Effets d’une partielle substitutionde la farine de poisson par la farine de soja sur la croissance des juvéniles de la perche du Nil (Lates niloticus, Linnaeus 1758)

La présente étude a été menée pour évaluer les effets de l’incorporation de la farine de soja dans le régime alimentaire des juvéniles de la perche du Nil. Ce travail est réalisé sur des juvéniles de 1g élevés dans des aquariums de 50 l. Cinq régimes alimentaires isoprotéiques (45% de protéines) contenant différents taux de farine de soja 0%, 26%, 36%, 51% et 60% noté respectivement A, B, C, D et E ont été préparés. Chaque régime a été assigné de façon aléatoire à trois groupes de poissons nourris à satiété durant 8 semaines. Les résultats obtenus montrent que les meilleures performances de croissance et d’efficacité alimentaire sont obtenues avec les régimes nourris avec la farine de poisson (A), suivis dans l’ordre des régimes B, C, D et E. Les taux de croissance spécifiques (TCS) varient entre 3,26% et 3,77% respectivement chez les poissons nourris avec les régimes A, B, C, D et E. Le coefficient d’efficacité protéique (CEP) a varié de 2,07 à 1,6. Les résultats statistiques montrent que le meilleur CEP est obtenu avec le régime A (P< 0.05) et le plus faible avec le régime E. Les résultats de la présente étude indiquent qu’il est possible d’incorporer 51% de la farine de soja dans l’alimentation des juvéniles de Lates niloticus sans compromettre leur croissance.Mots clés: Perche du Nil, Lates niloticus, farine de soja, grossissement, alimentation

The role of alcohol in deaths presenting to the Coroner’s Service in Cork city and county.

A retrospective study was conducted in order to determine the prevalence and concentration of alcohol in post-mortem blood samples sent for toxicological analysis in Cork City and County in 2003 and 2004. Post mortem reports of these deaths were reviewed for the presence or absence of alcohol at the time of autopsy, blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at time of death, age and sex of the decedents. Of samples sent for blood alcohol analysis (BAA), 38.4% were positive for alcohol. Significant differences were found between the proportions of alcohol positive cases by cause of death. Alcohol positive cases were significantly younger (44.3 ± 17.8 years) than alcohol negative cases (51.9 ± 19.4years) and fifty two percent of drivers were positive for alcohol at the time of death. Awareness of the harmful and potentially fatal effects of alcohol should continue to be raised within the community, so as to prevent future fatalities

Knowledge of HIV/AIDS among secondary school adolescents in Osun state, Nigeria

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to assess the knowledge of secondary school pupils in Osun State about HIV/AIDS and the sources of their information.Materials and Methods: A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 592 secondary school pupils from 5 local government areas of Osun State, Nigeria. A self-administered questionnaire was used which composed of questions on their knowledge and sources of information about HIV/AIDS.Results: About half believed that HIV can be contracted via mosquito bites and 53.7% believed via kissing. Half of the respondents agreed that a person who looks healthy can be infected and possess the ability to describe the look of an infected person. Majority (92.6%) claimed to have heard about HIV/AIDS prior to the study. More than half (67.8%) agreed that HIV/AIDS is a life-threatening disease, 29.4% said there is a cure for AIDS, and 77.6% thought that the government is doing enough to deal with the disease. The most important sources of HIV/AIDS information among the respondents were the media and the least important sources of information were the traditional healers (35.3%).Conclusion: This study revealed a high-level misconception among secondary school pupils in Osun State, Nigeria. Mass media was the major source of information with doubtful effectiveness evidenced by obvious erroneous beliefs. An improved multisectorial approach in HIV/AIDS education with greater participation of school and public libraries is advised

Awareness of Public Library and Utilization of its HIV/AIDS Information Resources and Services by Secondary School Adolescents

