The isolation of cDNA clones for human fibrinogen

Imperial Users onl

Nigerian drama in performance as a panacea for nation building: A critical appraisal

No Abstrac

Bridging the Gap Between Theatre Practice and Islamic Studies: An Interdisciplinary Engagement

Theatre is seen as all-encompassing because it delves into every aspect of life as the case may be. On the other hand, Islamic studies deals also, with every aspect of life because it is religious based. To an extent, most Islamic scholars agreed that it a total way of life. But as agreeing as it seems with both disciplines, there exist disparities and misconceptions about theatre and drama by those with religious bigotry. They have misconstrued the discipline of theatre as misleading and misguiding. There is no denying the fact that some persons in any area of study may try to misbehave sometimes, but that may not be concluded as everybody in the particular field of study is wayward. This menace has contributed in painting the theatre discipline black, thus affecting the practice. It is against this backdrop that the study aims at constructing the bridge of understanding between both disciplines, engaging interdisciplinary paradigm. Hence, in order to achieve this, the study adopts the survey approach of quantitative research methodology to investigate how some Muslims have misconstrued theatre and the possible mediation into the challenge. The findings of the study reveal that people, especially Muslims misunderstood theatre because the character and behaviour most people in the discipline portray. The paper thus, concludes that there is need for theatre artists to re-mould the mode of dressing and general behaviour for societal acceptance. Hence, the study recommends that, Islam and Muslims have a very important role in this reconstruction bid between theatre and Islamic studies

Afro-semio-aesthetics as an interpretative tool in contemporary Nigerian drama: John Iwuh’s The village lamb as a paradigm

It has been observed that people; readers and interpreters misjudge Nigerian playtexts. This is because African semiotics and aesthetics have been dominated and influenced by Western theorists and critics who often misconceive African semio-aesthetics in African playtexts. Thus the problem of this study centres on the interpreters’ perceptions of the aesthetic and semiotic sensibilities of African cultures as “primitive” and inferior. Hence, the study aims at evolving African semio-aesthetic approach that will evaluate, judge, and interpret artistic components and compositions from the point of view of the African and his cultural heritage. Objectives of the study include: to examine African foundations of semiotic and aesthetic analyses for interpretation of playtexts. The study adopts content analysis approach of the qualitative research method. The findings reveal that from the African semio-aesthetic standpoint, Nigerian drama are aimed at effective generation and communication of meaning. Hence, the need for evolvement and integration of African theories of interpretation to permit communication and generation of meanings in Nigerian drama. The paper concludes that cultural elements add to the construct and impact of the dramatic products. Hence, African semio-aesthetics should be applied as interpretative tool in studying contemporary Nigerian drama. The study recommends that African semioaesthetics should be key anchor as an interpretative tool in contemporary  Nigerian play texts

Choosing a Better Delay Line Medium between Single-Mode and Multi-Mode Optical Fibers: the Effect of Bending

Optical fiber cables are materials whose core is made of silica and other materials such as chalcogenide glasses; they transmit a digital signal via light pulses through an extremely thin strand of glass. The light propagates and is being guided by the core which is surrounded by the cladding. Light travels in the optical fiber in the form of total internal reflection in the core of the fibers. The flexibility, low tensile strength, low signal loss, high bandwidth and other characteristics of optical fibers favors it for use as a delay medium in many applications. Another favorable characteristic of optical fiber delay lines is are their relative insensitivities to environmental effects and electromagnetic interferences. The immunity of optical fibers to interferences and their less weight added advantages to it for use as delay medium. Single-mode and multi-mode are the two most popular types of optical fibers. Single-mode fibers have good propagation and delay properties with a minimal loss that allows the signal to propagate in a large distance with insignificant distortion or attenuation. The percentage of power transmission of single-mode fibers is found to be higher than that of the multi-mode fibers. It is, therefore, a preferred type for use as a delay line. In this paper, relative studies of the two optical fibers modes, and the results of power input/output measurement of the two modes are presented with a view to coming up with a better type for use as a delay medium

Optimizing Brain Tumor Classification: A Comprehensive Study on Transfer Learning and Imbalance Handling in Deep Learning Models

Deep learning has emerged as a prominent field in recent literature, showcasing the introduction of models that utilize transfer learning to achieve remarkable accuracies in the classification of brain tumor MRI images. However, the majority of these proposals primarily focus on balanced datasets, neglecting the inherent data imbalance present in real-world scenarios. Consequently, there is a pressing need for approaches that not only address the data imbalance but also prioritize precise classification of brain cancer. In this work, we present a novel deep learning-based approach, called Transfer Learning-CNN, for brain tumor classification using MRI data. The proposed model leverages the predictive capabilities of existing publicly available models by utilizing their pre-trained weights and transferring those weights to the CNN. By leveraging a publicly available Brain MRI dataset, the experiment evaluated various transfer learning models for classifying different tumor types, including meningioma, glioma, and pituitary tumors. We investigate the impact of different loss functions, including focal loss, and oversampling methods, such as SMOTE and ADASYN, in addressing the data imbalance issue. Notably, the proposed strategy, which combines VGG-16 and CNN, achieved an impressive accuracy rate of 96%, surpassing alternative approaches significantly.Comment: Our code is available at https://github.com/Razaimam45/AI701-Project-Transfer-Learning-approach-for-imbalance-classification-of-Brain-Tumor-MRI

