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Two recent studies of the evolution of the isoscalar giant monopole resonance (ISGMR) within the calcium isotope chain report conflicting results. One study suggests that the monopole resonance energy, and thus the incompressibility of the nucleus $K_{A}$ increase with mass, which implies that $K_{\tau}$, the asymmetry term in the nuclear incompressibility, has a positive value. The other study reports a weak decreasing trend of the energy moments, resulting in a generally accepted negative value for $K_{\tau}$. An independent measurement of the central region of the ISGMR in the Ca isotope chain is provided to gain a better understanding of the origin of possible systematic trends. Inelastically scattered $\alpha$ particles from a range of calcium targets ($\mathrm{^{40,42,44,48}Ca}$), observed at small scattering angles including 0$^\circ$, were momentum analyzed in the K600 magnetic spectrometer at iThemba LABS, South Africa. Monopole strengths spanning an excitation-energy range between 9.5 and 25.5 MeV were obtained using the difference-of-spectra (DoS) technique. The structure of the $E0$ strength distributions of $^{40,42,44}$Ca agrees well with the results from the previous measurement that supports a weak decreasing trend of the energy moments, while no two datasets agree in the case of $^{48}$Ca. Despite the variation in the structural character of $E0$ strength distribution from different studies, we find for all datasets that the moment ratios, calculated from the ISGMR strength in the excitation-energy range that defines the main resonance region, display at best only a weak systematic sensitivity to a mass increase. Different trends observed in the nuclear incompressibility are caused by contributions to the $E0$ strength outside of the main resonance region, and in particular for high excitation energies., Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Physical Review C

Au Benin, les sous-produits consideres isolement presentent des deficiences nutritionnelles ou des caracteristiques physiques qui contrarient leur utilisation. Les blocs multi-nutritionnels (BMN), restent un moyen pour corriger ces contraintes. Ce travail vise a evaluer les caracteristiques physiques et nutritionnelles des BMN fabriques au moyen des sous-produits localement disponibles en utilisant trois types de liants (remoulage du manioc appele " garigo ", l’amidon de manioc " goman " et l’argile). La durete a ete estimee en exercant le pouce au milieu du bloc apres sechage et la cohesion en essayant de le rompre a la main avec un effort plus grand. La couleur a ete appreciee par observation directe des blocs et l’odeur grâce a l’odorat. La composition chimique a ete determinee selon les methodes officielles de l’AOAC et les valeurs nutritives au moyen de la digestibilite in vitro en presence de jus de rumen. Les blocs a base de feuilles sechees de Moringa oleifera ou de tourteaux de coton et dont le liant est " goman " sont de meilleures caracteristiques physiques et nutritionnelles. Il n’y a pas de difference significative au niveau des caracteristiques physiques et nutritionnelles des BMN a base de tourteaux de coton et ceux a base de feuilles de Moringa oleifera . © 2016 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved. Mots cles: Blocs multi nutritionnels, liant, composition chimique, digestibilite in vitro , valeurs nutritives English Title: Physical and nutritional characteristics of multi-nutritional blocks from agricultural and agro-industrial by-products in Benin English Abstract The agricultural and food sector generates numerous byproducts. These offer opportunities for choice of food supplements for ruminants during the dry season when grasses and other herbaceous forage are scarce in rangelands. But, taken separately, these by-products have nutritional deficiencies or physical characteristics that contradict their use. The multi-nutritional blocks (MNB), are a means to address these constraints. Several formulations were tested using three types of binders (middlings of cassava called " garigo " cassava starch " goman " and clay). The hardness was estimated by exerting the thumb in the middle of the block after drying and cohesion under test to break by hand with greater effort. The color was appreciated by direct observation of the blocks and the smell through the smell. The chemical composition was determined according to official methods of AOAC and nutritive values using in vitro gas production. The BMN made from Moringa oleifera leaves or cotton cakes have presented the best physical and nutritional characteristics. It was also noticed that there was no significant difference in the physical and nutritional characteristics of BMN based on cotton cakes or the leaves of Moringa oleifera . © 2016 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved. Keywords: Multi-nutritional blocks, binder, chemical composition, in vitro digestibility, Benin

