Demographic and socio-economic factors are important determinants of fertility among couples, and... more Demographic and socio-economic factors are important determinants of fertility among couples, and these factors can greatly determine the number and quality of children in a region. This study aimed to compare demographic and socioeconomic determinants of male parent in relation to fertility in Gombe North and Gombe South. Hence, male average rate of fertility and demographic and socio-economic factors in relation to child bearing were observed and analysed. Frequency tables using cross tabulation, averages, percentages, T-Test and correlation analysis were used in analyzing data obtained from the field, which were collected through purposive sampling techniques. Results show that Gombe North has more average fertility (3.7) than Gombe South (2.02), majority of the male respondents were not married hence they have no children, some children from Gombe south were born outside marriage, early marriages were identified in Gombe North than in Gombe South, high proportion of educated mal...
This study aims at investigating the relationship between corporate board gender diversityand fir... more This study aims at investigating the relationship between corporate board gender diversityand firms’ performance. The study uses non-probability sampling method in the form ofavailability sampling technique in selecting the firms that constitute the sample for this study.To achieve the objectives of this study, pooled-ordinary least squares, fixed effects andrandom effects estimators have been applied on a panel sample of 82 firms listed on theNigerian Stock Exchange for the period 2004-2009. The findings reveal that gender diversityand board composition have significant and positive influence on firms’ financialperformance while family directorship reduces firms’ performance. The Economic Journal of Nepal, Vol. 34, No. 4, October-December 2011 (Issue N0. 136)
Health care facilities are generally unevenly distributed in many parts of the world, especially ... more Health care facilities are generally unevenly distributed in many parts of the world, especially in developing countries where the available facilities are inadequate in relation to the potentially health seeking population. This paper aimed to study the spatial distribution of public health care facilities in Gombe State. The study therefore, focused on understanding the availability, location and spatial distribution and concentration of public healthcare facilities in Gombe State. Secondary data of public healthcare facilities was obtained from Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency (GSPHCDA); Location Quotient and GIS techniques were applied to identify areas with surplus and deficit public healthcare facilities in the state in relation to population. The results show that, five (5) Local Government Areas (Akko, Funakaye, Gombe, Nafada and Yamaltu Deba) are deficient in primary healthcare facilities provision, while other six (6) Local Government Areas (Balanga, Bill...
Journal of Geography, Environment and Earth Science International
Background: Ensuring access to healthcare facilities is a high priority need in developing countr... more Background: Ensuring access to healthcare facilities is a high priority need in developing countries. This research aimed to determine the influence of socio-demographic and economic characteristics of the urban population in Nigeria to access to public healthcare facilities. Methods: We conducted a community-based study in 400 households across the three urban areas of Gombe state, Nigeria. Access to healthcare facilities was quantified in a composite index which considers availability, accessibility and affordability. The head of families was interviewed for information related to access and for the socio-demographic and economic status of the residences. The influence of socio-demographic and economic characteristics was determined using a chi-square test with a significance level of <0.05. Results: Most of the population interviewed within the selected urban areas had good access (84%) to public healthcare facilities. Socio-demographic and economic characteristics of househol...
International Journal of Advanced Academic Research
There is currently little or no literature on COVID-19 in relation to educational studies especia... more There is currently little or no literature on COVID-19 in relation to educational studies especially in the area of continuous teaching and learning activities. The only literature available is directly related to medical studies. This is not because education is not directly affected by the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic but rather because studies in education rarely incorporate effects of disease on the effective provision of education to learners across the globe. The paper focused on the digital learning tools for creating teaching and learning contents at COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The prime target of the researchers is to outlinethe digital learning tools as it is useful for creating teaching and learning contents for teachers at all level of education. There are many free and paid online digital learning tools available for creating teaching and learning content, such tools include: schoology; Google classroom; Edmodo; Moddle; Grockit; ePals and a lot but just to mention bu...
