bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Characterising Bilateral Trade between sub-Saharan Africa and China: The Specific Role of Institutional Quality
Authors: Didier Laurent , Hoarau Jean-François 
Published: March 2021

Une nouvelle dimension du commerce international est apparue depuis ces dernières décennies avec l’essor du commerce Sud-Sud mené par la Chine. L’intérêt grandissant et réciproque entre la Chine et l’Afrique est l’une des principales caractéristiques de ce phénomène dans l’économie mondiale. Ce papier cherche donc à explorer les déterminants du commerce bilatéral entre l’Afrique sub-saharienne (ASS) et la Chine tout en portant une attention particulière au rôle des institutions africaines. Pour ce faire, nous appliquons un modèle de gravité structurel fondé théoriquement et robuste à partir d’un échantillon monde couvrant la période 1996-2012. Nous avons construit des variables d’interaction afin d’étudier comment le commerce sino-africain est influencé par la dimension institutionnelle des pays africains qui est mesurée à la fois par le type de régime politique et la qualité de la gouvernance. Les principaux résultats indiquent qu’un régime démocratique en ASS encourage la hausse des flux commerciaux bilatéraux entre l’ASS et la Chine tandis que l’amélioration du contrôle de la corruption en ASS tend à les détériorer. De manière générale, la qualité institutionnelle en ASS (sauf pour le contrôle de la corruption) est un facteur important dans l’explication du développement des exportations de la Chine vers l’ASS, contrairement aux exportations africaines vers la Chine.
Cognitive penetration and taste predicates: making an exception to the rule
Authors: Bordonaba-Plou David 
Published: March 2021

The relevance of cognitive penetration has been pointed out concerning three fields within philosophy: philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and epistemology. This paper argues that this phenomenon is also relevant to the philosophy of language. First, I will defend that there are situations where ethical, social, or cultural rules can affect our taste perceptions. This influence can cause speakers to utter conflicting contents that lead them to disagree and, subsequently, to negotiate the circumstances of application of the taste predicates they have used to describe or express their taste perceptions. Then, to account for the proper dynamics of these cases, I will develop a theoretical framework build upon two elements: the Lewisian idea of the score of a conversation (Lewis, 1979), and Richard’s (2008) taxonomy of the different attitudes speakers can have in taste disagreements. In a nutshell, I will argue that speakers can accommodate these conflicting contents as exceptions to the rule that determines the circumstances of application of taste predicates.Keywords: Cognitive penetration, Common ground, Circumstances of application, Accommodation, Exceptions, Score of the conversation, Taste predicates.
Contra intuições
Authors: Rolla Giovanni 
Published: March 2021

This paper intends to offer a critical evaluation of the role played by intuitions in the mainstream methodology in traditional analytic epistemology. The criticism directed to what I call methodology of evaluation by intuitions shows that epistemologists often idealize the reliability of intuitions when assessing a theory against potential counterexamples, ignoring that the disposition to answer intuitively to a case of concept attribution is bounded to the familiar dimension in which the relevant conceptual competence emerges. Thus, the reliability of intuitions does not necessarily extend to far-fetched cases. Given that the assessment by our intuitions is not sufficient to decide for or against an epistemological theory, I offer a sketch for a pragmatic and naturalized conception of theoretical decision-making in epistemology.Key-words: Intuitions, Analytic epistemology, Conceptual abilities, Naturalism, Pragmatism.
Brain as agent and conscious mind as action guide: from Libet-style experiments to necessary conditions for free will
Authors: Coelho Jonas Gonçalves 
Published: March 2021

