103 research outputs found
A systematic review on COVID-19 pandemic with special emphasis on curative potentials of Nigeria based medicinal plants
No full textDespite the frightening mortality rate associated with COVID-19, there is no known approved drug to effectively combat the pandemic. COVID-19 clinical manifestations include fever, fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, and other complications. At present, there is no known effective treatment or vaccine that can mitigate/inhibit SARS-CoV-2. Available clinical intervention for COVID-19 is only palliative and limited to support. Thus, there is an exigent need for effective and non-invasive treatment. This article evaluates the possible mechanism of actions of SARS-CoV-2 and present Nigeria based medicinal plants which have pharmacological and biological activities that can mitigate the hallmarks of the pathogenesis of COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 mode of actions includes hyper-inflammation characterized by a severe and fatal hyper-cytokinaemia with multi-organ failure; immunosuppression; reduction of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) to enhance pulmonary vascular permeability causing damage to the alveoli; and further activated by open reading frame (ORF)3a, ORF3b, and ORF7a via c-Jun N- terminal kinase (JNK) pathway which induces lung damage. These mechanisms of action of SARS-CoV-2 can be mitigated by a combination therapy of medicinal herbs based on their pharmacological activities. Since the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 are multifactorial with co-morbidities, we strongly recommend the use of combined therapy such that two or more herbs with specific therapeutic actions are administered to combat the mediators of the disease.Fil: Oladele, Johnson O.. Kings University; NigeriaFil: Ajayi, Ebenezer Idowu O. Osun State University; Nigeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; ArgentinaFil: Oyeleke, Oyedotun M.. Kings University; NigeriaFil: Oladele, Oluwaseun T.. Osun State University; NigeriaFil: Olowookere, Boyede D.. Kings University; NigeriaFil: Adeniyi, Boluwaji M.. Benue State University; NigeriaFil: Oyewole, Olu I.. Osun State University; NigeriaFil: Oladiji, Adenike T.. University Of Ilorin; Nigeri
Concrete & Pavement Crack Dataset
No full textTitle: Crack Detection in Concrete and Pavement using Convolutional Neural NetworksSummary: This dataset contains 30,000 images of concrete and pavement surfaces, classified into two categories: crack and non-crack. The images were obtained from the Nigerian Army University Biu in Borno state, Nigeria, and collected by Omoebamije Oluwaseun, a civil engineering student, for his final year project. The images were collected using a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise drone (for the high-ups) and a smartphone (for the ones beneath the average window height). The dataset was saved in RGB, JPEG format and downsized to 227 x 227 pixels.Content: The dataset consists of two folders: "positive" and "negative", containing images of cracked and non-cracked concrete surfaces, respectively. Each image in the dataset is in JPEG format, with a resolution of 227 x 227 pixels in RGB format.Usefulness: This dataset can be used for training and testing convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for crack detection in concrete. The dataset has been used by the author to achieve over 98% accuracy on his model, and it can be used for research purposes only. The author must be properly referenced if the dataset is used for any purpose.Details:Source: Nigerian Army University Biu, Borno state, NigeriaCollector: Omoebamije OluwaseunFormat: RGB, JPEGResolution: 227 x 227 pixelsClasses: crack, non-crackTotal images: 30,00
Aquifer Mapping and Characterization in the Complex Transition Zone of Ijebu Ode, Southwestern Nigeria
No full textOffline yorùbá handwritten word recognition using geometric feature extraction and support vector machine classifier / Matthias Omotayo Oladele …[et al.]
