Semantic Text Mining using Domain Ontology

Abstract— Presently in Customer Relationship Management, there is a need to achieve greater customer centricity, and this requires a deeper understanding of customer needs. Also, the volume of textual data generated by the social networking sites in recent times has greatly increased, creating a platform for analysis, towards the much needed customer understanding. One of the issues that evolve from analyzing these texts to retrieve non trivial patterns (text mining) is text representation, which this research is aimed at addressing. In particular, this paper focuses on using domain ontology for text pre-processing in order to improve the quality of the textual corpus being mined. The methodology used in this research is based on developing a domain Ontology for textual pre-processing of the experimental data and sentiment analysis of social media data. In conclusion, the inferences gotten from the research carried out reveal that domain ontology has the ability to improve the results of sentiment analysis. It was also discovered that, due to the nature of social media data, there is need for a deeper level of semantic analysis, to be able to maximize its richness

The Kinetics of a Palladium Precursor – Tobacco Mosaic Virus Reaction

There have been numerous developments in the field of production of metallic nanoparticles using biotemplates such as the Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV). Past research has looked at the conditions required to maximise nanoparticle formation. This study of the kinetics of a nanomaterial synthesis reaction using a biotemplate would elucidate the understanding of the controlled growth of nanoparticles, which can be applied in the fabrication of photocatalysts, electrical nanocircuits and solar cells. This study specifically focuses on the reaction between a palladium precursor and the TMV without an external reducing agent, where the palladium ion concentration is measured over time using UV-Visible, Atomic Absorption and X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy methods. The results from these experiments allow us to compare the trends and variations of the palladium ion concentration over time. We found that the results using UV-Visible Spectroscopy did not verify those using X-Ray Absorption methods which signals that there are likely to be flaws in the UV-Visible methods that need further analysis in order to be resolved. Atomic Absorption was used to gauge the impact of external particles in the reaction solution on absorbance; however the faulty hollow cathode lamp on the spectrophotometer limited its effectiveness. These findings are significant in that they are a step into the study of the effectiveness of different spectroscopy methods to measure concentration. This would pave the way for obtaining more information about the general kinetics of reactions between metals and viruses, and thus allow us to fabricate nanoparticles in a controlled manner

Determinants of Economic Growth Differential in Rural Nigeria

Increasing income inequality and poverty continue to be the most challenging economic problem facing most developing countries including Nigeria. It has been observed that inequality in Nigeria is mainly through income differential. Mean earnings also differ greatly across groups defined by occupation, gender, education, experience, and other observed traits. The paper explores the extent to which a set of factors determine income growth differential in rural Nigeria between 1996 and 2004 using the National Consumer Survey data of 1996 and 2003/2004 National Living Standard Survey dataset. The two periods have sample sizes of 11,577 and 22,000 respectively. Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition approach was used to estimate the contribution of selected factors to the growth differential between the two periods. From the decomposition results, the key determinants of growth for both periods respectively were: age of household head (0.011, 0.199); house unit type (0.038, 0.032); education status (0.129, 0.141); and weekly hours of work (0.183×10-4, 0.002). Others were Gender, (-0.117, -0.213); and household size (-0.044, -0.140). [Adigun Grace Toyin, Awoyemi Taiwo Timothy, Omonona Bolarin T. Determinants of Economic Growth Differential in Rural Nigeria. New York Science Journal 2011;4(4):50-58]. (ISSN: 1554-0200). http://www.sciencepub.net/newyork. Keywords: Growth, Inequality, Per Capita Expenditure, Rural Nigeria, Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition

Adsorption mechanisms of palladium on the Tobacco Mosaic Virus surface

Organic-inorganic materials synthesis using biological templates has recently drawn immense attention of researchers. Biotemplating has shown to be an efficient and economic means of nanomaterials production. Naturally stable, readily available and genetically malleable, Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) is one of the most extensively studied and characterized biotemplates. Particularly, templated synthesis using TMV has produced high quality nanorods and nanowires that have been applied to batteries, memory devices and catalysis. The fundamental mechanisms, governing the adsorption of palladium on the TMV Wild Type and genetically modified versions (TMV1Cys and TMV2Cys), are not fully understood; this knowledge, however, is essential for future controllable synthesis. We are using UV Vis spectrometer to track the absorbance of palladium species in the solution in order to model the mechanism of adsorption on TMV surfaces using Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms. The mechanism is studied at 25 degrees Celsius at various palladium incubation concentrations. Adsorption on TMV Wild Type and TMV1Cys was successfully characterized by Langmuir isotherm, while adsorption on TMV2Cys, however, was found to be well characterized by Freundlich isotherm. With these models we were able to quantify the maximum capacities and adsorption intensities for TMV Wild Type and its mutants. Therefore, we were able to mathematically describe the differences in adsorption caused by the presence of thiol groups on the surface of TMV

Health seeking behaviour in management of erectile dysfunction among men in an urban African population

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is consistent inability to achieve/maintain penile erection sufficiently enough for satisfactory sexual intercourse. It is a major sexual disorder causing significant distress in men with associated poor quality of life. Despite it being a common sexual disorder, many of the affected people do not seek medical care. The study sought to investigate health seeking behaviour in management of ED among urban dwelling African men.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive survey method was adopted. The study population comprised of men drawn from an urban setting in Nigeria using a multi-stage sampling technique. Three hypotheses were formulated which were cultural beliefs, financial status and medical access/perception on quality of care will not significantly influence health seeking behaviour for management of ED. Researchers’ designed questionnaire validated by three experts drawn from the relevant fields with reliability co-efficient of 0.77 obtained through split half method by Pearson product moment correlation was used for data collection. The three postulated hypotheses were tested using Person product moment correlation.Results: All the three hypotheses were rejected at 0.05 alpha level of significance because their calculated r-values were greater than their critical values.Conclusions: It was concluded that cultural beliefs, financial status and access to medical facilities/perception of quality of care from such medical facilities influence the health seeking behaviour of men in the management of ED.

