Brucella infection in migratory cattle herds in Jigawa State Nigeria: A cross sectional study

A cross sectional study on Brucella infection was carried out in Jigawa State in order to evaluate seroprevalence and transmission exposure factors among migratory cattle herds. A total of 1,810 cattle of different ages and sexes were systematically selected from 147 herds across four agricultural zones in the State and screened using Serum Agglutination Test (SAT) while closed ended questionnaire was used to evaluate exposure factors. From the results out of the 1,810 (serum samples) (3.37%) tested positive. Females showed higher seropositivity (3.6%) to the infection, compared to males (2.7%). Cattle of age 4-5 years had the highest prevalence (7%), compared to 3-4 years (4.5%), 2-3years (2%), 1-2years (0.8%), with no positive reactor among cattle of less than one year (0%). Seropositive animals according to the locations was found to be highest in Zone III (5.2%), followed by Zone IV (3.9%) and Zone I (2.4%), and least in Zone II (1.5%). A higher herd prevalence was recorded in Zone III (29%), followed by Zone IV (21%) and Zone I (17%), with lowest in Zone II (12%). The overall herd prevalence was 20.4%. There was association between herds that do not practice quarantine, raise multiple species, share communal  pastures and water points with Brucella infection (P< 0.05) and they are more likely to acquire the infection as indicated by odds ratio. In conclusion the results have indicated that Brucella infection exists in the studied herds and some exposure factors were identified. It is hereby recommended that herd owners should practice quarantine of newly purchased animals, avoid herding multiple species of animals  together, carryout routine testing and minimize contacts at grazing and water points. Keywords: Brucella, Cattle herds, Exposure factors, Jigawa State, SAT, Seroprevalence, Seru

Influence of egg shell as heterogeneous catalyst in the production of biodiesel via transesterification of Jatropha oil

The increase in energy demand together with the negative global environmental impacts of using fossil fuel for energy generations brings a question on dependability on it for sustainable economic growth. The way out is the use of renewable sources of energy such as biodiesel which has significant advantages over its counterpart (fossil fuel). Biodiesel can be produced through various methods such as transesterification, micro emulsion and pyrolysis. The influence of egg shell as heterogeneous catalysts in the production of biodiesel via transesterification of Jatropha oil was investigated. The physical and chemical properties of the catalyst were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Xray fluoroscopy (XRF) characterizations. The crude Jatropha oil was transesterified and 0.1 wt%, 0.2 wt%, 0.3wt%, 0.5wt% and 0.5wt% of egg shell were used as heterogeneous catalyst during transesterification process. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) was used to determine the functional group of the samples. SEM and FTIR characterizations indicate the presence of dispersed particles on the catalyst and ester (biodiesel) on the samples respectively. The maximum percentage of biodiesel yield is 94.3% at the application of 0.2wt% egg shell as catalyst using 1:6 oil to methanol ratio in 1hr at 60-65℃. This indicated that the egg shell has high potential to be used as catalyst in the production of biodiesel via transesterification of Jatropha oil

Effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles on viscosity of transesterified neem oil

Efforts have been made worldwide to find alternative fluids for industrial applications. Vegetable oil appears to be a perfect alternative, but using most of the vegetable oil as a feedstock made its use for industrial purposes challenging. The recent trend is to develop coolants/lubricants from non-edible seed oil. This work investigates the effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles on viscosity of transesterified neem oil. The crude neem oil was purified, transesterified and nanoparticles were dispersed in the transesterified oil at concentrations ranging from 0.0% to 1.0% at 0.2% intervals. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra were used to examine the structures of the samples and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analyses were used to examine the surface morphology of the samples. Viscosity were examined. Among other things, it was found that a small amount of ZnO (0.6%) nanoparticles in the oil could improve the viscosity of the fluid. The nanoliquid with a ZnO concentration of 0.6% appears to have optimal properties

