Communicating Women Empowerment for Socio-Ecological Challenges in a Multi-Lingual Society: Nigeria’s Example

Ecological problems result from deep-seated social ills of the society, vividly illustrated by economic slump, malnutrition, deforestation, air, urban  and oil pollutions, urban violence, water borne diseases, housing problem and insecurity all of which breathe more life into poverty. In most cases, women, a significant segment of the society are the most vulnerable in time of ecological crises. Using secondary data, this study traced women’s vulnerability to the age-long gender discriminatory culture and lopsided political structure which oftentimes place women at a disadvantaged position. With theoretical hindsight, the study discovered that given appropriate motivation and empowerment inform of access to quality education, paid employment, capital assets and land, women could break the web of poverty and record significant victory over socio-ecological adversity. The study observed that to achieve maximum success in women’s capacity building against socio-ecological problems, there must be strategic communication efforts through the various mass media organs to persuade the government to incorporate women empowerment into its policies and programs and also to influence positive belief and discourage negative attitudinal disposition to women among the various ethnic components. This evidently will enthrone a just society where everybody can compete and contribute to the socio-economic development and environmental sustainability. Key Words: Communication, Women Empowerment, Socio-ecology, Multilingualis

Dynamics of Traveling Waves in the Transverse Section of a Laser

We analyze the general features of the formation and interaction of transverse traveling waves and the appearance of filamentation in broad area semiconductor lasers with current profiling. For small apertures, the emitted profile is symmetric consisting of two counterpropagating transverse traveling waves, both emanating from the center of the device. For larger apertures, the emission becomes asymmetric as one of the traveling waves expands to occupy an increased area while the other occupies the remaining, smaller spatial region. In both devices, the pattern becomes unstable at higher injection currents due to optical filamentation, although an intermediate state is present in the wider device whereby the dominant wave undergoes a Hopf bifurcation before filamentation occurs

My neighbourhood: Studying perceptions of urban space and neighbourhood with moblogging

We describe a novel methodology that examines perceptions of urban space, and present a study using this methodology that explores people’s perceptions of their neighbourhood. Previous studies of spatial cues have involved a variety of tasks such as pointing and sketching to externalise participants’ internal spatial maps. Our methodology extends these approaches by introducing mobile technologies alongside traditional materials and tasks. Participants use mobile phones to carry out self-guided neighbourhood tours. We collected rich qualitative data from 15 participants during two workshops and a self-directed neighbourhood tour. Our study highlights the use of public and private landmarks, differences in spatial maps of rural versus urban dwellers, and individual variance in orientation strategies. These themes suggest guidelines for the design of technologies with personalised spatial profiles

The genomes of two key bumblebee species with primitive eusocial organization

Background: The shift from solitary to social behavior is one of the major evolutionary transitions. Primitively eusocial bumblebees are uniquely placed to illuminate the evolution of highly eusocial insect societies. Bumblebees are also invaluable natural and agricultural pollinators, and there is widespread concern over recent population declines in some species. High-quality genomic data will inform key aspects of bumblebee biology, including susceptibility to implicated population viability threats. Results: We report the high quality draft genome sequences of Bombus terrestris and Bombus impatiens, two ecologically dominant bumblebees and widely utilized study species. Comparing these new genomes to those of the highly eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera and other Hymenoptera, we identify deeply conserved similarities, as well as novelties key to the biology of these organisms. Some honeybee genome features thought to underpin advanced eusociality are also present in bumblebees, indicating an earlier evolution in the bee lineage. Xenobiotic detoxification and immune genes are similarly depauperate in bumblebees and honeybees, and multiple categories of genes linked to social organization, including development and behavior, show high conservation. Key differences identified include a bias in bumblebee chemoreception towards gustation from olfaction, and striking differences in microRNAs, potentially responsible for gene regulation underlying social and other traits. Conclusions: These two bumblebee genomes provide a foundation for post-genomic research on these key pollinators and insect societies. Overall, gene repertoires suggest that the route to advanced eusociality in bees was mediated by many small changes in many genes and processes, and not by notable expansion or depauperation

A genome-wide association study identifies risk alleles in plasminogen and P4HA2 associated with giant cell arteritis

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common form of vasculitis in individuals older than 50 years in Western countries. To shed light onto the genetic background influencing susceptibility for GCA, we performed a genome-wide association screening in a well-powered study cohort. After imputation, 1,844,133 genetic variants were analysed in 2,134 cases and 9,125 unaffected controls from ten independent populations of European ancestry. Our data confirmed HLA class II as the strongest associated region (independent signals: rs9268905, P = 1.94E-54, per-allele OR = 1.79; and rs9275592, P = 1.14E-40, OR = 2.08). Additionally, PLG and P4HA2 were identified as GCA risk genes at the genome-wide level of significance (rs4252134, P = 1.23E-10, OR = 1.28; and rs128738, P = 4.60E-09, OR = 1.32, respectively). Interestingly, we observed that the association peaks overlapped with different regulatory elements related to cell types and tissues involved in the pathophysiology of GCA. PLG and P4HA2 are involved in vascular remodelling and angiogenesis, suggesting a high relevance of these processes for the pathogenic mechanisms underlying this type of vasculitis

7. Press Scrutiny and the Proposals for Security and Intelligence in an Independent Scotland

This chapter examines the scrutiny by the press in Scotland and the wider UK, before, during and after the publication of issues related to the proposals presented in the Scottish Government’s independence White Paper Scotland’s Future in November 2013. It outlines the various categories of media coverage in common usage and examines a selection of coverage in depth. It argues that, with some exceptions, the coverage was narrow and formulaic. It suggests more investigative projects could have widened and deepened the coverage and led to a more informed debate

Towards the Design of Effective Haptic and Audio Displays for Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality Applications

Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technology has potential for supporting mobile applications. However, nonvisual interaction modalities are undervalued and underused in AR/MR applications. Visual displays can be ineffective or inappropriate in some situations such as walking or driving. Meanwhile, nonvisual modalities are becoming increasingly important in mobile user experiences. In this paper, we report two studies investigating nonvisual interaction modalities such as audio and haptic displays with mobile AR/MR applications. In the first study, we investigate a range of design factors for haptic and audio displays, including rhythm, amplitude, and their combination in representing tourism information to users with a mobile phone. The results show a main effect for Interaction modality, with identification rates highest for information represented in a combined Haptic-Audio display. In the second study, we investigate target location tasks in 3D space using spatial audio feedback and a head-mounted display. We evaluate several design factors including audio feedback device, volume, rhythm, and the target’s horizontal and vertical position. Results show that the vertical positions are very difficult to locate, and overall our participants prefer audio cues with loud volume and fast rhythm. Finally, we propose practical audio and haptic display design guidelines for AR/MR applications