Gender Equity and Empowerment in Nigeria: Implications for Educational Management

Despite the tremendous efforts by the Nigeria government over the past threedecades to increase educational opportunities for males and females, genderchallenges still lie ahead if the goal of Education for All is to be achieved.The paper, therefore, set to discuss the significant persistent gender gap inthe educational system, even at the management level and how genderequality will empower girls/women and develop the family and educationalsystem at large. It will also allow for female participation in allocation ofadministrative posts in the educational and other sectors of the economy. Theeducation of the female will bring about a micro and macro benefits ofdevelopment. The paper also presents an overview of the social-cultural andeconomic factors that affect schooling. To help bridge the gap of genderdisparity, some strategies, programmes and projects are being recommendedto promote female participation in education and management positions inNigeria in order to move the country forward from underdevelopment todeveloped nation

DescFold: A web server for protein fold recognition

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Machine learning-based methods have been proven to be powerful in developing new fold recognition tools. In our previous work [Zhang, Kochhar and Grigorov (2005) <it>Protein Science</it>, <b>14</b>: 431-444], a machine learning-based method called DescFold was established by using Support Vector Machines (SVMs) to combine the following four descriptors: a profile-sequence-alignment-based descriptor using Psi-blast <it>e</it>-values and bit scores, a sequence-profile-alignment-based descriptor using Rps-blast <it>e</it>-values and bit scores, a descriptor based on secondary structure element alignment (SSEA), and a descriptor based on the occurrence of PROSITE functional motifs. In this work, we focus on the improvement of DescFold by incorporating more powerful descriptors and setting up a user-friendly web server.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In seeking more powerful descriptors, the profile-profile alignment score generated from the COMPASS algorithm was first considered as a new descriptor (i.e., PPA). When considering a profile-profile alignment between two proteins in the context of fold recognition, one protein is regarded as a template (i.e., its 3D structure is known). Instead of a sequence profile derived from a Psi-blast search, a structure-seeded profile for the template protein was generated by searching its structural neighbors with the assistance of the TM-align structural alignment algorithm. Moreover, the COMPASS algorithm was used again to derive a profile-structural-profile-alignment-based descriptor (i.e., PSPA). We trained and tested the new DescFold in a total of 1,835 highly diverse proteins extracted from the SCOP 1.73 version. When the PPA and PSPA descriptors were introduced, the new DescFold boosts the performance of fold recognition substantially. Using the SCOP_1.73_40% dataset as the fold library, the DescFold web server based on the trained SVM models was further constructed. To provide a large-scale test for the new DescFold, a stringent test set of 1,866 proteins were selected from the SCOP 1.75 version. At a less than 5% false positive rate control, the new DescFold is able to correctly recognize structural homologs at the fold level for nearly 46% test proteins. Additionally, we also benchmarked the DescFold method against several well-established fold recognition algorithms through the LiveBench targets and Lindahl dataset.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The new DescFold method was intensively benchmarked to have very competitive performance compared with some well-established fold recognition methods, suggesting that it can serve as a useful tool to assist in template-based protein structure prediction. The DescFold server is freely accessible at <url>http://202.112.170.199/DescFold/index.html</url>.</p

A multi-phase flow model for electrospinning process

An electrospinning process is a multi-phase and multi-physicical process with flow, electric and magnetic fields coupled together. This paper deals with establishing a multi-phase model for numerical study and explains how to prepare for nanofibers and nanoporous materials. The model provides with a powerful tool to controlling over electrospinning parameters such as voltage, flow rate, and others

The barriers to the use of ICT in English language teaching: a systematic literature review

Information communication technology (ICT) has recently been a hot topic for language teachers around the world. The application of ICT in English language teaching is a relatively recent phenomenon. Moreover, it has been the subject of interest to educational researchers for over two decades in order to figure out a way of tackling the barriers of using ICT and as well as for incorporating it into the curriculum. Therefore, the current paper yields to the literature of some reasons behind the low interest of using ICT in English language teaching by teachers. A total of thirty-three papers have been reviewed to find out the barriers to the use of ICT in English language teaching. According to the outcome of the review, three main factors are found as the common obstacles towards the use of ICT in English language teaching, which are, (i) lack of teachers’ confidence in using technology, (ii) lack of effective training, and (iii) lack of time. There is also a summary of the paper along with the discussion presented. Besides that, the findings suggest the administrations provide effective training courses along with sufficient time allocation in allowing teachers to confidently employ ICTs in teaching the English language. Additionally, an implication including limitations of the study is also expressed at the final stage of the paper

Teachers’ perceptions and readiness toward the implementation of virtual learning environment

The current trend of education is towards the implementation of technology in teaching in order to attract the attention of 21st century learners whereby teachers need to adopt technology-enhanced environment such as the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in their teaching. This study aims to investigate the teachers’ perceptions and tendency to use VLE as a tool for teaching. The teachers’ perceptions were investigated based on the main constructs of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The respondents were 178 teachers in southern state of Malaysia. The data were collected using a questionnaire and it is validated through the use of Rasch model. The finding was found that the teachers were moderately ready to use VLE and they moderately accepted the implementation of the VLE (mean=3.67 and 3.65). Besides that, the teachers felt that the VLE was useful (mean=3.58) and was easy to use (mean=3.34). It was also found that 84.2% of the teachers’ acceptance was influenced by the teachers’ readiness, and the teachers’ perceptions of the usefulness and ease of using the VLE in teaching. Therefore, it can be concluded that Malaysian teachers has intention to use VLE in their teaching. The use of VLE can improve the innovative way of teaching that can increase students’ interest in constructing knowledge through their learning process