MINISTER EXPLAINS WHY OVER 1600 JAMB RESULTS WERE CANCELLED

The Minister of Education, Prof. Ruquayyatu Rufai, has explained that 16,000 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, results were cancelled by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, because of examination malpractices by the candidates.

Rufa’i spoke through Mr. Julius Ameh, yesterday, in Abuja, during the presentation of the Teachers’ Guide for the teaching of the National Values Curriculum, NVC,  in Basic Education, which was funded by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC.

She said: ”We shall be resolute in our decisions as there shall be no sacred cows. Nobody, no matter how highly placed, will be allowed to get away with the breach of the law or perpetration of corruption and evil in our colleges and tertiary institutions.”


The minister said the inclusion of the guide into the numerous literature available in the education sector, especially on corruption and value orientation, was an indication of the premium which the administration placed on education and transparency in the conduct of government business.

She said: “It is also an eloquent testimony of the present administration’s determination to heal the wounds of the past quickly, put the ugly past behind and use the new NVC to stretch hands of fellowship to aggrieved Nigerians for complete reconciliation.

“The Nigerian child must be encouraged and taught that integrity pays.”

His self respect must be restored and his growth process rewarded through  mentoring and parental care.”
” she added.

Chairman of ICPC, Ekpo Nta, in his address, said that the NVC was applicable at all levels of education and was designed to expose the Nigerian child to a value-based curriculum that incorporates ethical values into academic studies from the early years to adulthood.

“The curriculum has been infused into subjects and courses at basic, post-basic and teacher-education levels. It has also been infused into the curriculum of mass literacy and non-formal education,” he said.

Nta further pointed out the need for teachers to be trained and properly oriented on the methodology and behavioural imperatives for imparting such values.

“We therefore, request commissioners for education and chairmen of SUBEB  to order for more copies of the teachers’ guide such that every school in the basic education system in each state is given enough copies for the use of teachers,” he added.

The Executive Secretary of National Educational Research Development Council, NERDC, Prof. Godwill Obioma, explained that the NVC as approved by the National Council on Education, NCE,  in 2004 was to educate young Nigerians on their duties, rights as well as obligations to themselves and the society.

He added that ICPC and NERDC developed the Teachers’ Guide to assist teachers as implementers of the NVC, to acquire the knowledge as well as serve as a source of materials for the teaching of the new ideas.

“The Teachers’ Guide is expected to make the implementation of the NVC easier for teachers. It is meant to serve as a resource material for the effective implementation of the NVC,” Obioma further said.


SOURCE: VANGUARD

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Nigeria Union of Teachers on Thursday urged teachers in 11 states to embark on strike from June 1(tomorrow)

The teachers are protesting against the non-payment of their 27.5 per cent enhanced salary scale and N18, 000 minimum wages.

The states are Cross River, Ebonyi, Ekiti,
Ogun, Edo, Kogi, Niger, Borno, Benue, Zamfara and Sokoto.

Rising from a meeting in Abuja, the leadership of the union said the affected teachers would embark on what it called “painful strike.”

Addressing reporters in Abuja, the NUT President, Mr. Michael Olukoya, vowed that the strike would continue until the authorities met the union’s demands.

Describing the action of governors of the affected states as “derelict, unpatriotic and self-serving”, Olukoya said they had denied their teachers genuine allowances.

Olukoya lamented that while there was implementation of minimum wages for other categories of workers, the defaulting states deliberately exempted teachers.

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Chinese Woman Flush Baby Down a Toilet,Claims Baby Fell Into The Toilet After She Gave Birth

The mother of the newborn baby boy flushed down a toilet in China watched in secret as rescuers plucked him alive from a sewer pipe.

 The 22-year-old woman is believed to have raised the initial alarm but only confessed to police after they searched her rented room and found toys and blood-stained toilet paper, the Chinese state news agency reported.

