Aristotle's doctrine of the evolution of society, with special reference to the first book of the politics;: together with a brief consideration of the relevance of this doctrine to recent developments of communities in certain parts of west Africa.

The study deals generally with Aristotle's ethical and political philosophy; the primary theme, however, is Aristotle’s theory of the nature of society as expounded in the First Book of the Politics. The study, therefore refrains from going into the details of the so-called primitive elements in Greek culture, and of questions like exogamy, endogamy, totemism etc. which bulk so largely in works like G. Thomson's "Studies in Ancient Greek Society". The introduction deals with earlier conceptions of man and society as reflected in the conception of dúois gives some close attention to Protagoras' doctrine of the development of society as expressed in Plato's 'Protagoras'. Chapter 2 examines Plato's conception of dúois and relates this to his theory of man and society. Chapter 3 critically examines the various conceptions of dúois ascribed to Aristotle, especially in so far as those views imply judgements on Aristotle's doctrines in the Politics. Chapter k examines Aristotle's conception of human nature, and of the relation of Ethics to Politics. Chapter 5 examines the Greek Household and Aristotle's conception of the nature of the Household. Chapter 6 deals with Aristotle's theory of slavery. Chapter 7 gives an account of the Greek village or clan-community the development of the village-community is reviewed with reference to the emergence of the state and Aristotle’s conception of the role of the village in the developed state. Attention is here drawn to the 'tribal' , elements in Aristotle's political thought. Chapter 8 examines Aristotle's conception of the nature of the city-state. Attention is drawn to both the merits and the inadequacies of Aristotle's conception of the state through a close examination of his conception of (a) political justice and (b) friendship or social sympathy. Finally, though no special attempt has been made in the study to gig into the primitive past of Greek culture, it is argued that the society which Aristotle analysed has sufficient similarities to some West African societies to make his categories applicable to those societies. These similarities are more obvious in family and religious customs, but even, in more political terms, what Aristotle says of the clan-village contains lessons relevant to the study of any 'tribally' based society

Use of Building Information Modelling Tools for Structural Health Monitoring

The study of Information and Communication Technology applications in construction industry have developed greatly for computer programming and management strategies. As a response to the increasing challenges of construction projects, extensive researches have brought about numerous ICT tools such as Building Information Modelling tools, Lean Construction and Lean Design tools, and Integrated Project Delivery management tools to succour the construction industry. Building Information Modelling in particular is acknowledged in the industrial and academic circles as the new Computer Aided Design paradigm and hence, repositions it as the preferred approach to managing design, construction, maintenance and documentation of building projects. But the use of Building Information Modelling tools for structural health monitoring have not been adequately explored. This study employs Building Information Modelling as a tool for diagnosing and correcting structural design flaws in a building under construction. The design flaws in a complex staircase was identified while more realistic options of the design were quickly created and articulated for a safer outcome of the project. The results obtained highlights the benefits of Building Information Modelling applications such as enhanced safety, improved cost, time savings, quality improvements and better project management and execution

Optimization of Nutritional and Pasting Properties of Rice-Sweet Potato Based Composite Flour for Biscuit Production

Rice-sweet potato based biscuit was produced from optimization of the composite flour. The composite flour consisted rice, sweet potato and soybean flours with carboxyl methylcellulose as binder. Experimental design and statistical analysis were carried out using optimal mixture design of response surface methodology. The proximate compositions were optimized while the pasting characteristics and amino acid profile of the optimum blends were evaluated. The sensory evaluation and mechanical properties of the biscuit produced were also determined. The result showed that 15 of the 16 samples had protein content above 10 g/100g. This value is considerable if compared with 100% wheat flour. Samples 6 (85.694% rice flour, 11.806% sweet potato and 2.5% CMC) and 7 (95% rice flour, 2.5% sweet potato flour and 6.765% CMC), specifically, had high levels of ash, fibre and protein contents. In addition, all the samples had carbohydrate content above 70 g/100g. The result of the pasting characteristics showed that the composite flour had good flour quality. The addition of the binder (carboxyl methyl cellulose) enhanced the pasting properties. In addition, the amino acid profile showed that the composite flour had all the nine essential amino acids. The biscuit produced had good mechanical and sensory properties

The pattern and characteristics of sexual assault perpetrators and survivors managed at a sexual assault referral centre in Lagos

