Digitization of Library Resources and the Development of Institutional Repositories in Nigeria

Institutional repositories are online repositories that contain scholarly works of staff and students of an institution. The repositories provide access to a school's scholarly works and reflect present and past research works of the institution. This chapter gives a review of the concept of library digitization, status of institutional repositories in Nigeria, process of digitization, guidelines for library digitization, digitization workflow, and challenges of library digitization. It identifies the various universities in Nigeria that have established institutional repositories. The chapter also reviewed the library digitation carried out in some of these institutions. It concluded that Nigeria lags behind in the practice of library digitization and the establishment of institutional repositories. Some challenges were highlighted as factors affecting library digitization and institutional repositories in Nigeria. Some recommendations were suggested to ensure successful establishment and implementation of library digitization and institutional repositories in Nigeria.

The Time of Patriarchs Peter IV and Damian As the Nodal Point of the Genesis of the Coptic Church: Problems and Proposed Solutions

Introduction. The article examines a recently put forward hypothesis that the time of the Coptic Church’s final genesis was the period of the Alexandrian anti-Chalcedonian Patriarchs Peter IV (576–578) and Damian (578–607). Methods. A comparative research method and factor analysis are used. The main research task is to identify all the factors that contributed to the making of full-fledged ecclesiastical structures by the Theodosians (one of the trends of the Egyptian Miaphysites), and a correlation of these factors with each other to single out the main of them. Analysis. The successful establishment of the Miaphysites (Theodosian) episcopate resulted from the configuration of objective and subjective factors. Objective factors include the following: the weakening of control by the central authorities over the structures of the Miaphysites after Justinian I (482/483–565), the increasing regionalization of the empire and the strengthening of the role of local elites in the provinces, the growing importance of the Coptic language in secular and clerical office work. Subjective factors include the victory of the Miaphysite Patriarch Peter IV over his rival Theodore and the appearance of Damian as Peter’s successor. Results. On the whole, the proposed hypothesis quite thoroughly explains the emergence of the Coptic Church during the period. However, it has several disadvantages, which open up a number of prospects for further researches. Firstly, there is almost no explanation for the success of Damian’s personnel policy. Secondly, insufficient attention was paid to the Egyptian anti-Chalcedonian monasticism. From the author’s point of view, Egyptian Miaphysite monks, suffering from the pressure of the central and local authorities after the Chalcedonian schism, managed to establish an effective network functioned as a “rhizome”, on which the episcopate risen during Peter’s and Damian’s time relied primarily in rebuilding stable ecclesiastical structures in Egypt.

Revealing the secrets beneath grapevine and Plasmopara viticola early communication: a picture of host and pathogen proteomes

Plant apoplast is the first hub of plant-pathogen communication where pathogen effectors are recognized by plant defensive proteins and cell receptors and several signal transduction pathways are activated. As a result of this first contact, the host triggers a defence response that involves the modulation of several extra and intracellular proteins. In grapevine-pathogen interactions, little is known about the communication between cells and apoplast. Also, the role of apoplastic proteins in response to pathogens still remains a blackbox. In this study we focused on the first 6 hours after Plasmopara viticola inoculation to evaluate grapevine proteome modulation in the apoplastic fluid (APF) and whole leaf tissue. Plasmopara viticola proteome was also assessed enabling a deeper understanding of plant and pathogen communication. Our results showed that oomycete recognition, plant cell wall modifications, ROS signalling and disruption of oomycete structures are triggered in Regent after P. viticola inoculation. Our results highlight a strict relation between the apoplastic pathways modulated and the proteins identified in the whole leaf proteome. On the other hand, P. viticola proteins related to growth/morphogenesis and virulence mechanisms were the most predominant. This pioneer study highlights the early dynamics of extra and intracellular communication in grapevine defence activation that leads to the successful establishment of an incompatible interaction.