No full textYorùbá language is one of the three main languages that is been spoken in Nigeria. It is a tonal language that carries an accent on the vowel alphabets. There are twenty-five (25) alphabets in Yorùbá language with one of the alphabets a digraph (GB). Due to the difficulty in typing handwritten Yorùbá documents, there is a need to develop a handwritten recognition system that can convert the handwritten texts to digital format. This study discusses the offline Yorùbá handwritten word recognition system (OYHWR) that recognizes Yorùbá uppercase alphabets. Handwritten characters and words were obtained from different writers using the paint application and M708 graphics tablets. The characters were used for training and the words were used for testing. Pre-processing was done on the images and the geometric features of the images were extracted using zoning and gradient-based feature extraction. Geometric features are the different line types that form a particular character such as the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines. The geometric features used are the number of horizontal lines, number of vertical lines, number of right diagonal lines, number of left diagonal lines, total length of all horizontal lines, total length of all vertical lines, total length of all right slanting lines, total length of all left-slanting lines and the area of the skeleton. The characters are divided into 9 zones and gradient feature extraction was used to extract the horizontal and vertical components and geometric features in each zone. The words were fed into the support vector machine classifier and the performance was evaluated based on recognition accuracy. Support vector machine is a two-class classifier, hence a multiclass SVM classifier least square support vector machine (LSSVM) was used for word recognition. The one vs one strategy and RBF kernel were used and the recognition accuracy obtained from the tested words ranges between 66.7%, 83.3%, 85.7%, 87.5%, and 100%. The low recognition rate for some of the words could be as a result of the similarity in the extracted features
Scourge of Ages: African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) Interventions in Somalia and the Free Reign of Violence in Africa
No full textFor the draftsmen and composers of the African Union (AU), the organ of Peace and Security Council (PSC) is not only a clone of the Security Council of the United Nations; it is intended to give aggregate security and early-cautioning course of action against Africa's unlimited clashes and to encourage auspicious and proficient reaction. Also, the Constitutive Act and the Protocol on the PSC accommodate more vigorous engagement and significantly more noteworthy extension in examples of both between and intra-state clashes. Be that as it may, the intercessions of the PSC in some of Africa's auditoriums of contention have brought up central issues on how the organ plays out its triangular parts of contention anticipation, administration, and determination. With a unique spotlight on the Horn of Africa - the most unstable and seemingly a standout amongst the most hazardous districts on the planet, the paper expects to evaluate the difficulties confronting PSC mediation instruments, particularly the parts of the African Standby Force and its activities. The paper contends that the PSC must move past negligible talk of plan setting to more 'powerful or aggressive' engagement by fortifying its tasks. It at last backers’ proactive strategy choices on how its parts could be upgraded in the district. 
Assessment of Protective Potentials of Ficus Exasperata Leaf on Arsenate-Mediated Dyslipidemia and Oxidative Damage in Rat’s Brain
No full textThis study investigated the protective potentials of methanolic leaf extract of Ficus exasperata on sodium arsenate-mediated dyslipidemia and oxidative damage in the brain of rats. Twenty-eight rats were sorted into four groups containing seven rats each. Group A (control) received distilled water while 10 mg/kg bw of arsenic in form of sodium arsenate (As) was administered intraperitoneally to groups B, C and D. Group C and D were treated with oral administration of 100 mg/kg bw and 200 mg/kg bw of F. exasperata leaf respectively for 14 days. Arsenate administration resulted in dyslipidemia as shown by significant elevation (P<0.05) in total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol and coronary heart disease risk ratio while it also reduced HDL-cholesterol in the rats. It also causes lipid peroxidation and oxidative damage in the brains of the rat with significant elevation of malondialdehyde level and decrease in levels of reduced glutathione, glutathione s-transferase, catalase and superoxide dismutase. Histology of the cortex region of brain of the rats treated with arsenate showed abnormal neuronal morphology with neuronal degeneration and necrosis. However, treatment with F. exasperata significantly reversed and attenuated the arsenatemediated biochemical alterations. We demonstrated in this study that F. exasperata leaf effectively protects against arsenate-induced dyslipidemia and oxidative damage in rat’s brain
Determinants of training needs of youths in broiler chicken production in Osun State, Nigeria and implications for extension workers
