Search results for: K. Okoń

Authors: Bassey Igri Okon, Gloria Mayen Umukoro

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The United Nations faces the formidable challenge of ensuring sustainable food provision for the world's burgeoning population, as outlined in Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2. Predominantly, underdeveloped nations bear the brunt of hunger and poverty, lacking sustainable means of self-sustenance. A critical factor contributing to this dire situation is the underperformance of their agricultural sectors, ostensibly necessitating intervention from developed nations. This paper posits that the provision of Agricultural Aid has become a modern instrument of colonization. It unveils how developed countries, under the pretext of aid, perpetuate a neo-colonial dominance over underdeveloped nations. It is argued that unless these nations revert to indigenous farming methodologies and implement effective governance to enable sustainable agriculture, they are likely to remain entrapped in a relentless cycle of hunger, poverty, and economic subservience.

Keywords: aid autonomy, self-sufficiency, rethinking, neocolonialism, underdeveloped, indigenous farming

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Authors: Louis Okon Akpan

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National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is an open and distance learning institution whose aim is to provide education for all and also promote lifelong learning in Nigeria. Before now, student-centred learning was adopted. In recent times, online facilitation has been introduced. Therefore, the study explores ways in which students are satisfied with online facilitation provided by NOUN lecturers. A qualitative approach was adopted. The interpretive paradigm was employed as a lens to interpret narratives from the participants. In order to gather information for the study, a semi-structured interview was developed for sixteen participants who were purposively selected from eight facilities of the university. After data gathering from the field, it was subjected to transcription and coding. The emergence of themes from the coded data was analysed using thematic analysis. Findings indicated that students found online learning, recently introduced by the university management, extremely fulfilling and rewarding.

Keywords: online facilitation, lecturer, students’ satisfaction, National Open University of Nigeria

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Authors: Charles Okon Effiong

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This paper is a sociolinguistic analysis of the semantics of students’ slang in Akwa Ibom State College of Education, Afaha Nsit, Nigeria. The descriptive survey design was deployed for the study and data were collected from one hundred and fifty (150) students through a series of instruments such as questionnaire, interviews and observations. The questionnaire was administered randomly to levels 200, 300 and Extra Time students only. Interviews and observations were also conducted on the students. These categories of students were selected because they had spent a longer time in the college and were thought to be familiar with campus slang. A total of ninety two (92) slang expressions were taken from the questionnaire and out of this number, twenty six (26) slang expressions were peculiar to the college while sixty six (66) were those slang terms also used in the society. The study proves the notion that every speaker handles a variety of registers and tends to choose among them in accordance with the social situation in which he finds himself. The study shows campus slang as a sociolect which facilitates communication among the students in a different sense. The slang expressions are fully intelligible to the students and this unique and elaborate lexicon serves to achieve group identity among other social implications.

Keywords: communication, slang, social relationship, sociolinguistics

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Authors: Eni I. Eni, James Okon, Ashang J. Ashang

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The pre-degree programme of the University of Calabar was introduced to help increase access to tertiary Education in science related courses. This has become necessary due to population increase and public awareness. Its main objective was to provide access to candidates from educationally less developed states (ELDS) and states within its catchment area. To find out if this objective of the programme has been achieved, an impact evaluation of the programme was conducted, from where the aspect of providing access to University Education was reported here. It was reasoned that if this objective of the programme was properly implemented, there should be an evidence of increase in the access to University Education. To achieve the purpose of this study, two research questions were formulated; expost-facto research design and purposive sampling technique were adopted for the study. Data was collected from the Faculty of Science and analyzed using descriptive statistics in terms of frequencies and percentages. The result of data analysis showed that the pre-degree programme of the University of Calabar has provided educational access to Nigerians especially those from educationally less developed states in science related courses. It was therefore recommended that the programme be sustained and further be improved upon to facilitate its continued provision of access to University Education in Nigeria.

Keywords: higher education, pre-degree programme, University of Calabar, educationally less developed states

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Authors: Mahtab Davari, Charles Edward Okon, Somayeh Aghanavesi

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Every institute of learning is usually interested in the performance of enrolled students. The level of these performances determines the approach an institute of study may adopt in rendering academic services. The focus of this paper is to evaluate students' academic performance in given courses of study using machine learning methods. This study evaluated various supervised machine learning classification algorithms such as Logistic Regression (LR), Support Vector Machine, Random Forest, Decision Tree, K-Nearest Neighbors, Linear Discriminant Analysis, and Quadratic Discriminant Analysis, using selected features to predict study performance. The accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score obtained from a 5-Fold Cross-Validation were used to determine the best classification algorithm to predict students’ performances. SVM (using a linear kernel), LDA, and LR were identified as the best-performing machine learning methods. Also, using the LR model, this study identified students' educational habits such as reading and paying attention in class as strong determinants for a student to have an above-average performance. Other important features include the academic history of the student and work. Demographic factors such as age, gender, high school graduation, etc., had no significant effect on a student's performance.

