Bilingual Publishing Co. (BPC): E-Journals
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Aspects of Impacts of Proposed Badagry Deep Sea Port on the Ecosystem and Livelihood of Fishing Communities in Badagry, Lagos State, Nigeria
No full textFederal government of Nigeria, in collaboration with Lagos State Government proposed development of a seaport in Badagry. This research examined and documented the current state of the ecosystem and livelihood of thirteen communities that will be impacted by the proposed deep-sea port. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used for the study. Review of secondary data was used to investigate the demographic data of the community while Participatory Rural Appraisal was conducted for 300 households in the communities. Majority of the sampled respondents were in the age range of 45 years and above with females (60%) more than males (40%) in the entire population sampled. Educational levels of the respondents are relatively low. The majority of the sampled households have multiple livelihood systems that keep them engaged throughout all seasons of the year. Capture fisheries is the major occupation in the study area and it is complemented with aquaculture. Existing groups are not strong enough to operate as a pressure group to influence policies and regulate market prices, which has been identified as a major limitation in the study area. There was no regular training or capacity building. Hence the groups were not operating as a business enterprise and could not expand or increase capacity. Consequently not able to contribute significantly to poverty alleviation and increase employment opportunities in their localities. This document will serve as one of the guides to the government for decision-making and compensation to the communities
Fillet Quality and Gut Content Analysis of Parachanna obscura and Clarias agboyiensis
No full textNigeria waters are rich with a variety of fish species but only very few are cultured and available for consumption. This study was conducted to know the fillet quality, gut content and condition of Parachanna obscura and Clarias agboyiensis in Nigeria using Igbokoda river as a reference because it is a the major fishing site in the nation. Studies were conducted on the viscera somatic index based on the organ weight and the body weight of the fish and the food item consumed by Parachanna obscura and Clarias agboyiensis between May to October, 2019 to infer on the fillet quality and gut content of P. obscura and C. agboyiensis in the water body respectively. A summary of food items that constituted the diet of Clarias agboyiensis are Baccillariophyta, fish, fat droplets, dinoflagellate, insect and Chlorophyta which constituted the most important food items both occurring in all stomachs containing food. The fishes has more muscle than the viscera organs which indicate that the weight of the fish before dressing out is higher than the weight of the fish after dressing out. This is suggestive of a good quality of food fish. There was a significant correlation between body weight and total length of specimens found in this study. Increases in total length resulted in corresponding increases in body weight. The result for the condition factor showed was below the expected or standard value (K = 1) which shows this species was not in favorable environmental condition. It is therefore necessary to allow phytoplanktons grow well in water body to increase availability of food items to Parachanna obscura and Clarias agboyiensis. P. obscura and C. agboyiensis are also good food fishes of a high fillet quality. They are omnivorous feeders therefore having potentials for aquaculture
Relationship between Dog Walking Behaviour and Owner-Dog Attachment Using the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale
No full textHuman-dog attachment is a special relationship and has been studied from various perspectives. Attachment or social bonding has a positive effect on the psychological and physiological wellbeing of a dog owner, increasing physical health and quality of life. Attachment is idiosyncratic, induced by neuroendocrinological functions like an oxytocin increase after an interaction, but also based on subjective perceptions of the quality of bonding and relationship. Dog-owner attachment was measured in this study using the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale in its validated German version as a tool to compare owner perception with factual movement data of their dog. The question posed was whether the perceived dog behaviour impacted on the attachment score as assessed through the LAPS. The authors could show that perceived problematical or unwanted conduct, like hunting behaviour, had a negative effect on LAPS scores whereas perceived obedient behaviour had a positive effect upon attachment. The authors found that actual walking data of the dogs were not in congruence with owner assessments. Thus, owner reports alone possibly will not be a sufficient measure of dog-human relationships and animal behaviour
Effects of Thyroidal Disturbance on the Behavior of Domestic Dogs (Canis Lupus Familiaris)