Characterization and Analysis of the Temporal and Spatial Dynamic of Several Enteritis Modeling Methodologies

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is a complex disease involving genetic, immune, and microbiological factors. A variety of animal models of IBD have been developed to study the pathogenesis of human IBD, but there is no model that can fully represent the complexity of IBD. In this study, we established two acute enteritis models by oral 3% DSS or intraperitoneal injection of anti-CD3 antibody, and two chronic enteritis models by feeding 3 cycles of 1.5% DSS or 3 months of the high-fat diet, respectively, and then examined the clinical parameters, histological changes, and cytokine expression profiles after the successful establishment of the models. Our results indicated that in 3% DSS-induced acute enteritis, the colorectal injury was significantly higher than that of the small intestine, while in anti-CD3 antibody-induced acute enteritis, the small intestine injury was significantly higher than that of colorectal damage. Besides, in the 1.5% DSS-induced chronic enteritis, the damage was mainly concentrated in the colorectal, while the damage caused by long-term HFD-induced chronic enteritis was more focused on the small intestine. Therefore, our work provides a reference for selecting appropriate models when conducting research on factors related to the pathogenesis of IBD or evaluating the potential diagnosis and treatment possibilities of pharmaceuticals.

Invasion genomics uncover contrasting scenarios of genetic diversity in a widespread marine invader

Invasion rates have increased in the past 100 y irrespective of international conventions. What characterizes a successful invasion event? And how does genetic diversity translate into invasion success? Employing a whole-genome perspective using one of the most successful marine invasive species world-wide as a model, we resolve temporal invasion dynamics during independent invasion events in Eurasia. We reveal complex regionally independent invasion histories including cases of recurrent translocations, time-limited translocations, and stepping-stone range expansions with severe bottlenecks within the same species. Irrespective of these different invasion dynamics, which lead to contrasting patterns of genetic diversity, all nonindigenous populations are similarly successful. This illustrates that genetic diversity, per se, is not necessarily the driving force behind invasion success. Other factors such as propagule pressure and repeated introductions are an important contribution to facilitate successful invasions. This calls into question the dominant paradigm of the genetic paradox of invasions, i.e., the successful establishment of nonindigenous populations with low levels of genetic diversity.

Dynamics of Mechatronics Engineering in Pakistan

Mechatronics, being a new engineering discipline in Pakistan, has to face many risks for its successful establishment and growth. Every discipline owes its evolution and progress to the stakeholders, government, universities and experts. This paper discusses the general view of Mechatronics engineering education in Pakistan, the evolution of Mechatronics engineering in Pakistan and the status of Mechatronics in the industries of Pakistan. The paper presents a survey based approach and the use of Cronbach Alpha for assessing reliability of the data

A Performance–Consumption Balanced Scheme of Multi-Hop Quantum Networks for Teleportation

Teleportation is an important protocol in quantum communication. Realizing teleportation between arbitrary nodes in multi-hop quantum networks is of great value. Most of the existing multi-hop quantum networks are based on Bell states or Greeberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) states. Bell state is more susceptible to noise than GHZ states after purification, but generating a GHZ state consumes more basic states. In this paper, a new quantum multi-hop network scheme is proposed to improve the interference immunity of the network and avoid large consumption at the same time. Teleportation is realized in a network based on entanglement swapping, fusion, and purification. To ensure the robustness of the system, we also design the purification algorithm. The simulation results show the successful establishment of entanglement with high fidelity. Cirq is used to verify the network on the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) platform. The robustness of the fusion scheme is better than the Bell states scheme, especially with the increasing number of nodes. This paper provides a solution to balance the performance and consumption in a multi-hop quantum network.

