Does the Therapeutic Relationship Predict Outcomes of Psychiatric Treatment in Patients with Psychosis A Systematic Review

Background: Numerous studies have shown that the quality of the therapeutic relationship (TR) between the patient and the clinician is an important predictor of the outcome of different forms of psychotherapy. It is less clear whether the TR also predicts outcomes of psychiatric treatment programmes in patients with psychosis (i.e. outside conventional psychotherapy). Methods: We conducted a systematic review and identified 9 primary studies that prospectively tested the association of the TR with 3 outcomes, i.e. hospitalisation, symptom levels and functioning. Because of the heterogeneity of the methods used, a meta-analysis was not feasible. A vote counting method was used to determine the number of statistically significant effects in the hypothesised direction (i.e. that a more positive TR predicts more favourable outcomes). Results: For each outcome, a χ2 analysis showed that the number of statistically significant findings in the hypothesised direction was greater than expected if the null hypothesis of no association were true. However, studies had methodological shortcomings, and the effect sizes of positive associations were rather small. Conclusion: It may be concluded that there is some, but not overwhelming, evidence that the TR predicts outcomes of complex psychiatric treatment programmes in patients with psychosis, and that methodologically more rigorous research is required. Such research should measure the TR at initial stages of treatment and use validated assessment instruments for both TR and outcomes

Central nervous system depressant effect of the fruits of Piper guineense

The central nervous system depressant effect of the butanol extract of the fruits of Piper guineense was pharmacologically screened by measuring the prolongation of barbiturate sleeping time. Nine rats (n=9) were used and assigned into three groups, with each group comprising of three rats (n=3). Group A served as the Control, while Groups B and C served as tests. Thiopentone sodium (40 mg/kg body weight) was administered subcutaneously to the rats in Group A, 2 mg/kg of the butanolic extract of the fruits of Piper guineense was administered subcutaneously to the rats in Test Group B, 30 minutes before administering same dose of thiopentone sodium, while rats in Group C received 4 mg/kg of the butanolic extract 30 minutes before administering same dose of thiopentone sodium. The sleeping time was recorded. Student-t-test at 5% significance level was used to analyze the results obtained. The mean barbiturate sleeping time prolongation of 53.67 minutes was produced by 2 mg/kg of the extract while a dose of 4 mg/kg produced mean barbiturate sleeping time prolongation of 103.67 minutes. This study suggests that the fruits of Piper guineense have central nervous system depressant effect.Keywords: Piper guineense, fruits, glycosidic constituents, central nervous system, depressantBiokemistri 28(1): 34–3

A SURVIVABLE DISTRIBUTED DATABASE AGAINST BYZANTINE FAILURE

Distributed Database Systems have been very useful technologies in making a wide range of information available to users across the World. However, there are now growing security concerns, arising from the use of distributed systems, particularly the ones attached to critical systems. More than ever before, data in distributed databases are more susceptible to attacks, failures or accidents owing to advanced knowledge explosions in network and database technologies. The imperfection of the existing security mechanisms coupled with the heightened and growing concerns for intrusion, attack, compromise or even failure owing to Byzantine failure are also contributing factors. The importance of  survivable distributed databases in the face of byzantine failure, to other emerging technologies is the motivation for this research. Furthermore, It has been observed that most of the existing works on distributed database only dwelled on maintaining data integrity and availability in the face of attack. There exist few on availability or survibability of distributed databases owing to internal factors such as internal sabotage or storage defects. In this paper, an architecture for entrenching survivability of Distributed Databases occasioned by Byzantine failures is proposed. The proposed architecture concept is based on re-creating data on failing database server based on a set  threshold value.The proposed architecture is tested and found to be capable of improving probability of survivability in distributed database where it is implemented to  99.6%  from 99.2%.