Islamic Finance and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

Islamic finance is gradually gaining acceptance locally and internationally which Nigeria is not an exception. The emergence of Islamic finance in Nigeria can be traced back to 1991. The main objective of this paper is to assess the contribution of Islamic finance on the growth of the economy of Nigeria as well as its relationship and directions. Time series data from 2012 to 2015 was used on quarterly basis. Islamic banks’ financing credited to private sector through modes of financing was used as a proxy for Islamic finance, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and TRADE as explanatory variable while Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) was used as a measure of real economic growth called the dependent variables. For the analysis, Ordinary Least Square (OLS), the unit root test, cointegration test and Granger Causality tests was used. Our empirical results show that there is a strong positive association between Islamic banks’ financing and economic growth in Nigeria, which reinforces the idea that a well-functioning banking system promotes economic growth. Furthermore, the causal relationship happens only in one direction, i.e, from Islamic banks’ financing to economic growth, which is in compliance with the Schumpeter’s supply-leading theory Keywords: Islamic finance, Economic growth, Causality, Nigeria, Sharia

Decision Making as A Tool for Organisational Development (A Case Study of Borno State High Court of Justice Maiduguri)

Decision making is central activities that avail human with extraordinary skill and cognitive capacity they constantly utilize and which helps both to interact with the surrounding environment and to interpret the situation. The study is to examine the process available in the Borno state high court of justice, with a view to improve decision making process. A sample of 50 respondents was selected randomly for this study. The questionnaires were administered to gather information from the primary source while text books, journals and other related literature works were reviewed. The information collected were analysed using tables and percentage method and data collected also tested using chi-square X2 method as a statistical tools to determine the valuation of the hypothesis formulated. The findings concluded that the effective decision-making can improve the performance of the organisation. Decision taken if properly implemented will improve the organisation. And most of the time decisions are taken by top management and through appropriate ways so that positive result will be produced. It further recommended that the organisational development will be improved. Finally the decisions taken need to be implemented and the leaders in the organisation are advice to evaluate the rules and organisational activities regularly to avoid biasness. To this end decision making is playing a very vital role in the organisational development. Keywords: Decision, Decision-Making, Organisationa Developmen

Political Thuggery as a Blight to Nation Building and Democracy in Nigeria: Appraising the Role of Drama and Playwright

Political thuggery is a form of social violence that has posed a lot of problems to Nigeria. The problem is so much that it threatens the socio-economic and political fabric of the Nigerian society. Thugs are often used, especially during election periods, to intimidate, harass and in some cases kill political opponents. This paper critically examines the underlying factors responsible for thuggery as impediment to nation building and sustainable democratic system. The study is anchored on Frustration – Aggression Theory (FAT). The theory was propounded in an attempt to explain the occurrence of violence and crimes in a society. In their view, human beings have needs, ambitions, or expectations in life that are arranged in their order of priority. The paper revealed that unemployment, inadequate political education, poverty (among the citizenry) and inordinate ambition among the political elites are some of the factors responsible for political thuggery. The paper appraises the content of Alex Asigbo’s The Reign of Pascal Amusu and Tor Iorapuu’s April 1421 adopting the qualitative research methodology. The findings reveal that playwrights and dramatic works have beamed their searchlights on the issues of thuggery as a bane to nation building and sustainable democracy. To this end, the paper concludes that a synergy of efforts by all stake holders in the society can curb the trend if not out rightly eliminating it and recommends among others that both government and non-governmental organization should work hand in hand to provide employment opportunity for the citizens towards peaceful society and sustainable nation building.

Meaning Reconstruction in Some Selected Nigerian Drama: Character Deconstruction as Panacea

Young readers and interpreters often misinterpret and misjudge character construct in Nigerian playtexts. This is because African playwrights especially Nigeria’s have been dominated and influenced by Western playwrights and writers with the styles of character construct in their playtexts. Thus the problem of this study centres on the Euro-American perceptions of character construct on the sensibilities of Nigerian playwrights. Hence, the study aims at evolving means of interpretation of Nigerian playtexts through character deconstruction and other artistic components and compositions from the point of view of the playwrights and interpreters. Objectives of the study include: to examine the object of character construct as foundation for analysis and interpretation. To deconstruct the selected plays through analyses and appraisal of character construct and characterization. The study is hinged on the theoretical premise of Ricoeur’s theory of interpretation that made the researcher’s meaning generation possible. The study adopts content analysis approach of the qualitative research method. The findings reveal that from the African deconstruction standpoint, character construction, reconstruction and deconstruction in Nigerian drama is aimed at effective generation and communication of meaning. The study recommends that character deconstruction should be key anchor for the interpretation of contemporary Nigerian playtexts. The study concludes that cultural elements add to the construct and impart of the dramatic products. Hence, deconstruction should be applied as analytical tool for character deconstruction in contemporary Nigerian drama