Several studies have been carried out in the Gulf of Guinea to understand the complex dynamics that control the evolution of tropical coastal environments. The results, based on altimetric and re-analyzes data, revealed the variability of hydrodynamic and morphological processes. These results were validated in the short term with field measurement campaigns. In this paper, we propose a validation of the seasonal and inter-seasonal variability from data collected with a video system installed at Grand Popo, Benin since February 2013 - September 2016. Its potential is assessing event and seasonal coastline behaviour have been demonstrated in a previous study. The video system was used to track the evolution of hydrodynamic parameters and beach's state at high frequency and continuously. A comparison of video estimates is carried out with ERAInterim re-analysis data. The results show a strong correlation between seasonal cycles of hydrodynamic parameters and shoreline's position. However, the qualitative variation of the beach (beach slope) is still strongly linked to other parameters (tide and cross-shore transport processes). During the study period, the Grand Popo beach experienced a gradual decline of its shoreline, reflecting the presence of a strong trend or an inter-seasonal (inter-annual) cycle.

Background Prescription writing is a process which transfers the therapeutic message from the prescriber to the patient through the pharmacist. Prescribing errors, drug duplication and potential drug-drug interactions (pDDI) in prescriptions lead to medication error. Assessment of the above was made in prescriptions dispensed at State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC), Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted. Drugs were classified according to the WHO anatomical, therapeutic chemical classification system. A three point Likert scale, a checklist and Medscape online drug interaction checker were used to assess legibility, completeness and pDDIs respectively. Results Thousand prescriptions were collected. Majority were hand written (99.8 %) and from the private sector (73 %). The most frequently prescribed substance and subgroup were atorvastatin (4 %, n = 3668) and proton pump inhibitors (7 %, n = 3668) respectively. Out of the substances prescribed from the government and private sectors, 59 and 50 % respectively were available in the national list of essential medicines, Sri Lanka. Patients address (5 %), Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) registration number (35 %), route (7 %), generic name (16 %), treatment symbol (48 %), diagnosis (41 %) and refill information (6 %) were seen in less than half of the prescriptions. Most were legible with effort (65 %) and illegibility was seen in 9 %. There was significant difference in omission and/or errors of generic name (P = 0.000), dose (P = 0.000), SLMC registration number (P = 0.000), and in evidence of pDDI (P = 0.009) with regards to the sector of prescribing. The commonest subgroup involved in duplication was non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (43 %; 56/130). There were 1376 potential drug interactions (466/887 prescriptions). Most common pair causing pDDI was aspirin with losartan (4 %, n = 1376). Conclusion Atorvastatin was the most frequently prescribed substance. Fifteen percent of the prescriptions originate from government sector. SLMC registration number and trade names were seen more in prescriptions originating from the private sector. Most prescriptions were legible with effort. NSAIDs were the commonest implicated in drug class duplication. Fifty three percent of prescriptions have pDDI. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40360-016-0071-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Comparison of findings on pDDIs found by Medscape drug interaction checker. (DOC 39Â kb)

Assessment of legibility and completeness of prescriptions received at State Pharmaceutical Corporation, Anuradhapura-Check List. (DOC 53Â kb)

14th International Coastal Symposium (ICS), Sydney, AUSTRALIA, MAR 06-11, 2016; International audience; In this study, we explore the potential of a nearshore video system to obtain a long-term estimation of coastal variables (shoreline, beach slope, sea level elevation and wave forcing) at Grand Popo beach, Benin, West Africa, from March 2013 to February 2015. We first present a validation of the video system with field data over a 10-day experiment conducted on Grand Popo beach in 2014. Secondly, 2-years daily and monthly timeseries are extracted and their variability is described as a function of regional forcing and climatic modes. All variables show large monthly variability. The longshore sediment transport estimated locally from video is in agreement with that derived from Era-Interim wave data re-analyses. Results show that the shoreline responds predominantly to tides at the event scale and to waves. Overall, this study suggests that video stations are efficient tools to monitor coastal processes over the long term, in complement with other conventional approaches. Although no clear conclusions can be drawn on inter-annual variability, the results show that it is important to build up extended coastal observation networks to address coastline changes over a wide range of scales.