Prevalence and Pattern of Elder Abuse in Awe, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Violence against the elderly is a serious public health problem, a silent epidemic that is often a neglected by the society. Such abuses did not only stop at reducing quality of life of the elderly, in extreme cases, they even result in death. The study was aimed at investigating the prevalence and pattern of elder abuse in Awe, Nasarawa state, Nigeria. Descriptive research design was used for the study; Systematic sampling technique was employed to select a sample of 330 respondents for the study and structured pretested questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents, where 91% (300) of the questionnaires were successfully retrieved and descriptive statistical tools were used to analyze the data. From the result, 48.3% were aged between 60-65 years, 69% were females, 40.7% were Hausa by ethnic extraction and 64% had Secondary School Certificate/Grade II as highest educational qualification. Most of the respondents (93.7%) experienced elder abuse, 75.8% reported the experience of psychological abuse, 56.2% experienced physical abuse, 55.5% experienced financial exploitation and only 30.6% reported the experience of sexual abuse. Based on intensity, majority of cases of physical abuse were of moderate intensity (73.5%) and only 5% were severe, 71.5% of the respondents reported the experience of severe psychological abuse, 35.2% experienced severe neglect. Of the respondents who experienced sexual abuse, 52% reported moderate abuse and 18.7% reported severe abuse. Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between age and experiences of psychological abuse and neglect (p <0.05). Being female had a positive correlation with experience of psychological abuse, neglect and sexual abuse (p><0.05). Level of education had a significant negative correlation with experiences of financial exploitation and sexual abuse, while being married had a significant positive correlation with experience of physical abuse. Having a chronic illness had a significant positive correlation with experiences of physical abuse, psychological abuse and neglect (p><0.05). The paper recommends that the public and private sectors should establish nursing homes for the elderly at least one in each LGA to help in shifting the task of care from the immediate family to professionals in a more elderly friendly setting. Also cultural and religious reorientation programmes should be instituted to bring back the traditional social support system that revered the elderly in African societies. &gt

Measurements of azimuthal anisotropies at forward and backward rapidity with muons in high-multiplicity p–Pb collisions at sNN=8.16 TeV

The study of the azimuthal anisotropy of inclusive muons produced in p–Pb collisions at sNN=8.16 TeV, using the ALICE detector at the LHC is reported. The measurement of the second-order Fourier coefficient of the particle azimuthal distribution, v2, is performed as a function of transverse momentum pT in the 0–20% high-multiplicity interval at both forward (2.032 GeV/c. The v2 coefficient of inclusive muons is extracted using two different techniques, namely two-particle cumulants, used for the first time for heavy-flavour measurements, and forward–central two-particle correlations. Both techniques give compatible results. A positive v2 is measured at both forward and backward rapidities with a significance larger than 4.7σ and 7.6σ, respectively, in the interval 2<pT<6 GeV/c. Comparisons with previous measurements in p–Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV, and with AMPT and CGC-based theoretical calculations are discussed. The findings impose new constraints on the theoretical interpretations of the origin of the collective behaviour in small collision systems

Exclusive and dissociative <math display="inline"><mi>J</mi><mo>/</mo><mi>ψ</mi></math> photoproduction, and exclusive dimuon production, in p-Pb collisions at <math display="inline"><mrow><msqrt><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>s</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>NN</mi></mrow></msub></mrow></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>8.16</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>TeV</mi></mrow></math>

International audienceThe ALICE Collaboration reports three measurements in ultraperipheral proton-lead collisions at forward rapidity. The exclusive two-photon process γγ→μ+μ- and the exclusive photoproduction of J/ψ are studied. J/ψ photoproduction with proton dissociation is measured for the first time at a hadron collider. The cross section for the two-photon process of dimuons in the invariant mass range from 1 to 2.5  GeV/c2 agrees with leading-order quantum electrodynamics calculations. The exclusive and dissociative cross sections for J/ψ photoproductions are measured for photon-proton center-of-mass energies from 27 to 57 GeV. They are in good agreement with HERA results