American International Journal of Sciences and Engineering Research
Automatic car parking obtains information about available parking space, process it and then plac... more Automatic car parking obtains information about available parking space, process it and then place the car at certain position. It is inevitable for the people to update with the growing technology and generally people are facing problems on parking vehicles in parking slot in a city. The Automatic car parking which enables the user to find the nearest parking area and gives availability of parking slots in that respective parking area with the help of LCD display and it mainly focus on reducing the time in finding the parking slots and also it avoids the unnecessary travelling through filled parking slots in a parking area. Thus, it reduces the fuel consumption which in turn reduces carbon footprints in an atmosphere. Sometimes, it is very difficult to find a suitable parking place in parking lot. This research paper has proposed a suitable solution to this problem.
For the last fifty years, social studies teachers have been prepared to teach from a global persp... more For the last fifty years, social studies teachers have been prepared to teach from a global perspective, but since September 11, 2001 have faced a difficult challenge teaching from a global perspective. This study examines ninety secondary school teachers' global knowledge and their disposition toward teaching from a global perspective. One of the central goals of global education is developing and promoting global perspectives. Even after the transformation of the world economy and the establishment of global political institutions and systems, the end of the Cold War, and the September 11 event, the development, promotion and teaching of global perspectives in American public schools continue to pose a challenge to social studies teachers (Kirkwood, 2001; Merryfield, 2001). Since the attacks on September 11, we now know how interconnected and interdependent the world has truly become. Yet our public schools are not taking adequate and appropriate steps to teach and prepare students to understand the nature and complexity of global issues and problems (Merryfield, 2001). What global knowledge do secondary social studies teachers have? There were two underlying assumptions behind the study. First, secondary social studies teachers play a critical role in shaping, guiding, and preparing students to be critical and reflective thinkers. Second, the study of global knowledge, attitudes, and pedagogy offers some practical lessons in how secondary level teachers can gauge the level of global knowledge, instructional methods, and disposition toward global mindedness. The current global realities require social studies teachers to have (a) content knowledge, (b) pedagogical content knowledge, and (c) knowledge of students characteristics and differences (Shulman, 1978). Furthermore, the global realities require social studies teachers to use a variety of instructional strategies such as (a) open-ended discussion, (b) reflective journals entry, (c) roleplaying, (d) visual discovery, (e) global skills builders, (f) global reading for writing and understanding, (g) problem-solving/decision-making skills, (h) conflict resolution skills, (i) experiential/cooperative learning activity, and (j) simulations to help students identify the causes, reasons and factors that gave rise to global problems and conflicts. Within this context, social studies teachers should develop the necessary knowledge and understanding of issues, problems, and solutions as well as pedagogical knowledge.
Nigeria is facing profound social, economic and environmental impact of population growth, develo... more Nigeria is facing profound social, economic and environmental impact of population growth, development and environmental constraints. It is apparent that government alone has limited capacity to deal with all these problems. NGOs being one of the most effective partners have been playing supportive roles with the government, in some cases, they are considered more effective to get attached with the grass root level developmental initiatives. However, despite the role NGOs played, their presence and impact is not fully evaluated, recognized and appreciated by many governments and community members. It is for this reason this article attempts to examine whether projects executed by NGOs have any impact on sustainable development in Katsina Metropolis, given special emphasis on projects that dealt with environmental protection, poverty alleviation and health care services. The study further look at whether efficiency of NGOs officials has any impact on success of sustainable developmen...
