The disastrous storm of 4 November 1966 on Italy

International audienceThis is the first modeling reconstruction of the whole aspects (both meteorological and oceanographic) of the storm which hit Italy on 4 November 1966, producing 118 victims and widespread damages in Tuscany, at the northern Adriatic coast and in the north-eastern Italian Alps. The storm was produced by a cyclone which formed in the western Mediterranean and moved eastward towards Italy, reaching the Thyrrenian Sea, and then northward. The most peculiar characteristic of the storm has been the strong zonal pressure gradient and the consequent intensity and long fetch of the south-easterly sirocco wind, which advected a large amount of warm moist air, and determined exceptional orographic precipitation over Tuscany and the north-eastern Alps. The funneling of the wind between the mountain chains surrounding the Adriatic basin further increased the wind speed and determined the highest ever recorded storm surge along the Venetian coast. This study shows that present models would be able to produce a reasonably accurate simulation of the meteorological event (surface pressure, wind and precipitation fields, and storm surge level). The exceptional intensity of the event is not suggested by single parameters such as the sea level pressure minimum, the wind speed or the total accumulated precipitation. In fact, the precipitation was extreme only in some locations and the pressure minimum was not particularly deep. Moreover, the prediction of the damages produced by the river run-off and landslides would have required other informations concerning soil condition, snow coverage, and storage of water reservoirs before the event. This indicates that an integrated approach is required for assessing the probability of such damages both on a weather forecast and on a climate change perspective

Acute toxicity and anti-inflammatory activity of hydromethanol leaves extract of Allophylus africanus Beauv in rats

Introduction: The leaves of Allophylus africanus are traditionally used for the treatment of various ailments such as arthritis, rheumatism, gout, hemorrhoids, dysentery, venereal diseases and malnutrition. This study was carried out to evaluate the acute toxicity and antiinflammatory activity of the hydro-methanol leaves extract of A. africanus on laboratory rats. Methods:Allophylus africanus leaves were extracted with 80% methanol using cold maceration for 5 days. The extract was subjected to phytochemical analysis, acute toxicity study and antiinflammatory evaluation using carrageenan induced paw edema in laboratory rats. Results: The phytochemical screening of the aqueous methanol leaves extract revealed the presence of carbohydrates, tannins, steroids/triterpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids and cardiac glycosides. The extract was found to have median lethal dose (LD50) of 3807.89 mg/kg body weight orally and the aqueous methanol leaves extract at doses 250 and 1000 mg/kg produced significant anti-inflammatory effect at the 3rd, 4th and 5th hours with the effect being dose dependent at the 4th and 5th hours. There were remarkable reductions of paw edema in the rats. Conclusion: Allophylus africanus leaves has anti-inflammatory activity which explains the basis of its use in traditional medicine in the management of inflammation and related inflammatory disorder

The effect of the boundary conditions on the simulation of the 4 November 1966 storm over Italy

This study analyses the extreme event which took place on 4 November 1966, when a storm produced intense and persistent precipitation over northern and central Italy and an extreme surge in the northern Adriatic Sea, causing casualties and huge damages. Numerical simulations with a regional atmospheric model have been performed to reconstruct the phenomenology of the event. Results have been compared with observations. This study shows that the choice of the global fields for initial and boundary conditions is crucial for the quality of the reconstruction. The simulation is reasonably accurate if they are extracted from the NCEP re-analysis, while it is not satisfactory if ERA-40 data are used, though fields have a higher resolution in the ERA-40 than in the NCEP set of data. The internal physics of the model plays a smaller role in the reproduction of the dynamics of the event

Comparative studies on the structure of an upland African stream ecosystem

Upland stream systems have been extensively investigated in Europe, North America and Australasia and many of the central ideas concerning their function are based on these systems. One central paradigm, the river continuum concept is ultimately derived from those North American streams whose catchments remain forested with native vegetation. Streams of the tropics may or may not fit the model. They have been little studied. The Amani Nature Reserve in the East Usambara Mountains of north-eastern Tanzania offers an opportunity to bring these naturally forested systems to the attention of the ecological community. This article describes a comparison made between two lengths of the River Dodwe in this area. The work was carried out by a group of postgraduate students from eighteen European and African countries with advice from five staff members, as part of a course organised by the Tropical Biology Association. Rigorous efforts were made to standardise techniques, in a situation where equipment and laboratory facilities were very basic, through a management structure and deliberate allocation of work to specialists in each area.The article offers a summary of invertebrate communities found in the stream and its biomass. Crabs seem to be the key organism in both sections of the streams

Health Workers' Performance in the Implementation of Patient Centred Tuberculosis Treatment (PCT) Strategy Under Programmatic Conditions in Tanzania: A Cross Sectional Study.

Patient Centred Tuberculosis Treatment (PCT) is a promising treatment delivery strategy for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB). It aims to improve adherence to treatment by giving patients the choice of having drug intake supervised at the health facility by a medical professional or at home by a supporter of their choice. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in three districts of Tanzania during October 2007, one year after PCT was rolled out nationally. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to assess whether key elements of the PCT approach were being implemented, to evaluate supporters' knowledge, to capture opinions on factors contributing to treatment completion, and to assess how treatment completion was measured. Transcripts from open-ended responses were analysed using framework analysis. Interviews were conducted with 127 TB patients, 107 treatment supporters and 70 health workers. In total, 25.2% of TB patients were not given a choice about the place of treatment by health workers, and only 13.7% of those given a choice reported that they were given adequate time to make their decision. Only 24.3% of treatment supporters confirmed that they were instructed how to complete patients' treatment cards. Proper health education was the factor most frequently reported by health workers as favouring successful completion of TB treatment (45.7%). The majority of health workers (68.6%) said they checked returned blister packs to verify whether patients had taken their treatment, but only 20.0% checked patients' treatment cards. The provision of choice of treatment location, information on treatment, and guidance for treatment supporters need to be improved. There is a requirement for regular re-training of health workers with effective supportive supervision if successful implementation of the PCT approach is to be sustained

