Turkey: Emergence of a Regional Power and a Strategic U.S. Partner

Positioned in a dynamic part of the world, Turkey is notable for its unique identity which connects Europe and Asia and in many ways conflates the heritage and culture of the East with the modernity of the West. This unique identity has translated into a distinctive role for Turkey characterized by burgeoning influence in the region. The emergence of Turkey as a regional power can be explained by several components: the historical foundations of the Republic, the process of democratization, economic and political policies, and internal changes induced by interaction with Europe. None of these factors exclusively resulted in the emergence, but rather worked to reinforce one another over several decades to solidify Turkey’s position in the region. The materialization of Turkey as a regional power has implications for relations with the United States. The military, political and economic alliance that has historically characterized relations has faced conflict in the last decade. Periodically, Turkish foreign policy has come in contention with US interests leading to strained relations. Nevertheless, the United States has strategic interest in Eurasia in which Turkey can serve as a vital partner. In pursuit of these interests, US relations with Turkey should be strengthened. In all, Turkey and the United States share common values and a commitment to secular republican democracy, in addition to political, military and economic interests that maintain the strategic partnership

Retrobulbar versus subconjunctival anesthesia for cataract surgery

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness, in terms of pain relief and akinesia of retrobulbar and subconjunctival an aesthesia during cataract surgery and also to compare the degree of postoperative ptosis associated with each technique.Materials and Methods: Consecutive adult patients undergoing cataract surgery between March and June 2008 at the Guinness Eye Center Onitsha, were randomized into retrobulbar and subconjunctival an aesthesia by simple random sampling. Patients’ subjective perception of pain was graded into none, mild, moderate and severe; eyeball movement during surgery was graded into none, slight, moderate excessive. Two weeks after surgery, the palpebral fissure width was measured with the metre rule to determine the degree of post-operative ptosis.Results: Of the 90 patients studied, 55 (61.1%) patients had subconjunctival an aesthesia while 35(38.9%) had retrobulbar injection. In the retrobulbar injection group 25 (71.4%) patients had none or mild pains compared to 44 (80.0%) in the subconjunctival injection group; while 10 (28.6%) patients in the retrobulbar group experienced moderate to severe pains, 11 (20%) patients in the subconjunctival group had moderate pains and none experienced severe pains. But the difference in the degree of pain perception between the 2 groups is not statistically significant (χ2 = 0.01; df – 1; P>0.05). In the retrobulbar injection group, there was none or slight movement of the globe in 30 (85.7%) patients compared to 49 (89.1%) patients in the subconjunctival group. While 5 (14.3%) patients in the retrobulbar injection group had moderate globe movement, no patient in this group had excessive movement. In the subconjunctival injection group, 5 (9.1%) patients had moderate movement and 1 (1.8%) patient had excessive eyeball movement. The difference in the movement of the eyeball between the retrobulbar and the subconjunctival injections group was not significant (χ2 = 0.004; df – 1; P>0.05). In the retrobulbar injection group, the palpebral fissure width was within ≥10mm in 18 (51.0%) patients compared with 29 (53.0%) patients in the subconjunctival group. This difference was not statistically significant (χ2 = 0.0006; df – 1; P>0.05).Conclusions: Both retrobulbar and subconjunctival an aesthetic techniques are effective and safe for cataract surgery although the pain experience may be slightly more for patients being operated upon under retrobulbar anaesthesia

Mobile Facial Recognition System for Patient Identification in Medical Emergencies for Developing Economies

Medical emergencies are part of the common daily lives of people in developing and under-developed economies. Frequently, some of these medical emergencies end up tragically for many people in these countries due to many reasons, among which is the delivery of medical treatment when the patient is uncommunicative or unresponsive. The ability of the attending medical personnel to access a patient’s medical history is critical for the quality of the treatment rendered. Unfortunately, today many lives are lost in low income economies during medical emergencies due to lack or inaccessibility of a patient’s medical information. One of the major contributing factors of this paucity in records is attributable to the absence of reliable and cost-efficient healthcare delivery systems that support patient identification and verification. Due to the current ubiquity of mobile devices with their concomitant digital cameras, this paper explores the feasibility and practicability of using mobile platform and facial recognition technology as a means to deploying a cost-efficient system for reliable patient identification and verification

Rescuing The Endangered Habit: The Challenge of Readership Promotion for the Children’s Library In Nigeria

Reading has become endangered specie in Nigeria consequent upon the preference for the newer media of communication over the printed book by most people. However, the presence of these newer media does not vitiate the usefulness of the book as a veritable source of education, information and entertainment. Reading must therefore be sustained, but this is a function of a sound reading habit acquired in early life. The children’s library must pursue readership promotion vigorously in order to assist children achieve this desirable reading habit. The activities of the children’s library constitute the traditional means of readership promotion; however, innovative approaches can be explored

Review of Human Factors Engineering: Its Contributions to the Performance Efficiency of Manufacturing Workers in Industries.

