The trend of ionospheric total electron content near the equator

The Ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) data measured simultaneously by analyzing dual-frequency signals of the Global Position System (GPS) in two northern Nigeria equatorial stations: Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (ABUZ) with geographic latitude (11.16° N) and Longitude(7.65° E) and Birnin Kebbi Polytechnic (BKFP) with geographic latitude(12.46° N) and Longitude(4.20°E) during the year 2012 (Rz =57.58) was used to study the diurnal, monthly and seasonal variation of equatorial ionosphere. The result shows that the mean TEC varies from a minimum at 0600 hrs LT to a peak value at about 1500 to 1700 hrs LT and then decreases. The seasonal variation in TEC maximizes during the equinox months followed by winter and is minimum during the summer months.Keywords: Ionospheric Total Electron Content, Equatorial Stations, Diurnal, Monthly, Seasonal, Variatio

The Effect of Varying Water Soluble Components on the Radiative Forcing of Continental Average Aerosols

This work embodies the results of the effect of the water soluble components on the radiative forcing of continental average aerosols, from aerosol data extracted from optical properties of aerosols and cloud (OPAC) 4.0 software package using FORTRAN program to model the effect of water soluble on optical depth, asymmetric parameter,  scattering and absorption coefficients at the spectral range of (0.25-0.80µm) and at eight relative humidities (0%,50%,70%,80%,90%,95%,98% & 99%). The concentration of water soluble was varied while concentrations of water insoluble and soot were kept constant. The optical parameters were used to compute numerically the radiative forcing using the concept of chylek and wong, the Angstrom exponent (α), turbidity (β) and Curvature .......Keywords: Angstrom exponent, Curvature, Optical depth, Radiative forcing, Turbidity.DOI: 10.7176/APTA/79-04Publication date:September 30th 201

Squeezing in multi-mode nonlinear optical state truncation

In this paper, we show that multi-mode qubit states produced via nonlinear optical state truncation driven by classical external pumpings exhibit squeezing condition. We restrict our discussions to the two and three-mode cases.Comment: 7 pages, 5 eps figures. Revised manuscript. Accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Etude approfondie de la mortalité maternelle dans les wilayas de Djelfa, Laghouat et Ghardaïa

Introduction :La mortalité maternelle est largement reconnue comme un indicateur général de la santé globale d'une population et du fonctionnement du système de santé. Ce fléau constitue un problème majeur de santé dans le monde, mais aussi, en Algérie et dans les wilayas de Djelfa, Laghouat et Ghardaïa où les taux restent élevés comparés à de nombreux pays.L’objectif de notre étude est d’évaluer la mortalité maternelle dans les wilayas de Djelfa, Laghouat et Ghardaïa, de déterminer et les principaux indicateurs.Matériel et méthodes : Nous avons réalisé une étude prospective descriptive portant sur l’analyse approfondie de tous les décès maternels enregistrés sur une période de 24 mois allant du 1er janvier 2020 au 31 décembre 2021 dans les wilayas de Djelfa, Laghouat, Ghardaïa.Résultats :L’enquête a enregistré 84 décès donnant un TMM de 76,62 décès/100,000 naissances vivantes avec un taux de décès institutionnels de 91,66%. l’évolution était marquée par une fluctuation des taux de 2014 jusqu’à 2018 suivie par une ascension jusqu’à 2021. L’âge moyen des défuntes était de 34,1 ans et la parité de 3,05. Le suivi prénatal était insuffisant dans 65,47% des cas. Le transfères et l’évacuation était le mode d’admission de 28 femmes dont 24 arrivaient en mauvais état.Les causes étaient majoritairement obstétricales directes à leurs tète ; les hémorragies, suivies par les complications de la prééclampsie. Les causes indirectes incriminées dans 37% dominées par la covid et les causes cardiovasculaires, 71,4% de ces femmes avaient succombé dans le postpartum.Les soins étaient inadéquats dans 77,35% pour les causes directes et 35,48% pour les causes indirectes, ce qui a engendré une évitabilité de 64,28% plus fréquente dans les causes directes, les causes non évitables étaient causées par la Covid et les embolies.Conclusion : La mortalité maternelle est élevée dans les wilayas d’étude, des dysfonctionnements constatés à plusieurs niveaux dans les soins aboutissant par conséquent à un taux considérable de décès qui auraient pu être évités

