Looming Danger Research Articles

STUDY ON THE RISK OF COLLAPSE OF BLOCK WALLS IN JAPAN DURING EARTHQUAKES

The earthquakes in Kumamoto (2016) and Osaka (2018) in Japan revealed grave repercussions of collapsed block walls, causing fatalities and severe damage. These incidents underscored the need for understanding and mitigating the risk posed by these structures. In response, this study focused on assessing block walls collapse risk. Surveys across Nagasaki, Tokyo, and Chiba scrutinized various factors like rebar presence, wall appearance, and maintenance status using a Japan Concrete Block Association chart. Results revealed alarming statistics: 38% of block walls in Nagasaki posed a danger, with factors like lack of rebar and wall age significantly impacting collapse risk. Comparing regions, earthquake-experienced Kanto had 19% risky block walls versus 38% in less-experienced Kyushu, emphasizing the influence of earthquake awareness on residents perception of block wall risks. Lack of rebar emerged as a primary risk factor across all areas. Considering block walls have a lifespan of 20-30 years, deteriorating rebar due to corrosion poses imminent risks. Urgent surveys and awareness campaigns, especially along school routes, are crucial to prevent tragedies like the young girls death in Osaka. The study emphasizes scholars responsibility to disseminate accurate information about block wall risks during earthquakes. However, challenges persist, such as unclear property ownership, hindering countermeasures even after identifying high-risk walls. Looking ahead, national diagnostic surveys are essential to address the looming danger, especially considering potential seismic events like the Nankai Trough Earthquake. Disaster education must prioritize teaching children about the risks of block walls during earthquakes to ensure their safety.

Exodus of Nigerian Medical Professionals from Nigeria: Looming Danger Incubating!

Exodus of Nigerian Medical Professionals from Nigeria: Looming Danger Incubating!

Pesticide Soil Pollution: An Overview about Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Remediation Technologies

The use of pesticides presents a looming danger to the living elements of our ecological system, crops, and the well-being of our species. As an outcome, various organic contaminants pollute the soil. Different physical, chemical, and biological remediation techniques have been employed for the decontamination of pesticide-polluted soils. Remediation technology should always be affordable, on-site or in-situ, and capable of restoring the soil's natural functionality. The presence of multiple pesticides can pose challenges in effectively remediating them from the soil. The present work examines the scientific literature on the benefits and drawbacks of various existing and emerging soil remediation techniques. Customized technology choices and designs for specific site conditions enhance the effective cleanup of polluted areas. The present study, which evaluates and contrasts various technological approaches, shall serve as an invaluable tool for determining the optimal soil remediation method for a given contamination dilemma.

A theological pastoral perspective to prayer ministry in Nigeria

This article examines prayer ministry in Nigeria from a theological pastoral perspective. The objectives of this study include (1) to assess prayer ministry in Nigeria; (2) to explore reasons for the boom in prayer ministries in Nigeria; (3) to assess the impact of the activities of prayer ministries in Nigeria. Existing literature have not adequately explored prayer ministry from a theological pastoral lens. In Nigeria, prayer ministries could be seen all over the place, with the intent of exploiting unsuspecting Nigerians. Religion has been so commercialised and commoditised to the extent that we now have “prayer consultants and contractors” whose task is to assist spiritually “weak” people to fast and pray for divine solutions to their problems. Their trademark is to see scary visions about their victims whom they will ask to go on fasting and intense prayers to ward off the looming danger on their lives or those of their family. If the victim says they do not have the strength for such a spiritual exercise, they will offer to help out for a fee. Oftentimes, the so-called vision is a figment of imagination of these fraudsters masquerading as men of God. This study was adopted content analysis through a phenomenological approach. Findings reveal that several of these prayer houses engaged in prayer merchandising, collecting money and material things from their victims, with the promise of prayer for them to gain spiritual and physical freedom. Also, there are reports of immoral activities such as rape happening there. Thus, Christian religious worship is long longer practiced in truth, and prayer houses no longer a place of righteousness, but a place of economic and material exploitationWith this study, Nigerians are better sensitised on how to prevent themselves from falling victim to religious fraud, and the church is also equipped on how to deal with a menace of this nature. The article concluded that a theological pastoral perspective of prayer ministry in Nigeria exposes how prayer houses have derailed and started extorting covertly and overtly from the unsuspecting members. The recommendations are discussed.

