Indigenous Technology for Sustainable Development in West Africa

Technology is the scientific application of knowledge, skills and resources for the purpose of meeting the needs and aspirations of a people. It refers to a device, tool or piece of equipment. Technology designed and fabricated based on the culture, tradition and needs of a people and which is adopted for use in the environment of those people is called indigenous technology (IT). One vital characteristic peculiar to IT is that through meaningful interactions, it seeks to engage and evoke significant knowledge and experiences reflective of the indigenous world. West Africa and indeed the whole of Africa possess a vast amount of indigenous technologies (ITs) and knowledge which are embodied in the continent’s cultural and ecological diversities. For instance, several communities in Nigeria, just like the Aboriginal people of Australia, have IT items such as tools and implements, weapons, boomerangs, nets, baskets and bags, as well as watercraft and canoes. In Africa, these items can be harnessed to meet international standards. If they are properly harnessed, they stimulate industrial development and domestic capacity building, impose checks on imports so that local industries can grow, and propel a nation to attain technological self-reliance. Indigenous technology and knowledge are relevant to such sectors and strategies as agriculture, preventive medicine, community development and poverty alleviation. One key impediment to the development of IT is the low patronage it has received from governments and citizens. African peoples seem to have a penchant for foreign technologies. However, because of the fact that such technologies were not designed peculiar to the African environment, they are often confronted with the problem of spare parts, knowledge of the design principles and maintenance and repairs.  Indigenous knowledge which forms the bedrock of effective IT development is facing extinction, occasioned largely by the absence of strong mechanism for ensuring that such knowledge is passed on from generation to generation. More so, IT fabricators and developers lack effective mechanism for market promos and for guaranteeing their protection. In order to enhance indigenous technologies and knowledge, governments of West African countries, just like India, need to form strategic alliances between them and the indigenous technology developers. Governments can purchase the indigenously developed products and can as well promote them in such a way that they make in-roads into the global market. Keywords: Technology, indigenous knowledge, indigenous technolog

Impact of Trade Liberalization on the Nigerian Manufacturing Sector

The study examines the inter-relationship between trade liberalization and manufacturing performance in Nigeria Time series data sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria CBN National Bureau of Statistics NBS and Manufactures Association of Nigeria MAN for the period 1980 to 2010 were utilised Short-run error correction model ECM and long-run OLS regression techniques was employed to derive the estimates The findings from the study indicate that the adoption of trade liberalization strategies in Nigeria have negatively affected the country s manufacturing sector This shows that trade openness has brought about negative total factor productivity in Nigeria as manufacturers often respond to uncompetitive ease in trade restrictions by outright closures reduction in production and sometimes relocation to neighboring countries However empirical evidence suggests trade liberalization increases Nigeria s manufacturing output when total value of manufacturing output was used as measure of performance although was not significant at the conventional test levels Additionally the incidence of the Dutch Disease syndrome was found to adversely affect Nigeria s manufacturing sector performance measures employed in this study and result aptly support the resource-curse hypothesi

Comparison of change-points in multivariate statistical process control using the performance of Lapage-type (nonparametric)

The inability of the Shewhart‟s, the EWMA, and the CUSUM, Hotelling‟s T2 and many other control charts to indicate the time of shift poses great problems in production, Medicine, etc. To overcome the problems the need to identify the period of change (shift) in the process becomes inevitable. The study used Lapage-type Change-point (LCP) to detect the simultaneous shift in both mean and variance. In the study we compare the performance of generalized likelihood ratio change-point (GLRCP) a parametric-base with our proposed method (LCP) at different varying start-ups using real life data. We run the data on Normal, Laplace and Lognormal distributions and also Average Run Length (ARL0) to assess the performance of the methods. Evaluating in-control ARLs (IC-ARLs) for each of the methods at change-point 250 and ARL0 500 indicates the same performance irrespective of the start-up value; LCP and GLR methods have rather a similar performance IC-ARLs at change-point 50 and change-point 100 under the normality assumptions, but under non-normal distributions, LCP has substantially higher IC-ARLs compared to GLRCP at 20. The LCP outperformed the GLRCP when applied to children bronchial pneumonia status. We therefore recommend that new method be used in short-run situations and also when underlying distributions are usually unknown

