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Effect of computerization on the transparency of service delivery in the selected government ministries in Anambra State Nigeria between the periods of 2015 - 2023
No full textThe rapid advancement of information technology has transformed public sector operations globally. In Nigeria, government ministries increasingly adopt computerization to improve transparency and efficiency. The study adopted a survey research design using structured questionnaires to collect data from 294 staff across four ministries (Education 112, Finance 114, Works 38, Women Affairs 30) in Anambra State. The population of 1,105 staff was sampled using Yaro Yamane’s formula with a 5% margin of error. Data included both primary (questionnaires) and secondary (documents, literature) sources. The questionnaire, validated through expert review and pretested with 30 health ministry staff, utilized a four-point Likert scale. SPSS software handled data analysis, applying descriptive statistics and independent samples t-test to test hypotheses. Reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha. The findings reveal that financial resources (47.6% strongly agree), leadership support (38.4% strongly agree), and IT infrastructure (53.1% agree) strongly influenced e-administration transparency. Training received mixed responses, with 32.3% strongly agreeing, while interdepartmental collaboration had 40.5% agreeing. Opinions varied on project management (39.8% strongly disagree, 34.7% strongly agree) and stakeholder engagement (40.5% strongly disagree). Data security raised concerns (56.8% strongly disagree), while change management (56.5% agree) and continuous monitoring (45.9% strongly agree) received positive responses. Statistical analysis showed employees with first degrees (mean 30.83) outperformed postgraduates (mean 28.29), with significant differences (p = 0.001), suggesting educational background influenced e-administration service delivery. The study confirmed that computerization improved transparency and service delivery in Anambra State ministries, driven by financial support, leadership commitment, IT infrastructure, training, and monitoring. Challenges included data security and stakeholder engagement. Educational background influenced adaptability, with first-degree holders performing better. Strengthening weak areas can enhance digital governance outcomes. The study recommends strengthening data protection measures and adopting inclusive stakeholder management practices to maximize the benefits of e-administration
Collapse Theory: Resolving Free Will, Consciousness, and Qualia Structurally
No full textCollapse Theory offers a structural resolution to free will, consciousness, and qualia. Where dominant models fragment mind into traits, reactions, or paradoxes, Collapse unifies them through recursive constraint resolution. Consciousness is defined as a field of meta-functions (BALSAMIC), free will as the force that selects action under pressure (META), and qualia as the structural trace of collapse (ABCD). Backed by over one million data points, Collapse Theory models how meaning is selected, encoded, and recursively activated. This is not metaphor—it is structure. A functional ontology of mind. Tested. Measurable. And recursive. Collapse Theory is a working resolution engine and can be codex into any LLM for instant observer layer AGI
Comparative study on the phytochemical composition, amino acid profile, antioxidant, in vitro anti-inflammatory, and in vitro anti-diabetic activities on the leaf and stem bark of Acalypha indica
No full textHerbal practitioners have long used Indian mercury (Acalypha indica) for therapeutic purposes. Research has proven that A. indica offers medicinal properties encompassing purgative, antifungal, and antibacterial action. This study aims to evaluate and compare the total phenolic and flavonoid content, amino acid profile, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and anti-inflammatory activities of the A. indica leaf and stem. The quantitative phytochemical screening and amino acid profiling were carried out using standard methods. Antioxidant activities were investigated by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging method. Anti-inflammatory activities were obtained through the heat-induced hemoglobin denaturation inhibition method and the proteinase inhibition method. Anti-diabetic activities were assessed using an α-amylase inhibition assay. From the quantitative phytochemical