Expansion of the crop ontology by adding cassava trait ontology

Poster presented at CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme, General Research Meeting. Hyderabad (India), 21-25 Sep 201

Przegląd teorii Heartlandu Mackindera: Stwierdzenie powstania zjawiska kompleksowej konkurencji energetycznej w regionie Oceanu Indyjskiego

Competition amongst great powers is not new in international politics. It has traditionally been the driving force for the creation and collapse of empires and states. In the 19th–20th centuries, the British Empire established its dominion in the world over and maintained an uncontested global supremacy. To secure Britain’s global dominance, in 1904, Sir Halford Mackinder dazed the world with his heartland theory. Ever since then, the theory remains one of the most discussed geopolitical theories. The article does not pretend or oblivious of the heaps of criticism Mackinder’s theory has received over several decades, it nonetheless, employs the theory in the context of the contemporary international political environment, with particular reference to the happenings around the Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea. So therefore, the point of analysis here centres around the applicability of the theory and the implications posed by Mackinderian geographical rationalisation in formulating foreign policy around what the article considers as the contemporary pivot area – the Indian Ocean. Through the theoretical understanding of Mackinder’s thesis, the article argues that the Indian Ocean and its adjoining seas corridors and Straits are ‘pivot areas’ potential enough to generate competition amongst regional and global powers. The new ‘pivot areas’ is enormously endowed with natural resources and is the major energy highway(s), upon which global economies are dependent. The article concludes by arguing that a complex power competition (CPC) is brewing along the neo-pivot region.Zjawisko konkurencji między wielkimi mocarstwami nie jest w polityce międzynarodowej niczym nowym. Konkurencja zawsze napędzała powstawanie i upadki imperiów i państw. W XIX–XX wieku Imperium Brytyjskie zapewniło sobie światową dominację i utrzymało niekwestionowaną supremację globalną. Aby zapewnić dalszą globalną dominację Wielkiej Brytanii, w 1904 roku Sir Halford Mackinder zadziwił świat swoją teorią „heartlandu”, która pozostaje jedną z najczęściej dyskutowanych teorii geopolitycznych. Zdając sobie sprawę z głębokiej krytyki, jakiej przez kilka dziesięcioleci poddawano teorię Mackindera, artykuł wykorzystuje ją jednak w kontekście współczesnego międzynarodowego środowiska politycznego, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem wydarzeń w rejonie Oceanu Indyjskiego, Zatoki Perskiej i Morza Arabskiego. Dlatego też analiza koncentruje się tutaj na możliwościach zastosowania teorii i implikacjach wynikających z racjonalizacji geograficznej Mackindera w formułowaniu polityki zagranicznej wokół tego, co artykuł uważa za współcześnie kluczowy obszar (pivot area) – Ocean Indyjski. Teoretyczna interpretacja tezy Mackindera dowodzi, że Ocean Indyjski i sąsiednie korytarze morskie i cieśniny są „kluczowymi obszarami”, których siła stymuluje konkurencję między potęgami regionalnymi i światowymi. Nowe „obszary kluczowe” są niezwykle bogate w zasoby naturalne i stanowią główne szlaki energetyczne, od których zależą gospodarki globalne. Artykuł kończy konkluzja, że w nowym regionie kluczowym wykluwa się kompleksowa konkurencja energetyczna (complex power competition (CPC))