Human factor engineering(HFE), the ability of human to perform physical work, focusing on the size of the force and convenience required to do a particular movement or work effectively .This except reviews the principles of work , location and posture, control, comfort, convenience and performance of the operators of mechanisms, devices and machines. More so, the various aspects of contributions of HFE in engineering and technology are discussed of the principles and applications of different organization immense contribution, such as the Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE), International Standard Organization (ISO), Air force system command (AFSC), and so on. The integration of these organizational research findings in technology and the extent to which they are applied has increased the performance and efficiency in industrial, social and military activities. Hence human factors engineering has greatly improved technological operations and the comfort of human life and the society. Keyword: Man, machine, work station, human factors, environment, organization, principles and performance

Mobile Facial Recognition System for Patient Identification in Medical Emergencies for Developing Economies

Medical emergencies are part of the common daily lives of people in developing and under-developed economies. Frequently, some of these medical emergencies end up tragically for many people in these countries due to many reasons, among which is the delivery of medical treatment when the patient is uncommunicative or unresponsive. The ability of the attending medical personnel to access a patient’s medical history is critical for the quality of the treatment rendered. Unfortunately, today many lives are lost in low income economies during medical emergencies due to lack or inaccessibility of a patient’s medical information. One of the major contributing factors of this paucity in records is attributable to the absence of reliable and cost-efficient healthcare delivery systems that support patient identification and verification. Due to the current ubiquity of mobile devices with their concomitant digital cameras, this paper explores the feasibility and practicability of using mobile platform and facial recognition technology as a means to deploying a cost-efficient system for reliable patient identification and verification

Information Literacy: A New Frontier of Learning for Librarians, Educators and Students in the 21st Century

This paper discusses information literacy as a new frontier of learning for librarians, educators and students in the 21st century. It examines the meaning while taking a cursory look at the instructional process. The paper highlights some definitions of information literacy by authors and corporate bodies. The difference between information technology and information literacy was briefly analysed. The challenges of the 21st century education in the information world were enumerated as it affects the students, teachers and librarians. The paper indicates that librarians have over the course of their work life been conversant with teaching students and faculty on how to get needed information for their research investigations and as such are better suited to teach information literacy. It recommends that as librarians and educators collaborate to promote information literacy, they can help each other, and the learners [students] they serve, to find the best way to bypass vast wastelands. Keywords: Information Literacy, Librarians, Literacy, Educators, Students and 21st Centur

Development of Gocing Storage Method for Cocoyam

Lack of good storage reduces the shelf life of harvested cocoyam (Colocasia spp and Xanthosoma spp) corms and cormels. This is a major challenge facing cocoyam farmers, processors, and marketers in Nigeria. The National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Nigeria, which has a national mandate to research into root and tubers crops of economic importance, has developed the ‘Gocing Storage’ for improved storage of cocoyam. The paper highlights this improved method of storing cocoyam as an advancement in cocoyam research, to reduce loss of cocoyam in storage, and make highly quality cocoyam available to consumers, processors and marketers throughout the year.Gocing Storage; Cocoyam; NRCRI and Nigeria

Nomenclature Change for Cataloguers and the Future of Cataloguing

This paper examines nomenclature change for cataloguers and the future of cataloguing. Cataloguers are a valuable subset of the library professionals that provide critical but behind the scene services to libraries and the users. Even in this time of change it seems hard to imagine that even with cataloguing there has been an evolution. This evolution is changing the job profile of cataloguers thereby bringing along with it nomenclature change. There is therefore no question that the art of cataloguing and the role of its practitioners are evolving. The study finds out that the term cataloguer is changing to catalinkers, metaloguers or even making them information ninjas. The paper concludes that cataloguing will remain a part of the library but may be called something different to better describe what it does. The importance of cataloguing will neither fade nor will their skills set thrown away. Keywords: Cataloguers, Cataloguing, Nomenclature Change, Catalinker, Metadata Librarian, Metaloguer, Telecataloguing, Information Ninja

Food packaging materials : Health and environment

Food packaging is just one among the ways of food preservation which helps in the extension of the shelf-life of the food product and easy for shipment and marketing. The goal of food packaging is to contain food in a cost-effective way that satisfies industry requirements and consumer desires, maintain food safety, and minimizes environmental impact. Different food Packaging materials such as metals, steel, aluminum, plastic, glass, polyethylene, polypropylene, paper, paperboard, laminates, metalized films, plant leaves etc play major roles in terms of protection and preservation which include chemical, physical and biological protection, containment and food waste reduction, convenience, marketing and information, traceability, tamper indication. The chemicals used in the production of these food packaging materials includes but not limited to intentionally added ingredients (ortho-phthalates. perchlorate, per-and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances, benzophenone, ethyl and methyl-glycol, toluene, n-methyl-pyrrolidone, bisphenol A,F,S) and non intentionally added materials which is not limited to contaminants like- heavy metals(lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury etc) leached into food and is being consumed into the body unknown to us thereby causing a lot of negative effect on human health via endocrine disruption, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, cancers, tooth development defects, hormonal imbalance which results in reproductive disorder in men and women, decrease semen quality in men, endometriosis in women etc. These food packaging materials affect our environment which also result to littering the environment, causing health effect and pollution. In order to reduce these effects, the use of these chemicals should be reduced or totally removed