screening, the total phenolic and total flavonoid contents were 100.5±0.01 and 93.48±0.40 for the leaf extract, and 92.2±0.26 and 139.0±0.28 for the stem respectively. The amino acid profiling for the stem showed concentration for the essential and non-essential amino acids with isoleucine and proline being the most abundant, and glysine having no concentration. The antioxidant potential at 1.0-200 µg/mL produced an IC50 of 4.16±0.04 µg/mL for the leaf extract, 5.57±0.06 µg/mL for the stem extract and 6.37±0.11 µg/mL for standard (ascorbic acid). Analysis for the anti-inflammatory studies revealed that the leaf extract of A. indica demonstrated better heat-induced hemoglobin denaturation protection when compared to the stem extract and for the anti-proteinase effects, the stem extract produced a more powerful dose-dependent outcome compared to the leaf extract. The anti-diabetic potential at 0.1-0.5 µg/mL produced an IC50 of 0.14±0.06 µg/mL for the leaf extract, 0.18±0.04 µg/mL for the stem extract, and 17.79±0.18 µg/mL for standard (acarbose). The study findings validate A. indica as a promising medicinal agent for managing inflammation, diabetes, and oxidative stress
Trust, Risk, and Mere Vulnerability
No full textMany philosophers of trust endorse the idea that trust is inherently risky. This raises the question of how exactly we ought to understand the relevant notion of risk. Should we understand it in objectivist or evidentialist terms? I argue that neither of these two ways of unpacking things holds up in light of number of clear examples of trust where there is no associated risk. In view of this failure to make sense of what it could mean for trust to inherently involve risk, I propose an alternative account that takes vulnerability, rather than risk, to be necessary for trust. I suggest that philosophers of trust have hitherto failed to be sensitive to this distinction, leading to widespread acceptance of the falsehood that trust essentially entails risk. I provide a range of examples of “mere” vulnerability with no associated risk and then argue that vulnerability is the better notion to help us capture what is essentially involved in placing our trust in others
Foucault’s naturalism: The importance of scientific epistemology for the genealogical method
No full textবিএনপির অবস্থান কি গণঅভ্যুত্থানের আকাঙ্ক্ষাবিরোধী?
No full textরাষ্ট্র সংস্কার কমিশনের প্রস্তাব নিয়ে বিএনপির মত বিভক্ত। কিছু প্রস্তাবে তারা একমত, কিছুতে আংশিক, আর কিছুতে বিরোধিতা করেছে। বিশেষত, সংবিধান সংশোধনে গণভোটের প্রস্তাবে তারা আপত্তি জানিয়েছে, রাজনৈতিক সরকারের অধীনে তার নিরপেক্ষতা নিয়ে সন্দেহ আছে। অনেকে মনে করছেন, এতে বিএনপি গণঅভ্যুত্থানের বিপক্ষে যাচ্ছে। কিন্তু লেখক বলেন, সব প্রস্তাবে একমত না হওয়া মানেই গণঅভ্যুত্থানের বিরোধিতা নয়
Grouping approaches to PFAS and industry funding: a case study on the findings of a recent panel of experts
No full textPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large class of chemicals, whose carbon-fluorine bonds allow a wide range of industrial applications but also make them highly persistent. Since there is evidence about only a few of them and their properties may vary, one of the pressing issues regarding PFAS is how to group them for different purposes. In this paper, I aim to show how a recent panel of experts about grouping PFAS was co-opted in a way that favor the fluorine industry. The panel consisted of eleven experts, including authors renowned for views in conflict with fluorine industry regulatory approaches, answering questions through an online application. Its main results along with the experts’ answers were published in 2022 in the journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. Through a detailed analysis of all the material published and in dialogue with the literature about industry-funded research, I will present how choices in the design of the panel (e.g., which kind of consensus the exercise could capture, the ways questions were framed or even changed), in textual analysis (e.g., criteria for assembling opinions) and in the communication of the findings (e.g., what gets included or excluded) were made in an industry friendly way affecting two specific grouping approaches. I conclude with some lessons about this kind of influence of industry funding
Jecker and Atuire’s African Reflections on Being a Person: More Welcome Non-Western Thought about Moral Status
No full textA brief critical notice of _What Is a Person?_ by Nancy Jecker and Caesar Atuire focusing on their relational account of what gives human beings a dignity