Sport Deviance and Promoter’s Interest in Calabar Metropolis of Cross River State – Nigeria

The paper examines sport deviance and promoters’ interest in Calabar Metropolis of Cross River State, Nigeria. Deviance in sport is basically seen as an anti-sporting behavior that is displayed in sport setting for which some uses to gain advantage over their competitors. One of the assumptions behind rising to stardom by all means in sport is that it attracts more sponsorship deals as no promoter would be drawn to a failure. But what is often not put in consideration is the negative consequences of what deviance portends on sport promotion. Two hypotheses were stated and tested to guide the research. Literature was reviewed based on these variables and the interest game theory was adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. The ex-post facto research design was adopted and a total of 400 respondents were purposefully chosen for the study although a total of 386 returned questionnaires were found suitable for analysis. The stated hypotheses were tested using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis and results show that there was a significant relationship between sport deviance and promoters’ interest. Based on the findings, it was recommended thus; sport violence perpetrators should be sanctioned as it will serve as deterrence to others. Outlawed drugs should be rehearsed to athletes at close intervals and drug test should be thorough enough to ensure no violator escape detection. These among other recommendations were reached

High efficacy of microbial larvicides for malaria vectors control in the city of Yaounde Cameroon following a cluster randomized trial

The rapid expansion of insecticide resistance and outdoor malaria transmission are affecting the efficacy of current malaria control measures. In urban settings, where malaria transmission is focal and breeding habitats are few, fixed and findable, the addition of anti-larval control measures could be efficient for malaria vector control. But field evidences for this approach remains scarce. Here we provide findings of a randomized-control larviciding trial conducted in the city of Yaoundé that support the efficacy of this approach. A two arms random control trial design including 26 clusters of 2 to 4 km2 each (13 clusters in the intervention area and 13 in the non-intervention area) was used to assess larviciding efficacy. The microbial larvicide VectoMax combining Bacillus thuringiensis var israelensis (Bti) and Bacillus sphaericus in a single granule was applied every 2 weeks in all standing water collection points. The anopheline density collected using CDC light traps was used as the primary outcome, secondary outcomes included the entomological inoculation rate, breeding habitats with anopheline larvae, and larval density. Baseline entomological data collection was conducted for 17 months from March 2017 to July 2018 and the intervention lasted 26 months from September 2018 to November 2020. The intervention was associated with a reduction of 68% of adult anopheline biting density and of 79% of the entomological inoculation rate (OR 0.21; 95% CI 0.14–0.30, P < 0.0001). A reduction of 68.27% was recorded for indoor biting anophelines and 57.74% for outdoor biting anophelines. No impact on the composition of anopheline species was recorded. A reduction of over 35% of adult Culex biting densities was recorded. The study indicated high efficacy of larviciding for reducing malaria transmission intensity in the city of Yaoundé. Larviciding could be part of an integrated control approach for controlling malaria vectors and other mosquito species in the urban environment

Stelleninhaber geht – Wissen bleibt!

In Deutschland nimmt der Anteil älterer Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmer tendenziell zu. Deshalb muss sich die Bibliotheksleitung verstärkt auf das altersbedingte Ausscheiden älterer Arbeitnehmer einstellen. Eine langjährige Fachkraft verfügt über spezielles Erfahrungswissen im direkten Aufgabenfeld. Die Bibliotheksleitung muss den Transfer allen relevanten Wissens, dazu gehört das Erfahrungswissen, vom Stelleninhaber auf seinen Nachfolger ermöglichen und unterstützen. Am Beispiel der Universitätsbibliothek der Bergakademie Freiberg wird untersucht, wie das Wissensmanagement im Rahmen eines Stellenwechsels derzeit geregelt ist. Das geschieht mit Hilfe von Tiefeninterviews in verschiedenen Abteilungen. Die Auswertung der Interviews bildet die Basis für ein Konzept für das Wissensmanagement beim Stellenwechsel an der UB Freiberg. Das Konzept benennt u. a. Maßnahmen zur Identifikation des stellenbezogenen Wissens, Maßnahmen zur Dokumentation des relevanten Wissens und Instrumente zur Wissensweitergabe beim Stellenwechsel

Sustainable management of cassava processing waste for promoting rural development

