Assessment of Community Banks in Nigeria

This study on community banks in Nigeria was undertaken in June 2004 by the FAO Investment Centre, with financial support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Department for International Development (DFID), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Ford Foundation (FF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank (WB), and in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The objective of the study was to assess the past and present performance of community banks, in particular rural-based banks, and to propose a first framework for their support. --

Abundance and vicariance of epigeic opilionids of an inundation forest in the 'Mainzer Becken', Germany (Arachnida: Opiliones)

Zwischen November 2003 und Januar 2004 wurde in einem Auwald bei Ingelheim am Rhein mittels Bodenfallen die Weberknechtfauna untersucht. Hierbei konnten insgesamt 1643 Individuen determiniert werden, welche sich auf 6 Arten aus 3 Familien verteilten. Besonders bemerkenswert sind die thermophilen Arten Astrobunus laevipes, Nemastoma dentigerum und Trogulus martensi. Zusätzlich wurden Bodenfallen eines benachbarten Auwaldes von Juni bis Oktober 2004 ausgewertet, die zusätzliche Daten zur Phänologie einiger stenochroner Arten erbrachten. Biotopansprüche, Vikarianzen und Konkurrenzvermeidung werden diskutiert.From the beginning of November 2003 to January 2004 the opilionid fauna was collected in a floodplain forest of the Rhine valley west of Mainz. Altogether 1643 individuals were captured in pitfall traps; these belong to six species representing three families. The thermophilous species Astrobunus laevipes, Nemastoma dentigerum and Trogulus martensi are noteworthy for this habitat. Results on the phenology of three stenochronous species over the sample periods are presented, and both activity abundance and dominance were measured. Additionally survival strategies for flooding periods are proposed and vicariance and concurrence with related species are discussed

The pseudoscorpion-fauna (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) of a floodplain close to Ingelheim/Rhine, with special reference to the effects of the dry-warm winter 2006/2007

From the beginning of May 2005 to September 2007 the pseudoscorpion fauna in a hardwood floodplain forest of the Rhine valley near Ingelheim was investigated. Altogether 587 individuals representing two species from two families were captured using pitfall traps, trunk eclectors and by litter sieving. The warm, dry winter 2006/2007 exhibited a strong influence upon the activity of Neobisium carcinoides (Hermann, 1804). This winter event was followed by an extreme drought in April 2007, which affected the activity maximum of the corticolous species Chernes hahnii (C.L. Koch, 1839). In 2005 and 2006 the activity maximum of C. hahnii was observed in July, whereas in 2007 maturity was achieved earlier in May. Furthermore 31 individuals of N. carcinoides were captured in trunk eclectors. This climbing behaviour correlates with the presence of Lepidocyrtus lignorum (Collembola: Entomobryidae) on the trunks. Keywords: activity, Collembola, drought, false scorpions, Germany, prey captur

The Challenges of Developing an Instrument to Assess Health Provider Motivation at Primary Care Level in Rural Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tanzania.

The quality of health care depends on the competence and motivation of the health workers that provide it. In the West, several tools exist to measure worker motivation, and some have been applied to the health sector. However, none have been validated for use in sub-Saharan Africa. The complexity of such tools has also led to concerns about their application at primary care level. To develop a common instrument to monitor any changes in maternal and neonatal health (MNH) care provider motivation resulting from the introduction of pilot interventions in rural, primary level facilities in Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania. Initially, a conceptual framework was developed. Based upon this, a literature review and preliminary qualitative research, an English-language instrument was developed and validated in an iterative process with experts from the three countries involved. The instrument was then piloted in Ghana. Reliability testing and exploratory factor analysis were used to produce a final, parsimonious version. This paper describes the actual process of developing the instrument. Consequently, the concepts and items that did not perform well psychometrically at pre-test are first presented and discussed. The final version of the instrument, which comprises 42 items for self-assessment and eight for peer-assessment, is then shown. This is followed by a presentation and discussion of the findings from first use of the instrument with MNH providers from 12 rural, primary level facilities in each of the three countries. It is possible to undertake work of this nature at primary health care level, particularly if the instruments are kept as straightforward as possible and well introduced. However, their development requires very lengthy preparatory periods. The effort needed to adapt such instruments for use in different countries within the region of sub-Saharan Africa should not be underestimated

