Riskscapes and Sexscapes: the Socio-Spatial Dialectics of Brothels in Ogbomoso, Nigeria

The state of anomie in cities has induced several sociological problems that are place and space specific. Against this background, the study assesses the socio-environmental effects of brothels in Ogbomoso, Nigeria. The study identifies the social and environmental characteristics of brothels, evaluate the behavioral attitudes of residents in the selected neighborhoods including morals, culture, norms, values, etc, and assess relationships between existence of brothels and the moral/ behavioral attitudes of residents in their neighborhood. Both the primary and secondary data were used. A structured questionnaire was administered to 67 respondents, pro-rata at the ratio of 17:17:33, in the three zones at each of the seven brothel areas. The study thus used a multi-stage sampling procedure. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Chi-square and ANOVA were used to explain the difference in the characteristics of resident between and among the zones on the one hand and among the brothel areas on the other. Linear regression analysis was used to explain the relationship between environmental characteristics and social behavior of the residents. The study observed that there is a reliable relationship (R = .973) between the location of brothels and socially unacceptable behavior among residents. This observation do not differ significantly among the brothel areas but among the zones; indicating the distances from brothels. The study thus recommends an aggressive planning that incorporates sociological considerations in the ordering of the use of land. Keywords: Riskscapes, Sexscapes, Brothels, Environmental Characteristics, Social Behavio

The Comparative Economics of Knowledge Economy in Africa: Policy Benchmarks, Syndromes and Implications

The paper complements the scarce literature on knowledge economy (KE) in Africa by comparing KE dynamics within Africa in order to assess best and worst performers based on fundamental characteristics of the continent’s development. The five dimensions of the World Bank’s knowledge economy index (KEI) are employed, notably: education, information and communication technology, innovation and, economic incentives and institutional regime. The empirical evidence is based on a five-step novel approach with data from 53 African countries for the period 1996-2010. Limitations of the beta catch-up approach are complemented with the sigma convergence strategy. Based on the determined fundamental characteristics, computed dynamic benchmarks, policy syndromes and syndrome free scenarios we establish that: Landlocked, Low-income, Conflict-affected, sub-Saharan African, Non-oil-exporting and French civil law countries are generally more predisposed to lower levels of KE whereas; English common-law, Notlandlocked, Conflict-free, North African and middle-income countries are characteristics that predispose certain nations to higher KE. Broad and specific policy implications are discussed in detail

Who is Who in Knowledge Economy in Africa?

This study assesses the knowledge economy (KE) performance of lagging African countries vis-à-vis their frontier counterparts with regard to the four dimensions of the World Bank’s knowledge economy index (KEI). The empirical exercise is for the period 1996-2010. It consists of first establishing leading nations before suggesting policy initiatives that can be implemented by sampled countries depending on identified gaps that are provided with the sigma convergence estimation approach. The following are established frontier knowledge economy countries. (i) For the most part, North African countries are dominant in education. Tunisia is overwhelmingly dominant in 11 of the 15 years, followed by Libya which is a frontier country in two years while Cape Verde and Egypt lead in a single year each. (ii) With the exception of Morocco that is leading in the year 2009, Seychelles is overwhelmingly dominant in ICT. (iii) South Africa also indomitably leads in terms of innovation. (iv) While Botswana and Mauritius share dominance in institutional regime, economic incentives in terms of private domestic credit are most apparent in Angola (8 years), the Democratic Republic of Congo (3 years) and Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Malawi (each leading in one year)

Structure Prediction, Molecular Docking, and Dynamic Simulation of AP2-I Transcription Factor

Plasmodium falciparum Apicomplexan Apetala 2 Invasion ( Pf AP2-I) transcription factor (TF) is a protein that regulates the expression of a subset of gene families involved in P. falciparum red blood cell (RBC) invasion. Inhibiting Pf AP2-I TF with small molecules represents a potential new antimalarial therapeutic target to combat drug resistance, which this study aims to achieve. The 3D model structure of Pf AP2-I was predicted ab initio using ROBETTA prediction tool and was validated using Save server 6.0 and MolProbity. Computed Atlas of Surface Topography of proteins (CASTp) 3.0 was used to predict the active sites of the Pf AP2-I modeled structure. Pharmacophore modeling of the control ligand and Pf AP2-I modeled structure was carried out using the Pharmit server to obtain several compounds used for molecular docking analysis. Molecular docking and postdocking studies were conducted using AutoDock vina and Discovery studio. The designed ligands’ toxicity predictions and in silico drug-likeness were performed using the SwissADME predictor and OSIRIS Property Explorer. The modeled protein structure from the ROBETTA showed a validation result of 96.827 for ERRAT, 90.2% of the amino acid residues in the most favored region for the Ramachandran plot, and MolProbity score of 1.30 in the 98th percentile. Five (5) best hit compounds from molecular docking analysis were selected based on their binding affinity (between −8.9 and −11.7 Kcal/mol) to the active site of Pf AP2-I and were considered for postdocking studies. For the absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicity (ADMET) properties, compound MCULE-7146940834 had the highest drug score (0.63) and drug-likeness (6.76). MCULE-7146940834 maintained a stable conformation within the flexible protein’s active site during simulation. The good, estimated binding energies, drug-likeness, drug score, and molecular dynamics simulation interaction observed for MCULE-7146940834 against Pf AP2-I show that MCULE-7146940834 can be considered a lead candidate for Pf AP2-I inhibition. Experimental validations should be carried out to ascertain the efficacy of these predicted best hit compounds