Rural banditry is increasingly becoming one of the worst forms of domestic insurgencies affecting... more Rural banditry is increasingly becoming one of the worst forms of domestic insurgencies affecting West African sub-region. The prevalence and severity of rural banditry has contributed to the rising increase of regional insecurity with a potential threat on regional integration of West Africa. With reference to Nigeria, this paper examines the nature and dynamics of rural banditry and its overall international security implications as well as describe how it inputs into West African states efforts towards regional security and integration. Using secondary sources of data, the study revealed that rural banditry is a resource-based conflict compounded by elite conspiracy, the primitive quest for wealth and general poverty situation which affected the people of West Africa. It has become a lucrative business accentuated by bad governance, political clientelism, the gradual disappearance of grazing lands and routes, urbanization, climate change, and absence of effective conflict resolution mechanisms. The paper revealed that rural banditry has gradually evolved into a sub-regional conflict with socioeconomic and political implications on efforts towards West African security and integration. The study found that some of the implications of rural banditry with consequences on regional integration of West African include radicalization of youth, increase rate of youth unemployment and their subsequent involvement in illicit gun and narcotic drug trade across the sub-region, the emergence of a network of miscreants groups, gradual collapse of agricultural and livestock development with effects on income, trade and commerce, proliferation of small firearms and light weapons, bastardization of traditional institutions and hostile ethnic and tribal relations among ethnic groups, illegal migration and refugee problems across the subregion as well as proliferation and networking of domestic insurgency groups threatening regional peace and stability of the sub-region. In this regard, the paper recommends a comprehensive review of regional security and integration initiatives, regional security and intelligence cooperation among security agencies of ECOWAS countries, increase surveillance and border security, awareness creation and dialogue among local communities as some of the ways of reducing the scourge of rural banditry across West African sub-region.
The oral microbiota is associated with oral diseases and digestive systemic diseases. Nevertheles... more The oral microbiota is associated with oral diseases and digestive systemic diseases. Nevertheless, the causal relationship between them has not been completely elucidated, and colonisation of the gut by oral bacteria is not clear due to the limitations of existing research models. The aim of this study was to develop a human oral microbiota-associated (HOMA) mouse model and to investigate the ecological invasion into the gut. By transplanting human saliva into germ-free (GF) mice, a HOMA mouse model was first constructed. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to reveal the biogeography of oral bacteria along the cephalocaudal axis of the digestive tract. In the HOMA mice, 84.78% of the detected genus-level taxa were specific to the donor. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the donor oral microbiota clustered with those of the HOMA mice and were distinct from those of specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice. In HOMA mice, OTU counts decreased from the stomach and small intestine to the distal gut. The distal gut was dominated by Streptococcus, Veillonella, Haemophilus, Fusobacterium, Trichococcus and Actinomyces. HOMA mice and human microbiota-associated (HMA) mice along with the GF mice were then cohoused. Microbial communities of cohoused mice clustered together and were significantly separated from those of HOMA mice and HMA mice. The Source Tracker analysis and network analysis revealed more significant ecological invasion from oral bacteria in the small intestines, compared to the distal gut, of cohoused mice. In conclusion, a HOMA mouse model was successfully established. By overcoming the physical and microbial barrier, oral bacteria colonised the gut and profiled the gut microbiota, especially in the small intestine.
This is a research on the extraction and quantification of Silicon from Silica Sand obtained from... more This is a research on the extraction and quantification of Silicon from Silica Sand obtained from Zauma River in Zamfara state. The Silica Sand sample was removed from the water in Zauma River which was allowed to dry and heated in a heating mantle. Silicon and Silica was extracted from the sample. Quantitative analysis of the sample was then done under the following parameters; determination of loss on ignition, determination of CaO, determination of MgO, determination of Fe 2 O 3 , and determination of Al 2 O 3 .The results reveals that, the sample contains numerous cations in form of oxides and SiO 2 and Si having the highest percentages of 81.5% and 77% respectively. Based on the findings some recommendations were given.
African Journal of Political Science and International Relations, May 31, 2015
International development agencies are important actors for democracy promotion, especially in de... more International development agencies are important actors for democracy promotion, especially in developing countries. In this regard, there has been an upsurge of these agencies in Nigeria's democratization process. This paper examines Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) as one of the initiatives of international development agencies toward promoting democracy in Nigeria. Specifically, the initiative has been providing assistance to state and non-state actors such as electoral commission, political parties and civil society groups towards promoting credible election in Nigeria. With the aid of qualitative data, the paper revealed that DGD project has provided technical and financial support to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to monitor and observe elections, create public awareness and strengthen other forms of civic engagement in order to influence the conduct of credible election in the country. However, the paper shows that lack of proper coordination of support, inadequate data base of the CSOs; absence of reliable instruments for assessment of support, lack of internal democracy in the conduct of the CSOs as well as mismanagement of resources all combined and affect democracy support towards credible elections in Nigeria. Thus, the paper concludes that international assistance for credible election could only be meaningful and effective by eliminating the culture of impunity, providing instrument of evaluation of support as well as continuing capacity building of the CSOs in Nigeria.
