Automatic plant pest detection and recognition using k-means clustering algorithm and correspondence filters

Plant pest recognition and detection is vital for food security, quality of life and a stable agricultural economy. This research demonstrates the combination of the k-means clustering algorithm and the correspondence filter to achieve pest detection and recognition. The detection of the dataset is achieved by partitioning the data space into Voronoi cells, which tends to find clusters of comparable spatial extents, thereby separating the objects (pests) from the background (pest habitat). The detection is established by extracting the variant distinctive attributes between the pest and its habitat (leaf, stem) and using the correspondence filter to identify the plant pests to obtain correlation peak values for different datasets. This work further establishes that the recognition probability from the pest image is directly proportional to the height of the output signal and inversely proportional to the viewing angles, which further confirmed that the recognition of plant pests is a function of their position and viewing angle. It is encouraging to note that the correspondence filter can achieve rotational invariance of pests up to angles of 360 degrees, which proves the effectiveness of the algorithm for the detection and recognition of plant pests

Knowledge and Utilization of Traditional Medicines for the Management of Febrile Conditions by Adults in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria

Background: Fever is a rise in body temperature over and above the accepted normal temperature range. Fever is almost always a symptom or sign of an underlying health problem. Traditionally, different societies have devised various ways of treating fever or febrile illnesses. In Africa and most developing countries, people who develop fever usually apply first aid or home remedies before resorting to the formal health care system. This study was therefore aimed at assessing the knowledge and use of traditional medicines for the home management of febrile illness by adults in Bende LGA of Abia State. Method: A cross sectional questionnaire-based descriptive survey design was adopted for the study using a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire. A sample of 388 respondents were recruited using a multi stage sampling technique. Data generated were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS version 20). Literature were reviewed based on the various variables of the study. Results: The findings of the study revealed that over 91% of respondents have good knowledge on febrile illness. The study also revealed a high proportion of use of traditional medicine with 154 (53.7%) using traditional medicine for the treatment of they consider as malaria. The study also showed that culture, religion, level of education, perceived effectiveness of herbal medicines, and personal interest were the major factors responsible for the utilization of traditional medicine. Majority 229(58.9%) of the respondents however affirmed that personal interest was the dominant reason for their use of traditional herbs in the home management of febrile illness. Conclusions /Recommendations:  The findings of the study revealed the respondents in the study area exhibited a high prevalence of the use of herbal medicines in management of febrile illness at homes and that culture, religion, level of education, and personal interest were the key determinant factors responsible for the utilization of traditional medicine.  While the herbal plants enumerated by the respondents were found to be largely beneficial in managing the acute febrile episodes, unregulated use of these home remedies could equally be dangerous to human health. It is therefore pertinent that appropriate measures be put in place to enlighten community members about the possible side effect of the long term unregulated use of the herbal plants

Determinants and Differentials of Maternal Reproductive Health Outcomes in Nigeria: A Review of National Demographic Health Survey Data from 1999 to 2013

Women in Sub-Saharan Africa face significant clinical and socio-demographic challenges that translate to poor health outcomes including high maternal morbidity and mortality. Nigeria being the most populous nation in Africa bears a significant burden of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. This study aimed to determine the trends and differentials in indices fuelling poor health outcomes in Nigeria. The study was a review and trend analysis of maternal reproductive health indicators obtained from the Nigeria National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) data from 1990 to 2013 including secondary data from WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank. The life expectancy at birth was 54.5 years with an estimated infant mortality rate of 75 per 1000 live births, child mortality rate of 88 per 1,000 live births, under-5 mortality rate of 157 per 1,000 live births and a maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 545 per 100,000 live births. Contraceptive prevalence was 22% among women in the wealthiest quintile and 3% among those in the poorest quintile.  Only 3% of women with no education used modern contraception as compared to 24% of women with tertiary education. Most of the maternal deaths were due to preventable causes which were largely related to poverty, inimical socio-cultural beliefs and practices as well as clinical factors like haemorrage, hypertension, and indirect causes like inadequate human resource for health, user charges, cultural pregnancy/childbirth beliefs and myths. A community-based participatory research using both qualitative and quantitative methods may shed more light on the non-clinical factors fueling high MMR in Nigeria. Keywords: Maternal and Child Health, maternal mortality, contraceptio

Structural origins of voltage mysteresis in the Na-Ion cathode P2-Na0.67[Mg0.28Mn0.72]O2 : A combined spectroscopic and density functional theory study