Symmetry plane correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76TeV

International audienceA newly developed observable for correlations between symmetry planes, which characterize the direction of the anisotropic emission of produced particles, is measured in Pb–Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\text {NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV with ALICE. This so-called Gaussian Estimator allows for the first time the study of these quantities without the influence of correlations between different flow amplitudes. The centrality dependence of various correlations between two, three and four symmetry planes is presented. The ordering of magnitude between these symmetry plane correlations is discussed and the results of the Gaussian Estimator are compared with measurements of previously used estimators. The results utilizing the new estimator lead to significantly smaller correlations than reported by studies using the Scalar Product method. Furthermore, the obtained symmetry plane correlations are compared to state-of-the-art hydrodynamic model calculations for the evolution of heavy-ion collisions. While the model predictions provide a qualitative description of the data, quantitative agreement is not always observed, particularly for correlators with significant non-linear response of the medium to initial state anisotropies of the collision system. As these results provide unique and independent information, their usage in future Bayesian analysis can further constrain our knowledge on the properties of the QCD matter produced in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

Skewness and kurtosis of mean transverse momentum fluctuations at the LHC energies

The first measurements of skewness and kurtosis of mean transverse momentum (〈pT〉) fluctuations are reported in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV, Xe–Xe collisions at sNN = 5.44 TeV and pp collisions at s=5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector. The measurements are carried out as a function of system size 〈dNch/dη〉|η|<0.51/3, using charged particles with transverse momentum (pT) and pseudorapidity (η), in the range 0.2<pT<3.0 GeV/c and |η|<0.8, respectively. In Pb–Pb and Xe–Xe collisions, positive skewness is observed in the fluctuations of 〈pT〉 for all centralities, which is significantly larger than what would be expected in the scenario of independent particle emission. This positive skewness is considered a crucial consequence of the hydrodynamic evolution of the hot and dense nuclear matter created in heavy-ion collisions. Furthermore, similar observations of positive skewness for minimum bias pp collisions are also reported here. Kurtosis of 〈pT〉 fluctuations is found to be in good agreement with the kurtosis of Gaussian distribution, for most central Pb–Pb collisions. Hydrodynamic model calculations with MUSIC using Monte Carlo Glauber initial conditions are able to explain the measurements of both skewness and kurtosis qualitatively from semicentral to central collisions in Pb–Pb system. Color reconnection mechanism in PYTHIA8 model seems to play a pivotal role in capturing the qualitative behavior of the same measurements in pp collisions

Accessing the strong interaction between Λ baryons and charged kaons with the femtoscopy technique at the LHC

The interaction between Λ baryons and kaons/antikaons is a crucial ingredient for the strangeness S=0 and S=−2 sector of the meson–baryon interaction at low energies. In particular, the ΛK‾ might help in understanding the origin of states such as the Ξ(1620), whose nature and properties are still under debate. Experimental data on Λ–K and Λ–K‾ systems are scarce, leading to large uncertainties and tension between the available theoretical predictions constrained by such data. In this Letter we present the measurements of Λ–K⊕+Λ‾–K− and Λ–K⊕−Λ‾–K+ correlations obtained in the high-multiplicity triggered data sample in pp collisions at s=13 TeV recorded by ALICE at the LHC. The correlation function for both pairs is modeled using the Lednický–Lyuboshits analytical formula and the corresponding scattering parameters are extracted. The Λ–K⊕−Λ‾–K+ correlations show the presence of several structures at relative momenta k⁎ above 200 MeV/c, compatible with the Ω baryon, the Ξ(1690), and Ξ(1820) resonances decaying into Λ–K− pairs. The low k⁎ region in the Λ–K⊕−Λ‾–K+ also exhibits the presence of the Ξ(1620) state, expected to strongly couple to the measured pair. The presented data allow to access the ΛK+ and ΛK− strong interaction with an unprecedented precision and deliver the first experimental observation of the Ξ(1620) decaying into ΛK−