Drama has been widely acclaimed as a positive medium for mirroring the society. Drama is a repres... more Drama has been widely acclaimed as a positive medium for mirroring the society. Drama is a representation of life. So while drama entertains, it also educates and informs. This role of drama has been employed by playwrights over the years to make constructive commentaries on the issues and happenings in society and thus suggests and recommends for positive changes in man and his environment. The Nigerian Arabic playwrights are not left out in this direction of literary activities. This paper attempts an analysis of how Nigerian Arabic playwrights are also using drama to make comments on society as well educating the society using Barihi's Baqaun Muqadrun (Destined to survive) as a paradigm. We shall also look at the art of Arabic play writing in Nigeria in brief, synopsis of the play, play analysis and conclusion.
International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jun 1, 2014
B-cell Lymphoma Extra Large (Bcl-xL) belongs to B-cell Lymphoma two (Bcl-2) family and owing to i... more B-cell Lymphoma Extra Large (Bcl-xL) belongs to B-cell Lymphoma two (Bcl-2) family and owing to its anti-apoptotic role in many cancers, is proven to be an attractive target for anti-cancer therapy. Different classes of potent anti-Bcl-xL small molecules inhibitors have been discovered, and both three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D) Quantitative Structural Activity Relationship (QSAR) approaches have been used to study and predict the biological activities of new inhibitors prior to their synthesis. Objectives: This study was aimed to generate new candidate small inhibitory molecules against Bcl-xL by using G-QSAR analysis of known Bcl-xL inhibitors. Methods: In the present study, we used group-based QSAR (G-QSAR)-a novel fragment-based method-to develop QSAR models from known Bcl-xL inhibitors. A set of Bcl-xL inhibitors adopted from extant literature was fragmented into three common fragments, and a pool of 214 descriptors was calculated for each one. Results: Two models were obtained by using different combination of variable selection and model building method; stepwise-multiple linear regression (STP-MLR) and simulated annealing-multiple linear regression (SA-MLR). STP-MLR was found to be the best mode, with r 2 = 0.80, q 2 = 0.70 and predictive r 2 = 0.87. Conclusion: The G-QSAR results indicate that the generated models are statistically significant and can be used for design and generation of new potent inhibitors.
International Journal of Physical and Social Sciences, 2013
This paper intends a discourse about relationship between corruption and de-industrialization in ... more This paper intends a discourse about relationship between corruption and de-industrialization in Nigeria. It seeks to do this by offering a critical narrative of how corruption forged an identity of interests among political and administrative office-holders in adopting and implementing policy measures which tended to de-industrialize the country. The overall effect of all this is not only the closure of many factories and consequent loss of industrial jobs but also dependence of the country on foreign goods of poor industrial quality. Consequently, the Nigerian state embarked on neo-liberal reforms to reverse this ugly trend. Regrettably, these policies would only further add to de-industrialization of the manufacturing sector of the state. In this regard, the study posits that the crisis of development and corruption that ravaged the Nigeria's political economy could be located within the context of these neo-liberal policies. Thus, such policies could be said to be an exercise in futility and has further compounded the problems of corruption and development in the country.
The importance of finance on economic growth cannot be underscored and has long being highlighted... more The importance of finance on economic growth cannot be underscored and has long being highlighted by existing studies. However, most previous studies are restrictive either to the analysis of banking sector or stock market development on economic growth. By so doing, these studies have failed to capture the full effect of financial development on economic growth. Again, the study of finance-growth nexus is being confronted with the problem of choice of most suitable measure of financial development as each indicator of financial sector development has its merits and demerits. Again, the effect of finance on growth may not apply uniformly across all countries. Also, the debate on the effect of openness on financial sector development is mixed. It is argued that certain preconditions are necessary and should precede financial liberalization. One of such argument is the simultaneous opening of trade and capital account as proposed by Rajan and Zingales (2003).
