Availability of Library and Information Services for Rural Community Development in Nigeria: A Case Study of Ewatto, in Esan South East LGA of Edo State

Objective – This paper examines the availability of Library and Information Services in a rural community using as a case study the community of Ewatto in Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State in Nigeria Methods – Questionnaires were distributed by hand in each of Ewatto’s eighteen villages. Results – The survey found that the information needs of Ewatto rural dwellers are in the areas of health, occupation, politics, as well as family and education. Their major sources of information include town criers, oral information from neighbours and newspapers. The major challenges hindering information availability include absence of libraries and information service centres, lack of internet connectivity and poor attitude of rural extension workers. Conclusion – For any nation to develop maximally, rural communities must be provided with adequate, relevant, and up-to-date information, the authors recommend the establishment of a library and information centre in Ewatt

The Proportion of Fixed-Point-Free Elements of a Transitive Permutation Group

In 1990 Hendrik W. Lenstra, Jr. asked the following question: if G is a transitive permutation group of degree n and A is the set of elements of G that move every letter, then can one find a lower bound (in terms of n) for f(G) = |A|/|G|? Shortly thereafter, Arjeh Cohen showed that 1/n is such a bound. Lenstra’s problem arose from his work on the number field sieve. A simple example of how f(G) arises in number theory is the following: if h is an irreducible polynomial over the integers, consider the proportion: |{primes ≤ x | h has no zeroes mod p}| / |{primes ≤ x}| As x → ∞, this ratio approaches f(G), where G is the Galois group of h considered as a permutation group on its roots. Our results in this paper include explicit calculations of f(G) for groups G in several families. We also obtain results useful for computing f(G) when G is a wreath product or a direct product of permutation groups. Using this we show that {f(G) | G is transitive} is dense in [0, 1]. The corresponding conclusion is true if we restrict G to primitive groups

The Role of Librarians in Health Information Provision for Depression Reduction

The paper examined the role of information provision by librarians for the healthcare of depressed and non-depressed people. The objectives examined include: identifying the factors causing depression, examination of various ways in which librarians support healthcare givers and care of the depressed people with useful information. A literature search was carried out using online databases and general google search (Sciencedirect, Scopus, Jstor and Google Scholar, Jstor and general google search). The paper concludes that provision of relevant, accurate and current information promotes greater awareness and understanding among the depressed and delivery of quality healthcare. The paper recommends that government should introduce policies that encourages healthcare organizations and institutions to build special library collections that will address the information needs of depressed and non-depressed employees. The active involvement of government is also key for the establishment of community libraries that will provide health information resources to the public members

Impact of Primary Care–Based Disease Management on the Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes and Comorbidity

Contains fulltext : 80343.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effectiveness of the German diabetes disease management program (DMP) for patients with varying numbers of other medical conditions with respect to their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A questionnaire, including the HRQoL-measured EQ-5D, was mailed to a random sample of 3,546 patients with type 2 diabetes (59.3% female). The EQ-5D score was analyzed by grouping patients according to those on a DMP and those receiving routine care. RESULTS: The analysis showed that participation in the DMP (P < 0.001), the number of other medical conditions (P < 0.001), and the interaction between the DMP and the number of other conditions (P < 0.05) had a significant impact on the EQ-5D score. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the number of other medical conditions may have a negative impact on the HRQoL of patients with type 2 diabetes. The results demonstrate that the German DMP for type 2 diabetes may help counterbalance this effect

Cortical adaptation of the night monkey to a nocturnal niche environment: A comparative non-invasive T1w/T2w myelin study

Night monkeys (Aotus) are the only genus of monkeys within the Simian lineage that successfully occupy a nocturnal environmental niche. Their behavior is supported by their sensory organs\u27 distinctive morphological features; however, little is known about their evolutionary adaptations in sensory regions of the cerebral cortex. Here, we investigate this question by exploring the cortical organization of night monkeys using high-resolution in-vivo brain MRI and comparative cortical-surface T1w/T2w myeloarchitectonic mapping. Our results show that the night monkey cerebral cortex has a qualitatively similar but quantitatively different pattern of cortical myelin compared to the diurnal macaque and marmoset monkeys. T1w/T2w myelin and its gradient allowed us to parcellate high myelin areas, including the middle temporal complex (MT +) and auditory cortex, and a low-myelin area, Brodmann area 7 (BA7) in the three species, despite species differences in cortical convolutions. Relative to the total cortical-surface area, those of MT + and the auditory cortex are significantly larger in night monkeys than diurnal monkeys, whereas area BA7 occupies a similar fraction of the cortical sheet in all three species. We propose that the selective expansion of sensory areas dedicated to visual motion and auditory processing in night monkeys may reflect cortical adaptations to a nocturnal environment

The Climate-system Historical Forecast Project: providing open access to seasonal forecast ensembles from centers around the globe

