Overcrowding, Age and Gender Differences in the Manifestation of state Anxiety among Undergraduate Students in a Nigerian Public University

Most students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria have a hard time procuring adequate accommodation. Hence, they are usually left with the option of having to share a room with many people resulting inover-crowded hostels. This study sought to examine the effect of over-crowding, age and gender on the state anxiety levels of undergraduates in a Nigerian public university. 192 participants were selected from male and female students residing in the hostels and off-campus with age range of 16 – 30 (mean age = 22.80; SD = 2.70). Average person per room was used to determine how crowded the room was and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory form Y – 1 (STAI – Y1) was administered on the participants. A three-way ANOVA showed a non significant interaction effect between overcrowding, age and gender on the manifestation of anxiety among university undergraduates, F(2, 180) = 2.22, p = 0.11. The result also revealed a significant main effect of gender on the manifestation of state anxiety among undergraduates, F(1, 180) = 18.212, p = 0.00, where males manifested more anxiety than female undergraduates. There was also a significant interaction effect of overcrowding and gender F(1, 180) = 5.67, p = 0.02. It was concluded that university undergraduates should be provided with adequate accommodation in higher institutions they attend in order to reduce overcrowding and state anxiety among undergraduates

The Impact of Globalization on the African Culture in Helon Habila’s Measuring Time

Globalization is a phenomenon of the postmodern era which accommodates the shrinking of the world into a small functional community. As a result of this, geographical distance and socio-cultural divergence are no longer constraints to aggregating the entire human race into one global family. The term is used to describe transnational relationships, engagements, cooperation and the sharing of human, material and ideological resources across regions. Discourse on the subject has becomeso relevant across previously unrelated fields that their definitions have now converged on a consensus theoretical concept understood as “universal homogeneity.” The primary material, Helon Habila’s novel, Measuring Time is studied in the context of globalization and hybridity of cultures. The paper asserts that no human community should be isolated from the dynamic engagements of the wider society. This paper avers that globalization should not be advanced as an imposition of foreign cultural values; rather it should be seen as a practice that reflects mutually beneficial contact amongst people of divergent cultures. In the current dispensation, the cultural consumption and uncritical assimilation of Western values by African colonized people do not reflect the underlying objective of Globalization. This paper projected the need for a revision of the concept and to promote a symbiosis of unions where ideological, material and human capital flow across cultures in such a manner that all the actors in the ‘shrinking’ borderless world are mutual beneficiaries

Effect of various management strategies and garlic granules on haematological status of broilers in the tropics

A total of Ninety (90) day old broiler birds were assigned to five (5) treatments, using the Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The five treatments were;  Treatment A (No drugs, No vaccines, No garlic; Control), Treatment B (Drugs + Vaccines + Garlic), Treatment C (Drugs + Vaccines), Treatment D (Garlic + Vaccines), Treatment E (Garlic only). The garlic granules were added to the daily ration at the rate of 100g/ kg of feed. Each treatment was replicated thrice (3 times) and comprised of 6 birds per replicate. The trial lasted for 8 weeks. At the end of the experiment, one bird (1) per replicate was randomly selected for collection of blood samples for the different haematological parameters. The data obtained were analyzed statistically, using the ANOVA while significant differences were separated with the Duncan Multiple Range Test. The result obtained showed that there were significant differences (P< 0.05) in almost all the parameters studied except in red blood cells (RBC) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC). The significant differences were however within the normal range for each parameter as  specified for poultry except in MCV and MCH. It was obvious from this study that the broilers in the control treatment performed better in almost all the parameters studied compared to the other treatments.Key words: Garlic, Haematological status, Broilers and tropics

Mode-of-Action-Guided, Molecular Modeling-Based Toxicity Prediction: A Novel Approach for \u3ci\u3eIn Silico\u3c/i\u3e Predictive Toxicology

Computational toxicology is a sub-discipline of toxicology concerned with the development and use of computer-based models and methodology to understand and predict chemical toxicity in a biological system (e.g., cells and organisms). Quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) has been the predominant approach in computational toxicology. However, classical QSAR methodology has often suffered from low prediction accuracy, largely owing to the lack or non-integration of toxicological mechanisms. To address this lingering problem, we have developed a novel in silico toxicology approach that is based on molecular modeling and guided by mode of action (MoA). Our approach is implemented through a target-specific toxicity knowledgebase (TsTKb), consisting of a pre-categorized database of chemical MoA (ChemMoA) and a series of pre-built, category-specific classification and quantification models. ChemMoA serves as the depository of chemicals with known MoAs or molecular initiating events (i.e., known target biomacromolecules) and quantitative information for measured toxicity endpoints (if available). The models allow a user to qualitatively classify an uncharacterized chemical by MoA and quantitatively predict its toxicity potency. This approach is currently under development and will evolve to incorporate physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling to address absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) processes in a biological system. The fully developed approach is believed to significantly advance in silico -based predictive toxicology and provide a new powerful toolbox for regulators, the chemical industry and the relevant academic communities

Genetic Association Study Of Exfoliation Syndrome Identifies A Protective Rare Variant At Loxl1 And Five New Susceptibility Loci

Exfoliation syndrome (XFS) is the most common known risk factor for secondary glaucoma and a major cause of blindness worldwide. Variants in two genes, LOXL1 and CACNA1A, have previously been associated with XFS. To further elucidate the genetic basis of XFS, we collected a global sample of XFS cases to refine the association at LOXL1, which previously showed inconsistent results across populations, and to identify new variants associated with XFS. We identified a rare protective allele at LOXL1 (p.Phe407, odds ratio (OR) = 25, P = 2.9 x 10(-14)) through deep resequencing of XFS cases and controls from nine countries. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) of XFS cases and controls from 24 countries followed by replication in 18 countries identified seven genome-wide significant loci (P < 5 x 10(-8)). We identified association signals at 13q12 (POMP), 11q23.3 (TMEM136), 6p21 (AGPAT1), 3p24 (RBMS3) and 5q23 (near SEMA6A). These findings provide biological insights into the pathology of XFS and highlight a potential role for naturally occurring rare LOXL1 variants in disease biology.Wo