Demographic and socio-economic factors are important determinants of fertility among couples, and... more Demographic and socio-economic factors are important determinants of fertility among couples, and these factors can greatly determine the number and quality of children in a region. This study aimed to compare demographic and socioeconomic determinants of male parent in relation to fertility in Gombe North and Gombe South. Hence, male average rate of fertility and demographic and socio-economic factors in relation to child bearing were observed and analysed. Frequency tables using cross tabulation, averages, percentages, T-Test and correlation analysis were used in analyzing data obtained from the field, which were collected through purposive sampling techniques. Results show that Gombe North has more average fertility (3.7) than Gombe South (2.02), majority of the male respondents were not married hence they have no children, some children from Gombe south were born outside marriage, early marriages were identified in Gombe North than in Gombe South, high proportion of educated mal...
This study aims at investigating the relationship between corporate board gender diversityand fir... more This study aims at investigating the relationship between corporate board gender diversityand firms’ performance. The study uses non-probability sampling method in the form ofavailability sampling technique in selecting the firms that constitute the sample for this study.To achieve the objectives of this study, pooled-ordinary least squares, fixed effects andrandom effects estimators have been applied on a panel sample of 82 firms listed on theNigerian Stock Exchange for the period 2004-2009. The findings reveal that gender diversityand board composition have significant and positive influence on firms’ financialperformance while family directorship reduces firms’ performance. The Economic Journal of Nepal, Vol. 34, No. 4, October-December 2011 (Issue N0. 136)
Health care facilities are generally unevenly distributed in many parts of the world, especially ... more Health care facilities are generally unevenly distributed in many parts of the world, especially in developing countries where the available facilities are inadequate in relation to the potentially health seeking population. This paper aimed to study the spatial distribution of public health care facilities in Gombe State. The study therefore, focused on understanding the availability, location and spatial distribution and concentration of public healthcare facilities in Gombe State. Secondary data of public healthcare facilities was obtained from Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency (GSPHCDA); Location Quotient and GIS techniques were applied to identify areas with surplus and deficit public healthcare facilities in the state in relation to population. The results show that, five (5) Local Government Areas (Akko, Funakaye, Gombe, Nafada and Yamaltu Deba) are deficient in primary healthcare facilities provision, while other six (6) Local Government Areas (Balanga, Bill...
Journal of Geography, Environment and Earth Science International
Background: Ensuring access to healthcare facilities is a high priority need in developing countr... more Background: Ensuring access to healthcare facilities is a high priority need in developing countries. This research aimed to determine the influence of socio-demographic and economic characteristics of the urban population in Nigeria to access to public healthcare facilities. Methods: We conducted a community-based study in 400 households across the three urban areas of Gombe state, Nigeria. Access to healthcare facilities was quantified in a composite index which considers availability, accessibility and affordability. The head of families was interviewed for information related to access and for the socio-demographic and economic status of the residences. The influence of socio-demographic and economic characteristics was determined using a chi-square test with a significance level of <0.05. Results: Most of the population interviewed within the selected urban areas had good access (84%) to public healthcare facilities. Socio-demographic and economic characteristics of househol...
International Journal of Advanced Academic Research
There is currently little or no literature on COVID-19 in relation to educational studies especia... more There is currently little or no literature on COVID-19 in relation to educational studies especially in the area of continuous teaching and learning activities. The only literature available is directly related to medical studies. This is not because education is not directly affected by the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic but rather because studies in education rarely incorporate effects of disease on the effective provision of education to learners across the globe. The paper focused on the digital learning tools for creating teaching and learning contents at COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The prime target of the researchers is to outlinethe digital learning tools as it is useful for creating teaching and learning contents for teachers at all level of education. There are many free and paid online digital learning tools available for creating teaching and learning content, such tools include: schoology; Google classroom; Edmodo; Moddle; Grockit; ePals and a lot but just to mention bu...