Addressing student models of energy loss in quantum tunnelling

We report on a multi-year, multi-institution study to investigate student reasoning about energy in the context of quantum tunnelling. We use ungraded surveys, graded examination questions, individual clinical interviews, and multiple-choice exams to build a picture of the types of responses that students typically give. We find that two descriptions of tunnelling through a square barrier are particularly common. Students often state that tunnelling particles lose energy while tunnelling. When sketching wave functions, students also show a shift in the axis of oscillation, as if the height of the axis of oscillation indicated the energy of the particle. We find inconsistencies between students' conceptual, mathematical, and graphical models of quantum tunnelling. As part of a curriculum in quantum physics, we have developed instructional materials to help students develop a more robust and less inconsistent picture of tunnelling, and present data suggesting that we have succeeded in doing so.Comment: Originally submitted to the European Journal of Physics on 2005 Feb 10. Pages: 14. References: 11. Figures: 9. Tables: 1. Resubmitted May 18 with revisions that include an appendix with the curriculum materials discussed in the paper (4 page small group UW-style tutorial

Quantitative Dissection of Clone-Specific Growth Rates in Cultured Malaria Parasites

Measurement of parasite proliferation in cultured red blood cells underpins many facets of malaria research, from drug sensitivity assays to assessing the impact of experimentally altered genes on parasite growth, virulence, and fitness. Pioneering efforts to grow Plasmodium falciparum in cultured red blood cells revolutionized malaria research and spurred the development of semi-high throughput growth assays using radio-labeled hypoxanthine, an essential nucleic acid precursor, as a reporter of whole-cycle proliferation (Trager and Jensen, 1976; Desjardins et al., 1979). Use of hypoxanthine (Hx) and other surrogate readouts of whole-cycle proliferation remains the dominant choice in malaria research. While amenable to high-throughput inference of bulk proliferation rates, these assays are blind to the underlying developmental and cellular steps of growth in human red blood cells. Modern whole-genome methods promise to reveal much about basic parasite biology, but progress is hindered by limitations of our ability to precisely quantify the specific development and growth events within the erythrocytic cycle. Here we build on standard visual and Hx-incorporation measures of growth by quantifying sub-phenotypes of a rapid proliferator, the multi-drug resistant clone Dd2, from a standard wild type clone, HB3. These data illustrate differences in cycle duration, merozoite production, and invasion rate and efficiency that underpin Dd2’s average 2-fold proliferation advantage over HB3 per erythrocytic cycle. The ability to measure refined growth phenotypes can inform the development of high-throughput methods to isolate molecular and developmental determinants of differential parasite growth rates

Lab Demonstration of the Hybrid Doppler Wind Lidar (HDWL) Transceiver

The recommended design approach for the 3D Tropospheric Winds mission is a hybrid Doppler lidar which combines the best elements of both a coherent aerosol Doppler lidar operating at 2 microns and a direct detection molecular Doppler lidar operating at 0.355 microns. In support of the mission, we built a novel, compact, light-weighted multi-field of view transceiver where multiple telescopes are used to cover the required four fields of view. A small mechanism sequentially selects both the "transmit" and "receive" fields of view. The four fields are combined to stimulate both the 0.355 micron receiver and the 2 micron receiver. This version is scaled (0.2 m diameter aperture) from the space-based version but still demonstrates the feasibility of the hybrid approach. The primary mirrors were conventionally light-weighted and coated with dielectric, high reflectivity coatings with high laser damage thresholds at both 2 microns and 0.355 microns. The mechanical structure and mounts were fabricated from composites to achieve dimensional stability while significantly reducing the mass. In the laboratory, we demonstrated the system level functionality at 0.355 microns and at 2 microns, raising the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) from 2 to 4