Many neuroscientific experiments, based on monitoring brain activity, suggest that it is possible to predict the conscious intention/choice/decision of an agent before he himself knows that. Some neuroscientists and philosophers interpret the results of these experiments as showing that free will is an illusion, since it is the brain and not the conscious mind that intends/chooses/decides. Assuming that the methods and results of these experiments are reliable the question is if they really show that free will is an illusion. To address this problem, I argue that first it is needed to answer three questions related to the relationship between conscious mind and brain: 1. Do brain events cause conscious events? 2. Do conscious events cause brain events? 3. Who is the agent, that is, who consciously intends/chooses/ decides, the conscious mind, the brain, or both? I answer these questions by arguing that the conscious mind is a property of the brain due to which the brain has the causal capacity to interact adaptively with its body, and trough the body, with the physical and sociocultural environment. In other words, the brain is the agent and the conscious mind, in its various forms - cognitive, volitional and emotional - and contents, is its guide of action. Based on this general view I argue that the experiments aforementioned do not show that free will is an illusion, and as a starting point for examining this problem I point out, from some exemplary situations, what I believe to be some of the necessary conditions for free will.Key-words: Agent brain, conscious mind, free will, Libet-style experiments.
The colored-brain thesis
Authors: Pessoa Jr. Osvaldo 
Published: March 2021

The “colored-brain thesis”, or strong qualitative physicalism, is discussed from historical and philosophical perspectives. This thesis was proposed by Thomas Case (1888), in a non-materialistic context, and is close to views explored by H. H. Price (1932) and E. Boring (1933). Using Mary’s room thought experiment, one can argue that physicalism implies qualitative physicalism. Qualitative physicalism involves three basic statements: (i) perceptual internalism, and realism of qualia; (ii) ontic physicalism, charaterized as a description in space, time, and scale; and (iii) mind-brain identity thesis. In addition, (iv) structuralism in physics, and distinguishing the present version from that suggested by H. Feigl and S. Pepper, (v) realism of the physical description. The “neurosurgeon argument” is presented, as to why the greenness of a visually perceived avocado, which (according to this view) is present in the brain as a physical-chemical attribute, would not be seen as green by a neurosurgeon who opens the observer’s skull. This conception is compared with two close views, Russellian (and Schlickian) monisms and panprotopsychism (including panqualityism). According to the strong qualitative physicalism presented here, the phenomenal experience of a quale q is identical to a physico-chemical quality q, which arises from a combination of (1) the materiality wassociated with the brain, and (2) the causal organization or structure of the relevant elements of the brain S, including in this organization the structure of the self: (Sw)q. The “explanatory gap” between mental and physical states is shifted to a gap between the physico-chemical qualities q and the organized materiality of a specific brain region (Sw)q, and is seen as being bridged only by a set of non-explanatory postulates. Keywords: Colored-brain thesis, qualitative physicalism, mind-brain identity thesis, qualia, panprotopsychism, sensorium.
Noncanonical Roles of Caspase-4 and Caspase-5 in Heme-Driven IL-1β Release and Cell Death
Authors: Bolívar Beatriz E. , Brown-Suedel Alexandra N. , Rohrman Brittany A. , Charendoff Chloé I. , Yazdani Vanda , Belcher John D. , Vercellotti Gregory M. , Flanagan Jonathan M. , Bouchier-Hayes Lisa 
Published: March 2021

AbstractExcessive release of heme from RBCs is a key pathophysiological feature of several disease states, including bacterial sepsis, malaria, and sickle cell disease. This hemolysis results in an increased level of free heme that has been implicated in the inflammatory activation of monocytes, macrophages, and the endothelium. In this study, we show that extracellular heme engages the human inflammatory caspases, caspase-1, caspase-4, and caspase-5, resulting in the release of IL-1β. Heme-induced IL-1β release was further increased in macrophages from patients with sickle cell disease. In human primary macrophages, heme activated caspase-1 in an inflammasome-dependent manner, but heme-induced activation of caspase-4 and caspase-5 was independent of canonical inflammasomes. Furthermore, we show that both caspase-4 and caspase-5 are essential for heme-induced IL-1β release, whereas caspase-4 is the primary contributor to heme-induced cell death. Together, we have identified that extracellular heme is a damage-associated molecular pattern that can engage canonical and noncanonical inflammasome activation as a key mediator of inflammation in macrophages.
Determinants of Use of Indigenous Fish Processing Practices in Maritime and Inland States of Nigeria
Authors: Adeogun MO , Adeogun OA 
Published: March 2021