American International Journal of Sciences and Engineering Research
Automatic car parking obtains information about available parking space, process it and then plac... more Automatic car parking obtains information about available parking space, process it and then place the car at certain position. It is inevitable for the people to update with the growing technology and generally people are facing problems on parking vehicles in parking slot in a city. The Automatic car parking which enables the user to find the nearest parking area and gives availability of parking slots in that respective parking area with the help of LCD display and it mainly focus on reducing the time in finding the parking slots and also it avoids the unnecessary travelling through filled parking slots in a parking area. Thus, it reduces the fuel consumption which in turn reduces carbon footprints in an atmosphere. Sometimes, it is very difficult to find a suitable parking place in parking lot. This research paper has proposed a suitable solution to this problem.
For the last fifty years, social studies teachers have been prepared to teach from a global persp... more For the last fifty years, social studies teachers have been prepared to teach from a global perspective, but since September 11, 2001 have faced a difficult challenge teaching from a global perspective. This study examines ninety secondary school teachers' global knowledge and their disposition toward teaching from a global perspective. One of the central goals of global education is developing and promoting global perspectives. Even after the transformation of the world economy and the establishment of global political institutions and systems, the end of the Cold War, and the September 11 event, the development, promotion and teaching of global perspectives in American public schools continue to pose a challenge to social studies teachers (Kirkwood, 2001; Merryfield, 2001). Since the attacks on September 11, we now know how interconnected and interdependent the world has truly become. Yet our public schools are not taking adequate and appropriate steps to teach and prepare students to understand the nature and complexity of global issues and problems (Merryfield, 2001). What global knowledge do secondary social studies teachers have? There were two underlying assumptions behind the study. First, secondary social studies teachers play a critical role in shaping, guiding, and preparing students to be critical and reflective thinkers. Second, the study of global knowledge, attitudes, and pedagogy offers some practical lessons in how secondary level teachers can gauge the level of global knowledge, instructional methods, and disposition toward global mindedness. The current global realities require social studies teachers to have (a) content knowledge, (b) pedagogical content knowledge, and (c) knowledge of students characteristics and differences (Shulman, 1978). Furthermore, the global realities require social studies teachers to use a variety of instructional strategies such as (a) open-ended discussion, (b) reflective journals entry, (c) roleplaying, (d) visual discovery, (e) global skills builders, (f) global reading for writing and understanding, (g) problem-solving/decision-making skills, (h) conflict resolution skills, (i) experiential/cooperative learning activity, and (j) simulations to help students identify the causes, reasons and factors that gave rise to global problems and conflicts. Within this context, social studies teachers should develop the necessary knowledge and understanding of issues, problems, and solutions as well as pedagogical knowledge.
Nigeria is facing profound social, economic and environmental impact of population growth, develo... more Nigeria is facing profound social, economic and environmental impact of population growth, development and environmental constraints. It is apparent that government alone has limited capacity to deal with all these problems. NGOs being one of the most effective partners have been playing supportive roles with the government, in some cases, they are considered more effective to get attached with the grass root level developmental initiatives. However, despite the role NGOs played, their presence and impact is not fully evaluated, recognized and appreciated by many governments and community members. It is for this reason this article attempts to examine whether projects executed by NGOs have any impact on sustainable development in Katsina Metropolis, given special emphasis on projects that dealt with environmental protection, poverty alleviation and health care services. The study further look at whether efficiency of NGOs officials has any impact on success of sustainable developmen...
