Students Talk About Their HIV/AIDS Education Courses: A Case Of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The objective of this research was to explore how Ethiopian high school students experienced the HIV/AIDS education programs offered in their schools. The project also examined gender differences in the way HIV/AIDS education was perceived and the implications for the instructional design of the programs. A total of 15 high school students (eight females and seven males between the ages of 13 and 18) in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, were recruited through purposeful sampling. Data were collected using two focus groups with each group comprising one gender. This separation of genders was ideal to enable participants to express their thoughts freely and to observe possible gender divergences. Findings: All participants agreed that school-based HIV/AIDS education was essential but that unfortunately, most of the programs that students attended were neither interesting nor beneficial. Gender differences were observed with females asking for in-school AIDS education to completely modify its focus and males feeling that the education’s current strategies should simply be improved. The implications of these results are discussed along with recommendations for further research

KIOSK BANKING AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL DWELLERS IN KWANDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

The general objective of the study was to ascertain the contributions of kiosk banking to socio-economic development of rural dwellers in Kwande Local Government Area. Specifically, the study sought to establish services offered by kiosk banking to rural dwellers in the study area and to also determine the effect such services have on socio-economic development of the rural dwellers. The study used a cross sectional survey design while 321 samples were obtained through convenient sampling technique. Questionnaires were used for data collection while percentages, chi-square and Cramer’s V were adopted for data analysis. The study found that most (61.1%) rural dwellers had access to kiosk banking services. These services include: cash withdrawals (67.8%) cash deposits (15.8) Point of Sale (POS) channel (87.8%). Furthermore, kiosk banking was found to have significant relationship to living standard of the rural dwellers as X2 = 30.708>p=0.002. However, it was found that the relationship was weak with Cramer’s V value of 0.229. Findings also showed low ratings regarding kiosk banking services in regards to the cost of transport (44.9%), service charge (59.2%) and information cost (85.7%). The study concluded that kiosk banking had a significant effect on socio-economic development of rural dwellers. The major challenges of kiosk banking were found to be high withdrawal charges (25.2%) and insufficient funds for huge withdrawals (21.8%). The study recommended for monitoring of charges and improvement in availability of funds to kiosk bankers so as to boost socio-economic activities in rural settlements. It was also recommended that banks should scale up kiosk banking services to encourage more participation and more financial inclusion

KIOSK BANKING AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL DWELLERS IN KWANDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

The general objective of the study was to ascertain the contributions of kiosk banking to socio-economic development of rural dwellers in Kwande Local Government Area. Specifically, the study sought to establish services offered by kiosk banking to rural dwellers in the study area and to also determine the effect such services have on socio-economic development of the rural dwellers. The study used a cross sectional survey design while 321 samples were obtained through convenient sampling technique. Questionnaires were used for data collection while percentages, chi-square and Cramer’s V were adopted for data analysis. The study found that most (61.1%) rural dwellers had access to kiosk banking services. These services include: cash withdrawals (67.8%) cash deposits (15.8) Point of Sale (POS) channel (87.8%). Furthermore, kiosk banking was found to have significant relationship to living standard of the rural dwellers as X2 = 30.708>p=0.002. However, it was found that the relationship was weak with Cramer’s V value of 0.229. Findings also showed low ratings regarding kiosk banking services in regards to the cost of transport (44.9%), service charge (59.2%) and information cost (85.7%). The study concluded that kiosk banking had a significant effect on socio-economic development of rural dwellers. The major challenges of kiosk banking were found to be high withdrawal charges (25.2%) and insufficient funds for huge withdrawals (21.8%). The study recommended for monitoring of charges and improvement in availability of funds to kiosk bankers so as to boost socio-economic activities in rural settlements. It was also recommended that banks should scale up kiosk banking services to encourage more participation and more financial inclusion

Full Length Research Paper Seed germination and in vitro plant regeneration of Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) Benth

Parkia biglobosa is an important leguminous forest species which is being threatened of going into extinction in Senegal. To preserve this genetic resource of great economic value, studies on germination were carried out and in vitro conservation option through tissue culture technique wasadopted. 100% of germination rate was recorded 2 days after 5 - 6 h of concentrated H2SO4 treatments and incubation in a growth chamber at 27±1°C. To improve and raise in vitro vegetative multiplication capacities, different concentrations of growth regulators were added alone or in combination in a MS basal medium. Multiplication rate of 3.08 and 3.29 were obtained, respectively, for apex and cotyledonary nodes in a MS medium supplemented with BAP 0.5 mg.L-1 + TIBA 0.1 mg.L-1. For axillary explants, a rate of 3.58 was recorded for the hormonal combination which consisted of BAP 0.5 mg.L-1 + TIBA 0.5 mg.L-1 + AgNO3 0.5 mg.L-1. 41.66% of apex and 58.33% of cotyledonary explants were rooted after 24 h of induction treatment with IBA 2.5mg.L-1 whereas 41.66% of axillary bud explants developed roots after 48 h of induction with NAA 1mg.L-1. During acclimatization achievement, survival rates wererespectively 80% for apex and cotyledonary explants and 86.66% for axillary explants

Etude des comportements rheologiques des melanges de farine ble/sorgho sans tanins issue de trois nouvelles varietes cultivees au Senegal et mise au point de pains a base de farines composees (ble/sorgho)

