Design Insights from the Implementation of a Student Result Processing System in Nigeria

The design of digital technologies is often influenced by the infrastructural, economic, and social realities of the environment of the designer. Thus, the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) community emphasize various strategies to learn from and about target users (Brown et al., 2010). However, products that are designed with the amount of detail recommended by the HCI community require a significant amount of time, energy and skill and as a result are expensive. The high cost of these services force individuals and organizations to resort to commercial products and it is often the case that commercial products that are successful for one group of people might be unsuitable for another (Johns et al., 2002). To address this problem, user groups often adapt the technology to suit their needs, use the technology in unintended ways or ultimately reject them. In this paper we present a case-study where locally developed technology was preferred over commercial solutions. We draw design insights from this experience on how we might design educational technologies while considering the culture of the target users. Keywords: Education, Result computation in Higher Education, Educational Software Tools, Digital Tools in Higher Education DOI: 10.7176/DCS/9-8-05 Publication date: August 31st 2019

Establishing a Library Liaison Programme in a Nigerian Academic Library

The study focuses on the need for putting in place library liaison programme in Nigerian academic library, with emphasis in the area of study. A survey method was adopted for the study, involving a sample figure of 122 members of the academic staff of the college. The Yaro Yamane formula for selecting a sample from a finite population was used. The study revealed six reasons for establishing library liaison programme in academic libraries. The study also revealed seven functions which library liaisons can perform. Six merits and six envisaged problems of the library arrangement were identified. To combat the problems associated with the library liaison programme, five strategies were revealed. They include: adequate funding of libraries to acquire information sources; engagement of more staff to reduce pressure of work in libraries; training and retraining of staff; curriculum review to accommodate more skills in ICT; and government-private partnership in the provision of ICT infrastructure. Based on the findings, six recommendations are made

THC exposure of human iPSC neurons impacts genes associated with neuropsychiatric disorders

There is a strong association between cannabis use and schizophrenia but the underlying cellular links are poorly understood. Neurons derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) offer a platform for investigating both baseline and dynamic changes in human neural cells. Here, we exposed neurons derived from hiPSCs to Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and identified diagnosis-specific differences not detectable in vehicle-controls. RNA transcriptomic analyses revealed that THC administration, either by acute or chronic exposure, dampened the neuronal transcriptional response following potassium chloride (KCl)-induced neuronal depolarization. THC-treated neurons displayed significant synaptic, mitochondrial, and glutamate signaling alterations that may underlie their failure to activate appropriately; this blunted response resembles effects previously observed in schizophrenia hiPSC-derived neurons. Furthermore, we show a significant alteration in THC-related genes associated with autism and intellectual disability, suggesting shared molecular pathways perturbed in neuropsychiatric disorders that are exacerbated by THC

\u3ci\u3eDrosophila\u3c/i\u3e Muller F Elements Maintain a Distinct Set of Genomic Properties Over 40 Million Years of Evolution

The Muller F element (4.2 Mb, ~80 protein-coding genes) is an unusual autosome of Drosophila melanogaster; it is mostly heterochromatic with a low recombination rate. To investigate how these properties impact the evolution of repeats and genes, we manually improved the sequence and annotated the genes on the D. erecta, D. mojavensis, and D. grimshawi F elements and euchromatic domains from the Muller D element. We find that F elements have greater transposon density (25–50%) than euchromatic reference regions (3–11%). Among the F elements, D. grimshawi has the lowest transposon density (particularly DINE-1: 2% vs. 11–27%). F element genes have larger coding spans, more coding exons, larger introns, and lower codon bias. Comparison of the Effective Number of Codons with the Codon Adaptation Index shows that, in contrast to the other species, codon bias in D. grimshawi F element genes can be attributed primarily to selection instead of mutational biases, suggesting that density and types of transposons affect the degree of local heterochromatin formation. F element genes have lower estimated DNA melting temperatures than D element genes, potentially facilitating transcription through heterochromatin. Most F element genes (~90%) have remained on that element, but the F element has smaller syntenic blocks than genome averages (3.4–3.6 vs. 8.4–8.8 genes per block), indicating greater rates of inversion despite lower rates of recombination. Overall, the F element has maintained characteristics that are distinct from other autosomes in the Drosophila lineage, illuminating the constraints imposed by a heterochromatic milieu