Archives-December 2013

Learning disability of students is one of the major problems faced by teachers in a normal classroom. Due to learning disability a child needs extra care and attention from the parents and teachers as well for getting proper learning. Present study aimed to investigate the role of teachers in handling learning disable students in a normal classroom at primary education level. The study was conducted on 80 primary school teachers of Abbottabad (Pakistan). It was found that although, in general, according to pedagogies, teachers should consider learning disabilities of students in class room; but teachers face problems in handling these students due to not having proper training in this context.

Comparative photochemical and proximate composition of unfermented and fermented walnut kernel and walnut shell of (Tetracarpodium conophoroum) were carried out using Aspergillus niger to facilitate fermentation. Photochemical and proximate analysis was carried out based on [AOAC standard official methods of analysis of association of analytical chemist 13th edition Washington]. Values obtained for fermented kernels as against unfermented kernel at 95% confidence level was: unfermented kernel: Ash (4.00 0.02), moisture (7.00 0.02), protein (26.30 , crude fibre (6.81 fat (4.61 and CHO (51.27 . unfermented kernel: moisture (5.00 , protein (24.06 ash (4.70 , crude fibre (6.69 , fat (5.04 dry matter (95.00 , and CHO (54.19 the result obtained for the walnut shell was: fermented shell: Moisture (12.00 , Protein (1.52 , Ash (2.06 , Crude fibre (15.90 , Fat (0.61 , Dry matter (88.00 , and CHO (64.47 . for the unfermented shell; Moisture (10.00 , Protein (1.06 , Ash (1.50 , Crude fibre (16.13 , Dry matter (90.00 , Fat (0.90 , and CHO (71.77 . The result obtained showed that fermentation reduces the photochemical in the kernel and enhance the level of bio nutrient majorly protein and Crude fibre. Reducing sugar and alkaloid were completely eliminated through fermentation; this provides an appreciable development in medical and pharmaceutical research.

An investigation was conducted to assess the concentration of heavy metals in sediments in four selected locations along Lagos lagoon comprising Iddo, Makoko, Okobaba and Epe zones and correlate the effect of metal concentrations on benthic microbial population vis a vis the open water bacterial population. Physico-chemical analysis revealed that the pH was generally alkaline for all zones with the sediments and areas along the shoreline being higher. The concentration of lead, Iron and Nickel was more in Makoko. Zinc was more concentrated in Iddo, while the value for copper was more in Okobaba sediments. ANOVA analysis shows that mean measurements for all metals across the four locations for sample A, (0.184) and sample B (0.548) had no significant difference at 95% level of significance. For organic nutrients, ANOVA also showed no significant difference for sample A, (0.190) but significant difference for sample B (0.026) across the four areas at 95% significance. The benthic microbial population (bacteria, coliform and fungi) was less than that of surface water. Okobaba had the highest bacterial mean cfu/ml for water and sediment and highest fungal mean cfu/ml for water and sediment while the mean cfu value for coliform is highest in Iddo for water and sediment. The microorganisms isolated and identified were among others Pseudomonas putida, Citrobacter koseri, Escerichia coli, Enterobacter agglomerans, Neurospora sitophila, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium sp. The presence of high heavy metals concentrations in sediments and the high nutrient levels increased the BOD and pH thereby reducing the population of benthic microorganisms in the sediments showing that there is high pollution. Heavy metals are of public health significance and pose a threat to the survival of both humans and aquatic life.

A systematic study has been developed to check the quality of air in Lapai metropolis, Niger State, Nigeria. Aerosol samples were collected from four strategic locations during the period of June 2011, using the Gent Stacked sampler in order to characterize the elemental abundances in fine dust particles. In the application of Neutron Activation Analysis technique, the concentration of some heavy trace elements in the atmospheric aerosol were determined in which Vanadium and Manganese have been observed to be relatively lower compare to other elements. The computer software WINSPAN-2004 was used for peak identification, spectra evaluation and determination of the elemental concentrations of Calcium, Magnesium, Aluminum, Titanium and Sodium which revealed possible anthropogenic inputs into the air by means of automobile exhaust emissions, bush burning, welding activities and wind directional movement.

