Risky Sexual Behaviors and Associated Factors among Male and Female Students in Jimma Zone Preparatory Schools, South West Ethiopia: Comparative Study

Background: Youth engage in risk sexual behavior due to insufficient knowledge of reproductive health and family planning. Youth sexual behavior is important not only because of the possible reproductive outcomes, but also because of sexually transmitted infections. The level of risks and sexual behaviors are different between male and female youth due to sexual exposure and socio-cultural factors. The aim of this study was to compare risky sexual behaviors and associated factors among male and female preparatory school (grades 11 and 12) students in Jimma Zone.Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in 5 randomly selected preparatory schools of Jimma Zone. A total of 520 students were selected using simple random sampling technique. A structured, pretested and self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Both descriptive analysis and binary logistic regressions were performed on the data to understand risky sexual behaviors among students.Results: Twenty-two (25.9%) of male and 25(21.6%) of female students had two or more sexual partners in the last six months. Eighty-three (32.3%), 113(43.5%) male and female students were sexually at risk in the last six months. Only 8(9.4%) of the male and 10(8.6%) of the female students used condom consistently in the last six months. Female students living away from their parents were 3 times more likely to be at risk than students living with their parents (OR 95%CI 3.0(1.48-6.34)). Female students who consumed alcohol were 7 times more likely to be at risk than those who did not consume alcohol (OR 95%CI 7.27(3.36-15.7)). Male students who consumed alcohol were 2.8 times more likely to be at risk than those who did not consumed alcohol (OR 95%CI, 2.81(1.3-6.06)). Male students who chewed khat were 4.6 times more likely to be at risk than students who did not chew khat (OR 95%CI, 4.58(1.95-10.76).Conclusion: Living arrangement, educational status of parents, family connectedness, alcohol consumption and khat-chewing were the major predictors of risky sexual behavior. Therefore, School, family and zonal education office should be involved in reducing the risky sexual behavior of school youth.Keywords: Risk Sexual Behavior, Gender, Schoo

A Lower/Upper Solutions Result for Generalised Radial p-Laplacian Boundary Value Problems

We provide existence results to some planar nonlinear boundary value problems, in the presence of lower and upper solutions. Our results apply to a class of systems generalising radial elliptic equations driven by the p-Laplace operator, and to some problems involving the Laplace–Beltrami operator on the sphere. After extending the definition of lower and upper solutions to the planar system, we prove our results by a shooting method involving a careful analysis of the solutions in the phase plane

Strong Fuzzy Chromatic Polynomial of Intuitionistic Fuzzy Graphs (IFGs) Based on α,β-Levels

This research introduces a new idea of (α,β)-level based strong fuzzy chromatic polynomial of intuitionistic fuzzy graph(IFGs). In addition, some characteristics of (α,β)-level based strong fuzzy chromatic polynomials of IFGs are specified and proven. Besides, the strong (α,β)-fundamental set and the strong (α,β)-level graphs are defined with clear examples. Moreover, some algebraic characteristics of the strong (α,β)-level graph of IFGs and their chromatic polynomials are also projected and shown

Comparative Analysis of Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever Spirochaetes from Ethiopia and Nigeria

Despite increasing reports of tick-borne diseases in Africa, remarkably, reports of tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) in Nigeria are lacking. Ornithodoros savignyi from Nigeria have been reported with the relapsing fever Candidatus Borrelia kalaharica. Conversely, in Ethiopia, the agent of relapsing fever is the louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) spirochaete Borrelia recurrentis with no TBRF reported to occur. A total of 389 Ornithodoros ticks, Ethiopia (N = 312) and Nigeria (N = 77), were sampled, together with 350 cattle, and 200 goat sera were collected from Nigeria. Samples were screened for Borrelia spp. by RT-PCR. Reactive samples were confirmed, then sequenced using flagellin B, 16S rRNA, and 16S–23S intergenic spacer region. The prevalence of Borrelia spp. in livestock was 3.8% (21/550) and 14% (3/21) after final molecular confirmation. Of 312 ticks from Ethiopia, 3.5% (11/312) were positive for Borrelia, with 36% (4/11) by conventional PCR. Sequencing revealed that the borreliae in soft ticks was C. B. kalaharica, whilst that found in animals was Borrelia theileri. Soft ticks were confirmed by sequencing 7% (22/312) and 12% (9/77) of the Ethiopian and Nigerian ticks, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these were Ornithodoros savignyi. This is the first evidence of C. B. kalaharica in Ethiopia and demonstrates the co-existence of TBRF in a country endemic to LBRF. Important, this might cause a diagnostic challenge given that LBRF is predominantly diagnosed by microscopy, which cannot differentiate these two spirochaetes. Furthermore, we report B. theileri in ruminants in Nigeria, which may also be of veterinary and economic importance

Réalisation et simulation d’un modèle rapide d’Amplificateur Opérationnel en technologie CMOS

