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Reproduction parameters in Phrynobatrachus latifrons Ahl 1924, a frog in degraded areas of Banco National Park (Ivory Coast) | JBES 2021
No full textThe study of the reproductive ecology of Phrynobatrachus latifrons at the fish farm of the Banco National Park showed that the smallest mature individual measures 12.5mm in males and 17mm in females. All individuals greater than 18.9mm in males and 24.26mm in females are mature. The size of first sexual maturity (L50) calculated is 15.37mm for males against 20.20mm for females. The sex ratio, with the exception of the small rainy season is in favor of the females. Absolute fertilitymuzzle-anus length and absolute fecundity/body weight ratios showed a low correlation. The breeding activities of P. latifrons occur in the dry season as well as in the rainy season
Maktaba Library of the Year Awards: Looking back, looking forward
No full textThis book is a product of my experience with the Maktaba Awards in different capacities. When the idea of Maktaba Awards was mooted in the year 2009, I was the Assistant Secretary of KLA. I therefore got the opportunity to sit in the formative meetings where the key framework decisions were made. In the year 2011, our library at Kenya National Archives and Documentation Service (KNA&DS) entered the competition and one thing I am forever proud of is that we won the Best Library Award (BLA) of that year. Having been the Deputy Head of the Library at KNA&DS, the victory gave me a perfect experience of what it is to compete in Maktaba Awards. Later in the year, 2013 I was elected the Vice Chairman of KLA. This position propelled me into joining the Maktaba Awards Management Committee and the Jury of 2014. These two capacities brought me to the core of Maktaba Awards activities. My role in these capacities became so strategic that by the end of activities of Maktaba awards 2014, which also marked the end of the first phase of the programme, I was appointed by the chairman KLA to prepare a proposal for re-engineering of maktaba awards in the next phase. Consistent with the public sector planning cycles in Kenya, five years of Maktaba awards was adopted as one phase. In Kenya, all government strategic plans cover five years. I therefore prepared a proposal which was presented and adopted by the KLA Annual General Meeting of 2014. The proposal looked at the five years of maktaba and made analytical projections into the next phase by of course taking stock of the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. That proposal formed the synopsis for this book. It comprised in two parts – the experience and the future of the award, thus looking back looking forward. In preparing the book, I was forced to do a broad based comparative reading between maktaba and other awards across the globe. It is out of this that my mind was awakened to the need for a book in the area of awards generally and library awards specifically. . In spite of very many awards projects and programmes in librarianship and other fields, there is very little if any publishing in the area. This is a naked literature gap which if filled will serve a significant utility. In regard to maktaba, a book of this nature will effectively deal with the information gap among stakeholders. Out of ignorance, librarians have continuously complained about some aspects of the awards particularly the judgment criteria. Most importantly, the book has given a critical analysis of all the major aspects of library awards. This will significantly inform the planning and decision making for the next phase of the awards by the concerned organs. The book is a must read for all the librarians who have interest in maktaba Awards. The principles can also be shared with all other professions who have interest in mounting excellence awards
Unmaking Malnutrition-Related Attritional Deaths In Covid-19 Regime: Does Digital Extension And Youth Nexus Count In Africa?
No full textThe implementation of COVID-19 pandemic regime has created barriers between extension agents and farm families as well as between input suppliers and farmers. Farm families that hitherto relied on faceto-face extension education to make crucial nutrition-related decisions and navigate Africa’s unstable food system are apparently constrained by lockdown and physical distancing arising from the pandemic regime. Malnutrition crises, including installment death from hunger, have besieged many
households. Experts are, however, suggesting the nexus between youth and digital extension as a game changer in the quest to address Africa’s nutrition insecurity. This paper, therefore, uses thematic analysis of relevant data to assess potentials, possibilities and limits of this emerging nexus to alter the continent’s grim nutritional landscape. The paper argues that the nexus has the potential not only to overcome the pandemic-induced malnutrition challenges but also prepare the continent for the present
and future pandemics
Causative And Passive High Tone In Bantu: Spurious Or Proto?
