A Predictive Correlational Study of Collegiate Educational Leader\u27s Cultural Orientations and Their Cultural Intelligence Scores

A predictive correlational study was conducted to determine predictive capabilities between collegiate educational leader’s horizontal collectivism scores and their motivational cultural intelligence scores. While researchers have used cultural intelligence (CQ) and cultural orientations (CO) as theoretical frameworks in previous studies, this study relies heavily on Robert Bandura’s social learning theory (SLT). The differentiation in theoretical framework indicates that a group’s social norms, religious customs, and their cultural constructs are learned through direct experience within their communal upbringing or learned through observing others. Therefore, just as these cultural responses to external stimuli were learned, they can be unlearned, and relearned to fit appropriately to promote inclusivity in a setting that encompasses diversity. For this study, 62 participants were selected using judgement sampling through 22 different four-year colleges and universities within the Eastern region of the United States. Participants took part in one survey that contained two electronic instruments: Individualism and Collectivism Scale (INDCOL); and the Electronic Cultural Intelligence Scale (E-CQS). Following data collection, the researcher used a multiple linear regression to predict overall HC scores from intrinsic motivation (IM), extrinsic motivation (EM), and self-efficacy to adjust (SA) scores. Results revealed that overall EM was statistically significant to OHC scores. Further research is required with measuring CQ to CO within the context of higher education

Climate change, sea level rise and coastal inundation along part of Nigeria Barrier Lagoon Coast

The phenomenon of ocean surges and other morphological processes  along the Lagos coastline have generated serious public concern on the vulnerability of infrastructures and coastal services along the entire stretch of the Barrier-Lagoon coastline of Lagos State. This study examines  Badagry coastal environment inundations that arise from sea level rise. The study uses an iterative GIS-based simulation that mapped area  inundated based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (IPCC –SRES) classification (A1, A1T, B2, A1B and A2) and Locally Oriented Economic Development Scenarios  (LOEDS). The results of IPCC-SRES scenario analysis show that area  inundated at the high emission and worse case sea level rise is less than 0.13% of the study area while the LOEDS inundation area starts having significant impacts as from 4 meter rise in sea level. Since it is only environmental catastrophism and anthropogenic activities that can attain such serious dimension at local, regional and global scales in sea level, it is recommended that coastal protection infrastructures should be   integrated in any major developmental activitie

Pengembangan Modul Praktikum Dengan Implementasi Desain Pembelajaran ADDIE

Penelitian ini bertujuan mengembangkan modul untuk kegiatan praktikum mata kuliah Bengkel dan Perancangan Elektronika di Jurusan Pendidikan Teknik Eletronika FT-UNM dan mengevaluasi hasil dari rancangan modul tersebut. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah research and development (R&D) dan desain pengembangan pembelajarannya mengacu pada model ADDIE (Analysis-Design-Develop-Implement-Evaluate). Penelitian ini  subyeknya adalah mahasiswa Jurusan Pendidikan Teknik Elektronika FT-UNM dan sebagai obyeknya berupa modul praktikum. Adapun instrumen penelitian menggunakan lembar penilaian dengan melibatkan dua orang validator materi, dua orang validator desain, dua mahasiswa sebagai Observer dan tanggapan mahasiswa yang menggunakan modul tersebut. Hasil validasi materi secara keseluruhan adalah 93% kategori “sangat valid”. Dan hsil validasi desain sebesar 88% “sangat valid”. Untuk hasil penilaian respon mahasiswa dari seluruh aspek sebesar 89% “sangat praktis”. Serta hasil penilaian observer secara keseluruhan untuk semua aspek sebesar 90,5% dengan kategori “sangat baik. Dari hasil ini sehingga modul praktikum Bengkel dan Perancangan Elektronika dapat digunaka

Wastewater-based epidemiology in hazard forecasting and early-warning systems for global health risks

With the advent of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) has been applied to track community infection in cities worldwide and has proven succesful as an early warning system for identification of hotspots and changingprevalence of infections (both symptomatic and asymptomatic) at a city or sub-city level. Wastewater is only one of environmental compartments that requires consideration. In this manuscript, we have critically evaluated the knowledge-base and preparedness for building early warning systems in a rapidly urbanising world, with particular attention to Africa, which experiences rapid population growth and urbanisation. We have proposed a Digital Urban Environment Fingerprinting Platform (DUEF) – a new approach in hazard forecasting and early-warning systems for global health risks and an extension to the existing concept of smart cities. The urban environment (especially wastewater) contains a complex mixture of substances including toxic chemicals, infectious biological agents and human excretion products. DUEF assumes that these specific endo- and exogenous residues, anonymously pooled by communities’ wastewater, are indicative of community-wide exposure and the resulting effects. DUEF postulates that the measurement of the substances continuously and anonymously pooled by the receiving environment (sewage, surface water, soils and air), can provide near real-time dynamic information about the quantity and type of physical, biological or chemical stressors to which the surveyed systems are exposed, and can create a risk profile on the potential effects of these exposures. Successful development and utilisation of a DUEF globally requires a tiered approach including: Stage I: network building, capacity building, stakeholder engagement as well as a conceptual model, followed by Stage II: DUEF development, Stage III: implementation, and Stage IV: management and utilization. We have identified four key pillars required for the establishment of a DUEF framework: (1) Environmental fingerprints, (2) Socioeconomic fingerprints, (3) Statistics and modelling and (4) Information systems. This manuscript critically evaluates the current knowledge base within each pillar and provides recommendations for further developments with an aim of laying grounds for successful development of global DUEF platforms