Public libraries have become become common ground for providing proactive prevention-focused AIDS information services. The aim of this study was to evaluate the awareness of presence of public librariesand low utilization of their AIDS information services. Librarians still have daunting work to do in Nigeria.  Secondary school students were recruited from Osogbo and Ile-Ife and were asked through a paper questionnaire to respond to whether they were aware of the public library in their city; positive respondents were then implored to provide answers to enquiries about their utilization of AIDS information resources and services. 420 students participated in the study, 52.9% of them were aware of public library in their city; prevalently found among females, senior students and respondents from Osogbo. About half of the respondents who were aware of public libraries actually visited one before. Library based services were used more by the males while the females used more of the outreach services.This study revealed moderate awareness of public libraries and low utilization of their AIDS information services. Librarians still have daunting work to do in Nigeria.Key words: Awareness, utilization, public libraries, students, adolescent

The impact of environmental and human factors on urban heat and microclimate variability

Urbanization is known to cause noticeable changes in the properties of local climate. Studies have shown that urban areas, compared to rural areas with less artificial surfaces, register higher local temperatures as a result of Urban Heat Islands (UHIs). Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world and a high proportion of its population residing in densely built high-rise buildings are experiencing some degrees of thermal discomfort. This study selected Mong Kok and Causeway Bay, two typical urban communities in Hong Kong, to gather evidence of microclimate variation and sources of thermal discomfort. UHIs were estimated from 58 logging sensors placed at strategic locations to take temperature and humidity measurements over 17 consecutive days each in the summer/hot and winter/cool periods. By employing geographic information and global positioning systems, these measurements were geocoded and plotted over the built landscape to convey microclimate variation. The empirical data were further aligned with distinct environmental settings to associate possible factors contributing to UHIs. This study established the existence and extent of microclimate variation of UHI within urban communities of different environmental configuration and functional uses. The findings provided essential groundwork for further studies of UHI effects to inform sources of local thermal discomfort and better planning design to safeguard environmental health in public areas.postprin

Learning activation functions from data using cubic spline interpolation

Neural networks require a careful design in order to perform properly on a given task. In particular, selecting a good activation function (possibly in a data-dependent fashion) is a crucial step, which remains an open problem in the research community. Despite a large amount of investigations, most current implementations simply select one fixed function from a small set of candidates, which is not adapted during training, and is shared among all neurons throughout the different layers. However, neither two of these assumptions can be supposed optimal in practice. In this paper, we present a principled way to have data-dependent adaptation of the activation functions, which is performed independently for each neuron. This is achieved by leveraging over past and present advances on cubic spline interpolation, allowing for local adaptation of the functions around their regions of use. The resulting algorithm is relatively cheap to implement, and overfitting is counterbalanced by the inclusion of a novel damping criterion, which penalizes unwanted oscillations from a predefined shape. Experimental results validate the proposal over two well-known benchmarks.Comment: Submitted to the 27th Italian Workshop on Neural Networks (WIRN 2017

Demonstration project on epilepsy in Brazil - Outcome assessment

Purpose: To assess the outcome of patients with epilepsy treated at primary care health units under the framework of the demonstration project on epilepsy in Brazil, part of the WHO/ILAE/IBE Global Campaign Against Epilepsy. Method. We assessed the outcome of patients treated at four primary health units. The staff of the health units underwent information training in epilepsy. The outcome assessment was based on: 1) reduction of seizure frequency, 2) subjective perception from the patient's and the physician's point of view, 3) reduction of absenteeism, 4) social integration (school and work), and 5) sense of independence. Results: A total of 181 patients (93 women - 51%) with a mean age of 38 (range from 2 to 86) years were studied. The mean follow-up was 26 months (range from 1 to 38 months, 11 patients had follow-up of less than 12 months). Seizure frequency was assessed based on a score system, ranging from 0 (no seizure in the previous 24 months) to 7 (> 10 seizure/day). The baseline median seizure-frequency score was 3 (one to three seizures per month). At the end of the study the median seizure-frequency score was 1 (one to three seizures per year). The patients' and relatives' opinions were that in the majority (59%) the health status had improved a lot, some (19%) had improved a little, 20% experienced no change and in 2% the health status was worse. With regard to absenteeism, social integration and sense of independence, there were some modest improvements only. Discussion: The development of a model of epilepsy treatment at primary health level based on the existing health system, with strategic measures centred on the health care providers and the community, has proved to be effective providing important reductions in seizure frequency, as well as in general well being. This model can be applied nationwide, as the key elements already exist provided that strategic measures are put forward in accordance with local health providers and managers