermont affect mortality rates due to a possible lack of Buprenorphine providers? Methods The incidence of overdose deaths per county to the number of buprenorphine providers per county were compared, as listed on the Vermont Department of Health website. Tukey HSD and Bonferroni statistical tests were run to measure a linear association between deaths per county and city town code (CTC). Grand Isle County was excluded from the analysis due to no deaths. Results Counties with medium provider densities had higher numbers of overdose deaths compared to counties with higher and lower provider densities. Some limitations in the study included the lack of diversity and the inability to synchronize the Vermont mortality data registry from 2017-2019 to the date buprenorphine providers received their x-waiver. Conclusion Further research is needed to investigate if there needs to be a reevaluation of the hub and spoke program as well as the impact of other factors, such as age and cities, have any effect on the opioid related death rates in Vermont

Comment on "Evidence for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay"

We comment on the recent claim for the experimental observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay. We discuss several limitations in the analysis provided in that paper and conclude that there is no basis for the presented claim.Comment: A comment written to Modern Physics Letters A. 4 pages, no figures. Updated version, accepted for publicatio

Testing the LMA solution with solar neutrinos independently of solar models

We perform a comparative study of two methods of determining the survival probabilities of low, intermediate, and high energy solar neutrinos that emphasizes the general agreement between the Large Mixing Angle (LMA) solution and extant solar neutrino data. The first analysis is oscillation parameter-independent and the second analysis involves an approximate calculation of the survival probabilities in the three energy ranges that depends only on oscillation parameters. We show that future experiments like BOREXino, CLEAN, Heron, LENS and MOON, that measure $pp$ and $^7$Be neutrinos, will facilitate a stringent test of the LMA solution independently of the Standard Solar Model (SSM), without recourse to earth-matter effects. Throughout, we describe the role of SSM assumptions on our results. If the LMA solution passes the test without needing to be modified, it may be possible to establish that $\theta_x$ is nonzero at more than $2\sigma$ assuming the SSM prediction for the $pp$ flux is correct.Comment: Final SNO salt-phase data included in analysis. Version to appear in PL

Multi-layer scintillation detector for the MOON double beta decay experiment: Scintillation photon responses studied by a prototype detector MOON-1

An ensemble of multi-layer scintillators is discussed as an option of the high-sensitivity detector Mo Observatory Of Neutrinos (MOON) for spectroscopic measurements of neutrino-less double beta decays. A prototype detector MOON-1, which consists of 6 layer plastic-scintillator plates, was built to study the sensitivity of the MOON-type detector. The scintillation photon collection and the energy resolution, which are key elements for the high-sensitivity experiments, are found to be 1835+/-30 photo-electrons for 976 keV electrons and sigma = 2.9+/-0.1% (dE/E = 6.8+/-0.3 % in FWHM) at the Qbb ~ 3 MeV region, respectively. The multi-layer plastic-scintillator structure with good energy resolution as well as good background suppression of beta-gamma rays is crucial for the MOON-type detector to achieve the inverted hierarchy neutrino mass sensitivity.Comment: 8 pages, 16 figures, submitted to Nucl.Instrum.Met

Project 8 Phase III Design Concept

We present a working concept for Phase III of the Project 8 experiment, aiming to achieve a neutrino mass sensitivity of $2~\mathrm{eV}$ ($90~\%$ C.L.) using a large volume of molecular tritium and a phased antenna array. The detection system is discussed in detail.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of Neutrino 2016, XXVII International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, 4-9 July 2016, London, U