1,084 research outputs found

    Gender Equity in Mathematics Achievement in East African Primary Schools: Context Counts

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    Although primary school enrollment is gradually on the increase in the developing world, differences in mathematics achievement between girls and boys persist. A complex combination of factors that is related to issues of the home environment, the school context, and national policy influences the performance of female students when compared to their male peers. We focus on three countries in East Africa with a female disadvantage in mathematics achievement and use data from 8,795 primary school students in 529 schools. We explore the influence of contextual factors and organizational processes that are associated with better overall performance and with the improved gender distribution of achievement.

    Growth Improvement of Mung Bean (Vigna Radiata (L.) Wilczek R.) by Application of Mycofer and Phosphate Fertilizer

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    The objective of the research was to observe the effect of mycofer inoculation and the phosphate fertilizer on growth improvement of mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek). The research method used experimental method, which used randomize block design 2 x 7 factorial with 3 replications. The first factor was mycofer inoculation (M), which consisted of two levels, i.e. without mycofer inoculation (m0) and with mycofer inoculation (m1). The second factor was adding of phosphate fertilizer (P), which consisted of seven levels of doses, i.e. without adding of phosphate fertilizer (p0), 25 kg/ha (p1), 50 kg/ha (p2), 75 kg/ha (p3), 100 kg/ha (p4), 125 kg/ha (p5) and 150 kg/ha (p6). The observation parameter included the plant height, the leaf area, the dry weight, the number of pods, the seeds weight and the percentages of the root infection. The result showed that there was interaction between mycofer inoculation and the adding phosphate fertilizer to increase the plant height, the number of pods and the seeds weight. Phosphate fertilizer dose 75 kg/ha (p3) was the best dose for increasing the growth of mung bean plants inoculated mycofer on all parameters observed, except best phosphate fertilizers dose for the parameters of dry weight was 50 kg[1] / ha (p2)

    Microcavity supported lipid membranes: versatile platforms for building asymmetric lipid bilayers and for protein recognition

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    Microcavity supported lipid bilayers (MSLB) are contact-free membranes suspended across aqueousfilled pores that maintain the lipid bilayer in a highly fluidic state and free from frictional interactions with substrate. Such platforms offer the prospect of liposome-like fluidity with the compositional versatility and addressability of supported lipid bilayers and thus offer significant opportunity for modelling membrane asymmetry, protein-membrane interactions and aggregation at the membrane interface. Herein, we evaluate their performance by studying the effect of transmembrane lipid asymmetry on lipid diffusivity, membrane viscosity and cholera toxin- ganglioside recognition across six symmetric and asymmetric membranes including binary compositions containing both fluid and gel phase, and ternary phase separated membrane compositions. Fluorescence lifetime correlation spectroscopy (FLCS) was used to determine the lateral mobility of lipid and protein, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) enabled detection of protein-membrane assembly over the nanomolar range. Transmembrane leaflet asymmetry was observed to have profound impact on membrane electrochemical resistance where the resistance of a ternary symmetric phase separated bilayer was found to be at least 2.6 times higher than the asymmetric bilayer with analogous composition at the distal leaflet but where the lower leaflet comprised only 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC). Similarly, the diffusion coefficient for MSLBs was observed to be 2.5 fold faster for asymmetric MSLBs where the lower leaflet is DOPC alone. Our results demonstrate that interplay of lipid packing across both membrane leaflets and concentration of GM1 both affect the extent of cholera toxin aggregation and consequent diffusion of the cholera-GM1 aggregates. Given that true biomembranes are both fluidic and asymmetric, MSLBs offer the opportunity for building greater biomimicry into biophysical models and the approach described demonstrates the value of MSLBs in studying aggregation and membrane associated multivalent interactions prevalent in many carbohydrates mediated processes

    Breeding Grounds for Abuse

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    The same people who endanger the health and lives of dogs for profit often endanger the health and lives of children. An HSUS rescuer describes how puppy mills can be just one element in a circle of violence

    Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensing properties of water soluble core-shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dots/Nafion composite films

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    Water soluble positively charged 2-(dimethylamino) ethanethiol (DAET)-protected core-shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized and incorporated within negatively charged Nafion polymer films. The water soluble QDs were characterized using UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopies. Nafion/QDs composite films were deposited on glassy carbon electrodes and characterized using cyclic voltammetry. The electrochemiluminescence (ECL) using hydrogen peroxide as co-reactant was enhanced for Nafion/QDs composite films compared to films of the bare QDs. Significantly, no ECL was observed for Nafion/QDs composite films when peroxydisulfate was used as the co-reactant, suggesting that the permselective properties of the Nafion effectively exclude the co-reactant. The ECL quenching by glutathione depends linearly on its concentration when hydrogen peroxide is used as the co-reactant, opening up the possibility to use Nafion/QDs composite films for various electroanalytical applications

    Surface enhanced resonance Raman and luminescence on plasmon active nanostructured cavities

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    Presented here are studies of the impact of excitation angle on surface enhanced Raman and luminescence spectroscopy of dye immobilised on a plasmon active nanocavity array support. Results show that both Raman and luminescence intensities depend on the angle of incidence consistent with the presence of cavity supported plasmon modes. Dependence of scattering or emission intensity with excitation angle occurs over the window of observation