Aspects of the taxonomy of the Kalanchoe daigremontiana species complex (Crassulaceae subfam. Kalanchooideae) and associated interspecific hybrids in southern Madagascar, with the description of a new nothospecies, K. ×descoingsii (=K. laetivirens × K. tubiflora)

Species included in Kalanchoe [subg. Bryophyllum] sect. Invasores (Crassulaceae subfam. Kalanchooideae), an infrageneric group naturally restricted to Madagascar, are, as the section name suggests, known to have several reproductive mechanisms that enable their successful establishment and spread in suitable climates in, and well away from, their natural habitats. Four species, which are particularly invasive, produce bulbils constitutively and copiously on dedicated pedestals that adorn their leaf margins or are concentrated towards the leaf tips, in the case of K. tubiflora. These species are: the predominantly pink-flowered K. daigremontiana, K. laetivirens, and K. sanctula, all with stem-peduncle transitions that give rise to distinct inflorescences, as well as K. tubiflora, which produces variously coloured inflorescences that indistinctly transition from the stem into a peduncle. Despite their apparent preferential, but not exclusive, reliance on asexual reproduction, several nothospecies involving these species have been described from southern Madagascar, and K. ×houghtonii, an artificially raised hybrid, has become naturalised on all continents bar Antarctica. Aspects of the taxonomy of these species and nothospecies are dealt with and arguments are presented in support of recognising K. laetivirens as a species, rather than as a nothospecies. The types of the names K. laetivirens and K. sanctula are no longer extant; both names are here neotypified. The geographical occurrence in Madagascar of K. laetivirens, and possibly K. ×houghtonii (=K. daigremontiana × K. tubiflora, known to have been artificially and independently produced in the USA and continental Europe), are discussed in detail. Kalanchoe ×descoingsii (=K. laetivirens × K. tubiflora) is described as a new nothospecies that was discovered in Madagascar where both parents grow sympatrically as a result of human activity.

Ecological methods of protecting bearded irises in the urban environment

The article presents data from a long-term phytopathological survey of a collection of varieties Iris x hybrida Hort. Main Botanical Garden named after N.V. Tsitsin RAS (Moscow). Data on diseases of bearded irises in the urban environment were obtained, changes in the composition of the fungal complex in the rhizo- and phyllosphere were studied. Low soil fertility during the adaptation period of bearded irises worsens the formation and development of the root system of plants, increases the likelihood of increased disease damage and premature leaf fall. The experience of successful establishment of cultivators Iris x hybrida with the use of complex preventive and health-improving measures to improve fertility and reduce stress factors has been obtained. It was found that the introduction of NPK-complex, etching with a biofungicide based on phytobacteriomycin, and spraying vegetative plants with a microbiological preparation based on saprophytic antagonist fungi and bacteria within two years from the moment of transplanting varieties of garden bearded irises have a positive effect on their survival rate and decorative effect. The use of biological fungicides in combination with a complex of fertilizers is mandatory in a pesticide-free protection system for garden iris varieties sensitive to mycoses.

Models of poisoning effects on vulture populations show that small but frequent episodes have a larger effect than large but rare ones

Vultures are among the most threatened avian taxa in the world. When vultures aggregate in large numbers to feed, poisoned carcasses can extirpate entire populations at once. In the light of shrinking numbers worldwide, restocking and reintroduction projects, where wild or captive-bred vultures are released back into nature, constitute a crucial management tool, successfully implemented in many countries. However, reestablishment of sustainable vulture populations to their historical ranges remains a serious challenge, especially if the threat of poisoning persists, which is usually the case. In this study, we model the outcome of a restocking project where an initial colony is subject to repeated poisoning events. We use as an example the isolated population of the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) in Cyprus. Mathematical considerations and model simulations show that the probability of colony persistence depends on the initial population size and the intensity and frequency of the poisoning incidents. This type of scenario creates an Allee effect that requires a colony to exceed a minimum size in order to survive. Also in this scenario, a sequence of small but frequent poisoning episodes is worse on average than a few large and rare ones of the same cumulative mortality. Future population reinforcement efforts for vultures should focus on the release of adult birds in adequate numbers for the successful establishment of sustainable colonies and should involve a reduction in small but persistent sources of mortality such as the poison baiting of small canids that until now has been neglected by conservation scientists.