Augmented Lagrangian Method for Constrained Nuclear Density Functional Theory

The augmented Lagrangiam method (ALM), widely used in quantum chemistry constrained optimization problems, is applied in the context of the nuclear Density Functional Theory (DFT) in the self-consistent constrained Skyrme Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (CHFB) variant. The ALM allows precise calculations of multidimensional energy surfaces in the space of collective coordinates that are needed to, e.g., determine fission pathways and saddle points; it improves accuracy of computed derivatives with respect to collective variables that are used to determine collective inertia; and is well adapted to supercomputer applications.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; to appear in Eur. Phys. J.

Ultra violet sensors based on nanostructured ZnO spheres in network of nanowires: a novel approach

The ZnO nanostructures consisting of micro spheres in a network of nano wires were synthesized by direct vapor phase method. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy measurements were carried out to understand the chemical nature of the sample. ZnO nanostructures exhibited band edge luminescence at 383 nm. The nanostructure based ZnO thin films were used to fabricate UV sensors. The photoresponse measurements were carried out and the responsivity was measured to be 50 mA W−1. The rise and decay time measurements were also measured

Recent experimental results in sub- and near-barrier heavy ion fusion reactions

Recent advances obtained in the field of near and sub-barrier heavy-ion fusion reactions are reviewed. Emphasis is given to the results obtained in the last decade, and focus will be mainly on the experimental work performed concerning the influence of transfer channels on fusion cross sections and the hindrance phenomenon far below the barrier. Indeed, early data of sub-barrier fusion taught us that cross sections may strongly depend on the low-energy collective modes of the colliding nuclei, and, possibly, on couplings to transfer channels. The coupled-channels (CC) model has been quite successful in the interpretation of the experimental evidences. Fusion barrier distributions often yield the fingerprint of the relevant coupled channels. Recent results obtained by using radioactive beams are reported. At deep sub-barrier energies, the slope of the excitation function in a semi-logarithmic plot keeps increasing in many cases and standard CC calculations over-predict the cross sections. This was named a hindrance phenomenon, and its physical origin is still a matter of debate. Recent theoretical developments suggest that this effect, at least partially, may be a consequence of the Pauli exclusion principle. The hindrance may have far-reaching consequences in astrophysics where fusion of light systems determines stellar evolution during the carbon and oxygen burning stages, and yields important information for exotic reactions that take place in the inner crust of accreting neutron stars.Comment: 40 pages, 63 figures, review paper accepted for EPJ

Tracking development assistance for health and for COVID-19 : a review of development assistance, government, out-of-pocket, and other private spending on health for 204 countries and territories, 1990-2050

