Improve the Capacities of Zimbabwe for the Control of animal and zoonotic diseases

The main objective of the CAZCOM project is to build Zimbabwe's capacity to improve the surveillance and control of important animal and zoonotic diseases. Environmental changes related to climate change have a major impact on the epidemiology and emergence of vector-borne and non-vector-borne diseases in humans, domestic animals and wildlife. The human, societal, environmental and economic costs associated with changes in the dynamics of infectious diseases are considerable. Zimbabwe, a country located in the subtropical area, will have to face many human and veterinary sanitary challenges in connection with these global changes. Currently, the lack of resources, skilled personnel, and advanced biotechnology infrastructures does not allow the country to put in place an adequate disease surveillance and health response. The CAZCOM project, through its training activities, the establishment of a laboratory with international standards, the development of research projects and the setting-up of effective surveillance and control systems for infectious diseases aims to increase Zimbabwe's autonomy for the control of animal diseases, within the frame of its national livestock breeding strategy. CAZCOM will (1) develop molecular biology technical capacities by creating a molecular platform, training technical staff and establishing technical private/public partnerships, (2) provide training through the development of technical trainings and master modules, the revision of master curricula and the supervision of master students, (3) enhance efficiency and autonomy of animal and zoonotic disease surveillance systems through the set-up of sampling protocols to characterize disease circulation and inter-species transmission modes a at the Human - Wildlife – Livestock interfaces, the development of diagnostic tools and the identification of new surveillance strategies. The success of this project is based on existing collaborations between CIRAD, IRD and their local and international partners developed over the past years through the "Partnership Production and Conservation Research Platform" (RP-PCP). The RP-PCP has established links with Zimbabwe's leading universities as well as with key departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment. This network enables the RP-PCP and all its partners to create joint research projects and benefit from a regional research dynamic

Λr -sets and separation axioms

Separation axioms are among the most common and important and interesting concepts in topology as well as in bitopologies. In this paper, we introduce Λr-sets and some weak separation axioms using Λr -open sets and Λr -closure operator

The Violin

p. 3

Soft Skills Training for Young Autistic Adults to Promote Community Participation: Empowering Neurodivergent Growth and Community Engagement (ENGAGE)

Objective: Young autistic adults often struggle with soft skills essential for community engagement. Identifying services for soft skills training is challenging, limiting their community involvement. This quality improvement project aims to address the need for soft skills training to enhance social interaction for young autistic adults. Methods: A needs assessment was conducted with stakeholders from the Adult Day Program at Avondale House in Houston, TX, to gather information on current resources, training, and clients\u27 ability to apply skills in the community. Six autistic adult clients were recommended to participate in the 12-week soft skills training program called ENGAGE. The RTI-E assessment was used in a non-standardized format to establish baseline communication skills, which informed the creation of ENGAGE. The program was implemented with at least one staff member and 5-6 adult clients. Results: The needs assessment revealed that conversation with peers (64%), conversation with staff (73%), asking for help (73%), responding to feedback (73%), understanding verbal cues (73%), and confirming understanding of instructions (91%) were important. Qualitative data indicated difficulties in developing and applying soft skills in public settings, interacting with others, and teamwork. ENGAGE was implemented and measured through targeted rubrics. The minimum score was 1 (needs improvement), with a maximal score within each criterion of 4 (excellent). Post-ENGAGE implementation, classroom assessments showed improvements in communication (1.67 to 2.33), teamwork (1.5 to 2.33), adaptability (1.83 to 2.25), emotional regulation (1.67 to 2.42), problem-solving (1.5 to 1.92), and initiative (1.83 to 2.25). Community outings also showed improvements in communication (1.67 to 2.5), teamwork (1.71 to 2.5), adaptability (1.81 to 2.5), emotional regulation (2.05 to 2.67), problem-solving (1.48 to 2.17), and initiative (1.58 to 2.17). Staff satisfaction surveys indicated high satisfaction and confidence with ENGAGE, with most responses scored as 4 (agree). Management at Avondale House rated their satisfaction with the program as 5 (strongly agree). A thematic analysis identified overarching themes of engagement and motivation, social interaction and teamwork, challenges and barriers, skill development, and emotional responses. Conclusion: The needs assessment indicated that young autistic adults benefit from soft skills training that supports the translation of skills from familiar settings to the community. The ENGAGE program, incorporating weekly classroom sessions and tasks encouraging client interaction, resulted in positive feedback from clients and staff. Over 12 weeks, there was a positive trend in all the criteria assessed, leading to overall satisfaction from management and staff for soft skills acquisition in their clients

Le Violon

p. 3

Above the Public Place

pp. 42-4

Numerical Investigation of the Effects of Thermo-physical Properties on Tar Intra-particle Secondary Reactions during Biomass Pyrolysis

In this study, a coupled transport and chemical kinetic model was used to simulate the effects of biomass thermo-physical properties on intra-particle secondary reactions during convective-radiative pyrolysis of wood cylinder ( ? in a thermally thick regime. Wood cylinder was modeled as a one-dimensional porous solid. Solid mass conservation equations were solved by first-order Euler Implicit Method. Finite volume method was used to discretize the mass conservation equation for tar and gas, the energy conservation equation and the pressure equation. Tri-Diagonal Matrix Algorithm (TDMA) was used to solve the resulting simultaneous equations. Findings revealed that thermo-physical properties influence the extent of intra-particle secondary reactions, biomass conversion time and product yield distribution. Simulation results also showed that density has the highest influence on intra-particle secondary reactions.Keywords: Biomass, pyrolysis, thermo-physical properties, intra-particle secondary reactions1. Introductio

Effect of Peak Temperature on Biomass Pyrolysis Characteristics in Thermally Thin Regime in a Fixed-Bed Reactor

Effect of reactor peak temperature on biomass pyrolysis in thermally thin regime with a constant heating rate of 30 K/s, reactor pressure of 1 atm and reactor peak temperature ranging from 500 to 1000 oC in a fixed-bed reactor has been numerically investigated. Wood samples  were modeled as two-dimensional porous solids. Transport equations, solid mass conservation equations, intra-particle pressure generation equation and energy conservation equation were coupled and simultaneously solved to simulate the pyrolysis process. First order Euler Implicit Method (EIM) was used to solve the solid mass conservation equations. The transport, energy conservation and intra-particle pressure generation equations were discretized by Finite Volume Method (FVM). The generated set of linear equations was solved by Tri-Diagonal Matrix Algorithm (TDMA). Intra-particle fluid flow velocity was estimated by Darcy’s law. Results showed that increase in reactor peak temperature from 500 to 600 oC slightly increased the degree of volatiles intra-particle secondary reactions and that further increase of the former has no effect on the latter. Increasing reactor peak temperature from 500 to 600 oC also resulted in slight increase in gas and secondary tar yield but some decrease in tar and char yield. Further increase in reactor peak temperature above 600 oC has no effect on products evolution and yields. The highest tar yield (45.31%) was obtained at 500 oC. Keywords: Biomass, pyrolysis, intra-particle secondary reactions, thermally thin regim

The Law Presidential Studies, Behavioralism, and Public Law

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109319/1/psq12159.pd