Breast Cancer Classification Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

Breast cancer remains the primary causes of death for women and much effort has been depleted in the form of screening series for prevention. Given the exponential growth in the number of mammograms collected, computer-assisted diagnosis has become a necessity. Histopathological imaging is one of the methods for cancer diagnosis where Pathologists examine tissue cells under different microscopic standards but disagree on the final decision. In this context, the use of automatic image processing techniques resulting from deep learning denotes a promising avenue for assisting in the diagnosis of breast cancer. In this paper, an android software for breast cancer classification using deep learning approach based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) was developed. The software aims to classify the breast tumors to benign or malignant. Experimental results on histopathological images using the BreakHis dataset shows that the DenseNet CNN model achieved high processing performances with 96% of accuracy in the breast cancer classification task when compared with state-of-the-art models

Determinants of Savings among Rural Women in Borno State, Nigeria

The study analysed the determinants of savings among rural women in Borno State. Primary data for the study were obtained through the used of structured questionnaires from 600 respondents selected through multi-stage sampling procedure. Frequency distribution, percentages, mean, bar chart and pie chart were used to examine the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents in the study area. Logit regression model was used to determine the effects of factors (socio-economic, institutional and cultural) on the probability of savings of the respondents. The study revealed that majority (88%) of the respondents were married. It was also evident from the study that about 90% of the respondents fell within the age range of 20-50 years. The mean household size was 6. The study also revealed that majority (64%) had Agriculture as their main livelihood activity, and many (54%) had no formal education. The result showed that income was obtained from farming and non- farming livelihood activities. The study went further to reveal that majority stored grains as assets. It was revealed by the study that many (41%) of the women in the study area were involved in Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCAs) as a financial saving tool. Based on the finding of this study, it is recommended that there is need to implement policies that will boost the productivity and improve the income of rural women. Institutions that are involved in developmental projects need to increase support to improve the business environment of rural women

Gender Analysis of Rural Dwellers Accessibility to Free Natural Resources in Ussa Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria

The study analyzed gender accessibility of rural dwellers to free natural resources in Ussa Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaire and oral interview schedule were administered to the illiterate respondents. Simple random technique was used to select three wards which included Kpambo, Kwesati and Rufu . A total of 60 respondents were selected purposively from the three wards to ensure that only forest resource gatherers were included in the study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected. The findings of the study revealed that equal number of male and female respondents (41.4% each) were farmers. Also 32.4% and 31% of male and female respondents were landless. About 62% of male and 75.7% of female respondents were educated while 37.9% and 24.1% of male and female respondents had no formal education. About 51.7% and 72.4% of male and female respondents fell within the age range of 21-40 years. Another 86.7% and 89.7% of male and female had household sizes of over 5 persons. The most available free natural resources were mushroom, vegetables, fuel wood and fish while the less available ones were honey, fruits and medicinal plants. The least available resources were roofing materials, mat making materials, rope materials and ritual materials. Men accessed bush meat, fruits, fish, honey, roofing material, ritual, rope and mat making material while women had access to fruits, fish, medicinal plants, mushroom, vegetables and fuel wood. The result showed that the women took more of what they gathered home to meet household needs while a little was sold for income, while men sold most of what they collected with only few was left for home consumption. Based on the results of the study, it was recommended that increased gender based capacity building and responsibility for management of free natural resources should be encouraged among rural dwellers in order to ensure sustainability of the resources in contributing to food security and poverty alleviation among free natural resource users in the study area. Key words: Gender, free natural resources, rural dwellers, accessibility, consumption, incom

Evaluation of antiulcer activity of aqueous ethanol extract of Thesium viride on ethanol and aspirin induced models in rats

Thesiumviride Hill (Santalaceae) is a sub-shrub hemiparasite that grows up to 45cm tall and widely distributed in Europe, Asia and Africa. It is used in treatment of ulcer and jaundice. Phytochemical screening was carried out on the aqueous ethanol extract of the whole plant by using standard phytochemical methods. Acute oral toxicity test was carried out and antiulcer activity was conducted using absolute ethanol and aspirin as the ulcerogenic agents on rats where the ulcer index was the parameter and percentage preventive index was determined. The aqueous ethanol extract of the plant was found to contain flavonoids,  anthraquinones, glycosidesand alkaloids. Acute toxicity test showed an oral LD50 greater than 5000 mg/kg. In ethanol model, aqueous ethanol extract at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg exhibited significant (P<0.0001) protection against ulcer with mean ulcer indices of 4.40 ± 0.60 and 1.80 ± 0.37 respectively as compared with negative (12.80 ± 0.97) and positive (4.00 ± 0.71)control mean ulcer indices. In aspirin model, aqueous ethanol extract at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg demonstrated  significant (P<0.05) protection against ulcer with mean ulcer indices of 3.20 ± 0.80 and 2.60 ± 0.24 respectively ascompared with negative (5.60 ± 0.97) and positive (1.00 ± 0.44) controlmean ulcer indices. The higher dose of the extract demonstrated greater protective ability with percentage preventive index 85.94% in ethanol induced model and 53.57% in aspirin induced model. The aqueous ethanol extract of the plant was found to be non-toxic and contains some phytochemicals that could be responsible for its antiulcer activity.Keywords: Thesiumviride, Phytochemical, LD50, Ulcer index, Aqueous ethanol extrac