    Optimization of Fuzzy Support Vector Machine (FSVM) Performance by Distance-Based Similarity Measure Classification

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    This research aims to determine the maximum or minimum value of a Fuzzy Support Vector Machine (FSVM) Algorithm using the optimization function. As opposed to FSVM, which is less effective on large and complex data because of its sensitivity to outliers and noise, SVM is considered an effective method of data classification. One of the techniques used to overcome this inefficiency is fuzzy logic, with its ability to select the right membership function, which significantly affects the effectiveness of the FSVM algorithm performance. This research was carried out using the Gaussian membership function and the Distance-Based Similarity Measurement consisting of the Euclidean, Manhattan, Chebyshev, and Minkowsky distance methods. Subsequently, the optimization of the FSVM classification process was determined using four proposed FSVM models and normal SVM as comparison references. The results showed that the method tends to eliminate the impact of noise and enhance classification accuracy effectively. FSVM provides the best and highest accuracy value of 94% at a penalty parameter value of 1000 using the Chebyshev distance matrix. Furthermore, the model proposed will be compared to the performance evaluation model in preliminary studies. The result further showed that using FSVM with a Chebyshev distance matrix and a Gaussian membership function provides a better performance evaluation value. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2021-02-04-02 Full Text: PD

    Community of Macrozoobenthos and Physical-Chemical Parameters in the Watas Hutan Lake, Tanjung Balam Village, Siak Hulu Sub-regency Kampar Regency, Riau Province

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    Watas Hutan Lake is one of the oxbow lakes in the Kampar Regency. In the areas around the lake, there are activities such as oil palm, rubber and banana plantations. To understand the water quality in general, a research was conducted from April to May 2015. This research aims to determine the water quality of the lake based on physical and chemical characteristics and makrozoobenthos community structure. There were three stations, 3 sampling points/ station. Water samples were taken 3 times, once/ week. Parameters measured were abundance, uniformity and dominancy index of the macrozoobenthos and several water quality parameters such as temperature, turbidity, depth, total suspended solid, pH, dissolved oxygen, BOD5, nitrate, phosphate, substrate type, and organic materials. Results shown that there were 12 species (4 classes) of macrozoobenthos, with abundance 353 organisms /m2. There were Oligochaeta (4 species), Insects (3 species), Gastropods (3 species), and Bivalves (2 species). In general, the H' was 2.62-2.82; C was 0.17-0.19 and E was 0.79-0.85. Water quality parameters are as follows : temperature 29-300C, turbidity 4.00-6.30 NTU, depths 1.29-4.03 cm, TSS 4.00-5.30 mg/L, pH 5, dissolved oxygen 2.00-2.73 mg/L, BOD5 5.20-5.50 mg/L, nitrate 0.04-0.06 mg/L and phosphate 0.75-1.14 mg/L. The value of WQI-NSF index of the Watas Hutan Lake was 22.21-24.83, indicates that this river is badly polluted. There was muddy substrate with 39.03-42.20% organic materials content in each area. Based on the values of H', C and E in the macrozoobenthos community, it can be concluded that the aquatic ecosystem in the Watas Hutan Lake is balance

    Etude contributive Ă  la connaissance des populations de simulies dans la commune de BouaflĂ©, Centre-Ouest de la CĂŽte d’Ivoire

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    AprĂšs l’arrĂȘt des activitĂ©s du programme de lutte contre l’onchocercose en Afrique de l’Ouest (OCP) en 2002, la CĂŽte d’Ivoire n’a pu conduire rĂ©guliĂšrement les activitĂ©s de lutte du fait de la crise socio-politique qui a dĂ©marrĂ© en 2002. La recolonisation abondante des cours d’eau par les simulies et son corollaire la nuisance simulidienne le long de certains bassins versants, est due au fait que de vastes rĂ©gions plus ou moins forestiĂšres n’ont jamais Ă©tĂ© traitĂ©es rĂ©guliĂšrement par les insecticides contre les populations larvaires de simulies vectrices. L’objectif gĂ©nĂ©ral du travail est de contribuer Ă  la connaissance de la dynamique des populations de simulies et de la transmission de l’onchocercose en CĂŽte d’Ivoire et particuliĂšrement aux alentours du fleuve Marahoué dans la commune de BouaflĂ©. La technique de capture des simulies sur appĂąt humain a Ă©tĂ© utilisĂ©e. Les rĂ©sultats indiquent une forte nuisance simulidienne (117 piqĂ»res / Homme / Jour) avec un pic l’aprĂšs-midi. Les simulies capturĂ©es sont essentiellement (99,1%) des espĂšces savanicoles ; elles prĂ©sentent une grande longĂ©vité (64.44%). Du point de vue transmission, aucune simulie femelle infectĂ©e ou infectieuse n’a Ă©tĂ© dĂ©celĂ©e pendant la durĂ©e de l’étude.Mots clĂ©s : Onchocercose, espĂšces savanicoles, dynamique de populations, nuisance simulidienne, transmission
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