In this paper we use the CMM model (Chakravorty et al., 2006) in discrete time and obtain more results concerning the exhaustion time of Non-Renewable Resource (NRE), the dynamic regimes of energy prices, of the stocks of pollution. We show that NRE is exhausted in finite time and is directly influenced by the initial stock of NRE and the costs of NRE and RE. Higher is the initial stock of NRE, far is the time of exhaustion of NRE. Higher is the cost of NRE (resp. the difference of unit costs between RE and NRE), far is the time of exhaustion of NRE. Furthermore, we show that the abatement intervenes, when necessary, not more than two periods. We also show that, when the unit extraction cost of RE is not very high, the stocks of emissions will never be binding if and only if, the initial stock of NRE is less than a critical value.

Background The drug-drug interactions (DDI) are a common cause for medical error. Our aim was to find the frequency and severity of potential DDI in prescriptions dispensed at State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC), Anuradhapura. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted at SPC, Anuradhapura. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. Medscape drug interaction checker was used to identify potential DDI. There are three types of interactions; serious, significant and minor. Results Thousand prescriptions over a period of four months were collected. There were 1376 potential drug interactions in 466 prescriptions with a mean of 1.4 (SD 2.4) per prescription. There were 94 (6.8%) serious, 1017 (73.9%) significant and 265 (19.3%) minor DDI. The maximum amount of DDI per prescription in serious, significant and minor was 05, 15 and 04 respectively. The total maximum DDI was 21. DDI involved 178 drugs. Respectively, methotrexate (MTX) (10%), aspirin (11%) and metformin (10%) were the most frequently implicated drugs in serious, significant and minor interactions. Common serious pharmacokinetic DDI are MTX-meloxicam, clopidogrel-omeprazole, clopidogrel-esomeprazole and phramacodynamic DDIs are MTX-leflunomide, atorvastatin-vitamin B3 and atorvastatin-fenofibrate. The most common potential DDI was aspirin with losartan caused by dual mechanism; a pharmacodynamic antagonism and increase in serum potassium (4%). Conclusion Potential drug-drug interactions are common and prescribers need to use a device such as mobile app to check and prevent it.

Background Illegibility and incompleteness of drug prescription leads to medical error. We assessed legibility and completeness of prescriptions dispensed at State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC), Anuradhapura. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted at SPC, Anuradhapura. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. A 3-point Likert scale and a checklist (developed from WHO manual and BNF) were used to assess legibility and completeness respectively. Results Thousand prescriptions over a period of four months were collected. Number of drugs per prescription was 3.95 (SD 2.2). Most of the prescriptions were hand written (99.8%) and from the private sector (72%). However, 16% of the prescriptions were from government sector and the rest were unclassified. Greater proportion of the prescriptions was legible with effort (65%). Illegible prescriptions were 9%. Name (94%), age (79%), gender (70%), name of prescriber (90%), signature of prescriber (84%), place of prescribing (76%), contact details of prescriber (53%), qualifications of the prescriber (86%), prescriber's rubber-stamp (89%), dose (93%), frequency (97%), duration (92%), and date (88%) were present in more than half of the prescriptions. Address (5%), SLMC registration number (35%), route of administration (7%), generic name (16%), treatment symbol (48%), diagnosis (41%) and refill information (6%) were seen in less than half of the prescriptions. Drug duplications were found in 0.3% of the prescriptions. Route of administration (90%), generic name (87%), frequency (68%) and duration (84%) were correct in most. Dose (67%) and prescriber's rubber-stamp (64%) were incorrect and incomplete respectively in most. Conclusion Absence of route of administration and generic name, incorrect dose and incomplete rubber-stamp of the prescriber were common findings. Prescribers’ behavior and motives in the above mentioned issues might need to be probed in more detailed manner (e.g. root cause analysis).