The Export-Led Growth Hypothesis and the Resource-Curse Scenario in 14 Oil-Producing SSA Countries: Evidence from Panel Decomposition Approach

International trade theorists provide some mechanisms through which trade could be used as a driver of economic growth but nations of the world show different dispositions to these causing variations in economic growth. This study examines the role of international trade in the growth process by finding out the validity of export-led growth hypothesis (ELGH) and the existence of resource-curse scenario (RCS) in 14 oil-producing Sub-Saharan African countries following panel econometric procedure. Specifically, the study employed ANOVA and Levene F-test to test for equality of means and variances across sample. First generation panel unit root, as well as Pedroni and Kao cointegration tests were conducted to account for stationarity of each series and long run equilibrium relation among the group of variables. The panel regression model was estimated using fixed and random effect model with Hausman test used to determine the choice of appropriate model for adoption. Panel ARDL was used to account for the short run dynamics in the model of export and economic growth nexus. Pairwise Dumitrescu Hurlin Causality (PDHC) test was used to account for causality. In all, the result invalidates the export-led growth hypothesis but confirmed the existence of resource-curse scenario. While an expansive oil export trade caused a significant contraction in economic growth, an expansive non-oil export trade caused a significant expansion in economic growth in the long run. Inflation and exchange rate were found to have produced negative effect on growth both in the short run and long run. Oil export significantly caused deterioration in economic growth of these countries evidencing a resource-curse scenario. The policy implication of this finding is that both export promotion and output enhancement policies should be rigorously pursued with emphasis on the non-oil sector to boost non-oil export trade for rapid economic progress in the affected countries

Graves’ disease presenting as paranoid schizophrenia in a Nigerian woman: a case report

Paranoid syndromes in Graves’ disease are rare. The true incidence is lacking. Most reports have emanated from developed countries where medical investigations are readily available. No report of such has emanated from Nigeria. We report a 43-year-old female Nigerian with Graves’ disease associated with paranoid schizophrenia and review the literature

The Export-Led Growth Hypothesis and the Resource-Curse Scenario in 14 Oil-Producing SSA Countries: Evidence from Panel Decomposition Approach

International trade theorists provide some mechanisms through which trade could be used as a driver of economic growth but nations of the world show different dispositions to these causing variations in economic growth. This study examines the role of international trade in the growth process by finding out the validity of export-led growth hypothesis (ELGH) and the existence of resource-curse scenario (RCS) in 14 oil-producing Sub-Saharan African countries following panel econometric procedure. Specifically, the study employed ANOVA and Levene F-test to test for equality of means and variances across sample. First generation panel unit root, as well as Pedroni and Kao cointegration tests were conducted to account for stationarity of each series and long run equilibrium relation among the group of variables. The panel regression model was estimated using fixed and random effect model with Hausman test used to determine the choice of appropriate model for adoption. Panel ARDL was used to account for the short run dynamics in the model of export and economic growth nexus. Pairwise Dumitrescu Hurlin Causality (PDHC) test was used to account for causality. In all, the result invalidates the export-led growth hypothesis but confirmed the existence of resource-curse scenario. While an expansive oil export trade caused a significant contraction in economic growth, an expansive non-oil export trade caused a significant expansion in economic growth in the long run. Inflation and exchange rate were found to have produced negative effect on growth both in the short run and long run. Oil export significantly caused deterioration in economic growth of these countries evidencing a resource-curse scenario. The policy implication of this finding is that both export promotion and output enhancement policies should be rigorously pursued with emphasis on the non-oil sector to boost non-oil export trade for rapid economic progress in the affected countries

DEVELOPMENT OF A MODIFIED CLONAL SELECTION ALGORITHM FOR FEATURE LEVEL FUSION OF MULTIBIOMETRIC SYSTEMS

Feature level fusion is the combination of biometric information contained in the extracted features of biometric images. However, feature-balance maintenance and high computational complexity are one of the major problems encountered when fusion is done at feature level. Therefore, in this paper, a Modified Clonal Selection Algorithm (MCSA) which is characterized by feature-balance maintenance capability and low computational complexity was developed for feature level fusion of multibiometric systems.The standard Tournament Selection Method (TSM) was modified by performing tournaments among neighbours rather than by random selection to reduce the between-group selection pressure associated with the standard TSM. Clonal Selection  algorithm was formulated by incorporating the Modified Tournament Selection Method  (MTSM) into its selection phase. The modified algorithm could be employed for feature level fusion of multibiometric systems

