From the polling booths to the courtrooms : challenges of strict application of time frame in judicial contestation of election disputes in Nigeria

After her longest military interregnum spanning almost two decades since 1984, Nigeria returned to a democratic system of government in May 1999. By May 2019, five presidential and other national and sub-national elections were held in the country. Virtually all of these elections were characterized by intense political strives and electoral malpractices of varying degrees, leading to the challenging of elections in the election petition tribunals and other courts, long after the conclusion of the polls. This challenge has heightened the spate of judicialization of politics-the practice of excessive utilization of the courts for adjudication of core political matters in the country. But a significant by-product of judicialization of politics in Nigeria is the apparent relegation of substantial justice and possible miscarriage of justice arising from a resort to a technicality in the strict interpretation and enforcement of time frame for such adjudications. This paper, using a doctrinal research methodology of relying on primary and secondary sources of information, shows that the current strict interpretation of the constitutional provisions on the time limit for adjudication of electoral disputes defeats the essence of substantial justice and impacts negatively on the role of the judiciary in social engineering. For comparative constitutional purposes, the paper also juxtaposes the practice in Kenya, another country in Africa with electoral disputation experiences, with the practice in Nigeria. The paper concludes that a review of the law is imperative and then makes somerecommendations

Histomorphology of germ cell tumors at various anatomic sites: a 5 years study at a tertiary care centre

Background: Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms, which occur in the gonads, and at extra gonadal sites of the body. The aim of the study was to observe the different histopathological patterns of various GCTs in the body at all possible sites and to know their IHC staining patterns.Methods: The study was conducted for a period of 5 years from 2015 to 2019 and was an observational study. The recorded data was compiled and entered in a spreadsheet and then exported to data editor of SPSS Version 20.0. Continuous variables were expressed as mean SD and categorical variables were summarized as frequencies and percentages. Graphically the data was presented by bar and pie diagrams Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test was applied for comparing categorical values. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. All p values were 2 tailed.Results: A total of 93 cases were analyzed and the mean age of the patients was 27.8 years. Mature cystic teratoma was the most common histopathological variant and was mostly seen in the ovaries. There was a difference in age predilection of benign and malignant tumors. Most of the malignant GCTs were gonadal while EGCTs were likely to be benign. MGCTs (mixed GCTs) were mostly testicular in origin with only one MGCT being extragonadal.Conclusions: Mature cystic teratomas were the most frequent GCTs with frequent site being in ovaries. Out 0f 18 EGCTs only 2 were malignant, rest all were mature cystic teratomas.

PENERAPAN MODEL PEMBELAJARAN TIPE PICTURE AND PICTURE DALAM MENINGKATKAN HASIL BELAJAR DI KELAS VIII SMP NEGERI 2 PEULIMBANG

Banda Ace

Properties of Asphalt Concrete Containing Waste Foundry Sand (WFS) as Filler Material

The high cost of primary construction materials such as cement, and increase in waste generation due to human activities coupled with environmental concerns has led to the incorporation of wide range of waste materials into asphalt concrete. Waste foundry sand (WFS) which is a by-product of ferrous and non-ferrous metal casting industry, has accumulated in stockpiles and landfills, occupying valuable space and causing nuisance in the environment. Consequently, it is imperative to devise a safe and economical solution to manage and utilize the waste. One way of achieving this is by recycling and using it for asphalt concrete production. This study investigated the strength and durability properties of asphalt concrete containing waste foundry sand (WFS) as alternative filler material in asphalt concrete. Marshall design method was adopted for the sample preparation and testing. Fifteen (15) compacted samples were prepared for strength and volumetric properties testing at varying bitumen contents of 4.5%, 5.0%, 5.5%, 6.0% and 6.5%, in accordance with Asphalt Institute and Nigeria General Specification for Road and Bridges to determine optimum bitumen content (OBC). OBC of 5.5% was obtained and used for the asphalt concrete mixes in the study.&nbsp; Eighteen (18) other briquettes were prepared to determine the optimum WFS content in asphalt concrete necessary for strength and durability of wearing course of flexible pavement. Cement as filler in asphalt concrete was partially replaced with WFS using the obtained OBC in the order of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60%. A total of thirty-three (33) standard specimens were prepared. From the Marshall stability-flow and void-density results, the sample prepared with 60% WFS as filler with OBC of 5.5% satisfies the provision of the Nigerian General Specification for Road and Bridges (NGSRB) for use in wearing course of flexible pavement. Based on the analysis of results obtained in this study and a logical comparison made with standard specifications, addition of up to 60% waste foundry sand (WFS) in asphalt concrete would lead to significant conservation of primary construction materials, divert substantial quantities of waste from landfills and present a cheap alternative of filler material necessary for sustainable asphalt concrete construction

Free Radical Scavenging Activity of Non Saponifiable Lipids from Dieffenbachia picta (Lodd.) Schott. Leaves and Identification of a Lanostane Triterpenoid

