Motivation as an Elixir to Participatory Pedagogy for Academic Success in Schools: Implications for the Nigerian School System

Motivation is a significant tool in educational systems all over the globe. The success or failure of pedagogy may be adduced to teachers and the way they motivate their students to learn. A student may know what and how to study, and may realise that studying is important, yet she may not study because he lacks the motivation or drive to self- regulate him/her. This study, therefore, brings out how the teacher can motivate his students so that they can effectively learn. The concept of participatory pedagogy, the relativity of motivation to students’ performance, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and its effects in classroom instruction, some motivational theories and their relationship to learning, teachers’ role in motivating students to learn and the implication for the Nigerian school system were investigated. The essence of the study was to point out the relevance of motivation and how it works in the school pedagogy. Motivation influences an individual's behaviour to and performance in a task. Motivation directs behaviour towards a particular goal, makes students enthusiastic about a task and also fosters their persistence in classroom activities. A well-motivated student may find learning interesting so much so as to prevent academic and emotional problems from arising, and increase their performance.Key words: Intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, academic success, learning improvemen

Malocclusion and occlusal traits among orthodontic patients seen at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and trend of malocclusion and occlusal traits among orthodontic patients in Benin City. Method: One hundred and thirty one patients, consisting of 71 females (54.2%) and 60 males (45.8%) aged 5 - 44 years (mean 17.9 ± 7.5 years) who presented for orthodontic treatment at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital Dental Centre were assessed for sagittal molar occlusion, overjet, overbite, crossbite, open bite, crowding, spacing, median diastema, midline shift, malformed and supernumerary teeth, displaced, unerupted and impacted teeth. Statistical gender differences in the occlusal traits were evaluated with the chi-square test. Result: The results revealed high prevalence of Angle\u27s class I malocclusion (71.8%), while 9.9% of the subjects had Angle\u27s Class II division 1, 7.6% had Angle\u27s Class II division 2 and 10.7% had Angle\u27s class III malocclusion. An increased overjet greater than 3.5mm was observed in 43% while increased overbite was observed in 25.2%. Anterior open bite was seen in 8.4% while 21.4% and 12.2% had anterior and posterior crossbites respectively. Midline shift was present in 29.8%, crowding of both upper and lower anterior segments was observed in 47.3%, spacing in the upper and lower anterior segments was present in 22.1%, and midline diastema was observed in 21.4%. No statistically significant gender differences were observed for any of the occlusal variables evaluated (P>0.05). Conclusion: This study revealed high prevalence of class I malocclusion, increased overjet and crowding among the orthodontic patients seen in Benin City, Nigeria

Assessment of the Effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (Glomus clarum) and Pigeon Pea Hedgerow on the Yield of Maize and Soil Properties in Degraded Ultisols

The use of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Glomus clarum) in ecological restoration enables its host plant to be established in degraded soil. Two years field experiment was conducted at  Ekpoma, Nigeria to assessed the effects of Glomus clarum and pigeon pea hedgerow on soil properties, yield of maize and nitrogen fixation. A factorial experiment set up in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicates. Soil was analysed for both chemical and physical properties before planting and after harvest. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at p = 0.05. Mycorrhizal pigeon pea hedgerow significantly (p< 0.05) increased the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium content of the soil.  Maize cultivated with the inclusion of mycorrhiza with or without pigeon pea hedgerow was higher in growth compared to non mycorrhizal maize. Inclusion of mycorrhiza to hedgerow significantly increased the grain yield of maize which was 2,040 kg / ha compared to control with an average yield of 1,406.8 kg/ha. The grain yield of mycorrhizal hedgerow was increased by 48 % compared to non-mycorrhizal pigeon pea. Inoculation of mycorrhiza to sole pigeon pea and maize had significant higher grain yield of 2,581.4 kg / ha and 2,349.2 kg / ha respectively in the residual experiment. The residual effect of Glomus clarum on maize and pigeon pea hedgerow significantly (p < 0.05) increased their grain yield by 41 % and 56 % respectively compared to the control. Also, inclusion of Glomus clarum significantly increased the nitrogen fixation of hedgerow pigeon pea compared to the hedgerow without Glomus clarum. The results showed the beneficial contribution of mycorrhiza and pigeon pea hedgerow on the growth and yield of maize as well as the  nutrient content of the soil. Keywords: Glomus clarum, hedgerow, maize, soil properties, degraded soi