COVID-19 and learners with disabilities: Towards divergent praxis in teacher preparation for equity and epistemic justice

Emergence of COVID-19 further exposed educational inequalities and epistemic injustices experienced by learners with disabilities (LwDs). COVID-19 presents additional challenges for teachers and LwDs whose life and active learning engagements depends largely on social interaction. While the lockdown persisted, teachers of LwDs became anxious about potential relapse of previously gained learning outcomes and aggravated disabling condition. Unfortunately, there seem to be less teachers’ capacities to continually foster learning among their LwDs during the lockdown because there exist low teachers’ morale and pedagogical gaps for digital teaching. Based on current realities, it is evident that there is need for a paradigm shift in teacher preparation and training towards equity and epistemic justice for LwDs. Hence, this intellectual piece advanced the need to modify the existing teacher education curriculum to extensively build on teachers’ morale while it consciously infuses technological pedagogies in preparation programmes of teachers of LwDs in Africa

Service learning as a means to understanding the socio-economic privileges and inequalities of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing

Complexities surround the social inclusion and socio-economic independence of people who are deaf and/or hard of hearing (DHH). The socio-economic challenges faced by the DHH have been exposed globally over the years and their experience of socio-economic discrepancies in Nigeria as well as other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa is well documented in literature. Although government and non-governmental agencies have made some effort to alleviate the socio-economic challenges faced by the DHH, such effort has not yielded the desired results. Leveraging on the assumptions and principles of social learning theory, this intellectual piece advanced service learning as a socio-learning approach to ameliorate the socio-economic challenges and eliminate the social inequalities faced by the DHH. It was expected that the model presented in this study would respond actively to the goals of the Nigerian National Policy of Education and further enthrone a sustainable inclusive society where the DHH could lead an economically independent life. Implications for policies and research were presented in the paper

INFLUENCE OF INTER-ROW SPACING AND WEED CONTROL METHODS IN GROUNDNUT (Arachis hypogeal (L.)

Weed competition has been identified as one of the major obstacles in crop production. The produc-tion of groundnut is limited by high weed infestation resulting in yield losses ranging from 50 - 80% in Nigeria. Hence, the need to evaluate integrated weed control in its production. Field trials were there-fore conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (7o 20’ N, 30 23’ E) to evaluate the influence of inter-row spacing and weed control methods on growth and yield of groundnut during the wet seasons in 2009 and 2010. The experiment was a Randomised Complete Design (RCBD) laid out in a split plot with three replications. The main plot treatment con-sisted of three inter-row spacings of 60 cm, 75 cm and 90 cm while the subplots included five weed control treatments of commercial formulation of metolachlor plus promethyne mixture (codal) at 1.0 kg a.i/ha, codal at 1.0 kg a.i./ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 weeks after sowing (WAS), codal at 2 kg a.i./ha, hoe weeding at 3, 6 and 9 WAS and a weedy check. Inter-row spacings of 60 cm and 75 cm reduced weed growth with consequent higher yields compared to the inter-row spacings of 90 cm in the early season of 2009. Application of codal at 1.0 kg a.i./ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 WAS combined with 60cm inter-row spacing gave effective weed control and higher groundnut pod yield than hoe-weeded control in both years of experimentation

Effect of mentorship on regular teachers' selfefficacy towards implementation of inclusive education at basic education level

Impaired teachers' self-efficacy has contributed to delays in the implementation of inclusive education in Nigeria. Unfortunately, several efforts established towards ensuring the actualization of the Salamanca Declaration in Nigeria are yet to produce desired results. Although some past studies identified a mentor-mentee approach as a model that promotes the efficient implementation of established policies, paucity of research evidence exists on the implication of mentor-mentee approaches on the construction of teachers' self-efficacy for inclusive education, particularly at the basic level of education. Objectives. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of mentorship on in-service regular teachers' self-efficacy towards the implementation of inclusive education at the basic education level in Gombe State, Nigeria. Methods. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted for the study, while a purposive sampling technique was used to select 42 participants aged between 20 and 45 (M = 33.90, SD = 6.35) from two local government areas of the Gombe South Senatorial District. Participants were assigned to treatment and control groups, with 21 participants in each group. The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (a = .81) was used for data collection. Data collected was analysed with an independent sample t-test. Results. Findings showed the efficacy of a mentoring training program on the self-efficacy of in-service regular teachers towards effective implementation of inclusive education at the basic level of education. Also, male and older teachers had higher self-efficacy for the implementation of Inclusive education at the basic education level. Conclusion. Mentorship programs significantly facilitate the achievement of inclusive education, particularly at the basic level of education. Welldesigned mentorship programs for early career in-service regular teachers would equip them with an orientation that would guide them towards effective implementation of inclusive education at the basic level of education. Based on the outcome of the study appropriate mentorship strategy for novice teachers was recommended