Радикальний іслам та державна влада в Криму до 2014 року: кейс Хізб ут-Тахрір

The looming danger of radical Islamism and religious struggles for hegemony effectively converged in the local Ukrainian context in the case of Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (HTI), or the Islamic Party of Liberation. For want of a more notorious Islamist group in Ukraine, this organization became treated in various media as the main local embodiment of extremist and terrorist threat. Likewise, despite the fact that the actual number of HTI’s followers or sympathizers in Crimea remained uncertain, due to its high public visibility, in the pre-2014 period the movement often stepped into the spotlight as the number-one rival for the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Crimea and the Mejlis, the chief representative bodies of Crimean Tatars. Thus, although the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in March 2014 completely derailed the dynamic of HTI’s development in the region, an analysis of its previous activities there can still become an important contribution to an in-depth understanding of the movement’s dichotomous nature as a global phenomenon, as well as its relations with the state and its strategies of social accommodation in European settings. Hence, this article offers a more nuanced and comprehensive look at this HTI’s development in the peninsula prior to the beginning of the Euromaidan protests (November 2013), focusing on its involvement in local politics and interactions with law enforcement agencies and the government authorities. Special attention is paid to the public discourses of HTI in the Ukrainian milieu and the key elements of its self-representation for the general public as posing no existential threat to Ukraine’s socio-political and cultural order.

Butein as a potential binder of human ACE2 receptor for interfering with SARS-CoV-2 entry: a computer-aided analysis.

Natural products have been included in our dietary supplements and have been shown to have numerous therapeutic properties. With the looming danger of many zoonotic agents and novel emerging pathogens mainly of viral origin, many researchers are launching various clinical trials, testing these compounds for their antiviral activity. The present work deals with some of the available natural compounds from the literature that have demonstrated activity in counteracting pathogen infections. Accordingly, we screened, using in silico methods, this subset of natural compounds for searching potential drug candidates able to interfere in the recognition of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein and its target human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) receptor, leading to the viral entry. Disrupting that recognition is crucial for slowing down the entrance of viral particles into host cells. The selected group of natural products was examined, and their interaction profiles against the host cell target protein ACE2 were studied at the atomic level. Based on different computer-based procedures including molecular docking, physicochemical property evaluation, and molecular dynamics, butein was identified as a potential hit molecule able to bind the hACE2 receptor. The results indicate that herbal compounds can be effective for providing possible therapeutics for treating and managing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection.Graphical abstract

The Value of Graphic Design in the Senior High School Visual Art Programme in the Ghanaian Educational System

This study examines the looming danger facing Graphic Design which is a component of Visual Arts subjects in Ghana's education as it is underrated as compared to other subjects offered in Senior High Schools. It examines evidence of the capabilities that art education, especially Graphic Design, develops in students and what it prepares them for. The study was purely descriptive, and observation and unstructured interviews were the main instruments adopted to gather information from headmasters of selected Senior High Schools, parents, teachers, and students offering Graphic Design as a course. The study revealed that the Visual Arts, in general, are not given the needed recognition and attention as is given to other subjects such as Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM), etc., by the stakeholders of education in Ghana. The study emphasized the importance of Graphic Design and made it clear that Graphic Design increases the students' thinking capacity to the extent that it makes them able to apply their thinking power in solving problems even in other academic areas and in life outside the school. The study's outcome will diffuse people's negative perceptions of graphic design and outline compelling reasons to champion its development in Senior High Schools in Ghana.