Rural banditry is increasingly becoming one of the worst forms of domestic insurgencies affecting... more Rural banditry is increasingly becoming one of the worst forms of domestic insurgencies affecting West African sub-region. The prevalence and severity of rural banditry has contributed to the rising increase of regional insecurity with a potential threat on regional integration of West Africa. With reference to Nigeria, this paper examines the nature and dynamics of rural banditry and its overall international security implications as well as describe how it inputs into West African states efforts towards regional security and integration. Using secondary sources of data, the study revealed that rural banditry is a resource-based conflict compounded by elite conspiracy, the primitive quest for wealth and general poverty situation which affected the people of West Africa. It has become a lucrative business accentuated by bad governance, political clientelism, the gradual disappearance of grazing lands and routes, urbanization, climate change, and absence of effective conflict resolution mechanisms. The paper revealed that rural banditry has gradually evolved into a sub-regional conflict with socioeconomic and political implications on efforts towards West African security and integration. The study found that some of the implications of rural banditry with consequences on regional integration of West African include radicalization of youth, increase rate of youth unemployment and their subsequent involvement in illicit gun and narcotic drug trade across the sub-region, the emergence of a network of miscreants groups, gradual collapse of agricultural and livestock development with effects on income, trade and commerce, proliferation of small firearms and light weapons, bastardization of traditional institutions and hostile ethnic and tribal relations among ethnic groups, illegal migration and refugee problems across the subregion as well as proliferation and networking of domestic insurgency groups threatening regional peace and stability of the sub-region. In this regard, the paper recommends a comprehensive review of regional security and integration initiatives, regional security and intelligence cooperation among security agencies of ECOWAS countries, increase surveillance and border security, awareness creation and dialogue among local communities as some of the ways of reducing the scourge of rural banditry across West African sub-region.
The oral microbiota is associated with oral diseases and digestive systemic diseases. Nevertheles... more The oral microbiota is associated with oral diseases and digestive systemic diseases. Nevertheless, the causal relationship between them has not been completely elucidated, and colonisation of the gut by oral bacteria is not clear due to the limitations of existing research models. The aim of this study was to develop a human oral microbiota-associated (HOMA) mouse model and to investigate the ecological invasion into the gut. By transplanting human saliva into germ-free (GF) mice, a HOMA mouse model was first constructed. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to reveal the biogeography of oral bacteria along the cephalocaudal axis of the digestive tract. In the HOMA mice, 84.78% of the detected genus-level taxa were specific to the donor. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the donor oral microbiota clustered with those of the HOMA mice and were distinct from those of specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice. In HOMA mice, OTU counts decreased from the stomach and small intestine to the distal gut. The distal gut was dominated by Streptococcus, Veillonella, Haemophilus, Fusobacterium, Trichococcus and Actinomyces. HOMA mice and human microbiota-associated (HMA) mice along with the GF mice were then cohoused. Microbial communities of cohoused mice clustered together and were significantly separated from those of HOMA mice and HMA mice. The Source Tracker analysis and network analysis revealed more significant ecological invasion from oral bacteria in the small intestines, compared to the distal gut, of cohoused mice. In conclusion, a HOMA mouse model was successfully established. By overcoming the physical and microbial barrier, oral bacteria colonised the gut and profiled the gut microbiota, especially in the small intestine.
This is a research on the extraction and quantification of Silicon from Silica Sand obtained from... more This is a research on the extraction and quantification of Silicon from Silica Sand obtained from Zauma River in Zamfara state. The Silica Sand sample was removed from the water in Zauma River which was allowed to dry and heated in a heating mantle. Silicon and Silica was extracted from the sample. Quantitative analysis of the sample was then done under the following parameters; determination of loss on ignition, determination of CaO, determination of MgO, determination of Fe 2 O 3 , and determination of Al 2 O 3 .The results reveals that, the sample contains numerous cations in form of oxides and SiO 2 and Si having the highest percentages of 81.5% and 77% respectively. Based on the findings some recommendations were given.
African Journal of Political Science and International Relations, May 31, 2015
International development agencies are important actors for democracy promotion, especially in de... more International development agencies are important actors for democracy promotion, especially in developing countries. In this regard, there has been an upsurge of these agencies in Nigeria's democratization process. This paper examines Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) as one of the initiatives of international development agencies toward promoting democracy in Nigeria. Specifically, the initiative has been providing assistance to state and non-state actors such as electoral commission, political parties and civil society groups towards promoting credible election in Nigeria. With the aid of qualitative data, the paper revealed that DGD project has provided technical and financial support to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to monitor and observe elections, create public awareness and strengthen other forms of civic engagement in order to influence the conduct of credible election in the country. However, the paper shows that lack of proper coordination of support, inadequate data base of the CSOs; absence of reliable instruments for assessment of support, lack of internal democracy in the conduct of the CSOs as well as mismanagement of resources all combined and affect democracy support towards credible elections in Nigeria. Thus, the paper concludes that international assistance for credible election could only be meaningful and effective by eliminating the culture of impunity, providing instrument of evaluation of support as well as continuing capacity building of the CSOs in Nigeria.