Keywords: student performance, supervised machine learning, classification, cross-validation, prediction

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Authors: Imeobong Joseph Inyang, Aniekan-Augusta Okon Eyo, Abel William Essien

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Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the known human carcinogens. The presence of HBsAg in liver tissues indicates active viral replication. More than 85% of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) cases occur in countries with increased rates of chronic HBV infection. An evaluation study to determine the relationship between positivity for HBsAg and development of HCC and its distribution between age and gender of subjects was done. Shikata Orcein and Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining techniques were performed on liver sections. A total of 50 liver tissue specimens comprising 38 biopsy and 12 post-mortem specimens were processed. Thirty-five of the 50 specimens were positive for HBsAg with Orcein stain whereas only 16 were positive with H&E stain, and these were also positive with Orcein stain, giving an HBsAg prevalence of 70.0% (35/50). The prevalence of HCC in the study was 56.0% (28/50), of which 21 (75.0%) cases were positive for HBsAg, 18 (64.3%) were males while 10 (35.7%) were females distributed within the age range of 20-70 years. The highest number of HBsAg positive HCC cases, 7/21 (33.3%) occurred in the age group 40-49 years. There was no relationship in the pattern of distribution of HCC between age and gender using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r = 0.0474; P < 0.05). HBV infection predisposed to HCC. Orcein technique was more specific and is therefore recommended for screening of liver tissues where facilities for immunohistochemistry are inaccessible.

Keywords: Hepatitis B. surface antigen, hepatocellular carcinoma, orcein, pathology

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Authors: Etim, Victoria Enefiok, Dada, Oluseyi Akintunde, Bassey Okon

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Phonological disorder is a serious and disturbing issue to many parents and teachers. Efforts towards resolving the problem have been undermined by other specific disabilities which were hidden to many regular and special education teachers. It is against this background that this study was motivated to provide data on the prevalence of phonological disorders in children with specific language impairment (CWSLI) as the first step towards critical intervention. The study was a survey of 15 CWSLI from St. Louise Inclusive schools, Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. Phonological Processes Diagnostic Scale (PPDS) with 17 short sentences, which cut across the five phonological processes that were examined, were validated by experts in test measurement, phonology and special education. The respondents were made to read the sentences with emphasis on the targeted sounds. Their utterances were recorded and analyzed in the language laboratory using Praat Software. Data were also collected through friendly interactions at different times from the clients. The theory of generative phonology was adopted for the descriptive analysis of the phonological processes. Data collected were analyzed using simple percentage and composite bar chart for better understanding of the result. The study found out that CWSLI exhibited the five phonological processes under investigation. It was revealed that 66.7%, 80%, 73.3%, 80%, and 86.7% of the respondents have severe deficit in fricative stopping, velar fronting, liquid gliding, final consonant deletion and cluster reduction, respectively. It was therefore recommended that a nationwide survey should be carried out to have national statistics of CWSLI with phonological deficits and develop intervention strategies for effective therapy to remediate the disorder.

Keywords: language disorders, phonology, phonological processes, specific language impairment

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Authors: Donald B. Enu, Clement O. Ukpor, Abigail E. Okon

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Unreliable scoring of students’ performance by lecturers short-chains students’ assessment in terms of underequipping the school authority with facts as intended by society through the curriculum hence, the learners, the school and the society are cheated because the usefulness of testing is defeated. This study, therefore, examined lecturers’ scoring objectivity of essay items in the Department of Social Science Education, University of Calabar, Nigeria. Specifically, it assessed lecturers’ perception of the relevance of scoring rubrics and its level of application. Data were collected from all the 36 lecturers in the Department (28 members and 8 non-members adjourned to the department), through a 20-item questionnaire and checklist instruments. A case-study design was adopted. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, weighted means, standard deviations, and percentages were used to analyze data gathered. A mean score of 2.5 and or 60 percent and above formed the acceptance or significant level in decision taking. It was found that lecturers perceived the use of scoring rubrics as a relevant practice to ensure fairness and reliable treatment of examiners scripts particularly in marking essay items and that there is a moderately high level of adherence to the application of scoring rubrics. It was also observed that some criteria necessary for the scoring objectivity of essay items were not fully put in place in the department. It was recommended strongly that students’ identities be hidden while marking and that pre-determined marking scheme should be prepared centrally and strictly adhered to during marking and recording of scores. Conference marking should be enforced in the department.