Background: There has presumably been an increase in cases of sexual assault in Nigeria; however, accurate data on the characteristics of the survivors and perpetrators are not readily available in most cases. Aim: To report the pattern and characteristics of sexual assault perpetrators and survivors managed at the Mirabel Centre, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja – a three-year review. Methods: A retrospective audit carried out in the sexual assault referral centre (SARC) – Mirabel Centre, LASUTH, Lagos State, Nigeria. A total of 2160 case files from July 2013 to January 2017 were assessed for age group of survivors and gender, among others. Results: A total of 2160 cases were analysed. The mean age of survivors was 13.9 (± 4.4) years with the 11–20 years age group having the highest number of survivors (48.4%) and the 0–10 years age group having 35.9% of survivors. Majority of the survivors (97.7%) were female. The majority of the perpetrators were known to the survivors with 10.3% being family members. Defilement (71.6%) was the most reported type of assault at the centre with rape (20.3%) being the second most common. The majority of the referrals to the centre were from the police (76.7%), while self-referrals made up 8% of referrals. Conclusion: Minors and adolescents formed the majority of the survivors. Defilement was the most reported form of sexual violence. There needs to be special intervention for better monitoring and protection of minors and youths against sexual assault. The establishment of more sexual assault referral centres in Nigeria will increase reportage and treatment of survivors

Longitudinal borehole functionality in 15 rural Ghanaian towns from three groundwater quality clusters

OBJECTIVE: In sub-Saharan Africa, 45% of the rural population uses boreholes (BHs). Despite recent gains in improved water access and coverage, parallel use of unimproved sources persists. Periodic infrastructure disrepair contributes to non-exclusive use of BHs. Our study describes functionality of BHs in 2014, 2015, and 2016 in 15 rural towns in the Eastern Region of Ghana sourced from three groundwater quality clusters (high iron, high salinity, and control). We also assess factors affecting cross-sectional and longitudinal functionality using logistic regression. RESULTS: BH functionality rates ranged between 81 and 87% and were similar across groundwater quality clusters. Of 51 BHs assessed in all three years, 34 (67%) were consistently functional and only 3 (6%) were consistently broken. There was a shift toward proactive payment for water over the course of the study in the control and high-salinity clusters. Payment mechanism, population served, presence of nearby alternative water sources, and groundwater quality cluster were not significant predictors of cross-sectional or longitudinal BH functionality. However, even in the high iron cluster, where water quality is poor and no structured payment mechanism for water exists, BHs are maintained, showing that they are important community resources

Drug prescription pattern in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Background: There is an increasing incidence of irrational drug use worldwide. The drug prescription pattern in Nigeria is characterised by inappropriate drug use which has led to increasing expenditure and loss of patient confidence in the health sector. This has led to calls to improve prescription patterns in Nigerian hospitals.Materials and Methods: a descriptive cross sectional study was conducted from May 17 2016 to August 16 2016. The case files of 621 patients from outpatient department of the Lagos State University teaching Hospital were analyzed and compared with the WHO prescription indicator criteria using SPSS16.Results: There were 2020 drugs prescribed. An average of 3.25 (±1.60) drugs was prescribed per patient. The antibiotics prescription rate was 26.89% with 47.10% of medications prescribed as generics and 89.45% from the essential drugs list. The injection prescription rate was 0.84%. Analgesics were the most frequently prescribed medications with prescription rate of 50.89%Conclusion: Polypharmacy, low use of generic medications and over prescription of antibiotics is still a problem in this facility. There is need to educate health workers especially doctors on rational drug use.Keywords: Prescription rate, WHO Facility Indicator, Rational Drug Use, Essential Drugs List, Generic Drug

Effect of nutritional enrichment with forage (Tridax procumbens) on the behavior and growth performance of conventionally reared broiler chickens

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of the provision of forage in a short-term feeding trial on the behaviour and growth performance of broilers. A total of 32, 5 weeks old Marshall broilers (average weight of 1.2kg) of mixed sex were divided into two treatments namely concentrate and concentrate-forage fed birds, each treatment had 4 replicates (4 birds/replicate). Each replicate of birds were housed in separate pens (1.2 × 2.0 cm). During the feeding trial period (a 30 minute period, 4 times/week for 2 weeks), birds in treatment A were offered 200g of concentrate while those in treatment B were offered concentrate-forage (100 g each). Data were collected on the feeding and drinking behaviour, feed intake, water intake and weight gain. The behaviour of the birds was scanned at every 5 minute interval for 30 minute and the percentage of birds feeding or drinking was recorded. Weight gain was determined at the end of the 2 weeks experimental period. Data were analysed using SPSS statistical package (version 16). Result showed that the percentage of birds feeding was greater (P<0.001) in concentrate-forage fed than concentrate fed birds. Concentrate fed birds displayed higher (P<0.001) drinking behaviour than concentrate-forage fed birds. In addition, a greater percentage of concentrate fed birds were drinking and drank more (P<0.001) water compared to concentrate-forage birds. Concentrate-forage birds showed preference for concentrate than forage (P<0.05). In conclusion, feeding broilers concentrate and forage (Tridax procumbens) simultaneously improved the feeding behaviour of broilers by 17%, reduced concentrate intake by 34% without negatively affecting their weight gain. Hence, farmers could consider this as a strategy for conserving expensive feed resources.Keywords: behaviour, body weight gain, broiler, concentrate, forage