Community structure and diversity of tropical forest mammals: Data from a global camera trap network

Terrestrial mammals are a key component of tropical forest communities as indicators of ecosystem health and providers of important ecosystem services. However, there is little quantitative information about how they change with local, regional and global threats. In this paper, the first standardized pantropical forest terrestrial mammal community study, we examine several aspects of terrestrial mammal species and community diversity (species richness, species diversity, evenness, dominance, functional diversity and community structure) at seven sites around the globe using a single standardized camera trapping methodology approach. The sites-located in Uganda, Tanzania, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Suriname, Brazil and Costa Rica-are surrounded by different landscape configurations, from continuous forests to highly fragmented forests. We obtained more than 51 000 images and detected 105 species of mammals with a total sampling effort of 12 687 camera trap days. We find thatmammal communities from highly fragmented sites have lower species richness, species diversity, functional diversity and higher dominance when compared with sites in partially fragmented and continuous forest. We emphasize the importance of standardized camera trapping approaches for obtaining baselines for monitoring forest mammal communities so as to adequately understand the effect of global, regional and local threats and appropriately inform conservation actions. © 2011 The Royal Society

An estimate of the number of tropical tree species

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher’s alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼40,000 and ∼53,000, i.e. at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼19,000–25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼4,500–6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa

The global abundance of tree palms

Aim Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change. Location Tropical and subtropical moist forests. Time period Current. Major taxa studied Palms (Arecaceae). Methods We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co‐occurring non‐palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure. Results On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long‐term climate stability. Life‐form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non‐tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above‐ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work. Conclusions Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests

Water, energy and agricultural landuse trends at Shiroro hydropower station and environs

The study examines the interplay among water resources, hydropower generation and agricultural landuse at the Shiroro hydropower station and its environs, in north-central Nigeria. Non-parametric trend analysis, hydropower footprint estimation, reservoir performance analysis, change detection analysis, and inferential statistics were combined to study the water-energy and food security nexus. Results of Mann–Kendall test and Sen's slope estimator for the period 1960 to 2013 showed a declining rainfall trend at Jos, around River Kaduna headwaters at −2.6 mm yr−1, while rainfall at Kaduna and Minna upstream and downstream of the reservoir respectively showed no trend. Estimates of hydropower footprint varied between 130.4 and 704.1 m3 GJ−1 between 1995 and 2013. Power generation reliability and resilience of the reservoir was 31.6 and 38.5 % respectively with year 2011 being the most vulnerable and least satisfactory. In addition to poor reliability and resilience indices, other challenges militating against good performance of hydropower generation includes population growth and climate change issues as exemplified in the downward trend observed at the headwaters. Water inflow and power generation shows a weak positive relationship with correlation coefficient (r) of 0.48, indicating less than optimal power generation. Total area of land cultivated increased from 884.59 km2 in 1986 prior to the commissioning of the hydropower station to 1730.83 km2 in 2016 which signifies an increased contribution of the dam to ensuring food security. The reality of reducing upstream rainfall amount coupled with high water footprint of electricity from the reservoir, therefore requires that a long term roadmap to improve operational coordination and management have to be put in place

Evidence that Temminck described Felis aurata in 1825, not 1827

The African golden cat, Caracal aurata, ranges from west through central to east Africa and is categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Coenraad J. Temminck (1778–1858) described Felis aurata (African golden cat) and other new felid species in the fourth of seven monographs collected in the first volume of his Monographies de mammalogie, which was dated 1827 on the title-page. For nearly two centuries, Temminck’s description of Felis aurata has therefore been cited as published in 1827. However, this is in error because the different monographs were published as they were completed and later compiled into volumes. The actual date of issue for the fourth monograph was 1825, so that the correct current citation for the African golden cat should be Caracal aurata (Temminck, 1825). This revised citation date is also applicable to the Iberian lynx , Lynx pardinus (Temminck, 1825), which is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List

Therapeutic efficacy of Lofnac Gel via phonophoresis in the management of chronic nonspecific low back pain: A randomised controlled trial

Background: The prevalence of nonspecific low back pain is very high among Nigerians and in Africa. Lofnac Gel is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory gel that has been used to treat musculoskeletal pain, but its efficacy on nonspecific low back pain is inconclusive. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the therapeutic efficacy of Lofnac Gel in the management of nonspecific low back pain. Methods: Seventy patients diagnosed with mechanical low back pain of 3 months' duration were divided into two groups: experimental group (n = 35) and control group (n = 35). Participants in both groups were placed on supervised strengthening exercises for multifidus muscles of the low back. The experimental group was placed on ultrasound phonophoresis therapy with Lofnac Gel (with diclofenac and methyl salicylate as active ingredients), whereas the control group was placed on ultrasound with water as coupling medium. The treatment was applied twice per week for 6 weeks. Present pain intensity and disability were measured before treatment, and in the 3rd week and 6th week of treatment. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and post hoc analysis was carried out when necessary. Results: There was a significant difference between the pre- and posttreatment pain intensity and disability index for both the experimental (F = 17.947, p < 0.001; F = 20.712, p < 0.001) and control (F = 14.791, p < 0.001; F = 10.418, p < 0.001) groups. There was also a significant difference between the experimental and control group data in terms of pain intensity (F = 28.76, p < 0.001) and disability index (F = 39.817, p < 0.001) in the 6th week. Conclusion: Exercise combined with Lofnac phonophoresis was more effective in the management of patients with chronic low back pain than exercise and ultrasound alone