Assessment of Students Performances in Biology: Implication for Measurements and Evaluation of Learning

Scienceeducation is believed to be a vital tool for individual and societal development at large. The persistent low levels of students' achievement in sciences at the various public examinations in Nigeria have continued to draw the attention of major stakeholders in education. This study examined academic achievement of Senior Secondary School students in biology and gender difference in students' achievement was examined. Ex-post facto design of descriptive research was adopted for the study. A proforma was used to collect data from a sample of two hundred (200) students, selected using stratified random sampling procedure from the Science secondary schools in Kano state Nigeria. The data collected were the students' performances in biology achievement tests. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and independent-sample t-test. Overall results showed that the test internal consistency reliability is low and unsatisfactory; the students performed below average (M=47.02, SD=16.493 (47%). Similarly, gender difference exists in biology performance with another significant difference between performance of urban and rural school students. The study concludes that, biology test used in Kano state qualifying examinations to assess students potential ability in biology is not a reliable measurement tool and that, academic performance of students in biology is unsatisfactory and evidence of differential performance between gender and schools locations. The implication for measurements and evaluation of learning as well as recommendations has been discussed

THREE-DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION AND VISUALIZATION OF PLANT CELLS

The mechanical properties (like sensory texture etc.) of plants/fruits directly depend on their microstructures. Therefore, it is very important to well understand the geometry and topology of cells in order to control the microstructure for better mechanical response. In this research, techniques of digital image processing and segmentation in conjunction with mathematical morphology models are used to visualize and analyze the 3D cells of potato. ImageJ and MATLAB are used throughout in this study. The labeled image stacks are essential for studying quantitative characterization of 3D cells, MATLAB is used to label each image stacks. By using MATLAB 12420 cells were segmented within a short period of time and labeled each cell uniquely

Enhancing the intense field control of molecular fragmentation

We describe a pump-probe scheme with which the spatial asymmetry of dissociating molecular fragments --- as controlled by the carrier-envelope phase of an intense few-cycle laser pulse --- can be enhanced by an order of magnitude or more. We illustrate the scheme using extensive, full-dimensional calculations for dissociation of H$_2^+$ and include the averaging necessary for comparison with experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figue

Highlights of the 2nd Bioinformatics Student Symposium by ISCB RSG-UK [version 1]

Following the success of the 1 (st) Student Symposium by ISCB RSG-UK, a 2 (nd) Student Symposium took place on 7 (th) October 2015 at The Genome Analysis Centre, Norwich, UK. This short report summarizes the main highlights from the 2 (nd) Bioinformatics Student Symposium

IN VITRO MULTIPLE SHOOT INDUCTION FROM NODAL EXPLANTS OF CITRUS CULTIVARS

Citrus cultivars were explored for multiple shoot induction and root regeneration in different media. The multiple root and shoot induction was found directly proportionate to the increase in the levels of benzyleaminopurine (BA) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) in the modified Murashige and Skoog medium. The study might be promising towards in vitro propagation of sanitated Citrus plant material

SERUM IMMUNOGLOBULIN PROFILE OF Trypanosoma congolense - INFECTED SHEEP IN RELATION TO PARASITAEMIA AND CHANGES IN CIRCULATING LEUCOCYTE AND ERYTHROCYTE MASS

Trypanosomiasis is a major problem in developing countries most especially Africa and the incriminating agents are T. congolense, T.vivax. T.brucei in small ruminants. It has high morbity  and mortality Rates of 70% and 20% respectively . The experimental animals were four Rams which were used as control and infected group, Parameters for this experiment were recorded before infection. Following inoculation with T.congolense, 2 mls of blood was collected from the sheep in vacutainers for serum biochemical assay. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to assay IGG and IGM concentrations and 1ml of blood was collected in vacutainers with anti coagulant to check leucocytic and erythrocytic index.This was done every day until day 6 and then every other day. Clinical signs observed post infection were , Anemia, Hematuria ,Rhinitis, dyspnea ,emaciation and paralysis of the fore and hind limbs and death .Statistical tables and charts were used for analyses. The  role of   Hypoprotenemia , IGG and IGM  in experimental infection with Trypanosoma congolense   were looked at. The anemia was Normocytic normochromic and later became Microcytic hypochromic, PCV Recorded on the first day prior to infection was 27%  and on the last day of  infection became 6% . Leucocytosis was Degenerative and Leucopenia was also observed Perhaps due to the antigenic nature of the parasite. On first day WBC count was 8.5 x109/L and Prior to death Leucocytosis of 6.1x 109 /L. Hypoproteneimia was also seen with Blood urea Nitrogen and Alanine aminotransferase falling to values below normal 55U/L and 155mg/dl respectively. There were also fluctuations in the values of IGG and IGM  with initial values of 1.4 and 0.71 µg/ML  and terminal values of 0.34 and 0.21 /L. The organs looked at Kidneys,Lungs,Heart and Liver were all in their initial stages of destruction , they were inflamed,edematous , congested and necrotic . Hypoprotenemia, , immune suppression,dyspnea ,Anemia and Leucopenia  may be the cause of death in Trypanosomiasis. Keywords:Leucopenea,Anemia,Trypanosoma,immunogobuins,Hypoprotenemia DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/11-6-06 Publication date:March 31st 202