Cette étude a été réalisée à partir de différents mélanges de farine sans tannin issus de trois variétés de sorgho (621A, 621B, 622B) et de blé. Ces trois variétés de sorgho ont été homologuées par l’Institut Sénégalais de Recherche Agricole (ISRA). Les paramètres tels que l’indice de Zeleny, le temps de chute de Hagberg et la force boulangère des différents mélanges de farine de blé avec 20 % et 30 % d’incorporation de farine de sorgho ont été déterminées au niveau de l’Unité de Biochimie Industrielle de la faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux (Belgique). L’étude a montré qu’une substitution de la farine de blé par de la farine de sorgho entraine une diminution de l’indice de Zeleny, de l’activité amylasique, de la force de la farine, de l’extensibilité et une augmentation du temps de chute et de l’équilibre entre la ténacité et l’extensibilité. Des tests de panification à base de farines composées incorporant 20 % des farines issues des différentes variétés de sorgho ont été effectués aussi au niveau de la boulangerie pilote de l’Institut de Technologie Alimentaire de Dakar. Les pains obtenus ont présenté un bon volume, une bonne texture de la mie, de la croute et un bon goût comparable au pain 100 % blé.Mots clés : Sorgho, tannin, variétés, farines composée

Coherent transport in a two-electron quantum dot molecule

We investigate the dynamics of two interacting electrons confined to a pair of coupled quantum dots driven by an external AC field. By numerically integrating the two-electron Schroedinger equation in time, we find that for certain values of the strength and frequency of the AC field we can cause the electrons to be localised within the same dot, in spite of the Coulomb repulsion between them. Reducing the system to an effective two-site model of Hubbard type and applying Floquet theory leads to a detailed understanding of this effect. This demonstrates the possibility of using appropriate AC fields to manipulate entangled states in mesoscopic devices on extremely short timescales, which is an essential component of practical schemes for quantum information processing.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; the section dealing with the perturbative treatment of the Floquet states has been substantially expanded to make it easier to follo

Fortification des farines tropicales par l’introduction de proteines vegetales et de champignons comestibles

La fortification des aliments de base des populations constitue un moyen efficace pour contribuer à la lutte contre l’insécurité alimentaire. Le présent travail a consisté à incorporer les champignons comestibles, Pleurotus florida et la pâte de niébé dans la farine de mil. Pour y parvenir, les champignons sont produits sur des substrats à base de son de riz et de paille d’arachide. La méthode d’incorporation utilisée pour assurer le mélange est la cuisson-extrusion du type mono vis. Les farines obtenues avec ou sans ajout des champignons sont caractérisées sur le plan nutritionnel. Les résultats obtenus ont montré que les teneurs en protéines des farines varient de 13,27 % à 18,48 %, celles en minéraux de 4,68 % à 8,98 %, le fer de 92,28 % à 101,89 %, le magnésium de 3,10 % à 3,32 %, le zinc et la matière grasse de 10,75 % à 11,90 %. Au vu des résultats obtenus, la meilleure farine serait la farine composée qui présente une teneur en protéines comprise entre 15 et 22,6 %, valeur recommandée par le Codex Alimentarius pour ce type de complément alimentaire destiné aux enfants. Dans ce mélange, après extrusion, tous les minéraux ont augmenté de 5,76 mg/100g pour le fer, 101,89 mg/100g pour le magnésium, et de 3,32 mg/100g pour le zinc. Parallèlement, le taux de matière grasse est de 11,90 %, inférieur à la valeur normale (15,5 %) fixée par le Codex Alimentarius.Mots clés : Champignons comestibles, farine fortifiés, farine de mil, niéb

Recurrence of fidelity in near integrable systems

Within the framework of simple perturbation theory, recurrence time of quantum fidelity is related to the period of the classical motion. This indicates the possibility of recurrence in near integrable systems. We have studied such possibility in detail with the kicked rotor as an example. In accordance with the correspondence principle, recurrence is observed when the underlying classical dynamics is well approximated by the harmonic oscillator. Quantum revivals of fidelity is noted in the interior of resonances, while classical-quantum correspondence of fidelity is seen to be very short for states initially in the rotational KAM region.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Nonperturbative Coherent Population Trapping: An Analytic Model

Coherent population trapping is shown to occur in a driven symmetric double-well potential in the strong-field regime. The system parameters have been chosen to reproduce the $0^{-}\leftrightarrow 3^{+}$ transition of the inversion mode of the ammonia molecule. For a molecule initially prepared in its lower doublet we find that, under certain circumstances, the $3^{+}$ level remains unpopulated, and this occurs in spite of the fact that the laser field is resonant with the $0^{-}\leftrightarrow 3^{+}$ transition and intense enough so as to strongly mix the $0^{+}$ and $0^{-}$ ground states. This counterintuitive result constitutes a coherent population trapping phenomenon of nonperturbative origin which cannot be accounted for with the usual models. We propose an analytic nonperturbative model which accounts correctly for the observed phenomenon.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

High-order Harmonic Generation and Dynamic Localization in a driven two-level system, a non-perturbative solution using the Floquet-Green formalism

We apply the Floquet-Green operator formalism to the case of a harmonically-driven two-level system. We derive exact expressions for the quasi-energies and the components of the Floquet eigenstates with the use of continued fractions. We study the avoided crossings structure of the quasi-energies as a function of the strength of the driving field and give an interpretation in terms of resonant multi-photon processes. From the Floquet eigenstates we obtain the time-evolution operator. Using this operator we study Dynamic Localization and High-order Harmonic Generation in the non-perturbative regime