No full textHypothyroidism is not uncommon in dogs, but it is actually very often diagnosed in elderly dogs. When and how does the disease start? What are the first recognizable signs? The first symptoms are usually changes in the behavior. First, these changes are quite subtle, but as the illness progresses, they can get very grave. We do often hear from the worried owners, that their report of a behavioral change to their vet is often ignored, not taken seriously or simply interpreted as unsteady or insufficient dog training/ education. This not taking seriously of the first signs is very concerning and a big problem in many ways. It is delaying the finding of the right diagnosis and treatment, which leads to suffering of the animal and the owner. In some cases, it leads to giving the dog up as an unbearable danger to the family. So the dog, who is only ill and could be back to normal with the right medical treatment, and finally ends up in a dog shelter or a new family. The common understanding is, that hypothyreoidism is an illness solely occurring in the elderly dog. In contrast to this, the authors found out, that thyroidal problems occur already at relatively young ages. This is a very important finding, considering that many clinically practising veterinarians expect hypothyreoidism only in the aged or elderly dog and will not run any diagnostics in relatively young or middle-aged animals. The authors also found significant differences in the personality traits of emotional stability and extraversion. Therefore, we would like to expand the existing studies, so that this widely underestimated topic finally comes to the fore and hopefully, in the future the right diagnostcal steps can be taken at an early stage of the disease
Effect of Mutual Interference of Bridge Piers on Scouring in Meandering Channel
No full textLocal scour is the reduction of original bed level around any hydraulic structure. Bridge failure due to scouring has made researchers study the cause of scouring and predict the scour depth and pattern around bridge piers and foundations. Several investigators have extensively studied local scour around isolated bridge pier, but modern designs of the bridges comprise of wide span and thus group of piers rather than a single pier. The flow and scour pattern around group of piers are different from the case of a single pier due to the interaction effect. The objective of present study is to investigate the effect of mutual interference of bridge piers on local scour experimentally around two piers in non-cohesive bed. Experiments were carried out on model bridge piers of circular cross section in a meandering channel. It was observed that when front and rear piers were placed at an angular displacement of θ = 40° and 80° respectively, maximum depth of scour is maximum. Here θ is the angle the line drawn at the inlet of bend to the line joining the centre of curvature and any point on the outer portion of the bend
Cortisol Response in Breast Cancer: The Role of Physical Activity and Exercise
No full textChronic stress is a consistent sense of feeling pressured and overwhelmedfor a long period of time and it has been defined as a maladaptive state thatis associated with altered hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. Thehyperactivity of the HPA axis is commonly assessed by cortisol levels.Physical activity (PA) and exercise have been demonstrated to regulatecortisol patterns in different healthy study populations, but also in BCpatients and survivors. The PA and exercise are related but have distinctconcepts that are commonly misused. Nowadays, the regular practice of PAand exercise has been widely recognized as one main strategy to managechronic stress and its related markers, like cortisol, remains elusive. In thepresent review, the authors focused on the evidence of the PA and exerciseon cortisol patterns of BC patients and survivors
Machine Learning Algorithms for Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Challenges, Prospects and Future Research Directions
No full textEarly diagnosis of breast cancer does not only increase the chances of survival but also control the diffusion of cancerous cells in the body. Previously, researchers have developed machine learning algorithms in breast cancer diagnosis such as Support Vector Machine, K-Nearest Neighbor, Convolutional Neural Network, K-means, Fuzzy C-means, Neural Network, Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and Naive Bayes. Unfortunately these algorithms fall short in one way or another due to high levels of computational complexities. For instance, support vector machine employs feature elimination scheme for eradicating data ambiguity and detecting tumors at initial stage. However this scheme is expensive in terms of execution time. On its part, k-means algorithm employs Euclidean distance to determine the distance between cluster centers and data points. However this scheme does not guarantee high accuracy when executed in different iterations. Although the K-nearest Neighbor algorithm employs feature reduction, principle component analysis and 10 fold cross validation methods for enhancing classification accuracy, it is not efficient in terms of processing time. On the other hand, fuzzy c-means algorithm employs fuzziness value and termination criteria to determine the execution time on datasets. However, it proves to be extensive in terms of computational