Cassava is the third-most important food source in the tropics after rice and maize. Cassava is the staple food for about half a billion people in the World. It is a tropical crop grown mainly in Africa, Asia, and South America. It can be cultivated on arid and semiarid land where other crops do not thrive. During the processing of cassava into chips, flour or starch, enormous amount of wastes are generated ca. 0.47 tons for each ton of fresh tubers processed. This waste consists of peels, wastewater and pulp that contain between 36 to 45% (w/w) of starch and from 55 to 64% (w/w) of lignocellulosic biomass. An innovative processing system is therefore essential to take into account the transformation of this waste into value added products. This will address both the environmental pollution and inefficient utilization of these resources. The starch and lignocellulosic cassava processing waste can be converted into renewable energy carriers such as biogas through anaerobic digestion (AD), bio-ethanol through fermentation and bio-hydrogen through dark fermentation. In the case of AD, the waste can be used directly as substrate while for fermentation; the waste must be pre-treated to release monomeric sugars, which are substrates for bioethanol and bio-hydrogen production. There is possibility of sequential fermentation for either bio-ethanol or bio-hydrogen and AD for biogas production thereby making use of all the fractions of the cassava waste. Generation of renewable energy from cassava waste could benefit rural populations where access to electricity is very poor. This would also reduce the dependence on firewood and charcoal that are known to provide almost 90 percent of domestic energy requirements. Such a development could help save trees, lower emissions that cause climate change and reduce the fumes from millions of tons of firewood that threaten human health, especially the health of women and children. Although deforestation and land degradation are well-known, the charcoal and firewood consumption that causes them is still on the rise. This chapter, therefore, explores the use of cassava waste for production of fuel energy with a focus for use as domestic cooking fuel. It also proposes an efficient approach to cassava processing to ensure efficient resource utilization in which every part of the tuber is converted to value added products mitigating environmental pollution and improving human health

Re-aligning the development trajectory in Madagascar through local voices

The political history of post-independence Madagascar is similar to that of other former French colonies on the continent, which have been characterised by a strong presidency, weak state institutions and complete absence of the state around the periphery. The 2009 uprising in Madagascar necessitated rethinking fundamental questions of how states were formed in Africa and of findings new ways of community consultation and development, says Olivia Lwabukuna et al.

Interfacial behavior of confined mesogens at smectic-C*-water boundary

In this paper, we have investigated the behavior of mesogens at smectic-C*-water interface confined in a liquid crystal (LC) cell with interfacial geometry. Polarized optical microscopy was used to probe the appearance of various smectic-C* domain patterns at water interface owing to the reorientation of mesogens. The undulated stripe domains observed at the air interface of smectic-C* meniscus vanished as the water entered into the smectic layers and focal conical domain patterns appeared at smectic-C*-water boundary. A spatially variable electro-optical switching of LC molecules was also observed outside the electrode area of the interfacial cell. The electrode region at the interface, as well as on the water side, was damaged upon application of an electric field of magnitude more than 150 kV/m. The change in dielectric parameters of mesogens was extensively studied at interface after evaporating the water. These studies give fundamental insights into smectic-C*-water interface and also will be helpful in fabricating better LC devices for electro-optical and sensing applications

Low-temperature nematic phase in asymmetrical 1,3,4-oxadiazole bent-core liquid crystals possessing lateral methoxy group

Asymmetrical bent-core molecules based on 1,3,4-oxadiazole bent-core unit have been synthesised as a new design with a lateral methoxy group at outer phenyl ring of the molecule. These new asymmetrical bent-core molecules resemble hockey-stick shaped due to the presence of two different arms of different lengths. One arm of these molecules is elongated having two phenyl rings and possesses a 4-n-alkyloxy chain of a different number of carbon atoms (n=4, 8, 12 and 18) and other arm is short and has one phenyl ring with fixed 4-n-octyloxy chain. The bent-core molecules possess a lateral polar methoxy group at the elongated arm of the molecule. These bent-core compounds exhibited fluorescence emission in the UV wavelength region (similar to 377-386nm) whereas in acetonitrile and dimethylformamide, solvent displays blue emission peak with a large stoke shift.The bent-core molecules with the number of carbon atoms (n=4, 8 and 12) at the elongated arm exhibited monotropic nematic phase at low temperature, while the 4-n-octadecyloxy chain at the elongated arm displayed smectic A phase. Dielectric studies were performed in the nematic phase of the bent-core mesogens confirm the formation of the cybotactic cluster in the nematic mesophases