Fil: Tompkins, Adrian M.. The Abdus Salam; ItaliaFil: Ortiz de Zarate, Maria Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera; Argentina. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Saurral, Ramiro Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera; Argentina. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Vera, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera; Argentina. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; FranciaFil: Saulo, Andrea Celeste. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa. Secretaria de Planeamiento. Servicio Meteorológico Nacional; ArgentinaFil: Merryfield, William J.. Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis; CanadáFil: Sigmond, Michael. Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis; CanadáFil: Lee, Woo Sung. Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis; CanadáFil: Baehr, Johanna. Universitat Hamburg; AlemaniaFil: Braun, Alain. Météo-France; FranciaFil: Amy Butler. National Ocean And Atmospheric Administration; Estados UnidosFil: Déqué, Michel. Météo-France; FranciaFil: Doblas Reyes, Francisco J.. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats; España. Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputacion; EspañaFil: Gordon, Margaret. Met Office; Reino UnidoFil: Scaife, Adam A.. University of Exeter; Reino UnidoFil: Yukiko Imada. Japan Meteorological Agency. Meteorological Research Institute. Climate Research Department; JapónFil: Masayoshi Ishii. Japan Meteorological Agency. Meteorological Research Institute. Climate Research Department; JapónFil: Tomoaki Ose. Japan Meteorological Agency. Meteorological Research Institute. Climate Research Department; JapónFil: Kirtman, Ben. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Kumar, Arun. National Ocean And Atmospheric Administration; Estados UnidosFil: Müller, Wolfgang A.. Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie; AlemaniaFil: Pirani, Anna. Université Paris-Saclay; FranciaFil: Stockdale, Tim. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather; Reino UnidoFil: Rixen, Michel. World Meteorological Organization. World Climate Research Programme; SuizaFil: Yasuda, Tamaki. Japan Meteorological Agency. Climate Prediction Division; Japó

What do Agricultural and Biological Science Students Use? A Bibliometric Analysis of Undergraduate Research Projects

The study investigate the citation pattern of undergraduate projects in a private university, Nigeria. Bibliometric method was adopted for the study to analyze the information sources cited in the research projects. The coverage of the study was from 2015 to 2018 set of graduates. Findings revealed that Animal Science programme accounted for the highest citations, while Agricultural Economics had the lowest citations. It was also discovered that an average of 49 citations per project were recorded. Journal articles and books were the most cited materials. The paper concluded and made recommendations

Evidence shortfalls in the recommendations and guidance underpinning ecological mitigation for infrastructure developments

Abstract: In the United Kingdom and European Union, legal protection of species from the impacts of infrastructure development depends upon a number of ecological mitigation and compensation (EMC) measures to moderate the conflict between development and conservation. However, the scientific evidence supporting their effectiveness has not yet been comprehensively assessed. This study compiled the measures used in practice, identified and explored the guidance that informed them and, using the Conservation Evidence database, evaluated the empirical evidence for their effectiveness. In a sample of 50 U.K. housing applications, we identified the recommendation of 446 measures in total, comprising 65 different mitigation measures relating to eight taxa. Although most (56%) measures were justified by citing published guidance, exploration of the literature underpinning this guidance revealed that empirical evaluations of EMC measure effectiveness accounted for less than 10% of referenced texts. Citation network analysis also identified circular referencing across bat, amphibian and reptile EMC guidance. Comparison with Conservation Evidence synopses showed that over half of measures recommended in ecological reports had not been empirically evaluated, with only 13 measures assessed as beneficial. As such, most EMC measures recommended in practice are not evidence based. The limited reference to empirical evidence in published guidance, as well as the circular referencing, suggests potential ‘evidence complacency’, in which evidence is not sought to inform recommendations. In addition, limited evidence availability indicates a thematic gap between conservation research and mitigation practice. More broadly, absence of evidence on the effectiveness of EMC measures calls into question the ability of current practice to compensate for the impact of development on protected species, thus highlighting the need to strengthen requirements for impact avoidance. Given the recent political drive to invest in infrastructure expansion, high‐quality, context‐specific evidence is urgently needed to inform decision‐making in infrastructure development

Production and purification of chimeric HBc virus-like particles carrying influenza virus LAH domain as vaccine candidates

Background: The lack of a universal influenza vaccine is a global health problem. Interest is now focused on structurally conserved protein domains capable of eliciting protection against a broad range of influenza virus strains. The long alpha helix (LAH) is an attractive vaccine component since it is one of the most conserved influenza hemagglutinin (HA) stalk regions. For an improved immune response, the LAH domain from H3N2 strain has been incorporated into virus-like particles (VLPs) derived from hepatitis B virus core protein (HBc) using recently developed tandem core technology. Results: Fermentation conditions for recombinant HBc-LAH were established in yeast Pichia pastoris and a rapid and efficient purification method for chimeric VLPs was developed to match the requirements for industrial scale-up. Purified VLPs induced strong antibody responses against both group 1 and group 2 HA proteins in mice. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the tandem core technology is a useful tool for incorporation of highly hydrophobic LAH domain into HBc VLPs. Chimeric VLPs can be successfully produced in bioreactor using yeast expression system. Immunologic data indicate that HBc VLPs carrying the LAH antigen represent a promising universal influenza vaccine component