This study was designed to determine the predictors of literacy skills among Chinese preschoolers. There were 136 preschoolers aged ranged between three to six years old with their parents and teachers recruited in this study using a Multi-Stage Cluster sampling technique. Home-based learning activities were measured using Home Learning Environment Questionnaire (Lonigan & Farver, 2002). Meanwhile, children’s literacy skills were respectively assessed using Test of Early Reading Ability Third Edition (Reid, Hresko, & Hammill, 2001). This study found that preschoolers with higher level of literacy skills were came from families who practiced more home-based learning activities, and have highly educated parents and high family monthly income. Besides that, findings revealed that older children perform high level of literacy skills. The findings of this study imply that home learning was the most significant unique predictor of child’s literacy skills within all tested variables.

Mineral, physico-chemical, functional properties and fatty acid composition of Nigerian Periwinkle (Tympanotonus fuscatus var radula) were studied. The highest mineral in the sample was sodium with the value of 130mg per 100g while phosphorus had the lowest value of 2.18 mg per 100g. The refractive index was 1.46 and specific gravity was 0.89 g/cm3while the viscosity was 40.8 mPa/sec. Oleic acid had the highest value of 30.1% followed by Linoleic acid (27.9%) while palmitoleic acid (0.14%) was the lowest fatty acid in the sample.

In this paper, the electronic and the structural (lattice constant) properties of ?-MgH2 are calculated, using density functional theory. The Kohn-Sham equations were solved using the full potential-linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW). Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA) and GGA+U approximations are the exchange-correlation potential used in this study. It was found that adding Hubbard-U term to GGA improved calculated structural property, energy band structure results and are in better agreement with the experimental data.

The role of parasites in aquatic ecology and in fish culture can not be overemphasized. Increase number of parasites could affect health, growth and maturation of fish. Intestinal parasites in Synodontis clarias from River Dukku was investigated, a total of 200 fresh samples were randomly selected from the fish landing sites. They were immediately transported to the laboratory in an ice chest. Fishes were divided into three groups according to their sizes, their sexes were noted before they were subjected to parasitological examination. S. clarias was observed to have an overall infection of 68 %. Female fish species were observed to be more significantly (p<0.05) infected when compared with the male fish species. Fishes with the highest total weight value of 8.60-10.90 g were observed to have the highest prevalence rate of 75 % with a significant difference (p<0.05) when compared to the other groups. With respect to the number of parasite observed class Trematoda had the highest number of parasites, while class Cestoda was observed to be the least. This study infers that there is high prevalence of intestinal parasites in S. clarias captured from Dukku River.

This study had tried to assess the determinants of the food security of rural people of Malawi. The study was based on data collected from Malawi Third Integrated Household Survey (IHS3) in 2010/11. Since the objective variable is dichotomous type the study employ logistic regression model for analysis. There was consideration of different economic as well as societal factors to check that whether they significantly affect the dependent variable one or not. Based on the regression result eight of the regressors are significant in affecting probability of households to be food secured. Variables like education participation of households, sex of household head and age square positively affect the probability of being food secured. Other variables like cassava production, emergency of shocks, participation in off farm activities and age of household head affect probability of being food secured in the opposite direction as to the expectations. TLU and Land holding are insignificant in affecting the probability of rural households in order to be food secured.

Analysis of Reversed Hazard Rate (RHR) can provide insights in making it suitable for industrial applications. From the published literature it is learnt that Nature of reversed Hazard rate for standard continuous distributions is a decreasing function. Obviously this makes RHR suitable in the field of maintenance engineering to address hidden failures in a given system. One of its most useful applications lies in the assessment of waiting time of hidden failures. RHR is closely related to another important concept known as the mean waiting time. This concept is useful in casualty insurance, reliability, and medicine including forensic science to predict times of occurrences of events. For instance, the incubation times of diseases, are difficult to measure because the infection time is unobserved in general. Mean waiting time will offer its great help in such situations, which are analyzed and incorporated appropriately in this paper.