Women in Morocco Set a Model for Rural Communities.

The growth of cooperatives is one example of how women in the Middle East and North Africa are fighting back and showing resilience. North African women have long been celebrated in their societies as protectors of traditional culture. While this role is undoubtedly critical to any society, the relegation of women to perceived “traditional” spheres has, at times, served as a tool of their marginalization. In the North African context of the past half-century, it became common for men to move to cities and pursue well-paying jobs in “modern” sectors of the economy, while women stayed at home in rural villages, raised children and led their lives in traditional ways. But as challenging economic circumstances across the region in the wake of failed structural adjustment policies have left many men unemployed or underemployed, increasing numbers of women are turning this dynamic on its head and using their monopoly on traditional knowledge in creative and innovative ways. In the absence of well-paying, regular work for men, especially in rural areas, women are using traditional knowledge to generate income—and oftentimes providing the glue that holds together families and communities. Take the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco, a poor, rural region where many men are struggling to find work, and where both the shortage of jobs and cultural norms prevent many women from seeking work outside their homes. In recent years, a growing focus on women’s roles and economic development from Moroccan communities, the government and foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGO) has opened opportunities for women to use their traditional skills—ranging from carpet weaving to herb-gathering to couscous making—to earn income through participation in cooperative business. Utilizing skills that many women previously used within their households to provide for the basic needs of their families, they are now using them to generate outside income through sales to their community members, other Moroccans and, most notably, to tourists.continue

Spread of diseases in farmed animals shown using social media analysis.

The Spread of diseases in farmed animals can be shown using social network analysis according to a research published in the PLOS. 

Researchers have shown that looking at movements of operators and vehicles between farms in the same way we look at contacts in social networks can help explain the spread of dangerous infectious diseases of livestock, such as foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza. This research can contribute to the development of more accurate tools for predicting the spread of livestock diseases and may help implement more effective biosecurity measures in farms.

This research, published in PLOS Computational Biology, can contribute to the development of more accurate tools for predicting the spread of livestock diseases and may help implement more effective biosecurity measures in farms. The research showed that the network of contacts originated from on-farm visits by veterinarians in dairy farms of Northern Italy displays hidden features that cannot be detected by simply looking at the frequency of visits and unveils patterns of infection otherwise unexplained. 

The authors discovered that veterinarians' movements produce an unexpectedly large number of potentially infectious contacts between farms that can quickly spread dangerous livestock diseases. The research, made possible by the availability of high-resolution data in space and time on veterinarian movements in the study area, shed light on the actual significance of operator movements in disease spread, a still poorly understood topic due to the highly diverse and complex nature of such movements and to privacy issues in data collection. 

 The researchers compared the role of veterinarian movements on diseases spread with those of animal exchange between farms, which is recognized as the most effective transmission route for livestock infectious diseases. 

 They found that co-occurrence of operator movements and animal exchanges is synergistic, largely amplifying the potential for disease propagation. The study shows how multilayer network analysis substantially improves the way diseases spread can be described, thus contributing to their control.

12 year old Nigerian girl develops location app to help lost children.

It has not been the most positive of times in Nigeria considering the current economic climate but every now and then a story will pop up and lift the spirits of the country. Tomisin Ogunnubi from Lagos has provided such a story for her nation in Answers Africa. The 12-year-old girl from Lagos has developed an app to solve a problem which she had noticed in her community. Tomisin finished up the development of her Android mobile tracking app, My Location, just a few weeks ago. The motivation behind the app was to help lost children find their way back home. How it was developed: Tomision developed her app under the guidence of an Information and Communications Technology partnership, between her school, Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, and New Horizons Computer Learning Center. Here, Tomision was able to learn the necessary skills and knowledge needed to develop her app. How it works: The “current location”setting on the app enables the child to see exactly where they are, as well as highlighting the neighboring streets around them. The other main functionality of the app will allow the child to save a location such as their house or school and it will direct them to their desired location. The My Locator App also features a button, which when pressed will alert the Lagos State Emergency Services. The app will call the services as well as show the child’s location so that they can be helped. source

Chevron Nigeria acts on commitment to develop agribusiness in the country.

Chevron Nigeria acts on commitment to develop agribusiness in the country.STAR Ultra Deep Petroleum Limited, a subsidiary of Chevron Nigeria has sponsored the training of 50 youths in Oyo State for a three months course at the OFFERCentre institute of Agriculture, Oluponna, Osun State and expressed its commitment to enhance agricultural business in Nigeria. Chairman, Star Ultra Deep Petroleum Limited, Mr Lanre Kalejaiye, who was represented by the acting Director, Deep Water and Product Sharing Contract, (DW and PSC) Chevron, Mike Kabi, during the valedictory ceremony of the first set of capacity building graduating students at the centre, recently said, "We are also committed to making social investments that will add value to the people's lives in several other spheres of human endeavor.” continue

11 things unsuccessful people do over the weekend.

Everybody's working for the weekend, but how you spend your two days off may say something about how successful you are. What you get up to doesn't really matter, per se. If you prefer lounging around the house to spontaneous adventures, that's great! You probably need that time to wind down.When it comes to weekends, the main thing that separates successful people from unsuccessful people is mindfulness. Are you planning ahead and truly thinking about how to spend your free time? Here are 11 things that unsuccessful people tend to do over the weekend — and why to avoid them:1) they dont have a plan. continue

Students given ‘300 coffees’ worth of caffeine in experimental error

Students given ‘300 coffees’ worth of caffeine in experimental error: A British University has been fined after a bungled nutritional experiment led to students consuming caffeine quantities equivalent to '300 cups of coffee.'

Students given ‘300 coffees’ worth of caffeine in experimental error

Students given ‘300 coffees’ worth of caffeine in experimental error: A British University has been fined after a bungled nutritional experiment led to students consuming caffeine quantities equivalent to '300 cups of coffee.'