Investigation into the Significant Values of the Visual Arts in the Senior High Schools in the Ghanaian Educational System

This study investigates the looming danger facing the Visual Arts subjects in Ghana’s education as it is underrated as compared to other subjects offered in the Senior High Schools. It examines evidence of the capabilities that art education develops in students and what it prepares them for. The study was purely descriptive and observation, as well as unstructured interviews, were the main instruments adopted to gather information from headmasters of selected Senior High Schools, parents, teachers, and students offering Visual arts as a course. The study revealed that the Visual Arts are not given the needed recognition and attention as is given to other subjects such as Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM), etc. by the stakeholders of education in Ghana. The study emphasized the importance of the arts and makes it clear that the visual arts increase the students’ thinking capacity to the extent that it makes them able to apply their thinking power in solving problems even in other academic areas as well as in life outside the school. The outcome of the study will diffuse the negative perceptions people have of visual arts and outlines compelling reasons to champion its development in the Senior High Schools in Ghana. Keywords: Visual arts, art education, Senior High School, creativity, programme. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-15-14 Publication date: May 31 st 2022

Insecurity in Nigeria and Correctional Staff and Inmates Safety: A Looming Danger

Insecurity in Nigeria and Correctional Staff and Inmates Safety: A Looming Danger

Detection of Enterotoxin Genes in Bacillus species Isolated from Cassava Processing Environment in Nigeria

Introduction: The health challenges associated with cassava products as a common staple food for approximately 70 % of Africans and part of Asia pose a looming danger due to Bacillus enterotoxins’ presence in the processing environment. Objective: This study investigated the presence of enterotoxigenic genes, namely, Bacillus cereus enterotoxin T (bceT), hemolysin bl (hblC, hblD), and non-haemolytic enterotoxin (nheA, nheB, and nheC) from Bacillus species isolated from soil of cassava processing environment. Methods: Soil samples from 20 cassava processing sites in Ile-Ife and Modakeke, Nigeria, were collected and cultured on nutrient agar at 37ºC for 24 hours. Colonies phenotypically identified as Bacillus were identified using Bacillus-specific 16S rRNA-targeted PCR technique. Screened Bacillus spp were assessed for the presence of enterotoxigenic genes using PCR with previously reported primers. Results: A total of 100 Bacillus isolates were selected from this study, with Bacillus macerans (33 %) showing the highest frequency of occurrence among the identified species, however, 74 isolates were molecularly confirmed as Bacillus. Amongst the 74 molecularly confirmed Bacillus isolates, 28 (37.84 %), 35 (47.30 %), and 37 (50 %) had nhe, hbl, and bceT genes, respectively. Investigation showed that 42 (56.76 %) of the Bacillus species encoded at least one of the screened enterotoxin genes. Conclusion: The presence of these 3 sets of enterotoxin genes in Bacillus isolated from cassava processing sites calls for immediate attention as they could be pivotal in the release of toxins in cassava products, causing lethal effects via consumption. This study demonstrates the possibility of foodborne disease outbreaks in Bacillus toxin-laden cassava products processed under unhygienic conditions.

Dysfunctional Emotional Decision-Making and the Looming Danger of Autocracy

Dysfunctional Emotional Decision-Making and the Looming Danger of Autocracy

Hacking the representative system through deliberation? The organization of the Agora party in Brussels

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of a variety of deliberative practices in the organization and activities of political parties. What remains unclear, however, is how parties can promote deliberative democracy in an environment that remains predominantly representative. To investigate this tension, we study the Agora party in Brussels. Agora competed for the first time in the 2019 regional elections in Brussels with the aim of institutionalizing a permanent, randomly selected Citizen’s Assembly with legislative power in the Brussels Capital Region and immediately gained a seat in the Brussels Regional Parliament. Based on an in-depth qualitative study including 20 semi-structured interviews with a broad range of party members and document analysis, we study whether and how Agora’s organizational structure, i.e. its leadership and centralization, its intra-party democracy, and its organizational resources, allow it to promote deliberative democracy in a representative context. We argue that Agora experiences tensions between its deliberative ideals and its representative means and that there is a looming danger of becoming “just another part” of the system. However, it succeeds in simultaneously rejecting and competing in the representative system by adopting a stratarchical party organization.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1057/s41269-021-00226-3.