Treatment of Waste-Water from Pharmaceutics Industry Using Native Clay

Waste – water from pharmaceutical plant was collected using composite sampling. This was characterized and treated using native clay samples collected from selected clay deposits in Edo State of Nigeria. The aim was to find out the effectiveness of clay as coagulant in waste water treatment processes. The results of the parameters studied before and after treatment, show significant reduction. For the koalinite clay, color, Total Solid (TS), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Total Kjedahl Nitrogen, Phenol and Total Hydrocarbon Count (THC) show percentage reduction of 49.51, 51.89, 73.82, 72.81, 59.24, 82.19 and 33.85 respectively. The mixed clay sample shows percentage reduction of color (35.64), TS (50.57), COD (57.86), BOD (70.70, phenol (80.22) and THC (19.46). Results from this study show that clay material can effectively be used as adsorbent as all the heavy metals were reduced to Below Detectable Level (BDL). Keywords: Pharmaceutical, waste-water, adsorbent, reduction, composite, native, clay, below detectable level.

Pharmaceutical Industry Wastewater Treatment Using Organic Surfactant Modified Clay

This study was carried out to find out how effective and efficient clay, modified with hexadecyltrimethylammonuim (HDTMA) can be as adsorbent, to reduced various contaminants in wastewater. Waste-water was collected from pharmaceutical industry using composite sampling. The result of both untreated and treated wastewater recorded. These were converted to percentage reduction. The results show percentage reduction of color (88.12%), total solid (61.60%), COD (87.47%), BOD (79.59%) and TKN (70.89%). While phenol, THC and level of heavy metals reduced to below detectable level (BDL). Hence, surfactant modified clay can serve as effective and efficient adsorbent to sorb both organic and inorganic contaminants from wastewater and act as vital material in environment treatment processes. Keywords: Modified, hexadecyltrimethylaammonium bromide, surfactant adsorbent, contaminan

Seasonal variation in the bacteriological quality of Ebutte river in ehor community EDO state, Nigeria

ABSTRACT The bacteriological quality of Ebutte River in Ehor Community was carried out to ascertain the variation in the quality of the river between August 2010 and January 2011.The bacteriological assessment was studied using the basic microbiological techniques. The bacterial counts were shown to be highest in the inhabited point (3) with downstream (points 4 and 5) showing dilution effects of human activities and upstream (point 1 and 2) showing lower counts due to absence of human activities. Bacterial counts were higher than the acceptable limit of the WHO standards

Towards ‘Onlife’ Education. How Technology is Forcing Us to Rethink Pedagogy

[EN] The objective of this chapter is twofold: on the one hand, to provide an explanation for the need we have today to rethink pedagogy based on new realities and the scenarios in which we live, also in education, generated by the technology of our time and, on the other hand, to point out the direction in which we can find a path that leads us to that reflection in the face of the inevitable convergence between technology and pedagogy in which we are today

A pilot study of a non-invasive oral nitrate stable isotopic method suggests that arginine and citrulline supplementation increases whole-body NO production in Tanzanian children with sickle cell disease.