Causative agents of keratomycosis in Ibadan: review of laboratory reports

Introduction: Fungi are responsible for less than 2.0 % of corneal infection around the globe. Trauma to the cornea is the leading cause of fungal keratitis especially with history of corneal trauma with vegetable or organic matter. Because of the dearth of data on the aetiological agents of Keratomycosis in this hospital, this study was aimed at finding the prevalence and fungal etiological agents responsible for this condition Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods: A retrospective review of the laboratory reports of corneal scrapings of patients that presented with signs and symptoms suggestive of Keratomycosis was carried out. The scrapings were subjected to wet preparation with 10.0 % KOH, Gram staining and Giemsa staining to rule out inclusion bodies. The diagnosis of Keratomycosis was made on the basis of the recognizable and characteristic appearance of fungal hyphae and fruiting bodies under microscopy. The media with no obvious growth after 3-4 weeks of incubation were regarded as negative. Results: A total of 48 specimens from patients with suspected diagnosis of Keratomycosis were included in the analysis. The patients consisted of 42 (87.3%) males and 6 (12.5%) females. The ages at diagnosis ranged from 3 to 73 years with a mean of 36.46 years and a median of 35.5 years. The prevalence of Keratomycosis among this group of patients in this hospital was 8.4 %. Candida albicans and Fusarium spp were the fungal isolates in these patients as it occurred in 4.2 % (2/48) of them respectively. Conclusions: Corneal scarring due to trauma or infections is a major cause of monocular blindness, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Despite the low level of Keratomycosis in this study, high index of suspicion of possible diagnosis should be giving to patients with history of trauma, tissue devitalization with topical steroids and immunocompromised immunity.Keywords: Keratomycosis, Corneal, Fusarium and Candida

Recent rubella infection among childbearing women in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria: A seroepidemiological indication for vaccination need

Background: Congenital Rubella Infection can be prevented and future generation saved from  disability by protecting women of reproductive age through vaccination. The study is aimed at  determining serological evidence of recent rubella infection among women of childbearing age.Method: A cross sectional study was carried out among 285 women aged between 15 and 49 years. Enzyme immunoassay method was used to detect and quantify human IgM and IgG antibodies with avidity for Rubella virus in sera of participants. Socio-demographic characteristics of the subjects, along with recent history of fever, rash and adverse pregnancy outcome among others were obtained using a questionnaire. Statistical analysis was carried out using the program statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16. Majority (78.3%) of the women recruited for the study were within 15-34 years age range. Of the 285 sera assayed for Rubella IgM antibodies, 23 (8.1%; 95% CI: 4.9%-11.3 %.) was IgM seropositive, while the remaining 262 (91.9%) were seronegative. A total of 7 (2.5%) of reproductive age women in Ilorin had a recent primary infection while 16 (5.6%) had a persistent Rubella infection or recent re-infection.In conclusion, there is need for vaccination of susceptible women of reproductive age in Ilorin as a large number of women have Rubella in their reproductive age.Keywords: Rubella, Immunoglobulin M, avidity, reproductive age, Ilorin, Nigeri

Optimal economie dispatch for the nigerian grid system considering voltage and line flow constraints

The electric power industries worldwide have undergone considerable changes especially from vertical structure to full deregulated entities. These changes are now introducing new problems in terms of operations, controls and planning of the entire grid systems. This calls for a more reliable analytical tool ever than before. One feasible solution is to perform the Optimal Economic Dispatch (OED) paradigm on this restructured power system so as to provide fairness to all operators. In this paper, the economic dispatch problem with voltage and line flow constraints has been formulated for the hydro-thermal generating units feeding the Nigerian power system. In order to solve the arising power flow problem a MATLAB based simulation package, MATPOWER version 3.0 has been suitably modified to obtain feasible solutions for different loading system scenarios. The results obtained showed that the OED offered a better optimal power schedules, power loss minimization and reduced total fuel cost than earlier work based on Micro-Genetic Algorithm, (MGA) and Conventional Genetic Algorithm (CGA)

Antibiotic Resistance and Public Health Perspective of Bacterial Contamination of Nigerian Currency