Acceptance conditions in automated negotiation

In every negotiation with a deadline, one of the negotiating parties has to accept an offer to avoid a break off. A break off is usually an undesirable outcome for both parties, therefore it is important that a negotiator employs a proficient mechanism to decide under which conditions to accept. When designing such conditions one is faced with the acceptance dilemma: accepting the current offer may be suboptimal, as better offers may still be presented. On the other hand, accepting too late may prevent an agreement from being reached, resulting in a break off with no gain for either party. Motivated by the challenges of bilateral negotiations between automated agents and by the results and insights of the automated negotiating agents competition (ANAC), we classify and compare state-of-the-art generic acceptance conditions. We focus on decoupled acceptance conditions, i.e. conditions that do not depend on the bidding strategy that is used. We performed extensive experiments to compare the performance of acceptance conditions in combination with a broad range of bidding strategies and negotiation domains. Furthermore we propose new acceptance conditions and we demonstrate that they outperform the other conditions that we study. In particular, it is shown that they outperform the standard acceptance condition of comparing the current offer with the offer the agent is ready to send out. We also provide insight in to why some conditions work better than others and investigate correlations between the properties of the negotiation environment and the efficacy of acceptance condition

Ultracold Three-body Recombination in Two Dimensions

We study three-body recombination in two dimensions for systems interacting via short-range two-body interactions in the regime of large scattering lengths. Using the adiabatic hyperspherical representation, we derive semi-analytical formulas for three-body recombination in both weakly and deeply bound diatom states. Our results demonstrate the importance of long-range corrections to the three-body potentials by showing how they alter the low-energy and scattering length dependence of the recombination rate for both bosonic and fermionic systems, which exhibit suppressed recombination if compared to the three-dimensional case. We verify these results through numerical calculations of recombination for systems with finite-range interactions and supporting a few two-body bound states. We also study finite-range effects for the energies of the universal three-identical-bosons states and found a slow approach to universal predictions as a function of the scattering length.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

The Impact of Microfinance on Women Empowerment: A Case Study of the Family Bank, Gezira State, Sudan (2016-2017)

The impact of microfinance on women’s empowerment remains debatable. While some studies suggest that microfinance helps women increasing their income earning abilities, leading to greater power within the household, others think that it may also lead to a more vulnerable position for woman. This study aims to evaluate empirically the impact of microfinance on women’s empowerment in Gezira State taking the Family Bank, Wad Medani Branch as a case study. A sample of 117 women who are clients of the bank were randomly selected for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the main features of women under study. Then, the impact of microfinance on women’s empowerment is examined and analyzed through a cross sectional impact methodology, referred to as the control group method. Microfinance borrowers are compared to (soon -to-be microfinance borrowers) and the difference between these two groups is attributed to the acquisition of microfinance. An econometric analysis is then employed on the data gathered via the questionnaire. The results confirm that microfinance has a significant positive impact on women’s empowerment. Furthermore, the variables of women social status, education level and number of children in the household have a positive significant effect on the level of women empowerment in the study area. The, results emphasized that there is a room for empowerment through the microfinance programs, therefore, this study recommends for more improvements in various aspects related to the arrangements and provision of the microfinance from the financial institutions side. لا يزال تأثير التمويل الاصغر على تمكين المرأة موضع جدال. بينما تشير بعض الدراسات إلى أن التمويل الاصغر يساعد النساء على زيادة قدراتهن على كسب الدخل، مما يكسبهن مزيداً من القوة داخل الأسرة، يعتقد آخرون أنه قد يؤدي أيضا إلى وضع أكثر ضعفا بالنسبة للمرأة. تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى إجراء تقييم تطبيقي لتأثير التمويل الاصغر على تمكين المرأة في ولاية الجزيرة مع أخذ  بنك الأسرة فرع ودمدني كحالة دراسة ميدانيه . تم جمع  البيانات عن طريق الاستبيان باختيار عينة عشوائية من 117 امرأة من عميلات البنك لجمع البيانات. و تم استخدام الإحصاء الوصفي لتحليل السمات الرئيسية للنساء قيد الدراسة. كما تم فحص تأثير التمويل الاصغر على تمكين المرأة وتحليله من خلال منهجية تأثير المقطع العرضي، والتي يشار إليها باسم طريقة المجموعة الضابطة. حيث تتم مقارنة المقترضات بالآتي: سيحصلن على القرض قريباً ويعزى الفرق بين هاتين المجموعتين إلى التمويل الاصغر. تم تطبيق تحليل الانحدار الخطي المتعدد على البيانات التي تم جمعها عن طريق الاستبيان. أظهرت النتائج أن التمويل الأصغر له تأثير معنوي إيجابي على تمكين المرأة. علاوة على ذلك، فإن لمتغيرات الحالة الاجتماعية ومستوى التعليم للمرأة وعدد الأطفال في الأسرة تأثير  معنوي ايجابي  على مستوى تمكين المرأة في منطقة الدراسة. وأكدت النتائج أن هناك مجالاً للتمكين من خلال برامج التمويل الأصغر، لذلك توصي هذه الدراسة بمزيد من التحسينات في مختلف الجوانب المتعلقة بتنظيم وتقديم مثل هذه  القروض من جانب المؤسسات التمويلية