Comparative study on the efficiency of FUTY smoking kiln and traditional smoking drum

Freshly caught mud catfish (Clarias anguillaris) and Tilapia (Oreochromis niloficus) collected from lake Geriyo in Adamawa state were smoked using different Kilns in order to evaluate the efficiency of the Smoking Kilns. The products from Federal university of Technology, Yola (FUTY) Improved Processor (FIP) were of better quality than the Traditional Smoking Drum (TSD). The use of these two processors revealed the profitability to fisher folks. marketers and fish farmers in the utilization of the FIP compared to the TSD as losses incurred was minimal. The qualities of the smoked Clarias anguillaris and Oreochromis niloticus were determined from their various peroxide values obtained after a 28 days storage period. The physi-cochemical parameters of the smoked samples were obtained. Products from FIP were of better quality than the TSD

The trends in temperature and solar irradiance for Zaria, north western, Nigeria, between 1986 and 2015

This work presents a statistical analysis of the trends in temperature and solar irradiance for Zaria between 1986 and 2015, using average temperature and solar irradiance data. Analysis showed that the average monthly temperature of the first decade was hotter than that of the second decade by 1.20.% and the third decade was hotter than that of the second by 3.22%, and an increase of 2.05% in the average monthly temperature was observed between first and the third decade. The average minimum temperature of the second decade was observed to be higher than that of the first decade by 0.80% and the third decade had an increase of 1.07% over the second decade; hence, a difference of 1.87% was observed between the first decade and the third decade. Furthermore, the solar irradiance of the second decade was observed to increase by 25.69% over the first decade, while that of the third decade was observed to reduce by 17.81% over the second decade. A difference of the solar irradiance of 12.45% was observed between the first and the third decade. It was also observed that the years; 2003, 2009, 2010 and 2013 had the highest maximum annual temperature; while the years: 1993, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2015 had highest minimum temperature. The result of the analysis shows that Zaria is gradually getting warm and the temperature rise is connected to the solar irradiance in line with the general global trend thereby leading to the global warming concept.Keywords: Trend, Temperature, Solar Irradiance, Zari

Petrology, geochemistry, and cosmic-ray exposure age of lherzolitic shergottite Northwest Africa 1950

Northwest Africa (NWA) 1950 is a new member of the lherzolitic shergottite clan of the Martian meteorites recently found in the Atlas Mountains. The petrological, mineralogical, and geochemical data are very close to those of the other known lherzolitic shergottites. The meteorite has a cumulate gabbroic texture and its mineralogy consists of olivine (Fo66 to Fo75), low and high-Ca pyroxenes (En78Fs19Wo2- En60Fs26W14; En53Fs16Wo31-En45Fs14Wo41), and plagioclase (An57Ab41Or1 to An40Ab57Or3; entirely converted into maskelynite during intense shock metamorphism). Accessory minerals include phosphates (merrillite), chromite and spinels, sulfides, and a glass rich in potassium. The oxygen isotopic values lie on the fractional line defined by the other SNC meteorites (Δ17O = 0.312 ‰). The composition of NWA 1950 is very similar to the other lherzolitic shergottites and suggests an origin from the same magmatic system, or at least crystallization from a close parental melt. Cosmogenic ages indicate an ejection age similar to those of the other lherzolitic shergottites. The intensity of the shock is similar to that observed in other shergottites, as shown by the occurrence of small melt pockets containing glass interwoven with stishovite

Approaches to teacher's information and communication competetnce development in the context of the educational cloud computing environment

У статті подано підходи до розвитку інформаційно-комунікаційної компетентності вчителя у контексті міжнародних підходів. Розглянуто рамки цифрової компетентності громадян та освітян, які слугують еталонною моделлю для освітніх систем країн Європи. Визначено основні проблеми та окреслено перспективи використання міжнародних рамок та стандартів у розвитку професійних якостей вчителя.В статье представлены подходы к развитию информационно-коммуникационной компетентности учителя в контексте международных подходов. Рассмотрены рамки цифровой компетентности граждан и педагогов, служащих эталонной моделью для образовательных систем стран Европы. Определены основные проблемы и намечены перспективы использования международных рамок и стандартов в развитии профессиональных качеств учителя.The approaches to the information and communication competence development in the context of international tendencies are revealed in the article.The framework of digital competence of citizens and educators, which serve as a reference model for educational systems of European countries, is considered. The main problems are identified and the perspectives of the use of international frameworks and standards in the development of professional qualities of the teacher are outlined