Funding Information: E.N.B. acknowledges funding from the Engineering Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) via the National Productivity Interest Fund (NPIF) 2018 and is also grateful for use of the ARCHER UK National Supercomputing Service via our membership in the UK’s HEC Materials Chemistry Consortium, funded by the EPSRC (EP/L000202). Research was also carried out at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, through the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Contract DE-AC02-98CH10866. P.J.R. thanks the Northeast Centre for Chemical Energy Storage (NECCES), an Energy Frontier Research Centre funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, award DE-SC0012583. M.A.J. is grateful for the financial support of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Award EP/L015978/1. J.L. was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MEST) (no. 2019R1A6A1A10073437). E.N.B. also wishes to thank Dr M.F. Groh for assistance with setting up capillary XRD measurements. Publisher Copyright: ©Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Academic Stress and Parental Pressure as Predictors of Psychological Health in Covid-19 Emergency Times among School Children with Intellectual Disabilities in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State, Nigeria: The Implication for Counseling

Background: Academic stress and parental pressure have been shown to be important factors associated with psychological health. However, the internal mechanism between them is still not clear. Aim: This study assessed the joint significant influence of the predictor variables (academic stress and parental pressure) as predictors of psychological health in COVID-19 emergency times among school children with disabilities in Calabar metropolis, Cross River State, Nigeria: The implication for counseling. One study objective was stated, and one statement of hypothesis was posed. A literature review was carried out based on the variable under study. Method: The research design that was adopted in this study is correlational research design. A simple random sampling technique was adopted to select the 234 respondents sampled for the study from a population of 2,344. A validated 35-item four-point modified Likert scale questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The face and content validity of the instrument was established by experts in Test and Measurement. The reliability estimates 0.89 of the instruments were established using the Cronbach Alpha method. A multiple Linear regression statistical tool was used to test the hypotheses formulated for the study. The hypothesis was tested at a 0.05 level of significance. Results: The results obtained from the data analysis revealed that there is a joint significant influence of the predictor variables (academic stress and parental pressure) on psychological health in COVID-19 emergency times among school children with learning disabilities. Conclusion: Sometimes, stress and pressure can be motivating at the mild stage. However, at the severe stage, it could lead to frustration, social pressure, family workload, and cognitive overload, which in turn influences an individual to use and abuse substances in order to escape from unpleasant feelings of life situations. It was recommended that Parents should advise students on how to perform well academically rather than setting standards that may put so much pressure on students, which may have a negative impact on the psychological health of the students

Hugs and behaviour points: alternative education and the regulation of 'excluded' youth

In England, alternative education (AE) is offered to young people formally excluded from school, close to formal exclusion or who have been informally pushed to the educational edges of their local school. Their behaviour is seen as needing to change. In this paper, we examine the behavioural regimes at work in 11 AE programmes. Contrary to previous studies and the extensive ‘best practice’ literature, we found a return to highly behaviourist routines, with talking therapeutic approaches largely operating within this Skinnerian frame. We also saw young people offered a curriculum largely devoid of languages, humanities and social sciences. What was crucial to AE providers, we argue, was that they could demonstrate 'progress' in both learning and behaviour to inspectors and systems. Mobilising insights from Foucault, we note the congruence between the external regimes of reward and punishment used in AE and the kinds of insecure work and carceral futures that might be on offer to this group of young people

Comparison of performance-based measures among native Japanese, Japanese-Americans in Hawaii and Caucasian women in the United States, ages 65 years and over: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Japanese (both in Japan and Hawaii) have a lower incidence of falls and of hip fracture than North American and European Caucasians, but the reasons for these differences are not clear. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study. We compared neuromuscular risk factors for falls using performance-based measures (chair stand time, usual and rapid walking speed, and grip strength) among 163 Japanese women in Japan, 681 Japanese-American women in Hawaii and 9403 Caucasian women in the United States aged 65 years and over. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, the Caucasian women required about 40% more time to complete 5 chair stands than either group of Japanese. Walking speed was about 10% slower among Caucasians than native Japanese, whereas Japanese-American women in Hawaii walked about 11% faster than native Japanese. Grip strength was greatest in Japan, which may reflect the rural farming district that this sample was drawn from. Additional adjustment for height, weight or body mass index increased the adjusted means of chair stand time and grip strength among Japanese, but the differences remained significant. CONCLUSIONS: Both native Japanese and Japanese-American women in Hawaii performed better than Caucasians on chair stand time and walking speed tests, and native Japanese had greater grip strength than Japanese in Hawaii and Caucasians. The biological implications of these differences in performance are uncertain, but may be useful in planning future comparisons between populations

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

IBPP Research Associates: Nigeria

This (untitled) article was originally published in The Post-Express-Wired in Lagos, Nigeria, and it was written by Philip Nwosu, Lagos, and Bassey Inyang, Kano. It discusses sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. The article has not be included for download because copyright permissions could not be obtained