Generation of three-qubit entangled states using coupled multi-quantum dots

We discuss a mechanism for generating a maximum entangled state (GHZ) in a coupled quantum dots system, based on analytical techniques. The reliable generation of such states is crucial for implementing solid-state based quantum information schemes. The signature originates from a remarkably weak field pulse or a far off-resonance effects which could be implemented using technology that is currently being developed. The results are illustrated with an application to a specific wide-gap semiconductor quantum dots system, like Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) based quantum dots.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Production and Clinical Evaluation of Norwalk GI.1 Virus Lot 001-09NV in Norovirus Vaccine Development

Background: Human noroviruses (HuNoV) are the leading cause of gastroenteritis. No vaccine is currently available to prevent norovirus illness or infection. Safe, infectious challenge strains are needed to assess vaccine efficacy in the controlled human infection model (CHIM). Methods: A stock of HuNoV strain Norwalk virus ([NV] GI.1) was prepared. Healthy, genetically susceptible adults were inoculated with NV Lot 001-09NV and monitored for infection, gastroenteritis symptoms, and immune responses. Results: Lot 001-09NV induced gastroenteritis in 9 (56%) and infection in 11 (69%) of 16 genetically susceptible subjects. All infected subjects developed strong immune responses to GI.1 with a 30-fold (geometric mean titer) increase in blocking titers (BT50) and a 161-fold increase in GI.1-specific immunoglobulin (Ig)G titers when compared with baseline. GI.1-specific cellular responses in peripheral blood were observed 9 days postchallenge with an average of 3253 IgA and 1227 IgG antibody-secreting cells per million peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Conclusions: GI.1 Lot 001-09NV appears to be similar in virulence to previous passages of NV strain 8fIIa. The safety profile, attack rate, and duration of illness make GI.1 Lot 001-09NV a useful challenge strain for future vaccine studies aimed at establishing immune correlates

Mouse Chromosome 11

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46996/1/335_2004_Article_BF00648429.pd

Efficacy and Safety of Three Antiretroviral Regimens for Initial Treatment of HIV-1: A Randomized Clinical Trial in Diverse Multinational Settings

Background:Antiretroviral regimens with simplified dosing and better safety are needed to maximize the efficiency of antiretroviral delivery in resource-limited settings. We investigated the efficacy and safety of antiretroviral regimens with once-daily compared to twice-daily dosing in diverse areas of the world.Methods and Findings:1,571 HIV-1-infected persons (47% women) from nine countries in four continents were assigned with equal probability to open-label antiretroviral therapy with efavirenz plus lamivudine-zidovudine (EFV+3TC-ZDV), atazanavir plus didanosine-EC plus emtricitabine (ATV+DDI+FTC), or efavirenz plus emtricitabine-tenofovir-disoproxil fumarate (DF) (EFV+FTC-TDF). ATV+DDI+FTC and EFV+FTC-TDF were hypothesized to be non-inferior to EFV+3TC-ZDV if the upper one-sided 95% confidence bound for the hazard ratio (HR) was ≤1.35 when 30% of participants had treatment failure.An independent monitoring board recommended stopping study follow-up prior to accumulation of 472 treatment failures. Comparing EFV+FTC-TDF to EFV+3TC-ZDV, during a median 184 wk of follow-up there were 95 treatment failures (18%) among 526 participants versus 98 failures among 519 participants (19%; HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.72-1.27; p = 0.74). Safety endpoints occurred in 243 (46%) participants assigned to EFV+FTC-TDF versus 313 (60%) assigned to EFV+3TC-ZDV (HR 0.64, CI 0.54-0.76; p<0.001) and there was a significant interaction between sex and regimen safety (HR 0.50, CI 0.39-0.64 for women; HR 0.79, CI 0.62-1.00 for men; p = 0.01). Comparing ATV+DDI+FTC to EFV+3TC-ZDV, during a median follow-up of 81 wk there were 108 failures (21%) among 526 participants assigned to ATV+DDI+FTC and 76 (15%) among 519 participants assigned to EFV+3TC-ZDV (HR 1.51, CI 1.12-2.04; p = 0.007).Conclusion: EFV+FTC-TDF had similar high efficacy compared to EFV+3TC-ZDV in this trial population, recruited in diverse multinational settings. Superior safety, especially in HIV-1-infected women, and once-daily dosing of EFV+FTC-TDF are advantageous for use of this regimen for initial treatment of HIV-1 infection in resource-limited countries. ATV+DDI+FTC had inferior efficacy and is not recommended as an initial antiretroviral regimen.Trial Registration:http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00084136

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees