Pastoralism as a New Phase of Terrorism in Nigeria

The need to feed livestock of herdsmen necessitates their migration from their communities due to inadequate pastures to other communities and this has led to the trespass of these pastoralists to the farmlands of local agriculturalists and destruction of their crops thereby leading to conflict This study therefore analyses the causes evolution dynamics and solutions to the conflicts generated from the farmers-herdsmen clashes in Nigeria The study also recommends the formulation of national livestock development policy effective community policing model demarcation of livestock grazing reserves provision of constitutional roles and recognition for traditional rulers and convening of stakeholders conference on nomadic pastoralism as strategies for ensuring peac

An Investigation of Assessment Practices by Teachers Business Education Subjects

Assessment is the process of gathering information about a student in order to make decisions about his or her education. Assessment is used for different purposes within different levels of the educational system, for example external assessment in most cases serve as accountability measures and as a result they induce teachers to devote significant amounts of instructional time to preparing students to excel in these examinations even when those examinations do not match the curricula

A Bayesian model averaging approach to the quantification of overlapping peptides in an MALDI-TOF mass spectrum.

In a high-resolution MALDI-TOF mass spectrum, a peptide produces multiple peaks, corresponding to the isotopic variants of the molecules. An overlap occurs when two peptides appear in the vicinity of the mass coordinate, resulting in the difficulty of quantifying the relative abundance and the exact masses of these peptides. To address the problem, two factors need to be considered: (1) the variability pertaining to the abundances of the isotopic variants (2) extra information content needed to supplement the information contained in data. We propose a Bayesian model for the incorporation of prior information. Such information exists, for example, for the distribution of the masses of peptides and the abundances of the isotopic variants. The model we develop allows for the correct estimation of the parameters of interest. The validity of the modeling approach is verified by a real-life case study from a controlled mass spectrometry experiment and by a simulation study

Assessment of Impact Rainfall Variability on Water Supply in Ibadan South West Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

The effect of rainfall variability on water supply in Ibadan South West L.G.A was investigated in this study. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis. The result of the analysis shows that there is a weak positive relationship between annual rainfall received and the public water supply in the study area during the selected (2006-2020) years. The results obtained from the computation of correlation were used to test for the validity of the first hypothesis. It was discovered that water demand by each household is almost similar from zone to zone which shows that the people are with similar water needs with 52.92% of the population needing 401 to 600 liters of water per day while 10.48% consumes over 800 liters of water per day The result also shows that the calculated value (3.807) is greater than the tabulated value (2.167). Therefore we reject the null hypothesis which states that there is no relationship between rural water supply and rainfall variability in the study area to accept the alternative hypothesis which states that there is a relationship between rural water supply and rainfall variability in the study area confirming that water availability and water supply is vulnerable to climate change and rainfall variability. The study recommends that the people, civil society organizations, government as well as non-governmental organizations should rededicate their efforts of ameliorating the adverse effect of climatic change and rainfall variability on water supply through massive development of ground water sources and rain harvesting techniques

Barries to growth and development of lower CIDB grade contractors

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in BuildingLiterature is replete with what constitutes barriers and challenges to the development of small, midsized and micro enterprise (SMME) contractors, often referred to as emerging contractors. The International Labour Organization (1987) proposed three solutions geared towards contractor development in developing countries. This research alludes to the importance of understanding the South African context wherein these proposed solutions are operational. The research begins with efforts made by the new democratic government, post 1994, to addressing the institutionalised inequalities - legacies of the previous regimes (colonization and apartheid) - via black economic empowerment, preferential procurement and construction industry development board (CIDB) legislations amongst others. The CIDB was instituted to promote amongst others the sustainable participation of emerging contractors in the construction industry; it is in this context that the national contractor development programme emerged. This research concerns itself with matters of knowledge or lack thereof as the underlying factor responsible for underdevelopment of emerging contractors. To do this, it looks at knowledge theories including its creation and transfer mechanism vis a vis organizational learning in an attempt to answer the question of nature and characteristics of learning in a specified contractor development programme (CDP). This research is a cross-sectional study that lends itself to an interpretivist paradigm and inductive logic with qualitative methods (semi-structure interviews). This research does not cover mentorship and its theories. It also does not cover issues of improvements to knowledge transfer between emerging contractors and mentor-engineers. The research concluded that much as knowledge transfer was observed within the contractor development programming, it occurred within a context and was content specific. However it is difficult to describe knowledge transfers in its entirety as it is multi-layered in nature and complexity of the make-up of emerging contractors and their interactionsGR201

In-vitro ant sickling and sickling-reversal activities of Carica papaya fruit at different stages of ripening

Objective: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a haemoglobinopathy that causes several clinical complications. Unripe Carica papaya has been shown to possess ant sickling activity that could reduce these complications. This study aimed to examine the presence of ant sickling and sickling-reversal activities of aqueous extracts and ethyl acetate fractions of C. papaya fruit at different stages of ripening. Methods: Unripe, partly ripe, and fully ripe fruits were quantitatively screened for some phytochemicals using standard methods. Blood samples from sickle cell patients were used to investigate ant sickling and sickling reversal activities of aqueous extracts and ethyl acetate fractions of the fruits. Data were analysed using one-way ANOVA. The p-value was set at 0.05. Results: Phytochemicals such as alkaloids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids and polyphenols were found in varying concentrations in C. papaya fruit at the different stages of ripening. All extracts and fractions showed antisickling and sickling-reversal activities with the ethyl acetate fraction of partly ripe C. papaya being most effective.  Conclusion: The study showed that C. papaya fruit at different stages of ripening contains antisickling and sickling-reversal activities which may help reduce the associated complications of SCD when consumed by affected individuals

Assessing the Affective Behaviours in Learners

There is a great need to balance the assessment of learning outcomes in learners by assessing all the domains associated with behavioural changes instead of assessing the cognitive achievement in the learner alone.  This paper x-rays what affective assessment is, the ground rules for affective assessment, school affective behaviours and the tools for affective assessments.  The authors advocated that teachers should assess the affective outcome in learners as this will enable learners not only to acquire academic competencies but to be adequately equipped with knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, practical and psychosocial skills that would enable them live healthy and satisfying lives and derive the benefit of learning.

Mortality in children 5 years with severe acute respiratory illness in urban and rural areas, South Africa, 2009-2013

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Epidemiology (Epidemiology and Biostatistics). 2016Background Reducing severe acute respiratory illness (SARI)-associated mortality in African children remains a public health priority and an immense challenge. The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) was introduced into the South African routine immunization programme in 2009. The objectives of this study were: I. To describe the demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, respiratory pathogens of children aged <5 years hospitalized with SARI in an urban (Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto) and a rural (Matikwana and Mapuleng Hospitals, Mpumalanga) setting in South Africa from 2009-2013 and II. To compare the factors associated with mortality among children aged <5 years hospitalized with SARI in these two sites separately. Methods Hospitalized children with SARI were enrolled into an active, prospective sentinel surveillance program. Clinical and epidemiologic data were collected until discharge. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were tested for influenza (A and B) and eight other respiratory viruses. In-hospital case-fatality proportion (CFP) and risk factors for mortality were determined for each hospital site separately using unconditional logistic regression. Results The in-hospital CFP was significantly higher in the rural (6.9%, 103/1486) than the urban (1.3%, 51/3811) site (p<0.001). This was observed among both HIV-infected (urban: 6.6%, 17/257) vs. (rural: 12.9%, 30/233) (p=0.019) and HIV-uninfected children (urban: 0.6%, 13/2236) vs. (rural: 4.2% 36/857) (p<0.001). In the urban site the only factor that is independently associated with death on multivariate analysis was HIV infection (odds ratio (OR) 12.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.8-25.2). In the rural site HIV infection (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.7-6.9), age <1 year (OR 3.5, 95% CI 2.0-6.1) vs. 1-4 years, any respiratory virus detected (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2-0.6), pneumococcal infection(OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.8-10.8) and malnutrition (OR 12.8, 95%CI 1.2-134.6) were independently associated with mortality. Conclusion SARI mortality was higher in the rural setting. Even in the era of PCV availability pneumococcus is still associated with mortality in rural areas. Efforts to prevent and treat HIV infections in children and reduce malnutrition may reduce SARI deaths.MT201

Judicial Absolutism: Propriety of the National Industrial Court as the First and Final Court in Labour and Other Related Matters in Nigeria

The likelihood of appealing against the decision of a court of first instance is no doubt an acceptable culture in every judicial system. In fact, it is implicit in every adjudicatory process that a court cannot mostly be a court of first approach as well as that of last resort. Right of appeal of litigants constitutes a fundamental element of a fair judicial practice and plays a significant role in the Nigerian justice system. The right provides avenue for the Appellate Courts to function in correcting legal and factual errors; encouraging the development and refinement of legal principles; increasing uniformity and standardization in the application of legal rules and promoting respect for the rule of law. In criminal cases, the right plays an additional role in guarding against wrongful conviction of the innocent. This paper attempts to analyze the provision of the amended Nigeria Constitution in respect of the right of appeal of an aggrieved person against the decision of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria as well as contrasting judicial reaction thereon. A case was eventually made for a liberal and all-inclusive interpretation of the provision of the Constitution to avoid a restriction on a litigant’s right to appeal to the Nigerian Court of Appeal from the decision of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria. Keywords: Appeal, Court of Appeal, National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Jurisdiction, Labour Court, Nigeria, South Africa

Assessment of Poor Resource Farmers’ Level of Awareness on Climate Change and Adaptation/Mitigation Strategies in Some Selected Rural Areas in Oyo State, Southwest, Nigeria

Climate change is a phenomenon that is currently in dire need of a wide range of publicity and other measures in order to adapt and mitigate its effect on the society. This study examined the level of climate change awareness among the poor resource farmers in some selected local government areas of Oyo state. A well structured questionnaire titled "Climate Change Awareness Questionnaire (CCAQ)" was administered on a sample of 240 households. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools such as frequency counts and percentage as well as cross table analysis. Findings indicated that the level of climate change awareness was generally low among the resource poor farmers. Keywords: Climate change, Awareness, Adaptation strategies, Mitigation strategies