Keywords: essay items, objective scoring, scorers reliability, scoring rubrics

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Authors: Godwin Bassey Okon

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The need to streamline viewers’ disposition towards the predominant portrayal of rituals, in most Nigerian home videos, as a way of life in the southern part of Nigeria necessitated this study. The focus however was on ascertaining if such portrayals dovetail within the framework of construction of social reality or misconstruction of social reality. In other words, do the people of the southern part of Nigeria engage in rituals as a means of acquiring wealth or do they merely have proclivity for diabolism, as frequently portrayed in home videos subsumed in their socio-cultural settings? The method of study was survey with the questionnaire as the predominant instrument. The questionnaire was used to elicit responses from Portharcourt city residents on their views and reactions in the light of ritual themes in Nigerian home videos. The choice of Portharcourt was informed by the fact that it is a foremost cosmopolitan city in the south. A Sample size of 400 was drawn from a population of 1,382,392 using Taro Yamane’s formula. Actual respondents were reached using a multi-stage cluster sampling technique. The reliability of the instrument as ascertained through Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation stood at 0.89. Findings however revealed that ritual themes, as used in Nigerian home videos, did not significantly reflect the cultural heritage of the people of southern Nigeria. Findings further showed that their excessive use in Nigerian home videos served only to create frills and thrills in plots. A synthesis of the foregoing, however, revealed that viewers are not favourably disposed towards the excessive use of ritual themes since they inadvertently portray the cultural heritage of the people of the south in the negative. To this end, it was recommended that producers of Nigerian home videos should focus more on themes that serve to construct social reality while projecting favorably the rich cultural heritage of the people. In terms of contribution to knowledge, the findings of this study tend to reinforce the notion of film as a conveyor belt in cognitive constructs.

Keywords: disposition, home videos, ritual, social reality, themes

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Authors: Marian Emmanuel Okon

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Introduction: The Niger Delta region of Nigeria has a vast reserve of oil and gas, which has globally positioned the nation as the sixth largest exporter of crude oil. Production rapidly rose following oil discovery. In most oil producing nations of the world, the wealth generated from oil production and export has propelled economic advancement, enabling the development of industries and other relevant infrastructures. Therefore, it can be assumed that majority of the oil resource such as Nigeria’s, has the potential to improve the health of the population via job creation and derived revenues. However, the health benefits of this economic development might be offset by the environmental consequences of oil exploitation and production. Objective: This research aims to evaluate the balance between the health benefits of oil-led economic development and harmful environmental consequences of crude oil exploitation in Nigeria. Study Design: A pathway has been designed to guide data search and this study. The model created will assess the relationship between oil-led economic development and population health development via job creation, improvement of education, development of infrastructure and other forms of development as well as through harmful environmental consequences from oil activities. Data/Emerging Findings: Diverse potentially suitable datasets which are at different geographical scales have been identified, obtained or applied for and the dataset from the World Bank has been the most thoroughly explored. This large dataset contains information that would enable the longitudinal assessment of both the health benefits and harms from oil exploitation in Nigeria as well as identify the disparities that exist between the communities, states and regions. However, these data do not extend far back enough in time to capture the start of crude oil production. Thus, it is possible that the maximum economic benefits and health harms could be missed. To deal with this shortcoming, the potential for a comparative study with countries like United Kingdom, Morocco and Cote D’ivoire has also been taken into consideration, so as to evaluate the differences between these countries as well as identify the areas of improvement in Nigeria’s environmental and health policies. Notwithstanding, these data have shown some differences in each country’s economic, environmental and health state over time as well as a corresponding summary statistics. Conclusion: In theory, the beneficial effects of oil exploitation to the health of the population may be substantial as large swaths of the ‘wider determinants’ of population heath are influenced by the wealth of a nation. However, if uncontrolled, the consequences from environmental pollution and degradation may outweigh these benefits. Thus, there is a need to address this, in order to improve environmental and population health in Nigeria.

Keywords: environmental pollution, health benefits, oil-led economic development, petroleum exploitation

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Authors: J. Szpor, K. Witczak, M. Storman, A. Orchel, D. Hodorowicz-Zaniewska, K. Okoń, A. Klimkowska