Drama has been widely acclaimed as a positive medium for mirroring the society. Drama is a repres... more Drama has been widely acclaimed as a positive medium for mirroring the society. Drama is a representation of life. So while drama entertains, it also educates and informs. This role of drama has been employed by playwrights over the years to make constructive commentaries on the issues and happenings in society and thus suggests and recommends for positive changes in man and his environment. The Nigerian Arabic playwrights are not left out in this direction of literary activities. This paper attempts an analysis of how Nigerian Arabic playwrights are also using drama to make comments on society as well educating the society using Barihi's Baqaun Muqadrun (Destined to survive) as a paradigm. We shall also look at the art of Arabic play writing in Nigeria in brief, synopsis of the play, play analysis and conclusion.
International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jun 1, 2014
B-cell Lymphoma Extra Large (Bcl-xL) belongs to B-cell Lymphoma two (Bcl-2) family and owing to i... more B-cell Lymphoma Extra Large (Bcl-xL) belongs to B-cell Lymphoma two (Bcl-2) family and owing to its anti-apoptotic role in many cancers, is proven to be an attractive target for anti-cancer therapy. Different classes of potent anti-Bcl-xL small molecules inhibitors have been discovered, and both three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D) Quantitative Structural Activity Relationship (QSAR) approaches have been used to study and predict the biological activities of new inhibitors prior to their synthesis. Objectives: This study was aimed to generate new candidate small inhibitory molecules against Bcl-xL by using G-QSAR analysis of known Bcl-xL inhibitors. Methods: In the present study, we used group-based QSAR (G-QSAR)-a novel fragment-based method-to develop QSAR models from known Bcl-xL inhibitors. A set of Bcl-xL inhibitors adopted from extant literature was fragmented into three common fragments, and a pool of 214 descriptors was calculated for each one. Results: Two models were obtained by using different combination of variable selection and model building method; stepwise-multiple linear regression (STP-MLR) and simulated annealing-multiple linear regression (SA-MLR). STP-MLR was found to be the best mode, with r 2 = 0.80, q 2 = 0.70 and predictive r 2 = 0.87. Conclusion: The G-QSAR results indicate that the generated models are statistically significant and can be used for design and generation of new potent inhibitors.
International Journal of Physical and Social Sciences, 2013
This paper intends a discourse about relationship between corruption and de-industrialization in ... more This paper intends a discourse about relationship between corruption and de-industrialization in Nigeria. It seeks to do this by offering a critical narrative of how corruption forged an identity of interests among political and administrative office-holders in adopting and implementing policy measures which tended to de-industrialize the country. The overall effect of all this is not only the closure of many factories and consequent loss of industrial jobs but also dependence of the country on foreign goods of poor industrial quality. Consequently, the Nigerian state embarked on neo-liberal reforms to reverse this ugly trend. Regrettably, these policies would only further add to de-industrialization of the manufacturing sector of the state. In this regard, the study posits that the crisis of development and corruption that ravaged the Nigeria's political economy could be located within the context of these neo-liberal policies. Thus, such policies could be said to be an exercise in futility and has further compounded the problems of corruption and development in the country.
The importance of finance on economic growth cannot be underscored and has long being highlighted... more The importance of finance on economic growth cannot be underscored and has long being highlighted by existing studies. However, most previous studies are restrictive either to the analysis of banking sector or stock market development on economic growth. By so doing, these studies have failed to capture the full effect of financial development on economic growth. Again, the study of finance-growth nexus is being confronted with the problem of choice of most suitable measure of financial development as each indicator of financial sector development has its merits and demerits. Again, the effect of finance on growth may not apply uniformly across all countries. Also, the debate on the effect of openness on financial sector development is mixed. It is argued that certain preconditions are necessary and should precede financial liberalization. One of such argument is the simultaneous opening of trade and capital account as proposed by Rajan and Zingales (2003).
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