Pathways to the Native Storyteller: a method to enable computational story understanding

The primary objective of this thesis is to develop a method that uses machine learning algorithms to enable computational story understanding. This research is conducted with the aim of establishing a system called the Native Storyteller that plans and creates storytelling experiences for human users. The paper first establishes the desired capabilities of the system and then deep dives into how to enable story understanding, which is the core ability the system needs to function. As such, the research places emphasis on natural language processing and its application to solving key problems in this context. Namely, machine representation of story data in a way that adequately respects the contextual information in the story; and, identification of relationships between multiple stories based on this contextual knowledge. To do this, the BookNLP pipeline is used as a backbone for extracting structured data from textual stories sourced from My Book of Bible Stories. The core contribution of this work is the application of extensions beyond the BookNLP pipeline through NLP algorithms and ELMo neural language embeddings to create features that represent the system’s computational understanding of its stories, both at a plot and character-level

A SURVEY OF VETERINARY DRUGS IN USE IN FISH FARMS IN ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE. NIGERIA

A cross-sectional study was conducted to characterize fish farmers in Ogun State with respect to their use of veterinary drugs and awareness of adverse effects these drugs have on human. A semi structured questionnaire was used to gather relevant data from 80 fish farmers in Abeokuta. The findings indicated that fish farmers in the study area were mostly males, married and well educated. Most of them obtain primary source of income from fish farming. Despite the fact that both skilled (41.25%) and unskilled (58.75%) labourers were employed on the farms, family members were also involved in the production. 21.25% used pelmendazole, 10.0% used melbendazole, while 26.0% used ivermectin as their anthelminthics. 78.75% used oxytetracycline, 37.5% used penicillin, while 40% used sulfadimidine as their antibiotics. 67.5% used ovaprim®  while 42.5% used ovatide® as hormones to boost their fish production. 76.25% of the fish farmers do not involve veterinarians in the production, whilst 48.75% of the farmers are not aware of adverse effect of veterinary drug residue in human. The results are discussed in view of the need for more involvement of veterinarians in fish production to ensure the adoption of global standards, thus guaranteeing improved food safety and sustainability in fish production.     &nbsp

Reversible reaction of 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate) with the CysF9[93]β sulfhydryl groups of the hemoglobins of the domestic cat: Variation of the equilibrium and reverse rate constants with pH

We have determined for the first time the equilibrium constant, Keq, for the reaction of Ellman's reagent, 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate), with the CysF9[93]β sulfhydryl groups of the hemoglobins of the domestic cat. In the pH range 5.6 to 9.0 Kequ varies over four orders of magnitude — between ca 10 and 10−3 — for all hemoglobin derivatives. Using these Kequ values and published data on the dependence of the apparent second order forward rate constant, kf, on pH we have calculated the apparent second order reverse rate constant, kr, as a function of pH. This parameter increases strongly with pH, particularly above pH 7.5. Quantitative analyses of the pH dependence profiles of log10kr indicate that the reverse reaction is coupled to the ionization of two groups on the protein with pKas of 7.2±0.2 and 9.4±0.1 in the major hemoglobin and 6.7±0.3 and 8.4±0.1 in the minor hemoglobin. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Analysis of genetic linkage in the cowpea vigna unguiculata

Genetic analysis of 12 loci conditioning morphological characteristics indicated several linkages in cowpea Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp). Using both backcross and F2 joint segregation data, these 12 loci were assigned to five linkage groups. The loci Pg for nodal pigmentation, Pf for purple flower, Pc for smooth seed coat, Na for narrow eye, and Br for brown seed coat make up linkage group 1 with the probable order Pg-Na-BrP-cPf The Bpd locus for branching peduncle was linked to Bp for brown dry pod and Dhp for pod dehiscence with the probable order Bpd-Bp-Dhp. The third linkage group consisted of loci Crl for crinkled leaf and Pt for sessile leaf Hastate leaf shape, Ha, and septafoliolate leaf number, Spt, belong to the fourth and fifth linkage groups, respectively

SITUATION OF RABIES IN A SOUTHWESTERN STATE OF NIGERIA: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY (1997-2007)

Retrospective data from 1997 – 2007 on reported cases of rabies in human and animals as well as antirabies vaccination were collected from medical records and epidemiological sections of the various veterinary and human hospitals in the four socio-cultural zones of Ogun State. Suspected cases of rabies were reported in animals with 8 (88.90%) in dogs and 1(11.10%) in goat.  The study revealed that most cases occurred in the rainy season with August having the highest number of cases (38.3%). Similarly, 12 cases were reported in humans with 8(66.7%) males and 4(33.3%) in females.  Children between the ages 0-12 years accounted for 75% of all reported human rabies cases while 25% occurred in Adults.  Dogs were the only species implicated in these cases resulting into 100% mortality.  Routine antirabies vaccinations were conducted for 4,781 dogs and highest exposure was recorded for Egba Zone (62.85%) and lowest for the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Abeokuta (1.05%).  In conclusion, accurate record keeping on rabies cases in Animals and Humans as well as vaccination exposure are hereby recommend in order to give the true picture of  rabies in Nigeria.  Also mass vaccinations, control of stray dogs, public education on rabies and government subsidies on cost of vaccination are also recommended. &nbsp

Relationship Marketing and Customer Satisfaction: a Conceptual Perspective

This article examined the existing body of literature on transaction and relationship marketing. The specific objectives were to develop a conceptual framework to establish the relationship between relationship marketing and customer satisfaction and to examine the components of relationship marketing on the present ever dynamic world of business. The study identified relationship marketing variables and their impact on customer satisfaction. The framework aimed to provide insights into the studies on relationship marketing factors such as trust, commitment, communication, and service quality influence on customer satisfaction. The model provided a basis for empirical studies on the factors of relationship marketing and outcomes of customer satisfaction in developing nations. The study recommends that relationship marketing dimensions such as building customer\u27s trust, commitment to customers, communication, and service quality should be properly managed and maintained by service providers in Nigeria. This helps in building customer satisfaction and in the long-run customer loyalty

Effective Managerial Succession: A Catalyst to Efficient Organizational Performance

The concept organization performance as well as executive succession has become a vital area of organizational study if success is to be considered as the primary objective of any organization, be it profit or non-profit. Changes in top management teams of many organizations are becoming more frequent in modem times due to the need for better organizational performance, mergers, acquisitions and strategic re-engineering. The objectives of this paper among others are to: (i) establish whether managerial succession has effect on organizational performance; (ii) Determine whether internal managerial succession will be more influential than an external succession .. The paper adopts a survey method with two hypotheses stated in null form. Data obtained from questionnaires distributed were analyzed and these were tested with the aid of ANOVAL test statistics. The paper believes that chief executives and top management teams of organizations are the chief architects and planners of human resources and hence must contribute immensely to the overall success of their organizations. The paper is recommends that there should be a comprehensive succession plan or policy on ground, which must be implemented objectively. It also believes that management succession should strictly be by merit and that it is only those that have what it takes to uphold the organization's vision and mission that should hold managerial positions