L’objectif de cet article est de montrer comment concevoir un prototype rapide d’amplificateur opérationnel (AOP) fait à base de la technologie CMOS sur le logiciel de simulation Proteus. Cet AOP est pour l’utilisation intégré des systèmes de détection à silicon strip, Si (Li), CdZnTe et CsI etc. Ce circuit à trois étages permet de réaliser des performances aussi compétitives que celles des précédents amplificateurs opérationnels. Ce système de performance relative a un gain différentiel de 47,90 dB ; une impédance d’entrée de 1015B ; une impédance de sortie de 25B ; un taux de réjection en mode commun 57,80 dB et une vitesse de balayage de 27,5V/Es.Mots-clés : amplificateur opérationnel, CMOS transistor, comparateur, simulation

Model and Sensor-Based Recommendation Approaches for In-Season Nitrogen Management in Corn

Nitrogen management for corn (Zea mays L.) may be improved by applying a portion of N in-season. This investigation was conducted to evaluate crop modeling (Maize-N) and active crop canopy sensing approaches for recommending in-season N fertilizer rates. These approaches were evaluated during 2012–2013 on 11 field sites, in Missouri, Nebraska, and North Dakota. Nitrogen management also included a no-N treatment (check) and a non-limiting N reference (all at planting). Nitrogen management treatments were assessed for two hybrids and at low and high seeding rates, arranged in a randomized complete block design. In 9 of 11 site-years, the sensor-based approach recommended lower in-season N rates than the model (collectively 59% less N), resulting in trends of higher partial factor productivity of nitrogen (PFPN) and higher agronomic efficiency (AE) than the model. However, yield was better protected by the model-based approach. In some situations, canopy sensing excelled at optimizing the N rate for localized conditions. With abnormally warm and moist soil conditions for the 2012 Nebraska sites and presumed high levels of inorganic N from mineralization, N application was appropriately reduced, resulting in no yield decrease and N savings compared to the non-limiting N reference. Depending on the site, both recommendation approaches were successful; a combination of model and sensor information may optimize in-season decision support for N recommendation

Stochastic quantization and holographic Wilsonian renormalization group

We study relation between stochastic quantization and holographic Wilsonian renormalization group flow. Considering stochastic quantization of the boundary on-shell actions with the Dirichlet boundary condition for certain $AdS$ bulk gravity theories, we find that the radial flows of double trace deformations in the boundary effective actions are completely captured by stochastic time evolution with identification of the $AdS$ radial coordinate `$r$' with the stochastic time '$t$' as $r=t$. More precisely, we investigate Langevin dynamics and find an exact relation between radial flow of the double trace couplings and 2-point correlation functions in stochastic quantization. We also show that the radial evolution of double trace deformations in the boundary effective action and the stochastic time evolution of the Fokker-Planck action are the same. We demonstrate this relation with a couple of examples: (minimally coupled)massless scalar fields in $AdS_2$ and U(1) vector fields in $AdS_4$.Comment: 1+30 pages, a new subsection is added, references are adde

Soil nutrient maps of Sub-Saharan Africa: assessment of soil nutrient content at 250 m spatial resolution using machine learning

Spatial predictions of soil macro and micro-nutrient content across Sub-Saharan Africa at 250 m spatial resolution and for 0–30 cm depth interval are presented. Predictions were produced for 15 target nutrients: organic carbon (C) and total (organic) nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P), and extractable—phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), sodium (Na), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al) and boron (B). Model training was performed using soil samples from ca. 59,000 locations (a compilation of soil samples from the AfSIS, EthioSIS, One Acre Fund, VitalSigns and legacy soil data) and an extensive stack of remote sensing covariates in addition to landform, lithologic and land cover maps. An ensemble model was then created for each nutrient from two machine learning algorithms

Achieving food security in the face of climate change: Summary for policy makers from the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change

The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change has reviewed the scientific evidence to identify a pathway to achieving food security in the context of climate change. Food systems must shift to better meet human needs and, in the long term, balance with planetary resources. This will demand major interventions, at local to global scales, to transform current patterns of food production, distribution and consumption. Investment, innovation, and deliberate effort to empower the world's most vulnerable populations will be required to construct a global food system that adapts to climate change and ensures food security while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and sustaining our natural resource base. Greatly expanded investments in sustainable agriculture, including improving supporting infrastructure and restoring degraded ecosystems, are an essential component of long-term economic development. The sooner they are made, the greater the benefits will be

Holographic RG flow of the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio in strongly coupled anisotropic plasma

We study holographic RG flow of the shear viscosity tensor of anisotropic, strongly coupled N=4 super-Yang-Mills plasma by using its type IIB supergravity dual in anisotropic bulk spacetime. We find that the shear viscosity tensor has three independent components in the anisotropic bulk spacetime away from the boundary, and one of the components has a non-trivial RG flow while the other two have a trivial one. For the component of the shear viscosity tensor with non-trivial RG flow, we derive its RG flow equation, and solve the equation analytically to second order in the anisotropy parameter 'a'. We derive the RG equation using the equation of motion, holographic Wilsonian RG method, and Kubo's formula. All methods give the same result. Solving the equation, we find that the ratio of the component of the shear viscosity tensor to entropy density 'eta/s' flows from above '1/4pi' at the horizon (IR) to below '1/4pi' at the boundary (UV) where it violates the holographic shear viscosity (Kovtun-Son-Starinets) bound and where it agrees with the other longitudinal component.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, slight change on the title, more background material added, references added, accepted for publication in JHE