No full textSaabunud / Received 10.10.2019 ; Aktsepteeritud / Accepted 17.12.2019 ; Avaldatud veebis / Published online 25.12.2019 ; Vastutav autor / Corresponding author: Mary Oluwaseun Olumide-Oyaniyi e-mail: [email protected] study identified the factors influencing the training needs of youth in broiler chicken production and drew implications for extension workers in Osun State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 221 youth farmers through a purposive sampling procedure and a snowball sampling technique. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, regression and factor analytical techniques. Findings reveal that 43.4% of the respondents were between the ages of 26 and 30 years, 26.7% were between the ages of 31 and 35 years, 19.0% were above 36 years of age while 10.9% of the respondents were less than 25 years of age. Majority (60.2%) of the respondents were males while others 39.8% were females. In addition, 40.7% of the respondents had at least three years of broiler chicken production experience, 34.8% had four to six years of experience, 17.6% had seven to nine years of experience and the remaining 6.8% had more than 10 years of broiler chicken production experience. In addition, vast Majority 86.0% of the respondents raise below 200 birds at the time of this research, 8.1% raise between 201 and 300 birds, 5.0% raised above 401 birds while the remaining 0.9% of the respondents raised between 301 and 400 birds. Furthermore, majority (60.2%) of the respondents have not received any training in poultry farming in the past one year while 39.8% of respondents received training between two to five times in the past one year. In addition, respondents were highly in need of training in five standard practices involved in broiler chicken production, which are: growing management / daily routine management, poultry housing, marketing of birds, litter management and equipment. Two groups of factors; income factors (33.2%) and training related factors (21.0%) that were isolated contributed 54.2% to the training needs of youth in broiler chicken production in Osun State, Nigeria
How important is it to have a special law governing Islamic banking?
No full textThe ascendancy of Islamic finance particularly its offshoot, Islamic banking has been aggressive considering its spate of development. A salient factor responsible for this is the governing law for such financing paradigm. It is however contestable whether the workability of Islamic banking hinges on dedicated governing laws, amended subsisting laws or existing laws. In other words, is the existing legal (conventional) infrastructure adequate for any Islamic finance jurisdiction, or is there a need for a separate governing law? It is evident that this question is pertinent, vexed and has far-reaching implications. This article seeks to attend to this question in a very concise manner. Thus, the author forms an opinion common-sensibly resorting to comparative analysis, with or without judgements as well as real world country case studies
How important is it to have a special law governing Islamic banking?
No full textThe ascendancy of Islamic finance particularly its offshoot, Islamic banking has been
aggressive considering its spate of development. A salient factor responsible for this is the
governing law for such financing paradigm. It is however contestable whether the
workability of Islamic banking hinges on dedicated governing laws, amended subsisting
laws or existing laws. In other words, is the existing legal (conventional) infrastructure
adequate for any Islamic finance jurisdiction, or is there a need for a separate governing
law? It is evident that this question is pertinent, vexed and has far-reaching implications.
This article seeks to attend to this question in a very concise manner. Thus, the author forms
an opinion common-sensibly resorting to comparative analysis, with or without judgements
as well as real world country case studies
Capacity Building and Administrative Skills Development Among Church Pastors of Oyo Baptist Conference
No full textAdministrative skills that contribute to the effectiveness of church pastors in administering the church have witnessed a steady decline in recent times among pastors of Oyo Baptist Conference. Therefore, this study examined capacity building and administrative skills development among church pastors of Oyo Baptist Conference. The study employed a descriptive research design. Two sets of questionnaires were designed as instruments for pastors and church members. The sample was one hundred and sixty. Eighty church pastors and eighty church members responded respectively. Split-half method of calculating the reliability coefficient was used to check the reliability of the research instruments which yielded 0.786 and 0.740 respectively. Data collected were analysed using the SPSS package to get descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that pastors of Oyo Baptist Conference give good attention to professional conferences like ministers’ Conferences. The study also revealed that the extent of practicing administrative skills is high. The study disclosed that the prominent factor that affects capacity building is that some churches have policies that hinder their pastors from further training until after some years. Furthermore, capacity building improves the overall performance of pastors as a result of the administrative skills developed. Therefore, it can be concluded that capacity building leads to the development of administrative skills and this will bring improvement to performance of the pastors. It is recommended that pastors of Oyo Baptist Conference should explore other opportunities like workshop, in-service training, to build their capacities and churches of Oyo Baptist Conference should make funds available to assist their pastors in capacity building. 
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