Dieffenbachia picta (Lodd.) Schott, mostly used as ornamental plant, has not been thoroughly investigated for its medicinal properties due largely to the presence of oxalic acid deposited as crystals of calcium oxalate on parts of the plant especially the leaves. The present study however was aimed at providing an in-vitro evidence for the potential radical inhibitory activity of isolates obtained from n - hexane fraction of D. picta leaf found to have antioxidant properties in our previous study. Isolation of compounds was achieved by gradient elution column chromatographic technique. Ultra Violet/visible (UV), Infrared (IR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR-1D and 2D) spectroscopic techniques were used for structural elucidation. Molecular mass was ascertained by low and high resolution Electron Impact (EI/EI-HR) mass spectrometry. Gas chromatography (GC) and gas – chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to characterize the lipid component.  Free radical scavenging activity of the isolates was assessed using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) method and butylated hydroxylanisole (BHA) was used as standard. Structures were proposed for the non saponifiable lipids as Tetradecyloctadecyl behenate (DP1) and 1~chlorotritriacontane (DP2) while phytol (31.44%), isopropyl palmitate (14.91%), isopropyl stearate (8.61%) were the major constituents of the oil (DP3). A lanostane triterpenoid 11β, 19-epoxy-Lanostan-3β-ol was also identified in the oil. DP1 and DP3 exhibited significant antioxidant activity with IC50 (μM) values of 43.5± 0.53 and 25.43±0.06 respectively comparable to the standard. The results of the present study indicated that D. picta is rich in antioxidant metabolites despite the presence of toxic calcium oxalate crystals. Keywords: Tetradecyloctadecyl behenate; phytol; 11β, 19-epoxy-Lanostan-3β-ol; 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical; Dieffenbachia pict

Towards Energy Efficient Relay Placement and Load Balancing in Future Wireless Networks

This paper presents an energy efficient relay deployment algorithm that determines the optimal location and number of relays for future wireless networks, including Long Term Evolution (LTE)-Advanced heterogeneous networks. We formulate an energy minimization problem for macro-relay heterogeneous networks as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem. The proposed algorithm not only optimally connects users to either relays or eNodeBs (eNBs), but also allows eNBs to switch into inactive mode. This is possible by enabling relay-to-relay communication which forms the basis for relays to act as donors for neighboring relays instead of eNBs. Moreover, it relaxes traffic load of some eNBs in order to allow them to enter the inactive mode. We characterize the optimal as well as provide an approximate solution, which, however, performs very closely to the optimum. Our performance evaluation shows that an optimal relay deployment with relays acting as donors can significantly improve system energy efficiency

Effect of Addition Different Levels of Parsley Leaves Powder (petroselinum sativum) to the Ration on Some Blood Serum Biochemical Traits of Broiler Ross 308

This study was conducted at Poultry Farm of Animal Resources Dept., College of Agriculture, University of AL-Qasim Green to investigate Study the effect of addition different levels of Parsley leaves powder (petroselinum sativum) to the ration on some blood serum biochemical traits of broiler Ross 308. Use the 180 broiler chicks Ross 308 day-old were randomly assigned to four treatments (by 3 replicates per treatment 15 chicks per replicate), and treatments were as follows : Treatment for the first (control) without adding Parsley leaves powder into the ration, the second treatment: Add Parsley leaves powder by 500 mg / kg feed, third-treatment: Add Parsley leaves powder by a 1000 mg / kg feed and treatment fourth: Add Parsley leaves powder  by a 1500 mg / kg feed. The experiment included a study of the following characteristics : total protein concentration, albumin, globulin and the concentration of glucose . The results indicated that the addition of Parsley leaves by  1000  and 1500 mg / kg feed to broiler diet led to a significant improvement ) p&lt;0.05( in total protein concentration, albumin, and globulin and significant decrease) p&lt;0.05  (in concentration of glucose .It concluded from this experience, that the addition of Parsley leaves by 1000  and 1500 mg / kg feed to the ration can lead to improve in some blood serum biochemical traits of broiler Ross 308. Keywords: Parsley Leaves powder, blood serum biochemical traits, broile

Possible presence of calcium channel blocker(s) in Rubia cordifolia: An indigenous medicinal plant

Crude extract of Rubia cordifolia (RC) was tested in isolated tissue preparations for its possible calcium channel antagonistic activity. RC suppressed the spontaneous contractions of guinea-pig atria, rabbit jejunum and rat uterus in a concentration dependent manner (0.1-3 mg/ml). In rabbit aorta, it inhibited norepinephrine (10 microM) and KCl (80 mM) induced contractions. Replacement of physiological salt solution with calcium free solution abolished the spontaneous movements of rabbit jejunum. However, addition of calcium (25 micrograms/ml) in the tissue bath restored the spontaneous movements. When the tissues were pretreated with plant extract (1 mg/ml) or verapamil (0.5 microgram/ml), addition of calcium failed to restore spontaneous contractions. These results indicate that the plant extract exhibits spasmolytic activity similar to that of verapamil suggestive of presence of calcium channel blocker like constituent(s) in this plant

Numerical Study of Two-Dimensional Transient Natural Convection in an Inclined Shallow Porous Cavity Exposed to a Constant Heat Flux

Numerical method is used to solve the two-dimensional transient natural convection heat transfer problem in an inclined shallow porous cavity. A constant heat flux is applied for heating and cooling all opposing walls. Solutions for laminar case are obtained within Rayleigh number varied from 20 to 500 and aspect ratio for porous cavity varied from 2 to 4. A finite difference method is used to obtain numerical solutions of full governing equations. Energy equation is solved using alternating direct implicit (ADI) method and stream function equation by successive over relaxation (SOR) method. The results are presented for the flow filed, temperature distributions, and average Nusselt number in terms of the Rayleigh number, aspect ratio, and the inclination angle of cavity. the convection becomes more and more vigorous as the orientation angle of the cavity is increased and for high Rayligh number no steady unicellular flow could be maintained inside the cavity. The effect of inclination angle on Nasselt number is more pronounced as the Rayleigh number is increased. When the inclination angle increased the Nusselt number increased and sudden transition appears and flow becomes unicellular and Nusselt number increased clearly. The value of mean Nusselt number strong function with the value of Rayleigh number, aspect ratio and the orientation of porous cavity