Police initially said they were treating the case of as possible attempted homicide, but it was not immediately clear whether the mother would face any criminal charges.

A police officer said she had hidden her pregnancy and claimed the baby fell into the lavatory after she unexpectedly gave birth. ‘The woman was on the scene during the entire rescue process ... and admitted she was the mother when we asked her.’
He said police were still investigating whether she had any ‘malicious intentions’ before deciding on charges.

The single woman, a tenant in the building, told police she could not afford an abortion and secretly delivered the child Saturday afternoon in the toilet.

She said the newborn slipped into the sewer line and that she alerted her landlord of the trapped baby after she could not pull the child out, Zhejiang News said.

The landlord of the building said there were no signs that the birth took place in the restroom and she had not been aware of any recent pregnancies among her tenants.

But the mother told police she cleaned up the toilet after the delivery and that she had managed to hide her pregnancy by wearing loose clothes and tightly wrapping her abdomen.

Nurse Zhang Songhe told the Daily Mail that the mother of the baby was with him in hospital. ‘I don’t know the reason she abandoned the baby.

‘We’re going to take care of the baby. We are not sure when the baby can be discharged.’ She added: 'When the baby arrived here, he was in critical condition.

'We suspect he has a fracture in the top right section of his skull. But now everything has been stabilized.'




More pics:

                                                                                                                                                                     
wicked!!!

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Some Steps JAMB Is Taking To Curb Examination Malpractices - Ojerinde

THE Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor ’Dibu Ojerinde Friday explained that the use of Computer Based Testing in Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) was aimed at checking examination malpractices in Nigeria.
Jamb boss gave the reason while delivering a lecture entitled ‘Classical Test Theory (CTT) versus Item Response Theory (IRT): An evaluation of the comparability of item analysis results’ at the Institute of education, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

He said: “I introduced Computed Based Testing (CBT) because I think we can curb examination malpractices”. Another reason for the initiative, according to him, was the need to go the way of the world.

”Everybody is going technological and if Nigeria decided not to join, I’m sorry we will be left behind, so we should do CBT. It is the answer to exam malpractices,”he clarified.

Professor Ojerinde further said, “This year, we used 98 vehicles to carry question papers from Abuja to all parts of the country. Consider the danger, the risk, the life, enough is enough”.

He assured that the period of carrying question papers to centers from one end to another was over.

Ojerinde said, “In three minutes, we could send our questions from Abuja to wherever is going to be. We’re going to do it in UK, Jedda and anywhere throughout the world. I’ve not seen any other examination body in Africa that has done what we have done in JAMB on CBT.”

He admonished that attention should be focused on development of the child instead of the examination adding, “let us now look at the kids who are doing the examination and let us measure their abilities rather than measuring the ability of the test.”

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State of Emergency: Trained Military Police Dogs Captures 50 Boko Haram Members

  

No fewer than 50 insurgents have been captured by troops of the Special Forces in the ongoing military offensive in northern Nigeria against the Boko Haram sect.

In an update on the operations yesterday, in Abuja, signed by the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brigadier General Chris Olukolade, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) disclosed that the over 50 additional insurgents were arrested with the aid of trained military police dogs deployed to aid troops in the operations.

It said that arms were recovered from over 15 of the captured insurgents, while making efforts to escape to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The efforts of the specially trained dogs have led to the arrest of the over 50 terrorists, who were trying to infiltrate Maiduguri.

More than 15 of them were arrested with arms concealed in their body or property.

Various attempts being made by the insurgents to enter towns and cities in the North East as troops dislodge them from their forest bases, have been foiled by the dogs, it disclosed.

The DHQ stated that the trained dogs were deployed to participate in the search for the terrorists.

Meanwhile, it further said that search had been intensified as the forests in the North East were being combed.

At Desert forest, three Hilux vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft were destroyed, one Volkswagen Golf car and four motorcycles were also recovered, the DHQ said.