Nigerian bank notes like other currencies in the world pass through different hands and have been implicated in the carriage of medically important pathogens. This study was undertaken to determine the types of bacteria present on Nigerian currency in Ile-Ife, Osun State, with a view to determining the potential of naira notes as environmental vehicle for the transmission of potential pathogenic bacteria.  Standard microbiological methods were used to isolate, characterize and identify the bacterial isolates from different banknotes. Disc diffusion method was used to determine the sensitivity of the isolates to ten antibiotics. Representative multiple antibiotic resistant isolates were profiled for plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). A total of three hundred and five comprising 216 Gram positive and 89 Gram negative bacteria were isolated from two hundred and five bank notes sampled; naira in mint condition was used as control. Thirteen bacterial genera namely Bacillus, Corynebacterium, Staphylococcus, Lactobacillus, Micrococcus, Aeromonas, Citrobacter, Edwardsiella, Klebsiella, Moraxiella, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter and Proteus were recovered. Resistance to antibiotics was generally high and varied among the isolates. Resistance ranged from 18.18% to 100% in Gram negative bacteria and 26.6% to 100% in Gram positive isolates. Enterobacter sp. and Edwardsiella sp. recovered were 100% resistant to all the antibiotics except septrin. All the isolates were resistant to more than one antibiotic. Multiple antibiotic resistant isolates harboured plasmids of various sizes, ranging from 1,356 bp to 17,367 bp in Gram- positive bacteria and 1815 to 23130 bp in Gram negative isolates. Nigerian currency harboured different types of multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria which can be implicated in human infections; hence constituting a potential public health hazard. Keywords: bacteria, multiple antibiotic resistance, currency, plasmids, pathogens, min

The non-technical skills needed by graduates of technical colleges in metalwork technology

This study centered on the views of the professionals about the non-technical skills considered crucial as recruitment prerequisite among graduates of metalwork technology from technical and vocational institutions in Nigeria. It will also examine the possibility of integrating these skills into the curriculum. The study made use of the survey research design. One research question guided the study. The population for the study comprised metalwork technology professionals in Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria. A 36-item questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The instrument was validated by experts from the University of Lagos (UNILAG). The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha and the reliability index which stood at 0.79. The data collected were analysed using mean statistic and standard deviation. The study revealed that professionals placed great importance on communication skills, problem-solving skills, teamwork skills and self-management qualities among others, as important recruitment prerequisite among graduates of metalwork technology from technical and vocational institutions in Nigeria. The study concludes with the suggestions that non-technical skills should be integrated into the curriculum particularly in the field of metalwork technology in technical colleges. Students should be familiar with the employers’ recruitment criteria while they are still in schools in order to equip them with the necessary skills needed for employment

Evidence of a multiple insecticide resistance in the malaria vector Anopheles funestus in South West Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Knowing the extent and spread of insecticide resistance in malaria vectors is vital to successfully manage insecticide resistance in Africa. This information in the main malaria vector, Anopheles funestus sensu stricto, is completely lacking in the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria. This study reports the insecticide susceptibility status and the molecular basis of resistance of An. funestus as well as its involvement in malaria transmission in Akaka-Remo, a farm settlement village in southwest Nigeria. RESULTS: Plasmodium infection analysis using TaqMan protocol coupled with a nested PCR revealed an infection rate of 8% in An. funestus s.s. from Akaka-Remo. WHO susceptibility tests showed this species has developed multiple resistance to insecticides in the study area. Anopheles funestus s.s. population in Akaka-Remo is highly resistant to organochlorines: dieldrin (8%) and DDT (10%). Resistance was also observed against pyrethroids: permethrin (68%) and deltamethrin (87%), and the carbamate bendiocarb (84%). Mortality rate with DDT slightly increased (from 10 to 30%, n = 45) after PBO pre-exposure indicating that cytochrome P450s play little role in DDT resistance while high mortalities were recorded after PBO pre-exposure with permethrin (from 68 to 100%, n = 70) and dieldrin (from 8 to 100%, n = 48) suggesting the implication of P450s in the observed permethrin and dieldrin resistance. High frequencies of resistant allele, 119F in F0 (77%) and F1 (80% in resistant and 72% in susceptible) populations with an odd ratio of 1.56 (P = 0.1859) show that L119F-GSTe2 mutation is almost fixed in the population. Genotyping of the A296S-RDL mutation in both F0 and F1 samples shows an association with dieldrin resistance with an odd ratio of 81 (P < 0.0001) (allelic frequency (R) = 76% for F0; for F1, 90 and 10% were observed in resistant and susceptible populations, respectively) as this mutation is not yet fixed in the population. CONCLUSION: The study reports multiple insecticide resistance in An. funestus from Akaka Remo. It is, therefore, necessary to pay more attention to this major malaria vector for effective malaria control in Nigeria