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Core needle biopsy (CNB) is well established as an important diagnostic tool in diagnosing breast cancer and it is now considered the initial method of choice for diagnosing breast disease. In comparison to fine needle aspiration (FNA), CNB provides more architectural information allowing for the evaluation of prognostic and predictive factors for breast cancer, including histological grade—one of three prognostic factors used to calculate the Nottingham Prognostic Index. Several studies have previously described the concordance rate between CNB and surgical excision specimen in determination of histological grade (HG). The concordance rate previously ascribed to overall grade varies widely across literature, ranging from 59-91%. The aim of this study is to see how the data looks like in material at authors’ institution and are the results as compared to those described in previous literature. The study population included 157 women with a breast tumor who underwent a core needle biopsy for breast carcinoma and a subsequent surgical excision of the tumor. Both materials were evaluated for the determination of histological grade (scale from 1 to 3). HG was assessed only in core needle biopsies containing at least 10 well preserved HPF with invasive tumor. The degree of concordance between CNB and surgical excision specimen for the determination of tumor grade was assessed by Cohen’s kappa coefficient. The level of agreement between core needle biopsy and surgical resection specimen for overall histologic grading was 73% (113 of 155 cases). CNB correctly predicted the grade of the surgical excision specimen in 21 cases for grade 1 tumors (Kappa coefficient κ = 0.525 95% CI (0.3634; 0.6818), 52 cases for grade 2 (Kappa coefficient κ = 0.5652 95% CI (0.458; 0.667) and 40 cases for stage 3 tumors (Kappa coefficient κ = 0.6154 95% CI (0.4862; 0.7309). The highest level of agreement was observed in grade 3 malignancies. In 9 of 42 (21%) discordant cases, the grade was higher in the CNB than in the surgical excision. This composed 6% of the overall discordance. These results correspond to the noted in the literature, showing that underestimation occurs more frequently than overestimation. This study shows that authors’ institution’s histologic grading of CNBs and surgical excisions shows a fairly good correlation and is consistent with findings in previous reports. Despite the inevitable limitations of CNB, CNB is an effective method for diagnosing breast cancer and managing treatment options. Assessment of tumour grade by CNB is useful for the planning of treatment, so in authors’ opinion it is worthy to implement it in daily practice.

Keywords: breast cancer, concordance, core needle biopsy, histological grade

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Authors: Ekemini M. Okon, Reuben C. Okocha, Babatunde T. Adesina, Judith O. Ehigie, Babatunde M. Falana, Boluwape T. Okikiola

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has evolved to become a significant threat to global public health and food safety. The development of AMR in animals has been associated with antimicrobial overuse. In recent years, the number of antimicrobials used in food animals such as fish and poultry has escalated. It, therefore, becomes imperative to understand the patterns of AMR in fish and poultry and map out future directions for better surveillance efforts. This study used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses(PRISMA) to assess the trend, patterns, and spatial distribution for AMR research in Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa. A literature search was conducted through the Scopus and Web of Science databases in which published studies on AMR between 1989 and 2021 were assessed. A total of 172 articles were relevant for this study. The result showed progressive attention on AMR studies in fish and poultry from 2018 to 2021 across the selected countries. The period between 2018 (23 studies) and 2021 (25 studies) showed a significant increase in AMR publications with a peak in 2019 (28 studies). Egypt was the leading exponent of AMR research (43%, n=74) followed by Nigeria (40%, n=69), then South Africa (17%, n=29). AMR studies in fish received relatively little attention across countries. The majority of the AMR studies were on poultry in Egypt (82%, n=61), Nigeria (87%, n=60), and South Africa (83%, n=24). Further, most of the studies were on Escherichia and Salmonella species. Antimicrobials frequently researched were ampicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, trimethoprim, chloramphenicol, and sulfamethoxazole groups. Multiple drug resistance was prevalent, as demonstrated by antimicrobial resistance patterns. In poultry, Escherichia coli isolates were resistant to cefotaxime, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, gentamycin, ciprofloxacin, oxytetracycline, kanamycin, nalidixic acid, tetracycline, trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole, erythromycin, and ampicillin. Salmonella enterica serovars were resistant to tetracycline, trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole, cefotaxime, and ampicillin. Staphylococcusaureus showed high-level resistance to streptomycin, kanamycin, erythromycin, cefoxitin, trimethoprim, vancomycin, ampicillin, and tetracycline. Campylobacter isolates were resistant to ceftriaxone, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, and nalidixic acid at varying degrees. In fish, Enterococcus isolates showed resistance to penicillin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, vancomycin, and tetracycline but sensitive to ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, and rifampicin. Isolated strains of Vibrio species showed sensitivity to florfenicol and ciprofloxacin, butresistance to trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole and erythromycin. Isolates of Aeromonas and Pseudomonas species exhibited resistance to ampicillin and amoxicillin. Specifically, Aeromonashydrophila isolates showed sensitivity to cephradine, doxycycline, erythromycin, and florfenicol. However, resistance was also exhibited against augmentinandtetracycline. The findings constitute public and environmental health threats and suggest the need to promote and advance AMR research in other countries, particularly those on the global hotspot for antimicrobial use.

Keywords: antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance, bacteria, environment, public health

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