State laws on tobacco control – United States, 1998

Problem/Condition: State laws addressing tobacco use, the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, are summarized. Laws address smoke-free indoor air, minors’ access to tobacco products, advertising of tobacco products, and excise taxes on tobacco products. Reporting Period Covered: Legislation effective through December 31, 1998. Description of System: CDC identified laws addressing tobacco control by using an on-line legal research database. CDC’s findings were verified with the National Cancer Institute’s State Cancer Legislative Database. Results: Since a previous surveillance summary on state tobacco-control laws published in November 1995 (covering legislation effective through June 30, 1995), several states have enacted new restrictions or strengthened existing legislation that addresses smoke-free indoor air, minors’ access to tobacco, tobacco advertising, and tobacco taxes. Five states strengthened their smoke-free indoor air legislation. All states and Washington, D.C., continued to prohibit the sale and distribution of tobacco products to minors; however, 21 states expanded minors’ access laws by designating enforcement authorities, adding license suspension or revocation for sale to minors, or requiring signage. Since the 1995 report, eight additional states (a total of 19 states and Washington, D.C.) now ban vending machines from areas accessible to minors. Thirteen states restrict advertising of tobacco products, an increase of four states since the 1995 report. Although the number of states that tax cigarettes and smokeless tobacco did not change, 13 states increased excise taxes on cigarettes, and five states increased excise taxes on smokeless tobacco products. The average state excise tax on cigarettes is 38.9¢ per pack, an increase of 7.4¢ compared with the average tax in the 1995 report. Interpretation: State laws addressing tobacco control vary in relation to restrictiveness, enforcement and penalties, preemptions, and exceptions. Actions Taken: The data summarizing state tobacco-control laws are available through CDC’s State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System*; the laws are collected and updated every quarter. The STATE System also contains statespecific data on the prevalence of tobacco use, tobacco-related deaths, and the costs of tobacco use. Information from the STATE System is available for use by policy makers at the state and local levels to plan and implement initiatives to prevent and reduce tobacco use. In addition, CDC is using this information to assess the ongoing impact of tobacco-control programs and policies on tobacco use

Discourse or dialogue? Habermas, the Bakhtin Circle, and the question of concrete utterances

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via the link below.This article argues that the Bakhtin Circle presents a more realistic theory of concrete dialogue than the theory of discourse elaborated by Habermas. The Bakhtin Circle places speech within the “concrete whole utterance” and by this phrase they mean that the study of everyday language should be analyzed through the mediations of historical social systems such as capitalism. These mediations are also characterized by a determinate set of contradictions—the capital-labor contradiction in capitalism, for example—that are reproduced in unique ways in more concrete forms of life (the state, education, religion, culture, and so on). Utterances always dialectically refract these processes and as such are internal concrete moments, or concrete social forms, of them. Moreover, new and unrepeatable dialogic events arise in these concrete social forms in order to overcome and understand the constant dialectical flux of social life. But this theory of dialogue is different from that expounded by Habermas, who tends to explore speech acts by reproducing a dualism between repeatable and universal “abstract” discursive processes (commonly known as the ideal speech situation) and empirical uses of discourse. These critical points against Habermas are developed by focusing on six main areas: sentences and utterances; the lifeworld and background language; active versus passive understandings of language; validity claims; obligation and relevance in language; and dialectical universalism

Genome-Wide Analysis of Menin Binding Provides Insights into MEN1 Tumorigenesis

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type I (MEN1) is a familial cancer syndrome characterized primarily by tumors of multiple endocrine glands. The gene for MEN1 encodes a ubiquitously expressed tumor suppressor protein called menin. Menin was recently shown to interact with several components of a trithorax family histone methyltransferase complex including ASH2, Rbbp5, WDR5, and the leukemia proto-oncoprotein MLL. To elucidate menin's role as a tumor suppressor and gain insights into the endocrine-specific tumor phenotype in MEN1, we mapped the genomic binding sites of menin, MLL1, and Rbbp5, to approximately 20,000 promoters in HeLa S3, HepG2, and pancreatic islet cells using the strategy of chromatin-immunoprecipitation coupled with microarray analysis. We found that menin, MLL1, and Rbbp5 localize to the promoters of thousands of human genes but do not always bind together. These data suggest that menin functions as a general regulator of transcription. We also found that factor occupancy generally correlates with high gene expression but that the loss of menin does not result in significant changes in most transcript levels. One exception is the developmentally programmed transcription factor, HLXB9, which is overexpressed in islets in the absence of menin. Our findings expand the realm of menin-targeted genes several hundred-fold beyond that previously described and provide potential insights to the endocrine tumor bias observed in MEN1 patients