SOURCE: sun

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Huawei promises speedy Android 4.2 updates for Ascend D1, P1 and Honor 2 phones

With the splendid Ascend D2 and massive Ascend Mate out for only a couple of months, plus the snazzy P6 readied for a June 18 introduction, it would be fair to assume Huawei has a lot on its plate nowadays.

And most of the time, that means less attention to detail and especially less love for adopters of “old” phones. But that’s not the way Huawei rolls. Instead, the Chinese have just confirmed three of their 2012 handhelds, namely the Ascend D1, P1 and Honor 2, will be getting timely bumps to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

This is big news, mind you, given the trio is still running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but sadly we don’t have exact ETAs for their 4.2 upgrades. What we do know is the devices will be getting all of the JB-specific goodies (Google Now integration, Project Butter performance enhancements, etc), plus a redesigned version of Huawei's Emotion UI, dubbed 1.6. 

The Ascend P1 is the oldest of the three, having been unveiled to the world in January 2012, during CES. The thing rocks a super-slim body (7.7 mm thick), but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a high-end phone anymore, as it only packs a dual-core CPU beneath its hood and sports a 4.3-inch screen with 960 x 540 pixels resolution.

There’s no question though it will benefit hugely from an Android 4.2 bump, as will the Ascend D1, unveiled in February 2012 and available in select Asian and European markets ever since last summer. The D1 comes in two different flavors, with dual and quad-core processors, both of which should be getting Jelly Bean around the same time.

Last, but not least, there’s the Honor 2, which rumor has it will be getting a successor over the next couple of months. For now, the 4.5-incher looks like a very nice upper mid-ranger, packing a quad-core 1.4 GHz CPU and boasting a 720p display.

According to Richard Yu, Huawei’s CEO, these three will not be the company’s only phones to be getting 4.2 updates. However, seeing as he’s declined to name other names, we should probably just focus on the P1, D1 and Honor 2 for now. What say you, guys, are you psyched about the incoming software bumps? Surprised to see Huawei taking things from Android 4.0 straight to 4.2? I know I am.

Read more: http://vr-zone.com/articles/huawei-promises-speedy-android-4.2-updates-for-ascend-d1-p1-and-honor-2-phones/20490.html#ixzz2UXcPr7bx

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Scientists Weaken HIV Infection in Immune Cells Using Synthetic Agents

HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is notorious for hiding within certain types of cells, where it reproduces at a slowed rate and eventually gives rise to chronic inflammation, despite drug therapy. But researchers at Temple University School of Medicine's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Center for Substance Abuse Research (CSAR) recently discovered that synthetic anti-inflammatory substances distantly related to the active ingredient of marijuana may be able to take the punch out of HIV while inside one of its major hideouts -- immune cells known as macrophages.

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The breakthrough comes at a crucial time in the HIV/AIDS pandemic. "Powerful antiretroviral drug cocktails have allowed many HIV patients to live longer," explained Servio H. Ramirez, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Temple University School of Medicine (TUSM), and first author on the study. But living longer with HIV means extended exposure to low levels of HIV replication and associated inflammation. In the central nervous system (CNS), this inflammatory process is thought to be the underlying cause of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND), a spectrum of conditions that is on the rise again after more than a decade of decline following the advent of antiretroviral therapy.

To better understand the connection between inflammation and neurocognitive conditions linked to long-term exposure to HIV, Ramirez and colleagues looked specifically at the CB2 receptor, a protein located on the surface of macrophages. CB2 is a binding site for substances called cannabinoids, the primary active compounds of cannabis(marijuana), and it may play a role in blocking inflammation in the CNS. Unlike its counterpart, the CB1 receptor, which is found primarily on neurons in the brain, CB2 does not mediate the psychoactive effects for which cannabisis popularly known.

Ramirez explained that there has been much pharmacological interest in developing agents that selectively target CB2. Ideally, these compounds would help limit chronic inflammatory responses and would not bind to CB1. The most promising compounds are those derived from THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the main active substance in cannabis.