Cryptic Eimeria genotypes are common across the southern but not northern hemisphere

The phylum Apicomplexa includes parasites of medical, zoonotic and veterinary significance. Understanding the global distribution and genetic diversity of these protozoa is of fundamental importance for efficient, robust and long-lasting methods of control. Eimeria spp. cause intestinal coccidiosis in all major livestock animals and are the most important parasites of domestic chickens in terms of both economic impact and animal welfare. Despite having significant negative impacts on the efficiency of food production, many fundamental questions relating to the global distribution and genetic variation of Eimeria spp. remain largely unanswered. Here, we provide the broadest map yet of Eimeria occurrence for domestic chickens, confirming that all the known species (Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria brunetti, Eimeria maxima, Eimeria mitis, Eimeria necatrix, Eimeria praecox, Eimeria tenella) are present in all six continents where chickens are found (including 21 countries). Analysis of 248 internal transcribed spacer sequences derived from 17 countries provided evidence of possible allopatric diversity for species such as E. tenella (FST values ⩽0.34) but not E. acervulina and E. mitis, and highlighted a trend towards widespread genetic variance. We found that three genetic variants described previously only in Australia and southern Africa (operational taxonomic units x, y and z) have a wide distribution across the southern, but not the northern hemisphere. While the drivers for such a polarised distribution of these operational taxonomic unit genotypes remains unclear, the occurrence of genetically variant Eimeria may pose a risk to food security and animal welfare in Europe and North America should these parasites spread to the northern hemisphere

What is the Oxygen Isotope Composition of Venus? The Scientific Case for Sample Return from Earth’s “Sister” Planet

Venus is Earth’s closest planetary neighbour and both bodies are of similar size and mass. As a consequence, Venus is often described as Earth’s sister planet. But the two worlds have followed very different evolutionary paths, with Earth having benign surface conditions, whereas Venus has a surface temperature of 464 °C and a surface pressure of 92 bar. These inhospitable surface conditions may partially explain why there has been such a dearth of space missions to Venus in recent years.The oxygen isotope composition of Venus is currently unknown. However, this single measurement (Δ17O) would have first order implications for our understanding of how large terrestrial planets are built. Recent isotopic studies indicate that the Solar System is bimodal in composition, divided into a carbonaceous chondrite (CC) group and a non-carbonaceous (NC) group. The CC group probably originated in the outer Solar System and the NC group in the inner Solar System. Venus comprises 41% by mass of the inner Solar System compared to 50% for Earth and only 5% for Mars. Models for building large terrestrial planets, such as Earth and Venus, would be significantly improved by a determination of the Δ17O composition of a returned sample from Venus. This measurement would help constrain the extent of early inner Solar System isotopic homogenisation and help to identify whether the feeding zones of the terrestrial planets were narrow or wide.Determining the Δ17O composition of Venus would also have significant implications for our understanding of how the Moon formed. Recent lunar formation models invoke a high energy impact between the proto-Earth and an inner Solar System-derived impactor body, Theia. The close isotopic similarity between the Earth and Moon is explained by these models as being a consequence of high-temperature, post-impact mixing. However, if Earth and Venus proved to be isotopic clones with respect to Δ17O, this would favour the classic, lower energy, giant impact scenario.We review the surface geology of Venus with the aim of identifying potential terrains that could be targeted by a robotic sample return mission. While the potentially ancient tessera terrains would be of great scientific interest, the need to minimise the influence of venusian weathering favours the sampling of young basaltic plains. In terms of a nominal sample mass, 10 g would be sufficient to undertake a full range of geochemical, isotopic and dating studies. However, it is important that additional material is collected as a legacy sample. As a consequence, a returned sample mass of at least 100 g should be recovered.Two scenarios for robotic sample return missions from Venus are presented, based on previous mission proposals. The most cost effective approach involves a “Grab and Go” strategy, either using a lander and separate orbiter, or possibly just a stand-alone lander. Sample return could also be achieved as part of a more ambitious, extended mission to study the venusian atmosphere. In both scenarios it is critical to obtain a surface atmospheric sample to define the extent of atmosphere-lithosphere oxygen isotopic disequilibrium. Surface sampling would be carried out by multiple techniques (drill, scoop, “vacuum-cleaner” device) to ensure success. Surface operations would take no longer than one hour.Analysis of returned samples would provide a firm basis for assessing similarities and differences between the evolution of Venus, Earth, Mars and smaller bodies such as Vesta. The Solar System provides an important case study in how two almost identical bodies, Earth and Venus, could have had such a divergent evolution. Finally, Venus, with its runaway greenhouse atmosphere, may provide data relevant to the understanding of similar less extreme processes on Earth. Venus is Earth’s planetary twin and deserves to be better studied and understood. In a wider context, analysis of returned samples from Venus would provide data relevant to the study of exoplanetary systems