BACKGROUND: Low bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) is implicated in the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease (SCD). We designed a nested pilot study to be conducted within a clinical trial testing the effects of a daily ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF) fortified with arginine (Arg) and citrulline (Citr) vs. non-fortified RUSF in children with SCD. The pilot study evaluated 1) the feasibility of a non-invasive stable isotope method to measure whole-body NO production and 2) whether Arg+Citr supplementation was associated with increased whole-body NO production. SUBJECTS: Twenty-nine children (70% male, 9-11years, weight 16.3-31.3 kg) with SCD. METHODS: Sixteen children received RUSF+Arg/Citr (Arg, 0.2  g/kg/day; Citr, 0.1  g/kg/day) in combination with daily chloroquine (50 mg) and thirteen received the base RUSF in combination with weekly chloroquine (150 mg). Plasma amino acids were assessed using ion-exchange elution (Biochrom-30, Biochrom, UK) and whole-body NO production was measured using a non-invasive stable isotopic method. RESULTS: The RUSF+Arg/Citr intervention increased plasma arginine (P = .02) and ornithine (P = .003) and decreased the ratio of asymmetric dimethylarginine to arginine (P = .01), compared to the base RUSF. A significant increase in whole-body NO production was observed in the RUSF-Arg/Citr group compared to baseline (weight-adjusted systemic NO synthesis 3.38 ± 2.29 μmol/kg/hr vs 2.35 ± 1.13 μmol/kg/hr, P = .04). No significant changes were detected in the base RUSF group (weight-adjusted systemic NO synthesis 2.64 ± 1.14 μmol/kg/hr vs 2.53 ± 1.12 μmol/kg/hr, P = .80). CONCLUSIONS: The non-invasive stable isotopic method was acceptable and the results provided supporting evidence that Arg/Citr supplementation may increase systemic NO synthesis in children with SCD

Use of multidimensional item response theory methods for dementia prevalence prediction: an example using the Health and Retirement Survey and the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study

Background: Data sparsity is a major limitation to estimating national and global dementia burden. Surveys with full diagnostic evaluations of dementia prevalence are prohibitively resource-intensive in many settings. However, validation samples from nationally representative surveys allow for the development of algorithms for the prediction of dementia prevalence nationally. Methods: Using cognitive testing data and data on functional limitations from Wave A (2001–2003) of the ADAMS study (n = 744) and the 2000 wave of the HRS study (n = 6358) we estimated a two-dimensional item response theory model to calculate cognition and function scores for all individuals over 70. Based on diagnostic information from the formal clinical adjudication in ADAMS, we fit a logistic regression model for the classification of dementia status using cognition and function scores and applied this algorithm to the full HRS sample to calculate dementia prevalence by age and sex. Results: Our algorithm had a cross-validated predictive accuracy of 88% (86–90), and an area under the curve of 0.97 (0.97–0.98) in ADAMS. Prevalence was higher in females than males and increased over age, with a prevalence of 4% (3–4) in individuals 70–79, 11% (9–12) in individuals 80–89 years old, and 28% (22–35) in those 90 and older. Conclusions: Our model had similar or better accuracy as compared to previously reviewed algorithms for the prediction of dementia prevalence in HRS, while utilizing more flexible methods. These methods could be more easily generalized and utilized to estimate dementia prevalence in other national surveys

Use of multidimensional item response theory methods for dementia prevalence prediction : an example using the Health and Retirement Survey and the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study

Background Data sparsity is a major limitation to estimating national and global dementia burden. Surveys with full diagnostic evaluations of dementia prevalence are prohibitively resource-intensive in many settings. However, validation samples from nationally representative surveys allow for the development of algorithms for the prediction of dementia prevalence nationally. Methods Using cognitive testing data and data on functional limitations from Wave A (2001-2003) of the ADAMS study (n = 744) and the 2000 wave of the HRS study (n = 6358) we estimated a two-dimensional item response theory model to calculate cognition and function scores for all individuals over 70. Based on diagnostic information from the formal clinical adjudication in ADAMS, we fit a logistic regression model for the classification of dementia status using cognition and function scores and applied this algorithm to the full HRS sample to calculate dementia prevalence by age and sex. Results Our algorithm had a cross-validated predictive accuracy of 88% (86-90), and an area under the curve of 0.97 (0.97-0.98) in ADAMS. Prevalence was higher in females than males and increased over age, with a prevalence of 4% (3-4) in individuals 70-79, 11% (9-12) in individuals 80-89 years old, and 28% (22-35) in those 90 and older. Conclusions Our model had similar or better accuracy as compared to previously reviewed algorithms for the prediction of dementia prevalence in HRS, while utilizing more flexible methods. These methods could be more easily generalized and utilized to estimate dementia prevalence in other national surveys