DEVELOPMENT OF A MODIFIED PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION BASED CULTURAL ALGORITHM FOR SOLVING UNIVERSITY TIMETABLING PROBLEM

Timetabling problems are search problems in which courses must be arranged around a set of timeslots so that some constraints are satisfied. However, slow convergence speed and high computational complexity are one of drawbacks limiting the efficiency of the existing timetabling algorithms. In this paper, a Modified Particle Swarm Optimization based Cultural Algorithm which is characterized with low computational complexity and high convergence speed was developed for solving university lecture timetabling problems. The standard Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm was modified by introducing influence factors and acceleration component in order to improve the converge speed of the algorithm. Cultural algorithm was formulated by incorporating the Modified Particle Swarm Optimization (MPSO) into its population space. Thus, the developed Modified Particle Swarm Optimization based Cultural Algorithm could be implemented and employed for solving lecture timetabling problems in higher institutions

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TWO BIOMETRIC ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS

This paper compared two Biometric Access Control Systems (BACS). The BACSs employed iris pattern for their authentication. Fast Fourier Transform-driven Access Control System (FACS) uses global iris features while Haar Wavelet Transform-driven Access Control System (HACS) uses local iris features for its template generation. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to select principal components of the extracted features (local and global). Fuzzy clustering was used for classification and Euclidean Distance (ED) as the distance metric. Experimental result showed that it took more time to train the HACS than FACS because of its intrinsic location in the iris images. It was discovered that global features driven Access Control System (FACS) with EER being 7.78 outperformed the local features driven Access Control System (HACS) with EER of 8.05. Though the two systems satisfied the benchmark of 80% for Recognition Accuracy (RA) of Biometric Systems, FACS exhibited RA of 89.87% while HACS achieved a RA of 83.83% when tested on iris images captured with CMITECH DMX-10 Portable USB 5.0 M pixel CCD Iris Camera at automatic convenient eye distances. Performance of global and local features on other biometric recognition systems can be tested and a means of combining the two features for hybridization can also be sought

Utjecaj klimatskih promjena na proizvodnju riže u Adamawi, Nigerija

This study analyzes the effect of climate change on rice production in Adamawa State, Nigeria. The study describes the trend in rice production and determines the factors affecting the output of rice in Adamawa. Secondary data from 1990-2015 was used. The analytical tools used were descriptive analysis, unit root and regression analysis. The result of the study reveals that there is variation in the trend of the climatic factors affecting rice production in Adamawa State. The findings reveal that rainfall and minimum temperature are the major climatic factors that affect the rice production; such that 1% increase in rainfall leads to 22.2% increase in rice production and 1% increase in minimum temperature leads to 3.7% reduction in rice production. Therefore rainfall is found to be positively significant to rice output, while minimum temperature is found to be negatively significant. The study therefore recommends that irrigation facilities should be built, especially in the north where drought threatens food production. Also breeders should develop rice varieties that have less gestation period and can survive high temperature.Ovaj se rad bavi utjecajem klimatskih promjena na proizvodnju riže u Adamawi, Nigerija. Opisuju se trendovi rasta i pada proizvodnje te određuju faktori koji utječu na količinu proizvedene riže. Istraživanje se temelji na sekundarnim podacima iz razdoblja od 1990. do 2015. Za analizu su korištene sljedeće metode: deskriptivna analiza, test jediničnog korijena i regresijska analiza. Rezultati dobiveni istraživanjem pokazuju da klimatski faktori utječu na proizvodnju riže u Adamawi, a kao glavni među njima ističu se količina padalina i minimalna temperatura: porast u količini padalina od 1 % rezultira porastom u proizvodnji riže od 22.2 %, a porast minimalne temperature od 1 % rezultira padom u proizvodnji riže od 3.7 %. Iz toga se može zaključiti da postoji pozitivna korelacija između količine padalina i količine proizvedene križe te negativna korelacija s obzirom na minimalnu temperaturu. S obzirom na dobivene rezultate preporučuje se izgradnja objekata za navodnjavanje, osobito na sjeveru gdje su sušna razdoblja prijetnja proizvodnji hrane. Također, uzgajivačima se preporuča razvoj vrsta riže koje imaju kraći gestacijski period te mogu preživjeti više temperature