No full textIn this study I address Meeussen’s (1967: 92) tentative proposal to reconstruct a H tone on the Proto-Bantu causative *-i and passive *-ʊ suffixes, contrasting with all other Proto-Bantu extensions, which are reconstructed as toneless (Meeussen 1961; 1967). After surveying the phenomenon, I conclude that the causative-passive H (CPH) is almost exclusively limited to certain of the interlacustrine Bantu languages (JD40-60 and JE10-40) and should not be reconstructed. I exemplify the CPH tone effects in several of these languages and consider other cases of H tone extensions outside of the interlacustrine area which I argue to be unrelated. Although still requiring further investigation, I conclude by considering different morphological and phonological scenarios by which the CPH effects might have evolved
On the number of points included in a plane figure with large pairwise distances : On the number of points included in a plane figure
No full textUsing the method of compression we show that the number of
points that can be placed in a plane figure with mutual distances at least d > 0 satisfies the lower bound...
#find the complete abstract in the attached fil
Increasing the Societal Impact of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math with General Collective Intelligence
Get PDFThis paper explores how a technique called Human-Centric Functional Modeling (HCFM) might be used to radically increase the societal impact of STEM through a kind of biomimicry. HCFM represents systems in terms of functional state spaces, which enables it to be seen that nature has already solved problems that can be represented in these abstract spaces as being relevant to a wide range of science and engineering disciplines. Namely the same general problem of achieving adaptive general problem-solving ability in any domain can be represented as one that had to be solved by nature's equivalent to engineering and research processes in order for organisms to solve the problem of adapting to any aspect of their environments. This solution can be represented as having been used by nature to address complex problems of adaptation, the equivalent of “wicked problems” in human societies from poverty to climate change. Where these complex problems pose existential challenges, nature has not only solved them but has demonstrated the solutions to have worked for hundreds of millions of years. This paper describes how specific patterns in the use of HCFM and General Collective Intelligence (GCI) might be used to approach each of a range of engineering disciplines as well as a range of sciences and potentially mathematics, in order to create the potential to exponentially increase the societal impact of research and engineering activities
Finetuning A Single-Blade Sonic Paper-Cutter As An Energy-Saving Sharpening Instrument
Get PDFConstant usage and exposure to harsh environments results in a blade to become blunt. Two matching circuits were developed to improve the energy efficiency of an ultrasonic single-blade paper-cutting tool, whilst enhancing the sharpness of the blade. The unmatched ultrasonic knife had a measured magnitude of −0.3 dB and a resonance frequency of 251 kHz. The incorporation of a matching circuit significantly improved the magnitude indicating greater power transfer and consequently energy efficiency. The sharpening effect of ultrasound was qualitatively and quantitatively investigated, where both yielded a less tortuous cut under sonication in comparison to the unsonicated case. The addition of a matching circuit further improved the cutting efficiency. At an operating voltage of 10V peak , the cut made by the ultrasonic knife with a matching circuit was less tortuous than even an industrially cut edge, with a linearity of 61–63 % compared to 59 %, respectively
An introduction to Reconstructing Proto-Bantu Grammar
Get PDFThis book is about reconstructing the grammar of Proto-Bantu, the ancestral language at the origin of the African linguistic family commonly known as Bantu. It is about how to retrieve the phonology, the morphology and the syntax the earliest Bantu speakers used to communicate with each other. In §1, I explain how this book came about. In §2, I offer a short presentation of its contents. In §3, I reflect critically on a number of methodological issues. Finally, in §4, I attempt to assess to what extent the new research presented in this volume requires a revision of Meeussen (1967)
Improving Access to Healthcare for Persons Living with Intellectual Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Policy Makers, Health Workers and Social Workers
Get PDFAcross the globe, promoting the wellbeing of vulnerable populations is a key mandate of both governments and academics. Promoting the wellbeing of persons with intellectual disabilities is arguably one of the key responsibilities of social work academics in Ghana. In fulfilling this mandate, we have conducted a number of studies into the care and health needs of Persons Living with Intellectual Disabilities (PwIDs). We have prepared this policy brief as a way of informing policy and practice and making our research relevant to practitioners and policy makers in Ghana. Our aim is to, through this brief, bridge the divide between PwIDs and healthcare professionals
A Quaternion-Driven Deep Learning-Based Novel Approach For Mobile And Locomotive Robot Path Planning And Motion Prediction
Get PDFIn this study, I address the locomotive-robot dilemma in movement task sequences. Our method combines geometric motion planning and locomotion prediction using quaternions and deep learning architecture. This is comparable to human motion prediction. I begin by developing a collision-avoidance-based motion planning method. Then, using transformer deep learning, I anticipate robot locomotion. I used simulation to demonstrate my findings