Polygenic Risk Scores for Prediction of Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Subtypes

Stratification of women according to their risk of breast cancer based on polygenic risk scores (PRSs) could improve screening and prevention strategies. Our aim was to develop PRSs, optimized for prediction of estrogen receptor (ER)-specific disease, from the largest available genome-wide association dataset and to empirically validate the PRSs in prospective studies. The development dataset comprised 94,075 case subjects and 75,017 control subjects of European ancestry from 69 studies, divided into training and validation sets. Samples were genotyped using genome-wide arrays, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected by stepwise regression or lasso penalized regression. The best performing PRSs were validated in an independent test set comprising 11,428 case subjects and 18,323 control subjects from 10 prospective studies and 190,040 women from UK Biobank (3,215 incident breast cancers). For the best PRSs (313 SNPs), the odds ratio for overall disease per 1 standard deviation in ten prospective studies was 1.61 (95%CI: 1.57-1.65) with area under receiver-operator curve (AUC) = 0.630 (95%CI: 0.628-0.651). The lifetime risk of overall breast cancer in the top centile of the PRSs was 32.6%. Compared with women in the middle quintile, those in the highest 1% of risk had 4.37- and 2.78-fold risks, and those in the lowest 1% of risk had 0.16- and 0.27-fold risks, of developing ER-positive and ER-negative disease, respectively. Goodness-of-fit tests indicated that this PRS was well calibrated and predicts disease risk accurately in the tails of the distribution. This PRS is a powerful and reliable predictor of breast cancer risk that may improve breast cancer prevention programs.NovartisEli Lilly and CompanyAstraZenecaAbbViePfizer UKCelgeneEisaiGenentechMerck Sharp and DohmeRocheCancer Research UKGovernment of CanadaArray BioPharmaGenome CanadaNational Institutes of HealthEuropean CommissionMinistère de l'Économie, de l’Innovation et des Exportations du QuébecSeventh Framework ProgrammeCanadian Institutes of Health Researc

Measurement of event-shape observables in Z→ℓ+ℓ− events in pp collisions at √ s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Event-shape observables measured using charged particles in inclusive $Z$-boson events are presented, using the electron and muon decay modes of the $Z$ bosons. The measurements are based on an integrated luminosity of $1.1 {\rm fb}^{-1}$ of proton--proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV. Charged-particle distributions, excluding the lepton--antilepton pair from the $Z$-boson decay, are measured in different ranges of transverse momentum of the $Z$ boson. Distributions include multiplicity, scalar sum of transverse momenta, beam thrust, transverse thrust, spherocity, and $\mathcal{F}$-parameter, which are in particular sensitive to properties of the underlying event at small values of the $Z$-boson transverse momentum. The Sherpa event generator shows larger deviations from the measured observables than Pythia8 and Herwig7. Typically, all three Monte Carlo generators provide predictions that are in better agreement with the data at high $Z$-boson transverse momenta than at low $Z$-boson transverse momenta and for the observables that are less sensitive to the number of charged particles in the event.Comment: 36 pages plus author list + cover page (54 pages total), 14 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC, All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2014-0

Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution

One sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is dependent on river floodplains

Amazonia’s floodplain system is the largest and most biodiverse on Earth. Although forests are crucial to the ecological integrity of floodplains, our understanding of their species composition and how this may differ from surrounding forest types is still far too limited, particularly as changing inundation regimes begin to reshape floodplain tree communities and the critical ecosystem functions they underpin. Here we address this gap by taking a spatially explicit look at Amazonia-wide patterns of tree-species turnover and ecological specialization of the region’s floodplain forests. We show that the majority of Amazonian tree species can inhabit floodplains, and about a sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is ecologically specialized on floodplains. The degree of specialization in floodplain communities is driven by regional flood patterns, with the most compositionally differentiated floodplain forests located centrally within the fluvial network and contingent on the most extraordinary flood magnitudes regionally. Our results provide a spatially explicit view of ecological specialization of floodplain forest communities and expose the need for whole-basin hydrological integrity to protect the Amazon’s tree diversity and its function