Information Needs and Access among Women in Sagnerigu District of Northern Region, Ghana

The aim of this study was to assess the information needs, sources and the challenges of information access among women in Sagnerigu district in Northern Ghana. Data was collected through questionnaire and interviews from 150 women participants in different geographical zones in the district. The study discovered that majority of women in the Sagnerigu district often need information that is related to agriculture, health and family planning issues. However, it was clear from the analysis that, the women do not have access to the required information that would alleviate poverty among them. There were two critical access gaps between the women with formal education and those without formal education. For their information needs, majority of the women trusted interpersonal networks which they are comfortable with such as family, friends, neighbours and social groupings as against formal sources of information such as internet and the newspapers which are less reliable and used. It was also revealed that access to information by women is affected by lack of skills, financial resources and the existence of rural and urban differences as well as gender and other inequalities. The study suggested the establishment of information systems and centres such as libraries, internet, information and communication technology centres by integrating it into a wider educational programmes in the district

Fractional extracts of Azadirachta indica leaf affect spermiogram, testosterone profile, and testis histology of rabbit bucks

The effect of fractions from a crude extract of Azadirachta indica leaves on spermatogenesis, testicular histology and testosterone concentration of New Zealand White rabbits were evaluated in this study. Twenty-five matured male New Zealand White rabbits were used for this study and were randomly assigned to five groups (A, B, C, D, and E). Group A served as the control and was administered distilled water (0.5ml); while groups B, C, D and E served as the hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and butanol treated groups, respectively at the same dosage of 300 mg/kg. Semen samples were collected using an artificial vagina weekly for twelve weeks and were evaluated for volume, colour, motility, concentration, percentage live-dead ratio and morphological abnormalities. A blood sample (2ml) was also collected from each buck through venipuncture of the ear vein three times at regular intervals for the determination of testosterone concentration. Two bucks from each group were humanely sacrificed at the end of the experiment for testicular histology. Significantly lower (p<0.05) sperm motility, higher dead sperm cells, sperm abnormalities, degenerative changes, depletion and vacuolation of spermatogenic cell layers were observed in treatment group C at the end of the experiment. The present study has shown that the chloroform fraction of methanolic crude Azadirachta indica (neem) leaves extract is detrimental to sperm cells and testicular histology

Antibiotics Susceptibility Pattern of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Wounds in Patients Attending Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria

This work investigated the prevalence and antibiotics sensitivity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from wounds of patients attending Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria-Nigeria. One hundred Isolates were characterized and identified from the specimens using standard microbiological methods. The results of the isolation and identification showed that 55(55%) were Gram-negative organisms and 44 (44%) were Gram-positive. Klebsiella species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa accounted for 25% of the Gramnegative organisms, followed by Proteus species 19%, Klebsiella species 14% and Escherichia coli accounts for 11%, while Staphylococcus aureus 44% was the predominant Gram-positive organism. Antibiotic susceptibility pattern was determined using the disc diffusion method where the susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated in wounds was observed. The highest sensitivity was observed for ofloxacin, moderate susceptibility was observed for ampicillin, cefuroxime and ceftriazone. The results obtained indicated strong resistance to cotrimoxazole, amoxicillin tetracycline and augmentin. There is the need for routine antibiotic sensitivity check

Impacts of climate change on plant diseases – opinions and trends

There has been a remarkable scientific output on the topic of how climate change is likely to affect plant diseases in the coming decades. This review addresses the need for review of this burgeoning literature by summarizing opinions of previous reviews and trends in recent studies on the impacts of climate change on plant health. Sudden Oak Death is used as an introductory case study: Californian forests could become even more susceptible to this emerging plant disease, if spring precipitations will be accompanied by warmer temperatures, although climate shifts may also affect the current synchronicity between host cambium activity and pathogen colonization rate. A summary of observed and predicted climate changes, as well as of direct effects of climate change on pathosystems, is provided. Prediction and management of climate change effects on plant health are complicated by indirect effects and the interactions with global change drivers. Uncertainty in models of plant disease development under climate change calls for a diversity of management strategies, from more participatory approaches to interdisciplinary science. Involvement of stakeholders and scientists from outside plant pathology shows the importance of trade-offs, for example in the land-sharing vs. sparing debate. Further research is needed on climate change and plant health in mountain, boreal, Mediterranean and tropical regions, with multiple climate change factors and scenarios (including our responses to it, e.g. the assisted migration of plants), in relation to endophytes, viruses and mycorrhiza, using long-term and large-scale datasets and considering various plant disease control methods

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40