The study examined the various factors affecting the level of utilization of Indigenous Fish Processing Practices {IFPP} in Maritime and Inland States of Nigeria. The study was carried out in four fish processing states viz; Akwa -Ibom and Lagos (Maritime states) while Borno and Niger (Inland states). From snowball generated lists, 74, 34, 34 and 47 respondents were randomly selected from the states, respectively. Primary data were collected through the use of interview schedule. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the socio- economic features of the fish processors while the logit model was used to capture the socio-economic factors determining the utilization of indigenous fish processing practices. The result of the logit model shows that in maritime states, age (β=0.01), sex (β=3.46), education (β=1.90), household size (β=2.48), FAI (β=2.80), consumers preference (β=3.37), processing tradition (β=3.74), VFP (β=0.02) and cosmopoliteness (β=4.11) were prominent factors likely to determine IFPPs use significantly. In Inland states, age (β=0.05), sex (β=3.45), consumer preference (β=2.90), income generating activities at peak season (β=2.26), VFP (β=2.39) and cosmopoliteness (β=0.41) were significant factors likely determining IFPP use. Factors influencing use of indigenous fish processing practices were similar in maritime and inland states. However, income generating activity was a peculiar factor influencing indigenous fish processing practices in inland states, while processing tradition, education and household size were peculiar factors in maritime states. Therefore, development program should consider the aforementioned factors while adequate consideration should be on IFPPs as a spring board to development of affordable, accessible and sustainable intervention.Key words: Indigenous Fish Processing Practices, Maritime, Inland
Information and Communication Technologies Usage among Agricultural Students of Tertiary Institutions in Southwest of Nigeria
Authors: Yekinni Oyedeji.T. , Ladigbolu Temitope. A. , Adeniyi Rhoda. T. , Oluwasusi Sola. J. 
Published: March 2021

The study examined information and communication technologies usage among agricultural students of tertiary institution in Southwest of Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 300 agricultural students from tertiary institutions. Structured questionnaire was employed to elicit information on students’ socioeconomic characteristics, availability of ICTs, accessibility and purposes of ICTs usage. Data were subjected to percentage, chi-square, the Pearson Product Moment Correlation and the Analysis of variance at p=0.05. Findings revealed that the most available ICTs among students were internet and mobile phone (95.0%) respectivelywhile they had access to mobile phone (Weighted Mean (WM)=0.58) and radio (WM=0.51), they used ICTs for information (WM=0.77), academics (WM=0.70) and entertainment (WM=0.70) purposes; with high level of availability (71.0%), access (56.7%) and ICTs usage purpose (51.3%) respectively. There were significant relationships between respondents’ monthly stipend (r=0.200), state of institution (χ2=8.000), religion (χ2=222.660), marital status (χ2=211.680), category of students’ programme (χ2= 320.4608), type of institution (χ2=56.000) and their purposes for using ICTs but with a significant difference across the states (F=23.821; p=0.00). Students used ICTs for information, academic and entertainment purposes based on their age and type of their institutions. Since ICTs are used for beneficial purposes, it is recommended that ICTs should be adapted, applied and incorporated into tertiary institutions’ curricula across the nation.
Keywords: ICTs usage, undergraduate students, entertainment purposes, mobile phone, tertiary institutions.
In-Vivo and In-Vitro Anti-Inflammatory Activities of the Aqueous Extract of Di-Herbal Formulation (Euphorbia hirta and lactuca virosa)
Authors: Uwaya DO , Okakwu R , Omozuwa OP 
Published: March 2021