Citizens and cities: Leveraging citizen science and big data for sustainable urban development

AbstractCitizen science (CS), that is, the involvement of citizens in data collection or analysis for research projects, is becoming more widespread. This is due to the increasing digitalization of the general public and due to the increasing number of grand challenges that society is facing. Thanks to the contributions of common citizens in data collection and data analysis conducted through technology‐mediated interactions, CS can produce a number of benefits for researchers, public organizations, policymakers, citizens, and society as a whole. Given the high density of socio‐economic activities in cities, CS can be implemented in a particularly effective way in urban environments to help tackle many “grand challenges”, namely, the pressing environmental and social issues that societies are facing at present. However, CS still has untapped potential to be explored. Indeed, we contend that even though CS involves citizens for precisely defined scientific objectives, the interaction that occurs can also be leveraged to collect data beyond the original aim, thereby producing big data (BD). Through a multiple case studies analysis, we highlight how CS can be used to collect BD as well, which can be a valuable resource for researchers, public organizations, and policymakers. With this aim in mind, this study proposes the definition of a citizen‐sourcing framework that jointly employs CS and BD, and it highlights which processes can be implemented to favor the sustainable development of urban environments. Moreover, we also discuss the looming dangers associated with citizen‐sourcing as a result of technology‐mediated interactions and the use of digital technologies, and we highlight possible future developments.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Levels in Wistar Rats Exposed to Ambient Air of Port Harcourt, Nigeria: An Indicator for Tissue Toxicity.

This study investigated the PAH levels in Wistar rats exposed to ambient air of the Port Harcourt metropolis. Twenty Wistar rats imported from a nonpolluted city (Enugu) were exposed to both indoor and outdoor air. Following the IACUC regulation, baseline data were obtained from 4 randomly selected rats, while the remaining 16 rats (8 each for indoor and outdoor) were left till day 90. Blood samples were obtained by cardiac puncture, and the PAH levels were determined using Gas Chromatography Flame-Ionization Detector (GC-FID). GraphPad Prism (version 8.0.2) Sidak’s (for multiple data set) and unpaired t-tests (for two data sets) were used to evaluate the differences in group means. Seven of the PAHs found in indoor and outdoor rats were absent in baseline rats. The mean concentrations of PAH in indoor and outdoor animals were higher than those of baseline animals, except for Benzo(a)pyrene, which was found in baseline animals but absent in other animal groups. Additionally, Dibenz(a,h)anthracene, Indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene, Pyrene, 2-methyl, and other carcinogenic PAHs were all significantly higher (p < 0.05) in outdoor groups. The vulnerable groups in Port Harcourt are at the greatest risk of such pollution. Therefore, urgent environmental and public health measures are necessary to mitigate the looming danger.

Leveraging Optimized and Cleaner Production through Industry 4.0

Manufacturing sector has traditionally employed the concepts of lean manufacturing for production optimization and waste elimination. However, the looming danger of climate change demands responsible production and consumption; oftentimes the environmental aspects have been ignored for economic gains. The fourth industrial revolution brought about a paradigm shift in the manufacturing landscape, yet there is dearth of approaches that combine the concepts of lean manufacturing, environmentally conscious manufacturing and Industry 4.0 for improving the production and ecological performance of manufacturing sector. This study has fulfilled this research gap by developing a comprehensive implementation framework that combines lean manufacturing, green manufacturing and Industry 4.0 in a harmonious manner. Using a longitudinal case study approach, the developed framework has been applied to an auto-parts manufacturing firm to achieve reduced lead time, value added time, non-value-added time and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. The results revealed that the approaches of first-in-first out (FIFO), total productive maintenance (TPM), smart production control, cyberphysical systems, 6R and smart energy monitoring are extremely beneficial in achieving optimized and cleaner production, where the lead time, non-value added time and value added time has been reduced by 25.60%, 56.20% and 24.68% respectively, whereas the carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions were reduced by 55%. The theoretical contribution of this research work lies in the development of a novel integration framework that combines the concepts of lean manufacturing and green manufacturing with Industry 4.0 technologies, whereas practitioners can benefit from the synergistic combination to achieve automation-based fast and environmentally conscious manufacturing.