The development of such drugs, however, hinges largely on knowing which cells harbor HIV. Earlier studies suggested that T cells, central components of the immune system, are HIV reservoirs. The Temple team, however, chose to focus on macrophages, which are a type of white blood cell that engulfs and destroys foreign agents.

According to Ramirez and the study's senior investigator, Yuri Persidsky, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at TUSM, macrophages likely are the primary reservoir for HIV. They are among the first cells to become infected following sexual transmission of the virus, and they are found in every organ of the human body and circulate in the blood. It is currently thought that macrophages may be responsible for introducing HIV into the brain, ultimately initiating HIV-associated cognitive decline.

The scientists landed on their discovery by conducting a series of experiments in a well-established, non-clinical HIV macrophage cell model. They began by treating the HIV-infected cells with one of three different synthetic CB2-activating compounds. The cells were then sampled periodically to measure the activity of an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, which is essential for HIV replication. After seven days, the team found that all three compounds had successfully attenuated HIV replication. The experiments and findings are detailed in the May issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.

The results suggest that selective CB2 agonists could potentially be used in tandem with existing antiretroviral drugs, opening the door to the generation of new drug therapies for HIV/AIDS. The data also support the idea that the human immune system could be leveraged to fight HIV infection.

"Our study suggests that the body's own natural defenses can be made more powerful to fight some of the worst symptoms of HIV," Persidsky explained. He also noted that stimulating CB2 receptors in white blood cells could produce similar benefits against other viral infections.

The new research further highlights the important work being carried out at Temple's Center for Substance Abuse Research (CSAR). "The compounds we had available through CSAR formed an important aspect of this research," Ramirez said.

Persidsky added, "From our perspective we were in a better position for in vitro research. We have interesting models and were able to take advantage of our colleagues' knowledge of receptors and cannabinoids to make a unique contribution."

The team plans next to perform further screening studies using other novel CB2 agonists in parallel with studies that can help uncover the molecular events within the cell that regulate the effect of CB2 on HIV.

SOURCE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130501132053.htm

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Advanced Biological Computer Developed

Using only biomolecules (such as DNA and enzymes), scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed and constructed an advanced biological transducer, a computing machine capable of manipulating genetic codes, and using the output as new input for subsequent computations. The breakthrough might someday create new possibilities in biotechnology, including individual gene therapy and cloning.

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Interest in such biomolecular computing devices is strong, mainly because of their ability (unlike electronic computers) to interact directly with biological systems and even living organisms. No interface is required since all components of molecular computers, including hardware, software, input and output, are molecules that interact in solution along a cascade of programmable chemical events.

"Our results show a novel, synthetic designed computing machine that computes iteratively and produces biologically relevant results," says lead researcher Prof. Ehud Keinan of the Technion Schulich Faculty of Chemistry. "In addition to enhanced computation power, this DNA-based transducer offers multiple benefits, including the ability to read and transform genetic information, miniaturization to the molecular scale, and the aptitude to produce computational results that interact directly with living organisms."

The transducer could be used on genetic material to evaluate and detect specific sequences, and to alter and algorithmically process genetic code. Similar devices, says Prof. Keinan, could be applied for other computational problems.

"All biological systems, and even entire living organisms, are natural molecular computers. Every one of us is a biomolecular computer, that is, a machine in which all components are molecules "talking" to one another in a logical manner. The hardware and software are complex biological molecules that activate one another to carry out some predetermined chemical tasks. The input is a molecule that undergoes specific, programmed changes, following a specific set of rules (software) and the output of this chemical computation process is another well defined molecule."

Also contributing to the research were postdoctoral fellows Dr. Tamar Ratner and Dr. Ron Piran of the Technion's Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, and Dr. Natasha Jonoska of the Department of Mathematics at the University of South Florida.

SOURCE:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130523180318.htm

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