Background The rapid spread of COVID-19 renewed the focus on how health systems across the globe are financed, especially during public health emergencies. Development assistance is an important source of health financing in many low-income countries, yet little is known about how much of this funding was disbursed for COVID-19. We aimed to put development assistance for health for COVID-19 in the context of broader trends in global health financing, and to estimate total health spending from 1995 to 2050 and development assistance for COVID-19 in 2020. Methods We estimated domestic health spending and development assistance for health to generate total health-sector spending estimates for 204 countries and territories. We leveraged data from the WHO Global Health Expenditure Database to produce estimates of domestic health spending. To generate estimates for development assistance for health, we relied on project-level disbursement data from the major international development agencies' online databases and annual financial statements and reports for information on income sources. To adjust our estimates for 2020 to include disbursements related to COVID-19, we extracted project data on commitments and disbursements from a broader set of databases (because not all of the data sources used to estimate the historical series extend to 2020), including the UN Office of Humanitarian Assistance Financial Tracking Service and the International Aid Transparency Initiative. We reported all the historic and future spending estimates in inflation-adjusted 2020 US$, 2020 US$ per capita, purchasing-power parity-adjusted US$per capita, and as a proportion of gross domestic product. We used various models to generate future health spending to 2050. Findings In 2019, health spending globally reached$8. 8 trillion (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 8.7-8.8) or $1132 (1119-1143) per person. Spending on health varied within and across income groups and geographical regions. Of this total,$40.4 billion (0.5%, 95% UI 0.5-0.5) was development assistance for health provided to low-income and middle-income countries, which made up 24.6% (UI 24.0-25.1) of total spending in low-income countries. We estimate that $54.8 billion in development assistance for health was disbursed in 2020. Of this,$13.7 billion was targeted toward the COVID-19 health response. $12.3 billion was newly committed and$1.4 billion was repurposed from existing health projects. $3.1 billion (22.4$2.4 billion (17.9%) was for supply chain and logistics. Only $714.4 million (7.7$1519 (1448-1591) per person in 2050, although spending across countries is expected to remain varied. Interpretation Global health spending is expected to continue to grow, but remain unequally distributed between countries. We estimate that development organisations substantially increased the amount of development assistance for health provided in 2020. Continued efforts are needed to raise sufficient resources to mitigate the pandemic for the most vulnerable, and to help curtail the pandemic for all. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Track D Social Science, Human Rights and Political Science

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138414/1/jia218442.pd

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 84.7%) were from low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 62.8%), followed by strabismus (n = 429 10.2%) and proptosis (n = 309 7.4%). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 95% CI, 12.94-24.80, and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 95% CI, 4.30-7.68). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs. © 2020 American Medical Association. All rights reserved

Optimization of oil heat treatment process to enhance rubberwood properties using response surface methodology

Rubberwood is an eco-friendly wood. Natural rubber is considered as the excellent agricultural product and it was utilized in many industries. The natural durability is very low in rubberwood. In dry as well as in green condition, it can be affected by wood borers and fungus. The objectives of this study are to determine the effect of resistance to white rot fungus, to assess the significant changes on the physical properties, chemical properties and mechanical properties of rubberwood after the heat treatment (172 - 228°C) in palm oil and to optimize the heating variables to enhance the properties of rubberwood treated with oil using response surface methodology. The colour of oil heattreated rubberwood becomes uniformly darker. Hydrophobicity, dimensional stability and fungal resistance were improved by the heat treatment with respect to increase in treatment temperature. However, the mechanical properties of treated rubberwood were reduced compared to the untreated wood. The treatment resulted in changes to the wood chemical constituents, mainly the degradation of hemicelluloses which is believed to be principal reason for alterations in wood properties. The oil heat treatment reduced the chemical constituents by 11.7 % in total in the rubberwood. The depolymerization of hemicellulose results in reduction on bending strength of wood. The maximum reduction in Modulus of Rupture, Modulus of Elasticity, Compression and Shear were approximately 47%, 8%, 21% and 33% respectively compared to the control specimen. This study shows that there is some reduction in density and equilibrium moisture content and positive high in moisture excluding efficiency values. The density of rubberwood was decreased gradually from 629 kgm-3 (untreated) to about 591 kgm-3 (at 228°C/180min). The Equilibrium Moisture Content also decreased from 12.42 % to 7.97 % (at 228°C/180min). The density reduction was probably due to the hemicelluloses and cellulose degradation. The higher moisture excluding efficiency value indicated that the wood is stable and excludes water after oil heat treatment process. The treated wood has moisture excluding efficiency value in the range between 28-50% depending upon the treatment temperature and time. The fungal resistance effect on the treated rubberwood was examined by exposing the wood to white rot fungi (Pycnoporus sanguineus) for 12 weeks and the weight loss was determined. The samples were tested at 13 different treatment conditions. Among those conditions, the lowest weight loss (8.23 %) was observed at 228°C and 180 min, with the decay by Pycnoporus sanguineus for rubberwood species. This research helps in improving various properties of rubberwood and biological durability by oil heat treatment process. Thus with the outcome of this research, the optimized heat treatment conditions could be suggested by the response surface methodology models to enhance the quality of rubberwood