Cross River University of Technology

About: Cross River University of Technology is a education organization based out in Calabar, Nigeria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Exergy. The organization has 465 authors who have published 507 publications receiving 2705 citations.

Use of Student Achievement Scores as Basis for Assessing Teachers’ Instructional Effectiveness: Issues and Research Results

Abstract: Assessment is very important in the learning and instructional processes. Equally important is the use to which assessment results are put. Use of student achievement scores (SAS) as a basis for assessing the teacher's instructional compet ence or effectiveness is one of the controversial approaches to teacher evaluation. This paper examined the issues characterizing th e use of SAS as a basis of teacher assessment, and presents research results from Nigeria and abroad on the attitude of teachers to t his approach of assessing teachers. The research findings from abroad were extracted from the literature. The research in Nigeria sampled 480 secondary school teachers in Akwa Ibom State using stratified random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire with a reliability estimate of .94. Three hypotheses were tested. The results showed that second ary school teachers displayed a significantly negative attitude to this teacher assessment approach; that this attitude was not sig nificantly influenced by the professional status of the teachers; and that this attitude, when the purpose of teacher assessment is summat ive, is significantly more negative than the attitude when the purpose of teacher assessment is formative. It was concluded that Nig erian teachers are not different from their counterparts abroad in their showing disdain or condemnation to the use of student achiev ement scores as indicators of teacher's competence, performance or effectiveness. Therefore, great care is required in the use of ass essment results in our schools, especially in attempts to blame teachers for poor academic performance of learners.

Cristina Archetti, Understanding Terrorism in the Age of Global Media: A Communication Approach

Abstract: The 21st century can be described as fast-paced, media-saturated, highly interconnected, and, sadly, an era of rising terrorism. The past 14 years have witnessed an increase in the number of new terrorist groups and the violent radicalization of previously religious extremists groups. Individual attacks by terrorists and their sympathizers have become more frequent. The memories of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris and the Sydney and Copenhagen attacks in just the first months of 2015 leave the world wondering what could happen next as terrorist ideologies transmitted locally are increasingly having global effects.

Targeted clearance of senescent cells using an antibody-drug conjugate against a specific membrane marker

Abstract: A wide range of diseases have been shown to be influenced by the accumulation of senescent cells, from fibrosis to diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other age-related pathologies. Consistent with this, clearance of senescent cells can prolong healthspan and lifespan in in vivo models. This provided a rationale for developing a new class of drugs, called senolytics, designed to selectively eliminate senescent cells in human tissues. The senolytics tested so far lack specificity and have significant off-target effects, suggesting that a targeted approach could be more clinically relevant. Here, we propose to use an extracellular epitope of B2M, a recently identified membrane marker of senescence, as a target for the specific delivery of toxic drugs into senescent cells. We show that an antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) against B2M clears senescent cells by releasing duocarmycin into them, while an isotype control ADC was not toxic for these cells. This effect was dependent on p53 expression and therefore more evident in stress-induced senescence. Non-senescent cells were not affected by either antibody, confirming the specificity of the treatment. Our results provide a proof-of-principle assessment of a novel approach for the specific elimination of senescent cells using a second generation targeted senolytic against proteins of their surfaceome, which could have clinical applications in pathological ageing and associated diseases.

Selenium nanoparticles and metformin ameliorate streptozotocin-instigated brain oxidative-inflammatory stress and neurobehavioral alterations in rats

Abstract: Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) are well reported to exhibit pharmacological activities both in vitro and in vivo. However, literature is devoid of studies on the impact of SeNPs and/or metformin (M) against streptozotocin (STZ)-mediated oxidative brain injury and behavioral impairment. Consequently, to fill this gap, diabetes was induced in male Wistar rats by feeding with 10% fructose solution for 2 weeks, followed by a single dose intraperitoneal injection of STZ (40 mg/kg body weight [bwt]). After rats were confirmed diabetic, they were treated orally with 0.1 mg/kg bwt of SeNPs ± M (50 mg/kg bwt), and normal control (NC) received citrate buffer (2 mg/mL) for 5 weeks. In comparison with the diabetic control (DC), SeNPs, and/or M significantly (p < 0.05) lowered blood glucose levels, but increased insulin secretion and pancreatic β-cell function. An increase in locomotor and motor activities evidenced by improved spontaneous alternation, locomotor frequency, hinding, and increased mobility time were observed in treated groups. In addition, there was enhanced brain antioxidant status with a lower acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and oxidative-inflammatory stress biomarkers. A significant downregulation of caspase 3 and upregulation of parvalbumin and Nrf2 protein expressions was observed in treated groups. In some of the studied parameters, treated groups were statistically (p < 0.05) insignificant compared with the normal control (NC) group. Overall, co-treatment elicited more efficacy than that of the individual regimen.

Mechanical Properties of Rice Husk Fiiled Cashew Nut Shell Liquid Resin Composites

Abstract: The need to have composite materials that are renewable has lead to materials scientists researching on natural fibres. To minimize environmental pollution research into rice husk has been on for a period of time now. In this research cashew nut resin reinforced rice husk composite was fabricated at different particle sizes and different filler loading. The present study reveals that both filler loading and particle size can affect the tensile strength, young modulus, strain at failure, flexural strength, and impact strength. As the % filler content increases all particle sizes (400µm, 600µm and 800µm) shows a quadratic relationship except % elongation at failure which tends to be linear at 400µm. As particle size increases all % filler content shows quadratic relationship which tends to be linear. As particle sizes increases impact strength for 10 and 30% shows a linear equation while 20% shows a quadratic relationship which tends to be linear. In general, RH/CNSR composite could be considered as a potential source of low cost, natural fibre for composites.