Euphorbia hirta and Lactuca virosa are medicinal plants that have been used in the cure and treatment of various diseases and for health care. This study aims at evaluating the anti-inflammatory activities of the aqueous extracts of Euphorbia hirta and Lactuca virosa plants. Albumin and histamine induced inflammation in mice and xylene induced ear edema were used for the in-vivo anti-inflammatory studies. Erythrocyte membrane stabilization and inhibition of protein denaturation assays were used for the in-vitro anti-inflammatory studies. Combined doses of 100 mg/kg Euphorbia hirta and 50 mg/kg Lactuca virosa, 100 mg/kg Euphorbia hirta and 100 mg/kg Lactuca virosa, 100 mg/kg Lactuca virosa only and 10 mg/kg diclofenac significantly reduced inflamed paw in mice (P<0.05) compared to control in albumin and histamine induced inflammatory test. Combined doses of 50 mg/kg Euphorbia hirta and 100 mg/kg Lactuca virosa,100 mg/kg Euphorbia hirta, 100mg/kg Lactuca virosa significantly reduced xylene induced inflammation (P<0.001) compared to control. The extracts at 1 mg/ml, 2 mg/ml and 3 mg/ml significantly inhibited protein denaturation (P<0.001) and heat induced hemolysis of erythrocytes (P<0.0001). The plant extract of Euphorbia hirta and lactuca virosa possesses in-vivo and in-vivo anti-inflammatory effects.
Keywords: Euphorbia hirta, Lactuca virosa, anti-inflammatory, protein denaturation
Comparative Analysis of Ellipsoidal Height and Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission Elevation
Authors: Ijaware V.A. 
Published: March 2021

Ellipsoidal elevation represents a precise geospatial data type within the analysis and modelling of various hydrological and ecological phenomenon required in preserving the human environment. Likewise, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) has created an unparalleled data set of global elevations that are freely available for modelling ubiquitous environmental applications. This research aims to carry out a comparative analysis of ellipsoidal heights and SRTM heights with the following objectives: downloading DEM’s (SRTM) data covering the study area, determining the spot heights within the boundary in conventional method, extract DEM’S heights within the boundary of the study area, and compared the heights in the conventional method with DEM’S heights. South GPS and Leica Total Station were used to acquire data for control extension and spot heightening respectively while the elevation of SRTM data was obtained by transforming the X and Y data from GPS observationto Longitude and Latitude before using ArcGIS 10.6 to extract the elevation of the boundary pillar and all the spot heights which were relatively compared in terms of its products- heights, contour, 3-D wireframe, 3-D surface model, and overlaid of contour on shaded relief. The results of the study showed that vertical difference using conventional method and SRTM dataset ranges between -2.345m to 11.026m. Also, the hypothesis tested using a two-tail student t-test and F-test revealed that one mean is not significantly different from the other at 95% confidence level. The research recommends that the products obtained for the two systems can be used interchangeably.
Keywords: Shuttle radar topographic mission, Ellipsoidal elevation, contour, 3D wireframe, 3D surface model
Bacteriological Quality Evaluation of Ready-to-Eat Pineapple Fruit Slices Sold in Markets around Port Harcourt and it’s Environ in Rivers State, Nigeria
Authors: Okoronkwo F.I. , Disegha G.C. 
Published: March 2021