time due to several iterations and fuzzy measure calculations involved. Similarly, convolutional neural network employed back propagation and classification method but the scheme proves to be slow due to frequent retraining. In addition, the neural network achieves low accuracy in its predictions. Since all these algorithms seem to be expensive and time consuming, it necessary to integrate quantum computing principles with conventional machine learning algorithms. This is because quantum computing has the potential to accelerate computations by simultaneously carrying out calculation on many inputs. In this paper, a review of the current machine learning algorithms for breast cancer prediction is provided. Based on the observed shortcomings, a quantum machine learning based classifier is recommended. The proposed working mechanisms of this classifier are elaborated towards the end of this paper
Protective Roles of Some Leafy and Non-leafy Vegetables against the Severity of Arsenic-induced Skin Lesions among Women Living in Rural Bangladesh: A Case Control Study
No full textArsenicosis is common among villagers as they drink more contaminatedwater since the arsenic-crisis in Bangladesh. Supplementation of vitamins and micronutrients in counteracting arsenic toxicity has been proved for arsenic treatment. This study was intended to assess protective and beneficial roles of some commonly eaten vegetables on the development and severity of arsenicinduced skin lesions. A case-control study among (N=122) adult rural-women (62 cases had various forms of arsenical skin-lesions e.g. melanosis/keratosis/ mixed-lesions and 60 sex-age-matched healthy-controls) was conducted in Shaharstee Upazilla of Chandpur district, Bangladesh. Socio-demographic data recorded in a pre-tested-questionnaire, ‘per-day vegetables ingestion’ of cases and controls were measured qualitative and quantitatively (24-hour recall-methods, food-frequency/week and food history-record/week). Multiple logistic regression/MLR analyses were performed to find out protective roles of some dietary leafy-vegetables/LVs and non-leafy vegetables/NLVs on arsenicosis and their influences on the degree of severity of arsenicosis also determined. Abstinence from taking some LVs/NLVs among cases than controls is associated with increased risk for arsenicosis (P<0.05). Amongst all most-frequently eaten vegetables (n=17) per day Momordica diocia has the highest skin protective role on arsenicosis [Adjusted odds ratio/AOR 8.2, 95% CI (2.11-31.9), P=<0.01], followed by Ipomoea acquatica (AOR:7.3), Basella alba (AOR:6.2), Solanum tuberosum (AOR:4.0), Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis (AOR:3.2), Trichosanthes anguina (AOR:1.2) and Abelmoschus esculentus (AOR:1.2). Moreover, severe skin lesion was observed as compared to non-severe cases (mild/moderate) for less intake frequencies of vegetables. This study outlined that commonly eaten vegetables have protective and beneficial roles on arsenic-induced skin lesions. Large samples longitudinal study of this important field of therapeutic-intervention is warrante
Outlook of Cognitive Neuroscience
No full textSocial science researches at present emphasize the construction of relations between multiple constructs. Psychological science is no exception. Before verifying whether their hypotheses are true with a questionnaire method or experimental method, scholars will check out the hot topics of recent years and construct multiple mediating and moderating relations first. They work on scattered topics that more or less overlap with many other disciplines. In previous years, the author focused on studying the youths with poor mental health in the new era of China, observing their moral choices in the corporate environment through game theory experiments. The conclusions are usually surprising- most new-generation youths choose to maximize their self-interests from between pro-social behaviors and risk aversion
Stress Resilience as a Tool to Combat the COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic has not only affected the world in terms of their physical health but has also been a strain on our mental well-being. Individuals who have showcased the tendency to bounce back from this situation have been real survivors of this pandemic. With this background in mind, this research aimed to study the gender differences and age differences in stress resilience. The Stress Resiliency Profile by Thomas and Tymon (1992), Jr. was used for this purpose. An equal number of males and females (n=60; N=120) were evaluated for the study. To assess the age differences, the participants were divided into two age groups: 15-22 years and 22-30 years of age. There were an equal number of individuals in each group (n=60, N=120). The subjects were assessed on the three dimensions of Stress Resiliency Profile-Necessitating, Skill Recognition and Deficiency Focusing. Results indicated significant differences in the Deficiency Focusing dimension among males and females. In the age difference evaluation, significant differences were found in the Skill Recognition dimension. The findings have been discussed within the framework of previous research. The current research findings have significant implications for the study of stress and resilience