From One Stress Test to Another: Lessons for Healthcare Reform from the Financial Sector

The financial crisis in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic today have made it clear that both financial and medical crises spread pervasively across borders. The financial crisis proved that the health of the entire European banking system stands and falls with the health of a single systemically important bank. As such, in the past decade, European Union (EU)-wide cooperation and regulation have been strengthened to ensure financial health across Europe. Today, the COVID-19 crisis reveals the de facto existence of a European healthcare system, where Member States’ medical health is interlinked and challenged. It too highlights the need for a more coordinated approach. This paper will draw lessons from European financial regulation and stress testing to make recommendations for EU-wide healthcare. The paper will show the latent benefits that a stress test might have on healthcare performance through mechanisms of governmentality. Moreover, it will pinpoint shortcomings in the financial stress test that could pose looming dangers for a European Health Union, such as a lack of de facto risk sharing. The paper concludes with pragmatic suggestions for a way forward in European healthcare regulation.

STATUS OF TALENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT There is a growing concern over the deploring state of quality education, institutional ranking, quality of graduates, and brain drain of students and talents which portends looming danger in the educational sector in Nigeria. This study aimed at investigating the status of Talent Management Practice in Institutions of Higher Learning in Nigeria. The researchers employed a quantitative survey design. A structured questionnaire was used to collect empirical data. Data was cleaned and analyzed using tables and percentages. The findings of the study showed that talent management practices in Institutions of Higher Learning in Nigeria is still very poor, low and work in progress. The implication of this position is that Institutions of Higher Learning must continue to invest in talent management by implementing developmental programs for teaching and administrative talents, recruit and select talents meritoriously, maintain research and teaching enabling environment as part of the operational culture to sustain competitive advantage. Keywords Talent Management Practices, Competitive Advantage, Status of Talent Management, Institution of Higher Learning.

The Looming Dangers of Explosion in Community Transmissions of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

Currently, Nigeria is still at the ascending phase of the COVID-19 curve with no sign of deceleration. Thus, the recent decision by governors of states in northern Nigeria to deport Almajirai (itinerant Islamic school pupils) from their states as part of efforts to contain COVID-19 transmission is likely to have a serious backlash. With hundreds of Almajirai testing positive to COVID-19, and millions of others untested, they constitute ubiquitous nodes of transmission. Their deportation has created multiple emigration channels that constitute prospective feeders to covert community transmission. This viewpoint examines this trend within the context of Nigeria’s current [in]capacity to manage the spread of COVID-19 and concludes that greater risks seem to lie ahead unless the government takes stringent containment measures.

Bioethics in the Ruins

AbstractIn The Foundations of Bioethics (1986, 1996), former senior editor of The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr. (1941–2018) radically reassessed the nature and scope of bioethics, as well as the possibilities for this still-young field that he helped found, in light of the prevailing sociohistorical context, which he argued had been inadequately considered by bioethicists. This issue of The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy provides a snapshot of how bioethics is developing in the wake of Engelhardt’s critique. Topics covered include the relation between rule of law and US healthcare policy, the relation between autonomy and consent, the role of rights in bioethical discourse, the debate between naturalism and normativism in the theory of disease, and the question of when human individuals begin to exist. Although no single theme explicitly unites them, the papers in this issue were produced within and are fruitfully read in terms of what Engelhardt influentially characterized as a morally pluralistic postmodernity subsisting amidst the ruins of tradition. In the conclusion, I introduce a further wrinkle into this Engelhardtian picture—namely, the looming danger of a more general epistemological pluralism effected by new technologies like Deepfakes.

A modified live bat influenza A virus-based vaccine prototype provides full protection against HPAIV H5N1

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) of subtype H5 are a major threat for poultry holdings worldwide, here especially the zoonotic Asian H5N1 viruses. These HPAIVs have caused more than 500 fatal spillover infections from poultry to humans, with a looming danger of a new pandemic by establishing human-to-human transmissions. Besides culling measures in infected farms in endemic areas, vaccination is the major tool against HPAIV. However, the mainly used inactivated preparations have several limitations, like application to the individual animal by injection and a reduced efficiency. Here we present a modified live influenza vaccine prototype, which is based on the H17N10 bat influenza virus. The new chimeric vaccine strain R65mono/H17N10 was able to provide full protection against a lethal challenge infection with HPAIV H5N1 of juvenile and subadult chickens, as well as ferrets after oronasal immunization. In addition, the H5 vaccine prototype cannot reassort with avian influenza viruses and therefore is a promising tool against HPAIV H5 infection, allowing new vaccination strategies for efficient disease control.