Thirty-six samples of “ready to eat” pineapple samples collected in the morning and evening from six different markets in Port Harcourt were analyzed to determine their bacteriological quality. All the pineapple slices examined were contaminated with some bacterial species. The average microbial load of the sample on Nutrient agar, MacConkey agar and Mannitol salt agar for the morning and evening samples were 6.6672×106cfu/g, 2.5833×104cfu/g and 8.0000×103cfu/g respectively while those of the evening samples were 1.2494×107cfu/g, 3.9688×104cfu/g and 8.8888×103cfu/g respectively. The total heterotrophic bacterial count on the different samples bought at different times (morning and evening) were significantly different at probability P<0.05 while E. coli and Staphylococcal counts on the different media at the different times (morning and evening) were not significant at P>0.05. The predominant genera of bacteria observed were Escherichia, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Shigella, Enterobacter, Providencia, Proteus, Serratia, Salmonella and Citrobacter with Escherichia having the highest frequency of occurrence (23.61%). These findings suggest that most “ready to eat” pineapples hawked in the local markets may be implicated in Public Health issues as bacterial agents responsible for food poisoning were isolated from them. The need for improvement and maintenance of good hygiene practices by food handlers and vendors in these markets and trading outlets is recommended.
Keywords: Pineapple, Bacteria, Fruit, Rivers state, Ready-to-eat
Towards sustainable water resource management in rural Nigeria: The role of communities
Authors: Arimoro Augustine Edobor , Musa Habibah 
Published: March 2021

Access to water is crucial for healthy living and survival. In developing countries such as Nigeria, rural communities often suffer from a severe shortage of the supply of fresh, potable water. The need to change the tide has led to the inclusion of the adequate availability of water for allas one of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Evidence shows that the lack or poor supply of freshwater could lead to a prevalence of waterborne diseases and might negatively affect economically important activities. While water sustainability deals with ensuring adequate supply of water for the present and future generations, water resource management is the strategy for achieving water sustainability. Considering the above, this article examines the literature on water resource management vis-à-vis the legal framework for water management in Nigeria. The article notes that rural communities in the country have a critical role to play in water resource management in the country and in the quest to attain the goals for water. It is recommended that policies should be implemented to provide for sustainable management of water as well as a strategy for educating rural communities on what they must do to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for water management in Nigeria at the rural community level. For example, there is a need to provide for private sector led water development projects in rural areas backed by government subsidy as well as programmes to enlighten community leaders on their role in ensuring water sustainability.
Keywords: Water, access to water, legal framework for water management, rural area, SDGs, Nigeria.
Adsorptive and Photocatalytic Properties of Green Synthesized ZnO and ZnO/NiFe2O4 Nanocomposites for Tannery Wastewater Treatment
Authors: Tijani J.O. , Aminu U.A. , Bankole M.T. , Ndamitso M.M. , Abdulkareem A.S. 
Published: March 2021

This study investigated adsorptive and catalytic behaviour of ZnO and ZnO/NiFe2O4 nanocomposites for the removal and degradation of organic pollutants in tannery wastewater. ZnO and ZnO/NiFe2O4 nanomaterials were synthesized via a green method using Zn, Fe and Ni salts precursor and leaves extract of Anacardium occidentale (linn.). Subsequently, the synthesized samples were characterized by different analytical tools. The adsorptive and catalytic performance of the prepared nanomaterial were assessed using reduction in Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) in tannery wastewater as indicator parameters. High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscope (HRSEM), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM), and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis of ZnO and ZnO/NiFe2O4 confirmed the formation of hexagonal wurtzite nanoparticle and cubic spinel phase with an average crystallite sizes in the range of 13- 28 nm and 30.44 – 42.53 nm respectively. XRD analysis confirmed no change in the polymorph of ZnO upon the addition NiFe2O4. XPS spectrum showed the existence of the elements in the following oxidation state (+2) for Zn, (+1, +2) for Ni and (+2 and +3) for Fe. BET analysis revealed order of the specific surface area of ZnO/NiFe2O4 (44.61 m2/g) > NiFe2O4 (40.39 m2/g) > ZnO (8.91 m2 /g). The adsorptive and photocatalytic results revealed that 3% ZnO/NiFe2O4 exhibits higher efficiency compared to ZnO and NiFe2O4 nanoparticles alone and in the order of 3% ZnO/NiFe2O4 > NiFe2O4 > ZnO. The study revealed that the prepared nanomaterial behaved better as photocatalyst than as nanoadsorbent.
Keywords: Adsorption, photocatalytic technology; ZnO; ZnO/NiFe2O4, tannery wastewater